Network system of media players sharing content

• US 20080212944A1
• Filed: 03/04/2008
• Published: 09/04/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 10/01/2003
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: SanDisk Technologies LLC (Western Digital Corporation)
• Original Assignee: MusicGremlin, Inc. (Western Digital Corporation)
• Inventors: Price, Harold E., Axelrod, Jonathan N., Khedouri, Robert K.
• Application Number:
  US12/041,751
• Publication Number:
  US 20080212944A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 386/124
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/4387 by the use of playlists
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/48 Retrieval characterised by using metadata, e.g. metadata not derived from the content or metadata generated manually
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/635 Filtering based on additional data, e.g. user or group profiles
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/639 using playlists
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/64 Browsing; Visualisation therefor generation of a list or set of audio data G06F16/638
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/686 using information manually generated, e.g. tags, keywords, comments, title or artist information, time, location or usage information, user ratings
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/10 Protecting distributed programs or content, e.g. vending or licensing of copyrighted material protection in video systems or pay television H04N7/16 ; Digital rights management [DRM]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0641 Shopping interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2223 being a public access point, e.g. for downloading to or uploading from clients arrangements specially adapted to plural spots in a confined site in broadcast systems H04H20/63
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/41407 embedded in a portable device, e.g. video client on a mobile phone, PDA, laptop constructional details of equipment or arrangements specially adapted for portable computer application G06F1/1626; arrangements specially adapted for mobile receivers in broadcast systems H04H20/57
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47202 for requesting content on demand, e.g. video on demand
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4788 communicating with other users, e.g. chatting arrangements for providing for computer conferences, e.g. chat rooms, to substation in data switching networks H04L12/1813; distributed application using peer-to-peer [P2P] networks H04L67/104
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6125 involving transmission via Internet transmission by internet of broadcast information H04H60/82
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17318 Direct or substantially direct transmission and handling of requests

Abstract

A portable wireless communications subscriber audio and/or video player apparatus and system and method for selecting, requesting, downloading, and playing audio and/or video data content files from an Internet-based database server. The wireless link is preferably implemented in accordance with the WiFi protocol, which allows connectivity to the Internet by being in proximity with a local base station or WiFi hotspot (i.e., publicly available local wireless access hub connected to the Internet). The portable wireless communications subscriber audio and/or video player apparatus and system preferably include a security means for monitoring and blocking unauthorized use of the player apparatus and system. The player apparatus further preferably has the capability to communicate with other neighboring player apparatus for the purpose of exchanging content data files, playlists and personal messages.

Claims

1. A system for sharing content comprising:

a data communication channel for data sharing;

a first and a second portable device including a network interface for sending and receiving digital media segments;

a digital storage medium coupled to the network interface for storing the digital media segments;

at least one of said first and second devices including a media decoder coupled to the digital storage medium;

a media presentation member coupled to the media decoder for presenting the digital media segments to a user;

a user interface for interaction with the user; and

a controller for managing the transfer, storage, and presentation of the digital media segments;

wherein said first and second portable devices are constructed and arranged to share media segments.

2. The system of claim 1 where the network interface of at least one device connects to a wired network.

3. The system of claim 1 where the network interface of at least one device connects to a wireless network.

4. The system of claim 1 where the digital media segment is digitized audio.

5. The system of claim 1 where the digital media segment is digitized video.

6. The system of claim 1 wherein said first device stores a first plurality of digitized media segments and said second device obtains a listing of said first plurality, and generates a command to retrieve a specific selection of said first plurality.

7. The system of claim 6 wherein said first device includes a list identifying said first plurality and said second device accesses the list and selects the specific selection from the list.

8. The system of claim 1 wherein said segment is sent from the first to the second device in response to a demand.

9. The system of claim 1 wherein said segment is sent from the first to the second device without a demand from either device.

10. The system of claim 1 wherein said first and second devices have associated lists and wherein said first and second devices share said lists and share lists from other devices.

11. The system of claim 1 wherein said first device receives a specific media segment and sends a notification of said receipt to at least one other device.

12. The system of claim 1 wherein said devices exchange data using one of a peer-to-peer protocol, a WiFi protocol and an Ad-hoc protocol and by exchanging IP addresses.

13. The system of claim 1 comprising a plurality of devices wherein lists and segments are shared using one of a one-to-many, many-to-many, many-to-one protocol.

14. The system of claim 13 wherein said sharing is performed transparently to the users.

15. The system of claim 1 wherein information is exchanged between two devices using a peer-to-peer protocol.

16. The system of claim 1 further comprising a catalog of digital segments, each device having access to the catalog to allow the respective device user to make selections of segments.

17. The system of claim 1 wherein each device generates a respective playlist from the catalog, said playlists being available to other devices.

18. The system of claim 1 wherein each device includes at least one of a digital rights element, a secure communication element, software or hardware security on the device that insures that critical data remains protected during sharing, exchanges and communications.

19. The system of claim 1 wherein each digital segment is controlled by a digital rights management rule and wherein each device includes a digital rights management controller that checks each digital segment and utilizes each digital segment in correspondence with the respective digital rights management rule when the respective device is off line.

20. The system of claim 19 wherein at least one of said digital segments is obtained by paying for the segment and wherein said digital rights management rule for the segment is determined by the payment or otherwise authorized permanent access.

21. The system of claim 1 wherein said segments are exchanged by said devices using a partial caching process.

22. The system of claim 1 wherein at least one of said devices includes a privacy element having a selectable privacy setting, said privacy setting limiting access to some information specific to the respective user.

23. The system of claim 1 wherein each user is associated with a profile, the profiles of users being shared between devices.

24. The system of claim 1 wherein the distributed computer network is used to exchange messages between devices, said messages including one of audio, video, text, IM messages, at least some messages including comments about digital segments.

25. The system of claim 1 wherein at least one device is adapted to send a message to another device indicating that a specific digital segment is available for exchange.