Method and apparatus for selecting an audio track based upon audio excerpts

• US 20050254366A1
• Filed: 05/14/2004
• Published: 11/17/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 05/14/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Synaptics Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Synaptics Incorporated
• Inventors: Amar, Renaud
• Granted Patent: US 7,953,504 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 369/47.100
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 20/10 Digital recording or reproducing
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2020/10546 specifically adapted for audio data

Abstract

Methods, devices, systems and data structures are provided for selecting an audio track on a digital audio player. A user of a digital media player is able to select a desired audio track by listening to excerpts of various tracks until the desired track is identified. One exemplary technique for selecting a desired audio track accessible by a media player, for example, begins by sequentially providing a number of audio excerpts to the user, with each audio excerpt corresponding to a recognizable portion of an audio track. When the user hears an excerpt of a desired track, an indication is provided and the media player plays the desired audio track. The excerpt may be of any duration and may incorporate any portion of the audio track that is likely to be recognizable by the user.

Claims

1. A method of selecting a desired one of a plurality of audio tracks accessible by a media player, the method comprising the steps of:

sequentially providing a plurality of audio excerpts, wherein each of the plurality of audio excerpts corresponds to a recognizable portion of one of the plurality of audio tracks;

receiving an indication of a selected one of the plurality of audio excerpts associated with the desired audio track; and

playing the desired one of the plurality of audio tracks on the media player.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the providing step comprises sequencing at least a portion of the plurality of audio excerpts into an order.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the order is arranged according to a title of the audio track.

4. The method of claim 2 wherein the order is arranged according to an artist name for the audio track.

5. The method of claim 2 wherein the order is arranged according to a playback frequency of the audio track.

6. The method of claim 2 wherein the order is arranged according to a function of most-recently played audio tracks.

7. The method of claim 2 wherein the order corresponds to a human-defined playlist.

8. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of loading a subset of audio excerpts in a memory.

9. The method of claim 8 further comprising the step of modifying the subset of audio excerpts loaded in the memory while providing at least a portion of the subset of audio excerpts.

10. The method of claim 2 wherein the providing step further comprises advancing through the order in response to a user input.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein the advancing step comprises advancing in a forward direction through the order.

12. The method of claim 10 wherein the advancing step comprises advancing in a backward direction through the order.

13. The method of claim 10 further comprising the step of automatically advancing to a subsequent audio excerpt in the order if no user input is received.

14. The method of claim 2 wherein the providing step further comprises automatically advancing to a subsequent audio excerpt in the order if no user input is received.

15. The method of claim 1 wherein the providing step comprises cross-fading one of the plurality of audio excerpts into another of the plurality of audio excerpts.

16. The method of claim 1 wherein the providing step comprises providing a transitional sound between the audio excerpts.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein the transitional sound is configured to simulate the sound of tuning a radio.

18. The method of claim 1 wherein the playing step comprises playing the desired audio track from a beginning of the desired audio track.

19. The method of claim 1 wherein the playing step comprises playing the desired audio track from the recognizable portion corresponding to the selected audio excerpt.

20. The method of claim 1 wherein at least one of the plurality of audio excerpts corresponds to a repeated portion of the desired audio track.

21. The method of claim 20 wherein a repetition of the repeated portion in the desired audio track is temporally constrained.

22. The method of claim 20 wherein the at least one of the plurality of audio excerpts corresponds to a chorus section of the desired audio track.

23. The method of claim 1 wherein at least one of the plurality of audio excerpts corresponds to a portion of the desired audio track having the broadest instantaneous frequency spectrum.

24. The method of claim 1 wherein at least one of the plurality of audio excerpts corresponds to a portion of the desired audio track having the highest relative volume.

25. The method of claim 1 wherein at least one of the plurality of audio excerpts is distinct from the initial portion of the desired audio track.

26. The method of claim 1 wherein at least one of the plurality of audio excerpts is obtained from a remote server.

27. The method of claim 1 wherein the desired audio track is obtained from a remote server.

28. The method of claim 1 wherein the providing step comprises the step of decoding a header associated with one of the plurality of audio tracks to determine the audio excerpt of the audio track.

29. The method of claim 28 wherein the decoding step comprises determining a start point in the audio track for the audio excerpt.

30. The method of claim 28 wherein the decoding step comprises determining a duration for the audio excerpt.

31. The method of claim 28 wherein the decoding step comprises determining an end point for the audio excerpt.

32. The method of claim 1 wherein at least one of the plurality of audio tracks corresponds to at least two of the plurality of audio excerpts.

68. A digital storage medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon, wherein the instructions are configured to execute the method of claim 1.

33. A method of selecting a desired one of a plurality of tracks accessible by a media player, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving an indication of an indicated track of the plurality of tracks;

decoding a header associated with the indicated track to identify a recognizable portion of the indicated track, wherein the recognizable portion is distinct from the beginning of the indicated track;

storing an excerpt corresponding to the recognizable portion in a digital memory of the media player;

playing the excerpt of the indicated track from the digital memory; and

repeating the receiving and playing steps until the indicated track corresponds to the desired track.

34. The method of claim 33 wherein the repeating step further comprises repeating the decoding and storing steps until the indicated audio track corresponds to the desired audio track.

35. The method of claim 33 wherein the decoding and storing steps are performed in a batch processing manner to store a batch of excerpts in the memory.

36. The method of claim 35 further comprising the step of modifying the batch of excerpts stored in memory while playing at least a portion of the batch of audio excerpts.

37. The method of claim 33 further comprising the step of adjusting a playback speed of the excerpt in response to an input from a user.

38. The method of claim 33 further comprising the step of navigating within the excerpt in response to an input from a user.

69. A digital storage medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon, wherein the instructions are configured to execute the method of claim 33.

39. A method of transferring a digital audio track from a host to a media player, the method comprising the steps of:

determining a recognizable portion of the digital audio track;

creating a header associated with the digital audio track that includes an identifier of the recognizable portion; and

providing the digital audio track and the header to the media player from the host.

40. The method of claim 39 wherein the determining step comprises performing a spectrum analysis on the digital audio track to thereby identify the recognizable portion.

41. The method of claim 40 wherein the recognizable portion corresponds to a portion of the digital audio track with the broadest instantaneous frequency spectrum.

42. The method of claim 39 wherein the recognizable portion corresponds to a portion of the digital audio track with the greatest relative volume.

43. The method of claim 39 wherein the recognizable portion corresponds to a chorus of the digital audio track.

44. The method of claim 39 wherein the recognizable portion corresponds to a repeated pattern in the digital audio track.

45. The method of claim 44 wherein the repeated pattern is a lyrical pattern.

46. The method of claim 44 wherein the repeated pattern is a musical pattern.

47. The method of claim 44 wherein the repeated pattern is a digital pattern.

48. The method of claim 44 wherein the repeated pattern is temporally constrained.

49. The method of claim 39 wherein the recognizable portion corresponds to a portion of the digital audio track with the greatest information density.

50. The method of claim 49 wherein the information density is determined as a function of an amount of digital compressibility of the digital audio track.

51. The method of claim 40 wherein the determining step comprises obtaining an indication of the recognizable portion from a remote server.

52. The method of claim 40 wherein the determining step comprises obtaining an indication of the recognizable portion from a human.

70. A digital storage medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon, wherein the instructions are configured to execute the method of claim 39.

53. A device for playing a desired one of a plurality of audio tracks for a user, the device comprising:

a storage medium configured to store the plurality of audio tracks;

a memory configured to store a plurality of excerpts, wherein each of the plurality of excerpts corresponds to one of the plurality of audio tracks;

an input device configured to receive a user input and to provide a corresponding indication of the user input; and

a processor configured to sequentially play the plurality of excerpts stored in the memory, to receive and decode the indication of the user input from the input device to thereby identify a selected excerpt from the plurality of excerpts that is associated with the desired one of the plurality of audio tracks, and to play the desired one of the plurality of audio tracks associated with the selected excerpt from the storage medium.

54. The device of claim 53 wherein each of the plurality of excerpts corresponds to a recognizable portion of the corresponding audio track.

55. The device of claim 53 wherein at least one of the plurality of excerpts is distinct from the first portion of the corresponding audio track.

56. The device of claim 53 wherein the input device is a touch-sensitive device.

57. The device of claim 53 wherein the input device comprises a capacitive proximity sensor.

58. The device of claim 53 wherein the input device comprises a button.

59. The device of claim 53 further comprising an interface to a host computer.

60. The device of claim 59 wherein the processor is further configured to communicate with the host computer via the interface to transfer the plurality of audio tracks from the host computer to the storage medium.

61. The device of claim 59 wherein the processor is further configured to communicate with the host computer via the interface to transfer the plurality of audio excerpts from the host computer to the storage medium.

62. A device for playing a desired one of a plurality of audio tracks for a user, the device comprising:

means for storing the plurality of audio tracks;

means for storing a plurality of excerpts, wherein each of the excerpts comprises a recognizable portion of one of the plurality of audio tracks that is associated with the excerpt;

means for sequentially playing the plurality of excerpts for the listener;

means for receiving an indication from the user of a selected excerpt associated with the desired audio track; and

means for playing the desired audio track associated with the selected excerpt for the user.

63. A data structure associated with an audio track, the data structure comprising:

a data field configured to store audio data relating to the audio track; and

a header field configured to store metadata describing the audio data, wherein the metadata comprises an excerpt identifier referencing a recognizable portion of the audio track.

64. The data structure of claim 63 wherein the excerpt identifier comprises a starting point of the recognizable portion in the audio track.

65. The data structure of claim 63 wherein the excerpt identifier comprises an ending point of the recognizable portion in the audio track.

66. The data structure of claim 63 wherein the excerpt identifier comprises a duration of the recognizable portion in the audio track.

67. The data structure of claim 63 wherein the header field is a portion of an ID3 tag.