Adaptive menu system for media players

• US 20040078382A1
• Filed: 10/17/2002
• Published: 04/22/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 10/16/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation), Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: LaChapelle, Kevin Leigh, Mercer, Ian Cameron
• Granted Patent: US 7,136,874 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/102
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 19/025 'Virtual' control panels, e.g. Graphical User Interface [GUI]
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2220/2545 CDs
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2220/2562 DVDs [digital versatile discs]; Digital video discs; MMCDs; HDCDs
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/002 Programmed access in sequence to a plurality of record carriers or indexed parts, e.g. tracks, thereof, e.g. for editing; transfer of record carriers from magazine G11B15/68, G11B17/10; G11B17/22
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/105 of operating discs
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/34 Indicating arrangements indicating means incorporated in magazine or cassette G11B23/046 and G11B23/0875; indicating measured values in general G01D
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/913 Multimedia
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99933 Query processing, i.e. searching
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99942 Manipulating data structure, e.g. compression, compaction, compilation
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99943 Generating database or data structure, e.g. via user interface
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99944 Object-oriented database structure
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99945 Object-oriented database structure processing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99948 Application of database or data structure, e.g. distributed, multimedia, or image

Abstract

Creating and displaying an adaptive menu structure for media files. The invention includes authoring software to create the menu structure to enable a user to navigate the media files using a media player. The invention also includes filtering software to adapt the created menu structure to display menu information on a display associated with the media player as a function of a media type associated with the media player. In one embodiment, the invention is operable as part of a compressed media format having a set of small files containing metadata, menus, and playlists in a compiled binary format designed for playback on feature-rich personal computer media players as well as low cost media players.

Claims

1. A method of organizing one or more media files to enable a user to navigate the media files using a media player, said media files each having a media type associated therewith and being adapted for rendering by the media player as a function of the media type, said media player also having a media type associated therewith, said method comprising:

creating a menu header;

populating the created menu header with references to one or more selected media files;

identifying a media type associated with each of the selected media files; and

populating the menu header with the identified media types, said populated menu header being for use by a media player to filter the selected media files as a function of a media type associated with the media player.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising populating the menu header with a reference to another menu header to enable navigation between the menu header and said other menu header.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising storing the selected media files and the populated menu header on a computer-readable medium compatible with the media player.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the media type associated with the selected media files and the media type associated with the media player comprise one or more of the following:

audio, video, and image.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the references populating the menu header comprise one of the following:

a memory location offset to the selected media files, a pointer to a playlist referencing the selected media files, or a pointer to the selected media files.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

reading the populated menu header;

adapting the read menu header by filtering the references to the selected media files as a function of the media type associated with the media player; and

displaying menu information from the adapted menu header to a user on a display associated with the media player.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein one or more computer-readable media have computer-executable instructions for performing the method recited in claim 1.

8. In a media authoring tool, one or more computer-readable media having computer-executable components for organizing one or more media files to enable a user to navigate the media files using a media player, said media files each having a media type associated therewith and being adapted for rendering by the media player as a function of the media type, said media player also having a media type associated therewith, said components comprising:

an initialization module for creating a menu header;

a playlist module for populating the created menu header from the initialization module with references to one or more selected media files;

a summary module for identifying a media type associated with each of the selected media files from the playlist module; and

a propagation module for populating the menu header with the identified media types from the summary module, said populated menu header being for use by a media player to filter the selected media files as a function of a media type associated with the media player.

9. The media authoring tool of claim 8, further comprising a menu module for populating the menu header with a reference to another menu header to enable navigation between the menu header and said other menu header.

10. The media authoring tool of claim 8, further comprising a writer module for storing the selected media files and the populated menu header on a computer-readable medium compatible with the media player.

11. The media authoring tool of claim 8, wherein the media type associated with the selected media files and the media type associated with the media player comprise one or more of the following:

audio, video, and image.

12. The media authoring tool of claim 8, wherein the references populating the menu header comprise one of the following:

a memory location offset to the selected media files, a pointer to a playlist referencing the selected media files, or a pointer to the selected media files.

13. The media authoring tool of claim 8, further comprising:

an input module for reading the populated menu header;

a menu module for adapting the read menu header from the input module by filtering the references to the selected media files as a function of the media type associated with the media player; and

a user interface module for displaying menu information from the adapted menu header from the menu module to a user on a display associated with the media player.

14. A method of displaying menu information on a display associated with a media player, said menu information enabling a user to navigate one or more media files using the media player, said media files each having a media type associated therewith and being adapted for rendering by the media player as a function of the media type, said media player also having a media type associated therewith, said method comprising:

reading a menu header having references to one or more selected media files and a media type associated with each respective one of said selected media files;

adapting the read menu header by filtering the references to the selected media files as a function of a media type associated with a media player;

displaying menu information from the adapted menu header to a user on a display associated with the media player.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein said menu header includes a reference to another menu header and a media type associated with said other menu header to enable navigation between the menu header and the other menu header, and further comprising adapting the read menu header by filtering the reference to the other menu header as a function of the media type associated with the media player.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the media type associated with each respective one of the selected media files and the media type associated with the media player comprise one or more of the following:

audio, video, and image.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein the references to the selected media files comprise one of the following:

a memory location offset to the selected media files or a pointer to the selected media files.

18. The method of claim 14, wherein one or more computer-readable media have computer-executable instructions for performing the method recited in claim 14.

19. A media player for displaying menu information on a display associated with said media player, said menu information enabling a user to navigate one or more media files using the media player, said media files each having a media type associated therewith and being adapted for rendering by the media player as a function of the media type, said media player also having a media type associated therewith, said media player comprising:

an input module for reading a menu header having references to one or more selected media files and a media type associated with each respective one of said selected media files;

a menu module for adapting the read menu header from the input module by filtering the references to the selected media files as a function of a media type associated with a media player; and

a user interface module for displaying menu information from the adapted menu header from the menu module to a user on a display associated with the media player.

20. The media player of claim 19, wherein said menu header includes a reference to another menu header and a media type associated with said other menu header to enable navigation between said menu header and the other menu header, and further comprising a navigation module for adapting the read menu header by filtering the reference to the other menu header as a function of the media type associated with the media player.

21. The media player of claim 19, wherein the references to the selected media files comprise one of the following:

a memory location offset to the selected media files, a pointer to a playlist referencing the selected media files, or a pointer to the selected media files.

22. The media player of claim 19, wherein the media type associated with each respective one of the selected media files and the media type associated with the media player comprise one or more of the following:

audio, video, and image.

23. A computer-readable medium having stored thereon a data structure representing an organization of one or more media files, said media files each having a media type associated therewith and being adapted for rendering by a media player as a function of the media type, said media player having a media type associated therewith, said data structure enabling a user to navigate the media files using the media player, said data structure comprising:

a playlist field storing a reference to one or more selected media files, said selected media files each having a media type associated therewith; and

a summary field storing said media type for said one or more of the selected media files referenced in the playlist field, said data structure being for use by a media player to filter the selected media files as a function of a media type associated with the media player.

24. The computer-readable medium of claim 23, further comprising a menu field storing a reference to another data structure to enable navigation between the data structure and said other said data structure.

25. The computer-readable medium of claim 23, wherein the references comprise one of the following:

a memory location offset to the selected media files, a pointer to a playlist referencing the selected media files, or a pointer to the selected media files.

26. The computer-readable medium of claim 23, wherein the data structure further comprises a locale field storing a value identifying metadata associated with the selected media files, wherein the metadata corresponds to a specific language.

27. The computer-readable medium of claim 23, further comprising a metadata field storing a value corresponding to content-related data and wherein the content-related data is selected from one or more of the following as a function of the media player:

title, composer, performer, genre, studio, director, rating, artist, and description of content of the one or more selected media files.