System and methods for synchronized media playback between electronic devices

• US 7,827,479 B2
• Filed: 01/03/2007
• Issued: 11/02/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 01/03/2007
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Damon K.I. Kali
• Original Assignee: Damon K.I. Kali
• Inventors: Kali, Damon K. I.
• Primary Examiner(s): Ries; Laurie
• Assistant Examiner(s): AMIN, MUSTAFA A
• Application Number:
  US11/648,970
• Publication Number:
  US 20080162665A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,399 Days
• Field of Search: 715/203, 348/512
• US Class Current: 715/229
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/034 on discs G11B27/036, G11B27/038 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/105 of operating discs
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/3027 used signal is digitally coded
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/764 at the destination reformatting of additional data in video clients H04N21/4355
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1095 Replication or mirroring of data, e.g. scheduling or transport for data synchronisation between network nodes
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/43076 of the same content streams on multiple devices, e.g. when family members are watching the same movie on different devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4325 by playing back content from the storage medium reproduction of recorded television signals H04N5/76; reproduction of recorded television signals H04N9/79
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4508 Management of client data or end-user data
• 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 21/4825 using a list of items to be played back in a given order, e.g. playlists
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/84 Generation or processing of descriptive data, e.g. content descriptors systems specially adapted for using meta-information in broadcast systems H04H60/73
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/163 by receiver means only

Abstract

Methods for synchronized media playback between a number of electronic media devices wherein the electronic media devices are in electronic communication are presented, the methods including: creating a media play list on an originating media device, selecting a member media device for sharing the media play list; negotiating the media play list by the at member media device wherein the negotiating the media play list includes, searching the member media device for at least one matching candidate, wherein the searching is enabled by comparing a number of candidate indicia with a number of matching candidate indicia, selecting one of the at least one matching candidates for inclusion on a member media play list, conforming the at least one matching candidate, and populating the member media play list with the at least one matching candidate; and playing the media play list and the member media play list.

Claims

1. A method for a synchronized media playback between a plurality of electronic media devices wherein the plurality of electronic media devices are in electronic communication with each other, the method comprising:

creating a media play list on a originating media device, wherein the media play list includes at least one candidate, the at least one candidate including a plurality of candidate indicia,

selecting at least one member media device for sharing the media play list;

negotiating the media plays list by the at least one member media device wherein negotiating the media play list includes,

searching the at least one member media device for at least one matching candidate, the at least one matching candidate including a plurality of matching candidate indicia, wherein the searching is enabled by comparing the plurality of candidate indicia with the plurality of matching candidate indicia,

if the at least one matching candidate is found, selecting one of the at least one matching candidates for inclusion on a member media play list,

conforming the at least one matching candidate based on the plurality of candidate indicia and on plurality of matching candidate indicia when the at least one matching candidate is not an exact match with the at least one candidate, wherein the conforming includes,

determining a candidate duration of the at least one candidate,

determining a matching candidate duration of the at least one matching candidate selected,

if the matching duration is longer than the candidate duration, trimming the matching duration such that the matching duration is substantially equal to the candidate duration,

if the matching duration is shorter than the candidate duration, generating a notice, and

populating the member media play list with at least one matching candidate; and

playing the media play list and the member media play list, wherein at least one candidate and the at least one matching candidate are started at substantially the same time on all devices such that a start synchronizing is achieved.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein,

the creating the media play list comprises:

selecting the at least one candidate for inclusion on the media play list, identifying the plurality of candidate indicia corresponding with the at least one candidate, and

appending the media play list to include the at least one candidate and the plurality of candidate indicia; and

wherein,

the selecting one of the at least one matching candidates comprises;

selecting the at least one matching candidate for inclusion on the member media play list, and

identifying the plurality of matching candidate indicia corresponding with the at least one matching candidate.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the plurality of candidate indicia is selected from the group consisting of:

a candidate title, a candidate artist, a candidate duration, a candidate identifier, a candidate audio profile, and a candidate video profile, and wherein the plurality of matching candidate indicia is selected from the group consisting of;

a matching title, a matching artist, a matching duration, a matching identifier, a matching audio profile, and a matching video profile.

4. The method of claim 3 further comprising:

synchronizing the at least one candidate and the at least one matching candidate during a media playback such that a playback synchronizing is achieved, the playback synchronizing including,

determining a synchronization state of the at least one matching candidate based upon the candidate audio profile and the matching audio profile, the determining proceeding at a sampling rate,

if the playback synchronization is achieved, continuing to the determining a synchronization state at the sampling rate, and

if the playback synchronization is not achieved, adjusting a playback speed of the at least one matching candidate to match the at least one candidate.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein the playback synchronization is achieved when the playback synchronization falls within a range of approximately 0 to 1000 milliseconds (ms).

6. The method of claim 4 wherein the sampling rate falls within a range of approximately 100 to 5000 ms.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

before the selecting one of the at least one matching candidates, sorting the at least one matching candidates in an order of closest duration.

8. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

if the at least one matching candidate is not found, uploading the at least one matching candidate from an external media source.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein the external media source is selected from the group consisting of:

the originating media device, the at least one member media device, a media server, and an external media storage device.

10. The method of claim 3 wherein the identifying the candidate audio profile comprises:

determining a candidate audio volume curve for the at least one candidate;

identifying at least one point on the candidate audio volume curve that exceeds a pre-determined threshold volume at a corresponding time; and

creating a candidate audio profile entry corresponding with the point and the corresponding time.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein if the identifying at least one point returns a number of points that are outside a first pre-determined range, adjusting the pre-determined threshold volume such that the number of points falls within the first pre-determined range.

12. The method of claim 3 wherein the identifying the candidate video profile comprises:

determining a candidate video intensity curve for the at least one candidate;

identifying at least one point on the candidate video intensity curve that exceeds a pre-determined threshold intensity at a corresponding time; and

creating a candidate video profile entry corresponding with the point and the corresponding time.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein if the identifying at least one point results a number of points that are outside a second pre-determined range, adjusting the pre-determined threshold intensity such that the number of points falls within the second pre-determined range.

14. The method of claim 3 wherein the identifying the matching audio profile comprises:

determining a matching audio volume curve for the at least one matching candidate;

identifying at least point on the matching audio volume curve that exceeds a pre-determined threshold volume at a corresponding time; and

creating a matching audio profile entry corresponding with the point and the corresponding time.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein if the identifying at least one point results a number of points that are outside a third pre-determined range, adjusting the pre-determined threshold volume such that the number of points falls within the third pre-determined range.

16. The method of claim 3 wherein the identifying the matching video profile comprises:

determining a matching video intensity curve for the at least one matching candidate;

identifying at least one point on the matching video intensity curve that exceeds a pre-determined threshold intensity at a corresponding time; and

creating a matching video profile entry corresponding with the point and the corresponding time.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein if the identifying at least one point results a number of points that are outside a fourth pre-determined range, adjusting the pre-determined threshold intensity such that the number of points falls within the fourth pre-determined range.

18. The method of claim 1 wherein the electronic communication is enabled utilizing one selected from the group comprising:

a wired connection and a wireless connection.

19. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

associating the at least one candidate on the media play list and the at least one matching candidate on the member media play list;

creating an association list based on the associating; and

storing the association list to provide a future configuration.

20. A method for synchronized media playback between a plurality of media devices wherein the plurality media devices are in electronic communication, the method comprising:

creating a media play list on an originating media device, wherein the media play list includes at least one candidate, the at least one candidate including a plurality of candidate indicia,

selecting at least one member media device for sharing the media play list;

negotiating the media play list by the at least one member media device wherein the negotiating the media play list includes,

searching the at least one member media device for at least one matching candidate, the at least one matching candidate including a plurality of matching candidate indicia, wherein the searching is enabled by comparing the plurality of candidate indicia with the plurality of matching candidate indicia,

if the at least one matching candidate is found, selecting one of the at least one matching candidates for inclusion on a member media play list,

conforming the at least one matching candidate based on the plurality of candidate indicia and on the plurality of matching candidate indicia when the at least one matching candidate is not an exact match with the at least one candidate, wherein the conforming includes,

determining a candidate duration of the at least one candidate,

determining a matching duration of the at least one matching candidate selected,

if the matching duration is longer than the candidate duration, trimming the matching duration such that the matching duration is substantially equal to the candidate duration,

if the matching duration is shorter than the candidate duration, generating a notice, and

populating the member media play list with the at least one matching candidate; and

playing the media play list and the member media play list, wherein the lists are started at substantially the same time on all devices such that a start synchronizing is achieved.

21. The method of claim 20 wherein the plurality of candidate indicia is selected from the group consisting of:

a candidate title, a candidate artist, a candidate duration, a candidate identifier, and a candidate video profile, and wherein the plurality of matching candidate indicia is selected from the group consisting of;

a matching title, a matching artist, a matching duration, a matching identifier, and a matching video profile.

22. The method of claim 21 further comprising:

synchronizing the at least one candidate and the at least one matching candidate during media playback such that a playback synchronizing is achieved, the playback synchronizing including,

determining a synchronization state of the at least one matching candidate based upon the candidate video profile and the matching video profile, the determining proceeding at sampling rate,

if the playback synchronization is achieved, continuing to the determining a synchronization state at the sampling rate, and

if the playback synchronization is not achieved, adjusting a playback speed of the at least one matching candidate to match the at least one candidate.

23. Computing device program product for synchronized media playback between a plurality of media devices using a computing device, the computing device program product comprising:

a computer readable storage medium;

first instructions for creating a media play list on a originating media device, wherein the media play list includes at least one candidate, the at least one candidate including a plurality of candidate indicia,

second instructions for selecting at least one member media device for sharing the media play list;

third instructions for negotiating the media plays list by the at least one member media device wherein negotiating the media play list includes,

fourth instructions for searching the at least one member media device for at least one matching candidate, the at least one matching candidate including a plurality of matching candidate indicia, wherein the searching is enabled by comparing the plurality of candidate indicia with the plurality of matching candidate indicia,

if the at least one matching candidate is found, fifth instructions for selecting one of the at least one matching candidates for inclusion on a member media play list,

sixth instructions for conforming the at least one matching candidate based on the plurality of candidate indicia and on plurality of matching candidate indicia when the at least one matching candidate is not an exact match with the at least one candidate, wherein the conforming includes,

determining a candidate duration of the at least one candidate,

determining a matching candidate duration of the at least one matching candidate selected,

if the matching duration is longer than the candidate duration, trimming the matching duration such that the matching duration is substantially equal to the candidate duration,

if the matching duration is shorter than the candidate duration, generating a notice, and

seventh instructions for populating the member media play list with at least one matching candidate; and

eighth instructions for playing the media play list and the member media play list, wherein the lists are started at substantially the same time on all devices such that a start synchronizing is achieved.