Apparatus for delivering music and information

• US 7,444,353 B1
• Filed: 05/09/2000
• Issued: 10/28/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 01/31/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: CDN Innovations, LLC (IP Investments Group LLC)
• Original Assignee: Alexander C. Chen, Sanjivpal S. Gill
• Inventors: Chen, Alexander C., Gill, Sanjivpal S.
• Primary Examiner(s): AL HASHEMI, SANA A
• Application Number:
  US09/567,848
• Time in Patent Office: 3,094 Days
• Field of Search: 707/2, 707/3, 707/4, 707/104.1, 707/10, 846/09, 846/16, 844/77.R, 455/567, 455/3.06, 455/156.1, 704/243, 704/246, 380/282, 380/283, 709/219
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/634 Query by example, e.g. query by humming
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/68 Retrieval characterised by using metadata, e.g. metadata not derived from the content or metadata generated manually
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/683 using metadata automatically derived from the content
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/685 using automatically derived transcript of audio data, e.g. lyrics speech recognition G10L15/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0489 using dedicated keyboard keys or combinations thereof
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/165 Management of the audio stream, e.g. setting of volume, audio stream path
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/167 Audio in a user interface, e.g. using voice commands for navigating, audio feedback
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 25/60 for measuring the quality of voice signals
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• 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

The invention comprises music and information delivery systems and methods. One system comprises a portable communication device configured to receive a piece of music from an audio source and transmit the piece of music via a first communication medium to a host computer. The host computer is configured to receive the piece of music from the portable communication device and search a storage medium to identify and access the piece of music from the storage medium. The host computer is configured to transmit the piece of music via a second communication medium to one or more reception units that are configured to receive the piece of music from the host computer via the second communication medium.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a portable communication device configured to audibly receive at least a portion of an audible pre-recorded piece of music emitted from an audio source and almost instantaneously transmit signals substantially replicating the portion of the piece of music via a first communication medium, the audio source being separate from the portable communication device, the pre-recorded piece of music comprising sounds created by one or more musical instruments, wherein the portable communication device comprises a mobile wireless telephone; and

a computer configured to receive the signals substantially replicating the portion of the piece of music from the portable communication device and search a database to identify the piece of music in the database by comparing the sounds created by one or more musical instruments in the pre-recorded piece of music with sounds created by one or more musical instruments in a plurality of pieces of music stored in the database, the computer positioned in a remote location with respect to said portable communication device, the computer configured to transmit one or both of (i) the piece of music and (ii) information related to the piece of music via a second communication medium to a reception unit.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the pieces of music in the database comprises digital audio files.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the computer is configured to compare words in the portion of the piece of music from the audio source with words in the pieces of music in the database.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the audio source comprises one or more audio system speakers.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein said reception unit comprises said portable communication device.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the portable communication device is further configured to record one or more pieces of music and transmit the recorded one or more pieces of music across the first communication medium to the computer.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the portable communication device is further configured to allow a user to specify one or more reception units and transmit a command to the computer, the command directing the computer to transmit the piece of music across the second communication medium to said one or more user-specified reception units.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the first communication medium and the second communication medium are the same communication medium.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the portable communication device comprises a filter configured to filter out ambient noise from the audible pre-recorded piece of music.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the portable communication device is configured to increase a sensitivity level to search for sounds that resemble music made by musical instruments.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the first communication medium comprises at least one wireless segment and at least one non-wireless segment.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein the second communication medium comprises a wireless communication network.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein the second communication medium comprises a cable network.

14. The system of claim 1, wherein the reception unit is coupled to a vehicle stereo system.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the reception unit is built into said vehicle stereo system.

16. The system of claim 1, wherein the reception unit is coupled to a home stereo system.

17. The system of claim 1, wherein the reception unit is coupled to a portable stereo system.

18. The system of claim 1, wherein the computer identifies the piece of music by recognizing an embedded identification signal in the portion of the piece of music from the audio source and accessing a piece of music with a substantially similar identification signal in the database.

19. The system of claim 1, wherein the pieces of music stored in the database are categorized in smaller databases based on at least one of type of music, type of vocalist, and type of instruments, said computer being configured to compare said sounds created by one or more musical instruments in the pre-recorded piece of music with said sounds created by musical instruments in at least one of said smaller databases in the database.

20. The system of claim 1, wherein said reception unit comprises one of a home computer, a laptop computer, a home stereo system, a portable stereo system, an organizer, and a vehicle stereo system.

21. The system of claim 1, wherein the portable communication device is configured to detect pieces of music from an audio source at least 20 feet away from the portable communication device.

22. The system of claim 1, wherein the portable communication device comprises a location identification unit, wherein the information related to the piece of music is further related to a location of the portable communication device.

23. The system of claim 1, wherein the portable communication device allows a user to specify a group of reception units to receive at least one of the piece of music and information related to the piece of music.

24. The system of claim 1, wherein the computer is configured to transmit pieces of music related to the identified piece of music to the reception unit.

25. The system of claim 1, further comprising a filter configured to filter out noise from the signals substantially replicating the portion of the piece of music.

26. The system of claim 1, wherein the computer (a) separates the signals substantially replicating the portion of the piece of music into sounds made by individual musical instruments and (b) compares the sounds made by individual musical instruments with sounds stored in the database.

27. The system of claim 1, wherein the portable communication device is configured to at least one of emit a sound and display a message after transmitting the signals substantially replicating the portion of the piece of music via the first communication medium.