System and method for obtaining media content for a portable media player
First Claim
1. A portable media player comprising:
- a local wireless communication interface adapted to communicate with a secondary system within a local wireless coverage area of the portable media player;
a digital storage device adapted to store one or more media files from a media collection and proxy information representing all of the media files from the media collection, wherein the one or more media files and proxy information are received by the portable media player from an associated user system where the media collection is stored and access to the media files of the media collection by the portable media player is restricted to a plurality of media files from the media collection represented by the proxy information; and
a control system associated with the local wireless communication interface, the digital storage device, and a processor, and when executed is adapted to;
provide the proxy information to the secondary system within the local wireless coverage area of the portable media player the media files; and
receive a notification from the secondary system of at least one of a plurality of matching media files stored by the secondary system.
7 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method are provided for enabling a portable media player to obtain media content from secondary systems, such as other portable media players, via local wireless communication. In general, the portable media player stores proxy information identifying the media content of a number of media files in the user'"'"'s media collection rather than the media files themselves. When a secondary system is within a local wireless coverage area of the portable media player, the proxy information for the media files, or a subset thereof, is provided to the secondary system. In response, the secondary system identifies media files stored by the secondary system having media content matching the media content identified by the proxy information. The secondary system then provides a notification of the identified media files to the portable media player, which may then obtain the identified media files from the secondary system.
117 Citations
44 Claims
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1. A portable media player comprising:
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a local wireless communication interface adapted to communicate with a secondary system within a local wireless coverage area of the portable media player; a digital storage device adapted to store one or more media files from a media collection and proxy information representing all of the media files from the media collection, wherein the one or more media files and proxy information are received by the portable media player from an associated user system where the media collection is stored and access to the media files of the media collection by the portable media player is restricted to a plurality of media files from the media collection represented by the proxy information; and a control system associated with the local wireless communication interface, the digital storage device, and a processor, and when executed is adapted to; provide the proxy information to the secondary system within the local wireless coverage area of the portable media player the media files; and receive a notification from the secondary system of at least one of a plurality of matching media files stored by the secondary system. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A method of operation of a portable media player comprising:
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storing, at the portable media player, copies of one or more media files from a media collection; storing, at the portable media player, proxy information representing all of the media files from the media collection, wherein the one or more media files and proxy information are received by the portable media player from an associated user system where the media collection is stored and access to the media files of the media collection by the portable media player is restricted to a plurality of media files from the media collection represented by the proxy information; establishing communication with a secondary system within a local wireless coverage area of the portable media player via a local wireless communication interface; providing the proxy information to the secondary system; and receiving a notification from the secondary system of at least one of a plurality of matching media files stored by the secondary system, the at least one of the plurality of the matching media files identified by the secondary system based on the proxy information provided to the secondary system. - View Dependent Claims (21)
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22. A portable media player comprising:
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a local wireless communication interface adapted to be in communication with a secondary system within a local wireless coverage area of the portable media player; a digital storage device adapted to store copies of one or more media files from a media collection and proxy information representing all of the media files from the media collection, wherein the one or more media files and proxy information are received by the portable media player from an associated user system where the media collection is stored and access to the media files of the media collection by the portable media player is restricted to a plurality of media files from the media collection represented by the proxy information, and wherein the proxy information comprises information identifying each media file and information identifying at least one quality parameter of the media file; and a control system associated with the local wireless communication interface, the digital storage device, and a processor, and when executed is adapted to; provide the proxy information for the media files to the secondary system within the local wireless coverage area of the portable media player; receive a notification from the secondary system of at least one of a plurality of matching media files stored by the secondary system, the matching media file identified by the secondary system based on the proxy information for the at least one of the plurality of media files; and obtain the at least one of the plurality of matching media files from the secondary system. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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28. A portable media player comprising:
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a local wireless interface adapted to communicate with a secondary system within a local wireless coverage area of the portable media player; a digital storage device adapted to store proxy information representing all media files from a media collection, wherein one or more media files stored on the digital storage device and proxy information are received by the portable media player from an associated user system where the media collection is stored and access to the media files of the media collection by the portable media player is restricted to a plurality of media files from the media collection represented by the proxy information; and a control system associated with the local wireless communication interface, the digital storage device, and a processor, and when executed is adapted to; provide the proxy information to the secondary system within the local wireless coverage area of the portable media player; and receive a notification from the secondary system of at least one of a plurality of matching media files stored by the secondary system. - View Dependent Claims (29)
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30. A portable media player comprising:
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a local wireless communication interface adapted to receive communications from a secondary system within a local wireless coverage area of the portable media player; a digital storage device adapted to store proxy information representing all of the media files of a media collection such that the portable media player is able to access a plurality of media files from the media collection represented by the proxy information, wherein one or more media files stored on the digital storage device and the proxy information are received by the portable media player from an associated user system where the media collection is stored and access to the plurality of media files from the media collection by the portable media player is restricted to a plurality of media files from the media collection represented by the proxy information; and a control system associated with the local wireless communication interface, the digital storage device, and a processor, and when executed is adapted to; provide the proxy information to the secondary system within the local wireless coverage area of the portable media player; receive a notification from the secondary system of at least one of a plurality of the matching media files stored by the secondary system; and receive metadata and a stream of the at least one of the plurality of matching media files from the secondary system. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41)
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42. A media player comprising:
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a local wireless communication interface adapted to receive communications from a secondary system within a local wireless coverage area of the portable media player; a digital storage device adapted to store proxy information representing all of the media files of a media collection such that the portable media player is able to access a plurality of media files from the media collection represented by the proxy information, wherein one or more media files stored on the digital storage device and the proxy information are received by the portable media player from an associated user system where the media collection is stored and access to the plurality of media files from the media collection by the portable media player is restricted to a plurality of media files from the media collection represented by the proxy information; and a control system associated with the local wireless communication interface, the digital storage device, and a processor, and when executed is adapted to; provide the proxy information to the secondary system within the local wireless coverage area of the portable media player, wherein the proxy information includes quality parameters; receive a notification from the secondary system of at least one of a plurality of matching media files stored by the secondary system; present the at least one of the plurality of matching media files in a playlist on a graphical user interface; and receive metadata and a stream of the at least one of the plurality of matching media file from the secondary system. - View Dependent Claims (43)
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44. A media player comprising:
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a local wireless communication interface adapted to communicate with a secondary system within a local wireless coverage area of the portable media player; a digital storage device adapted to store one or more media files from a media collection and proxy information representing all of the media files of the media collection, wherein the one or more media files and proxy information are received by the portable media player from an associated user system where the media collection is stored and access to the media files of the media collection by the media player is restricted to a plurality of media files of the media collection represented by the proxy information; and a control system associated with the local wireless communication interface, the digital storage device, and a processor, and when executed is adapted to; provide the proxy information to the secondary system within the local wireless coverage area of the portable media player; and receive a notification from the secondary system of at least one of a plurality of matching media files stored by the secondary system.
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Specification