Intelligent electronic appliance system and method

• US 7,974,714 B2
• Filed: 08/29/2006
• Issued: 07/05/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 10/05/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Hoffberg Family Trust 2, Blanding Hovenweep LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC), STEVEN M. HOFFBERG 2004-1 GRAT
• Original Assignee: STEVEN M. HOFFBERG 2004-1 GRAT
• Inventors: Hoffberg, Steven Mark
• Primary Examiner(s): Chin; Vivian
• Assistant Examiner(s): Sellers; Daniel R
• Application Number:
  US11/467,928
• Publication Number:
  US 20070053513A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,771 Days
• Field of Search: 700/94, 381/71.2, 381/71.3, 381/94.1, 381/94.9, 381/73.1, 381/71.8, 381/71.12, 381/71.14, 360/75, 360/77.06, 386/321
• US Class Current: 700/94
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/103 Static body considered as a whole, e.g. static pedestrian or occupant recognition
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4318 by altering the content in the rendering process, e.g. blanking, blurring or masking an image region image enhancement or restoration in general G06T5/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44008 involving operations for analysing video streams, e.g. detecting features or characteristics in the video stream arrangements characterised by components specially adapted for monitoring, identification or recognition of video in broadcast systems H04H60/59
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44224 Monitoring of user activity on external systems, e.g. Internet browsing
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4668 for recommending content, e.g. movies
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/475 End-user interface for inputting end-user data, e.g. personal identification number [PIN], preference data
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/163 by receiver means only

Abstract

An intelligent electronic appliance preferably includes a user interface, data input and/or output port, and an intelligent processor. A preferred embodiment comprises a set top box for interacting with broadband media streams, with an adaptive user interface, content-based media processing and/or media metadata processing, and telecommunications integration. An adaptive user interface models the user, by observation, feedback, and/or explicit input, and presents a user interface and/or executes functions based on the user model. A content-based media processing system analyzes media content, for example audio and video, to understand the content, for example to generate content-descriptive metadata. A media metadata processing system operates on locally or remotely generated metadata to process the media in accordance with the metadata, which may be, for example, an electronic program guide, MPEG 7 data, and/or automatically generated format. A set top box preferably includes digital trick play effects, and incorporated digital rights management features.

Claims

1. A data storage device, comprising:

(a) an acoustic emission source, comprising a data storage device having an actuator, configured to produce an acoustic emission having varying intensity during head seek operations performed by the data storage device;

(b) a controllable audio output transducer, separate from said acoustic emission source, configured to reproduce at least a portion of an intended output signature of an audio program; and

(c) a control system, configured to control said acoustic emission source and said transducer, to reduce a perceived acoustic disturbance emanating from said data storage device during the operations, said control system configured to cooperate with a subsystem that renders sounds in response to media to define an intended output signature, to model events generating noise during head transitions of the data storage device, and to modify the audio program based on the model, said control system further configured to control the acoustic emission source and the transducer to each generate at least a portion of the sounds in dependence on the media,

(d) the acoustic emission source being controlled by the control system to synchronize a generation of impulses in the acoustic emission of the acoustic emission source with the intended output signature.

2. The device according to claim 1, wherein said data storage device comprises a rotating data storage medium, and wherein the actuator positions a positionable data read head.

3. The device according to claim 1, wherein said data storage device comprises a rotating magnetic disk storage system.

4. The device according to claim 1, wherein said data storage device comprises a rotating optical disk storage system.

5. The device according to claim 1, wherein said transducer comprises a piezoelectric transducer.

6. The device according to claim 1, wherein said transducer comprises an electromagnetic transducer.

7. The device according to claim 1, wherein said transducer comprises an electroacoustic transducer operating on a dynamic mass.

8. The device according to claim 1, wherein said transducer comprises a low frequency, high amplitude, narrowband transducer and a broadband, low amplitude transducer.

9. The device according to claim 1, wherein said control system is configured to control said acoustic emission source to produce an acoustic signature corresponding to a compensation capability of said transducer.

10. The device according to claim 1, wherein said control system is configured to control said acoustic emission source and said transducer simultaneously based on at least a model of said data storage device, with the data storage device relating control input to acoustic output.

11. The device according to claim 1, wherein the acoustic emission source is configured to respond to the control system to defer a head seek operation of the actuator during periods of the sounds which would not mask the acoustic emission of the actuator.

12. A method of controlling an actuator of a data storage device, the method comprising:

selectively controlling an audio transducer that is separate from the actuator, in dependence on at least an intended output signature of an audio program executed by a media rendering system;

selectively controlling the actuator in dependence on at least the audio program, to effect disk drive head transitions causing impulses synchronized with the intended output signature of the audio program, to reduce a perceived acoustic disturbance from changing acoustic emissions emanating from the data storage device during operations;

modeling noise generating events during head transitions of the data storage device; and

modifying the audio program based on the model.

13. The method according to claim 12, further comprising storing a computer model relating signals for controlling the data storage device with acoustic emissions emanating from the actuator, and further comprising controlling the actuator at least in part in dependence on the model.

14. A data storage system, comprising:

(a) an actuator configured to produce changing acoustic emissions during operations performed by a data storage device; and

(b) a control system, configured to;

control said actuator to respond to a media program comprising an audio program, wherein the media program defines sounds for rendering by a media rendering system,

reduce a perceived acoustic disturbance from the actuator, such that the actuator generates at least a portion of the defined sounds,

synchronize acoustic impulses generated during operations of the data storage device selectively in dependence on a correspondence between a predicted acoustic emission of the actuator and the defined sounds,

operate the actuator to effect a head transition operation that is synchronized with an intended output signature of the defined sounds,

model events generating noise during head transitions of the data storage device, and

modify the audio program based on the model.

15. The system according to claim 14, further comprising the data storage device, wherein said data storage device comprises a rotating data storage medium, and wherein the actuator includes a positionable data read head.

16. The system according to claim 14, wherein the actuator operates electromagnetically.

17. The system according to claim 14, wherein said control system is configured to control the actuator based on at least a computer model of the data storage system, with the computer model relating control input to acoustic emission.

18. A data storage device, comprising:

(a) an acoustic emission source, selectively producing an impulse acoustic emission in dependence on an operation of a data storage device;

(b) a controllable audio transducer configured to reproduce acoustic media having an intended output signature of an audio program; and

(c) a control system, controlling the acoustic emission source and the audio transducer, to generate an audio signal based on a media source stored on the data storage device, the impulse acoustic emission produced in dependence on the operation being masked by synchronized sounds of the intended output signature from the controllable audio transducer, to model events generating noise during head transitions of the data storage device, and to modify the audio program based on the model, to reduce a perceived acoustic disturbance while producing sounds consistent with the intended output signature.

19. The device according to claim 18, wherein the data storage device comprises a repositionable data read head.

20. The device according to claim 18, wherein the control system modifies an audio program of the media source during the operation in dependence on an acoustic characteristic of the acoustic emission source, such that the acoustic emission of the acoustic emission source together with the acoustic emission of the controllable audio transducer correspond to the intended output signature.

21. A method of controlling a data storage device, producing impulse acoustic emissions during mechanical data storage device operations, comprising selectively controlling both a timing of the operations and an audio transducer in dependence on an audio program of a media rendering system, to reduce a perceived acoustic disturbance from the operations on an intended output signature of the audio program, by synchronizing operations with an intended output signature of the audio program, and modeling noise generating events during head transitions of the data storage device, and modifying the audio program based on the model.

22. The method according to claim 21, wherein the mechanical data storage operations comprise repositioning of a data read head of the data storage device.

23. A data storage system, comprising:

(a) an actuator which produces impulse acoustic emissions during data storage device operations; and

(b) a control system, configured to receive a signal dependent on an audio program, synchronize operations of the actuator producing the impulse acoustic emissions with an intended output signature of the audio program defined in the signal, model events generating noise during head transitions of the data storage device, and modify the audio program based on the model.