METHOD AND DEVICE FOR PROVIDING CONTENT CASTING SERVICES

• US 20130294358A1
• Filed: 04/29/2013
• Published: 11/07/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 05/03/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: KIM, Youngri, HAHM, Seongil
• Granted Patent: US 9,491,774 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/329
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/08 User group management
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/21 for social networking applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/12 Wireless traffic scheduling

Abstract

A method and device for content casting services using Wi-Fi communication are disclosed are provided. The device includes a first band communication module for communicating with external devices over a first frequency band and a second band communication module for communicating with external devices over a second frequency band. The method includes detecting occurrence of a cast request event indicating content delivery, selecting, upon detection of the cast request event, a first external device possessing the indicated content, receiving the content from the selected first external device through the first band communication module, and transmitting the received content to a second external device through the second band communication module.

Claims

1. A method of providing a content casting service in a device having a first band communication module for communicating with external devices over a first frequency band and a second band communication module for communicating with external devices over a second frequency band, the method comprising:

detecting occurrence of a cast request event, indicating content delivery;

selecting, upon detection of the cast request event, a first external device possessing the indicated content;

receiving the content from the selected first external device through the first band communication module; and

transmitting the received content to a second external device through the second band communication module.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the detecting of the occurrence of the cast request event comprises selecting an object associated with a content casting function on an application execution screen displayed on a touchscreen.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the application execution screen comprises an execution screen of at least one of a chatting application, a Social Networking Service (SNS) application, a music player, a moving-image player, a camera application, and a remote control application capable of remotely controlling the first external device.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the transmitting of the received content comprises sending, when the second band communication module is connected to the second external device via an access point or is directly connected thereto without an access point, the received content to the second external device in a streaming fashion.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the transmitting of the received content comprises playing back, when the second band communication module is connected to the second external device via an access point or is directly connected thereto without an access point, the received content and sending the received content to the second external device.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

selecting at least one of identification information items displayed on a touchscreen,

wherein the transmitting of the received content comprises sending the received content to a second external device indicated by the selected identification information item.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the displayed identification information items comprises identification information of a second external device placed near to the device.

8. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

sending a cast invite message to a second external device indicated by the selected identification information item,

wherein the received content is sent to the second external device having sent a cast join message as a reply to the cast invite message.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the receiving of the content comprises receiving the content in a streaming fashion from the first external device connected to the first band communication module through an access point.

10. A method of providing a content casting service in a device having a first band communication module for communicating with external devices over a first frequency band and a second band communication module for communicating with external devices over a second frequency band, the method comprising:

detecting occurrence of a cast request event indicating content;

selecting, upon detection of the cast request event, one of content stored in a storage unit;

selecting a first external device and a second external device;

transmitting the selected content to the first external device through the first band communication module; and

transmitting the selected content to the second external device through the second band communication module.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the detecting of the occurrence of the cast request event comprises selecting an object associated with a content casting function on an application execution screen displayed on a touchscreen.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the application execution screen comprises an execution screen of at least one of a chatting application, a Social Networking Service (SNS) application, a music player, a moving-image player, a camera application, and a remote control application capable of remotely controlling an external device.

13. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

sending a cast invite message to the first external device through the first band communication module; and

sending a cast invite message to the second external device through the second band communication module,

wherein the cast invite messages are sent in order of preset priority.

14. A method of providing a content casting service in a device having a first band communication module for communicating with external devices over a first frequency band and a second band communication module for communicating with external devices over a second frequency band, the method comprising:

detecting occurrence of a cast request event indicating image;

receiving, upon detection of the cast request event, captured images from a first external device through the first band communication module; and

transmitting the received captured images to a second external device through the second band communication module.

15. A device capable of providing a content casting service, the device comprising:

a touchscreen capable of providing a user interface for user interactions;

a first band communication module capable of communicating with a first external device over a first frequency band;

a second band communication module capable of communicating with a second external device over a second frequency band, wherein the first band communication module and second band communication module are integrated into one chip; and

a control unit capable of controlling the touchscreen, the first band communication module and the second band communication module, wherein the control unit is capable of controlling a process of detecting occurrence of a cast request event indicating content delivery, selecting, upon detection of the cast request event, the first external device possessing the indicated content, receiving the content from the first external device through the first band communication module, and transmitting the received content to the second external device through the second band communication module.

16. The device of claim 15, wherein the control unit is capable of controlling the touchscreen to display an application execution screen, detecting selection of an object associated with a content casting function on the application execution screen, and controlling transmission of the received content upon selection of the object.

17. The device of claim 15, wherein, when the second band communication module is connected to the second external device via an access point or is directly connected thereto without an access point, the control unit is capable of sending the received content to the second external device in a streaming fashion.

18. The device of claim 15, wherein the control unit is capable of detecting selection of at least one of identification information items displayed on the touchscreen and is capable of controlling the second band communication module to send the received content to a second external device indicated by the selected identification information item.

19. A device capable of providing a content casting service, the device comprising:

a touchscreen capable of providing a user interface for user interaction;

a first band communication module capable of communicating with a first external device over a first frequency band;

a second band communication module capable of communicating with a second external device over a second frequency band, wherein the first band communication module and second band communication module are integrated into one chip; and

a control unit capable of controlling the touchscreen, the first band communication module and the second band communication module, wherein the control unit is capable of controlling a process of detecting occurrence of a cast request event indicating content delivery, selecting, upon detection of the cast request event, one of content stored in a storage unit, selecting a first external device and second external device, transmitting the selected content to the first external device through the first band communication module, and transmitting the selected content to the second external device through the second band communication module.

20. The device of claim 19, wherein the control unit is capable of controlling the touchscreen to display an application execution screen, detecting selection of an object associated with a content casting function on the application execution screen, and controlling transmission of the selected content upon selection of the object.

21. The device of claim 19, wherein the control unit is capable of controlling the first band communication module to send a cast invite message to the first external device and controlling the second band communication module to send a cast invite message to the second external device, and wherein the control unit is capable of controlling an operation to transmit the cast invite messages in order of a preset priority.

22. A device capable of providing a content casting service, the device comprising:

a touchscreen capable of providing a user interface for user interaction;

a first band communication module capable of communicating with a first external device over a first frequency band;

a second band communication module capable of communicating with a second external device over a second frequency band, wherein the first band communication module and second band communication module are integrated into one chip; and

a control unit capable of controlling the touchscreen, the first band communication module and the second band communication module, wherein the control unit is capable of controlling a process of detecting occurrence of a cast request event indicating image delivery, receiving, upon detection of the cast request event, captured images from the first external device through the first band communication module, and transmitting the received captured images to the second external device through the second band communication module.

23. A storage medium storing program instructions executable by a device having a first band communication module for communicating with external devices over a first frequency band and a second band communication module for communicating with external devices over a second frequency band, wherein the program instructions are configured to control a process of detecting occurrence of a cast request event indicating content delivery, selecting, upon detection of the cast request event, a first external device possessing the indicated content, receiving the content from the first external device through the first band communication module, and transmitting the received content to a second external device through the second band communication module.