Media player with instant play capability
First Claim
1. A method for retrieving and playing media data by a media player, the media player having a disk-based data store and a semiconductor-based data store, said method comprises:
- identifying a media item to be played on the media player, media data for the media item includes a plurality of data portions, the data portions including a first portion and remaining portions, the remaining portions being different than and not including the initial portion;
retrieving the first portion of the media data for the media item from the disk-based data store;
playing the first portion of the media data for the media item retrieved from the disk-based data store without first storing to the semiconductor-based data store, the semiconductor-based data store having a faster access time than does the disk-based data store;
initiating processing to load at least the remaining portions of the media data from the disk-based data store to the semiconductor-based data store; and
playing the remaining portions of the media data retrieved from the semiconductor-based data store.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A media player and a method for operating a media player are disclosed. A media program is able to substantially immediately begin playing after a media play selection has been made. Through intelligent operation, the media program is able to start playing even before the media program has been substantially or completely loaded from disk storage into semiconductor memory (i.e., cache memory). Additionally, the media program can be loaded into semiconductor memory through use of a background process without disturbing the playing of the media program. Further, if desired, the disk storage is able to be aggressively “powered off” when not being accessed, thereby enhancing battery life when being battery-powered.
240 Citations
24 Claims
-
1. A method for retrieving and playing media data by a media player, the media player having a disk-based data store and a semiconductor-based data store, said method comprises:
-
identifying a media item to be played on the media player, media data for the media item includes a plurality of data portions, the data portions including a first portion and remaining portions, the remaining portions being different than and not including the initial portion; retrieving the first portion of the media data for the media item from the disk-based data store; playing the first portion of the media data for the media item retrieved from the disk-based data store without first storing to the semiconductor-based data store, the semiconductor-based data store having a faster access time than does the disk-based data store; initiating processing to load at least the remaining portions of the media data from the disk-based data store to the semiconductor-based data store; and playing the remaining portions of the media data retrieved from the semiconductor-based data store. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
-
-
9. A method for retrieving and playing media data by a media player, the media player having a disk-based data store and a semiconductor-based data store, said computer readable medium comprises:
-
identifying a media item to be played on the media player, media data for the media item includes a plurality of data portions, the data portions including a first portion and remaining portions, the remaining portions being different than and not including the initial portion; initiating processing to load at least the remaining portions of the media data from the disk-based data store to the semiconductor-based data store; retrieving the first portion of the media data for the media item from the disk-based data store; playing the first portion of the media data for the media item retrieved from the disk-based data store without first storing to the semiconductor-based data store, the semiconductor-based data store having a faster access time than does the disk-based data store; and playing the remaining portions of the media data retrieved from the semiconductor-based data store. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
-
-
16. A consumer electronics product, comprising:
-
a first storage device that stores a plurality of media items; a user input device that enables a user of said consumer electronics product to at least select a particular media item from the plurality of media items, the particular media item having a first portion and subsequent portions, the subsequent portions being different than and not including the first portion; an output device for playing back the particular media item; a second storage device capable of storing at least one of the media items, said second storage device has substantially faster access than does said first storage device; and a processor operatively connected to said first storage device, said user input device and said second storage device, said processor causes the output device to play back the particular media item substantially immediately following the selection of the particular media item by the user without regard to whether media data for the particular media item resides in said second storage device or on said first storage device, wherein when the media data for the particular media item is not initially stored in said second storage device, said processor concurrently retrieves and plays a first portion of the media data directly from said first storage device while substantially concurrently initiating background loading subsequent portions of the media data for the particular media item from said first storage device into said second storage device, and wherein once the subsequent portions of the media data for the particular media items are available in said second storage device due to the background loading of the subsequent portions of the media data for the particular media item, said processor retrieves the subsequent portions of the media data for the particular media item from said second storage device. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
-
Specification