Method for file management and an electronic device thereof

• US 10,560,512 B2
• Filed: 05/10/2016
• Issued: 02/11/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 12/23/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Lee, Okseon, Park, Yongseok
• Primary Examiner(s): Dennison, Jerry B
• Application Number:
  US15/150,974
• Publication Number:
  US 20170187784A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,372 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/24578 using ranking
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/44 Browsing; Visualisation therefor
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/612 for unicast
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/762 at the source reformatting of additional data in video distribution servers H04N21/2355
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/80 Responding to QoS
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/06 specially adapted for file transfer, e.g. file transfer protocol [FTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/568 Storing data temporarily at an intermediate stage, e.g. caching
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/18 Information format or content conversion, e.g. adaptation by the network of the transmitted or received information for the purpose of wireless delivery to users or terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/38 for collecting sensor information

Abstract

File management in an electronic device is provided. A method for operating an electronic device for file management includes transmitting a file comprising media data to an external storage, wherein the file include a part of the file and a rest of the file, deleting the rest of the file in a local storage of the electronic device, playing the media data using the stored part of the file in the local storage, and playing the media data using the rest of the file received from the external storage.

Claims

1. A method for operating an electronic device, the method comprising:

transmitting a first file comprising media data to an external storage, the first file including a part of the first file and a remainder of the first file and being stored in a local storage of the electronic device;

determining a time required to completely download and seamlessly play the media data of the first file;

generating, by the electronic device, a second file comprising the part of the first file and excluding the remainder of the first file based on the determined time by adjusting a duration of the second file to have a play time longer than the time required to completely download and seamlessly play the media data using the first file previously transmitted to the external storage;

deleting the first file and storing the second file in the local storage of the electronic device;

playing the media data using the second file stored in the local storage;

receiving the first file from the external storage while playing the second file; and

playing the media data using the first file received from the external storage.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the second file comprises data corresponding to a partial section in a file play time or a low-quality copy of the first file.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the generating of the second file comprises:

generating the second file comprising a low-quality copy of the first file if an offline mode for the media data is required; and

generating the second file comprising data corresponding to a partial section of the first file in a file play time if the offline mode for the first file is not required.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

preserving an original file, if an offline mode for the first file is required and an available capacity of the local storage equals or exceeds a threshold value.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

transmitting the first file to upload the first file when an event occurs,

wherein the event is defined based on at least one of a communication state, a battery state, a memory state, or user data of the electronic device.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a third file from the external storage;

storing a part of the third file in the local storage of the electronic device after playing the third file; and

deleting a remainder of the third file excluding the part of the third file.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a part of a third file which is a next file in a play list from the external storage, while the first file is played.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining a weight factor for the first file; and

determining whether to store the first file in the local storage based on the weight factor,

wherein the weight factor is determined based on at least one of a frequency of playback of the first file, an upload timing of the first file, or a playback timing of the first file.

19. The method of claim 1,

wherein the determining of the time required to completely download and seamlessly play the media data of the first file is performed at a time that the first file is uploaded,

wherein the determining of the time required to completely download and seamlessly play the media data of the first file is based on information extracted from a header of a media file, and

wherein the time required to completely download and seamlessly play the media data of the first file is based on the time required to completely download the media data of the first file, a decoding time, and a time margin.

9. An electronic device comprising:

an internal storage configured to store data;

a communication unit configured to transmit data; and

a processor coupled with the internal storage and the communication unit,

wherein the processor is configured to;

control to transmit a first file comprising media data to an external storage, the first file including a part of the first file and a remainder of the first file and being stored in the internal storage,

determine a time required to completely download and seamlessly play the media data of the first file;

generate a second file comprising the part of the first file and excluding the remainder of the first file based on the determined time by adjusting a duration of the second file to have a play time longer than the time required to completely download and seamlessly play the media data using the first file previously transmitted to the external storage,

delete the first file in the internal storage and store the second file in the internal storage,

play the media data using the second file stored in the internal storage,

receive the first file from the external storage while playing the second file, and

play the media data using the first file received from the external storage.

10. The electronic device of claim 9, wherein the second file comprises data corresponding to a partial section in a file play time or a low-quality copy of the first file.

11. The electronic device of claim 10,

wherein, if requiring an offline mode for the first file, the processor is further configured to generate the second file comprising a low-quality copy of the first file, and

wherein, if not requiring the offline mode for the first file, the processor is further configured to generate the second file comprising data corresponding to a partial section of the first file in a file play time.

12. The electronic device of claim 9, wherein, if an offline mode for the first file is required and an available capacity of the internal storage equals or exceeds a threshold, the processor is further configured to preserve an original file.

13. The electronic device of claim 9,

wherein, when an event occurs, the communication unit is further configured to transmit the first file to upload the first file, and

wherein the event is defined based on at least one of a communication state, a battery state, a memory state, or user data of the electronic device.

14. The electronic device of claim 9, wherein the processor is further configured to:

receive a third file from the external storage,

play the third file,

store a part of the third file in the internal storage, and

delete a remainder of the third file excluding the part of the third file.

15. The electronic device of claim 14,

wherein, if an available capacity of the internal storage is below a threshold, the processor is further configured to generate a fourth file comprising a low-quality copy of the third file, and

wherein, if the available capacity of the internal storage equals or exceeds the threshold, the processor is further configured to generate the fourth file comprising data corresponding to the part of the third file in a file play time.

16. The electronic device of claim 14, wherein, to receive the third file, the processor is further configured to:

receive metadata of the third file,

establish a connection with the external storage,

select the third file, and

transmit a streaming request for the third file to the external storage.

17. The electronic device of claim 9, wherein the communication unit is further configured to receive a third file which is a next file in a play list, from the external storage, while the first file is played.

18. The electronic device of claim 9,

wherein the processor is further configured to:

determine a weight factor for the first file, and

determine whether to store the first file in the internal storage based on the weight factor, and

wherein the weight factor is determined based on at least one of a frequency of playback of the first file, an upload timing of the first file, or a playback timing of the first file.