Audio content search of registered audio content sources in a media playback system

• US 10,467,288 B2
• Filed: 12/02/2015
• Issued: 11/05/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 09/30/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sonos, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Sonos, Inc.
• Inventors: Bates, Paul Andrew
• Primary Examiner(s): Leroux, Etienne P
• Application Number:
  US14/956,926
• Publication Number:
  US 20160092560A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,434 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/24578 using ranking
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/285 Clustering or classification
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/638 Presentation of query results
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/639 using playlists
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/68 Retrieval characterised by using metadata, e.g. metadata not derived from the content or metadata generated manually
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/686 using information manually generated, e.g. tags, keywords, comments, title or artist information, time, location or usage information, user ratings
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/687 using geographical or spatial information, e.g. location
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/60 Network streaming of media packets

Abstract

Embodiments are described herein that provide searches, including a multi-dimensional search, a cross-source search, or both in a media playback system. The search can be initiated by way of a selection of a location on user interface of a controller. The location corresponds to one or more metadata that is used in the search. Results are sorted and displayed. In some embodiments, metadata is used to filter and/or sort the results.

Claims

1. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored therein instructions executable by one or more processors to cause a mobile device to perform a method comprising:

registering, via one or more networks, one or more streaming services with a media playback system comprising one or more playback devices and the mobile device, the mobile device being distinct from the one or more playback devices, and wherein the registering comprises authenticating the media playback system with the one or more streaming services via at least one respective user account of the one or more streaming services;

displaying a control interface that includes one or more controls to control playback by the one or more playback devices of the media playback system;

receiving, via the control interface, search criteria for audio tracks, the search criteria including one or more of;

an artist name of a first audio track that one or more playback devices are currently playing, an album name of the first audio track, a track title of the first audio track, or a search string;

responsive to receiving the search criteria, identifying at least two audio sources, wherein the at least two audio sources comprise one or more unrestricted audio sources, and wherein the one or more unrestricted audio sources comprise the registered one or more streaming services;

searching the at least two audio sources across multiple search classification fields for second audio tracks corresponding to the search criteria, wherein searching the at least two audio sources comprises sending, via a network interface of the mobile device to one or more servers over one or more second networks comprising a wide area network, one or more search queries for the second audio tracks corresponding to the search criteria;

based on the search, retrieving search results from the at least two audio sources, wherein the search results include one or more of the following;

second audio tracks corresponding to the artist name of the first audio track, second audio tracks corresponding to the album name of the first audio track, second audio tracks corresponding to the track title of the first audio track, or second audio tracks corresponding to the search string;

causing the mobile device to display a tabbed control interface, each tab corresponding to a respective search classification field and including a respective list of second audio tracks matching the respective search classification field, wherein the respective second audio tracks of each list are grouped into two or more groups within the respective list according to their respective audio source of the at least two audio sources;

receiving, via the mobile device, input data representing a selection of one or more particular second audio tracks from among the second audio tracks indicated by the search results; and

causing the one or more playback devices to play back the selected one or more particular second audio tracks by sending, via the network interface of the mobile device, instructions to queue respective identifiers of the selected one or more particular second audio tracks in a queue of the one or more playback devices, wherein playing back the selected one or more particular second audio tracks comprises at least one playback device of the one or more playback devices streaming the one or more particular second audio tracks from at least one of the at least two audio sources and the one or more playback devices playing the streamed one or more particular second audio tracks via one or more speakers.

2. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein receiving search criteria for audio tracks comprises:

displaying, on the control interface, an area that is associated with the audio track that is being played by the one or more playback devices of the media playback system, wherein the area indicates at least the artist name of the audio track, the album name of the audio track, and the track title of the audio track; and

receiving, via the control interface, a selection of a given location within the area displayed on the control interface, the selected location corresponding to search criteria indicating one or more of;

the artist name of the audio track, the album name of the audio track, and the track title of the audio track.

3. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein receiving search criteria for audio tracks comprises:

displaying, on the control interface, a search query control; and

receiving, via the search query control, the search string.

4. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein identifying at least two audio sources comprises identifying one or more unrestricted audio sources that include (i) the registered one or more streaming services that provide respective libraries of streamable media items, and (ii) a media library comprising media items that are represented by respective files which are stored in one or more local data storages of the mobile device, wherein the files stored in the one or more local data storages are different from files representing the streamable media items, and wherein searching, for the search criteria, the at least two audio sources comprises searching the registered one or more streaming services and the media library.

5. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein identifying at least two audio sources comprises identifying one or more unrestricted audio sources that include (i) the registered one or more streaming services, and (ii) a media library comprising media items that are stored in one or more local data storages accessible to the mobile device via a local area network, and wherein searching, for the search criteria, the at least two audio sources comprises searching the registered one or more streaming services and the media library comprising media items that are stored in one or more local data storages accessible to the mobile device via the local area network.

6. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein identifying at least two audio sources comprises identifying one or more unrestricted audio sources that include (i) the one or more streaming services that are registered to the media playback system, and (ii) a media library comprising (a) media items that are stored in one or more local data storages accessible to the mobile device via a local area network, and (b) media items that are stored in one or more local data storages of the mobile device, and wherein searching, for the search criteria, the at least two audio sources comprises searching the one or more streaming services that are registered to the media playback system and the media library comprising (a) media items that are stored in one or more local data storages accessible to the mobile device via the local area network, and (b) media items that are stored in one or more local data storages of the mobile device.

7. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein authenticating the media playback system with the one or more streaming services via at least one respective user account of the one or more streaming services comprises:

authenticating an identifier for the media playback system with the one or more streaming services via the at least one respective user account of the one or more streaming services.

8. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein identifying at least two audio sources comprises identifying one or more restricted sources that comprise one or more streaming services which are not registered to the media playback system, and wherein searching, for the search criteria, the at least two audio sources comprises searching the one or more restricted sources and the one or more unrestricted audio sources.

9. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the mobile device retrieved the search results from a given set of the at least two audio sources, and wherein the method further comprises:

identifying at least one search result from each of the audio sources in the given set; and

displaying an indication of the at least one search result from each of the audio sources in the given set such that each of the at least one search result from each of the audio sources is displayed within viewable area on the control interface.

10. A method comprising:

registering, via a mobile device over one or more networks, one or more streaming services with a media playback system comprising one or more playback devices and the mobile device, the mobile device being distinct from the one or more playback devices, and wherein the registering comprises authenticating the media playback system with the one or more streaming services via at least one respective user account of the one or more streaming services;

displaying, via the mobile device, a control interface that includes one or more controls to control playback by the one or more playback devices of the media playback system;

receiving, via the control interface, search criteria for audio tracks, the search criteria including one or more of;

an artist name of a first audio track that one or more playback devices are currently playing, an album name of the first audio track, a track title of the first audio track, or a search string;

responsive to receiving the search criteria, identifying at least two audio sources, wherein the at least two audio sources comprise one or more unrestricted audio sources, and wherein the one or more unrestricted audio sources comprise the registered one or more streaming services;

searching the at least two audio sources across multiple search classification fields for second audio tracks corresponding to the search criteria, wherein searching the at least two audio sources comprises sending, via a network interface of the mobile device to one or more servers over one or more second networks comprising a wide area network, one or more search queries for the second audio tracks corresponding to the search criteria;

based on the search, retrieving search results from the at least two audio sources, wherein the search results include one or more of the following;

second audio tracks corresponding to the artist name of the first audio track, second audio tracks corresponding to the album name of the first audio track, second audio tracks corresponding to the track title of the first audio track, or second audio tracks corresponding to the search string;

causing the mobile device to display a tabbed control interface, each tab corresponding to a respective search classification field and including a respective list of second audio tracks matching the respective search classification field, wherein the respective second audio tracks of each list are grouped into two or more groups within the respective list according to their respective audio source of the at least two audio sources;

receiving, via the mobile device, input data representing a selection of one or more particular second audio tracks from among the second audio tracks indicated by the search results; and

causing the one or more playback devices to play back the selected one or more particular second audio tracks by sending, via the network interface of the mobile device, instructions to queue respective identifiers of the selected one or more particular second audio tracks in a queue of the one or more playback devices, wherein playing back the selected one or more particular second audio tracks comprises at least one playback device of the one or more playback devices streaming the one or more particular second audio tracks from at least one of the at least two audio sources and the one or more playback devices playing the streamed one or more particular second audio tracks via one or more speakers.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein receiving search criteria for audio tracks comprises:

displaying, on the control interface, an area that is associated with the audio track that is being played by the one or more playback devices of the media playback system, wherein the area indicates at least the artist name of the audio track, the album name of the audio track, and the track title of the audio track; and

receiving, via the control interface, a selection of a given location within the area displayed on the control interface, the selected location corresponding to search criteria indicating one or more of;

artist name of the audio track, the album name of the audio track, and the track title of the audio track.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein receiving search criteria for audio tracks comprises:

displaying, on the control interface, a search query control; and

receiving, via the search query control, the search string.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein identifying at least two audio sources comprises identifying one or more unrestricted audio sources that include (i) the one or more registered streaming services that provide respective libraries of streamable media items, and (ii) a media library comprising media items that are represented by respective files which are stored in one or more local data storages of the mobile device, wherein the files stored in the one or more local data storages are different from files representing the streamable media items, and wherein searching, for the search criteria, the at least two audio sources comprises searching the registered one or more streaming services and the media library.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein identifying at least two audio sources comprises identifying one or more unrestricted audio sources that include (i) the registered one or more streaming services, and (ii) a media library comprising media items that are stored in one or more local data storages accessible to the mobile device via a local area network, and wherein searching, for the search criteria, the at least two audio sources comprises searching the registered one or more streaming services and the media library comprising media items that are stored in one or more local data storages accessible to the mobile device via the local area network.

15. The method of claim 10, wherein identifying at least two audio sources comprises identifying one or more unrestricted audio sources that include (i) the one or more registered streaming services, and (ii) a media library comprising (a) media items that are stored in one or more local data storages accessible to the mobile device via a local area network, and (b) media items that are stored in one or more local data storages of the mobile device, and wherein searching, for the search criteria, the at least two audio sources comprises searching the registered one or more streaming services and the media library comprising (a) media items that are stored in one or more local data storages accessible to the mobile device via the local area network, and (b) media items that are stored in one or more local data storages of the mobile device.

16. The method of claim 10, wherein authenticating the media playback system with the one or more streaming services via at least one respective user account of the one or more streaming services comprises:

authenticating an identifier for the media playback system with the one or more streaming services via the at least one respective user account of the one or more streaming services.

17. The method of claim 10, wherein identifying at least two audio sources comprises identifying one or more restricted sources that comprise one or more streaming services which are not registered to the media playback system, and wherein searching, for the search criteria, the at least two audio sources comprises searching the one or more restricted sources and the one or more unrestricted audio sources.

18. The method of claim 10, wherein the mobile device retrieved the search results from a given set of the at least two audio sources, and wherein the method further comprises:

identifying at least one search result from each of the audio sources in the given set; and

displaying an indication of the at least one search result from each of the audio sources in the given set such that each of the at least one search result from each of the audio sources is displayed within viewable area on the control interface.

19. A mobile device comprising:

a network interface;

one or more processors; and

tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable media having instructions encoded therein, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the mobile device to perform a method comprising;

registering, via one or more networks, one or more streaming services with a media playback system comprising one or more playback devices and the mobile device, the mobile device being distinct from the one or more playback devices, and wherein the registering comprises authenticating the media playback system with the one or more streaming services via at least one respective user account of the one or more streaming services;

displaying a control interface that includes one or more controls to control playback by the one or more playback devices of the media playback system;

receiving, via the control interface, search criteria for audio tracks, the search criteria including one or more of;

an artist name of a first audio track that one or more playback devices are currently playing, an album name of the first audio track, a track title of the first audio track, or a search string;

responsive to receiving the search criteria, identifying at least two audio sources, wherein the at least two audio sources comprise one or more unrestricted audio sources, and wherein the one or more unrestricted audio sources comprise the registered one or more streaming services;

searching the at least two audio sources across multiple search classification fields for second audio tracks corresponding to the search criteria, wherein searching the at least two audio sources comprises sending, via the network interface of the mobile device to one or more servers over one or more second networks comprising a wide area network, one or more search queries for the second audio tracks corresponding to the search criteria;

based on the search, retrieving search results from the at least two audio sources, wherein the search results include one or more of the following;

second audio tracks corresponding to the artist name of the first audio track, second audio tracks corresponding to the album name of the first audio track, second audio tracks corresponding to the track title of the first audio track, or second audio tracks corresponding to the search string;

causing the mobile device to display a tabbed control interface, each tab corresponding to a respective search classification field and including a respective list of second audio tracks matching the respective search classification field, wherein the respective second audio tracks of each list are grouped into two or more groups within the respective list according to their respective audio source of the at least two audio sources;

receiving, via the mobile device, input data representing a selection of one or more particular second audio tracks from among the second audio tracks indicated by the search results; and

causing the one or more playback devices to play back the selected one or more particular second audio tracks by sending, via the network interface of the mobile device, instructions to queue respective identifiers of the selected one or more particular second audio tracks in a queue of the one or more playback devices, wherein playing back the selected one or more particular second audio tracks comprises at least one playback device of the one or more playback devices streaming the one or more particular second audio tracks from at least one of the at least two audio sources and the one or more playback devices playing the streamed one or more particular second audio tracks via one or more speakers.

20. The mobile device of claim 19, wherein identifying at least two audio sources comprises identifying one or more unrestricted audio sources that include (i) the registered one or more streaming services, and (ii) a media library comprising (a) media items that are stored in one or more local data storages accessible to the mobile device via a local area network, and (b) media items that are stored in one or more local data storages of the mobile device, and wherein searching, for the search criteria, the at least two audio sources comprises searching the registered one or more streaming services and the media library comprising (a) media items that are stored in one or more local data storages accessible to the mobile device via the local area network, and (b) media items that are stored in one or more local data storages of the mobile device.

21. The mobile device of claim 19, wherein identifying at least two audio sources comprises identifying one or more restricted sources that comprise one or more streaming services which are not registered to the media playback system, and wherein searching, for the search criteria, the at least two audio sources comprises searching the one or more restricted sources and the one or more unrestricted audio sources.