Method and system for music program selection

• US 7,700,865 B1
• Filed: 03/05/2007
• Issued: 04/20/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 03/05/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: TP Lab, Inc.
• Original Assignee: TP Lab, Inc.
• Inventors: Ho, Chi Fai, Chiu, Shin Cheung Simon
• Primary Examiner(s): Donels, Jeffrey
• Assistant Examiner(s): UHLIR, CHRISTOPHER J
• Application Number:
  US11/714,554
• Time in Patent Office: 1,142 Days
• Field of Search: 844/77.R
• US Class Current: 84/477.00R
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/034 on discs G11B27/036, G11B27/038 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/105 of operating discs

Abstract

In providing a music program, a personal music player displays personal activity choices. A user selects a personal activity and provides a time duration for the activity. The player sends a request to a music program server for a music program. The request includes the personal activity and the time duration. The music program server selects a music program record from a plurality of music program records that has an activity attribute which matches the personal activity and a program duration which matches or is less than the time duration. The server extracts location information for the music program from the program entry in the music program record, and sends this to the player. The player uses the location information to obtain the music program. In this manner, a music program is provided to a user based on the personal activity of the user.

Claims

1. A method for providing a music program to be played by a personal music player, comprising:

(a) determining a personal activity for a user and a time duration of the personal activity, wherein the personal activity comprises an activity in which the user will be engaged in a future concurrently with listening to the music program, wherein the personal activity is unrelated to user interaction with any personal music player;

(b) sending a request for the music program to a music program server, wherein the request comprises the personal activity and the time duration, wherein the music program server;

(b1) selects at least a first music program record corresponding to a first music program and a second music program record corresponding to a second music program, wherein activity attributes of the first and second music program records are synonyms of the personal activity and a sum of program time durations of the first and second music program records is equal to or less than the time duration of the personal activity,

(b2) combines the first music program and the second music program into a separate combined music program, wherein the first music program comprises a first header comprising a first chunk size and a first audio data format information, and a first data chunk comprising a first data chunk size and a first audio data,

wherein the second music program comprises a second header comprising a second chunk size and a second audio data format information, and a second data chunk comprising a second data chunk size and a second audio data, wherein the combines comprises;

(b2i) combines the first data chunk and the second data chunk into a data chunk of the combined music program,

(b2ii) stores the first audio data into an audio data of the combined music program and appending the second audio data to the audio data of the combined music program, and

(b2iii) computes a combined data chunk size of the combined music program as a sum of the first data chunk size and the second data chunk size; and

(c) receiving location information for the combined music program from the music program server.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining (a) comprises:

(a1) receiving an input of the personal activity from the user.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining (a) comprises:

(a1) displaying a plurality of personal activities; and

(a2) receiving a selection of the personal activity from the user.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

(d) obtaining the combined music program using the location information.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the time duration is a length of time the user will be engaged in the personal activity.

21. The method of claim 1, wherein the personal activity comprises a physical exercise activity in which the user will be engaged in the future concurrently with listening to the music program, wherein the physical exercise activity does not pertain to the user interaction with any personal music player.

22. The method of claim 1, wherein the personal activity comprises a cooking activity in which the user will be engaged in the future concurrently with listening to the music program.

23. The method of claim 1, wherein the personal activity comprises a commuting activity in which the user will be engaged in the future concurrently with listening to the music program.

24. The method of claim 1, wherein the personal activity comprises a reading activity in which the user will be engaged in the future concurrently with listening to the music program.

25. The method of claim 1, wherein the personal activity comprises a meditation activity in which the user will be engaged in the future concurrently with listening to the music program.

26. The method of claim 1, wherein the personal activity comprises a hobby activity in which the user will be engaged in the future concurrently with listening to the music program, wherein the hobby activity is unrelated to the user interaction with any personal music player.

27. The method of claim 1, wherein the personal activity comprises a personal grooming activity in which the user will be engaged in the future concurrently with listening to the music program.

28. The method of claim 1, wherein the personal activity comprises a relaxation activity in which the user will be engaged in the future concurrently with listening to the music program, wherein the relaxation activity is unrelated to the user interaction with the personal music player.

5. A personal music player, comprising:

an input module for receiving a personal activity for a user and a time duration of the personal activity, wherein a request for a music program is sent to a music program server, wherein the request comprises the personal activity and the time duration, wherein the personal activity comprises an activity in which the user will be engaged in a future concurrently with listening to the music program, wherein the personal activity is unrelated to user interaction with any personal music player, wherein the music program server;

selects at least a first music program record corresponding to a first music program and a second music program record corresponding to a second music program, wherein activity attributes of the first and second music program records are synonyms of the personal activity and a sum of program time durations of the first and second music program records is equal to or less than the time duration of the personal activity,

combines the first music program and the second music program into a separate combined music program, wherein the first music program comprises a first header comprising a first chunk size and a first audio data format information, and a first data chunk comprising a first data chunk size and a first audio data,

wherein the second music program comprises a second header comprising a second chunk size and a second audio data format information, and a second data chunk comprising a second data chunk size and a second audio data, wherein the combines comprises;

combines the first data chunk and the second data chunk into a data chunk of the combined music program,

stores the first audio data into an audio data of the combined music program and appending the second audio data to the audio data of the combined music program, and

computes a combined data chunk size of the combined music program as a sum of the first data chunk size and the second data chunk size,

wherein location information for the combined music program is received from the music program server.

6. The player of claim 5, wherein the input module comprises means for receiving an input of the personal activity from the user.

7. The player of claim 5, further comprising an output module for displaying a plurality of personal activities, wherein the input module receives a selection of the personal activity from the user.

8. The player of claim 5, wherein the location information comprises information used in obtaining the combined music program.

18. The player of claim 5, wherein the time duration is a length of time the user will be engaged in the personal activity.

9. A computer readable storage medium with program instructions for providing a music program to be played by a personal music player, wherein when the program instructions are executed by a computer, causes the computer to:

(a) determine a personal activity for a user and a time duration of the personal activity, wherein the personal activity comprises an activity in which the user will be engaged in a future concurrently with listening to the music program, wherein the personal activity is unrelated to user interaction with any personal music player;

(b) send a request for the music program to a music program server, wherein the request comprises the personal activity and the time duration, wherein the music program server;

(b1) selects at least a first music program record corresponding to a first music program and a second music program record corresponding to a second music program, wherein activity attributes of the first and second music program records are synonyms of the personal activity and a sum of program time durations of the first and second music program records is equal to or less than the time duration of the personal activity,

(b2) combines the first music program and the second music program into a separate combined music program, wherein the first music program comprises a first header comprising a first chunk size and a first audio data format information, and a first data chunk comprising a first data chunk size and a first audio data,

wherein the second music program comprises a second header comprising a second chunk size and a second audio data format information, and a second data chunk comprising a second data chunk size and a second audio data, wherein the combines comprises;

(b2i) combines the first data chunk and the second data chunk into a data chunk of the combined music program,

(b2ii) stores the first audio data into an audio data of the combined music program and appending the second audio data to the audio data of the combined music program, and

(b2iii) computes a combined data chunk size of the combined music program as a sum of the first data chunk size and the second data chunk size; and

(c) receive location information for the combined music program from the music program server.

10. A method for providing a music program to be played by a personal music player, comprising:

(a) receiving a request from the personal music player for the music program, wherein the request comprises a personal activity for a user and a time duration for the personal activity, wherein the personal activity comprises an activity in which the user will be engaged in a future concurrently with listening to the music program, wherein the personal activity is unrelated to user interaction with any personal music player;

(b) selecting at least a first music program record corresponding to a first music program and a second music program record corresponding to a second music program, wherein activity attributes of the first and second music program records are synonyms of the personal activity and a sum of the program time durations of the first and second music program records are less than or equal to the time duration of the personal activity;

(c) combining the first music program and the second music program into a separate combined music program, wherein the first music program comprises a first header comprising a first chunk size and a first audio data format information, and a first data chunk comprising a first data chunk size and a first audio data,

wherein the second music program comprises a second header comprising a second chunk size and a second audio data format information, and a second data chunk comprising a second data chunk size and a second audio data_—

wherein the combining comprises;

(c1) combining the first data chunk and the second data chunk into a data chunk of the combined music program,

(c2) storing the first audio data into an audio data of the combined music program and appending the second audio data to the audio data of the combined music program, and

(c3) computing a combined data chunk size of the combined music program as a sum of the first data chunk size and the second data chunk size; and

(ed) sending location information for the combined music program to the personal music player.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the personal music player obtains the combined music program using the location information.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the selecting (b) comprises:

(b1) connecting to a datastore, wherein the datastore comprises a plurality of music program records corresponding to a plurality of music programs, wherein each record comprises a program entry comprising the location information for obtaining the corresponding music program, an activity attribute, and a program time duration.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the combining (c) further comprises:

(c4) extracting a first location information for the first music program from a program entry of the first music program record;

(c5) extracting a second location information for the second music program from a program entry of the second music program record; and

(c6) generating the location information for the combined music program, wherein the location information comprises the first location information and the second location information.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the personal music player obtains the combined music program using the first location information and the second location information.

19. The method of claim 10, wherein the time duration is a length of time the user will be engaged in the personal activity.

15. A system, comprising:

a datastore comprising a plurality of music program records corresponding to a plurality of music programs, wherein each record comprises a program entry comprising location information for obtaining a corresponding music program, an activity attribute, and a program time duration; and

a music program server, wherein the music program server;

receives a request from a personal music player for the music program, wherein the request comprises a personal activity for a user and a time duration of the personal activity, wherein the personal activity comprises an activity in which the user will be engaged in a future concurrently with listening to the music program, wherein the personal activity is unrelated to user interaction with any personal music player,

selects at least a first music program record corresponding to a first music program and a second music program record corresponding to a second music program, wherein the activity attributes of the first and second music program records are synonyms of the personal activity and a sum of the program time durations of the first and second music program records are equal to or less than the time duration of the personal activity,

combines the first music program and the second music program into a separate combined music program, wherein the first music program comprises a first header comprising a first chunk size and a first audio data format information, and a first data chunk comprising a first data chunk size and a first audio data,

wherein the second music program comprises a second header comprising a second chunk size and a second audio data format information, and a second data chunk comprising a second data chunk size and a second audio data, wherein the music server;

combines the first data chunk and the second data chunk into a data chunk of the combined music program,

stores the first audio data into an audio data of the combined music program and appending the second audio data to the audio data of the combined music program, and

computes a combined data chunk size of the combined music program as a sum of the first data chunk size and the second data chunk size.

20. The system of claim 15, wherein the time duration is a length of time the user will be engaged in the personal activity.

16. A computer readable storage medium with program instructions for providing a music program to be played by a personal music player, wherein when the program instructions are executed by a computer, causes the computer to:

(a) receive a request from the personal music player for the music program, wherein the request comprises a personal activity for a user and a time duration of the personal activity, wherein the personal activity comprises an activity in which the user will be engaged in a future concurrently with listening to the music program, wherein the personal activity is unrelated to user interaction with any personal music player;

(b) select at least a first music program record corresponding to a first music program and a second music program record corresponding to a second music program, wherein activity attributes of the first and second music program records are synonyms of the personal activity and a sum of the program time durations of the first and second music program records are less than or equal to the time duration of the personal activity;

(c) combine the first music program and the second music program into a separate combined music program, wherein the first music program comprises a first header comprising a first chunk size and a first audio data format information, and a first data chunk comprising a first data chunk size and a first audio data,

wherein the second music program comprises a second header comprising a second chunk size and a second audio data format information, and a second data chunk comprising a second data chunk size and a second audio data, wherein the combine comprises;

(c1) combine the first data chunk and the second data chunk into a data chunk of the combined music program,

(c2) store the first audio data into an audio data of the combined music program and appending the second audio data to the audio data of the combined music program, and

(c3) compute a combined data chunk size of the combined music program as a sum of the first data chunk size and the second data chunk size; and

(ed) send location information for the combined music program to the personal music player.

29. A method for providing a music program to be played by a personal music player, comprising:

(a) determining a personal activity for a user and a time duration of the personal activity, wherein the personal activity comprises an activity in which the user will be engaged in a future concurrently with listening to the music program, wherein the personal activity is unrelated to user interaction with any personal music player, wherein the personal activity comprises at least one of the following;

a physical exercise activity, a cooking activity, a commuting activity, a reading activity, a meditation activity, a hobby activity, a personal grooming activity, and a relaxation activity;

(b) sending a request for the music program to a music program server, wherein the request comprises the personal activity and the time duration, wherein the music program server;

(b1) selects at least a first music program record corresponding to a first music program and a second music program record corresponding to a second music program, wherein activity attributes of the first and second music program records are synonyms of the personal activity and a sum of program time durations of the first and second music program records is equal to or less than the time duration of the personal activity,

(b2) combines the first music program and the second music program into a separate combined music program, wherein the first music program comprises a first header comprising a first chunk size and a first audio data format information, and a first data chunk comprising a first data chunk size and a first audio data,

wherein the second music program comprises a second header comprising a second chunk size and a second audio data format information, and a second data chunk comprising a second data chunk size and a second audio data, wherein the combines comprises;

(b2i) combines the first data chunk and the second data chunk into a data chunk of the combined music program,

(b2ii) stores the first audio data into an audio data of the combined music program and appending the second audio data to the audio data of the combined music program, and

(b2iii) computes a combined data chunk size of the combined music program as a sum of the first data chunk size and the second data chunk size; and

(c) receiving location information for the combined music program from the music program server.

30. A method for providing a music program to be played by a personal music player, comprising:

(a) receiving a request from the personal music player for the music program, wherein the request comprises a personal activity for a user and a time duration for the personal activity, wherein the personal activity comprises an activity in which the user will be engaged in a future concurrently with listening to the music program, wherein the personal activity is unrelated to user interaction with any personal music player;

(b) connecting to a datastore, wherein the datastore comprises a plurality of music program records corresponding to a plurality of music programs, wherein each record comprises a program entry comprising location information for obtaining the corresponding music program, an activity attribute, and a program time duration;

(c) selecting at least a first music program record corresponding to a first music program and a second music program record corresponding to a second music program, wherein the activity attributes of the first and second music program records are synonyms of the personal activity and a sum of the program time durations of the first and second music program records is equal to or less than the time duration of the personal activity; and

(d) combining the first music program and the second music program into a separate combined music program, wherein the first music program comprises a first header comprising a first chunk size and a first audio data format information, and a first data chunk comprising a first data chunk size and a first audio data,

wherein the second music program comprises a second header comprising a second chunk size and a second audio data format information, and a second data chunk comprising a second data chunk size and a second audio data, wherein the combining comprises;

(d1) combining the first data chunk and the second data chunk into a data chunk of the combined music program,

(d2) storing the first audio data into an audio data of the combined music program and appending the second audio data to the audio data of the combined music program, and

(d3) computing a combined data chunk size of the combined music program as a sum of the first data chunk size and the second data chunk size.