System and method for combining memory resources for use on a personal network

• US 20060047843A1
• Filed: 07/09/2004
• Published: 03/02/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 07/09/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm Atheros Incorporated (Qualcomm, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm Atheros Incorporated (Qualcomm, Inc.)
• Inventors: Julia, Luc, Bing, Jehan, Le Nerriec, Yohan, Dubreuil, Jerome, Serghine, Maklouf
• Granted Patent: US 9,077,766 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/231
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/18513 Transmission in a satellite or space-based system
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2803 Home automation networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/4541 Directories for service discovery
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/104 Peer-to-peer [P2P] networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1046 Joining mechanisms
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1048 Departure or maintenance mechanisms
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1068 Discovery involving direct consultation or announcement among potential requesting and potential source peers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1076 Resource dissemination mechanisms or network resource keeping policies for optimal resource availability in the overlay network
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1078 Resource delivery mechanisms
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/303 Terminal profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/24 Negotiation of communication capabilities
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/30 Resource management for broadcast services

Abstract

A personal network may be established by interconnecting a plurality of satellites as part of the personal network. Each satellite may configured to communicate with one or more other satellites. On any given one of the plurality of satellites, data indicating a connectivity status for the one or more other satellites is automatically received, and information indicating a capability of the one or more other satellites is automatically received. The given satellite may be configured to enable at least one other corresponding satellite in the plurality of satellites to be made available for use, so that a capability of the at least one other corresponding satellite is made available for the given satellite.

Claims

1. A method for interconnecting a personal network, the method comprising:

identifying a plurality of network locations that form at least a part of personal network, wherein

the plurality of network locations includes one or more interconnected satellites;

defining a combined memory by linking memory provided at each of the plurality of network locations;

associating an action performed on a component with at least a first memory location in the combined memory, wherein the first memory location is remote from the component and accessible at least in part over the network; and

in response to the action being performed by the component, automatically causing data related to that action to be transmitted to and stored at the first memory location.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the component corresponds to a roaming device, and wherein the action corresponds to the roaming device receiving a media.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the roaming device is configured to communicate with one or more other satellites that form part of the personal network using a cellular network.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the action corresponds to an image being stored on the roaming device.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein the action corresponds to the roaming device receiving data corresponding to the media.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the action corresponds to the roaming device making and receiving an audio and/or video recording.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of detecting that the action was performed on the component, and then causing the component to transmit data relating to the action to be stored at the first memory location.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein further comprising the step of enabling the component to perform the steps of detecting that the action was performed on the component and data relating to the action to be stored at the first memory location.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the step of enabling the component includes providing the component with an application for performing the steps of detecting that the action was performed on the component and data relating to the action to be stored at the first memory location.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of defining a combined memory includes linking memory provided by a personal hard drive, a portable flash-memory device, a local-area network server, and an Internet memory account.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of identifying a plurality of network locations includes receiving a selection that specifies a website from which the user is able to store data.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of identifying a plurality of network locations includes receiving a selection from a user of the personal network that identifies one or more of a personal computer, cellular phone, personal digital assistant, digital video recorder, media center, or any other network-connected device.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of identifying a plurality of network locations includes receiving one or more user-selections for the plurality of devices for the personal network from a website.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein automatically causing data related to that action to be transmitted to and stored at the first memory location includes automatically sending data corresponding to or resulting from the action to the first memory location.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein defining a combined memory includes defining a directory comprising a plurality of nodes, wherein the plurality of nodes correspond to memory locations on the plurality of devices.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the step of associating an action performed on a component with at least a first memory location includes associating a component with at least a first node in the directory.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the step of associating an action performed on a component with at least a first memory location includes associating one of a satellite, application, or data type provided on the component with the first node.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein associating an action performed on a component with at least a first memory location in the combined memory includes associating a cellular phone receiving data corresponding to a captured image with the first memory location.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the first memory location corresponds to a folder for storing pictures on a user'"'"'s computer.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein the first memory location corresponds to a website where the user can store images.

21. The method of claim 1,-wherein the step identifying a plurality of network locations includes receiving a designation of individual network locations that are to comprise the personal network from a user of the personal network.

22. The method of claim 1, wherein the component corresponds to a satellite.

23. The method of claim 1, wherein the component corresponds to a device that is known to the personal network, but which does not include a satellite.

24. A method for interconnecting a personal network, the method comprising:

enabling a user to form the personal network by interconnecting a plurality of satellites that are

to form at least a part of the personal network;

identifying a plurality of network locations that form at least a part of the personal network,

wherein the plurality of network locations includes the plurality satellites connected to a network;

identifying a plurality of items that are selected by the user and provided at each of the plurality of network locations; and

providing an aggregate presentation of the plurality of items provided at each of the plurality of network locations to each of the one or more satellites;

25. The method of claim 24, wherein the step of providing an aggregate presentation is performed by linking a memory of each of the plurality of network locations.

26. The method of claim 24, further comprising the step of making each of the plurality of items accessible to each of the one or more satellites.

27. The method of claim 24, further comprising the steps of:

detecting a change in the plurality of items provided at each of the network locations; and

in response to detecting the change, altering the presentation of the plurality of items to reflect the change.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein the step of detecting the change in the plurality of items includes detecting that an item has been added, altered or deleted from one of the plurality of network locations.

29. The method of claim 24, further comprising the steps of:

detecting a change in the plurality of network locations; and

in response to detecting the change, altering the presentation of the plurality of items to reflect the change.

30. The method of claim 26, wherein the step of detecting the change in the plurality of items includes detecting that a network location has been added, altered or deleted from the personal network.

31. The method of claim 24, wherein the step of identifying a plurality of network locations includes identifying an Internet site on which one or more of the plurality of items are provided.

32. The method of claim 31, wherein the step of identifying a plurality of network locations includes identifying nodes of a home network.

33. The method of claim 32, wherein the step of identifying a plurality of network locations includes identifying a roaming device when the roaming device connects to the home network.

34. The method of claim 24, wherein the step of identifying a plurality of items includes identifying a plurality of media files.

35. The method of claim 24, wherein the step of identifying a plurality of items includes identifying a plurality of media sources.

36. The method of claim 35, wherein the step of identifying a plurality of media sources includes identifying, on the personal network a television reception source, a video camera, and an Internet streaming source.

37. The method of claim 35, wherein the step of identifying a plurality of items includes identifying a compilation comprising a set of images, one or more media sources, and one or more files containing recorded video and/or audio.

38. The method of claim 24, wherein the step of identifying a plurality of items includes identifying one or more applications.

39. The method of claim 24, wherein the step of identifying a plurality of items includes identifying one or more interfaces to other satellites.

40. The method of claim 33, wherein the roaming device has cellular phone capabilities, and connects to the personal network using a cellular network.

41. The method of claim 24, wherein the step of identifying a plurality of network locations includes identifying a node in a home network corresponding to a terminal configured to browse the Internet, and wherein the step of identifying a plurality of items includes identifying one or more content items from one or more web sites accessed by the terminal.

42. A method for interconnecting a personal network, the method comprising:

identifying a plurality of network locations that form at least a part of personal network, wherein

the plurality of network locations includes one or more satellites connected to a network;

associating with each satellite in the plurality of networks a set of data corresponding to a

capability of that satellite to handle data corresponding to network items;

defining a combined memory by linking memory provided at each of the plurality of network locations;

identifying a set of network items available at one or more of the plurality of network locations for access in the combined memory;

making the combined memory available to each of the plurality of satellites, so that each of the plurality of satellites has access to one or more of the network items;

upon receiving a request to have a particular network item consumed at least in part on a first satellite in the plurality of satellites, sending data to the first satellite in a manner that is based at least in part on the capability of the first satellite, wherein the data corresponds to the particular network item.

43. The method of claim 42, wherein the step of identifying a plurality of network locations includes identifying a local area network having one or more nodes.

44. The method of claim 43, wherein the local area network includes a home network.

45. The method of claim 43, wherein the step of identifying a plurality of network locations includes:

identifying a satellite having cellular phone capabilities; and

detecting when the satellite has access to the local area network.

46. The method of claim 42, wherein the step of associating with each satellite in the plurality of networks a set of data includes associating with each satellite a set of data that identifies one or more capabilities of that satellite selected from the group consisting of a processing capability, a memory availability, a type of memory, a display capability, and a bandwidth of a network connection of that satellite.

47. The method of claim 46, wherein the step of sending data to the first satellite in a manner that is based at least in part on the capability of the first satellite includes structuring the data so that the particular network item is formatted for the first satellite.

48. The method of claim 47, wherein the step of structuring the data includes compressing the data to accommodate a memory or the bandwidth of the first satellite.

49. The method of claim 47, wherein the step of structuring the data includes formatting the data to accommodate the display capability of the first satellite.

50. The method of claim 42, wherein the step of identifying a set of network items includes identifying one or more media files.

51. The method of claim 50, wherein the step of sending data to the first satellite includes streaming the one or more media files to the first satellite based at least in part on the bandwidth capability of the first satellite.

52. The method of claim 51, wherein first satellite includes cellular phone capabilities, and wherein the step of streaming the one or more media files includes streaming the one or more media files over a cellular network.

53. The method of claim 42, wherein the set of identifying one or more network items includes identifying a set of media resources selected from a group consisting of a video file, an audio file, a picture, and a source for receiving streaming media data.

54. The method of claim 42, wherein the set of identifying one or more network items includes identifying one or more of a set of documents, applications, or interfaces to network locations.

55. The method of claim 42, further comprising the step of providing a search interface to enable a user of the personal network to locate one or more network items in the set using a search criteria.

56. A method for providing information about media on a personal network, the method comprising:

interconnecting a plurality of satellites that are each to be a part of the personal network, so that each satellite in the plurality of satellites includes one or more corresponding satellites that can communicate with one or more other satellites residing on other satellites;

configuring at least one satellite in the plurality of satellites to receive data corresponding to a plurality of media programs provided over one or more channels from one or more external media programming sources, wherein each media program in the plurality of media programs is provided on a corresponding channel and according to a corresponding schedule;

receiving input from a user identifying one or more media programs of interest;

making available on each of the plurality of satellites a schedule that focuses on the one or more media programs of interest, including an indication of the corresponding schedule and channel of each media program of interest.

57. The method of claim 56, wherein the one or more external video programming sources include a video programming source selected from a group consisting of a cable television feed, a satellite television feed, a satellite radio feed, or an Internet television site.

58. The method of claim 56, wherein the step of making available in each of the plurality of satellites a schedule that focuses on the one or more media programs includes listing only the media programs of interest in the schedule.

59. The method of claim 56, wherein the step of interconnecting a plurality of satellites that are each to be a part of the personal network includes configuring a roaming satellite to interconnect with the plurality of satellites over a public, wide-area network at any time.

60. The method of claim 59, wherein the roaming satellite corresponds to a satellite with cellular phone capabilities that uses in-part a cellular network to connect to interconnect with the plurality of satellites.

61. The method of claim 56, further comprising the step of enabling the user to view a complete schedule of the media programs in order to receive the input.

62. The method of claim 56, further comprising the steps of:

detecting a change in the media programs of interest of the user;

automatically updating the schedule that focuses on the one or more media programs of interest; and

automatically making the updated schedule available to the plurality of interconnected satellites.

63. The method of claim 57, further comprising the step of presenting the schedule as an interface that can be configured for display on anyone of the plurality of satellites.

64. The method of claim 63, further comprising the step of including in the interface one or more identifiers to other media resources on the plurality of satellites.

65. The method of claim 64, further comprising receiving a user-designation of what other media resources are to be identified by the one or more identifiers in the interface.

66. The method of claim 65, wherein the other media resources include media selected from the group consisting of audio files, video files, and pictures.

67. A computer-readable medium carrying instructions for interconnecting a personal network, wherein the instructions, when executed by one or more processors, perform steps comprising:

identifying a plurality of network locations that form at least a part of personal network, wherein the plurality of network locations includes one or more interconnected satellites;

defining a combined memory by linking memory provided at each of the plurality of network locations;

associating an action performed on a component with at least a first memory location in the combined memory, wherein the first memory location is remote from the component and accessible at least in part over the network; and

in response to the action being performed by the component, automatically causing data related to that action to be transmitted to and stored at the first memory location.

68. A system for interconnecting a personal network, the system comprising:

means for identifying a plurality of network locations that form at least a part of personal network, wherein the plurality of network locations includes one or more interconnected satellites;

means for defining a combined memory by linking memory provided at each of the plurality of network locations;

means for associating an action performed on a component with at least a first memory location in the combined memory, wherein the first memory location is remote from the component and accessible at least in part over the network; and

wherein in response to the action being performed by the component, the system further comprises means for automatically causing data related to that action to be transmitted to and stored at the first memory location.