Method for establishing a default connection in network, and associated source and sink devices

• US 20050246409A1
• Filed: 06/27/2003
• Published: 11/03/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 06/28/2002
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Thomson Licensing SA (Vantiva SA)
• Original Assignee: Thomson Licensing SA (Vantiva SA)
• Inventors: Weber, Michael
• Application Number:
  US10/519,587
• Publication Number:
  US 20050246409A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/200
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2805 Home Audio Video Interoperability [HAVI] networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2809 indicating that an appliance service is present in a home automation network monitoring functionality H04L43/0817; discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services, H04L67/51
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/282 based on user interaction within the home receiver circuitry for displaying additional information being controlled by a remote control apparatus H04N21/42204
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/2849 Audio/video appliances

Abstract

A sink device for connection to a digital network comprising means for displaying a user interface for controlling a data source device connected to the network; characterized by: means for controlling network resource allocation and for automatically establishing, upon selection of a function of the source device by the user through the user interface, a connection between the data source device and the data sink device as default destination device of the connection, wherein said sink device has playback capability of the data of the source device.

Claims

1. Sink device for connection to a digital network (100) comprising

means for displaying a user interface for controlling a data source device connected to the network;

further comprising;

means for controlling network resource allocation and for automatically establishing, upon selection a function of the source device by the user through the user interface, a connection between the data source device and the data sink device as default destination device of the connection, wherein said sink device has playback capability of the data of the source device.

2. The device according to claim 1, wherein the connection is an isochronous transmission connection comprising allocation of a channel and of bandwidth.

3. The device according to claim 1, wherein the controlling means of the sink device carry out a check for an existing connection from the source device to another sink device, and in the affirmative, do not automatically set up the connection between the source device and the sink device.

4. The device according to one of the claim 1 wherein said function is a playback function.

5. The device according to claim 4, wherein said source device comprises a storage means for storing data to be transmitted, said storage means being responsive to controls for starting and stopping reading from the storage means.

6. The device according to one of the claim 1, wherein said function is a selection function of the source device.

7. The device according to claim 6, wherein said source device comprises a data generation means adapted to the continuous output of data.

8. The device according to claim 1, further comprising memory for storing software downloaded from the source device, wherein said software is adapted to control the automatic establishment of the connection between the source device and the sink device and wherein said user interface is derived from said software.

9. The device according to claim 8, wherein said software is a HAVi Havlet and the network is a HAVi network.

10. Method for setting up a data stream connection in a digital network comprising a source device and a sink device, said method comprising the steps of:

executing a user interface on the sink device;

selecting a function of the source device through the user interface;

establishing a connection for data transmission from the data source device to the data sink device as default destination device of the connection, wherein said sink device has playback capability of the data of the source device.

11. The method according to claim 10, further comprising the step of deriving the user interface from software downloaded by the sink device from the source device.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein the network is a HAVi network and the software is a HAVi Havlet.

13. The method according to claim 11, wherein the downloaded software controls the establishment of the connection.

14. The method according to claim 10, further comprising the step, prior to establishing the connection, of verifying the existence of a preexistent connection between the source device and a further sink device, and carrying of the connection establishment step only in the negative.

15. The method according to claim 10, wherein said function is a playback function, and said source device is a data storage device.

16. Data source device for connection to a communication network comprising at least one sink device, said data source device comprising software for downloading by a sink device, said software providing control functions of the data source device for access by a user through the sink device, wherein said software is adapted to the control of automatically establishing, upon selection of a data reproduction function by a user, a connection for transmission of data from the data source device to the sink device on which the reproduction function was selected.