Media services manager for base station

• US 7,377,440 B2
• Filed: 02/16/2005
• Issued: 05/27/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 02/16/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Awest Communications International Inc., Qwest Communications International Incorporated (Lumen Technologies, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Qwest Communications International Incorporated (Lumen Technologies, Inc.)
• Inventors: Casey, Steven M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Frech; Karl D.
• Application Number:
  US11/060,633
• Publication Number:
  US 20060180668A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,196 Days
• Field of Search: 235/472.01, 235/454, 235/472.02, 235/472.03, 235/462.45, 235/462.46, 235/462.47
• US Class Current: 235/472.01
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/2478 Telephone terminals specially adapted for non-voice services, e.g. email, internet access centralized arrangements where telephones services are combined H04M7/0024; for recording text messages H04M3/5322; for accessing Internet H04M3/4938
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72502 with one base station connected to a single line

Abstract

Various embodiments of the invention provide methods and systems for managing the reception and/or recording of media content on a base station. In certain embodiments, the base station is configured to transfer media content received by the base station to a portable media device. In one aspect, the portable media device may be a wireless phone with media playback capabilities. One set of embodiments provides a reception manager for managing the reception of media content by the base station. Merely by way of example, embodiments of the present invention may provide for monitoring of the signal strength of broadcast media content, and certain embodiments may provide for receiving and displaying information concerning media content available to the base station. Other embodiments of the present invention may provide for the management of recording and/or storing of media content. Merely by way of example, in some embodiments, a storage processor may determine what media content to record and/or may associate priority values to media content.

Claims

1. A manager for a portable media device base station, comprising:

a base station operable to receive broadcast media content of one or more selected media types;

a reception processor in communication with the base station and configured to manage reception of the broadcast media content;

a power supply operable to provide power to the base station; and

a docking port in communication with at least one of the base station, the reception processor, or the power supply and configured to dock a handheld media device with the base station, wherein the handheld media device is operable to support at least one of the selected media types.

2. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a storage processor associated with the base station and configured to control storage of the broadcast media content.

3. The system of claim 2, further comprising a media transferor, in operative communication with the storage processor and the docking port, and configured to communicate media information from the storage processor to the handheld media device.

4. The system of claim 2, further comprising a media transferor, in operative communication with the storage processor and the docking port, and configured to communicate media information to the storage processor from the handheld media device.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein:

the reception processor monitors a signal strength associated with the broadcast media content.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein:

the reception processor is configured to provide an alert when the signal strength falls below a threshold value.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein:

the reception processor is operable to select a receiving device from a plurality of receiving devices associated with the base station for receiving the broadcast media content.

8. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a receiver associated with the reception processor and operable to receive information concerning the broadcast media content available for reception by the base station.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein:

the reception processor is operable to configure the information for display on a display screen associated with the base station.

10. The system of claim 8, wherein:

the information is received from a wireless network provider associated with the base station.

11. The system of claim 8, wherein:

the information is transmitted to the receiver over at least one of a wireless network, a computer network, or an over-the-air network.

12. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a browser associated with the reception processor and operable to browse a network.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein:

the reception processor is operable to connect to the network via the browser and identify broadcast media content available to the base station.

14. The system of claim 1, wherein:

the reception processor is operable to process rules provided to the reception processor.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein:

the rules are provided to the reception processor by a user of the base station.

16. The system of claim 14, wherein:

the user provides the rules to the reception processor through a computer configured to communicate with the reception processor.

17. The system of claim 14, wherein:

a first set of rules are provided to the reception processor by a first user of the base station;

the first user associates a first password with the first set of rules;

a second set of rules are provided to the reception processor by a second user of the base station; and

the second user associates a second password with the second set of rules.

18. The system of claim 14, wherein:

the reception processor selects the broadcast media content to be received by the base station based upon the rules.

19. The system of claim 14, wherein:

the reception processor selects the receiver to use to receive the broadcast media content based upon the rules.

20. The system of claim 14, wherein:

the reception processor selects a content source to receive the broadcast media content from based upon the rules.

21. The system of claim 1, wherein:

the reception processor is operable to process previous broadcast media content selected for reception by the base station and choose the broadcast media content to be received by the base station based upon properties associated with the previous selections.

22. The system of claim 1, wherein the power supply is further configured to provide power to the handheld media device through the docking port.

23. The system of claim 1, further comprising a media transferor, in operative communication with the reception processor and the docking port, and configured to communicate media information from the reception processor to the handheld media device.

24. The system of claim 1, further comprising a media transferor, in operative communication with the reception processor and the docking port, and configured to communicate media information to the reception processor from the handheld media device.

25. The system of claim 1, wherein the docking port is further configured to provide a physical connection between the base station and the handheld media device.

26. A manager for a mobile device base station, comprising:

a base station operable to receive and store broadcast media content;

a storage processor in communication with the base station and configured to manage storage of the broadcast media content; and

a docking port in communication with the storage processor and configured to dock a handheld media device with the base station, wherein the handheld media device is operable to support at least one of the selected media types.

27. The system of claim 26, further comprising:

a reception processor in communication with the mobile device base station for managing reception of the broadcast media content.

28. The system of claim 27, wherein:

the storage processor and the reception processor are incorporated within the base station.

29. The system of claim 27, further comprising a media transferor, in operative communication with the reception processor and the docking port, and configured to communicate media information from the reception processor to the handheld media device.

30. The system of claim 27, further comprising a media transferor, in operative communication with the reception processor and the docking port, and configured to communicate media information to the reception processor from the handheld media device.

31. The system of claim 26, further comprising:

a read/write device in communication with the base station, wherein the broadcast media content received by the station is written to a memory card by the read/write device.

32. The system of claim 26, wherein:

the storage processor selects broadcast media content to record based upon properties of previously recorded media content.

33. The system of claim 26, wherein:

the handheld media device comprises a wireless phone configured to play the broadcast media content.

34. The system of claim 26, wherein:

the docking port is configured to transfer media content from the base station to the portable media device.

35. The system of claim 26, wherein:

the storage processor is configured to synchronize the base station and the portable media device through the docking port.

36. The system of claim 35, wherein:

the storage processor synchronizes first media content stored on the base station with second media content stored on the portable media device.

37. The system of claim 35, wherein:

the storage processor synchronizes first rules entered by a user into the base station with second rules entered by a user into the portable media device.

38. The system of claim 26, wherein:

the storage processor is operable to process rules provided to the storage processor.

39. The system of claim 38, wherein:

the rules are provided to the storage processor by a user of the base station.

40. The system of claim 39, wherein:

the user provides the rules to the storage processor through a computer configured to communicate with the storage processor.

41. The system of claim 38, wherein:

a first set of rules are provided to the storage processor by a first user of the base station;

the first user associates a first password with the first set of rules;

a second set of rules are provided to the storage processor by a second user of the base station; and

the second user associates a second password with the second set of rules.

42. The system of claim 38, wherein:

the storage processor selects broadcast media content to record based upon the rules.

43. The system of claim 38, wherein:

the storage processor associates a first priority value to broadcast media content stored on the mobile device base station based upon the rules.

44. The system of claim 43, wherein:

the storage processor is configured to associate a second priority value to the broadcast media content received by the base station; and

the storage processor is configured to erase media content stored on the base station to provide storage space for the broadcast media content received by the base station when the second priority value is greater than the first priority value.

45. The system of claim 26, wherein:

storage processor associates a priority value with the broadcast media content stored on the base station based upon a prior recording history of the base station.

46. The system of claim 26, wherein:

the storage processor associates an expiration date with media content stored on the portable device base station.

47. The system of claim 46, wherein:

the expiration date is processed by the storage processor from rules entered into the base station by a user of the base station.

48. The system of claim 26, wherein:

the storage processor is configured to provide an alert when broadcast media content selected for storing exceeds available storage space.

49. The system of claim 26, further comprising a media transferor, in operative communication with the storage processor and the docking port, and configured to communicate media information from the storage processor to the handheld media device.

50. The system of claim 26, further comprising a media transferor, in operative communication with the storage processor and the docking port, and configured to communicate media information to the storage processor from the handheld media device.

51. A method for managing recording of broadcast media content by a mobile device base station, comprising:

identifying the broadcast media content available to the base station;

selecting broadcast media content;

receiving the selected broadcast media content at a reception processor; and

recording the selected broadcast media content on the mobile device base stations,

wherein the mobile device base station comprises a docking port configured to dock a handheld media device with the base station, and

wherein the handheld media device is operable to support at least one of the selected media types.

52. The method of claim 51, further comprising:

transferring at least a portion of the broadcast media content from the mobile device base station to the handheld media device.

53. The method of claim 51, wherein:

the handheld media device is a wireless phone configured to playback the broadcast media content.

54. The method of claim 51, wherein:

identifying the available broadcast media content comprises receiving a list of available broadcast media content from at least one of a service provider associated with the mobile device base station or a provider of the broadcast media content.

55. The method of claim 51, further comprising:

monitoring a signal strength associated with the broadcast media content.

56. The method of claim 55, further comprising:

providing an alert when the signal strength falls below a threshold value.

57. The method of claim 51, wherein:

a user of the mobile device base station selects the broadcast media content to be received by the mobile device base station.

58. The method of claim 51, wherein:

the selecting broadcast media content comprises selecting the broadcast media content based upon an analysis of previous media content received by the mobile device base station.

59. The method of claim 51, further comprising:

a user of the mobile device base station entering preferences into the mobile device base station.

60. The method of claim 59, wherein:

the broadcast media content is selected based upon the user'"'"'s preferences.

61. The method of claim 51, wherein:

the broadcast media content is selected based upon a signal strength associated with the broadcast media content.

62. The method of claim 51, further comprising:

associating a first value with the selected broadcast media content;

associating a second value with media content stored on the mobile device base station; and

deleting the stored media content when storage space available on the mobile device base station is less than that required to store the selected broadcast media content and the first value is higher than the second value, wherein the first and second values are processed from preferences of a user entered into the mobile device base station.

63. The method of claim 51, further comprising:

associating a priority value with the selected broadcast media content; and

processing the priority value to determine whether to record the broadcast media content.

64. The method of claim 63, wherein:

the priority value is determined from preferences of a user, and

the user preferences are entered by the user into the mobile device base station.

65. The method of claim 63, wherein:

the priority value is determined from an analysis of prior recordings made by a user of the mobile device base station.

66. The method of claim 63, wherein:

the priority value is determined from a signal strength associated with the broadcast media content.

67. The system of claim 51, further comprising transferring at least a portion of the selected media content to the base station from the handheld media device.

68. A method for managing recording of broadcast media content by a mobile device base station, comprising:

identifying the broadcast media content available to the mobile device base station;

selecting broadcast media content;

receiving the selected broadcast media content; and

transferring the selected broadcast media content from the mobile device base station to a handheld media device,

wherein the mobile device base station comprises a docking port configured to dock a handheld media device with the base station, and

wherein the handheld media device is operable to support at least one of the selected media types.