Audio-on-demand communication system
First Claim
1. A client networked device for connection with one or more remote computers providing delivery of digital encoded audio data and related video via a communication network, said related video is synchronized with 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 video, 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 video is stored, information corresponding to 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 video 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 video is stored, said data buffers operative, in response to a receipt of the request to receive digital encoded audio data and related video 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 video received via the communication network, and said processor further operative to decode the received digital encoded audio data and related video and render said decoded digital audio data and related video on the client networked device during receipt of at least the digital encoded audio data,and wherein said processor is operative to selectively initiate transmission of at least one indication to the remote server via the network in response to at least one marker identified in the received digital encoded audio data to regulate a rate at which the digital encoded audio data is received, the at least one marker having been interleaved in the received 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.
127 Citations
51 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 video via a communication network, said related video is synchronized with 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 video, 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 video is stored, information corresponding to 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 video 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 video is stored, said data buffers operative, in response to a receipt of the request to receive digital encoded audio data and related video 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 video received via the communication network, and said processor further operative to decode the received digital encoded audio data and related video and render said decoded digital audio data and related video on the client networked device during receipt of at least the digital encoded audio data,and wherein said processor is operative to selectively initiate transmission of at least one indication to the remote server via the network in response to at least one marker identified in the received digital encoded audio data to regulate a rate at which the digital encoded audio data is received, the at least one marker having been interleaved in the received digital encoded audio data. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 44, 45)
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13. 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 video via a communications network, said related video is synchronized to said digital encoded audio data, the method comprising:
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displaying on the client networked device information related to 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 video is stored in a memory storage device coupled with the one or more remote computers; receiving a selection of the displayed information relating to the 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 video is stored in the memory storage device coupled with the one or more remote computers in response to a signal from 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 information relating to 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 video 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 an from said location or address where the related video 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 video from said location or address where the related video 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 video 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; andregulating a rate at which the digital encoded audio data file is received from a remote server by selectively transmitting at least one indication to the remote server via the communications network in response to at least one marker identified in the digital encoded audio data file, the at least one marker having been interleaved in the digital encoded audio data file. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 46, 47)
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26. 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 video via a communication network, said related video is synchronized with said digital encoded audio data, the client networked device comprising: -
displaying on the client networked device information corresponding to a unique file identifier related to one or more locations or addresses where digital encoded audio data and related video are stored in a memory storage device coupled with one or more remote computers; receiving a selection of the displayed information corresponding to the unique file identifier related to the one or more locations or addresses where the digital encoded audio data and related video 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 information, a request to at least one of the remote computers via a communications network to receive digital encoded audio and related video from said one or more locations or addresses where the digital encoded audio data and related video 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 video from said one or more locations or addresses in the memory storage device coupled with the one or more remote computers; storing at least a portion of the received digital encoded audio data and related video respectively into a first and second data buffer; 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 video 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; and regulating a rate at which the digital encoded audio data file is received from a remote server by selectively transmitting at least one indication to the remote server via the communications network in response to at least one marker identified in the digital encoded audio data file, the at least one marker having been interleaved in the digital encoded audio data file. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 48, 49)
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40. A method of delivering from one or more remote computers digital via a communications network encoded audio data files and related metadata for use on a client networked device coupled with the one or more remote computers, said related metadata being synchronized to said digital encoded audio data, the method comprising:
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transmitting 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; transmitting for display on the client networked device information relating to the unique file identifier; receiving from the client networked device with the one or more remote computers via the communications network, as a result of the client network device receiving of a selection of the information relating to the displayed unique file identifier from a input device coupled with the client network device, a request to receive the digital encoded audio 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 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; transmitting to 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, wherein the transmitted digital encoded audio file comprises at least one marker interleaved therein, 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, such that a portion of the digital encoded audio data file and related metadata are stored respectively into a first and second data buffers in the client networked device and such that at least a portion of the stored digital encoded audio data file is decoded and rendered 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; and receiving an indication from the client networked device via the network to regulate a rate at which the digital encoded audio data file is transmitted, the indication being a response to the marker in the transmitted digital encoded audio data file. - View Dependent Claims (41, 42, 43, 50, 51)
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Specification