SYSTEM AND METHOD OF TRANSMITTING DATA OVER A COMPUTER NETWORK INCLUDING FOR PRESENTATIONS OVER MULTIPLE CHANNELS IN PARALLEL

• US 20110016195A1
• Filed: 07/15/2010
• Published: 01/20/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 07/15/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hippocrene LLC
• Original Assignee: Hippocrene LLC
• Inventors: Wu, Charles C., Kaplan, Matthew N.
• Granted Patent: US 8,463,848 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/219
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 25/14 Channel dividing arrangements , i.e. in which a single bit stream is divided between several baseband channels and reassembled at the receiver
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/65 Network streaming protocols, e.g. real-time transport protocol [RTP] or real-time control protocol [RTCP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/762 at the source reformatting of additional data in video distribution servers H04N21/2355
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/764 at the destination reformatting of additional data in video clients H04N21/4355
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]

Abstract

A system and method of transmitting data via a computer network to a plurality of end-users. Transmission of successive data units may be prompted by human-operated and/or automated means of central control. Successive arrays of data units may be transmitted over a plurality of channels, in parallel. Each end-user chooses which channel or channels to receive and may change channels at will. Transmission of successive arrays may coincide with successive occurrences during the course of a live event. Data units also may be transmitted over one or more channels asynchronously with transmissions over other channels. Controller-prompted transmissions, received passively by end-users, also may be integrated with a facility for end-users to browse data sources in a self-directed sequence and pace.

Claims

1. A method of transmitting a plurality of data units, in succession, via a computer network, to at least one end-user, the method comprising:

a. providing at least one server comprising a first computer system including

i. a first central processing unit, a first memory capacity, a first operating system software application, a first data storage medium, and a first input/output means, and

ii. a server software application operable to communicate based on at least one network communication protocol,

b. permitting the at least one end-user to use at least one end-user device in a network with the server, each end-user device comprising a second computer system including

i. a second central processing unit, a second memory capacity, a second operating system software application, a second data storage medium, and a second input/output means, and

ii. a software application operable to communicate based on said at least one network communication protocol,

c. providing a means for said server'"'"'s signals to reach said end-user device,

d. providing to said server said plurality of data units and a transport facility operable to transmit each data unit,

e. providing for said end-user device to operate a receipt facility operable to receive transmission of said data units,

f. providing a means for a controller to direct said server to transmit at least one of said data units,

g. providing for said controller to designate at least one of said data units and cause said server to transmit it,

h. permitting said end-user to cause said end-user device to receive said data unit, and providing for the end-user device thereafter to display, play, or otherwise process said data unit, and

i. repeating the steps g and h until all data units to be transmitted and received have been transmitted and received.

2. The method of claim 1, further providing for said transport facility to permit said controller to cause said server to transmit a plurality of discrete successions of said data units in parallel, and for said receipt facility to permit said end-user to cause said end-user device to receive any of said successions of data units.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the steps of providing to said server a transport facility, and of providing for said end-user device to operate a receipt facility, further comprise the steps of:

a. providing a means for said end-user device'"'"'s signals to reach the server, enabling two-way communication between the server and the end-user device via said network communication protocol,

b. storing at least one controlled-channel file on the server, with each controlled-channel file comprising a structured document file written in a markup language, and including (i) the first of said data units to be transmitted via the controlled-channel file and (ii) at least one of an embedded polling script and a link to said polling script,

c. permitting said end-user to cause said end-user device to download said controlled-channel file and its associated polling script and thereafter providing for the end-user device (i) to display, play, or otherwise process said first data unit and (ii) to execute said polling script,

d. providing for each end-user device, as prompted by execution of said polling script, to poll the server repeatedly, to ascertain if the controlled-channel file has been altered on the server,

e. providing a means for said controller to alter the controlled-channel file on the server so that the controlled-channel file reflects altered or additional data to be transmitted to the end-user,

f. providing for said controller to alter each controlled-channel file on the server so that each altered controlled-channel file comprises a next data unit to be transmitted via the controlled-channel file,

g. permitting the end-user device, as prompted by its execution of the polling script, and upon its next polling of the server, (i) to download from the server the next data unit from the altered controlled-channel file corresponding to the controlled-channel file previously downloaded by the end-user device, and then (ii) to display, play, or otherwise process the next data unit, and

h. repeating the steps f through g until all data units to be transmitted and received have been transmitted and received.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising at least one of (a) a step of causing the server to push a successive data unit to the end-user device and (b) a step of causing the server to push to the end-user device a notification that a data unit is ready for transmission.

5. The method of claim 3, further comprising a step of providing for the controller to alter a proxy file on the server, the proxy file representing at least one portion of the controlled-channel file, and providing for the end-user device to poll said proxy file to download said next data unit.

6. The method of claim 3, wherein a plurality of controlled-channel files are stored on said server, and wherein the method further comprises a step of providing a means for the end-user to cause the end-user device to download any controlled-channel file from the server in substitution for any other controlled-channel file previously downloaded by the end-user device from the server.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the step of providing the means for the end-user to cause the end-user device to download any controlled-channel file from the server in substitution for any other controlled-channel file previously downloaded by the end-user device from the server, includes at least one of

a. providing hyperlinks to one another in said controlled-channel files stored on the server, and

b. providing hyperlinks to a menu file on the server in said controlled-channel files on the server, said menu file comprising a structured document file written in a markup language and including hyperlinks to said controlled-channel files stored on the server.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein said controller is at least one of a human operator and an automated system.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein said automated system is prompted by at least one of (a) at least one pre-programmed timing algorithm and (b) a signal from a separate cueing application.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising a step of providing for said cueing application to signal said automated system as prompted by at least one of (a) a sound recognition system, (b) a system for cueing theatrical lighting or set changes, (c) a system for playing or broadcasting sound files, (d) a system for displaying or broadcasting images, (e) a musical instrument digital interface system, (f) a metronomic system, (f) a system for streaming text files, and (g) a system for detecting geographic position.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein said step of providing the means for the controller to direct said server to transmit at least one of said data units includes providing a means for a human operator (a) to input text into a graphical user interface and thereafter (b) to direct said server to transmit said text as the next data unit to be transmitted.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein said step of providing the means for the controller to direct said server to transmit at least one of said data units includes

a. populating a database with a plurality of said data units, and

b. providing a means for said controller to designate a data unit within said database.

13. The method of claim 2, wherein said step of permitting said controller to cause said server to transmit a plurality of discrete successions of said data units in parallel includes

a. populating a database with a plurality of said data units,

b. providing a means for said controller to designate a set of channels of said transport facility,

c. providing a means for the controller to designate an array of data units within said database such that each data unit within said array has a one-to-one correspondence with one member of said set of channels, and

d. providing a means for the controller to direct that each data unit within said array be transmitted in association with its corresponding channel of said transport facility.

14. The method of claim 3, wherein a plurality of controlled-channel files are stored on said server, and wherein said step of providing for said controller to alter each controlled-channel file on the server further includes

a. populating a database with a plurality of said data units,

b. providing a means for said controller to designate a set of said controlled-channel files on the server,

c. providing a means for the controller to designate an array of data units within said database such that each data unit within said array has a one-to-one correspondence with a member of said set of controlled-channel files, and

d. providing a means for the controller to direct each data unit within said array to overwrite a portion of or be inserted into its corresponding controlled-channel file on the server.

15. The method of claim 1 wherein said step of providing the means for said controller to direct said server to transmit at least one of said data units includes at least one of

a. using said first input/output means of the server, and

b. using a computer system distinct from and networked with the server to input directives.

16. The method of claim 3, further including

a. storing at least one end-user-navigated file on said server, the end-user-navigated file comprising a structured document file written in the markup language, and having information complementary or supplementary to said data units,

b. permitting said end-user to cause said end-user device to download said end-user-navigated file from the server and to display or otherwise process the end-user-navigated file,

c. providing a means for the end-user who has caused the end-user device to download the end-user-navigated file from the server to thereafter cause the end-user device to download the controlled-channel file from the server, and

d. providing a means for the end-user who has caused the end-user device to download the controlled-channel file from the server to thereafter cause the end-user device to download the end-user-navigated file from the server.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein said means by which the end-user causes the end-user device to download the controlled-channel file from the server includes a hyperlink from said end-user-navigated file to at least one of

i. the controlled-channel file and

ii. at least one menu file on the server, the menu file comprising a structured document file written in the markup language, and including a hyperlink to the controlled-channel file,

and wherein said means by which the end-user causes the end-user device to download the end-user-navigated file from the server includes a hyperlink from the controlled-channel file to at least one of

i. the end-user-navigated file and

ii. at least one menu file on the server, the menu file comprising a structured document file written in the markup language, and including a hyperlink to the end-user-navigated file.

18. The method of claim 1, further comprising a step of choosing said at least one network communication protocol from a group consisting of

a. a Transmission Control Protocol,

b. an Internet Protocol,

c. an Internet Control Message Protocol,

d. a User Datagram Protocol,

e. a HyperText Transfer Protocol,

f. a File Transfer Protocol,

g. a Simple Mail Transfer Protocol,

h. another member of the Internet Protocol Suite,

i. a Global System for Mobile Communications standard,

j. a Short Message Service,

k. a Server-Sent Events protocol,

l. a Web Sockets protocol, and

m. a protocol that operates in reliance upon one of a through l.

19. The method of claim 3, further comprising a step of choosing said markup language from a group consisting of HyperText Markup Language, Extensible HyperText Markup Language, Wireless Markup Language, a markup language conforming to Extensible Markup Language, and a markup language conforming to Standard Generalized Markup Language.

20. The method of claim 1, wherein the means for said server'"'"'s signals to reach said end-user device includes at least one of (a) the Internet, (b) a cellular telephone network, (c) a wireless wide area network, (d) a hard-wired local area network, and (e) a wireless local area network.

21. The method of claim 1, wherein said step of providing for said end-user device to operate a receipt facility includes providing for said end-user device to operate a Web browser.

22. The method of claim 1, wherein said end-user device is selected from the group consisting of a desktop personal computer, a portable personal computer, a smart phone, a portable audiofile player, an electronic reader, a portable computer game player, and a personal digital assistant.

23. The method of claim 1, wherein the first input/output means and the second input/output means are selected from the group of (a) a means to input text, (b) a means to interact with a graphical user interface, (c) a means to detect and process sound waves, (d) a means to display text or images, and (e) a means to generate sound waves.

24. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of said data units includes instructions written in a client-side-scripting language, and said instructions are executed by said end-user-device upon downloading said instructions from the server.

25. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of said data units includes at least one hyperlink that provides a means for said end-user, by activating said hyperlink, to download at least one of an end-user navigated file, a controlled-channel file, a text file, an image file, a sound file, a video file, and instructions written in a client-side scripting language.

26. The method of claim 3, wherein at least one of said data units includes instructions written in a client-side-scripting language, and said instructions cause said end-user-device to alter a frequency with which it polls said server.

27. A method of transmitting a plurality of data units, in succession, via a computer network, to at least one end-user, the method comprising:

a. providing at least one server comprising a first computer system including

i. a first central processing unit, a first memory capacity, a first operating system software application, a first data storage medium, and a first input/output means, and

ii. a server software application operable to communicate based on at least one network communication protocol,

b. permitting the at least one end-user to use at least one end-user device in a network with the server, each end-user device comprising a second computer system including

i. a second central processing unit, a second memory capacity, a second operating system software application, a second data storage medium, and a second input/output means, and

ii. a software application operable to communicate based on said at least one network communication protocol,

c. providing a means for said server'"'"'s signals to reach said end-user device, and for said end-user device'"'"'s signals to reach the server, enabling two-way communication between the server and the end-user device via said network communication protocol,

d. storing at least one controlled-channel file on the server, with each controlled-channel file comprising a structured document file written in a markup language, and including (i) the first of said data units to be transmitted via the controlled-channel file and (ii) at least one of an embedded polling script and a link to said polling script,

e. permitting said end-user to cause said end-user device to download said controlled-channel file and its associated polling script and thereafter providing for the end-user device (i) to display, play, or otherwise process said first data unit and (ii) to execute said polling script,

f. providing for each end-user device, as prompted by execution of said polling script, to poll the server repeatedly, to ascertain if the controlled-channel file has been altered on the server,

g. providing a means for said controller to alter the controlled-channel file on the server so that the controlled-channel file reflects altered or additional data to be transmitted to the end-user,

h. providing for said controller to alter each controlled-channel file on the server so that each altered controlled-channel file comprises a next data unit to be transmitted via the controlled-channel file,

i. permitting the end-user device, as prompted by its execution of the polling script, and upon its next polling of the server, (i) to download from the server the next data unit from the altered controlled-channel file corresponding to the controlled-channel file previously downloaded by the end-user device, and then (ii) to display, play, or otherwise process the next data unit, and

j. repeating the steps h through i until all data units to be transmitted and received have been transmitted and received.