Disk jockey streaming sessions

• US 20080109550A1
• Filed: 11/03/2006
• Published: 05/08/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 11/03/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Tedesco, Megan Lesley, Asmi, Yasser, Lichtenstein, Craig, Henshaw, Jeffrey David
• Granted Patent: US 8,868,763 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/228
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/612 for unicast
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/613 for the control of the source by the destination control signals issued by the client directed to the server or network components specially adapted for selective content distribution H04N21/637

Abstract

A media player may stream media content, such as music, to other media players over a data network connection, for example, a WiFi/802.11 connection. An encounter object may be used to keep a record of each media object transmitted. The encounter object may include information about the transmission itself, such as a date and time when the media object was transmitted and the source and destination media players involved. The encounter object may also include metadata about the media object, such as genre, album, title, and artist, if the media object is a song. The DJ session may also support user interaction, such as sharing library listings, suggesting next plays (requests), and polls.

Claims

1. A method of sharing media between a source device and a receiving device comprising:

identifying at least one receiving device capable of bidirectional communication;

creating a bidirectional communication link with the at least one receiving device;

establishing a streaming session with the at least one receiving device over the bidirectional communication link;

streaming media content to the at least one receiving device over the streaming session;

creating an encounter entry for each media content item streamed to the at least one receiving device during the session, the encounter entry comprising a date and time, an identifier of the at least one receiving device, and media content metadata.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the media content metadata comprises a genre, an album, a title, and an artist identifiers.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein creating an encounter entry comprises creating an encounter entry having an item identifier, a box identifier, a media item handle, an event type, a date/time, a read flag, folder identifier for use during synchronization, an object identifier, a sort key, and a hidden property flag.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving a suggested media content item for streaming from a receiving device.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

sending a playlist of available media content to the at least one receiving device; and

receiving a suggested playlist selection from a receiving device.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a suggested media content item from a receiving device for streaming to the at least one receiving device over the streaming session.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a rating corresponding to a particular media content item streamed over the streaming session;

transmitting the rating over the streaming session.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

sending at least a portion of the encounter entry for each media content item streamed to the at least one receiving device during the session to a companion device during a synchronization operation.

9. A method of sharing media between a source device and a receiving device comprising:

identifying a source device capable of two-way communication;

creating a bidirectional communication link with the source device;

establishing a streaming session with the source device over the bidirectional communication link;

receiving streamed media content from the source device over the streaming session;

creating an encounter entry for each media content item streamed from the source device during the session, the encounter entry comprising a date and time, an identifier of the source device, and media content metadata.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the media content metadata comprises a genre, an album, a title, and an artist identifiers.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein creating an encounter entry comprises creating an encounter entry having an item identifier, a box identifier, a media item handle, an event type, a date/time, a read flag, a folder identifier for use during synchronization, an object identifier, a sort key, and a hidden property flag.

12. The method of claim 9, further comprising receiving a suggested media content item from a receiving device for streaming from the source device.

13. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

sending a playlist of available media content to the at least one receiving device; and

receiving a suggested playlist selection from a receiving device.

14. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

receiving a suggested media content item from a receiving device for streaming to the at least one receiving device over the streaming session.

15. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

receiving a rating corresponding to a particular media content item streamed over the streaming session;

transmitting the rating over the streaming session.

16. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

sending at least a portion of the encounter entry for each media content item streamed from the source device during the session to a companion device during a synchronization operation.

17. A media player comprising:

a bidirectional port having a one-to-many streaming mode;

a user interface including a display and input capture device;

a memory for storing a plurality of media content items; and

a computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions comprising;

a communication module interfaced to the bidirectional port for identifying a source device capable of two-way communication;

an inbound session module coupled to the communication module for creating and managing an inbound data session with the source device;

a playback module for playing media content streamed from the source device; and

an inbound content management module for creating a first set of records having one inbound record for every media content streamed from the source device, each inbound record including a date and time, an identifier of the source device, and media content metadata.

18. The media player of claim 17, wherein the bidirectional port is a is one of a radio and a Ethernet connection.

19. The media player of claim 17, wherein the computer-readable medium has further computer-executable instructions comprising:

a outbound session module for establishing an outbound data session with a receiving media device;

a transmission module for streaming one or more of the plurality of media content items over the outbound data session; and

an outbound content management module for creating a second set of records having one outbound record for each media content streamed from the source device, the record including a date and time, an identifier of the source device, and media content metadata.

20. The media player of claim 17, wherein the computer-readable medium has further computer-executable instructions comprising:

a streaming session user interface module supporting text communication between the media player and the source device during the inbound data session.