Media device with intelligent cache utilization

• US 20070156962A1
• Filed: 10/18/2006
• Published: 07/05/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 01/03/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Computer Incorporated (Apple Inc.)
• Inventors: Tupman, David John, Hodge, Andrew Bert, Bar-Nahum, Guy
• Granted Patent: US 8,255,640 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 711/118
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3203 Power management, i.e. event-based initiation of a power-saving mode
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3275 Power saving in memory, e.g. RAM, cache
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 12/0866 for peripheral storage systems, e.g. disk cache
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2003/0697 device management, e.g. handlers, drivers, I/O schedulers
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0601 Interfaces specially adapted for storage systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0605 by facilitating the interaction with a user or administrator
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0625 Power saving in storage systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/067 Distributed or networked storage systems, e.g. storage area networks [SAN], network attached storage [NAS]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0674 Disk device
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 20/10527 Audio or video recording; Data buffering arrangements G11B20/12 - G11B20/18 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2020/00057 MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 audio layer III [MP3]
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2020/10685 input interface, i.e. the way data enter the buffer, e.g. by informing the sender that the buffer is busy
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2020/10759 content data
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2020/10916 Seeking data on the record carrier for preparing an access to a specific address
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 10/00 Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management

Abstract

A portable media device and a method for operating a portable media device are disclosed. According to one aspect, a battery-powered portable media device can manage use of a mass storage device to efficiently utilize battery power. By providing a cache memory and loading the cache memory so as to provide skip support, battery power for the portable media device can be conserved (i.e., efficiently consumed). According to another aspect, a portable media device can operate efficiently in a seek mode. The seek mode is an operational mode of the portable media device in which the portable media device automatically scans through media items to assist a user in selecting a desired one of the media items.

Claims

1. A method for operating a media device having a cache memory as well as a disk drive for storage of media data for media items, said method comprising:

receiving a selection of a particular media item to be presented by the media device, the particular media item being one of a plurality of media items organized in a sequential list;

loading, in response to the selection, at least a portion of the media data for the particular media item retrieved from the disk storage to the cache memory;

loading, in response to the selection, initial portions of media data for a plurality of sequentially adjacent media items from the sequential list with respect to the particular media item; and

thereafter loading remaining portions of media data for a subset of the plurality of the sequentially adjacent media items from the sequential list.

2. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the media device further includes a display screen, and

wherein said method further comprises:

displaying, prior to said receiving, at least a portion of the sequential list on the display screen.

3. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the media items are audio recordings.

4. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein said method further comprises:

playing at least a portion of the particular media item at the media device using the corresponding media data from the cache memory.

5. A method as recited in claim 4, wherein said method further comprises:

receiving a skip request to play a next media item while the particular media item is being played; and

playing the next media item at the media device using the corresponding media data from the cache memory.

6. A method as recited in claim 5,

wherein, when the complete media data for the next media item has been loaded into the cache memory, the next media item can be played using the corresponding media data exclusively retrieved from the cache memory, and

wherein, when only the initial media data for the next media item has been loaded into the cache memory, the next media item can be initially played using the corresponding initial media data retrieved from the cache memory, and while the initial media data is played, the remaining media data corresponding to the next media item can be loaded into the cache memory provided there has not been another skip request during a time interval while a substantial portion of the initial media data is being played.

7. A method for operating a media device having a cache memory as well as a disk drive for storage of media data for media items, said method comprising:

receiving a selection of a particular media item to be presented by the media device, the particular media item being one of a plurality of media items organized in a sequential list;

loading, in response to the selection, at least a portion of the media data for the particular media item retrieved from the disk storage to the cache memory;

loading, in response to the selection, complete media data for a plurality of sequentially adjacent media items from the sequential list with respect to the particular media item; and

loading, in response to the selection, only initial media data for a plurality of other sequentially adjacent media items from the sequential list.

8. A method as recited in claim 7, wherein the media device further includes a display screen, and

wherein said method further comprises:

displaying, prior to said receiving, at least a portion of the sequential list on the display screen.

9. A method as recited in claim 7, wherein the media items are audio recordings.

10. A method as recited in claim 9, wherein said method further comprises:

playing at least a portion of the particular media item at the media device using the corresponding media data from the cache memory.

11. A method as recited in claim 9, wherein said method further comprises:

receiving a skip request to play a next media item while the particular media item is being played; and

playing the next media item at the media device using the corresponding media data from the cache memory.

12. A method as recited in claim 11,

wherein, when the complete media data for the next media item has been loaded into the cache memory, the next media item can be played using the corresponding media data exclusively retrieved from the cache memory, and

wherein, when only the initial media data for the next media item has been loaded into the cache memory, the next media item can be initially played using the corresponding initial media data retrieved from the cache memory, and while the initial media data is played, the remaining media data corresponding to the next media item can be loaded into the cache memory provided there has not been another skip request during a time interval while a substantial portion of the initial media data is being played.

13. A method for operating a media device having a first memory as well as a mass storage device for storage of media data for media items, said method comprising:

receiving a user play selection for a selected media item from the media items;

determining an amount or degree of skip support to be provided by the media device;

determining media data to be stored in the first memory based on the user play selection and the amount or degree of skip support; and

loading the determined media data into the first memory from the mass storage device.

14. A method as recited in claim 13, wherein the determined media data is a media data set.

15. A method as recited in claim 13, wherein the amount or degree of skip support is dependent on at least one of a user setting, a device or manufacturer setting, and a user history.

16. A method as recited in claim 13, wherein the amount or degree of skip support is dependent on user behavior with the media device.

17. A method as recited in claim 13, wherein said method further comprises:

retrieving media data for the selected media item from the first memory; and

initiating playing of the retrieved media data corresponding to the selected media item.

18. A method as recited in claim 17, wherein said method further comprises:

receiving a user skip selection for another media item from the media items while the retrieved media data corresponding to the selected media item is being played;

determining whether media data for the another media item is contained in the first memory;

retrieving media data for the another media item from the first memory when it is determined that the media data for the another media item is contained in the first memory; and

thereafter initiating playing of the retrieved media data corresponding to the another media item.

19. A method as recited in claim 17, wherein said method further comprises:

receiving a user skip selection for another media item from the media items;

retrieving media data for the another media item from the first memory; and

initiating playing of the retrieved media data corresponding to the another media item.

20. A method as recited in claim 13, wherein the first memory is a cache memory, and the mass storage device is a disk drive.

21. A method for operating a media device having a cache memory as well as a disk drive for storage of media data for media items, said method comprising:

receiving a user play selection for a selected media item from the media items;

determining whether media data for the selected media item is contained in the cache memory;

when it is determined that the media data for the selected media item is not contained in the cache memory,

determining a media data set to be stored in the cache memory; and

loading the media data set into the cache memory;

retrieving the media data for the selected media item from the cache memory;

initiating playing of the retrieved media data;

receiving a user skip selection for another media item from the media items;

determining whether media data for the another media item is contained in the cache memory;

when it is determined that the media data for the another media item is not contained in the cache memory,

determining another media data set to be stored in the cache memory; and

loading the another media data set into the cache memory;

retrieving the media data for the another media item from the cache memory; and

initiating playing of the retrieved media data.

22. A method as recited in claim 21, wherein said determining of the media data set is based on the selected media item and on at least one of a user setting, a device or manufacturer setting, and a user history.

23. A computer readable medium including at least computer program code for operating a media device having a first memory as well as a mass storage device for storage of media data for media items, said computer readable medium comprising:

computer program code for receiving a user play selection for a selected media item from the media items;

computer program code for determining an amount or degree of skip support to be provided by the media device;

computer program code for determining media data to be stored in the first memory based on the user play selection and the amount or degree of skip support; and

computer program code for loading the determined media data into the first memory from the mass storage device.

24. A computer readable medium as recited in claim 23, wherein the amount or degree of skip support is dependent on at least one of a user setting, a device or manufacturer setting, and a user history.

25. A computer readable medium as recited in claim 24, wherein said computer readable medium further comprises:

computer program code for retrieving media data for the selected media item from the first memory;

computer program code for initiating playing of the retrieved media data corresponding to the selected media item;

computer program code for receiving a user skip selection for another media item from the media items;

computer program code for retrieving media data for the another media item from the first memory; and

computer program code for initiating playing of the retrieved media data corresponding to the another media item.

26. A consumer electronics product, comprising:

a storage disk that stores a plurality of media items;

a user input device that enables a user of said consumer electronics product to at least select a particular media item from the plurality of media items;

a cache memory capable of storing at least one of the media items; and

a processor operatively connected to said storage disk, said user input device and said cache memory, said processor causes said cache memory to support a series of skip selections by the user via said user input device, wherein in supporting the skip selection said processor causes said cache memory to, in advance of the skip selections, store only initial portions of a plurality of media items other than the particular media item that correspond to the skip selections.

27. A consumer electronics product as recited in claim 26, wherein the plurality of media items other than the particular media item are determined by said processor based on at least one of a user setting, a device or manufacturer setting, and a user history.

28. A consumer electronics product as recited in claim 26, wherein said consumer electronics product further comprises:

a display screen operatively connected to said processor, said display screen displays a list of the media items.

29. A consumer electronics product as recited in claim 26, wherein said consumer electronics products is a portable, battery-operated media player.

30. A consumer electronics product as recited in claim 29, wherein the media player is an MP3 player, and wherein the media items include at least audio files of songs.