Method and Apparatus for Browsing Using Multiple Coordinated Device Sets

• US 20090319672A1
• Filed: 09/02/2009
• Published: 12/24/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 05/10/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Convergent Media Solutions LLC (Strategic Intellectual Solutions, LLC)
• Original Assignee: Convergent Media Solutions LLC (Strategic Intellectual Solutions, LLC)
• Inventors: Reisman, Richard
• Granted Patent: US 8,527,640 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/227
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/954 Navigation, e.g. using categorised browsing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/10 Protecting distributed programs or content, e.g. vending or licensing of copyrighted material protection in video systems or pay television H04N7/16 ; Digital rights management [DRM]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2216/15 Synchronised browsing
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/38 Arrangements for distribution where lower stations, e.g. receivers, interact with the broadcast
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/426 Receiver side
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/93 which locates resources of other pieces of information, e.g. URL [Uniform Resource Locator]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1069 Session establishment or de-establishment
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2225 Local VOD servers
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/234363 by altering the spatial resolution, e.g. for clients with a lower screen resolution
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2358 for generating different versions, e.g. for different recipient devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2387 Stream processing in response to a playback request from an end-user, e.g. for trick-play
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25 Management operations performed by the server for facilitating the content distribution or administrating data related to end-users or client devices, e.g. end-user or client device authentication, learning user preferences for recommending movies maintenance or administration in data networks H04L41/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25825 involving client display capabilities, e.g. screen resolution of a mobile phone optimising the visualisation of content during browsing in the Internet G06F16/9577; processing of terminal status or physical abilities in wireless networks H04W8/22; authentication in wireless network security H04W12/06
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2665 Gathering content from different sources, e.g. Internet and satellite
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4113 PC
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/41265 having a remote control device for bidirectional communication between the remote control device and client device unidirectional remote control device H04N21/42204
• 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 21/4143 : embedded in a Personal Computer [PC]
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/422 : Input-only peripherals , i.e. input devices connected to specially adapted client devices, e.g. global positioning system [GPS] input devices also receiving signals from specially adapted client devices H04N21/4104
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/42204 : User interfaces specially adapted for controlling a client device through a remote control device; Remote control devices therefor constructive details of casings for the remote control device H01H9/0235; user interfaces for controlling a tuning device of a television receiver through a remote control H03J9/00; remote control of peripheral devices connected to a television receiver through the remote control device of the television receiver H04B1/205
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4312 : involving specific graphical features, e.g. screen layout, special fonts or colors, blinking icons, highlights or animations
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4316 : for displaying supplemental content in a region of the screen, e.g. an advertisement in a separate window
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4358 : for generating different versions, e.g. for different peripheral devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/43615 : Interfacing a Home Network, e.g. for connecting the client to a plurality of peripherals home Audio Video Interoperability [HAVI] data switching networks H04L12/2805
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/43637 : involving a wireless protocol, e.g. Bluetooth, RF or wireless LAN [IEEE 802.11] arrangements for wireless networking or broadcasting of information in indoor or near-field type systems H04B10/114
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/440263 : by altering the spatial resolution, e.g. for displaying on a connected PDA
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4438 : Window management, e.g. event handling following interaction with the user interface
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4532 : involving end-user characteristics, e.g. viewer profile, preferences monitoring of user activities for profile generation for accessing a video database G06F16/739; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306; processing of user preferences or user profiles in wireless networks H04W8/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4622 : Retrieving content or additional data from different sources, e.g. from a broadcast channel and the Internet web site content organization and management for information retrieval from the Internet G06F16/958; transmission by internet of broadcast information H04H60/82; stock exchange data over packet-switching network H04L12/1804; push services including data channel over packet-switching network H04L12/1859
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4668 : for recommending content, e.g. movies
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47 : End-user applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47202 : for requesting content on demand, e.g. video on demand
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47208 : for requesting near-video-on-demand content
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4755 : for defining user preferences, e.g. favourite actors or genre retrieval personalisation and generation of user profiles for the retrieval of video data G06F16/739; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/478 : Supplemental services, e.g. displaying phone caller identification, shopping application
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4782 : Web browsing , e.g. WebTV
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/482 : End-user interface for program selection broadcast systems using EPGs H04H60/72
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4821 : using a grid, e.g. sorted out by channel and broadcast time
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6175 : involving transmission via Internet broadcast-related systems characterised by the transmission system being the Internet H04H60/82
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6193 : involving transmission via a satellite arrangements for data linking, networking or transporting, or for controlling an end to end session in a satellite broadcast system H04B7/18526
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/643 : Communication protocols network streaming protocols, e.g. real-time transport protocol [RTP] or real-time control protocol [RTCP], H04L65/65
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6587 : Control parameters, e.g. trick play commands, viewpoint selection
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8173 : End-user applications, e.g. Web browser, game
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/85 : Assembly of content; Generation of multimedia applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8543 : using a description language, e.g. Multimedia and Hypermedia information coding Expert Group [MHEG], eXtensible Markup Language [XML] information retrieval of semistructured data, the underlying structure being taken into account, e.g. mark-up language structure data G06F16/80
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/858 : Linking data to content, e.g. by linking an URL to a video object, by creating a hotspot
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8583 : by creating hot-spots
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8586 : by using a URL processing chained hypermedia data for information retrieval G06F16/94; information retrieval from the Internet by using URLs G06F16/955; URL in broadcast information H04H20/93; Web-based protocols H04L67/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17318 : Direct or substantially direct transmission and handling of requests

Abstract

Systems and methods for navigating hypermedia using multiple coordinated input/output device sets. Disclosed systems and methods allow a user and/or an author to control what resources are presented on which device sets (whether they are integrated or not), and provide for coordinating browsing activities to enable such a user interface to be employed across multiple independent systems. Disclosed systems and methods also support new and enriched aspects and applications of hypermedia browsing and related business activities.

Claims

1. A method for operating a computer, comprising:

receiving a state record containing state information relating to a media player; and

establishing a session at said computer, said session based on said state information.

2-332. -332. (canceled)

333. A method for cloning a session, comprising:

transmitting from a first user device set a communication including an identifier corresponding to a user operating said first user device set;

receiving at said first user device set a session state record corresponding to a session previously begun at a second user device set by said user,

wherein said state record includes data related to browsing interactions associated with the session for presenting a continuous media resource presented at the second user device set including;

continuous media resource identity data and

time position data including designation of a particular time position in the presentation of the continuous media resource;

cloning said session at said first user device set, wherein the first device set session is duplicated from the second device set to the first device set and continued by presenting the same continuous media resource from a time position in that continuous media resource at said first user device set based on the designated particular time position.

358. The method of claim 333, wherein the content of the continuous media resource is obtained for presentation at the first user device set from a source other than the second user device set.

334. A method of operating a computer, comprising:

presenting a session at said computer comprising presentation of a continuous media resource;

creating a state record relating to a session at said computer that includes;

continuous media resource identity data and

time position data including designation of a particular time position in the presentation of the continuous media resource;

transferring said state record to a media player, wherein said media player is enabled to clone the session presented at said computer by allowing presentation of the same continuous media resource at said media player from the designated time position associated with the continuous media resource presented at the computer.

335. The method of claim 334, wherein said media player and said computer do not share operational logic.

336. The method of claim 334, wherein the media player session presents an ending resource for a link activated at the computer.

359. The method of claim 334, wherein the content of the continuous media resource is obtained for presentation at the media player from a source other than the computer.

337. A method for providing session portability, comprising:

maintaining state information corresponding to a session being carried out on a first device, the session comprising browsing of a continuous media resource, the state information including designation of a particular time position in the presentation of the continuous media resource;

transferring elements of said state information to a second device, wherein said elements are used to clone said session at said second device from the first device, wherein said cloned session continues by allowing presentation of the same continuous media resource at the second device from a time position in said continuous media resource based on the designated time position.

338. The method of claim 337, wherein said session is a browser session.

339. The method of claim 337, wherein the state information is provided, at the time of a request for said transfer, by an application supporting the session.

340. The method of claim 337, wherein said first device is a media player and said second device is a computer-type device.

341. The method of claim 337, wherein said first device is a computer-type device and said second device is a media player.

342. The method of claim 337, wherein the session is conducted at both devices by a single user.

360. The method of claim 337, wherein the content of the continuous media resource is obtained for presentation at the second device from a source other than the first device.

343. A method for providing session portability, comprising:

receiving state data relating to a session comprising browsing interaction associated with a session presenting a continuous media resource at a first device correlated with a first user identity, wherein the state data is received by a relay server;

maintaining state information corresponding to the session being carried out on the first device, the state information including designation of a particular time position in the presentation of the continuous media resource;

determining a second device for cloning the session;

preparing state data associated with cloning the session comprising presenting that continuous media resource at the second device, there being a second user identity at said second device;

transmitting the state data for cloning said session at said destination second device, wherein the session at the second device is duplicated from the first device to the second device and continued by allowing presentation of that continuous media resource from a time position in that resource based on the designated time position, and said first user identity and said second user identity correspond to a single user; and

wherein the state data is used to reestablish said session at said second device.

361. The method of claim 343, wherein the content of the continuous media resource is obtained for presentation at the second device from a source other than the first device.

344. A method of operating a computer, comprising:

receiving at the computer state data that includes data related to browsing interactions associated with a session for presenting a continuous media resource presented at a media player including;

continuous media resource identity data and

time position data including designation of a particular time position in the presentation of the continuous media resource;

cloning said session at said computer, wherein the said media player session is cloned by allowing presentation of that continuous media resource at said computer from a time position in the continuous media resource based on the designated time position.

362. The method of claim 344, wherein the content of the continuous media resource is obtained for presentation at the computer from a source other than the media player.

345. A method for providing session portability, comprising:

maintaining state information corresponding to a session being carried out on a first device set, the session comprising browsing of a continuous media resource, the state information including designation of a particular time position in the presentation of the continuous media resource;

transferring elements of said state information to a second device set, wherein said elements are used to clone said session at said second device set from the first device set, wherein said cloned session continues by allowing presentation of that continuous media resource at the second device set from a time position in said continuous media resource based on the designated time position.

346. The method of claim 345, wherein the cloning is initiated from the first device set.

347. The method of claim 345, wherein the state information is communicated from one device set to the other.

348. The method of claim 345, wherein the state information is communicated via a relay server.

349. The method of claim 345, wherein the cloning is initiated from the second device set.

363. The method of claim 345, wherein the content of the continuous media resource is obtained for presentation at the second device set from a source other than the first device set.

350. A method for providing session portability, comprising:

receiving at a second device set state information corresponding to a session being carried out on a first device set, the session comprising browsing of a continuous media resource, the state information including designation of a particular time position in the presentation of the continuous media resource;

cloning said session at said second device set from the first device set, wherein said cloned session continues by allowing presentation of that continuous media resource at the second device set from a time position in said continuous media resource based on the designated time position.

351. The method of claim 350, wherein the cloning is initiated from the first device set.

352. The method of claim 350, wherein the state information is communicated from one device set to the other.

353. The method of claim 350, wherein the state information is communicated via a relay server.

354. The method of claim 350, wherein the cloning is initiated from the second device set.

355. The method of claim 350, wherein the content of the continuous media resource is obtained for presentation at the second device set from a source other than the first device set.

356. The method of claim 350, wherein the presentation of the continuous media resource is in a paused state at both first and second device set at the time of said cloning.

357. The method of claim 350, wherein the presentation of the continuous media resource is in a playing state at both first and second device set at the time of said cloning.

364. The method of claim 350, wherein the content of the continuous media resource is obtained for presentation at the second device set from a source other than the first device set.