RADIO RECEIVER

• US 20100304702A1
• Filed: 06/01/2009
• Published: 12/02/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 06/01/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Anzures, Freddy A., Newman, Lucas, Mason, Henry
• Granted Patent: US 8,577,315 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/313
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/22 Arrangements for broadcast of identical information via plural broadcast systems

Abstract

Operating a radio receiver can include identifying a set of stations that broadcast a radio program using different frequencies or different transmission protocols at substantially the same time. Broadcast signal strength, or some other signal quality metric, of broadcast signals from the stations can be evaluated, and the radio receiver can be tuned to one of the stations in the set of stations based on the evaluation.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

identifying, at a radio receiver, a set of stations that broadcast a program using different frequencies or different transmission protocols at substantially the same time;

evaluating broadcast signals of a plurality of the stations in the set of stations based on at least one metric; and

tuning the radio receiver to one of the stations in the set of stations based on the evaluation.

2. The method of claim 1 in which evaluating the broadcast signals comprises determining broadcast signal strength of the broadcast signals.

3. The method of claim 2 in which determining the broadcast signal strength of the broadcast signals comprises estimating the broadcast signal strength of the broadcast signals based on information about a location of the radio receiver and information about signal strength contours of the stations.

4. The method of claim 2 in which determining the broadcast signal strength of the broadcast signals comprises communicating with a server computer to obtain information on estimated broadcast signal strength of the broadcast signals.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising, further evaluating broadcast signals of a plurality of the stations in the set of stations based on the at least one metric, and automatically switching to tuning to another one of the stations in the set of stations based on the evaluation.

6. The method of claim 1, comprising after tuning to one of the stations, continue to tune to the same station until the signal strength of the broadcast signal falls below a threshold, then change to tuning to a different one of the stations that has a measured or estimated signal strength that is above the threshold.

7. The method of claim 1 in which identifying, at a radio receiver, a set of stations comprises identifying, at an FM radio receiver, a primary FM station and FM translator stations associated with the primary FM station.

8. The method of claim 1 in which the set of stations comprise at least two radio stations that broadcast radio programs using different transmission protocols.

9. The method of claim 1, comprising buffering data representing signals from two stations, synchronizing the signals by adjusting the buffering of the data, and switching from one station to the other after the signals are synchronized.

10. The method of claim 1, comprising

upon powering down the radio receiver, storing information about a radio program that was played prior to powering down,

upon power up the radio receiver subsequent to the powering down, retrieving stored information about the radio program,

identifying a second set of stations based on the retrieved information, the plurality of stations broadcasting a program using different frequencies or different transmission protocols, and

tuning the radio receiver to one of the stations in the second set of stations based on the evaluation.

11. A method comprising:

retrieving information about pre-selected radio stations;

for each of the pre-selected stations, identifying, at a radio receiver, one or more stations that are associated with the pre-selected radio station, the one or more stations broadcasting the same program using different frequencies or different transmission protocols; and

tuning the radio receiver to one of the one or more stations associated with one of the pre-selected radio stations based on an evaluation of signals from the one or more stations associated with the one of the pre-selected radio stations.

12. The method of claim 11, comprising displaying a map on a user interface;

and showing some of the stations associated with the pre-selected radio stations on the map.

13. The method of claim 11, comprising, upon receiving a user selection for selecting one of the stations, tuning to the selected station, and upon detecting that a signal strength of the selected station is below a threshold, searching for another associated station that has a measured or estimated signal strength greater than that of the selected station, and switch to tuning to the other station.

14. An apparatus comprising:

a radio receiver, comprising;

a first tuner;

a second tuner;

a signal evaluator to evaluate signals from the first and second tuners based on at least one metric; and

a data processor to control the first and second tuners to tune to two stations that broadcast a program on different frequencies at substantially the same time, and select one of the first and second tuners based on evaluation data provided by the signal evaluator.

15. The apparatus of claim 14 in which each of the first and second tuners comprises at least one of an FM tuner, an AM tuner, or a satellite tuner.

16. The apparatus of claim 14 in which the at least one metric comprises a broadcast signal strength.

17. The apparatus of claim 14, comprising a memory buffer to store data representing signals from the first and second tuners, in which the data processors uses the buffer to synchronize the signals.

18. The apparatus of claim 14 in which a signal from the selected tuner is processed and output to a user, and the data processor uses the tuner that is not selected to find another more suitable station based on the at least one metric.

19. The apparatus of claim 14, comprising a storage device to store information about broadcast stations at various locations, and information about which stations broadcast the same programs at substantially the same time.

20. An apparatus comprising:

a tuner; and

a data processor to identify a set of stations that broadcast a radio program on different frequencies at substantially the same time, and control the tuner to tune to one of the stations based on an evaluation of signals from a plurality of the stations in the set of stations.

21. The apparatus of claim 20, comprising a signal strength detector to measure a signal strength of a signal selected by the tuner, and the evaluation of a signal is based at least in part on the signal strength of the signal.

22. The apparatus of claim 20 in which the data processor evaluates a signal from a station by identifying an estimated broadcast signal strength of the signal.

23. The apparatus of claim 22 in which the data processor estimates the broadcast signal strength of the signal of a station based on information about a location of the radio receiver and information about broadcast signal strength contours of the station.

24. The apparatus of claim 22 in which the data processor communicates with a server computer to obtain information on the estimated broadcast signal strength of the signal.

25. The apparatus of claim 20 in which the tuner comprises at least one of an FM tuner, an AM tuner, and a satellite tuner.