Using radio frequency tuning to control a portable audio device

• US 8,340,570 B2
• Filed: 05/13/2010
• Issued: 12/25/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 05/13/2010
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Nesbitt, Pamela A., Pomerantz, Ori
• Primary Examiner(s): TRINH, TAN H
• Application Number:
  US12/779,102
• Publication Number:
  US 20110282470A1
• Time in Patent Office: 957 Days
• Field of Search: 455/3.01, 455/3.02, 455/3.06, 455/11.1, 455/41.2, 455/130, 455/140, 455/142, 455/150.1, 455/151.1, 455/151.2, 455/173.1, 455/178.1, 455/179.1, 455/180.1, 455/183.2, 455/187.1, 455/188.1, 455/552.1, 455/569.2, 725/81, 725/80, 725/131, 725/78, 381/123, 381/81, 700/94
• US Class Current: 455/3.06
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/34 using an out-of-band subcarrier signal
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/61 for local area broadcast, e.g. instore broadcast
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/13 Arrangements for device control affected by the broadcast information
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/125 involving control of end-device applications over a network

Abstract

A method for controlling a portable audio device using radio frequency tuning is provided. A radio signal transmitter device communicatively coupled to the portable audio device transmits an audio signal of an audio file on a first radio frequency channel, a forward control signal on a second radio frequency channel, and a backward control signal on a third radio frequency channel to a radio signal receiver device. The portable audio device determines whether an audio output of the forward control signal is received by an audio receiver device. In response to determining that the portable audio device did receive the audio output of the forward control signal using the audio receiver device, the portable audio device plays a next audio file in a play list.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method for controlling a portable audio device using radio frequency tuning, the computer implemented method comprising:

transmitting, by a radio signal transmitter device communicatively coupled to the portable audio device, an audio signal of an audio file on a first radio frequency channel, a forward control signal on a second radio frequency channel, and a backward control signal on a third radio frequency channel to a radio signal receiver device;

determining whether an audio output of the forward control signal is received by the portable audio device using an audio receiver device; and

responsive to a determination that the portable audio device did receive the audio output of the forward control signal using the audio receiver device, playing, by the portable audio device, a next audio file in a play list.

2. The computer implemented method of claim 1 further comprising:

responsive to the determination that the portable audio device did receive the audio output of the forward control signal using the audio receiver device, incrementing, by the portable audio device, a radio frequency of the first radio frequency channel, the second radio frequency channel, and the third radio frequency channel by a predetermined amount.

3. The computer implemented method of claim 2, wherein the predetermined amount is 0.2 MHz.

4. The computer implemented method of claim 1 further comprising:

determining whether an audio output of the backward control signal is received by the portable audio device using the audio receiver device; and

responsive to a determination that the portable audio device did receive the audio output of the backward control signal using the audio receiver device, playing, by the portable audio device, a previous audio file in the play list.

5. The computer implemented method of claim 4 further comprising:

responsive to the determination that the portable audio device did receive the audio output of the backward control signal using the audio receiver device, decrementing, by the portable audio device, a radio frequency of the first radio frequency channel, the second radio frequency channel, and the third radio frequency channel by a predetermined amount.

6. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein the first radio frequency channel, the second radio frequency channel, and the third radio frequency channel are located within a narrow band of radio frequencies.

7. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein the second radio frequency channel is set at 0.2 MHz above a radio frequency of the first radio frequency channel, and wherein the third radio frequency channel is set at 0.2 MHz below the radio frequency of the first radio frequency channel.

8. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein the portable audio player is an electronic device that stores and plays audio files.

9. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein the audio file is one of a plurality of audio files in the play list that include at least one of song recordings, music recordings, and speech recordings.

10. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein the radio signal receiver device is located in a media player, and wherein the media player is one of a radio system, a television system, a stereo system, or a computer system.

11. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein the radio signal transmitter device is located in the portable audio device.

12. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein the radio signal transmitter device is located in a portable audio device controller unit that is separate from the portable audio device.

13. The computer implemented method of claim 12, wherein the portable audio device includes a wireless communications device for sending data to and receiving data from the portable audio device controller unit using wireless network technology.

14. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein the forward control signal and the backward control signal are signals generated by the portable audio device.

15. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein a user tunes the radio signal receiver device to the first radio frequency associated with the audio signal of the audio file to listen to a content of the audio file, and wherein the user tunes the radio signal receiver device to the second radio frequency channel associated with the forward control signal to skip ahead to the next audio file in the play list, and wherein the user tunes the radio signal receiver device to the third radio frequency channel associated with the backward control signal to skip back to a previous audio file in the play list.

16. A data processing system for controlling a portable audio device using radio frequency tuning, the data processing system comprising:

a bus system;

a storage device connected to the bus system, wherein the storage device includes a set of instructions; and

a processing unit connected to the bus system, wherein the processing unit executes the set of instructions to transmit an audio signal of an audio file on a first radio frequency channel, a forward control signal on a second radio frequency channel, and a backward control signal on a third radio frequency channel to a radio signal receiver device;

determine whether an audio output of the forward control signal is received by an audio receiver device; and

play a next audio file in a play list in response to a determination that the audio receiver device did receive the audio output of the forward control signal.

17. A computer program product including a computer readable storage medium having computer usable program code embodied thereon for controlling a portable audio device using radio frequency tuning, the computer program product comprising:

computer usable program code configured to transmit an audio signal of an audio file on a first radio frequency channel, a forward control signal on a second radio frequency channel, and a backward control signal on a third radio frequency channel to a radio signal receiver device;

computer usable program code configured to determine whether an audio output of the forward control signal is received by an audio receiver device; and

computer usable program code configured to play a next audio file in a play list in response to a determination that the audio receiver device did receive the audio output of the forward control signal.

18. The computer program product of claim 17 further comprising:

computer usable program code configured to increment a radio frequency of the first radio frequency channel, the second radio frequency channel, and the third radio frequency channel by a predetermined amount in response to the determination that the audio receiver device did receive the audio output of the forward control signal.

19. The computer program product of claim 17 further comprising:

computer usable program code configured to determine whether an audio output of the backward control signal is received by the audio receiver device; and

computer usable program code configured to play a previous audio file in the play list in response to a determination that the audio receiver device did receive the audio output of the backward control signal.

20. The computer program product of claim 19 further comprising:

computer usable program code configured to decrement a radio frequency of the first radio frequency channel, the second radio frequency channel, and the third radio frequency channel by a predetermined amount in response to the determination that the audio receiver device did receive the audio output of the backward control signal.