Portable Media Device and Method for Presenting Viewing Content During Travel

• US 20090228908A1
• Filed: 01/06/2009
• Published: 09/10/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 06/15/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Panasonic Avionics Corporation (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Panasonic Avionics Corporation (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Johnson, John Andrew, Sizelove, Steven Lee, Piquette, Brian, Collins, Ross, Werner, Karen Marie, Pannenbecker, Stefan, Haak, James Allen, Margis, Paul Anthony, Lundquist, Christopher Brian, Lee, Rand W., Taylor, Mark, Singleton, Gregory, Bamford, Drew Calvin, Bright, Scott, Petry, Sebastian Maximilian Johannes, Osias, Henry Sugito, Pong, Skooks, Mack, Christoph E.
• Granted Patent: US 8,037,500 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 725/6
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/516 connected to a local network, e.g. in a plane, hotel
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 11/0211 for record carriers apparatus, e.g. video recorders, tape players or CD players
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 11/0235 of flat type, e.g. LCD
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 11/0624 Arrangements of electrical connectors, e.g. for earphone, internet or electric supply
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/1012 to domains
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2109 Game systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2146 located in mass transportation means, e.g. aircraft, train or bus flight-deck installations for entertainment or communications B64D11/0015; arrangements specially adapted for transportation systems in broadcast systems H04H20/62; moving wireless networks H04W84/005
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2223 being a public access point, e.g. for downloading to or uploading from clients arrangements specially adapted to plural spots in a confined site in broadcast systems H04H20/63
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2543 Billing , e.g. for subscription services payment schemes, architectures or protocols G06Q20/00; e-commerce G06Q30/00; arrangements for billing for the use of broadcast information or broadcast-related information H04H60/21
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2665 Gathering content from different sources, e.g. Internet and satellite
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2743 Video hosting of uploaded data from client
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4122 additional display device, e.g. video projector digital output for controlling a plurality of local displays G06F3/1423
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4126 The peripheral being portable, e.g. PDAs or mobile phones
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/41407 embedded in a portable device, e.g. video client on a mobile phone, PDA, laptop constructional details of equipment or arrangements specially adapted for portable computer application G06F1/1626; arrangements specially adapted for mobile receivers in broadcast systems H04H20/57
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4223 Cameras H04N23/00 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/42684 Client identification by a unique number or address, e.g. serial number, MAC address, socket ID network arrangements, protocols or services for addressing or naming H04L61/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4408 involving video stream encryption, e.g. re-encrypting a decrypted video stream for redistribution in a home network
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44204 Monitoring of content usage, e.g. the number of times a movie has been viewed, copied or the amount which has been watched monitoring of user activities for profile generation for accessing a video database G06F16/739; protecting generic digital content where the protection is independent of the precise nature of the content G06F21/10; arrangements for monitoring the use made of the broadcast services in broadcast systems H04H60/31
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4424 Monitoring of the internal components or processes of the client device, e.g. CPU or memory load, processing speed, timer, counter or percentage of the hard disk space used error monitoring in general G06F11/30; arrangements for monitoring conditions of receiving stations in broadcast systems H04H60/32; diagnosis, testing or measuring for television receivers H04N17/04
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47211 for requesting pay-per-view content payment schemes payment architectures or payment protocols G06Q20/00, G07F
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47815 : Electronic shopping payment schemes, payment architectures or payment protocols for electronic shopping systems G06Q20/12
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6581 : Reference data, e.g. a movie identifier for ordering a movie or a product identifier in a home shopping application
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8126 : involving additional data, e.g. news, sports, stocks, weather forecasts
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/163 : by receiver means only
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17318 : Direct or substantially direct transmission and handling of requests
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 50/40 : Weight reduction

Abstract

A portable media device for use in cooperation with passenger entertainment systems installed in vehicles, such as automobiles and aircraft, and methods for manufacturing and using same. The portable media device is configured to communicate with one or more content sources, which provide viewing content and which may be proximate to, and/or remote from, the portable media device. Preferably being configured to wirelessly communicate with the content sources, the portable media device can select content from any available content source and can download and present the selected content in any conventional manner. The selected content can be streamed to the portable media device for contemporaneous presentation and/or stored by the portable media device for viewing at any time, including after disembarking the vehicle once travel is completed. As desired, the portable media device likewise can be configured to transmit appropriate upload content to the content sources.

Claims

1. A portable media device for presenting selected viewing content, comprising:

a communication interface for receiving viewing content;

a user interface for providing a content selection instruction and a content presentation instruction;

an audio system for audibly presenting an audio portion of the selected viewing content;

a video system for visually presenting a video portion of the selected viewing content;

a control system for selecting the selected viewing content from among the received viewing content in accordance with said content selection instruction and for controlling said audio and video presentation of the selected viewing content in accordance with said content presentation instruction; and

a device identification system for providing device identification data including device status information for said portable media device,

wherein a device management database system for maintaining a historical record for said portable media device updates said historical record in accordance with said device identification data and provides device configuration instructions for configuring said portable media device for future use, and

wherein a device management interface system provides said device identification data received from said portable media device to said device management database system and updates said device status information stored by said device identification system in accordance with said device configuration instructions provided by said device management database system.

2. The portable media device of claim 1, wherein said portable media device comprises a personal digital assistant.

3. The portable media device of claim 1, wherein the received viewing content includes entertainment content.

4. The portable media device of claim 3, wherein the entertainment content includes entertainment content selected from a group of entertainment content types consisting of satellite television programming and satellite radio programming.

5. The portable media device of claim 4, wherein the satellite television programming comprises live satellite television programming.

6. The portable media device of claim 1, wherein the viewing content is streamed to said communication interface.

7. The portable media device of claim 6, wherein said viewing content includes encrypted viewing content, said portable media device decrypting selected encrypted viewing content selected from said encrypted viewing content for presentation.

8. The portable media device of claim 1, wherein said communication interface comprises a wireless communication interface for supporting wireless communications.

9. The portable media device of claim 8, wherein said wireless communication interface supports wireless communications having a protocol type selected from a group of protocol standards consisting of Bluetooth, wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi), Ultra-Wideband (UWB), and IEEE 802.11.

10. The portable media device of claim 1, wherein said user interface comprises a graphical user interface.

11. The portable media device of claim 1, wherein said user interface includes a touchscreen.

12. The portable media device of claim 1, wherein said audio system includes a speaker system.

13. The portable media device of claim 1, wherein said audio system includes at least one audio port.

14. The portable media device of claim 1, wherein said audio system processes said audio portion of the selected viewing content to enhance a sound quality of said audio portion.

15. The portable media device of claim 14, wherein said audio system provides three-dimensional audio processing of said audio portion to simulate surround sound.

16. The portable media device of claim 14, wherein said audio system provides noise cancellation processing of said audio portion to cancel ambient noise.

17. The portable media device of claim 1, further comprising a device memory system for storing stored viewing content, wherein said audio system can audibly present an audio portion of the stored content, said video system can visually present a video portion of the stored content, and said control system can select the stored content in accordance with said content selection instruction and can control said audio and video presentation of the stored content in accordance with said content presentation instruction.

18. The portable media device of claim 17, wherein said memory system comprises a removable memory system.

19. The portable media device of claim 17, wherein said memory system comprises a personal memory device.

20. The portable media device of claim 17, wherein said device management interface system updates said stored viewing content stored on said device memory system in accordance with said at least one device configuration instruction received from said device management database system.

21. The portable media device of claim 1, further comprising a camera system for providing video content, wherein said video system can visually present said video content, and said control system can select said video content in accordance with said content selection instruction and can control said video presentation of said video content in accordance with said content presentation instruction.

22. The portable media device of claim 21, wherein said camera system comprises a moving picture camera system.

23. The portable media device of claim 1, wherein said portable media device communicates with a vehicle information system installed aboard a passenger vehicle.

24. The portable media device of claim 23, wherein the vehicle information system is installed aboard an aircraft.

25. A method for managing portable media devices, comprising:

providing a portable media device that presents selected viewing content elected from viewing content stored on a device memory system of said portable media device, said portable media device having a device identification system that provides device identification data including device status information for said portable media device and a video system that visually presents a video portion of the selected viewing content;

updating a historical record maintained for said portable media device in accordance with said device identification data;

providing at least one device configuration instruction for configuring said portable media device for future use; and

in accordance with said at least one device configuration instruction,

updating said viewing content stored on said device memory system; and

updating said device status information stored by said device identification system.

26. The method of claim 25, further comprising streaming the selected viewing content to said portable media device.

27. The method of claim 25, further comprising decrypting the selected viewing content for presentation.

28. The method of claim 25, wherein said step of providing said portable media device includes providing said portable media device that includes an audio system for audibly presenting an audio portion of the selected viewing content.

29. The method of claim 28, further comprising enhancing a sound quality of said audio portion via said audio system.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein said enhancing the sound quality of said audio portion includes performing at least one of three-dimensional audio processing of said audio portion to simulate surround sound and noise cancellation processing of said audio portion to cancel ambient noise.

31. The method of claim 25, further comprising:

updating a historical record maintained for said portable media device in accordance with said device identification data;

providing at least one device configuration instruction for configuring said portable media device for future use; and

in accordance with said at least one device configuration instruction,

updating said viewing content stored on said device memory system; and

updating said device status information stored by said device identification system.

32. A device management system for portable media devices configured for deployment on an aircraft, the system comprising:

a plurality of portable media devices, each portable media device for presenting selected viewing content selected from viewing content stored on a device memory system of said portable media device, said portable media device having a device identification system for providing device identification data including device status and tracking information for said portable media device;

a device management database system for maintaining a historical record for each said portable media device, said device management database system updating said historical record in accordance with said device identification data and providing at least one device configuration instruction for configuring said portable media device for future use;

a device management interface system for providing said device identification data received from said portable media device to said device management database system, said device management interface system updating said viewing content stored on said device memory system and updating said device status information stored by said device identification system each in accordance with said at least one device configuration instruction received from said device management database system; and

a device container configured to contain the plurality of portable media devices, the device container constructed such that the device identification system of each portable media device can communicate with the device management interface system when disposed within the device container, said device container comprising a container identification system configured to communicate with the device management interface system to provide information relating to each portable media device contained therein,

wherein said device management interface system and said device management database system are deployed at an airport terminal.

33. The device management system of claim 32, wherein said viewing content stored on said device memory system includes encrypted viewing content, said portable media device decrypting selected encrypted viewing content selected from said encrypted viewing content for presentation.

34. The device management system of claim 32, wherein said device memory system comprises a personal memory device for providing secure storage for said viewing content.

35. The device management system of claim 32, wherein said device identification system provides said device identification data to said device management interface system via a wireless communication channel.

36. The device management system of claim 35, wherein said device identification system comprises a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag system, and said device management interface system comprises a RFID reader/computer system.

37. The device management system of claim 36, wherein said device identification system comprises a passive RFID tag system.

38. The device management system of claim 32, further comprising a battery charging system for charging a battery system of said portable media device.

39. The device management system of claim 38, wherein said battery charging system charges said battery system while said device management interface system updates said viewing content and said device status information.

40. The device management system of claim 32, wherein said device management system supports commercial transactions initiated via said portable media device.

41. The device management system of claim 40, wherein payment information for said commercial transactions can be provided via said portable media device.

42. The device management system of claim 41, wherein said portable media device includes a credit card reader system, said payment information being provided via said credit card reader system or a user interface system, said payment information being provided via said user interface system.

43. The device management system of claim 41, wherein said portable media device includes said payment information with said device identification data during subsequent communications with said device management database system.

44. The device management system of claim 40, wherein said commercial transactions are selected from a group of commercial transactions consisting of activation of said portable media device, access to selected functionality of said portable media device, and access to said viewing content stored on said device memory system.

45. The device management system of claim 40, wherein said viewing content stored on said device memory system includes advertisement information for merchandise available for purchase and said commercial transactions include purchases of said merchandise.

46. A method for managing portable media devices configured for deployment on an aircraft, the method comprising:

providing a plurality of portable media devices, each portable media device for presenting selected viewing content selected from viewing content stored on a device memory system of said portable media device, said portable media device having a device identification system for providing device identification data including device status and tracking information for said portable media device;

containing the plurality of portable media devices in a device container, the device container constructed such that the device identification system of each portable media device can communicate with a device management interface system when disposed within the device container, the device container comprising a container identification system configured to communicate with the device management interface system to provide information relating to each portable media device contained therein;

updating a historical record maintained by the device management interface system for each portable media device in accordance with said device identification data;

providing at least one device configuration instruction by the device management interface system for configuring said portable media device for future use; and

in accordance with said at least one device configuration instruction, updating said viewing content stored on said device memory system; and

updating said device status information stored by said device identification system,

wherein said device management interface system and said device management database system are deployed at an airport terminal.

47. The method of claim 46, further comprising storing encrypted viewing content on said device memory system and decrypting selected encrypted viewing content selected from said encrypted viewing content for presentation.

48. The method of claim 46, further comprising providing said device memory system as a removable personal memory device for providing secure storage for said viewing content.

49. The method of claim 46, further comprising providing said device identification data from said device identification system to said device management interface system via a wireless communication channel.

50. The method of claim 49, wherein said providing said device memory system includes providing said device identification system that comprises a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag system, and wherein said containing the plurality of portable media devices in said device container includes providing said device management interface system that comprises a RFID reader/computer system.

51. The method of claim 50, wherein said providing said device identification system includes providing a passive RFID tag system.

52. The method of claim 50, wherein said providing said device identification system includes providing a device identification memory system for storing said device status information.

53. The method of claim 46, further comprising supporting commercial transactions initiated via said portable media device.

54. The method of claim 53, wherein said supporting commercial transactions initiated via said portable media device includes providing payment information for said commercial transactions via said portable media device.

55. The method of claim 54, wherein said supporting commercial transactions initiated via said portable media device includes providing said payment information via a credit card reader system or a user interface system.

56. The method of claim 54, wherein said supporting commercial transactions initiated via said portable media device includes providing said payment information with said device identification data during subsequent communications between said portable media device and said device management database system.

57. The method of claim 53, wherein said supporting commercial transactions initiated via said portable media device includes supporting selection of said commercial transactions from the group of commercial transactions consisting of activation of said portable media device, access to selected functionality of said portable media device, and access to said viewing content stored on said device memory system.

58. The method of claim 53, wherein said providing said plurality of portable media devices includes storing within said device memory system advertisement information for merchandise available for purchase and said commercial transactions include purchases of said merchandise.

59. An aircraft, comprising:

a fuselage and a plurality of passenger seats arranged within the fuselage; and

a vehicle information system, said vehicle information system coupled with said fuselage and comprising;

a head end system that provides overall system control functions for the vehicle information system and that communicates with a content source;

a content distribution system that distributes viewing content from the content source throughout said vehicle information system; and

a portable media device that presents selected viewing content and that communicates with said head end system via said content distribution system, said portable media device including;

a communication interface for receiving the viewing content;

a user interface for providing a content selection instruction and a content presentation instruction;

an audio system for audibly presenting an audio portion of the selected viewing content;

a video system for visually presenting a video portion of the selected viewing content;

a control system for selecting the selected viewing content from among the received viewing content in accordance with said content selection instruction and for controlling said audio and video presentation of the selected viewing content in accordance with said content presentation instruction; and

a device identification system for providing device identification data including device status information for said portable media device,

wherein a device management database system for maintaining a historical record for said portable media device updates said historical record in accordance with said device identification data and provides device configuration instructions for configuring said portable media device for future use, and

wherein a device management interface system provides said device identification data received from said portable media device to said device management database system and updates said device status information stored by said device identification system in accordance with said device configuration instructions provided by said device management database system.