System and method for rendering content on multiple devices

• US 20040267965A1
• Filed: 12/31/2002
• Published: 12/30/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 12/31/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Motorola Solutions, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Motorola Solutions, Inc.
• Inventors: Haneef, Anwar M., Almanula, Jay R., Vasudevan, Venugopal, Mysore, Jayanth P.
• Granted Patent: US 8,468,227 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/250
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9577 Optimising the visualization of content, e.g. distillation of HTML documents
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/50 Allocation of resources, e.g. of the central processing unit [CPU]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/2871 Implementation details of single intermediate entities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/288 Distributed intermediate devices, i.e. intermediate devices for interaction with other intermediate devices on the same level
• 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 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/00 Services specially adapted for wireless communication networks; Facilities therefor
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/00 Local resource management

Abstract

A method for delivering content to be rendered by multiple devices is provided. Indications of resources available to a user are received, the resources including rendering resources, the rendering resources provided by a plurality of devices, each of the plurality of devices being coupled to a network, wherein at least one of the plurality of devices provides at least one rendering resource available for use of the user, and provides at least one rendering resource available for simultaneous use of another user. Content requested by the user is received, the content including a plurality of content types. A mapping of content types to the plurality of devices is determined, wherein the mapping is based on rendering resources provided by each of the plurality of devices. Content types of the content requested by the user are delivered to the plurality of devices according to the mapping, the content types delivered to the plurality of devices via the network.

Claims

1. A method for delivering content to be rendered by multiple devices, the method comprising:

receiving indications of resources available to a user, the resources including rendering resources, the rendering resources provided by a plurality of devices, each of the plurality of devices being coupled to a network;

wherein at least one of the plurality of devices provides at least one rendering resource available for use of the user, and provides at least one rendering resource available for simultaneous use of another user;

receiving content requested by the user, the content including a plurality of content types;

determining a mapping of content types to the plurality of devices, wherein the mapping is based on rendering resources provided by each of the plurality of devices; and

delivering content types of the content requested by the user to the plurality of devices according to the mapping, the content types delivered to the plurality of devices via the network.

2. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein determining the mapping is further based on preferences of the user.

3. A method as defined in claim 2, wherein the preferences include utility functions, and wherein determining the mapping includes determining a mapping that provides a utility higher than other mappings.

4. A method as defined in claim 2, wherein the preferences of the user include preferences relating to whether to deliver content of a same session to a single device.

5. A method as defined in claim 2, wherein the preferences of the user include preferences relating to whether to deliver content of different sessions to a single device.

6. A method as defined in claim 2, wherein the preferences of the user include preferences relating to communication links for delivering content types to the plurality of devices.

7. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein at least one of the plurality of devices is remote from the other of the plurality of devices.

8. A method as defined in claim 7, wherein a resource provided by the remote device is a software resource.

9. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein one of the content types is in a first format, the method further comprising determining if the device to which the one content type is mapped is capable of processing the first format.

10. A method as defined in claim 9, further comprising downloading an application to the device to which the one content type is mapped, wherein the application is capable of processing the first format.

11. A method as defined in claim 9, further comprising:

providing the one content type to a transcoder to transcode the one content type from the first format to a second format; and

delivering to the device to which the one content type is mapped the one content type in the second format.

12. A tangible medium storing machine readable instructions comprising:

first set of prestored instructions to receive indications of rendering resources available to a user, the rendering resources provided by a plurality of rendering devices, each of the plurality of rendering devices being coupled to a network;

wherein at least one of the plurality of rendering devices provides at least one rendering resource available for use of the user, and provides at least one rendering resource available for simultaneous use of another user;

second set of prestored instructions to receive content requested by the user, the content including a plurality of content types;

third set of prestored instructions to determine a mapping of content types to the plurality of devices, wherein the mapping is based on rendering resources provided by each of the plurality of devices; and

fourth set of prestored instructions to deliver content types of the content requested by the user to the plurality of devices according to the mapping, the content types delivered to the plurality of devices via the network.

13. A server for delivering content to be rendered by multiple devices, the server comprising:

a computer operatively coupled to a content server via a first network, and operatively coupled to a plurality of rendering devices via a second network, wherein at least one of the plurality of rendering devices provides at least one rendering resource available for use of a user, and provides at least one rendering resource available for simultaneous use of another user, the computer comprising;

a memory;

a processor coupled to the memory, the processor configured to receive indications of rendering resources available to a user, the rendering resources provided by the plurality of rendering devices;

receive content requested by the user, the content including a plurality of content types, the content received from the content server via the first network,

determine a mapping of content types to the plurality of devices, wherein the mapping is based on rendering resources provided by each of the plurality of devices, and

deliver content types of the content requested by the user to the plurality of devices according to the mapping, the content types delivered to the plurality of devices via the second network.

14. A method for allocating resources on at least one device for rendering content, the method comprising:

providing a first device, via a network, with an indication of first and second resources available to a first user, wherein the first and second resources are for rendering content, and wherein the first and second resources are provided by a second device coupled to the network;

receiving from the first device a request to reserve the first resource;

reserving the first resource for the first user;

providing a third device, via a network, with an indication of the second resource available to a second user;

receiving from the third device a request to reserve the second resource; and

reserving the second resource for the second user.

15. A method as defined in claim 14, further comprising:

providing the first device, via the network, with an indication of a third resource available to the first user, wherein the third resource is for rendering content, and wherein the third resource is provided by a fourth device;

receiving from the first device a request to reserve the third resource;

reserving the third resource for the first user.

16. A method as defined in claim 14, further comprising:

receiving capability information from the second device, the capability information including information relating to capabilities for rendering content on the second device;

determining a set of resources available on the second device based on the received capability information, the set of resources including the first and second resources for rendering content.

17. A method as defined in claim 16, further comprising:

receiving dynamic state information from the second device, the dynamic state information relating to capabilities for rendering content on the second device;

updating the set of resources available on the second device based on the received dynamic state information.

18. A method as defined in claim 17, wherein the dynamic state information includes information expressed via an extension to the Composite Capability/Preference Profiles framework.

19. A tangible medium storing machine readable instructions comprising:

first set of prestored instructions to provide a first device, via a network, with an indication of first and second resources available to a first user, wherein the first and second resources are for rendering content, and wherein the first and second resources are provided by a second device coupled to the network;

second set of prestored instructions to receive from the first device a request to reserve the first resource,

third set of prestored instructions to reserve the first resource for the firstuser;

fourth set of prestored instructions to provide a third device, via a network, with an indication of the second resource available to a second user;

fifth set of prestored instructions to receive from the third device a request to reserve the second resource; and

sixth set of prestored instructions to reserve the second resource for the second user.

20. A server for delivering content to be rendered by multiple devices, the server comprising:

a computer operatively coupled to first, second, and third devices via a network, and operatively coupled to a plurality of rendering devices via a second network, wherein at least one of the plurality of rendering devices provides at least one rendering resource available for use of a user, and provides at least one rendering resource available for simultaneous use of another user, the computer comprising;

a memory;

a processor coupled to the memory, the processor configured to to provide the first device, via the network, with an indication of first and second resources available to a first user, wherein the first and second resources are for rendering content, and wherein the first and second resources are provided by the second device;

receive from the first device a request to reserve the first resource;

reserve the first resource for the first user;

provide the third device, via a network, with an indication of the second resource available to a second user;

receive from the third device a request to reserve the second resource; and

reserve the second resource for the second user.

21. A method for determining a mapping for delivering content to multiple devices for rendering on the multiple devices, the method comprising:

receiving content requested by a user, the content comprising a plurality of content types;

determining a set of resources available to the user for rendering content, the set of resources provided by a plurality of rendering devices;

determining user preferences for delivering content, the user preferences including preference information relating to whether to deliver content to a single device or to multiple devices;

determining a mapping of the plurality of content types to the plurality of rendering devices based on the set of resources available to the user and the user preferences.

22. A method as defined in claim 21, wherein the user preferences include utility functions, and wherein determining the mapping includes determining a mapping that provides a utility higher than other mappings.

23. A method as defined in claim 21, wherein the user preferences include preference information relating to whether to deliver content of a same session to a single device or to multiple devices.

24. A method as defined in claim 21, wherein the user preferences include preference information relating to whether to deliver content of different sessions to a single device or to multiple devices.

25. A method as defined in claim 21, wherein the user preferences include preference information relating to communication links for delivering content types to the plurality of devices.

26. A method for determining a mapping for delivering content to multiple devices for rendering on the multiple devices, the method comprising:

receiving content requested by a user, the content comprising a plurality of content types;

determining;

a set of resources available to the user for rendering content, the set of resources provided by a plurality of rendering devices;

determining user preferences for delivering content, the user preferences including preference information relating to preferred communication links for delivering content to the plurality of devices;

determining a mapping of the plurality of content types to the plurality of rendering devices based on the set of resources available to the user and the user preferences.