Methods and systems for use in providing access through a secondary device to services intended for a primary device

• US 9,185,116 B2
• Filed: 12/28/2010
• Issued: 11/10/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 11/10/2010
• 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, McCoy, Charles, Xiong, True
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Angela
• Application Number:
  US12/980,237
• Publication Number:
  US 20120117183A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,778 Days
• Field of Search: 709/217
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/101 Access control lists [ACL]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/104 Grouping of entities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1073 Registration or de-registration
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1093 by adding participants; by removing participants
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1094 Inter-user-equipment sessions transfer or sharing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/612 for unicast
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/565 Conversion or adaptation of application format or content adding application control or application functional data H04L67/561
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/5651 Reducing the amount or size of exchanged application data

Abstract

Some embodiments provide methods of providing access to services comprise: receiving, from over a distributed network, a request from a secondary device to access an account; confirming authorization to access the account; identifying one or more primary devices registered with and corresponding to the account in response to confirming authorization to access to the account, where the one or more primary devices are multimedia playback devices; receiving, from the secondary device, a selection of a first primary device of the one or more primary devices, where the first primary device is separate and distinct from the secondary device; identifying services available to the first primary device and configured to be utilized through the first primary device; and providing access, through the secondary device, to the identified services.

Claims

1. A method of providing access to services, the method comprising:

receiving, at a service provider server and from over a distributed network, a request from a secondary device to access an account, wherein the service provider server is remote and distinct from the secondary device;

confirming authorization to access the account;

identifying one or more primary devices registered with and corresponding to the account in response to confirming authorization to access to the account, wherein the one or more primary devices are multimedia playback devices;

receiving, at the service provider server from the secondary device, a selection of a first primary device of the one or more primary devices, wherein the first primary device is separate and distinct from the secondary device and the service provider server;

identifying services available to the first primary device and configured and intended to be utilized through the first primary device;

providing access through the secondary device to the identified services on behalf of the first primary device, wherein the providing the access to the identified services comprises providing the secondary device with access to the identified services without a request communicated to the first primary device;

requesting, through a proxy server and from one or more third party service providers, a listing of content available to be played back on the first primary device; and

communicating to the secondary device an altered listing of available content, wherein source access information that provides direct access to the identified content is removed in the altered listing.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the providing access to the identified services comprises:

receiving a request, at the service provider server over the distributed network and from the secondary device, to access one or more content sources;

identifying, in accordance with the account, one or more sources of multimedia content and that provide the first primary device with access to multimedia content; and

wherein the communicating the altered listing comprises communicating, over the distributed network from the service provider server to the secondary device, a listing of content, comprising the altered listing, available from the one or more sources of multimedia content and available to be played back on the first primary device, wherein the sources of multimedia content are remote from and separate from both the first primary device and the secondary device.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the providing access to the identified services comprises:

receiving a request, from the secondary device, for customer support for the first primary device;

identifying the first primary device without receiving further identification information from a user or communicating with the first primary device;

accessing information specific to the first primary device without further user interaction; and

providing corrective information, over the distributed network and to the secondary device, relevant to the first primary device in addressing an issue occurring at the first primary device.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the providing access to the identified services comprises:

receiving a request, from the secondary device, for customer support for the first primary device;

detecting a problem occurring at the first primary device;

determining that the problem is a problem caused by a service provided by a third party service provider;

forwarding, without further user interaction, error information to the third party service provider, where the error information corresponds to the problem occurring at the primary device; and

establishing a communication link between the secondary device and the third party service provider.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the providing access to the identified services comprises directing a communication from the secondary device to a proxy server, and requesting, through the proxy server and from one or more third party service providers, listings of content available to be played back on the first primary device.

6. The method of claim 2, wherein the communicating the listing of content available to be played back on the first primary device comprises:

identifying restrictions of content as defined by the first primary device without having to communicate with the first primary device in implementing the step of identifying the sources of multimedia content; and

compiling the listing of content while applying the restrictions such that not all of the content available from the one or more sources is included in the listing of content.

7. The method of claim 3, wherein the providing the information relevant to the first primary device in addressing the issue comprises:

identifying a customer service representative;

establishing a communication link between the user and the customer service representative without additional user interaction; and

providing, without further user interaction, the information specific to the first primary device to the customer service representative;

wherein the customer service representative forwards the corrective information relevant to the first primary device in addressing the issue occurring at the primary device.

8. A method of providing access to services, the method comprising:

receiving, at a service provider server and from over a distributed network, a request from a secondary device to access an account, wherein the service provider server is remote and distinct from the secondary device;

confirming authorization to access the account;

identifying one or more primary devices registered with and corresponding to the account in response to confirming authorization to access to the account, wherein the one or more primary devices are multimedia playback devices;

receiving, at the service provider server from the secondary device, a selection of a first primary device of the one or more primary devices, wherein the first primary device is separate and distinct from the secondary device and the service provider server;

identifying services available to the first primary device and configured and intended to be utilized through the first primary device; and

providing access through the secondary device to the identified services on behalf of the first primary device, wherein the providing the access to the identified services comprises providing the secondary device with access to the identified services without a request communicated to the first primary device;

wherein the providing access to the identified services comprises;

receiving a request, at the service provider server over the distributed network and from the secondary device, to access one or more content sources;

identifying, in accordance with the account, one or more sources of multimedia content and that provide the first primary device with access to multimedia content; and

communicating, over the distributed network from the service provider server to the secondary device, a listing of content available from the one or more sources of multimedia content and available to be played back on the first primary device, wherein the sources of multimedia content are remote from and separate from both the first primary device and the secondary device;

wherein the communicating the listing of content available to be played back on the first primary device comprises;

requesting, through a proxy server and from one or more third party service providers, listings of content available to be played back on the first primary device;

receiving, at the proxy server and in response to the request for the listings of content, the listings of content available to be played back on the first primary device from the one or more third party service providers;

generating, through the proxy server, an altered listing of available content from the listings of content, where the altered listing of available content comprises a different content identifier corresponding each of the available content in the altered listing, and wherein the generating the altered listing comprises removing, at the proxy server, source access information that provides direct access to the identified content; and

forwarding the altered listing to the secondary device such that the secondary device cannot directly access content corresponding to those identified content with the removed information.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

receiving, over the distributed network and from the first primary device, a first content identifier as selected through the secondary device and communicated from the secondary device to the primary device;

identifying, using the first content identifier, a first content corresponding to the first content identifier; and

communicating, to the first primary device and over the distributed network, source access information that provides the first primary device with direct access to the first content corresponding to the first content identifier.

10. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program for use with a computer simulation, the computer program adapted to cause a processor based system to execute steps comprising:

receiving, from over a distributed network, a request from a secondary device to access an account;

confirming authorization to access the account;

identifying one or more primary devices registered with and corresponding to the account in response to confirming authorization to access to the account, wherein the one or more primary devices are multimedia playback devices;

receiving, from the secondary device, a selection of a first primary device of the one or more primary devices, wherein the first primary device is separate and distinct from the secondary device;

identifying services available to the first primary device and configured and intended to be utilized through the first primary device;

providing access through the secondary device to the identified services on behalf of the first primary device, wherein the providing the access to the identified services comprises providing the secondary device with access to the identified services without a request communicated to the first primary device;

requesting, through a proxy server and from one or more third party service providers, a listing of content available to be played back on the first primary device; and

forwarding to the secondary device an altered listing of available content, wherein source access information that provides direct access to the identified content is removed in the altered listing.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein the providing access to the identified services comprises:

receiving a request, over the distributed network and from the secondary device, to access one or more content sources;

identifying, in accordance with the account, one or more sources of multimedia content and that provide the first primary device with access to multimedia content; and

wherein the communicating the altered listing comprises communicating, over the distributed network and to the secondary device, a listing of content, comprising the altered listing, available from the one or more sources of multimedia content and available to be played back on the first primary device.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein the providing access to the identified services comprises:

receiving a request, from the secondary device, for customer support for the first primary device;

identifying the first primary device without receiving further identification information from a user or communicating with the first primary device;

accessing information specific to the first primary device without further user interaction; and

providing corrective information, over the distributed network and to the secondary device, relevant to the first primary device in addressing an issue occurring at the primary device.

13. A method for use in accessing remote services, the method comprising:

accessing, from a secondary device, a remote service provider over a distributed network, where the remote service provider is configured to provide services configured for and intended for use by multiple different primary multimedia playback devices accessing the remote service provider over the distributed network;

accessing, through the secondary device, an account managed at the remote service provider;

detecting a selection of a first primary device that is registered with the account, where the first primary device is a multimedia playback device and is separate and distinct from the secondary device;

communicating, over the distributed network from the secondary device to the remote service provider, an identifier of the first primary device;

receiving, at the secondary device from the remote service provider and over the distributed network, a listing of services available that correspond to and are configured to be utilized by the selected first primary device;

detecting a selection, at the secondary device, of a first service of the listing of services;

communicating, over the distributed network from the secondary device to the remote service provider and without communicating a request to the first primary device, a request to initiate the selected first service relative to the first primary device such that the first service is available through the secondary device; and

providing access, over the distributed network and through the secondary device, to the selected first service on behalf of the first primary device without communicating a request to the first primary device, wherein the providing the access comprises receiving, over the distributed network and from a proxy server accessing a remote third party service provider, an altered listing of available content available from the third party service provider and configured to be played back by the first primary device, wherein source access information that provides direct access to one or more of the identified content is removed in the altered listing.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the receiving the altered listing of available content comprises receiving the altered listing altered by the proxy server before being communicated over the distributed network such that it does not include the source access information that provides direct access to the one or more of the available content;

and

wherein the providing access to the selected first service comprises;

detecting a selection, at the secondary device, of a first content of the available content from the listing of available content; and

communicating, from the secondary device, a first content identifier of the selected first content to the first primary device.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein the communicating the request to initiate the selected first service comprises:

detecting a selection, at the secondary device, of a customer support service; and

communicating, over the distributed network from the secondary device to the remote service provider, a request to initiate customer support for the first primary device.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein the accessing, through the secondary device, the account managed at the remote service provider comprising logging into the account through the secondary device, where the first primary device is registered with and associated with the account.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein the communicating, from the secondary device, the first content identifier of the selected first content to the first primary device comprises communicating the first content identifier over a local area network, where the first primary device and the secondary device are within the local area network.

18. The method of claim 15, wherein the request for the initiation of the customer support service is configured to activate the remote service provider to access information specific to the first primary device for use in providing customer support as a result of the selection of the first primary device, without a user providing identifying information of the first primary device and without the remote service provider communicating, in response to the initiating the customer service, with the first primary device.

19. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

receiving, over the distributed network and from the remote service provider, a listing of one or more primary devices registered with the remote service provider and that correspond to the account; and

displaying the listing of the one or more primary devices, where in the listing identifies the first primary device;

wherein the detecting the selection of the first primary device that is associated with the account comprises detecting the selection, at the secondary device and from the listing of the one or more primary devices, the first primary device.

20. A method for use in accessing remote services, the method comprising:

accessing, from a secondary device, a remote service provider over a distributed network, where the remote service provider is configured to provide services configured for and intended for use by multiple different primary multimedia playback devices accessing the remote service provider over the distributed network;

accessing, through the secondary device, an account managed at the remote service provider;

detecting a selection of a first primary device that is registered with the account, where the first primary device is a multimedia playback device and is separate and distinct from the secondary device;

communicating, over the distributed network from the secondary device to the remote service provider, an identifier of the first primary device;

receiving, at the secondary device from the remote service provider and over the distributed network, a listing of services available that correspond to and are configured to be utilized by the selected first primary device;

detecting a selection, at the secondary device, of a first service of the listing of services;

communicating, over the distributed network from the secondary device to the remote service provider and without communicating a request to the first primary device, a request to initiate the selected first service relative to the first primary device such that the first service is available through the secondary device;

providing access, over the distributed network and through the secondary device, to the selected first service on behalf of the first primary device without communicating a request to the first primary device;

wherein the providing access to the selected first service comprises;

receiving, over the distributed network and from a proxy server accessing a remote third party service provider, a listing of available content available from the third party service provider and configured to be played back by the first primary device;

detecting a selection, at the secondary device, of a first content of the available content from the listing of available content;

communicating, from the secondary device, a first content identifier of the selected first content to the first primary device;

wherein the listing of available content comprises a different content identifier corresponding each of the available content and where the listing of available content is altered by the proxy server such that it does not include source access information that provides direct access to the identified content; and

wherein the communicating the first content identifier comprises communication the first content identifier and not communicating the source access information that would provide the first primary device with direct access to the identified content.