Nearby media device tracking

• US 8,806,027 B2
• Filed: 02/14/2007
• Issued: 08/12/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 02/14/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Abanami, Thamer A., Tedesco, Megan Lesley, Asmi, Yasser, Leichtling, Ivan J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Dharia, Rupal
• Assistant Examiner(s): Ahmed, Mohammed
• Application Number:
  US11/674,898
• Publication Number:
  US 20080195620A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,736 Days
• Field of Search: 709/228, 709/227, 709/229, 709/201, 709/217, 709/219
• US Class Current: 709/228
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1059 End-user terminal functionalities specially adapted for real-time communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/04 specially adapted for terminals or networks with limited capabilities; specially adapted for terminal portability
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/06 specially adapted for file transfer, e.g. file transfer protocol [FTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/005 Discovery of network devices, e.g. terminals

Abstract

A media player is adapted to organize and display nearby media device information between communicating media devices before a complete connection is established. A nearby media device receives a message that is either generally or specifically sent from another media device. The nearby device determines whether the sending media device is blocked and whether to accept the message. The nearby device accepts the message if it originates from a compatible source. If the message is accepted, the nearby device sends an acknowledgement message containing a unique device name and a device status to the sending device. The sending device then displays the unique device name and status.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving an announcement message at a first media device from a second media device, the announcement message including;

a unique identifier associated with the second media device; and

a status describing both a current activity of the second media device and a media object that is currently playing at the second media device, the media object being a subject of the current activity and having media characteristics;

validating the announcement message at the first media device, the validating comprising validating the announcement message when the media characteristics are not included in a blocked list that identifies restricted media characteristics of media objects playing at other devices, the blocked list corresponding to presence preferences associated with the first media device that are usable to block presence visibility of the first media device at the second media device, the validating further comprising determining whether the second media device is blocked by the first media device by at least comparing the unique identifier associated with the second media device to a list of blocked device identifiers associated with devices that are blocked by the first media device, the list of blocked device identifiers including at least one media device unique identifier associated with at least one device with which communication is restricted;

sending an acknowledgement message from the first media device to the second media device, the acknowledgment message including both a different unique identifier associated with the first device and a status describing a current activity of the first media device, the different unique identifier and the status of the first media device being displayable at the second media device; and

displaying, at the first media device, the unique identifier and the status of the second media device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the current activity of the first media device or the current activity of the second media device is at least one of busy, blocked, listening to music, listening to radio, watching video, or viewing pictures.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein busy includes at least one of sending a first media object, receiving a second media object, or processing a streaming media object.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the current activity of the first media device or the current activity of the second media device includes at least one of an artist name, a title of the media object, or a radio station frequency.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the acknowledgement message includes a communication from a first media device user to a second media device user.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein if the second media device is blocked by the first media device, at least one of the unique identifier and the status of the second media device are not displayed at the first media device.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein validating the announcement message at the first media device comprises:

declining the announcement message at the first media device; and

sending a message to the second media device, the message including an indication that the announcement message was declined.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein validating the announcement message at the first media device comprises:

responding to the announcement message at the first media device; and

sending a message to the second media device, the message including a communication from a first media device user to a second media device user.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining characteristics associated with the second media device based at least in part on the announcement message, wherein the characteristics associated with the second media device include at least one of data related to media objects stored on the second media device, media objects being processed by the second media device, streaming media objects at the second media device, the current activity of the second media device, media objects that have been previously played by the second media device, or statistical data associated with the media objects stored or played on the second media device.

10. A method comprising:

receiving, at a media device, a connection message from a nearby media device, the connection message including a unique identifier indicating a device type of the nearby media device and a status describing a current media activity of the nearby media device, a currently playing object of the current media activity, and one or more media characteristics of the currently playing object, the connection message usable in organizing and displaying nearby media devices within a wireless network;

determining the device type of the nearby media device using the unique identifier included in the received connection message;

comparing the device type of the nearby media device with a device type of the media device;

determining whether the nearby media device is blocked by the media device by at least comparing the unique identifier to a list of blocked device identifiers associated with devices that are blocked by the media device, the list of blocked device identifiers including at least one media device unique identifier associated with at least one device with which communication is restricted;

comparing the one or more media characteristics of the currently playing object to a blocked list that identifies restricted media characteristics of media objects, the blocked list corresponding to presence preferences associated with the media device that are usable to block presence visibility of the media device at the nearby media device; and

validating the connection message at the media device when the device type of the nearby media device matches the device type of the media device, when the unique identifier of the nearby media device is not included in the list of blocked device identifiers, and when the one or more media characteristics of the currently playing object are not on the blocked list, and if the connection message is valid;

sending an identifier and a status associated with the media device to the nearby media device, the identifier and the status associated with the media device being displayable at the nearby media device.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the connection message is transmittable by the nearby media device to at least one additional media device that is displayed at the nearby media device.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein receiving the connection message further comprises receiving the connection message responsive to the status associated with the media device being online.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the nearby media device is configured to:

send the connection message to a plurality of nearby media devices; and

display a plurality of matching nearby media device identifiers and nearby device statuses.

14. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

transmitting information requests between the media device and the nearby media device; and

transmitting media object data between the media device and the nearby media device in response to the information requests;

wherein the media object data includes at least one of a title, an artist, a name, a media object source, or statistics.

15. A media device comprising:

a network card configured to wirelessly receive communications and data from another media device, the communications and data comprising a connection message that includes a unique identifier indicating a device type of the other media device and a status describing a current media activity associated with the other media device, the status further describing a currently playing media object that is a subject of the current media activity associated with the other media device, the status further describing media characteristics of the currently playing media object;

a memory coupled to the network card, the memory configured to store the communications and data from the other media device;

a processor coupled to the network card and the memory, the processor configured to;

use the unique identifier received from the other media device to determine if the media device and the other media device are a same type and, when the media device and the other media device are the same type, validate and organize the communications and data from the other media device;

determine whether the other media device is blocked by the media device by at least comparing the unique identifier received form the other media device to a list of blocked device identifiers associated with devices that are blocked by the media device, the list of blocked device identifiers including at least one media device unique identifier associated with at least one device with which communication is restricted; and

reject validated communications and data from the other media device based at least in part on one or more of the media characteristics being included in a user-generated blocked list that identifies one or more restricted media characteristics, the one or more restricted media characteristics corresponding to user-defined presence preferences that are usable to prevent the media device from being visible on a display associated with the other media device.

16. The media device of claim 15, wherein the processor is further configured to reject the communications and data from the other media device if the other media device is not the same type.

17. The media device of claim 15, wherein the processor is further configured to reject the communications and data from the other media device if the other media device is blocked.

18. The media device of claim 15, wherein the memory is further configured to store media content data associated with the media device, and wherein the communications and data from the other media device includes media content data stored on another memory at the other media device.