Apparatus and method for scheduled playing of compact disc audio tracks
First Claim
1. A computer-implemented method of playing audio tracks on at least one recording medium approximately at predetermined times, wherein each recording medium has contained thereon a stored value indicating whether the recording medium contains scheduled audio tracks that are to be played approximately at predetermined scheduled times on an audio player, the audio player being of the type that responds to signal commands generated by a controller computer, the method comprising:
- sending a command signal to the audio player instructing the audio player to return a response representative of the stored value on the recording medium;
receiving, at the controller computer, a response from the audio player, the response including the value stored on the recording medium;
determining, based on the value stored on the recording medium, whether the recording median contains at least one scheduled audio track that is scheduled to be played at approximately predetermined times;
in the event the recording medium contains at least one scheduled audio track, determining, based upon a current time of day and the value received from the audio player, whether a scheduled audio track on the recording medium is scheduled to be played at approximately the current time of day; and
in the event the scheduled audio track is scheduled to be played at approximately the current time of day, sending a scheduled play command to the audio player, the scheduled play command instructing the audio player to play the scheduled audio track that is scheduled to play at approximately the current time of day.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus and method of scheduling audio tracks on audio compact discs in a CD jukebox to be played at predetermined times is disclosed. The method includes storing, in a CD audio track index location on an audio CD, a value indicating that the audio CD is a sequence CD containing audio tracks that are to be played at predetermined times. The stored value also specifies a predetermined sequence, or schedule to use with the sequence CD. A controller computer, within the CD jukebox and external to the CD player, utilizes CD-DA commands to query the CD player for the CD audio track index on each audio CD. The responses are used to distinguish normal audio CDs from sequence CDs. A periodic interrupt invokes a sequence interrupt handler that determines whether any audio tracks on any sequence CDs are scheduled to be played. If one or more audio tracks are scheduled to be played, the CD slot number and audio track number are inserted at the front of a queue of selections to be played, causing the newly-entered selections to be played after a presently-playing audio track completes.
-
Citations
20 Claims
-
1. A computer-implemented method of playing audio tracks on at least one recording medium approximately at predetermined times, wherein each recording medium has contained thereon a stored value indicating whether the recording medium contains scheduled audio tracks that are to be played approximately at predetermined scheduled times on an audio player, the audio player being of the type that responds to signal commands generated by a controller computer, the method comprising:
-
sending a command signal to the audio player instructing the audio player to return a response representative of the stored value on the recording medium; receiving, at the controller computer, a response from the audio player, the response including the value stored on the recording medium; determining, based on the value stored on the recording medium, whether the recording median contains at least one scheduled audio track that is scheduled to be played at approximately predetermined times; in the event the recording medium contains at least one scheduled audio track, determining, based upon a current time of day and the value received from the audio player, whether a scheduled audio track on the recording medium is scheduled to be played at approximately the current time of day; and in the event the scheduled audio track is scheduled to be played at approximately the current time of day, sending a scheduled play command to the audio player, the scheduled play command instructing the audio player to play the scheduled audio track that is scheduled to play at approximately the current time of day. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 15, 16, 17, 18)
-
-
10. A compact disc jukebox for playing audio tracks on prerecorded audio discs at predetermined times, comprising:
-
an audio compact disc player of the type that reads a CD audio track index contained on a prerecorded audio disc; a controller computer connected to the audio compact disc player, the controller computer including a computer having stored therein; at least one schedule including at least one track specification identifying an audio track on an audio disc and at least one time specification corresponding to the track specification, the time specification indicative of a time of day at which the corresponding audio track is to be played; an initialization sequence of instructions for directing the controller computer to obtain from the audio compact disc player the CD audio track index on the prerecorded audio disc; a sequence initialization sequence of instructions for directing the controller computer to determine, based on the CD audio track index, whether the audio compact disc is a sequence CD that contains a plurality of scheduled audio tracks, each scheduled audio track corresponding to at least one time of day, and a CD audio track index indicative of the schedule; and a sequence handler for directing the controller computer to determine, based on a time of day and on the CD audio track index corresponding to the sequence CD, whether a scheduled audio track that corresponds to the time of day exists and, if the scheduled audio track corresponding to the time of day exists, causing the scheduled audio track to be played. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14)
-
-
19. A system for playing scheduled audio tracks on prerecorded audio discs at predetermined times, comprising:
-
an audio compact disc player of a type that reads a CD audio track index contained on a prerecorded audio disc; at least one sequence audio compact disc having stored thereon a plurality of audio tracks, the sequence audio compact disc including a CD audio track index location storing a CD audio track index value for access by the audio compact disc player, wherein the CD audio track index value is a numeric value indicative of the number of audio tracks stored on the audio compact disc and also indicative of a predetermined schedule for playing at least one of the audio tracks; a controller computer connected to the audio compact disc player, the controller computer including a computer having stored therein; at least one schedule including at least one track specification identifying a corresponding audio track on a corresponding sequence audio disc and at least one time specification corresponding to the track specification, the time specification indicative of a time of day at which the corresponding audio track is to be played; and a sequence handler for directing the controller computer to determine, based on a time of day and on the CD audio track index corresponding to the sequence audio compact disc, whether a scheduled audio track that corresponds to the time of day exists and, if the scheduled audio track corresponding to a time of day exists, causing the scheduled audio track to be played. - View Dependent Claims (20)
-
Specification