Media device with intelligent cache utilization
First Claim
1. A method for operating a media device having a cache memory as well as a disk drive for storage of media data for media items, said method comprising:
- receiving a selection of a particular media item to be presented by the media device, the particular media item being one of a plurality of media items organized in a sequential list;
loading, in response to the selection, at least a portion of the media data for the particular media item retrieved from the disk storage to the cache memory;
loading, in response to the selection, initial portions of media data for a plurality of sequentially adjacent media items from the sequential list with respect to the particular media item; and
thereafter loading remaining portions of media data for a subset of the plurality of the sequentially adjacent media items from the sequential list.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A portable media device and a method for operating a portable media device are disclosed. According to one aspect, a battery-powered portable media device can manage use of a mass storage device to efficiently utilize battery power. By providing a cache memory and loading the cache memory so as to provide skip support, battery power for the portable media device can be conserved (i.e., efficiently consumed). According to another aspect, a portable media device can operate efficiently in a seek mode. The seek mode is an operational mode of the portable media device in which the portable media device automatically scans through media items to assist a user in selecting a desired one of the media items.
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Citations
30 Claims
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1. A method for operating a media device having a cache memory as well as a disk drive for storage of media data for media items, said method comprising:
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receiving a selection of a particular media item to be presented by the media device, the particular media item being one of a plurality of media items organized in a sequential list; loading, in response to the selection, at least a portion of the media data for the particular media item retrieved from the disk storage to the cache memory; loading, in response to the selection, initial portions of media data for a plurality of sequentially adjacent media items from the sequential list with respect to the particular media item; and thereafter loading remaining portions of media data for a subset of the plurality of the sequentially adjacent media items from the sequential list. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A method for operating a media device having a cache memory as well as a disk drive for storage of media data for media items, said method comprising:
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receiving a selection of a particular media item to be presented by the media device, the particular media item being one of a plurality of media items organized in a sequential list; loading, in response to the selection, at least a portion of the media data for the particular media item retrieved from the disk storage to the cache memory; loading, in response to the selection, complete media data for a plurality of sequentially adjacent media items from the sequential list with respect to the particular media item; and loading, in response to the selection, only initial media data for a plurality of other sequentially adjacent media items from the sequential list. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method for operating a media device having a first memory as well as a mass storage device for storage of media data for media items, said method comprising:
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receiving a user play selection for a selected media item from the media items; determining an amount or degree of skip support to be provided by the media device; determining media data to be stored in the first memory based on the user play selection and the amount or degree of skip support; and loading the determined media data into the first memory from the mass storage device. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A method for operating a media device having a cache memory as well as a disk drive for storage of media data for media items, said method comprising:
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receiving a user play selection for a selected media item from the media items; determining whether media data for the selected media item is contained in the cache memory; when it is determined that the media data for the selected media item is not contained in the cache memory, determining a media data set to be stored in the cache memory; and loading the media data set into the cache memory; retrieving the media data for the selected media item from the cache memory; initiating playing of the retrieved media data; receiving a user skip selection for another media item from the media items; determining whether media data for the another media item is contained in the cache memory; when it is determined that the media data for the another media item is not contained in the cache memory, determining another media data set to be stored in the cache memory; and loading the another media data set into the cache memory; retrieving the media data for the another media item from the cache memory; and initiating playing of the retrieved media data. - View Dependent Claims (22)
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23. A computer readable medium including at least computer program code for operating a media device having a first memory as well as a mass storage device for storage of media data for media items, said computer readable medium comprising:
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computer program code for receiving a user play selection for a selected media item from the media items; computer program code for determining an amount or degree of skip support to be provided by the media device; computer program code for determining media data to be stored in the first memory based on the user play selection and the amount or degree of skip support; and computer program code for loading the determined media data into the first memory from the mass storage device. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25)
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26. A consumer electronics product, comprising:
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a storage disk that stores a plurality of media items; a user input device that enables a user of said consumer electronics product to at least select a particular media item from the plurality of media items; a cache memory capable of storing at least one of the media items; and a processor operatively connected to said storage disk, said user input device and said cache memory, said processor causes said cache memory to support a series of skip selections by the user via said user input device, wherein in supporting the skip selection said processor causes said cache memory to, in advance of the skip selections, store only initial portions of a plurality of media items other than the particular media item that correspond to the skip selections. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30)
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Specification