System and method for obtaining media content for a portable media player
First Claim
1. A portable media player comprising:
- a local wireless communication interface adapted to communicatively couple the portable media player to a secondary system within a local wireless coverage area of the portable media player;
a digital storage device adapted to store a copy of one or more media files from a media collection of a user of the portable media player and proxy information representing each of a plurality of media files from the media collection, wherein the media collection of the user is hosted by an associated user system and the plurality of media files represented by the proxy information comprises media files from the media collection for which copies are not stored in the digital storage device of the portable media player; and
a control system associated with the local wireless communication interface and the digital storage device and adapted to;
provide the proxy information to the secondary system for one of a group consisting of;
at least one of the plurality of media files programmatically selected based on at least one criterion and all of the plurality of media files;
receive a notification from the secondary system of a matching media file stored by the secondary system, the matching media file identified by the secondary system based on the proxy information provided to the secondary system;
perform an action in response to the notification from the secondary system; and
wherein the plurality of media files represented by the proxy information is limited to media files from the media collection such that access to media files by the portable media player using the proxy information is restricted to the plurality of media files from the media collection represented by the proxy information.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method are provided for enabling a portable media player to obtain media content from secondary systems, such as other portable media players, via local wireless communication. In general, the portable media player stores proxy information identifying the media content of a number of media files in the user'"'"'s media collection rather than the media files themselves. When a secondary system is within a local wireless coverage area of the portable media player, the proxy information for the media files, or a subset thereof, is provided to the secondary system. In response, the secondary system identifies media files stored by the secondary system having media content matching the media content identified by the proxy information. The secondary system then provides a notification of the identified media files to the portable media player, which may then obtain the identified media files from the secondary system.
107 Citations
24 Claims
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1. A portable media player comprising:
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a local wireless communication interface adapted to communicatively couple the portable media player to a secondary system within a local wireless coverage area of the portable media player; a digital storage device adapted to store a copy of one or more media files from a media collection of a user of the portable media player and proxy information representing each of a plurality of media files from the media collection, wherein the media collection of the user is hosted by an associated user system and the plurality of media files represented by the proxy information comprises media files from the media collection for which copies are not stored in the digital storage device of the portable media player; and a control system associated with the local wireless communication interface and the digital storage device and adapted to; provide the proxy information to the secondary system for one of a group consisting of;
at least one of the plurality of media files programmatically selected based on at least one criterion and all of the plurality of media files;receive a notification from the secondary system of a matching media file stored by the secondary system, the matching media file identified by the secondary system based on the proxy information provided to the secondary system; perform an action in response to the notification from the secondary system; and wherein the plurality of media files represented by the proxy information is limited to media files from the media collection such that access to media files by the portable media player using the proxy information is restricted to the plurality of media files from the media collection represented by the proxy information. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A method of operation of a portable media player comprising:
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storing, at the portable media player, a copy of one or more media files from a media collection of a user of the portable media player; storing, at the portable media player, proxy information representing a plurality of media files in the media collection of the user of the portable media player, wherein the media collection is hosted by an associated user system and the plurality of media files from the media collection and comprises media files from the media collection for which copies are not stored at the portable media player and wherein the plurality of media files represented by the proxy information is limited to media files from the media collection such that access to media files by the portable media player using the proxy information is restricted to the plurality of media files from the media collection represented by the proxy information; establishing communication with a secondary system within a local wireless coverage area of the portable media player via a local wireless communication interface; providing the proxy information to the secondary system for one of a group consisting of;
at least one of the plurality of media files programmatically selected based on at least one criterion and all of the plurality of media files;receiving a notification from the secondary system of a matching media file stored by the secondary system, the matching media file identified by the secondary system based on the proxy information provided to the secondary system; and performing an action in response to the notification from the secondary system.
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21. A portable media player comprising:
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a local wireless communication interface adapted to communicatively couple the portable media player to a secondary system within a local wireless coverage area of the portable media player; a digital storage device adapted to store a copy of one or more media files from a media collection of a user of the portable media player and proxy information representing each of a plurality of media files from the media collection, wherein the media collection of the user is hosted by an associated user system and the plurality of media files represented by the proxy information comprises media files from the media collection for which copies are not stored in the digital storage device and, for each media file from the plurality of media files, the proxy information representing the media file comprises information identifying the media file and at least one of a group consisting of;
information identifying at least one desired encoding format and information identifying at least one quality parameter of the media file; anda control system associated with the local wireless communication interface and the digital storage device and adapted to; provide the proxy information for at least one of the plurality of media files to the secondary system; receive a notification from the secondary system of a matching media file stored by the secondary system, the matching media file identified by the secondary system based on the proxy information for the at least one of the plurality of media files; obtain the matching media file from the secondary system; and wherein the plurality of media files represented by the proxy information is limited to media files from the media collection such that access to media files by the portable media player using the proxy information is restricted to the plurality of media files from the media collection represented by the proxy information. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24)
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Specification