User interface for establishing a filtering engine

• US 7,580,932 B2
• Filed: 07/15/2005
• Issued: 08/25/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 07/15/2005
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Plastina, Daniel, Novak, Michael J., Cain, Jonathan M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Pham; Khanh B
• Assistant Examiner(s): LODHI, ANDALIB FT
• Application Number:
  US11/182,911
• Publication Number:
  US 20070016599A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,502 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/031 Electronic editing of digitised analogue information signals, e.g. audio or video signals
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/105 of operating discs
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/34 Indicating arrangements indicating means incorporated in magazine or cassette G11B23/046 and G11B23/0875; indicating measured values in general G01D

Abstract

A method for establishing a filtering engine for generating an ordered list of one or more media items selected from a library of media items. A user can select multiple filters and assign a weight to the filters according to the importance of each filter. In response, the playlist engine will generate a playlist of media items according to the weighted filters. A user interface includes elements for selecting and weighting filters for generating such a playlist.

Claims

1. A method for establishing a filtering engine for generating an ordered list of one or more media items selected from a library of media items, said method comprising:

selecting a first filter from a list of filters, said first filter defining an action associated with one property of the one or more media items;

adding said first filter to an active filter listing;

selecting a second filter from said list of filters, said second filter defining another action associated with another property of the one or more media items;

adding said second filter to said active filter listing;

ranking said first filter and said second filter according to the relative importance of each filter;

assigning a weight to each filter according to its rank, said assigned weight indicating a relative importance of each filter in generating the ordered list of the one or more media items;

displaying an adjustable weighting element indicative of the assigned weight of each filter, said weighting element including at least one of the following;

a user-adjustable slider bar, a pull-down menu, a pop-up menu, and a dialog box;

determining an aggregate score for each media item of the library of media items, wherein the aggregate score is a function of weighted scores, wherein each weighted score is determined according to each said filter in the active filter listing and adjusted by the weight assigned to each said filter in the active filter listing; and

generating the ordered list of the one or more media items based on the aggregate scores of the media items; and

displaying a three-state shuffle selection element alternately for providing a shuffle off, a mathematical shuffle, and an intelligent shuffle selection, said intelligent shuffle corresponding to the ordered list of one or more media items;

wherein said assigning of weights to each filter occurs as a function of a rank of the filter and a total number of active filters.

2. The method as set forth in claim 1 wherein said assigning of weights to each filter comprises looking up predetermined values for said weights in a weight table.

3. The method as set forth in claim 1 wherein said assigning of weights to each filter occurs according to the following equation:

4. The method as set forth in claim 1 further comprising prompting a user to assign a weight to each selected filter.

5. The method as set forth in claim 1 wherein said selecting a first filter, said selecting a second filter, and said ranking the selected filters are undertaken by a user.

6. The method as set forth in claim 5 further comprising receiving an execution signal from a user via a user interface associated with the filtering engine to display the ordered list.

7. The method as set forth in claim 5 further comprising displaying a slider bar for each selected filter, said slider bar being movable by the user to assign a different weight to each selected filter.

8. The method as set forth in claim 1 further comprising altering a user interface in response to the received ranking to indicate the selected ranking.

9. The method as set forth in claim 1 further comprising removing said selected first filter and said selected second filter from the list of filters.

10. The method as set forth in claim 1 further comprising storing the ordered list generated by said filtering engine.

11. A system having a user interface for establishing a filtering engine for generating an ordered list of one or more media items selected from a library of media items, said system comprising:

a processor configured to execute computer-executable instructions embodied in the following components presented as a part of the user interface for;

a filter list for displaying filters;

an active filter list display for displaying selected filters;

a selection element for selecting a first filter from said filter list, said first filter defining an action associated with one property of the one or more media items, said selection element also for selecting a second filter from said filter list, said second filter defining another action associated with another property of the one or more media items;

an adding element for adding said first filter to said active filter list display, said adding element also for adding said second filter to said active filter list display;

a weighting element for weighting each active filter according to its relative importance, said weighting element indicating a relative importance of each filter in generating the ordered list of the one or more media items;

a three-state shuffle selection element alternately providing a shuffle off, a mathematical shuffle, and an intelligent shuffle selection, said intelligent shuffle corresponding to the ordered list of one or more media items wherein the weighting element for each active filter is a function of the relative importance of the filter and the total number of active filters; and

wherein the user interface displays an adjustable weighting element indicative of the weight of each filter, said weighting element including at least one of the following;

a user-adjustable slider bar, a pull-down menu, a pop-up menu, and a dialog box, and wherein the system generates the ordered list of one or more media items by determining an aggregate score for each media item of the library of media items, wherein the aggregate score is a function of weighted scores, wherein each of the weighted scores is the score for the media item determined according to one of the filters in the active filter listing and adjusted by the weight assigned to said filter in the active filter listing.

12. The system as set forth in claim 11 wherein said weighting element comprises an ordering element for ordering said first filter and said second filter of said active filter list display according to the relative importance of each filter, said ordering of said first and second filters establishing a weight for each filter.

13. The system of claim 11 wherein said weighting element comprises an individual weighting element associated with each active filter.

14. The system of claim 13 wherein each of said individual weighting elements comprises a slider bar adapted for movement to assign a different weight to each selected filter.

15. The system of claim 11 wherein the weight assigned to each filter in the active filter listing is determined according to the following equation:

16. A system for establishing a filtering engine for generating an ordered list of one or more media items selected from a library of media items, said system comprising:

a processor configured to execute computer-executable instructions embodied in the following components presented as a part of the user interface for;

a filter list for displaying filters;

a selection element associated with each filter for selecting one or more of said filters, each of said filters defining an action associated with one property of the one or more media items;

a selection complete element associated with said filter list for indicating that filter selection is complete;

an active filter list display for displaying the selected filters; and

a weighting element for weighting each active filter of the active filter list for adjusting the contribution of each filter in the generation of the ordered list, wherein the weighting element for each active filter is a function of the relative importance of the filter and the total number of active filters, and wherein the user interface displays an adjustable weighting element indicative of the weight of each filter, said weighting element including at least one of the following;

a user-adjustable slider bar, a pull-down menu, a pop-up menu, and a dialog box; and

a three-state shuffle selection element alternately providing a shuffle off, a mathematical shuffle, and an intelligent shuffle selection, said intelligent shuffle corresponding to the ordered list of one or more media items;

wherein the system generates the ordered list of one or more media items by determining an aggregate score for each media item of the library of media items, wherein the aggregate score is a function of weighted scores, wherein each weighted score is determined according to each said filters in the active filter listing and adjusted by the weight assigned to each said filter in the active filter listing.

17. The system as set forth in claim 16 wherein said weighting element comprises an ordering element for ordering said first filter and said second filter of said active filter list display according to the relative importance of each filter, said ordering of said first and second filters establishing a weight for each filter.

18. The system of claim 16 wherein said weighting element comprises an individual weighting element associated with each active filter.

19. The system of claim 18 wherein each of said individual weighting elements comprises a slider bar adapted for movement to assign a different weight to each selected filter.

20. The system of claim 16 wherein the weight assigned to each of the filters in the active filter listing is determined according to the following equation: