Internet applications and services for rendering digital content

• US 8,705,097 B2
• Filed: 05/16/2011
• Issued: 04/22/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 11/20/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Flexiworld Technologies, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Flexiworld Technologies, Inc.
• Inventors: Chang, William Ho, Liu, Christina Ying
• Primary Examiner(s): Poon, King
• Assistant Examiner(s): Cammack, David S
• Application Number:
  US13/108,922
• Publication Number:
  US 20110279863A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,072 Days
• Field of Search: 348/207.2, 348/552, 353/30, 358/1.13, 358/1.14, 358/1.15, 358/1.17, 358/1.9, 358/403, 370/389, 380/282, 399/8, 455/411, 455/557, 705/24, 705/26.5, 705/40, 705/52, 705/54, 705/67, 709/203, 709/217, 709/219, 709/223, 710/62, 710/65, 713/168, 725/105, 725/119, 726/29
• US Class Current: 358/1.15
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1204 resulting in reduced user or operator actions, e.g. presetting, automatic actions, using hardware token storing data
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1247 by conversion to printer ready format
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/126 Job scheduling, e.g. queuing, determine appropriate device
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1288 in client-server-printer device configuration
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1292 Mobile client, e.g. wireless printing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/102 Bill distribution or payments
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/12 specially adapted for electronic shopping systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/32 using wireless devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3224 Transactions dependent on location of M-devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/327 Short range or proximity payments by means of M-devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/00 Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2805 Home Audio Video Interoperability [HAVI] networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2809 indicating that an appliance service is present in a home automation network monitoring functionality H04L43/0817; discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services, H04L67/51
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2812 describing content present in a home automation network, e.g. audio video content retrieval from the Internet G06F16/95
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2834 Switching of information between an external network and a home network access arrangements H04L12/2856
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2838 Distribution of signals within a home automation network, e.g. involving splitting/multiplexing signals to/from different paths adaptations of television systems for transmission by electric cable for domestic distribution H04N7/106; hybrid transport H04L12/6418; home network arrangements specially adapted for distribution of digital video signals H04N7/24
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/2841 Wireless
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/2849 Audio/video appliances
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/285 Generic home appliances, e.g. refrigerators
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0428 : wherein the data content is protected, e.g. by encrypting or encapsulating the payload
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0492 : by using a location-limited connection, e.g. near-field communication or limited proximity of entities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/04 : specially adapted for terminals or networks with limited capabilities; specially adapted for terminal portability
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/303 : Terminal profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/51 : Discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/56 : Provisioning of proxy services store-and-forward switching systems in data switching networks H04L12/54
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/565 : Conversion or adaptation of application format or content adding application control or application functional data H04L67/561
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/5651 : Reducing the amount or size of exchanged application data
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 999/99 : dummy group

Abstract

Digital content rendering services provided over the Internet are disclosed. The service enables multiple concurrent users to log on and access server and applications in separate and protected sessions. The server may receive content objects and instructions for manipulating the content with an information apparatus operated by a user. The server may further receive job objects including at least one of authentication, payment, and subscription information. The server may generate output data related to the rendering job and the content, and send the output data to an output controller or media box, internally included or externally connected, to an output device for rendering, the output device may be a television, a display device, a sound device, or a printer. The service may send service confirmation to the information apparatus. The service may also store user'"'"'s digital content at a node over the Internet for later access by the user.

Claims

1. A data output service method implemented by a data output computing system for rendering digital content received over the Internet from an information apparatus, the information apparatus including a browsing application for viewing and selecting at least part of the digital content, and the browsing application operable for accessing the Internet, the data output computing system including:

a server over the Internet that is distinct from the information apparatus,

one or more server applications at the server over the Internet for receiving one or more objects in accordance with an object model or a software component model suitable for transferring over a network that includes the Internet,

a multi-user operating system at the server over the Internet for enabling multiple concurrent users, whom have subscribed to the data output service, to log on and access the one or more server applications, at the server over the Internet, in separate and protected sessions,

an output device for rendering digital content onto an output medium, the output device being a distinct device from the information apparatus and the server, and

an output controller having a connection to the output device, the output controller being a distinct device from the output device, the information apparatus, and the server, the method comprising;

receiving, at the server, one or more content objects from the information apparatus over the Internet, the one or more content objects being in accordance with an object model or a software component model suitable for transferring over the Internet and acceptable to the one or more server applications at the server, and the one or more content objects including;

at least part of the digital content for rendering;

receiving, at the server, one or more job objects from the information apparatus over the Internet, the one or more job objects being in accordance with an object model or a software component model suitable for transferring over the Internet and acceptable to the one or more server applications at the server, the one or more job objects including;

authentication information with at least one of a password, a signature, biometric information, fingerprints, and voice, individually or in any combination, the authentication information is restricted to a user of the information apparatus, and

at least one of payment information, or subscription information related to the user of the information apparatus;

generating, by the one or more server applications at the server over the Internet, an output data related to an output job, the output data for rendering the digital content at the output device, and the output data including information related, at least in part, to the one or more job objects received at the server, and the output data including information related, at least in part, to the one or more content objects received at the server;

sending, from the server over the Internet, at least part of the output data to the output controller for rendering at the output device;

receiving, at the output controller, at least part of the output data from the server over the Internet;

processing, at the output controller, at least part of the output data for rendering at the output device, the processing including an image processing operation and a decoding operation;

passing at least part of the output controller processed output data from the output controller to the output device for rendering;

rendering at least part of the digital content at the output device onto an output medium with the received at least part of the output data; and

sending a confirmation, by the data output computing system to the information apparatus, the confirmation including information associated with the output job; and

wherein, the rendering of at least part of the digital content at the output device being without the need of an output device driver associated with the output device installed in the information apparatus.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the confirmation includes information related to the digital content and information related to a service fee, and the method further comprising sending, from the data output computing system to the information apparatus, at least one of an estimated processing time and a status associated with the output job.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the one or more content objects further includes a pointer or reference to the digital content, and the one or more server applications operating at the server are further configured to obtain at least part of the digital content from a content server at a network node over the Internet.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising receiving, at the server from the information apparatus over the Internet, an output device object with an identification attribute related to the output device.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the output device includes a printing device and the one or more job objects further includes one or more attributes corresponding to at least one of (1) one of color and grayscale, (2) one of duplex and single sided, and (3) number of pages, individually or in any combination.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising processing the output data at the output controller, the processing of the output data at the output controller comprising performing one or more image processing operations including at least one of a rasterization, a scaling, a segmentation, a color space transformation, an image enhancement, a color correction, a digital halftoning, a decompression, a decryption, and a format conversion, individually or in any combination.

7. The method of claim 1 in which the data output service method includes at least one of an audio output service, a video output service, and a printing output service, individually or in any combination.

8. The data output system of claim 1 in which the output device includes a television.

9. A data output system for providing a data output service of rendering digital content received over the Internet from an information apparatus, the information apparatus including a browsing application for viewing and selecting at least part of the digital content, and the browsing application operable for accessing the Internet, the data output system including:

a server over the Internet that is distinct from the information apparatus,

one or more server applications at the server, over the Internet, for receiving one or more objects in accordance with an object model or a software component model suitable for transferring over a network that includes the Internet,

a multi-user operating system at the server, over the Internet, for enabling multiple concurrent users, whom have subscribed to the data output service, to log on and access the one or more server applications, at the server over the Internet, in separate and protected sessions,

an output device for rendering digital content onto an output medium, the output device being a distinct device from the information apparatus and the server,

an output controller having a connection to the output device, the output controller being a distinct device from the output device, the information apparatus, and the server, the data output system further comprising;

means for receiving, at the server, one or more content objects from the information apparatus over the Internet, the one or more content objects being in accordance with an object model or a software component model suitable for transferring over the Internet and acceptable to the one or more server applications at the server, and the one or more content objects including at least part of the digital content for rendering;

means for receiving, at the server, one or more job objects from the information apparatus over the Internet, the one or more job objects being in accordance with an object model or a software component model suitable for transferring over the Internet and acceptable to the one or more server applications at the server, the one or more job objects including;

security or authentication information related to an identity of the information apparatus, and

authentication information including at least one of a password, identity information and biometric information, individually or in any combination, that is restricted to a user of the information apparatus;

at least one of payment or subscription information related to the user of the information apparatus;

means for verifying, at the server over the Internet, the authentication information that is restricted to the user of the information apparatus with one or more databases, storing profiles of users who have subscribed to the data output service over the Internet;

means for generating, by the one or more server applications at the server, an output data related to the output job, the output data for rendering the digital content at the output device, and the output data including information related, at least in part, to the one or more job objects received at the server, and the output data including information related, at least in part, to the one or more content objects received at the server;

means for sending, from the server over the Internet, at least part of the output data to the output controller for rendering of at least part of the digital content at the output device; and

wherein, the rendering of at least part of the digital content at the output device being without the need of an output device driver associated with the output device installed in the information apparatus.

10. The data output system of claim 9 further comprising means for obtaining, at the server, one or more output device objects from the information apparatus, the one or more output device objects including an identity attribute related to the output device.

11. The data output system of claim 9 in which the output device includes one or more of a printing device, a television device, and an audio output device.

12. The data output system of claim 9 further comprising means for processing the output data at the output controller, the means for processing the output data at the output controller comprising means for performing one or more image processing operations that includes at least one of a rasterization, a scaling, a segmentation, a color space transformation, an image enhancement, a color correction, a digital halftoning, a decompression, a decryption, and a format conversion, individually or in any combination.

13. The data output system of claim 9 wherein the output device includes a printing device and the one or more job objects further includes one or more attributes corresponding to at least one of (1) one of color and grayscale, (2) one of duplex and single sided, and (3) number of pages.

14. A method for providing a data output service that is implemented by a computing system for rendering digital content received over the Internet from an information apparatus, the information apparatus including a browsing application for viewing and selecting at least part of the digital content, and the browsing application operable for accessing the Internet, the computing system including:

a server over the Internet that is distinct from the information apparatus,

one or more server applications at the server, over the Internet, for receiving one or more objects in accordance with an object model or a software component model suitable for transferring over a network that includes the Internet, the one or more server applications at the server, having access to one or more databases that stores profiles of users who have subscribed to the data output service over the Internet,

a multi-user operating system at the server over the Internet for enabling multiple concurrent users, whom have subscribed to the data output service, to log on and access the one or more server applications in separate and protected sessions,

an output device for rendering digital content onto an output medium, the output device being a distinct device from the information apparatus and the server, and

an output controller having a connection to the output device, the output controller being a distinct device from the information apparatus and the server, the method implemented by the computing system comprising;

receiving, at the server, one or more job objects from the information apparatus over the Internet, the one or more job objects being in accordance with an object model or a software component model suitable for transferring over the Internet and acceptable to the one or more server applications at the server, the one or more job objects including;

authentication information with at least one of a password, a signature, biometric information, fingerprints, and voice, individually or in any combination, that is restricted to a user of the information apparatus;

verifying, at the server over the Internet, the authentication information that is restricted to the user of the information apparatus with one or more databases, storing profiles of users who have subscribed to the data output service over the Internet; and

in dependence of a successful verification of the authentication information of the user of the information apparatus, the method implemented by the computing system further comprising;

receiving, by the one or more server applications, the digital content from the information apparatus over the Internet for storing by the user of the information apparatus the digital content at a server node for access by the user of the information apparatus;

storing, by the one or more server applications, the digital content received from the information apparatus at a server node for access by the user of the information apparatus over the Internet;

receiving, at the server, one or more content objects from the information apparatus over the Internet, the one or more content objects being in accordance with an object model or a software component model suitable for transferring over the Internet and acceptable to the one or more server applications at the server, and the one or more content objects including;

a pointer or reference to the digital content previously stored by the user of the information apparatus at the server node over the Internet;

obtaining, by the one or more server applications, the digital content stored at the server node over the Internet employing, at least in part, the pointer or reference to the digital content included in the one or more content objects received at the server;

generating, by the one or more server applications at the server, an output data from the obtained digital content from the server node, the output data including information related, at least in part, to the one or more job objects received at the server, and the output data including information related, at least in part, to the one or more content objects received at the server;

sending, from the server over the Internet, at least part of the output data to the output controller for processing, at the output controller, the at least part of the output data for rendering at the output device.

15. The method of claim 14 further comprising obtaining, at the server, one or more output device objects from the information apparatus, the one or more output device objects including an identity attribute related to the output device, and the method further comprising sending, from the computing system to the information apparatus, at least one of an estimated processing time and a status associated with the output job.

16. The method of claim 14 in which the output controller is internally included in the output device.

17. The method of claim 14 in which one or more job objects further includes an instruction related to the output job.

18. The method of claim 14 in which the output controller is externally connected to the output device.

19. The method of claim 14 in which the data output service method includes at least one of a video output service and a sound output service and the output device includes at least one of a television and a sound output device.

20. The method of claim 14 in which the data output service method includes a printing service method and the output device includes a printing device.