Low storage portable media player

• US 20070168540A1
• Filed: 01/04/2006
• Published: 07/19/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 01/04/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications USA Incorporated (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications USA Incorporated (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Hansson, Magnus
• Granted Patent: US 7,930,367 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/231
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/435 Filtering based on additional data, e.g. user or group profiles
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/4387 by the use of playlists
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/10 Indexing; Addressing; Timing or synchronising; Measuring tape travel
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/105 of operating discs

Abstract

A portable media player can play a large number of media files without being required to physically store all of the media files at any given time. In one implementation, the portable media player includes a memory to store a playlist that includes a plurality of entries succinctly representing media files and a media access manager component. The media access manager component receives media files referenced by entries in the playlist over one or more of a plurality of network connections. The media access manager component downloads the media files as they become available over the network connections based on policies preset on the portable media player and policies preset for the media files.

Claims

1. A portable media player comprising:

a memory to store a playlist that includes a plurality of entries identifying media files; and

a media access manager component configured to receive media files referenced by entries in the playlist over one or more of a plurality of network connections, the media access manager component downloading the media files over the network connections based on policies set on the portable media player and policies set for the media files.

2. The portable media player of claim 1, further comprising:

a storage component configured to store the downloaded media files, the storage component including less storage than a total storage of all the media files that are capable of being represented by the entries in the playlist.

3. The portable media player of claim 2, further comprising:

a network connectivity component configured to connect to other devices via the plurality of network connections.

4. The portable media player of claim 1, wherein the media access manager component downloads the media files as they become available over the network on an as-needed basis.

5. The portable media player of claim 1, wherein the policies are preset on the portable media player and include policies relating to minimum quality settings for the media files, account information settings relating to a user, or payment settings.

6. The portable media player of claim 1, wherein the media files include one of music files, video files, or files relating to streaming audio or video.

7. The portable media player of claim 1, wherein the plurality of network connections include at least two of traditional wired network portions, WiFi network connections, broadband wireless networks, Bluetooth connections, or mobile telephone network connections.

8. The portable media player of claim 1, wherein the media access manager component is additionally configured to upload media files to other portable media players.

9. The portable media player of claim 1, wherein each of the entries in the playlist further includes:

a media identification (ID) field that acts as a fingerprint for a corresponding media file; and

a user preference field to store the policies set on the portable media player.

10. A device comprising:

a network connectivity component configured to be capable of wirelessly connecting to a plurality of network connections; and

a media access manager component coupled to the network connectivity component and configured to manage downloading of desired media files over the plurality of network connections as the media files become available via one of the plurality of network connections.

11. The device of claim 10, further comprising:

a memory to store a playlist that includes a plurality of entries identifying the desired media files.

12. The device of claim 11, wherein the playlist is configurable by a user of the device.

13. The device of claim 11, further comprising:

a storage component configured to store the downloaded media files, the storage component including less storage than a total storage of all the media files that are identified by the playlist.

14. The device of claim 10, wherein the media access manager component downloads the media files as they become available over the network on an as-needed basis.

15. The device of claim 10, wherein the media access manager component downloads the media files in accordance with policies that include policies relating to minimum quality settings for the media files, account information settings relating to a user, or payment settings of the user.

16. The device of claim 10, wherein the media files include one of music files, video files, or files relating to streaming audio or video.

17. The device of claim 10, wherein the plurality of network connections include network connections comprise at least two of wired network portions, WiFi network connections, broadband wireless networks, Bluetooth connections, or mobile telephone network connections.

18. The device of claim 10, wherein the media access manager component is additionally configured to upload media files to devices connected via one of the plurality of network connections.

19. A method comprising:

scanning for the availability of at least one potential network connection;

determining whether a desired media file is available via an available network connection and whether policies associated with the desired media file are consistent with download of the desired media file; and

downloading the media file based on the determined availability of the desired media file and the policies.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the media files are downloaded as they become available over the network on an as-needed basis of a user.

21. The method of claim 19, wherein the policies includes policies relating to minimum quality settings for the media files, account information settings relating to a user, payment settings of the user, or digital rights management (DRM) information.

22. The method of claim 19, wherein the media file includes one of a music file, a video file, or a file relating to streaming audio or video.

23. The method of claim 19, wherein at least one potential network connection comprises traditional wired network portions, WiFi network connections, broadband wireless networks, Bluetooth connections, or mobile telephone network connections.

24. A device comprising:

means for scanning for the availability of a plurality of potential network connections;

means for determining whether a desired media file is available on an available network connection and whether policies associated with the desired media file are consistent with download of the desired media file; and

means for downloading the media file based on the determined availability of the desired media file and the policies