Device affiliation process from second display

• US 8,943,169 B2
• Filed: 03/31/2011
• Issued: 01/27/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 02/11/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.), Sony Network Entertainment International LLC (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Wong, Ling Jun, Agnihotri, Davender, Xiong, True
• Primary Examiner(s): Moise, Emmanuel L
• Assistant Examiner(s): ABU ROUMI, MAHRAN Y
• Application Number:
  US13/076,783
• Publication Number:
  US 20120206317A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,398 Days
• Field of Search: 386/230, 709/219
• US Class Current: 709/219
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/10 Protecting distributed programs or content, e.g. vending or licensing of copyrighted material protection in video systems or pay television H04N7/16 ; Digital rights management [DRM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/61 for supporting one-way streaming services, e.g. Internet radio
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/01 Protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/303 Terminal profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 User profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/51 Discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services

Abstract

Apparatus and methods for using a second display with a network-enabled television. In one implementation, this feature allows the user to conveniently affiliate their IPTV devices with various service providers and manage such affiliations directly from a second display device instead of going to a separate affiliation website. The second display could be a smart phone that can often be found beside the user, a laptop or tablet PC, a desktop PC, or the like.

Claims

1. A method of managing service affiliations of one or more content playback devices using a second display, comprising:

i. establishing a session between a second display and a server;

ii. causing a list of one or more content playback devices to be displayed on the second display;

iii. receiving a first signal on the server indicating a user choice of a content playback device; and

1. causing a list of service affiliations to be displayed on the second display corresponding to service providers, the service affiliations associated and authenticated with the content playback device, the service affiliations allowing the provision of multiple items of content to the content playback device, and receiving a second signal on the server indicating that a service affiliation associated with the content playback device is to be removed, and removing the service affiliation;

or

2. receiving a third signal on the server indicating that a service affiliation is to be added and associated with the content playback device, and sending a fourth signal to a service provider associated with the service affiliation to create the service affiliation.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the session is associated with a user account, wherein at least one of the content playback devices displayed are associated with the user account, and wherein at least one of the service affiliations displayed are associated with the user account.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising displaying a list of potential service affiliations, and wherein the receiving a third signal on the server further comprises receiving a selection from the list of potential service affiliations.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising generating the list of potential service affiliations based on at least one other service affiliation associated with the user account.

5. The method of claim 3, further comprising generating the list of potential service affiliations based on at least one technical specification associated with the chosen content playback device.

6. The method of claim 3, further comprising generating the list of potential service affiliations based on at least one ruleset.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the ruleset is based on a geographic region of the chosen content playback device.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising loading a browser of the second display with a URL associated with the chosen service provider.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving information about the content playback device from a second server.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the content playback device is an IPTV, a digital video recorder, a Blu-Ray®

player, a Blu-Ray®

recorder, a DVD player, a DVD recorder, an internet appliance, or an audio system.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising inheriting a configuration from another content playback device, the configuration including at least one set of one or more service affiliations.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the second display is a tablet computer, a smart phone, a laptop computer, a desktop computer, an internet appliance, or a computing device with internet access.

13. The method of claim 2, wherein upon receipt of the third signal, further comprising receiving an inputted code and transmitting the received code to the service provider, and receiving from a service provider a transmitted user token and affiliation token, the tokens to be associated with the user account.

14. The method of claim 2, wherein upon receipt of the second signal, at least one user account identifier and the authentication credential is transmitted to the service provider, whereby the service affiliation is removed from the content playback device.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the causing a list of one or more content playback devices to be displayed on the second display includes:

retrieving information about content playback devices from a user account, discovering content playback devices on a local network, discovering content playback devices from a wireless broadcast communication, or discovering content playback devices from an infrared remote control signal.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the removing the service affiliation further comprises sending a fifth signal to a service provider associated with the service affiliation to remove the service affiliation.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the fourth signal includes at least one authentication credential associated with the content playback device.

18. A non-transitory computer-readable medium, comprising instructions for causing a computing device to implement the method of claim 1.

19. A method of displaying service affiliations of one or more content playback devices using a second display, comprising:

i. establishing a session between a second display and a server;

ii. causing a list of one or more content playback devices to be displayed on the second display;

iii. receiving a first signal on the server indicating a user choice of a content playback device; and

iv. generating a list of service affiliations to be displayed on the second display corresponding to service providers, the service affiliations associated with the content playback device;

v. receiving a selection of a service affiliation corresponding to a service provider from the list, from the second display;

vi. based on the selection from the second display, arranging access of the second display to the selected service provider based on an authentication credential of the content playback device.

20. The method of claim 19, further comprising:

i. filtering the list based on a ruleset; and

ii. causing the filtered list to be displayed on the second display.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the ruleset is based on a geographic location of the chosen content playback device.

22. The method of claim 20, wherein the ruleset is based on a time of day of the chosen content playback device.

23. A non-transitory computer-readable medium, comprising instructions for causing a computing device to implement the method of claim 19.

24. A method of displaying service affiliations of one or more content playback devices using a second display, comprising:

i. establishing a session between a second display and a server, the session associated with a user account;

ii. causing a list of one or more content playback devices to be displayed on the second display;

iii. receiving a first signal indicating a selection of a content playback device from the list; and

iv. generating and causing to be displayed a list of service affiliations on the second display corresponding to service providers, the service affiliations associated with the user account wherein the generating is based on service affiliations associated and authenticated with the selected content playback device, the service affiliations allowing the provision of multiple items of content to the content playback device.

25. A non-transitory computer-readable medium, comprising instructions for causing a computing device to implement the method of claim 24.

26. A method of managing service affiliations of a user account using a second display, comprising:

i. establishing a session between a second display and a server, the session associated with a user account;

ii. causing a list of one or more content playback devices to be displayed on the second display;

iii. receiving a first signal on the server indicating a user choice of a content playback device;

iv. causing a list of service affiliations to be displayed on the second display corresponding to service providers, the service affiliations associated with the user account; and

1. receiving a second signal on the server from the second display indicating that a service affiliation associated with the user account is to be removed, and based on the second signal from the second display removing the service affiliation including arranging access of the second display to the service provider based on an authentication credential of the chosen content playback device;

or

2. receiving a third signal on the server from the second display indicating that a service affiliation is to be added and associated with the user account, and sending a fourth signal to a service provider associated with the service affiliation to create the service affiliation, including arranging access of the second display to the service provider based on an authentication credential of the chosen content playback device.

27. A non-transitory computer-readable medium, comprising instructions for causing a computing device to implement the method of claim 26.

28. A method of managing service affiliations of one or more content playback devices using a second display, comprising:

i. establishing a session between a second display and a server;

ii. displaying a list of one or more content playback devices on the second display;

iii. transmitting a first signal to the server indicating a user choice of a content playback device;

iv. displaying a list of service affiliations corresponding to service providers, the service affiliations associated with the content playback device; and

1. transmitting a second signal to the server indicating that a service affiliation associated with the content playback device is to be removed, including arranging access of the second display to the service provider based on an authentication credential of the chosen content playback device;

or

2. transmitting a third signal to the server indicating that a service affiliation is to be added and associated with the content playback device, whereby a fourth signal is sent to a service provider associated with the service affiliation to create the service affiliation, including arranging access of the second display to the service provider based on an authentication credential of the chosen content playback device.

29. The method of claim 28, wherein the session is associated with a user account, wherein the content playback devices are associated with the user account, wherein the service affiliations are associated with the user account.

30. The method of claim 28, further comprising transmitting a fifth signal to a service provider associated with the service affiliation to remove the service affiliation.

31. The method of claim 28, wherein the fourth signal includes at least one authentication credential associated with the content playback device.

32. A non-transitory computer-readable medium, comprising instructions for causing a computing device to implement the method of claim 28.

33. A method of managing service affiliations of one or more content playback devices using a second display, comprising:

i. establishing a session between a second display and a server, the session associated with a user account;

ii. displaying a list of one or more content playback devices on the second display;

iii. transmitting a first signal to the server indicating a user choice of a content playback device;

iv. displaying a list of service affiliations corresponding to service providers, the service affiliations associated with the user account, the service affiliations authenticated with the chosen content playback device and allowing the provision of multiple items of content to the chosen content playback device; and

1. transmitting a second signal to the server indicating that a service affiliation associated with the user account is to be removed;

or

2. transmitting a third signal to the server indicating that a service affiliation is to be added and associated with the user account, whereby a fourth signal is sent to a service provider associated with the service affiliation to create the service affiliation.

34. A non-transitory computer-readable medium, comprising instructions for causing a computing device to implement the method of claim 33.