Multimedia communications system and method for providing audio on demand to subscribers
First Claim
1. A client networked device for connection with one or more remote computers providing delivery of digital encoded audio data and related metadata via a communication network, said related metadata is synchronized to said digital encoded audio data, the client networked device comprising:
- a first and a second data buffer to store the digital encoded audio data and related metadata, respectively; and
a processor communicatively coupled with the data buffers and a computer readable storage medium;
said computer-readable storage medium operative to contain one or more unique file identifiers related to one or more locations or addresses in a memory of the one or more remote computers where the digital encoded audio data and related metadata is stored, said unique file identifiers being capable of being displayed by the client networked device and of being selected using an input device coupled to the client networked device, said processor operative in response to a selection of a unique file identifier to generate a request via the communication network to receive digital encoded audio data and related metadata from the one or more locations or addresses in the memory of the one or more remote computers where said digital encoded audio data and related metadata is stored, said data buffers operative, in response to a receipt of the request to receive digital encoded audio data and related metadata from the one or more locations or addresses in the memory of the one or more remote computers, to store digital encoded audio data and the related metadata received via the communication network, and said processor further operative to decode the received digital encoded audio data and related metadata and render said decoded digital audio data and related metadata on the client networked device during receipt of at least the digital encoded audio data.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An audio-on-demand communication system provides real-time playback of audio data transferred via telephone lines or other communication links. One or more audio servers include memory banks which store compressed audio data. At the request of a user at a subscriber PC, an audio server transmits the compressed audio data over the communication link to the subscriber PC. The subscriber PC receives and decompresses the transmitted audio data in less than real-time using only the processing power of the CPU within the subscriber PC. According to one aspect of the present invention, high quality audio data compressed according to lossless compression techniques is transmitted together with normal quality audio data. According to another aspect of the present invention, metadata, or extra data, such as text, captions, still images, etc., is transmitted with audio data and is simultaneously displayed with corresponding audio data. The audio-on-demand system also provides a table of contents indicating significant divisions in the audio clip to be played and allows the user immediate access to audio data at the listed divisions. According to a further aspect of the present invention, servers and subscriber PCs are dynamically allocated based upon geographic location to provide the highest possible quality in the communication link.
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Citations
40 Claims
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1. A client networked device for connection with one or more remote computers providing delivery of digital encoded audio data and related metadata via a communication network, said related metadata is synchronized to said digital encoded audio data, the client networked device comprising:
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a first and a second data buffer to store the digital encoded audio data and related metadata, respectively; and a processor communicatively coupled with the data buffers and a computer readable storage medium; said computer-readable storage medium operative to contain one or more unique file identifiers related to one or more locations or addresses in a memory of the one or more remote computers where the digital encoded audio data and related metadata is stored, said unique file identifiers being capable of being displayed by the client networked device and of being selected using an input device coupled to the client networked device, said processor operative in response to a selection of a unique file identifier to generate a request via the communication network to receive digital encoded audio data and related metadata from the one or more locations or addresses in the memory of the one or more remote computers where said digital encoded audio data and related metadata is stored, said data buffers operative, in response to a receipt of the request to receive digital encoded audio data and related metadata from the one or more locations or addresses in the memory of the one or more remote computers, to store digital encoded audio data and the related metadata received via the communication network, and said processor further operative to decode the received digital encoded audio data and related metadata and render said decoded digital audio data and related metadata on the client networked device during receipt of at least the digital encoded audio data. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A method of receiving a digital encoded audio data files for use on a client networked device coupled with one or more remote computers delivering digital encoded audio data file and related metadata via a communications network, said related metadata is synchronized to said digital encoded audio data, the method comprising:
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displaying on the client networked device a unique file identifier used to access; (a) a location or address where the digital encoded audio data file is stored in a memory storage device coupled with the one or more remote computers, and (b) a location or address where the related metadata is stored in a memory storage device coupled with the one or more remote computers; receiving a selection of the displayed unique file identifier used to access a location or address where the digital encoded audio data file is stored and used to access a location or address where the related metadata is stored in the memory storage device coupled with the one or more remote computers in response to using an input device coupled with the client networked device; generating on the client networked device, as a result of the receiving of the selection of the displayed unique file identifier, a request to the one or more remote computers via the communications network to receive the digital encoded audio file and related metadata from said location or address where the digital encoded audio data file is stored in the memory storage device coupled with the one or more remote computers and from said location or address where the related metadata is stored in the memory storage device coupled with the one or more remote computers; receiving by the client networked device, as a result of the generated request, via the communications network;
(a) the digital encoded audio data file from said location or address where the digital encoded audio data file is stored in the memory storage device coupled with the one or more remote computers, and (b) the related metadata from said location or address where the related metadata is stored in the memory storage device coupled with the one or more remote computers;storing at least a portion of the digital encoded audio data file and related metadata respectively into a first and second data buffer; decoding at least a portion of the stored digital encoded audio data file and rendering at least a portion of the decoded stored digital encoded audio data file on the client networked device during the receiving of the digital encoded audio data file from said location or address where the digital encoded audio data file is stored in the memory storage device coupled with the one or more remote computers. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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28. A computer readable medium having instructions for use in a single media player application, the instructions when executed by a processor in a client networked device, for receiving digital encoded audio data and related metadata via a communication network, said related metadata is synchronized to said digital encoded audio data, the client networked device comprising:
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displaying on the client networked device a unique file identifier related to one or more locations or addresses where digital encoded audio data and related metadata are stored in a memory storage device coupled with one or more remote computers; receiving a selection of the displayed unique file identifier related to the one or more locations or addresses where the digital encoded audio data and related metadata are stored in the memory storage device coupled with the one or more remote computers, the selection received via an input device coupled with the client networked device; generating on the client networked device, as a result of the receipt of the selection of the displayed unique file identifier, a request to at least one of the remote computers via a communications network to receive digital encoded audio and related metadata from said one or more locations or addresses where the digital encoded audio data and related metadata is stored in the memory storage device coupled with the one or more remote computers; receiving by the client networked device, as a result of the generated request and via the communications network, the digital encoded audio data and related metadata from said one or more locations or addresses in the memory storage device coupled with the one or more remote computers; and storing at least a portion of the received digital encoded audio data and related metadata respectively into a first and second data buffer; and decoding at least a portion of the stored digital encoded audio data and rendering at least a portion of the decoded and stored digital encoded audio data and related metadata on the client networked device during the receiving of the digital encoded audio data from said one or more locations or addresses where the digital encoded audio data is stored in the memory storage device coupled with the one or more remote computers. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40)
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Specification