Device registration using a wireless home entertainment hub

• US 8,146,132 B2
• Filed: 10/31/2007
• Issued: 03/27/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 09/07/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Rateze Remote Mgmt. L.L.C. (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: Porto Vinci Ltd LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Inventors: Igoe, Patrick T.
• Primary Examiner(s): Kumar, Pankaj
• Assistant Examiner(s): NEWLIN, TIMOTHY R
• Application Number:
  US11/930,414
• Publication Number:
  US 20080064396A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,609 Days
• Field of Search: 725/153
• US Class Current: 725/153
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 1/08 by combining tones G10H1/14, G10H1/16 take precedence; chord G10H1/38
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2809 indicating that an appliance service is present in a home automation network monitoring functionality H04L43/0817; discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services, H04L67/51
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/2841 Wireless
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/43615 Interfacing a Home Network, e.g. for connecting the client to a plurality of peripherals home Audio Video Interoperability [HAVI] data switching networks H04L12/2805
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/43637 involving a wireless protocol, e.g. Bluetooth, RF or wireless LAN [IEEE 802.11] arrangements for wireless networking or broadcasting of information in indoor or near-field type systems H04B10/114
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/440209 for formatting on an optical medium, e.g. DVD
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/765 Interface circuits between an apparatus for recording and another apparatus
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/06 Selective distribution of broadcast services, e.g. multimedia broadcast multicast service [MBMS]; Services to user groups; One-way selective calling services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/08 Access restriction or access information delivery, e.g. discovery data delivery signalling during connection H04W76/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0254 detecting a user operation or a tactile contact or a motion of the device
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0258 controlling an operation mode according to history or models of usage information, e.g. activity schedule or time of day
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 60/00 Affiliation to network, e.g. registration; Terminating affiliation with the network, e.g. de-registration
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/005 Discovery of network devices, e.g. terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/26 Network addressing or numbering for mobility support
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/18 Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

A method of managing a power state of devices in a home entertainment system using a wireless home entertainment hub comprises obtaining a registration of a plurality of devices, where the plurality of devices includes at least one sink device and at least one source device. A selection of one of the source devices is received for presentation of program content to a user in the home entertainment system. A subset of the at least one sink device is determined for presentation of the program content to the user based on the selection of the source device. Each sink device in the subset of the at least one sink device is ensured to be active.

Claims

1. A method of registering a device with a wireless home entertainment hub, the method comprising:

broadcasting by a wireless home entertainment hub a request for a reply from a set of one or more coordinated devices produced by a manufacturer and forming a coordinated home entertainment system;

receiving the reply from each of the one or more coordinated devices, the reply including a coordinated identifier indicating that each of the one or more coordinated devices belong to the coordinated home entertainment system, the coordinated identifier being unique for each device of the one or more coordinated devices and set by the manufacturer;

registering each of the one or more coordinated devices with the wireless home entertainment hub based on each coordinated identifier associated with each of the respective one or more coordinated devices;

storing an indication of each of the registrations of the one or more coordinated devices; and

facilitating the presentation of program content by the one or more coordinated devices to a user of the home entertainment system.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein facilitating the presentation of the program content includes transmitting at least one instruction to a subset of sink devices included in the one or more coordinated devices to receive program content transmitted from a source device included in the one or more coordinated devices.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein facilitating the presentation of the program content includes receiving the program content from at least one source device included in the one or more coordinated devices and transmitting the program content to a subset of sink devices included in the one or more coordinated devices.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more coordinated devices are wireless devices.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the coordinated identifier is set by the manufacturer of the wireless home entertainment hub and the one or more coordinated devices.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein capabilities of the one or more coordinated devices are obtained by the wireless home entertainment hub based on the coordinated identifier corresponding to the device.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more coordinated devices include at least one of an audio source device, a video source device, an audio sink device, and a video sink device.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of broadcasting is initiated in response to a power on of the wireless home entertainment hub and the one or more coordinated devices.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of broadcasting is automatically initiated at a predetermined interval by the wireless home entertainment hub.

10. A method of registering a device with a wireless home entertainment hub in a home entertainment system, the method comprising:

recognizing by a device a broadcast request for a reply from the wireless home entertainment hub;

transmitting to the wireless home entertainment hub a reply in response to the request including a coordinated identifier indicating that each of the one or more coordinated devices belong to the coordinated home entertainment system, the coordinated identifier being, the coordinated identifier being unique for each device of the one or more coordinated devices and is set by a manufacturer of the device; and

facilitating the presentation of program content to a user of the home entertainment system in response to information received from the wireless home entertainment hub indicating a registration of the device based on the coordinated identifier.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the device is included in a set of coordinated home entertainment devices produced by the manufacturer.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the device is a wireless device.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the reply includes capabilities of the device.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein the device is a source device.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein facilitating the presentation of the program content includes transmitting program content by the source device in response to an instruction by the wireless home entertainment hub.

16. The method of claim 10, wherein the device is a sink device.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein facilitating the presentation of the program content includes receiving the program content by the sink device from at least one source device in response to receiving an instruction from the wireless home entertainment hub.