Digital personal assistance via a broadband access gateway

• US 20050233743A1
• Filed: 03/30/2005
• Published: 10/20/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 04/16/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Avago Technologies International Sales Pte Limited (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Broadcom Corporation (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Inventors: Seshadri, Nambirajan, Abrams, Marc, Karaoguz, Jeyhan
• Granted Patent: US 7,853,255 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/432.300
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/27 Arrangements for recording or accumulating broadcast information or broadcast-related information
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1026 at the edge
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1073 Registration or de-registration
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1101 Session protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/4038 with floor control
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/765 intermediate
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/80 Responding to QoS
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/18 Processing of user or subscriber data, e.g. subscribed services, user preferences or user profiles; Transfer of user or subscriber data
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/12 WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/16 Gateway arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 92/02 Inter-networking arrangements

Abstract

A system and method supporting access, coordination, modification, updating, and management of multiple sources of multimedia information resident on a plurality of access devices is disclosed. A broadband access gateway may support applications that perform user services involving multiple sources of multimedia information across a network by acting as a focal point for access to multimedia information related to the applications. Using information that identifies such sources, the broadband access gateway may coordinate modification of one or more multimedia information sources based upon the content of other related sources of multimedia information. One such application may include the coordination of calendars for the planning of a meeting involving multiple participants. A representative embodiment of the present invention may identify available meeting dates and times, and the placement of reservations for appropriate travel accommodations using services accessible to the broadband access gateway via a broadband network.

Claims

1. A system supporting digital personal assistance functionality for a plurality of access devices, the system comprising:

a gateway communicatively coupled to a broadband network and at least one wireless interface, the gateway capable of selectively exchanging multimedia information among the at least one wireless interface and the broadband network, and of communicating with the plurality of access devices via the at least one wireless interface;

the gateway capable of collecting, from at least a portion of the plurality of access devices, information describing available multimedia information;

the gateway capable of receiving a request from one of the plurality of access devices, the request identifying at least one of;

a service to be performed and at least two sources of multimedia information to be used in the performance of the service, the at least two sources of multimedia information residing on different ones of the plurality of access devices; and

the gateway capable of initiating the requested service using the identified at least two sources of multimedia information.

2. The system according to claim 1 wherein multimedia information comprises at least one of:

streaming video, broadcast video, voice, digital data, text, digitized audio, digitized still images, digitized video, and digitized music.

3. The system according to claim 1 wherein the at least one wireless interface is compliant with the Bluetooth V1.2 or compatible personal area network (PAN) specification.

4. The system according to claim 1 wherein the at least one wireless interface communicates using an unlicensed frequency band.

5. The system according to claim 1 wherein the at least one wireless interface communicates at a frequency of approximately 2.4 gigahertz.

6. The system according to claim 1 wherein the at least one wireless interface is compliant with at least one of:

the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, and 802.11n standards.

7. The system according to claim 1 wherein the broadband network comprises at least one of:

a digital subscriber line (DSL) network, a cable network, a satellite network, a cellular network, and the Internet.

8. The system according to claim 7 wherein the cellular network comprises at least one of:

a global system for mobile communications (GSM) network, a time division multiple access (TDMA) network, a code division multiple access (CDMA) network, and a universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS) network.

9. The system according to claim 1, further comprising:

the gateway capable of receiving from at least one of the plurality of access devices, at least one of;

information identifying an access device and information identifying a user.

10. The system according to claim 9 wherein the information identifying an access device comprises at least one of:

an electronic serial number, an Internet protocol (IP) address, a media access control (MAC) address, a directory number, an International Mobile Station Identifier (IMSI) address, a Mobile Identification Number (MIN) address, information identifying a make of an access device, and information identifying a model of an access device.

11. The system according to claim 9 wherein the information identifying a user comprises at least one of:

a member identifier, a user name, an administrative identifier, and a credit card number.

12. The system according to claim 1 wherein the plurality of access devices comprises at least one of:

a mobile multimedia handset, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a personal computer (PC), a digital scanner, a digital camera, a printer, headphones, and a pointing device.

13. The system according to claim 1 wherein at least a portion of the service is performed by an entity accessible via the broadband network.

14. The system according to claim 1 wherein the service comprises at least one of:

scheduling a meeting, arranging for transportation, and placing a hotel reservation.

15. A method for supporting digital personal assistance functionality for a plurality of access devices via a broadband access gateway, the method comprising:

collecting, from at least a portion of the plurality of access devices, information describing available multimedia information;

receiving a request from one of the plurality of access devices, the request identifying at least one of;

a service to be performed and at least two sources of multimedia information to be used in the performance of the service, the at least two sources of multimedia information residing on different ones of the plurality of access devices; and

initiating the requested service using the identified at least two sources of multimedia information.

16. The method according to claim 15 wherein multimedia information comprises at least one of:

streaming video, broadcast video, voice, digital data, text, digitized audio, digitized still images, digitized video, and digitized music.

17. The method according to claim 15 further comprising:

exchanging multimedia information among at least one wireless interface and a broadband network.

18. The method according to claim 17 wherein the at least one wireless interface is compliant with the Bluetooth V1.2 or compatible personal area network (PAN) specification.

19. The method according to claim 17 wherein the at least one wireless interface communicates using an unlicensed frequency band.

20. The method according to claim 17 wherein the at least one wireless interface communicates at a frequency of approximately 2.4 gigahertz.

21. The method according to claim 17 wherein the at least one wireless interface is compliant with at least one of:

the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, and 802.11n standards.

22. The method according to claim 17 wherein the broadband network comprises at least one of:

a digital subscriber line (DSL) network, a cable network, a satellite network, a cellular network, and the Internet.

23. The method according to claim 22 wherein the cellular network comprises at least one of:

a global system for mobile communications (GSM) network, a time division multiple access (TDMA) network, a code division multiple access (CDMA) network, and a universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS) network.

24. The method according to claim 15, further comprising:

receiving from at least one of the plurality of access devices, at least one of;

information identifying an access device and information identifying a user.

25. The method according to claim 24 wherein the information identifying an access device comprises at least one of:

an electronic serial number, an Internet protocol (IP) address, a media access control (MAC) address, a directory number, an International Mobile Station Identifier (IMSI) address, a Mobile Identification Number (MIN) address, information identifying a make of an access device, and information identifying a model of an access device.

26. The method according to claim 24 wherein the information identifying a user comprises at least one of:

a member identifier, a user name, an administrative identifier, and a credit card number.

27. The method according to claim 15 wherein the plurality of access devices comprises at least one of:

a mobile multimedia handset, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a personal computer (PC), a digital scanner, a digital camera, a printer, headphones, and a pointing device.

28. The method according to claim 15 wherein at least a portion of the service is performed by an entity accessible via a broadband network.

29. The method according to claim 15 wherein the service comprises at least one of:

scheduling a meeting, arranging for transportation, and placing a hotel reservation.

30. A machine-readable storage, having stored thereon a computer program having a plurality of code sections for operating a gateway supporting digital personal assistance functionality for a plurality of access devices, the code sections executable by a machine for causing the machine to perform the operations comprising:

collecting, from at least a portion of the plurality of access devices, information describing available multimedia information;

receiving a request from one of the plurality of access devices, the request identifying at least one of;

a service to be performed and at least two sources of multimedia information to be used in the performance of the service, the at least two sources of multimedia information residing on different ones of the plurality of access devices; and

initiating the requested service using the identified at least two sources of multimedia information.

31. The machine-readable storage according to claim 30 wherein multimedia information comprises at least one of:

streaming video, broadcast video, voice, digital data, text, digitized audio, digitized still images, digitized video, and digitized music.

32. The machine-readable storage according to claim 30 wherein the code sections executable by a machine further causing the machine to perform the operations comprising:

exchanging multimedia information among at least one wireless interface and a broadband network.

33. The machine-readable storage according to claim 32 wherein the at least one wireless interface is compliant with the Bluetooth V1.2 or compatible personal area network (PAN) specification.

34. The machine-readable storage according to claim 32 wherein the at least one wireless interface communicates using an unlicensed frequency band.

35. The machine-readable storage according to claim 32 wherein the at least one wireless interface communicates at a frequency of approximately 2.4 gigahertz.

36. The machine-readable storage according to claim 32 wherein the at least one wireless interface is compliant with at least one of:

the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, and 802.11n standards.

37. The machine-readable storage according to claim 32 wherein the broadband network comprises at least one of:

a digital subscriber line (DSL) network, a cable network, a satellite network, a cellular network, and the Internet.

38. The machine-readable storage according to claim 37 wherein the cellular network comprises at least one of:

a global system for mobile communications (GSM) network, a time division multiple access (TDMA) network, a code division multiple access (CDMA) network, and a universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS) network.

39. The machine-readable storage according to claim 30 wherein the code sections executable by a machine further causing the machine to perform the operations comprising:

receiving from at least one of the plurality of access devices, at least one of;

information identifying an access device and information identifying a user.

40. The machine-readable storage according to claim 39 wherein the information identifying an access device comprises at least one of:

an electronic serial number, an Internet protocol (IP) address, a media access control (MAC) address, a directory number, an International Mobile Station Identifier (IMSI) address, a Mobile Identification Number (MIN) address, information identifying a make of an access device, and information identifying a model of an access device.

41. The machine-readable storage according to claim 39 wherein the information identifying a user comprises at least one of:

a member identifier, a user name, an administrative identifier, and a credit card number.

42. The machine-readable storage according to claim 30 wherein the plurality of access devices comprises at least one of:

a cellular phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a personal computer (PC), a digital scanner, a digital camera, a printer, headphones, and a pointing device.

43. The machine-readable storage according to claim 30 wherein at least a portion of the service is performed by an entity accessible via a broadband network.

44. The machine-readable storage according to claim 30 wherein the service comprises at least one of:

scheduling a meeting, arranging for transportation, and placing a hotel reservation.

45. A system supporting the identification of social networks of users of a plurality of access devices, the system comprising:

a gateway communicatively coupled to a broadband network and at least one wireless interface, the gateway capable of selectively exchanging multimedia information among the at least one wireless interface and the broadband network, and of communicating with the plurality of access devices via the at least one wireless interface;

the gateway capable of receiving from at least one of the plurality of access devices, information identifying at least one of;

an access device and a user;

the gateway capable of collecting access statistics based upon the identified at least one of;

an access device and a user, and associated accessed multimedia information; and

the gateway capable of associating at least a first user and a second user based upon the access statistics and at least one threshold.

46. The system according to claim 45 wherein multimedia information comprises at least one of:

streaming video, broadcast video, voice, digital data, text, digitized audio, digitized still images, digitized video, and digitized music.

47. The system according to claim 45 wherein the at least one wireless interface communicates at a frequency of approximately 2.4 gigahertz.

48. The system according to claim 45 wherein the broadband network comprises at least one of:

a digital subscriber line (DSL) network, a cable network, a satellite network, a cellular network, and the Internet.

49. The system according to claim 45 wherein the information identifying an access device comprises at least one of:

an electronic serial number, an Internet protocol (IP) address, a media access control (MAC) address, a directory number, an International Mobile Station Identifier (IMSI) address, a Mobile Identification Number (MIN) address, information identifying a make of an access device, and information identifying a model of an access device.

50. The system according to claim 45 wherein the information identifying a user comprises at least one of:

a member identifier, a user name, an administrative identifier, and a credit card number.

51. The system according to claim 45 wherein the plurality of access devices comprises at least one of:

a mobile multimedia handset, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a personal computer (PC), a digital scanner, a digital camera, a printer, headphones, and a pointing device.

52. The system according to claim 45 wherein the associated users are provided at least one of:

services and information, different from a non-associated user.