Localized audio networks and associated digital accessories
First Claim
1. A method for sharing music from stored musical signals between a first user with a first music player device and at least one second user with at least one second music player device, comprising:
- playing the musical signals for the first user on the first music player device while essentially simultaneously wirelessly transmitting the musical signals from the first music player device to the at least one second music player device; and
receiving the musical signals by the at least one second player device, wherein the musical signals can be played on the at least one second player device within a predetermined time difference from the playing of the musical signals on the first music player device;
wherein the first and the at least one second users are mobile and maintain less than a predetermined distance.
12 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Individuals share music through portable audio devices that synchronously play music by transmitting music signals from one device to the other. Upon request, other individuals can join such a sharing group as a member, and these new members can either be accepted automatically, or through voting by existing group members. So that members of a group can converse, the fraction of ambient sound admitted by the earphones of the portable device can be manually set. In order to enhance the enjoyment of the music, wearable transducers, such as light emitting diodes, respond to signals related to the beat of the music. Signals can be automatically generated, or manually specified, and signals thereafter stored for playback with the music to which it is related. Wearable transducers associated with individuals at a large music event can be set to receive common signals such that the transducers respond in synchrony with one another
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Citations
331 Claims
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1. A method for sharing music from stored musical signals between a first user with a first music player device and at least one second user with at least one second music player device, comprising:
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playing the musical signals for the first user on the first music player device while essentially simultaneously wirelessly transmitting the musical signals from the first music player device to the at least one second music player device; and
receiving the musical signals by the at least one second player device, wherein the musical signals can be played on the at least one second player device within a predetermined time difference from the playing of the musical signals on the first music player device;
wherein the first and the at least one second users are mobile and maintain less than a predetermined distance. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 330, 331)
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19. A system of music sharing for a plurality of mobile users, comprising:
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a first sharing device and at least one second sharing device, each comprising a musical signal store, a musical signal transmitter, a musical signal receiver, and a musical signal player;
a broadcast user operating the first sharing device; and
at least one member user operating the at least one second sharing device, wherein the broadcast user plays the musical signal for his own enjoyment on the first sharing device and simultaneously transmits the musical signal to the receiver of the at least one second sharing device of the at least one member user, on which the musical signal is played for the at least one member user, wherein the broadcast user and the at least one member user hear the musical signal substantially simultaneously. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40)
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41. A wireless communications system for sharing audio entertainment between a first mobile device and a second mobile device in the presence of a non-participating third mobile device, comprising:
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an announcement signal transmitted by the first mobile device for which the second mobile device and the third mobile device are receptive;
a response signal transmitted by the second mobile device in response to the announcement signal for which the first mobile device is receptive and for which the third mobile device is not receptive;
an identifier signal transmitted by the first mobile device to the second mobile device in response to the response signal, and which is not receptive to the third mobile device; and
a broadcast signal comprising audio entertainment that is transmitted by the first mobile device, and which is receptive by the second mobile device on the basis of the reception of the identifier signal;
wherein the broadcast signal is transmitted by a connectionless transport protocol and the announcement signal is transmitted by a connection-oriented transport protocol. - View Dependent Claims (42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62)
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63. An audio entertainment device, comprising:
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a signal store that stores an audio entertainment signal;
a transmitter that can transmit the stored audio entertainment signal;
a receiver that can receive the transmitted audio entertainment signal from a transmitter of another such device; and
a player that can play audio entertainment from a member selected from the group of stored audio entertainment signals or audio entertainment signals transmitted from the transmitter of another such device. - View Dependent Claims (64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 264)
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92. An audio entertainment device comprising:
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a wireless transmitter for the transmission of audio entertainment signals;
a wireless receiver for the reception of the transmitted audio entertainment signals from a transmitter of audio entertainment signals;
a first manually-separable connector for electrically connecting with an audio player, wherein the connector allows transfer of audio entertainment signals from the player to the device;
a second connector for connecting with a speaker; and
a control to manually switch between at least three states, wherein in the first state the speaker plays audio entertainment signals from the audio player and the transmitter does not transmit the audio entertainment signals, wherein in the second state the speaker plays audio entertainment signals from the audio player and the transmitter essentially simultaneously transmits the audio entertainment signals, and wherein in the third state the speaker plays audio entertainment signals received by the receiver. - View Dependent Claims (93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99)
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100. A system for the sharing of stored music between a first user and a second user, comprising:
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a first device for playing music to the first user, comprising a store of musical signals, a first controller that prepares musical signals from the first store for transmission and playing, a first player that takes musical signals from the first controller and plays the signals for the first user, and a transmitter, that is capable of taking the musical signals from the controller and transmitting the musical signals via wireless broadcast; and
a second device for playing music to the second user, comprising a receiver receptive of the transmissions from the transmitter of the first device, a second controller that prepares musical signals from the receiver for playing, and a second player that takes musical signal from the second controller and plays the signals for the second user;
wherein the first user and the second user hear the musical signals at substantially the same time. - View Dependent Claims (101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134, 135, 136, 137)
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138. An earphone for listening to audio entertainment allowing for the controlled reception of ambient sound by a user, comprising
a speaker that is oriented towards the user'"'"'s ear; -
an enclosure that reduces the amount of ambient noise perceptive to the user; and
a manually-adjustable characteristic of the enclosure that adjusts the amount of ambient sound perceptive to the user. - View Dependent Claims (139, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144)
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145. A mobile device for the transmission of audio entertainment signals comprising
an audio signal store for the storage of the audio entertainment signals; -
an audio signal player for the playing of the audio entertainment signals;
an wireless transmitter for the transmission of the audio entertainment signals; and
a transmitter control to manually switch between two states consisting of the operation and the non-operation of the audio transmitter. - View Dependent Claims (146, 147, 148)
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149. A mobile device for the reception of digital audio entertainment signals comprising:
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an audio signal store for the storage of the digital audio entertainment signals;
an audio receiver for the reception of external digital audio entertainment signals from a mobile audio signal transmitter located within a predetermined distance of the audio receiver;
a receiver control with at least a first state and a second state; and
an audio signal player that plays digital audio entertainment signals from the audio signal store when the receiver control is in the first state, and that plays digital audio entertainment signals from the audio receiver when the receiver control is in the second state. - View Dependent Claims (150)
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151. A method for the shared enjoyment of music from stored musical signals between a first user with a first music player device and at least one second user with at least one second music player device, comprising:
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playing the musical signals for the first user on the first music player device while essentially simultaneously wirelessly transmitting synchronization signals from the first music player device to the at least one second music player device; and
receiving the synchronization signals by the at least one second player device, wherein the synchronization signals allow the musical signals on the at least one second player device to be played essentially simultaneously with the playing of the musical signals on the first music player device;
wherein the first and the at least one second users are mobile. - View Dependent Claims (152, 153, 154, 155, 156, 157)
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158. A wireless communications system for sharing audio entertainment between a first mobile device and a second mobile device, comprising:
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a broadcast identifier transmitted by the first mobile device to the second mobile device;
a personal identifier transmitted by the second mobile device to the first mobile device; and
a broadcast signal comprising audio entertainment that is transmitted by the first mobile device of which the second device is receptive;
wherein the first mobile device and the second mobile device have displays which can display the identifier signal that they receive and the second mobile device can play the audio entertainment from the broadcast signal that it receives. - View Dependent Claims (159, 160, 161, 162, 163, 164, 165, 166, 167, 168, 169, 170, 171, 172, 173, 174, 175, 176, 177, 178, 179, 180, 181, 182, 183)
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184. A system for identifying a first device that introduces a music selection to a second device, comprising:
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a mobile music transmitter operated by the first device;
a mobile music receiver operated by the second device;
a music signal comprising the music selection transmitted by the transmitter and received by the receiver;
an individual musical identifier that is associated with the music selection; and
an individual transmitter identifier that identifies the transmitter, wherein the transmitter identifier and the individual music identifier are stored in association with each other in the receiver.
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185. A method for enhancing enjoyment of a musical selection, comprising:
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obtaining control signals related to the musical selection;
transmitting the control signals wirelessly;
receiving the control signals; and
converting the control signals to a humanly-perceptible form. - View Dependent Claims (186, 187, 188, 189, 190, 191, 192, 193, 194, 195, 196, 197, 198, 199, 200, 201, 202)
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203. A method for generating and storing control signals corresponding to musical signals, comprising:
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playing musical signals for a user;
receiving manual input signals from the user that are produced substantially in synchrony with the music;
generating control signals from the input signals; and
storing the control signals so that they can be retrieved with the musical signals. - View Dependent Claims (204, 205, 206, 207, 208, 209)
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210. A wearable personal accessory, comprising:
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an input transducer taken from the group consisting of a microphone and an accelerometer, said transducer generating a time-varying input transduction signal;
a controller which accepts the input transduction signal, and which generates an output transducer signal whose signal varies in amplitude with time;
an output transducer receptive of the output transducer signal, and which provides a humanly-perceptible signal; and
an energy source for powering the input transducer, controller and output transducer. - View Dependent Claims (211, 212, 213, 214, 215, 216, 217, 218, 219, 220, 221)
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222. A wearable personal accessory controlled via wireless communications, comprising:
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a wireless communications receiver, receptive of an external control signal;
a controller that accepts the external control signal and that generates a time-varying visual output transducer signal;
a visual output transducer that is receptive of the output transducer signal, and which provides a humanly-perceptible visual signal; and
an energy store for powering the receiver, controller and output transducer;
wherein the visual output transducer generates visually-perceptive output. - View Dependent Claims (223, 224, 225, 226, 227, 228, 229, 230, 231, 232, 233, 234, 235, 236, 237, 238, 239, 240, 241, 242, 243, 244, 245, 246, 247, 248, 249, 250, 251, 252, 253, 254)
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255. A device for converting user tactile responses to stored music into a stored control signal, comprising:
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a player that plays stored music audible to the user;
a manually-operated transducer that outputs an electrical signal, wherein the transducer is actuated by the user in response to the music;
a controller that receives the electrical signal and outputs a control signal; and
a store that receives the control signal and stores it. - View Dependent Claims (256, 257, 258, 259, 260, 261, 262, 263)
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265. A music player that wirelessly transmits control signals related to the music, wherein the control signals control a wearable electronic accessory, comprising:
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a store of music signal files;
a controller that reads a musical signal file from the store and generates audio signals and that further generates the control signals;
a transducer that converts the audio signals into sound audible to the user; and
a wireless transmitter that transmits the control signal to the wearable electronic accessory. - View Dependent Claims (266, 267, 268, 269, 270, 271, 272, 273, 274, 275, 276, 277, 278)
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279. A music player that wirelessly transmits control signals related to the music, wherein the control signals control a wearable electronic accessory, comprising:
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a store of music signal files;
a second store of control signal files associated with the music signal files;
a controller that reads a musical signal file from the store and generates audio signals and that further reads an associated control signal file;
a transducer that converts the audio signals into sound audible to the user, and a wireless transmitter that transmits the control signals from the associated control signal file to the wearable electronic accessory. - View Dependent Claims (280, 281, 282, 283, 284, 285, 286)
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287. A system for exhibition of music enjoyment, comprising:
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a source of music signals;
a controller that generates control signals from the music signals;
a transmitter of the control signals, wherein the transmission of the control signals is synchronized with the playing of the music signals;
a receiver of the control signals; and
a transducer that responds to the control signals. - View Dependent Claims (288, 289, 290, 291, 292, 293, 294, 295, 296, 297, 298, 299, 300, 301, 302, 303, 304, 305, 306, 307, 308, 309, 310, 311, 312, 313, 314)
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315. A method for transferring a wearable-accessory control file stored on a first device to a second device in which an associated music file is stored, comprising:
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storing on the first device the name of the music file in conjunction with the control file with which it is associated;
requesting by the second device of the first device for a control file stored in conjunction with the name of the music file; and
transferring the control file from the first device to the second device, wherein the control file is stored on the second device in conjunction with the name of the associated music file. - View Dependent Claims (316, 317, 318, 319)
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320. A device for transmitting control signals to a wearable accessory receptive of such control signals, comprising:
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a manually-separable input connector for connecting to an output port of an audio player, wherein audio signals are conveyed from the audio player to the device across the connector;
a controller for generating control signals from the audio signals; and
a transmitter for transmitting the control signals. - View Dependent Claims (321, 322, 323, 324, 325, 326, 327, 328, 329)
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Specification