METHODS, DEVICES, AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCTS FOR REMOTELY CONTROLLING OPERATIONS OF DIGITAL MEDIA DEVICES USING A MOBILE TERMINAL

• US 20090268754A1
• Filed: 04/28/2008
• Published: 10/29/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 04/28/2008
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Tham, Krister Erik, Munchmeyer, John Gunnar Andreas, Palm, Nils Erik Ola, Larsson, Lars Niklas, Hansson, Anders
• Application Number:
  US12/110,858
• Publication Number:
  US 20090268754A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/466
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/125 involving control of end-device applications over a network
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/565 Conversion or adaptation of application format or content adding application control or application functional data H04L67/561
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/5651 Reducing the amount or size of exchanged application data
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/08 Protocols for interworking; Protocol conversion
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/085 specially adapted for interworking of IP-based networks with other networks

Abstract

A method of controlling operations of a plurality of digital media devices on a network that are configured to communicate using a first communications protocol includes establishing a wireless connection between a mobile terminal and a digital media control point device. The digital media control point device is configured to communicate with the plurality of digital media devices via the network using the first communications protocol. A command to control an operation of at least one of the plurality of digital media devices is transmitted from the mobile terminal and is received at the digital media control point device via the wireless connection using a second communications protocol that is different from the first communications protocol. The received command is correlated to a corresponding command in accordance with the first communications protocol, and is transmitted to the at least one of the plurality of digital media devices via the network using the first communications protocol. Data from the at least one of the plurality of digital media devices is received at the digital media control point device via the network using the first communications protocol, and at least a portion of the data is transmitted to the mobile terminal via the wireless connection using the second communications protocol. Related devices and computer program products are also discussed.

Claims

1. A method of controlling operations of a plurality of digital media devices on a network that are configured to communicate using a first communications protocol, the method comprising:

establishing a wireless connection between a mobile terminal and a digital media control point device that is configured to communicate with the plurality of digital media devices via the network using the first communications protocol; and

transmitting a command to control an operation of at least one of the plurality of digital media devices from the mobile terminal to the digital media control point device via the wireless connection using a second communications protocol that is different from the first communications protocol.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the mobile terminal is not configured for communication using the first communications protocol.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the first and second communications protocols correspond to a same layer of an Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model, and wherein the second communications protocol comprises a reduced set of commands in comparison to that of the first communications protocol.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein transmitting the command comprises:

transmitting the command to the digital media control point using an application program interface (API) based on the second communications protocol, wherein the second communications protocol comprises commands that correlate to commands defined by the first communications protocol.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the first communications protocol comprises a Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA)-compliant application layer protocol, and wherein the second communications protocol comprises a non-DLNA-compliant application layer protocol.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, at the mobile terminal, data from the digital media control point device via the wireless connection using the second communications protocol in response to transmitting the command.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, at the digital media control point device, the command from the mobile terminal via the wireless connection using the second communications protocol;

correlating the received command to a corresponding command in accordance with the first communications protocol; and

transmitting the corresponding command to the at least one of the plurality of digital media devices via the network using the first communications protocol.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

receiving, at the digital media control point device, data from the at least one of the plurality of digital media devices via the network using the first communications protocol in response to transmitting the corresponding command;

extracting a portion of the received data; and

transmitting the portion of the received data from the digital media control point device to the mobile terminal via the wireless connection using the second communications protocol in response to receiving the command.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of digital media devices comprises at least one digital media server (DMS) configured to store digital media content and/or at least one digital media renderer (DMR) configured to render the digital media content on an output device.

10. A method for controlling operations of a plurality of digital media devices on a network that are configured to communicate using a first communications protocol, the method comprising:

establishing a wireless connection between a digital media control point device and a mobile terminal, the digital media control point device being configured to communicate with the plurality of digital media devices via the network using the first communications protocol;

receiving, at the digital media control point device, a command to control an operation of at least one of the plurality of digital media devices from the mobile terminal via the wireless connection using a second communications protocol that is different from the first communications protocol;

correlating the received command to a corresponding command in accordance with the first communications protocol; and

transmitting the corresponding command to the at least one of the plurality of digital media devices via the network using the first communications protocol.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the first and second communications protocols correspond to a same layer of an Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model, and wherein the second communications protocol comprises a reduced set of commands in comparison to that of the first communications protocol.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein receiving the command comprises:

receiving the command from the mobile terminal using an application program interface (API) based on the second communications protocol, wherein the second communications protocol comprises commands that correlate to commands defined by the first communications protocol.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the first communications protocol comprises a Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA)-compliant application layer protocol, and wherein the second communications protocol comprises a non-DLNA-compliant application layer protocol.

14. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

receiving, at the digital media control point device, data from the at least one of the plurality of digital media devices via the network using the first communications protocol in response to transmitting the corresponding command;

extracting a portion of the received data; and

transmitting the portion of the received data from the digital media control point device to the mobile terminal via the wireless connection using the second communications protocol in response to receiving the command.

15. The method of claim 11, wherein the plurality of digital media devices comprises at least one digital media server (DMS) configured to store digital media content and/or at least one digital media renderer (DMR) configured to render the digital media content on an output device.

16. A mobile terminal, comprising:

a wireless transceiver configured to establish a wireless connection with a digital media control point device that is configured to communicate with a plurality of digital media devices via a network using a first communications protocol; and

a controller configured to transmit a command to control an operation of at least one of the plurality of digital media devices to the digital media control point device via the wireless connection using a second communications protocol that is different from the first communications protocol.

17. The mobile terminal of claim 16, wherein the mobile terminal is not configured for communication using the first communications protocol.

18. The mobile terminal of claim 16, wherein the first and second communications protocols correspond to a same layer of an Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model, and wherein the second communications protocol comprises a reduced set of commands in comparison to that of the first communications protocol.

19. The mobile terminal of claim 18, wherein the controller is configured to transmit the command using a proprietary application program interface (API) based on the second communications protocol, wherein the second communications protocol comprises commands that correlate to commands defined by the first communications protocol.

20. The mobile terminal of claim 18, wherein the first communications protocol comprises a Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA)-compliant application layer protocol, and wherein the second communications protocol comprises a non-DLNA-compliant application layer protocol.

21-40. -40. (canceled)