Method and apparatus for remotely controlling a receiver according to content and user selection

• US 20050100312A1
• Filed: 09/07/2004
• Published: 05/12/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 09/04/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: D&M Holdings US Incorporated (DEI Holdings Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Digital Networks North America, Inc. (DEI Holdings Incorporated)
• Inventors: Wachter, Marty R., Commons, Christopher, Bouterse, Robert A.
• Granted Patent: US 7,305,694 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 386/339
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/465 Distributed object oriented systems remote method invocation [RMI] G06F9/548
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/54 Interprogram communication

Abstract

System and method for automatically controlling a media receiver by instructing the media receiver to use a particular receiver connection and to play a selected media unit using one of a plurality of play modes according to characteristics of the media unit. Media units may be encoded using any of a variety of encoding formats. The media management system may interface with a media receiver to select media receiver connections in accordance with the media type of the media unit. The media management system may also interface with the media receiver to set media receiver settings for playing the selected media unit according to the media receiver settings selected for a play mode corresponding to the characteristics of the selected media unit.

Claims

1. An apparatus for controlling a media receiver, the apparatus comprising:

a media player interface comprising a plurality of receiver connections, each operable to communicate with the media receiver;

a media database comprising a plurality of media unit records each identifying one of a plurality of media units by one or more characteristics, wherein a first characteristic of each media unit record identifies one media type of a plurality of media types;

a play selection system to (i) retrieve a media unit record from the media database for a selected media unit, (ii) determine a media type of the selected media unit from the media unit record, and (iii) communicate, to a media play processor, a receiver connection selection for the selected media unit based on the media type of the selected media unit; and

the media play processor to (i) configure the media receiver, and (ii) couple the selected media unit to a selected receiver connection, according to the receiver connection selection.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:

a play mode record stored in the media database,

wherein the play selection system (i) retrieves the play mode record for the selected media unit from the media database, (ii) determines a play mode selection for the selected media unit based on at least one of the one or more characteristics and the play mode record, and (iii) communicates the play mode selection to the media play processor,

wherein the media play processor requests the media receiver to play the selected media unit according to the play mode selection.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the at least one of the one or more characteristics is a characteristic selected from the group consisting of:

title, song, genre, location, label, artist, media type, and date.

4. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the play mode selection is for a play mode selected from the group consisting of:

rock arena, jazz club, classic concert, mono movie, matrix, 5-channel stereo, 7-channel stereo, stereo, pure direct, direct, super stadium, wide screen, cinema, Dolby Digital, Dolby Pro Logic, Digital Theater System, and THX.

5. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the play mode selection defines one or more media receiver settings selected from the group of consisting of:

tone settings, equalization settings, noise reduction settings, level adjustment settings, balance settings, and delay time settings, and bass settings.

6. The apparatus of claim 2, further comprising:

a user interface for providing a configuration process for querying a user to choose the play mode selection to be requested by the media play processor when a characteristic of the selected media unit matches the at least one of the one or more characteristics,

wherein the at least one of the one or more characteristics is a characteristic selected from the group consisting of;

title, song, genre, location, label, artist, media type, and date.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:

a user interface for providing a configuration process for querying a user to select a respective receiver connection for each of the plurality of media types.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the media type of the selected media unit is a media type selected from the group consisting of:

motion picture experts group—

audio layer 3 (MP3), compact disc (CD), digital versatile disc audio (DVD-audio), DVD-movie, super audio CD (SACD), pulse code modulation (PCM), free lossless audio codec (FLAC), advanced audio coding (AAC), and waveform audio format (WAV).

9. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:

a media receiver type record stored in the media database, wherein the media receiver type record identifies the media receiver, and wherein the receiver connection selection is further based on the media receiver type record.

10. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:

a media type configuration record stored in the media database, wherein the play selection system retrieves the media type configuration record to determine the receiver connection selection.

11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the media type of the selected media unit consists of a type selected from the group consisting of:

compressed media, uncompressed media, and a combination of compressed and uncompressed media.

12. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the media type of the selected media unit consists of a type selected from the group consisting of encrypted media and unencrypted media.

13. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the selected receiver connections are connections selected from the group consisting of:

digital connections and analog connections.

14. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:

a user interface for choosing the selected media unit.

15. An apparatus for controlling a media receiver, the apparatus comprising:

a media player interface comprising a plurality of receiver connections, each operable to communicate with the media receiver;

a media database comprising (i) a play mode record, and (ii) a plurality of media unit records each identifying one of a plurality of media units by one or more characteristics,

wherein a first characteristic of each media unit record identifies a characteristic selected from the group consisting of;

title, song, genre, location, label, artist, media type, and date, and

wherein the play mode record identifies one of a plurality of play modes corresponding to the first characteristic;

a play selection system to (i) retrieve the play mode record from the media database, (ii) retrieve a media unit record from the media database for a selected media unit, (ii) determine the first characteristic of the selected media unit from the media unit record, and (iii) communicate, to a media play processor, a play mode selection for the selected media unit based on at least the first characteristic and the play mode record; and

the media play processor to request the media receiver to play the selected media unit according to the play mode selection.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, further comprising:

wherein the media unit record further identifies a media type of the selected media unit,

wherein the play selection system further (i) retrieves a media type configuration record stored in the media database, (ii) determines the media type of the selected media unit from the media unit record, (iii) determines a receiver connection selection based on the media type and the media type configuration record, and (iv) communicates, to the media play processor, the receiver connection selection, and

wherein the media play processor (i) requests the media receiver to use a media receiver connection corresponding to the receiver connection selection, and (ii) couples the selected media unit to one of the plurality of receiver connections according to the receiver connection selection.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the media receiver connection corresponding to the receiver connection selection comprises a connection selected from the group consisting of a digital connection, and an analog connection.

18. The apparatus of claim 16, further comprising:

a media receiver type record stored in the media database, wherein the media receiver type record identifies the media receiver, and wherein the receiver connection selection is further based on the media receiver type record.

19. A method for controlling a receiver, the method comprising:

retrieving a media unit record for a media unit selected to be played by a receiver coupled to a media player interface, wherein the media unit record identifies a media type for the media unit;

retrieving a media type configuration record, wherein the media type configuration record identifies one of a plurality of receiver connections corresponding to the media type; and

requesting the receiver to use the one of a plurality of receiver connections to receive the media unit for play by the receiver.

20. The method of claim 19, further comprising:

retrieving a play mode record, wherein the play mode record identifies one of a plurality of play modes corresponding to one of a plurality of characteristics identified in the media unit record, and

requesting the receiver to play the media unit according to the one of a plurality of play modes.

21. The method of claim 20, further comprising:

querying a user to select one of the plurality of play modes to correspond to one of the plurality of characteristics.

22. The method of claim 21, further comprising:

continuing to query the user to select the play modes until each of the plurality of characteristics available corresponds to a selected play mode.

23. The method of claim 22, further comprising:

displaying the query on a display terminal; and

storing the selected play modes corresponding to the plurality of characteristics in the play mode record.

24. The method of claim 20, wherein the one of a plurality of play modes is a mode selected from the group consisting of:

rock arena, jazz club, classic concert, mono movie, matrix, 5-channel stereo, 7-channel stereo, stereo, pure direct, direct, super stadium, wide screen, cinema, Dolby Digital, Dolby Pro Logic, Digital Theater System, and THX.

25. The method of claim 20, wherein each of the plurality of play modes defines one or more receiver settings selected from the group of consisting of:

tone settings, equalization settings, noise reduction settings, level adjustment settings, balance settings, and delay time settings, and bass settings.

26. The method of claim 19, further comprising:

querying a user to select one of the plurality of receiver connections to correspond to one of a plurality of media types,

wherein the plurality of media types includes the media type for the media unit.

27. The method of claim 26, further comprising:

continuing to query the user to select the receiver connections until each media type of the plurality of media types corresponds to a selected receiver connection.

28. The method of claim 27, further comprising:

displaying the query on a display terminal; and

storing the selected receiver connections corresponding to the media types in the media type configuration record.

29. The method of claim 19, wherein the retrieving a media unit record step occurs in response to loading a disc into a disc player.

30. The method of claim 19, wherein the retrieving a media unit record step occurs in response to receiving a stream of data from a data storage device.

31. A media management system comprising:

a plurality of media source input/output (I/O) ports coupled to a plurality of media sources;

a user interface coupled to at least one user interface device, the user interface operable to receive at least one media play instruction from a user;

a media player interface comprising a plurality of receiver connections, each communicatively coupled to a media receiver;

a media database comprising (i) a plurality of media unit records, (ii) a media type configuration record, (iii) a play mode record, and (iv) a media receiver type record that identifies the media receiver, wherein each of the media unit records identifies (a) one of a plurality of media units by a characteristic that corresponds to one of a plurality of play modes identified in the play mode record, and (b) a media type that corresponds to one of a plurality of receiver connections identified in the media type configuration record;

a play selection system for (i) retrieving a media unit record for a selected media unit to be played by the media receiver, the media type configuration record, the play mode record, and the media receiver type record, (ii) determining a play mode for the selected media unit from the media unit record and the play mode record, (iii) determining a receiver connection selection based on the media type, the media type configuration record, and the media receiver type record, and (iv) communicating, to a media player processor, the receiver connection selection and the play mode for the selected media unit; and

the media play processor to (i) configure the media receiver, and (ii) couple the selected media unit to a selected receiver connection, according to the receiver connection selection.