Passenger control unit for an in-flight entertainment system
First Claim
1. A hand-held passenger control unit adapted for use by a passenger on an aircraft, the control unit comprising:
- a controller;
a memory;
a display panel; and
a port for receiving a portable external memory containing audio content,wherein the control unit has a normal mode of operation including at least a first and second normal mode of operation;
wherein the first normal mode of operation the control unit controls the display panel disposed on the control unit to navigate through a menu displayed on the display panel on the control unit, wherein the display panel has a diagonal dimension of at least about 2.0 inches;
wherein the second normal mode of operation, the control unit controls a video display unit that is separate from the control unit and disposed proximate to the passenger;
wherein the control unit is configured to have four modes, the normal operation mode entered after receiving a status indicator for passenger operations;
a maintenance mode entered after receiving a status indicator for entering maintenance mode;
a decompression mode entered after a decompression state is detected; and
a degraded functionality mode entered after not receiving a status indicator within a predetermined amount of time.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A hand-held passenger control unit for use by a passenger on an aircraft or any other type of vehicle is provided. The control unit may include a controller, a memory, and a display panel. The control unit may have a first and a second mode of operation. In the first mode of operation, the control unit controls its own display panel. In the second mode of operation, the control unit controls a remote video display unit that is disposed proximate to the passenger. The control unit may also have an integrated audio player, thereby permitting passengers to bring their own audio content aboard the aircraft without having to bring their own audio players.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. A hand-held passenger control unit adapted for use by a passenger on an aircraft, the control unit comprising:
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a controller; a memory; a display panel; and a port for receiving a portable external memory containing audio content, wherein the control unit has a normal mode of operation including at least a first and second normal mode of operation; wherein the first normal mode of operation the control unit controls the display panel disposed on the control unit to navigate through a menu displayed on the display panel on the control unit, wherein the display panel has a diagonal dimension of at least about 2.0 inches; wherein the second normal mode of operation, the control unit controls a video display unit that is separate from the control unit and disposed proximate to the passenger; wherein the control unit is configured to have four modes, the normal operation mode entered after receiving a status indicator for passenger operations;
a maintenance mode entered after receiving a status indicator for entering maintenance mode;
a decompression mode entered after a decompression state is detected; and
a degraded functionality mode entered after not receiving a status indicator within a predetermined amount of time. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 20, 21)
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11. A method of delivering multimedia content to an aircraft passenger, the method comprising:
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providing a video display unit disposed proximate to the passenger; providing a control unit for the video display unit, the control unit including a hand-held audio player separate from the video display unit, the control unit having a normal mode of operation including at least first and second normal modes of operation and being configured to; operate in the first normal mode of operation to control a display panel disposed on the control unit to navigate through a menu displayed on the display panel on the control unit, wherein the display panel has a diagonal dimension of at least about 2.0 inches; and operate in the second normal mode of operation to control a video display unit that is separate from the control unit and disposed proximate to the passenger; providing a headset, wherein the control unit is configured to have four modes, the normal operation mode entered after receiving a status indicator for passenger operations;
a maintenance mode entered after receiving a status indicator for entering maintenance mode;
a decompression mode entered after a decompression state is detected; and
a degraded functionality mode entered after not receiving a status indicator within a predetermined amount of time;providing video content from an on-board computer network to the video display unit and operating the video display unit to display the video content to the passenger; connecting an external memory device to the audio player, and operating the audio player to download audio content from the external memory device; operating the video display unit to display information corresponding to audio files in the downloaded audio content; operating the control unit to navigate about the information displayed on the video display unit to select a said audio file; and providing audio content in the selected audio file from the hand-held audio player to the headset. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A system for providing in-flight entertainment to a passenger on an aircraft, the system comprising:
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a computer network; a video display unit disposed proximate to a passenger seat on the aircraft, the video display unit being communicatively linked to the computer network, the video display unit receiving multimedia content from the computer network; and a passenger control unit having a normal mode of operation including at least first and second normal modes and being communicatively linked to and separate from the video display unit, the passenger control unit executing software for downloading audio files and transmitting them to a speaker for permitting the passenger control unit to control the functioning of the video display unit to display information corresponding to the downloaded audio files and to navigate about the information displayed on the video display unit to select an audio file in the first normal mode of operation, the passenger control unit having the second normal mode of operation wherein the passenger control unit is configured to control a display panel disposed on the passenger control unit to navigate through a menu displayed on the display panel on the control unit, wherein the display panel has a diagonal dimension of at least about 2.0 inches and wherein the control unit is configured to have four modes, the normal operation mode entered after receiving a status indicator for passenger operations;
a maintenance mode entered after receiving a status indicator for entering maintenance mode;
a decompression mode entered after a decompression state is detected; and
a degraded functionality mode entered after not receiving a status indicator within a predetermined amount of time. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19)
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Specification