Media list management

• US 8,832,122 B2
• Filed: 09/30/2008
• Issued: 09/09/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 09/30/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Rogers, Matthew, Wysocki, Christopher R., Hannon, Timothy Patrick
• Primary Examiner(s): Mamillapalli, Pavan
• Application Number:
  US12/242,906
• Publication Number:
  US 20100094880A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,170 Days
• Field of Search: 707/752, 707/796, 369/30.28, 369/30.03
• US Class Current: 707/752
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/4387 by the use of playlists

Abstract

Systems, methods, and computer program products are provided for managing a playlist on a portable media device including generating a random order of media items based on a seed, receiving an instruction to power down the portable media device, saving the seed in a storage, and powering down the portable media device.

Claims

1. A non-transitory computer readable medium including instructions for managing a playlist of a plurality of media items on a portable media device which, when executed by a processing system, cause the processing system to perform a method, the method comprising:

generating a random seed, wherein the random seed once generated, is used as an input to generate a random playlist, resulting in a particular sequence of the plurality of media items, the particular sequence randomly generated;

using the generated random seed as the input, generating the particular sequence of the plurality of media items for defining the random playlist;

receiving an instruction to power down the portable media device;

saving the random seed in a storage of the portable media device, wherein the generated random seed is used to regenerate the random playlist with the particular sequence of the plurality of media items; and

powering down the portable media device.

2. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, further comprising:

playing at least one of the plurality of media items according to the particular sequence of the random playlist prior to receiving the instruction;

updating a counter for tracking the playing of the at least one of the plurality of media items; and

saving the counter before powering down the portable media device.

3. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 2, further comprising:

powering on the portable media device after powering down the portable media device;

accessing the saved random seed from the storage;

regenerating the particular sequence of the plurality of media items based on the accessed saved random seed for redefining the random playlist;

accessing the saved counter; and

playing at least a particular one of the plurality of media items according to the regenerated particular sequence based on the accessed saved counter.

4. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, further comprising:

playing at least one of the plurality of media items according to the particular sequence of the random playlist prior to receiving the instruction;

updating a timer for tracking the playing of the at least one of the plurality of media items; and

saving the timer before powering down the portable media device.

5. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, further comprising:

saving a playlist identifier associated with the playlist before powering down the portable media device.

6. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the particular sequence is generated using the random seed as an input to a pseudo-random generator.

7. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the particular sequence is generated using the random seed as an input to Tomasulo'"'"'s algorithm.

8. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the random seed is an integer.

9. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the saving is performed in response to the receiving.

10. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the instructions, when executed by the processing system, further cause the method to comprise:

powering on the portable media device after powering down the portable media device;

accessing the saved random seed from the storage; and

regenerating the particular sequence of the plurality of media items based on the accessed saved random seed for redefining the random playlist.

11. A non-transitory computer readable medium including instructions for resuming a random playlist of a plurality of media items on a portable media device which, when executed by a processing system, cause the processing system to perform a method, the method comprising:

powering up the portable media device;

accessing a stored random seed from a storage of the portable media device, the stored random seed having been stored in the storage prior to the powering up, wherein the random seed was previously used as an input to generate the random playlist, resulting in a particular sequence of the plurality of media items, the particular sequence randomly generated;

after the accessing, generating the particular sequence of the plurality of media items based on the stored random seed for regenerating the random playlist with the particular sequence of the plurality of media items; and

playing at least one of the plurality of media items according to the particular sequence of the random playlist.

12. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 11, further comprising:

accessing a stored counter from the storage of the portable media device, the stored counter having been stored in the storage prior to the powering up, wherein the playing comprises playing the at least one of the plurality of media items based on the accessed counter.

13. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 11, further comprising:

accessing a stored playlist identifier from the storage of the portable media device, the stored playlist identifier having been stored in the storage prior to the powering up, wherein the stored playlist identifier is associated with the plurality of media items, and wherein the generating comprises generating the particular sequence based on the stored playlist identifier.

14. A system for managing a playlist of a plurality of media items on a portable media device comprising:

a storage; and

a processing system, wherein the processing system is configured to;

generate a random seed, wherein the random seed once generated, is used as an input to generate a random playlist, resulting in a particular sequence of the plurality of media items, the particular sequence randomly generated;

using the generated random seed as the input, generate the particular sequence of the plurality of media items based on the random seed;

generate a shuffled playlist based on the particular sequence; and

save the random seed in the storage before powering down the portable media device, wherein the random seed is used to regenerate the shuffled playlist based on the particular sequence.

15. The system of claim 14, further comprising:

a memory, wherein the processing system is further configured to copy the random seed from the memory to the storage before powering down the portable media device.

16. The system of claim 14, wherein the processing system is further configured to save a playlist identifier in the storage before powering down the portable media device, and wherein the playlist identifier is associated with the playlist.

17. The system of claim 14, wherein the processing system is further configured to:

play at least one of the plurality of media items according to the particular sequence of the shuffled playlist before powering down the portable media device; and

save a counter in the storage before powering down the portable media device, wherein the counter is incremented for each of the at least one of the plurality of media items played according to the particular sequence of the shuffled playlist.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the processing system is further configured to:

power on the portable media device after powering down the portable media device;

access the saved random seed from the storage;

regenerate the particular sequence of the plurality of media items based on the accessed saved random seed;

regenerating the shuffled playlist based on the regenerated particular sequence;

accessing the saved counter; and

playing at least a particular one of the plurality of media items according to the regenerated particular sequence of the regenerated shuffled playlist based on the accessed saved counter.

19. The system of claim 14, wherein the processing system is further configured to:

receive an instruction to power down the portable media device; and

save the random seed in the storage in response to receiving the instruction.

20. The system of claim 14, wherein the processing system is further configured to:

power on the portable media device after powering down the portable media device;

access the saved random seed from the storage; and

regenerate the particular sequence of the plurality of media items based on the accessed saved random seed.

21. A non-transitory computer readable medium including instructions for managing a playlist of a plurality of media items on a portable media device which, when executed by a processing system, cause the processing system to perform a method, the method comprising:

generating a random seed, wherein the random seed once generated, is used as an input to generate a random playlist, resulting in a particular sequence of the plurality of media items, the particular sequence randomly generated;

generating the particular sequence of the plurality of media items based on the random seed;

generating the random playlist based on the particular sequence;

playing at least one of the plurality of media items according to the particular sequence of the random playlist;

incrementing a counter for each of the at least one of the plurality of media items played according to the particular sequence of the random playlist; and

storing the random seed and the incremented counter for regenerating the random playlist.

22. A system for managing a playlist of a plurality of media items on a portable media device comprising:

a memory;

a storage; and

a processing system, wherein the processing system is configured to;

after the portable media device is powered up at a particular time, access a stored random seed from the storage, the stored random seed having been stored in the storage prior to the particular time, wherein the stored random seed was previously used as an input to generate a random playlist, resulting in a particular sequence of the plurality of media items, the particular sequence randomly generated, and wherein the stored random seed is used to regenerate the random playlist;

copy the accessed stored random seed from the storage to the memory; and

generate the particular sequence of the plurality of media items based on the accessed stored random seed to regenerate the playlist.

23. The system of claim 22, wherein the processing system is further configured to:

play at least one of the plurality of media items according to the generated particular sequence.

24. The system of claim 22, wherein the processing system is further configured to:

copy a playlist identifier from the storage to the memory, wherein the playlist identifier is associated with the playlist; and

generate the particular sequence of the plurality of media items based on the accessed stored random seed and the copied playlist identifier.

25. A method for managing a playlist of a plurality of media items on a portable media device comprising:

generating a random seed, wherein the random seed once generated, is used as an input to generate a random playlist, resulting in a particular sequence of the plurality of media items, the particular sequence randomly generated;

using the generated random seed as the input, generating the particular sequence of the plurality of media items for defining the random playlist;

receiving an instruction to power down the portable media device;

saving the random seed in a storage of the portable media device, wherein the generated random seed is used to regenerate the random playlist with the particular sequence of the plurality of media items; and

powering down the portable media device.

26. The method of claim 25, further comprising:

presenting at least a portion of the plurality of media items according to the particular sequence prior to the powering down.

27. The method of claim 25, wherein the saving is performed in response to the receiving of the instruction.

28. The method of claim 25, further comprising:

powering on the portable media player after the powering down;

accessing the saved random seed from the storage; and

regenerating the particular sequence of the plurality of media items based on the accessed saved random seed for redefining the random playlist.

29. The method of claim 25, further comprising:

playing at least one of the plurality of media items according to the particular sequence of the random playlist prior to the receiving of the instruction;

updating a counter for tracking the playing of the at least one of the plurality of media items; and

saving the counter before the powering down.

30. The method of claim 29, further comprising:

powering on the portable media player after the powering down;

accessing the saved random seed from the storage;

regenerating the particular sequence of the plurality of media items based on the accessed saved random seed for redefining the random playlist;

accessing the saved counter; and

playing at least a particular one of the plurality of media items according to the regenerated particular sequence based on the accessed saved counter.

31. A non-transitory computer readable medium including instructions for managing playlists on a portable media device which, when executed by a processing system, cause the processing system to perform a method, the method comprising:

generating a first particular sequence of a first plurality of media items of a first playlist based on a first random seed wherein the first random seed once generated, is used as an input to generate a random playlist, resulting in the particular sequence of the first plurality of media items, the first particular sequence randomly generated;

playing at least one media item of the first plurality of media items of the first playlist according to the generated first particular sequence;

receiving an instruction to play a second playlist of a second plurality of media items;

copying to a memory the first random seed and a first counter value associated with one of the at least one media item of the first plurality of media items of the first playlist played according to the generated first particular sequence, wherein the first random seed is used to regenerate the first particular sequence of the first playlist; and

playing the second playlist.

32. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 31, further comprising:

receiving an instruction to play the first plurality of media items of the first playlist according to the first particular sequence;

accessing from the memory the copied first random seed and the copied first counter value;

regenerating the first particular sequence of the first plurality of media items of the first playlist based on the accessed first random seed; and

playing the first plurality of media items of the first playlist according to the regenerated first particular sequence and based on the accessed first counter value.

33. A non-transitory computer readable medium including instructions for managing a playlist of a plurality of media items on a portable media device which, when executed by a processing system, cause the processing system to perform a method, the method comprising:

powering up the portable media device;

after the powering up, copying a random seed and a counter value from storage of the portable media device to memory of the portable media device, wherein the random seed and the counter value are used to regenerate the playlist, and wherein the random seed and the counter value were stored in the storage prior to the powering up, wherein the random seed was previously used as an input to generate a random playlist, resulting in a particular sequence of the plurality of media items, the particular sequence randomly generated;

initializing a value of a playlist index;

generating a number of elements of the particular sequence of the plurality of media items based on the copied random seed, wherein the number is equal to the value of the playlist index;

after the generating, if the value of the playlist index is less than the copied counter value, increasing the value of the playlist index by one and then repeating the generating; and

after the generating, if the value of the playlist index is equal to the copied counter value, playing the media item of the plurality of media items associated with the most recently generated element of the particular sequence, increasing the value of the playlist index by one, increasing the value of the copied counter value by one, and then repeating the generating.

34. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 33, wherein the instructions, when executed by the processing system, further cause the method to comprise:

after the generating, if the value of the playlist index is less than the copied counter value, marking the media item of the plurality of media items associated with the most recently generated element of the particular sequence as played, increasing the value of the playlist index by one, and then repeating the generating.