Remote participation in a Local Area Network (LAN) based media aggregation network
First Claim
1. A method of operation of a proxy node for a Local Area Network (LAN) based ad-hoc Media Collection Aggregation System (MCAS) network formed by a plurality of nodes sharing corresponding shared media collections, comprising:
- at the proxy node for the LAN based MCAS;
registering the MCAS network formed by the plurality of nodes sharing corresponding shared media collections with a centralized server providing Wide Area Network (WAN) based service discovery;
aggregating two or more of the shared media collections of the plurality of nodes forming the MCAS network to provide an aggregate media collection of a user of the remote node; and
providing the aggregate media collection to the remote node such that the user of the remote node is enabled perform at least one action from a group consisting of;
browse the aggregate media collection and search the aggregate media collection, wherein providing the aggregate media collection to the remote node comprises;
storing the aggregate media collection of the user of the remote node at the proxy node; and
providing data from the aggregate media collection of the user to the remote node as needed,wherein the MCAS network is discovered by the remote node via the centralized server providing the WAN based service discovery, and wherein at least one of the preceding actions is performed on at least one electronic hardware component.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Systems and methods relating to a Media Collection Aggregation System (MCAS) are provided. In one embodiment, a number of nodes are connected over a Local Area Network (LAN) to provide an ad-hoc MCAS network. At least some of the nodes in the MCAS network share locally stored media collections, or select subsets thereof, with the other nodes in the MCAS network. Each node in the MCAS network selects and aggregates one or more of the shared media collections to provide an aggregate media collection for that node. One of the nodes in the MCAS network is a proxy node that provides a proxy service that enables remote participation in the MCAS network. In one embodiment, the proxy node enables one or more remote nodes to passively and/or actively participate in the MCAS network.
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Citations
33 Claims
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1. A method of operation of a proxy node for a Local Area Network (LAN) based ad-hoc Media Collection Aggregation System (MCAS) network formed by a plurality of nodes sharing corresponding shared media collections, comprising:
at the proxy node for the LAN based MCAS; registering the MCAS network formed by the plurality of nodes sharing corresponding shared media collections with a centralized server providing Wide Area Network (WAN) based service discovery; aggregating two or more of the shared media collections of the plurality of nodes forming the MCAS network to provide an aggregate media collection of a user of the remote node; and providing the aggregate media collection to the remote node such that the user of the remote node is enabled perform at least one action from a group consisting of;
browse the aggregate media collection and search the aggregate media collection, wherein providing the aggregate media collection to the remote node comprises;storing the aggregate media collection of the user of the remote node at the proxy node; and providing data from the aggregate media collection of the user to the remote node as needed, wherein the MCAS network is discovered by the remote node via the centralized server providing the WAN based service discovery, and wherein at least one of the preceding actions is performed on at least one electronic hardware component. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A method of operation of a proxy node for a Local Area Network (LAN) based ad-hoc Media Collection Aggregation System (MCAS) network formed by a plurality of nodes sharing corresponding shared media collections, comprising:
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at the proxy node for the LAN based MCAS; registering the MCAS network formed by the plurality of nodes sharing corresponding shared media collections with a centralized server providing Wide Area Network (WAN) based service discovery; and enabling a remote node to actively participate in the MCAS network, wherein the MCAS network is discovered by the remote node via the centralized server providing the WAN based service discovery, wherein enabling the remote node to actively participate in the MCAS network comprises; aggregating two or more of the shared media collections of the plurality of nodes forming the MCAS network to provide an aggregate media collection of a user of the remote node; providing the aggregate media collection to the remote node by; storing the aggregate media collection of the user of the remote node at the proxy node; and providing data from the aggregate media collection of the user to the remote node as needed; and enabling the remote node to provide streaming playback of media items in the aggregate media collection from the MCAS network wherein at least one of the preceding actions is performed on at least one electronic hardware component. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A proxy node for a Local Area Network (LAN) based ad-hoc Media Collection Aggregation System (MCAS) network formed by a plurality of nodes sharing corresponding shared media collections, comprising components including:
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at least one network interface; at least one processor in communication with the network interface, and memory containing software executable by the at least one processor whereby the proxy node is operative to; register the MCAS network formed by the plurality of nodes sharing corresponding shared media collections with a centralized server providing Wide Area Network (WAN) based service discovery; and aggregate two or more of the shared media collections of the plurality of nodes forming the MCAS network to provide an aggregate media collection of a user of the remote node; and provide the aggregate media collection to the remote node such that the user of the remote node is enabled perform at least one action from a group consisting of;
browse the aggregate media collection and search the aggregate media collection, wherein providing the aggregate media collection to the remote node comprises;storing the aggregate media collection of the user of the remote node at the proxy node; and providing data from the aggregate media collection of the user to the remote node as needed, wherein the MCAS network is discovered by the remote node via the centralized server providing the WAN based service discovery.
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14. A method of operation of a mobile node comprising:
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at the mobile node; discovering a Local Area Network (LAN) based ad-hoc Media Collection Aggregation System (MCAS) network formed by a plurality of nodes sharing corresponding shared media collections; and passively participating in the MCAS network via a proxy node of the MCAS network, wherein passively participating in the MCAS network via the proxy node comprises; obtaining information identifying the shared media collections of the plurality of nodes in the MCAS network from the proxy node; sending an aggregation request for two or more of the shared media collections to the proxy node; obtaining an aggregate media collection of a user of the mobile node from the proxy node, the aggregate media collection being an aggregate of the two or more of the shared media collections; and enabling the user of the mobile node to perform at least one action from a group consisting of;
browsing the aggregate media collection and searching the aggregate media collection,wherein at least one of the preceding actions is performed on at least one electronic hardware component. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. A method of operation of a mobile node comprising:
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at the mobile node; discovering a Local Area Network (LAN) based ad-hoc Media Collection Aggregation System (MCAS) network formed by a plurality of nodes sharing corresponding shared media collections; and actively participating in the MCAS network via a proxy node of the MCAS network, wherein actively participating in the MCAS network via the proxy node comprises; obtaining information identifying the shared media collections of the plurality of nodes in the MCAS network from the proxy node; sending an aggregation request for two or more of the shared media collections to the proxy node; obtaining an aggregate media collection of a user of the mobile node from the proxy node, the aggregate media collection being an aggregate of the two or more of the shared media collections; and providing streaming playback of media items in the aggregate media collection from the MCAS network, wherein at least one of the preceding actions is performed on at least one electronic hardware component. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32)
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33. A method of operation of a mobile node comprising:
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at the mobile node; discovering a Local Area Network (LAN) based ad-hoc Media Collection Aggregation System (MCAS) network formed by a plurality of nodes sharing corresponding shared media collections; remotely participating in the MCAS network via a proxy node of the MCAS network, obtaining credentials for the mobile node for remote active participation in the MCAS network when the mobile node was previously in the MCAS network, wherein the credentials for the mobile node for remote active participation in the MCAS network expire upon occurrence of an event selected from a group consisting of;
expiration of a predefined amount of time and power-down of the mobile node; andproviding the credentials for the mobile node for remote active participation in the MCAS network to the proxy node of the MCAS network, wherein the mobile node is permitted to actively participate in the MCAS network remotely only if the mobile node can be authenticated using the credentials for the mobile node for remote active participation wherein at least one of the preceding actions is performed on at least one electronic hardware component.
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Specification