Delivering media data to portable computing devices

• US 20030018581A1
• Filed: 10/26/2001
• Published: 01/23/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 02/16/2000
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Original Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Inventors: Greene, Mauricio, Rebaud, Sylvain, Lester, J. P., Bratton, Timothy R.
• Application Number:
  US10/046,933
• Publication Number:
  US 20030018581A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/50
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/3833 Hand-held transceivers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/12 Arrangements for remote connection or disconnection of substations or of equipment thereof
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2463/101 applying security measures for digital rights management data processing systems or methods, specially adapted for commerce, e.g. marketing, shopping, billing, auctions or e-commerce G06Q30/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/18 using different networks or channels, e.g. using out of band channels cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for key distribution involving distinctive intermediate devices or communication paths H04L9/0827; cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for authentication using a plurality of channels H04L9/3215
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1101 Session protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/60 Network streaming of media packets
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/764 at the destination reformatting of additional data in video clients H04N21/4355
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/04 specially adapted for terminals or networks with limited capabilities; specially adapted for terminal portability
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/06 specially adapted for file transfer, e.g. file transfer protocol [FTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/14 Multichannel or multilink protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0209 in terminal devices terminal devices per se H04W88/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0229 where the received signal is a wanted signal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/028 switching on or off only a part of the equipment circuit blocks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/30 Connection release
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/00 Reducing energy consumption in communication networks
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

Power consumption in a portable computing device'"'"'s receive-transmit subsystem is reduced when this subsystem receives streaming media data. The portable computing device receives a first portion of the media data via a first communication channel and a second portion of the media data via a second channel. The portable computing device may obtain the first portion well in advance of receiving the second portion and may use a wireless connection to receive the second portion. The portable computing device may terminate the wireless connection once the second portion has been received, thus reducing overall power consumption in wireless device. A client application on the portable computing device reassembles the media file from the first and second portions.

Claims

1. A method for playing a media file in a portable computing device, comprising:

receiving a first file portion in the portable computing device via a first communication channel, wherein the first file portion is unusable as a media file;

receiving a second file portion in the portable computing device via a second communication channel, wherein the second file portion is unusable as a media file; and

creating the media file in the portable computing device from the first file portion and the second file portion.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein receiving a second file portion in the portable computing device via a second communication channel further comprises:

connecting a wireless transceiver on the portable computing device to the second communication channel to receive the second media file, wherein the second communication channel is a wireless communication channel; and

disconnecting the transceiver on the portable computing device from the second communication channel once the second file portion has been received.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

playing the media file on the portable computing device; and

deleting the media file once it has been played.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the first communication channel is a connection between the portable computing device and a client computer, further comprising:

receiving the first file portion in the portable computing device from the client computer; and

storing the first file portion on the portable computing device.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein the connection is provided by at least one of a docking station or a synch cradle associated with the client computer and the portable computing device.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the first communication channel is a wireless connection between a transceiver on the portable computing device and a transceiver associated with a media file repository, the method further comprising:

transmitting to the media file repository a request for transfer of the first file portion; and

terminating the first communication channel once the first file portion has been received on the portable computing device.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein creating the media file comprises:

examining sequencing information in the second file portion that describes where elements of the second media file should be placed within the first file portion to create the media file.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

decrypting the first file portion using a key obtained from the second file portion.

9. A method for preparing media data for transmission to a portable computing device, comprising:

creating a first file portion by removing elements from a media file; and

creating a second file portion from the elements removed from the media file.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

placing sequencing information in the second file portion that provides information on where the elements removed from the media file should be placed in the first file portion to reproduce the media file.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

encrypting the first file portion using a key; and

placing the key in the second file portion.

12. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

transmitting the first file portion to a client computer configured to transmit the first file portion to the portable computing device.

13. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

storing the first file portion in a first data repository accessible to the portable computing device via a first communication channel; and

storing the second file portion in a second data repository accessible to the portable computing device via a second communication channel.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein the second data repository is included within the first data repository.

16. The portable computing device of claim 15 wherein the media client is further configured to disconnect the transceiver from the wireless communication channel once the second file portion has been received.

17. The portable computing device of claim 15 wherein the media client is further configured to play the media file and delete the media file from the portable computing device once it has been played.

18. The portable computing device of claim 15 wherein the media client is further configured to examine sequencing information in the second file portion that describes where elements of the second media file should be placed within the first file portion to assemble the media file.

19. The portable computing device of claim 15 wherein the media client is further configured to decrypt the first file portion using a key obtained from the second file portion.

20. The portable computing device of claim 15 wherein media client is further configured to receive the first file portion from the client computer and store the first file portion in a memory on the portable computing device.

21. The portable computing device of claim 15 wherein the media client is further configured to request the first file portion from a data repository over a wireless communication channel, the device further comprising:

a second transceiver configured to receive the first file portion over the wireless communication channel.

22. The portable computing device of claim 21 wherein the media client is further configured to terminate the transceiver'"'"'s connection to the wireless communication channel following reception of the first file portion.

23. The portable computing device of claim 15, further comprising a memory for storing the first file portion.

24. The portable computing device of claim 23 wherein the memory is configured to be removable from the portable computing device.

25. The portable computing device of claim 23 wherein the memory is further configured to store the second file portion.

27. The media playback device of claim 26 wherein the second communications channel is a wireless communications channel, the device further comprising:

a power saving means configured to disconnect the second reception means from the second communications channel once the second file portion has been received.

28. The media playback device of claim 26, further comprising:

a playback means for playing the media file.

29. The media playback device of claim 28 wherein the playback means is further configured to delete the media file as it is played.

30. The media playback device of claim 26 wherein the media assembly means is configured to assemble the media file using sequencing instructions in the second file portion.

31. The media playback device of claim 30 wherein the sequencing instructions describe where to find information in the second file portion that should be placed in the first file portion to assemble the media file, the media playback device further configured to locate the information and place the information in the first file portion.

15. A portable computing device comprising:

a media client configured to request a first file portion from a client computing device and configured to assemble a media file using the first file portion and a second file portion, wherein the first and second file portions are unusable as media files; and

a first transceiver configured to receive the second file portion over a wireless communication channel.

26. A media playback device, comprising:

a first reception means for receiving a first file portion over a first communications channel, wherein the first file portion is unusable as a media file;

a second reception means for receiving a second file portion over a second communications channel, wherein the second file portion is unusable as a media file; and

a media assembly means for assembling a media file from the first file portion and the second file portion.

32. A media server for transmitting media data to a portable computing device, comprising:

means for creating a first file portion by removing elements from a media file, wherein the first file portion is unusable as a media file; and

means for creating a second file portion from the elements removed from the media file, wherein the second file portion is unusable as a media file.

33. The media server of claim 32, further comprising:

means for placing sequencing information in the second file portion that provides information on where the elements removed from the media file should be placed in the first file portion to reproduce the media file.

34. The media server of claim 33, further comprising:

means for encrypting the first file portion using a key; and

means for placing the key in the second file portion.

35. The media server of claim 32, further comprising:

means for transmitting the first file portion to a client computer configured to transmit the first file portion to the portable computing device.

36. The media server of claim 32, further comprising:

a transceiver configured to transmit the second file portion to the portable computing device.

37. The media server of claim 32, further comprising:

means for storing the first file portion in a first data repository accessible to the portable computing device via a first communication channel; and

means for storing the second file portion in a second data repository accessible to the portable computing device via a second communication channel.

38. The media server of claim 37 wherein the second data repository is included within the first data repository.

40. The media client of claim 39, further comprising:

a media file player configured to perform the media file reconstructed by the media file reconstructor.

41. The media client of claim 40 wherein the media file reconstructor is further configured to reconstruct the media file in media file sections and provide each reconstructed media file section to the media file player and wherein the media file player is further configured to delete media file sections once they are played.

42. The media client of claim 39, further comprising:

a transceiver controller configured to instruct a transceiver to disconnect from the second communications channel upon receipt of the second file portion.

43. The media client of claim 39 wherein the media file reconstructor is further configured to examine the second file portion to locate sequencing data and wherein the media file reconstructor is further configured to use the sequencing data to locate data in from the second file portion and add the data to the first file portion to reconstruct the media file.

44. The media client of claim 39 wherein the media file reconstructor is further configured to examine the second file portion to locate a key and wherein the media file reconstructor is further configured to use the key to decrypt the first file portion to obtain the media file.

45. The media client of claim 39 wherein the first communications channel is a connection between the portable computing device and a client computer and wherein the first file manager is further configured to send a request over the first communications channel requesting transmission of the first file portion.

46. The media client of claim 39 wherein the first communications channel is a wireless connection between the portable computing device and a media server and wherein the first file manager is further configured to send a request over the first communications channel requesting transmission of the first file portion.

47. The media client of claim 39 wherein the first communications channel is a wireless connection between the portable computing device and another portable computing device and wherein the first file manager is further configured to send a request over the first communications channel requesting transmission of the first file portion.

48. The media client of claim 39 wherein first file manager is further configured to store the first file portion in a memory on the portable computing device.

49. The media client of claim 39 wherein the first file manager is further configured to examine a memory on the portable computing device for at least one first file portion upon receipt of a request for at least one media file.

50. The media client of claim 39 wherein the second communications channel is a wireless connection between the portable computing device and a media server and wherein the second file manger is further configured to send a request over the second communications channel requesting transmission of the second file portion.

39. A media client for processing media files on a portable computing device, comprising:

a first file manager configured to request a first file portion over a first communications channel, wherein the first file portion is unusable as a media file;

a second file manager configured to request a second file portion over a second communications channel, wherein the second file portion is unusable as a media file; and

a media file reconstructor configured to reconstruct a media file from the first file portion and the second file portion.

51. A computer program product for use in connection with a portable computing device to provide media data for execution by a media client associated with the portable computing device, the portable computing device including a memory configured to store the computer program product, the computer program product comprising:

a first file portion rendered unusable as media data by removal of a plurality of data elements; and

a second file portion containing the plurality of data elements removed from the first file portion and sequencing information that explains where the plurality of data elements removed should be placed in the first file portion to produce a media file.

52. The computer program product of claim 51 wherein the first file portion has been encrypted and wherein the second file portion further contains a key that may be used to decrypt the first file portion.

53. A computer-readable medium containing instructions for controlling a portable computing device to play a media file when executing the instructions, the computer-readable medium instructions comprising:

receiving a first file portion in the portable computing device via a first communication channel, wherein the first file portion is unusable as a media file;

receiving a second file portion in the portable computing device via a second communication channel, wherein the second file portion is unusable as a media file; and

creating the media file in the portable computing device from the first file portion and the second file portion.

54. The computer-readable medium of claim 53 wherein instructions for receiving a second file portion in the portable computing device via a second communication channel further comprise:

connecting a wireless transceiver on the portable computing device to the second communication channel to receive the second media file, wherein the second communication channel is a wireless communication channel; and

disconnecting the transceiver on the portable computing device from the second communication channel once the second file portion has been received.

55. The computer-readable medium of claim 53, the instructions further comprising:

playing the media file on the portable computing device; and

deleting the media file once it has been played.

56. The computer-readable medium of claim 53 wherein the first communication channel is a connection between the portable computing device and a client computer, the instructions further comprising:

receiving the first file portion in the portable computing device from the client computer; and

storing the first file portion on the portable computing device.

57. The computer-readable medium of claim 56 wherein the connection is provided by at least one of a docking station or a synch cradle associated with the client computer and the portable computing device.

58. The computer-readable medium of claim 53 wherein the first communication channel is a wireless connection between a transceiver on the portable computing device and a transceiver associated with a media file repository, the instructions further comprising:

transmitting to the media file repository a request for transfer of the first file portion; and

terminating the first communication channel once the first file portion has been received on the portable computing device.

59. The computer-readable medium of claim 53 wherein instructions for creating the media file further comprise:

examining sequencing information in the second file portion that describes where elements of the second media file should be placed within the first file portion to create the media file.

60. The computer-readable medium of claim 59, the instructions further comprising:

decrypting the first file portion using a key obtained from the second file portion.