Systems, methods, and devices for associating a contact identifier with a broadcast source

• US 8,843,056 B2
• Filed: 05/16/2013
• Issued: 09/23/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 09/24/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Haughay, Allen P. Jr., Perry, Ryan
• Primary Examiner(s): Ferguson, Keith
• Application Number:
  US13/895,844
• Publication Number:
  US 20130316639A1
• Time in Patent Office: 495 Days
• Field of Search: 455 301- 306, 455/422.1, 455/403, 455/500, 455/517, 455/509, 455/466, 455/426.1, 455/426.2, 455/550.1, 455/575.1, 725 62- 70, 370/310, 370/328, 370/329, 370/343, 370/338
• US Class Current: 455/3.05
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/38 Arrangements for distribution where lower stations, e.g. receivers, interact with the broadcast
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/93 which locates resources of other pieces of information, e.g. URL [Uniform Resource Locator]
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 40/18 Arrangements characterised by circuits or components specially adapted for receiving
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 40/27 specially adapted for broadcast systems covered by groups H04H20/53 - H04H20/95
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/27 Arrangements for recording or accumulating broadcast information or broadcast-related information
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/33 Arrangements for monitoring the users' behaviour or opinions
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/74 using programme related information, e.g. title, composer or interpreter
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/82 the transmission system being the Internet
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/91 Mobile communication networks for accessing the Internet H04H60/85
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/94 Telephonic networks for accessing the Internet H04H60/84
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72442 for playing music files
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/64 file transfer between terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/11 Allocation or use of connection identifiers

Abstract

A media device including a broadcast receiver that receives broadcast media from a plurality of broadcast sources where the broadcast receiver is tunable to a first broadcast source. The media device also includes a data store that stores a list of contact identifiers where each contact identifier is associated with a broadcast source. The media device includes a user interface that: i) provides a prompt to a user to enable the user to initiate contact with the first broadcast source, and ii) receives a user indication to initiate contact with the first broadcast source. The media device further includes a transceiver that initiates the contact with the first broadcast source by sending a communications session request via a communications network to the first broadcast source that includes a contact identifier associated with the first broadcast source.

Claims

1. A media device comprising:

a broadcast receiver to receive broadcast media and media data from a broadcast source, wherein the media data is digital information embedded within the broadcast media;

a transceiver configured to;

transmit, via a communications network to a media server using the received media data, a request for a contact identifier associated with the broadcast source, and

receive from the media server in response to the request, the contact identifier, and;

a communications circuitry configured to use the received contact identifier to establish a communications connection with the broadcast source via the communications network, wherein the communications circuitry is configured to continuously initiate contact with the broadcast source until the occurrence of a specified communications connection event.

2. The device of claim 1, wherein the communications network includes at least one of a PSTN, a wireless data network, a data network, and the Internet.

3. The device of claim 2, wherein the communications connection includes one of a circuit-switched and packet-switched connection.

4. The device of claim 1, wherein the contact identifier comprises at least one of an IP address, a domain name, and a URL.

5. The device of claim 1, wherein the media data includes at least one of Radio Broadcast Data System (RBDS) data and Radio Data System (RDS) data.

6. The device of claim 1, further comprising a user interface to receive a user indication to initiate contact with the broadcast source, wherein the device provides a prompt to the user to initiate contact with the broadcast source.

7. The device of claim 6, wherein the prompt includes at least one of an icon, text, audio indication, visual indication, alert, and vibration.

8. The media device of claim 1, wherein the communications event comprises one of:

the communications connection is established at a specified time, or the communications connection is established as being a specified caller number in a sequence of callers received by the broadcast source.

9. A non-transitory computer-readable medium that stores instructions executable by a media device to cause the media device to perform a method for requesting a communications connection with a broadcast source, the method comprising:

receiving broadcast media and media data from the broadcast source, wherein the media data is digital information embedded within the broadcast media,

transmitting a request for a contact identifier associated with the broadcast source from a media server, via a communications network to a media server using the received media data,

receiving the contact identifier from the media server in response to the request, and

using the received contact identifier to establish the communications connection with the broadcast source via the communications network, wherein establishing a communications connection comprises continuously initiating contact with the broadcast source until the occurrence of a specified communications connection event.

10. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 9, wherein the communications network includes at least one of a PSTN, a wireless data network, a data network, and the Internet.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the communications connection includes one of a circuit-switched and packet-switched connection.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 9, wherein the broadcast source includes at least one of a radio station, a television station, and a satellite.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 9, wherein the media includes a video, an image, audio, an audio file, a song, music, multimedia, a movie, and television data.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 9, wherein the contact identifier includes at least one of a telephone number, an IP address, a domain name, and a URL.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 9, wherein the media server includes at least one of a clearinghouse server, a web server, and a broadcast source server.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 9, wherein the media data includes at least one of Radio Broadcast Data System (RBDS) data and Radio Data System (RDS) data.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 9, the method further comprising providing a user interface to receive a user indication to initiate contact with the broadcast source, wherein the media device provides a prompt to the user to initiate contact with the broadcast source.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the prompt includes at least one of an icon, text, audio indication, visual indication, alert, and vibration.

19. A computer-implemented method comprising:

receiving broadcast media and media data from the broadcast source, wherein the media data is digital information embedded within the broadcast media,

transmitting, via a communications network to a media server using the received media data, a request for a contact identifier associated with the broadcast source from a media server,

receiving, from the media server in response to the request, the contact identifier, and

establishing a communications connection with the broadcast source via the communications network using the received contact identifier, wherein establishing a communications connection comprises continuously initiating contact with the broadcast source until the occurrence of a specified communications connection event.

20. The computer-implemented method of claim 19, wherein the contact identifier includes at least one of a telephone number, an IP address, a domain name, and a URL.

21. The computer-implemented method of claim 19, wherein the media data includes at least one of Radio Broadcast Data System (RBDS) data and Radio Data System (RDS) data.