U.S. patent application number 11/120653 was filed with the patent office on 2006-04-13 for smart home control of electronic devices.
This patent application is currently assigned to Vulcan Inc.. Invention is credited to Robin Budd, Rod G. Fleck, Anthony F. Istvan, Korina J.B. Stark, Marcellino Tanumihardja.
Application Number | 20060080408 11/120653 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 35320655 |
Filed Date | 2006-04-13 |
United States Patent
Application |
20060080408 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Istvan; Anthony F. ; et
al. |
April 13, 2006 |
Smart home control of electronic devices
Abstract
A content management (CM) system is provided to centrally
control operation of one or more connected devices by issuing
control requests and/or data requests. In some situations the
connected device(s) include devices that control presentation of
television programming-related content, such as digital video
recorder ("DVR") devices and media center devices, and in other
situations may include other types of media devices and/or other
electromechanical ("E/M") devices that may be centrally controlled,
such as E/M devices for home automation that may operate
independently or in conjunction with the media devices. In some
situations, the CM system communicates with the connected devices
via a network and using appropriate protocol(s), and may be
accessed remotely via a network so as to allow a user to remotely
operate the CM system. The CM system may further control searching,
identification, selection, and presentation of pieces of media
content by the connected device(s).
Inventors: |
Istvan; Anthony F.;
(Snoqualmie, WA) ; Fleck; Rod G.; (Bellevue,
WA) ; Budd; Robin; (Seattle, WA) ; Stark;
Korina J.B.; (Seattle, WA) ; Tanumihardja;
Marcellino; (Seattle, WA) |
Correspondence
Address: |
SEED INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAW GROUP PLLC
701 FIFTH AVE
SUITE 6300
SEATTLE
WA
98104-7092
US
|
Assignee: |
Vulcan Inc.
Seattle
WA
|
Family ID: |
35320655 |
Appl. No.: |
11/120653 |
Filed: |
May 2, 2005 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
60567177 |
Apr 30, 2004 |
|
|
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
709/219 ;
715/733; 725/141; 725/38 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G11B 27/329 20130101;
G06F 16/95 20190101; H04N 21/47 20130101; H04L 12/2818 20130101;
H04N 21/4131 20130101; H04N 21/4312 20130101; H04N 21/4316
20130101; H04L 12/2834 20130101; H04M 1/72403 20210101; H04N
21/4622 20130101; G11B 27/34 20130101; H04N 21/47214 20130101; H04N
21/4227 20130101; H04N 21/43615 20130101; H04N 21/4821 20130101;
H04L 12/282 20130101; H04M 1/72415 20210101; H04N 7/163 20130101;
G11B 27/034 20130101; H04N 21/482 20130101; H04N 21/4858 20130101;
H04N 21/4828 20130101; H04L 2012/2849 20130101; H04N 21/4314
20130101; H04N 21/4147 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
709/219 ;
725/141; 715/733; 725/038 |
International
Class: |
H04N 5/445 20060101
H04N005/445; H04N 7/16 20060101 H04N007/16 |
Claims
1. A system configured to control a plurality of networked devices
in an environment, the computing system comprising: one or more
processors; and a management system that when executed by the one
or more processors communicatively couples to at least one media
device via a first network connection that uses a first
communication protocol and to at least one computing system via a
second network connection that uses a second communication
protocol, the computing system being coupled to at least a first
one of a plurality of electromechanical devices to allow the
computing system to control operation of the first one of the
electromechanical devices, the media device being communicatively
coupled to at least one content presentation device and to at least
a second one of the plurality of electromechanical devices, the
management system further configured to couple to at least a third
one of the plurality of electromechanical devices via a third
network connection that uses a third communication protocol, the
content management system including: a core module to generate
control requests and data requests related to operation of the at
least one media device, the computing system, and the third one of
the plurality of electromechanical devices; first, second, and
third gateway modules corresponding respectively to the at least
one media device, the computing system, and the third one of the
plurality of electromechanical devices, the gateway modules being
in communication with the core module to receive the control
requests and data requests from the core module, and further being
in communication with the core module to provide responses to the
control requests and the data requests to the core module; and
first, second, and third communication interfaces respectively
included with the gateway modules to provide the control requests
and the data requests generated by the core module to the at least
one media device, the computing system, and the third one of the
plurality of electromechanical devices via the respective first,
second, and third network connections using the respective first,
second, and third communication protocols, and to provide responses
to the control requests and the data requests to the core
module.
2. The system of claim 1 wherein the management system further
includes a graphical user interface that can be used to instruct
the core module to generate the control requests and the data
requests, and that can further be used to receive from the core
module and to present at least some of the responses to the control
requests and data requests received from the at least one media
device, the computing system, and the third one of the plurality of
electromechanical devices.
3. The system of claim 1 wherein a control request related to
operation of the at least some of the electromechanical devices, as
provided by the management system to the computing system via the
second network connection using the second communication protocol
or as provided by the management system to the third one of the
plurality of electromechanical devices via the third network
connection using the third communication protocol, is based on
context information associated with a control request that is
provided by the management system to the at least one media device
via the first network connection using the first communication
protocol and that is related to operation of the at least one
content presentation device.
4. The system of claim 3 wherein the context information is
communicated between the second one of the plurality of
electromechanical devices and the at least one media device, or
between the at least one media device and the computing system, the
context information being usable by the management system to
determine which control requests related to operation of particular
ones of the plurality of electromechanical devices should be
generated to complement operation of the at least one content
presentation device.
5. The system of claim 1 wherein the plurality of electronic
devices include at least one or more of a lighting device, HVAC
device, security device, automated drapes, automated wall panel,
and household appliance.
6. The system of claim 1 wherein the third one of the plurality of
electromechanical devices include functionality to directly process
and respond to the control requests and data requests provided by
the management system via the third network connection using the
third communication protocol.
7. The system of claim 1 wherein the second one of the plurality of
electromechanical devices uses functionality of the computing
system to indirectly process and respond to the control requests
and data requests provided by the management system via the second
network connection using the second communication protocol.
8. The system of claim 1, further comprising at least one storage
unit accessible to the management system to store data that can be
accessed and shared by the at least one media device, the computing
system, and the third one of the plurality of electromechanical
devices.
9. The system of claim 1 wherein the environment comprises a home
environment.
10. A method for a computing device to control a plurality of
networked devices in an environment, the method comprising:
configuring the computing device as a central control point, the
computing device capable to issue control requests and data
requests related to operation of the networked devices, the
networked devices including a media device, a computing system, and
a plurality of electromechanical devices; using separate gateway
modules of the computing device to correspondingly communicate the
control requests and data requests to the media device, the
computing system, and at least one of the plurality of
electromechanical devices, the gateway modules being usable to
communicate using at least one communication protocol via
respective network connections to the media device, the computing
system, and the at least one of the plurality of electromechanical
devices, the control requests being usable to allow the computing
device to control operation of the media device and to indirectly
control operation of the at least some of the plurality of
electromechanical devices through the computing system, the control
requests further being usable to allow the computing device to
directly control operation of the at least one of the plurality of
electromechanical devices; and using context information to allow
the computing device to determine which of the networked devices to
control in a complementary manner.
11. The method of claim 10 wherein using the context information
includes: generating a first control request to control operation
of one of the networked devices, and sending the first control
request from the computing device to the one networked device;
based on the first control request, determining second control
requests for at least some of the other networked devices; sending
data requests to the at least some of the other networked devices
to determine their status; receiving status information pertaining
to the at least some of the other networked devices that were sent
the data requests; and based on the received status information,
generating the second control requests and providing the second
control requests to the at least some of the other networked
devices to control their operation in a manner complementary to the
operation of the one networked device.
12. The method of claim 11 wherein controlling operation of the at
least some of the other networked devices in the manner
complementary to the operation of the one networked device includes
adjusting an operation of the at least some of the other networked
devices to be consistent with presentation of media content by the
media device controlling a content presentation device.
13. The method of claim 10, further comprising providing a resource
that can be shared between the networked devices.
14. The method of claim 10 wherein configuring the computing device
as the central control point includes designating the computing
device as the central control point in the communication
protocol.
15. The method of claim 10, further comprising: determining whether
a device is added or removed to a network that includes the network
connections; and if a device is added to the network, determining
capabilities of the device by accessing an application program
interface of the device, the application program interface
providing information indicative of services available from the
device.
16. The method of claim 10 wherein the communication protocol is
Universal Plug and Play.
17. A computer-readable medium whose contents enable a computing
device to control a plurality of networked devices in an
environment, by performing a method comprising: establishing the
computing device as a central control point to issue control
requests and data requests to the networked devices, and to receive
responses to the control requests and the data requests; using the
control requests to allow the computing device to specify a manner
in which at least one of the networked devices is to operate or to
control operation of at least another one of the networked devices;
and using the data request to obtain context information, the
context information being usable by the computing device to
determine which control request to issue to particular ones of the
network devices to allow the such networked devices to operated in
a complementary manner.
18. The computer-readable medium of claim 17 wherein the
computer-readable medium is a memory of the computing device and/or
is a data transmission medium transmitting to the computing device
a generated data signal containing the contents.
19. The computer-readable medium of claim 17 wherein the contents
are instructions that when executed cause the computing device to
perform the method.
20. The computer-readable medium of claim 17 wherein the method
further includes establishing at least one network connection to
allow the computing device to communicate with the networked
devices using different communication protocols to communicate with
different ones of the networked devices, at least one of the
communication protocols allowing communication between the
computing device and at least one of the networked devices
substantially without modification of the at least one of the
networked devices.
Description
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] The present application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C.
.sctn. 119(e) of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No.
60/567,177, entitled "BROWSER FOR MULTI MEDIA CONTENT," filed Apr.
30, 2004, assigned to the same assignee as the present application,
and which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
[0002] The present application is also related to each of U.S.
patent application Ser. No. ______ (Attorney Docket No. 931086.405)
entitled "Controlling One Or More Media Devices," U.S. patent
application Ser. No. ______ (Attorney Docket No. 931086.406)
entitled "Controlling Content Presentation," and U.S. patent
application Ser. No. ______ (Attorney Docket No. 931086.407)
entitled "Network-Accessible Control Of One Or More Media Devices,"
each of which is filed concurrently and is hereby incorporated by
reference in its entirety.
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0003] The present disclosure generally relates to techniques for
controlling media devices and/or other types of electronic
devices.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
[0004] Consumers in today's society are provided with many
different types of multimedia content. Indeed, it is often possible
for any particular piece of information to be represented in the
form of audio, television, text, video, still image, Internet Web
page, or other multimedia format. Given the large amount of
information available to consumers and given the many different
multimedia formats available, it is beneficial to assist consumers
in identifying, obtaining, and presenting pieces of multimedia
content that may be of interest.
[0005] In the current world of television, movies, and related
media systems, many consumers receive television
programming-related content via broadcast over a cable network to a
television or similar display, with the content often received via
a set-top box ("STB") from the cable network that controls display
of particular television (or "TV") programs from among a large
number of available television channels, while other consumers may
similarly receive television programming-related content in other
manners (e.g., via satellite transmissions, broadcasts over
airwaves, over packet-switched networks, etc.). In addition,
enhanced television programming services and capabilities are
increasingly being provided to consumers, such as the ability to
receive television programming-related content that is delivered
"on demand" using Video on Demand ("VOD") technologies (e.g., based
on a pay-per-view business model) and/or various interactive TV
capabilities. Consumers generally subscribe to services offered by
a cable network "head-end" or other similar content distribution
facility to obtain particular content, which in some situations may
include interactive content and Internet content.
[0006] Consumers of content are also increasingly using a variety
of devices to record and control viewing of content, such as via
digital video recorders ("DVRs") that can record television-related
content for later playback and/or can temporarily store recent and
current content to allow functionality such as pausing or rewinding
live television. A DVR may also be known as a personal video
recorder ("PVR"), hard disk recorder ("HDR"), personal video
station ("PVS"), or a personal television receiver ("PTR"). DVRs
may in some situations be integrated into a set-top box, such as
with Digeo's MOXI.TM. device, while in other situations may be a
separate component connected to an STB and/or television. In
addition, electronic programming guides ("EPGs") are often made
available to aid consumers in selecting a desired program to
currently view and/or to schedule for delayed viewing. Using an EPG
and a DVR, a consumer can cause a desired program to be recorded
and can then view the program at a more convenient time or
location.
[0007] As another example, the Internet has become a frequently
used source of multimedia content. Consumers may obtain music
downloads, pictures, audio or video clips, graphical or textual
information, or other multimedia content by accessing suitable Web
sites and downloading the desired piece(s) of multimedia content
from the accessed Web site(s)
[0008] However, as the multimedia industry grows and as additional
types of content are increasingly being stored and made available
to consumers, it is becoming increasingly difficult for consumers
to effectively manage the content and the related capabilities of
the various devices that are available to present the content or to
control the content presentation. Moreover, the increase in number
and types of media devices within homes (e.g., televisions,
handheld and desktop computing systems, stereos, speakers,
cellphones, DVRs, STBs, etc.) makes the task of effectively
presenting and otherwise managing the multimedia content even more
difficult. For example, it is quite common for each consumer's
household to possess several remote controls, with each remote
control being operative to control only its corresponding media
device. Thus, consumers are forced to familiarize themselves with
the features of each individual remote control, which can become
difficult or frustrating to a consumer as additional media devices
(and their remote controls) are added to a household or whenever
such media devices are modified or upgraded to other models and
versions. Moreover, in some situations, various electronic devices
in the household may not have associated remote controls or may
otherwise require the consumer to actively operate their controls,
which similarly can lead to difficulties and frustrations for the
user.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0009] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a content
management ("CM") system environment in which an embodiment of a
content management system interacts with one or more other devices
in the environment.
[0010] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the CM system
and one of the other devices in the environment shown in greater
detail.
[0011] FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of the
CM system operating in conjunction with one of the other devices
and a media server.
[0012] FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of the
CM system that can be remotely accessed via a network.
[0013] FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating use of an embodiment
of the CM system to control other types of devices in the CM
environment.
[0014] FIG. 6 is a flowchart of an embodiment of a routine for
operating an embodiment of the CM system.
[0015] FIG. 7 illustrates an example embodiment of a GUI for a
content management system.
[0016] Non-limiting and non-exhaustive embodiments are described
with reference to the figures, wherein like reference numerals
refer to like parts throughout the various views unless otherwise
specified.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0017] 1. Techniques are described below for managing various types
of devices in [0018] various ways, such as via a graphical user
interface ("GUI") of a Content Management ("CM") system executing
on a computing device. In at least some embodiments, the CM system
on the computing device interacts with various other content
presentation control devices (e.g., STBs, DVRs, media center
devices, etc.) and/or other media devices that store, present,
control or otherwise manage content, and in some embodiments may
interact with a variety of other types of electronic devices
(whether instead of or in addition to content presentation control
devices and other media devices). In at least some such
embodiments, the CM system acts as a "control point" for such other
devices, such as by passing control requests to those devices
(e.g., in response to user selections or other actions via the GM
system GUI) and/or by retrieving data from those devices (e.g., for
display in the CM system GUI to one or more users). Moreover, in at
least some embodiments the underlying control logic (including
business rules) for the other devices, information about current
state of the other devices and/or content used by the other devices
are maintained at the other devices, and if so may or may not be
available to the CM system or the computing device.
[0019] In at least some embodiments, at least some content being
managed by the CM system via the other devices includes television
programming-related content, such as with the CM system receiving
and using EPG metadata information for the content (e.g., via
interactions with an STB), while in other embodiments a variety of
other types of content may be managed via the other devices.
Moreover, control requests may take a variety of forms in various
embodiments, and may vary based on a type of device being managed
and/or a type of content associated with the device, with example
control requests including requests to record a television program,
to playback recorded content, to request EPG metadata information
so that the CM system can present the EPG information in the GUI or
otherwise use the information, to tune a media device to a
particular channel, and so forth. In addition, the CM system may
further perform various other types of device interaction and
content management functions, as described in greater detail
below.
[0020] In some embodiments, the CM system may control or otherwise
communicate with one or more media devices using different
communication protocols and/or interfaces. Non-limiting examples of
such communication protocols include Universal Plug And Play
("UPnP"), hypertext transfer protocol ("HTTP"), or other suitable
protocol(s).
[0021] In some embodiments, the CM system may be used to control
the presentation of content by the media devices. For example, the
CM system may instruct (or otherwise control) a media device to
search for and/or access one or more content repositories for
desired content or to otherwise retrieve content from one or more
content sources, such as from a media server device via a local
area network shared by the media device and the CM system's
computing device. After the desired content is located from a
suitable content repository, the CM system may control the manner
in which the media device(s) accesses and presents the content,
such as via one or more other presentation devices (e.g., speakers,
a stereo, a television display, a computing system display,
etc.).
[0022] In some embodiments, the CM system may also be remotely used
or otherwise remotely accessed by a user in various ways. Thus,
whether alternatively or additionally to physically using the CM
system at the computing device, the user may remotely access the CM
system in such embodiments, such as via a network (e.g., the
Internet), thereby giving the user the capability to remotely
manage media devices.
[0023] In some embodiments, the CM system may also interact with
other electronic devices in a household, whether alternatively or
additionally to interacting with media devices. For instance, a
"smart home" or "smart office" may be provided wherein the CM
system controls electromechanical devices that are present, such as
a heating, ventilation and air conditioning ("HVAC") system,
lighting, household appliances, or other types of devices. Thus,
for example, if the user wishes to watch a recorded television
program, the CM system may be used to activate playback of the
recorded television program by a DVR, while the CM system is also
used to control the lighting, temperature, drapes, etc. in the
household so as to give the user an optimum environment for viewing
the television program, such as in a coordinated manner (e.g.,
based on a single instruction from the user, such as from a
previously defined association and/or previously defined
preferences).
[0024] In some embodiments, the CM system may also provide a
variety of other types of capabilities via a GUI to allow one or
more users to manage, directly or through other devices, various
types of multimedia content (such as television programming,
photographs, music, video clips, audio clips, video games, etc.).
Example embodiments of a CM system GUI and associated content
management capabilities are described in further detail in U.S.
patent application Ser. No. ______ (Attorney Docket No.
931086.409), entitled "Time-Based Graphical User Interface For
Television Program Information," and in U.S. patent application
Ser. No. ______ (Attorney Docket No. 931086.411), entitled
"Maintaining A Graphical User Interface State That Is Based On A
Selected Piece Of Content," both filed concurrently and assigned to
the same assignee as the present application, and which are each
hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.
[0025] For illustrative purposes, some embodiments are described
below in which specific types of content are managed or otherwise
controlled, such as directly by the CM system or indirectly through
one or more electronic devices, and in specific ways via specific
example embodiments of the CM system. However, the techniques can
be used in a wide variety of other situations, and the specific
illustrative details discussed herein are not limiting. More
generally, as used herein, multimedia "content" generally includes
television programs, movies and other video information (whether
stored, such as in a file, or streamed), photos and other images,
music and other audio information (whether stored or streamed),
presentations, video/teleconferences, videogames, Internet Web
pages and other data, and other similar video or audio content.
[0026] Referring first to FIG. 1, a network diagram illustrates an
example use of an embodiment of the CM system in a home environment
395 for entertainment purposes, although the CM system could
similarly be used in business or other non-home environments and
for purposes other than entertainment. In this example, the home
environment includes an STB or other media center 350 receiving
external content 360a that is available to one or more consumers
(not shown) in the home environment 395, such as television
programming-related content 360a or other multimedia content for
presentation on a television 370. Hereinafter, the media center 350
will be identified for illustrative purposes as one example type of
media device that can be controlled by or that can interact with
the CM system, although other types of media devices and/or
electronic devices may also be shown and described in specific
examples.
[0027] Other types of audio and/or video content could similarly be
received by and/or stored by the media center 350 and presented to
the consumer(s) on the television and/or optional other content
presentation devices 380 (e.g., other televisions, a stereo
receiver, stand-alone speakers, the displays of various types of
computing systems, wireless devices, a digital picture frame, etc.)
in the home environment 395.
[0028] The home environment 395 also includes an example computing
system 300 suitable for executing an embodiment of the CM system,
as well as one or more optional other local computing systems
and/or storage devices 390 with which the computing system 300 can
interact via local network 385 (e.g., a wireless or wired/cabled
LAN). In the illustrated embodiment, the computing system includes
a CPU 305 or other processor(s), various I/O devices 310, storage
320, and memory 330, and the illustrated I/O devices include a
display 311, a network connection 312, a computer-readable media
drive 313, and other I/O devices 315 (e.g., a keyboard, a mouse, a
pointing device, speakers, etc.). In some embodiments the computing
system 300 may further interact with one or more external computing
systems, not shown (e.g., via the World Wide Web or otherwise via
the Internet), such as to receive additional external content 360b
and/or other information or services. In addition, in an embodiment
that will be described below, the CM system can be accessed or
otherwise operated remotely by a user via the Internet or other
network.
[0029] In the illustrated embodiment, the computing system 300
interacts with the media center 350 in a variety of ways (e.g., via
a direct connection, as part of local network 385, or as part of
another network, not shown), including to receive information about
current and/or future television programming-related content and/or
other content 360a. In this example, the information received by
the computing system 300 includes EPG metadata information for
television programming-related content (e.g., from a cable network
operator), and can further include a variety of other types of
metadata for the content 360a, whether from the cable network
operator or other third-parties (e.g., from various external
computing systems, not shown, such as via external content 360b).
This received content metadata is then stored in a content metadata
database 322 (or other suitable data structure) in the illustrated
embodiment for use by the CM system.
[0030] An embodiment of the CM system 335 is executing in memory
330, and in at least some embodiments comprises software or other
machine-readable instructions that can be executed by the CPU 305
or other processor. One example of the CM system 335 would be a
service application that runs in the background (e.g., to
programmatically receive and handle requests), while in another
example would be an application program that runs in the foreground
and controls an appropriate display device (e.g., to present a GUI
of the CM system. The CM system may provide information about the
available content to one or more users, such as via a GUI that is
displayed on the display device 311 and/or on one or more of the
content presentation devices 370 or 380 or other computing systems
390 (e.g., to one or more users in the home environment), and/or
via information transmitted to remote users (not shown). For
example, the CM system may provide some or all of the stored
content metadata 322 to the users, and also allow the users to
manipulate the content in a variety of ways (e.g., to select
content for current presentation, for future recording, etc.), as
well as in some embodiments maintaining a state of the GUI as
displayed information changes. As the user provides instructions
related to manipulation of the content, those content manipulation
instructions are in the illustrated embodiment stored in a database
324 (or other suitable data structure) on storage 320 for later
retrieval and use by the CM system, and at least some such content
manipulation instructions may additionally in some embodiments be
provided to the media center 350 for use in actually performing the
tasks to satisfy the manipulation instructions. In addition, in
some embodiments the CM system may also interact with other
executing programs in order to provide additional information
and/or functionality to the user(s), such as one or more optional
executing other programs 339 in memory 330 or instead remote
executing programs (not shown) on another computing system.
[0031] In the illustrated embodiment, the CM system does not itself
present the external content 360a to the user(s), instead
interacting with the media center 350 to control the display of the
content to the user via the TV 370 and/or one or more of the other
content presentation devices 380. However, in other embodiments the
CM system may instead receive some or all of the external content
360a, whether via the media center 350 or instead directly from the
source of that content, and if so could directly control the
presentation of that content to the user(s) on the display device
311 and/or other content presentation device 370 or 380 or other
computing system 390. Conversely, in the illustrated embodiment the
computing system 300 and/or media center 350 may have access to
additional content, such as external content 360b (e.g., from
remote computing systems over the Internet), locally stored other
content 360c on storage 320, and/or other locally accessible
content (not shown), such as from one or more of the other
computing systems/storage devices 390--if so, the computing system
300 may in some embodiments directly present some or all of that
content to the user(s), such as on display device 311 (e.g., as
part of the CM system GUI) and/or on one or more other content
presentation devices 370 or 380 or other computing system 390,
while in other embodiments may present some or all of that content
to the user(s) by instead interacting with the media center 350 to
facilitate the presentation (e.g., by providing the additional
content to be presented and/or associated instructions to the media
center). As previously noted, the additional content may be content
related to the external content 360a but from another source (e.g.,
additional television-related programming, such as streamed or
downloaded over a computer network) and/or multimedia content of
other types (e.g., movies and other video information, photos and
other images, music and other audio information, presentations,
video/teleconferences, videogames, Internet Web pages and other
data, etc.).
[0032] The functionality of the CM system may be accessed in
various ways in different embodiments. For example, some users may
have physical access to the computing system 300, and if so may
interact with the various I/O devices 310 to provide and/or receive
information. Alternatively or additionally, other users may use
other client computing devices to remotely access the CM system,
such as other local computing systems 390 or instead remotely
(e.g., via the World Wide Web or otherwise via the Internet, such
as by using Web services or other remote access capabilities
provided by the CM system). Such remote users may use software or
other functionality provided on the client computing systems (not
shown), such as a browser, to interact with the CM system. In other
embodiments, users may receive functionality and/or information
from the CM system indirectly via interactions with one or more
other devices, such as the media center 350, which may directly
receive that functionality or information from the CM system before
providing it to the users.
[0033] For example, in some embodiments the computing system 300
and/or one of more of the computing systems 390 is a cellphone
(e.g., a smartphone) or other mobile or handheld device with
communications capabilities (e.g., a Pocket PC computer, a PDA, an
electronic organizer, etc.), and if so the user may use that device
to manage content in various ways. In such embodiments, the
communications between the cellphone or other device and other
computing systems and devices in the example home environment may
occur in various manners. For example, some devices may support
various types of local communication mechanisms (e.g., wireless
communications via Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, direct infrared, etc.) and/or
communication mechanisms that may be used remotely (e.g., if the
device supports Internet access, such as via GPRS and using HTTP or
WAP, via Web services over HTTP, or instead using a standard
telecommunications link for exchanging voice and other audio
information), and may further support various communication and
messaging protocols (e.g., UPnP, Home Audio Video Interoperability
(or "HAVI"), etc.). When a device supports both local and remote
communication mechanisms, the device may further be configured to
seamlessly switch between local and remote communications as
appropriate, such as to automatically use local communications when
they are available and to use remote communications otherwise, or
instead may use various communications as directed by the user.
Remote communications may be appropriate, for example, when the
device is remote from the home environment (e.g., outside a
building that contains the home environment, not shown, such as at
significant distances), such as to perform some or all data
exchange via Internet access and/or using voice commands over a
standard telecommunication link. In addition, various types of
devices may have varying communications abilities, and thus devices
in various embodiments may use different forms of communication for
a single type of information exchange.
[0034] When a user uses a cellphone or other mobile or handheld
device to manage content, various types of information may be
exchanged in various ways. For example, software to implement at
least a portion of the CM system on the device and/or to interact
with a remote executing CM system may be preinstalled on the device
when provided to the user (e.g., by the distributor of the device)
and/or may be downloaded to the device after the user has the
device (e.g., as an executable file from another local computing
system to which the device has a physical or wireless connection,
or directly from a remote Web site if the device supports Internet
access). EPG and/or other types of metadata may similarly be
provided to the device in various ways, such as via Internet access
to a local computing system (e.g., computing system 300) and/or a
remote computing system, or instead from a local computing system
and/or media center device 350 via local communication mechanisms.
Commands and other information from the user may similarly be
provided from the device to computing systems and other devices in
the home environment in various ways, including via Internet access
and/or local communication mechanisms.
[0035] Computing system 300 is merely illustrative and is not
intended to limit the scope of the present invention. For example,
the computing system may instead be comprised of multiple
interacting computing systems or devices, and may be connected to
other devices that are not illustrated, including through one or
more networks such as via the World Wide Web ("Web") or otherwise
via the Internet. More generally, the computing system 300 and/or
the other computing systems 390 may each comprise any combination
of hardware or software that can perform the described techniques,
including (without limitation) desktop or other computers, network
devices, Internet appliances, PDAs, cordless and other wireless
phones, cellphones, devices with walkie-talkie and other
push-to-talk capabilities, personal/digital video recorders,
pagers, electronic organizers, television-based systems and various
other consumer products that include appropriate
inter-communication and computing capabilities. In addition, the
functionality provided by the CM system may in some embodiments be
distributed in additional systems, and the CM system may have
multiple components that each provides a portion of the
functionality of that system. Similarly, in some embodiments the
functionality of some of the illustrated systems may not be
provided and/or other additional functionality may be
available.
[0036] While various items are illustrated as being stored in
memory or on storage while being used, these items or portions of
them can be transferred between memory and other storage devices,
such as for purposes of memory management and data integrity.
Alternatively or additionally, in other embodiments some or all of
the software system (or portions of it) may execute in memory on
another device and communicate with the illustrated computing
system via inter-computer communication. Some or all of the system
and/or data structures (e.g., portions of a database, such as one
or more tables or views or portions thereof) used by the system may
also be stored (e.g., as software instructions or structured data)
on a computer-readable medium, such as a hard disk, a memory, a
computer network or other transmission medium, or a portable media
article (e.g., a CD, DVD or flash memory device) to be read by an
appropriate drive or via an appropriate connection. Some or all of
the system and data structures can also be transmitted via
generated data signals (e.g., by being encoded in a carrier wave or
otherwise included as part of an analog or digital propagated
signal) on a variety of computer-readable transmission mediums,
including wireless-based and wired/cable-based mediums, and can
take a variety of forms (e.g., as part of a single or multiplexed
analog signal, or as multiple discrete digital packets or frames).
Such computer program products may also take other forms in other
embodiments. Accordingly, one or more embodiments may be practiced
with other computer system configurations.
[0037] FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of the CM system 335 and media
center 350 in more detail, including illustrating interactions
between the two. For the purposes of brevity and simplicity of
explanation, only certain elements of the CM system 335 and/or the
media center 350 are shown and described herein.
[0038] In various embodiments, the media center 350 may comprise a
DVR, STB, PVR, or other media device. The media center 350 may also
be a "standalone" device, such as a Replay TV or TiVo device (as
illustrative examples), or may be an integrated device that
includes multiple types of capabilities, such as Digeo's MOXI.TM.
device or devices provided by many multiple service operators
("MSOs"), as illustrative examples. The media center 350 may
include one or more processors (not shown) and a data store 206.
The data store 206 may store a variety of different types of data,
including but not limited to, external content 360a, information
received from the CM system 335 (including command and request
information), state information, processing information, or other
type of computer-readable information.
[0039] In the illustrated embodiment, the media center 350 includes
one or more services 200, including a TV watching service and
jukebox service in the example of FIG. 2, that provide various
functionalities and capabilities of the media center 350. These
service 200 may also include a communication service 202, such as a
UPnP service and/or a HTTP service in an example embodiment, which
is used for communication with the CM system 335 and optionally
other devices. For example, in some embodiments the communication
service 202 may be implemented as a UPnP daemon that runs in the
background.
[0040] In the illustrated embodiment, the media center 350 exposes
access to its services 200 via one or more application program
interfaces ("APIs") 204--by exposing its services via the API 204,
external systems (such as the CM system 335) may communicate with
the API 204 (e.g., via API function calls) to access, use, or
otherwise interact with the functionality provided by the services
200. Alternatively or additionally, the CM system 335 may
communicate directly with any of the services 200 without
communicating via the API 204, such as by transmitting control
instructions in a manner similar to a remote control device (not
shown) for the media center 350. In some embodiments, the CM system
335 communicates with the media center 350 via the API 204 using
one or more suitable protocols 208. Non-limiting examples of a
protocol 208 include UPnP, HTTP, a custom protocol, or any other
protocol that is suitable to allow two or more devices to
communicate with one another, including higher-level protocols
based on other communication protocols (e.g., by using Web service
calls over HTTP). For the sake of completeness, a general
description of the UPnP protocol is provided next.
[0041] By way of general discussion, the UPnP architecture allows
devices to connect seamlessly and to simplify the implementation of
networks in home and corporate environments. The UPnP architecture
offers pervasive peer-to-peer network connectivity of PCs of all
form factors, intelligent appliances, and/or wireless devices. The
UPnP architecture is a distributed, open networking architecture
that leverages TCP/IP and the World Wide Web to enable seamless
proximity networking in addition to control and data transfer among
networked devices in the home, office, and everywhere in
between.
[0042] The UPnP architecture enables data communication between any
two devices under the command of a suitable contro! device on the
network. The UPnP architecture supports zero-configuration,
networking, and automatic discovery for a breadth of device
categories from a wide range of vendors, whereby a device may
dynamically join a network, obtain an IP address, announce its
name, convey its capabilities upon request, and learn about the
presence and capabilities of other devices. UPnP networking
involves the following steps:
[0043] 1. Discovery: Given an IP address, the first step in UPnP
networking is discovery. When a device (e.g., the media center 350,
other content presentation devices 380, other computing systems
390, and so forth) is added to the network, the UPnP discovery
protocol allows that device to advertise its services to control
points on the network (e.g., the media center 350 and/or the CM
system 335 of the computing system 300).
[0044] 2. Description: The next step in UPnP networking is
description. After a control point has discovered a device, the
control point may know very little about the device. For the
control point to learn more about the device and its capabilities,
or to interact with the device, the control point retrieves the
device's description from a uniform resource locator ("URL"), for
example, provided by the device in the discovery message. The UPnP
description for a device may be expressed in XML and may include,
for instance, manufacturer information like the model name and
number, serial number, manufacturer name, URLs to vendor-specific
web sites, etc. The description may also include a list of any
embedded devices or services (e.g., the services 200), as well as
URLs for control, eventing, and presentation. For each service, the
description may include a list of the commands or actions that the
service responds to, and parameters or arguments for each action;
the description for a service 200 may also include a list of
variables, which may model the state of the service at run time,
and which may be described in terms of their data type, range, and
event characteristics.
[0045] 3. Control: The next step in UPnP networking is control.
After a control point has retrieved a description of the device,
the control point may send actions to a device's service. One
technique to perform this is for a control point to send a suitable
control message to a control URL for the service (provided in the
device description). Control messages may also be expressed in XML
using the Simple Object Access Protocol ("SOAP") or other suitable
format.
[0046] 4. Event notification: The next step in UPnP networking is
event notification, or "eventing". A UPnP description for a service
includes a list of actions that the service responds to and a list
of variables that model the state of the service at run time. The
service publishes updates when these variables change, and a
control point may subscribe to receive this information. The
service publishes updates by sending event messages. Event messages
contain the names of one of more state variables and the current
value of those variables.
[0047] 5. Presentation: The next step in UPnP networking is
presentation. If a device has a URL for presentation, then the
control point may retrieve a page from this URL, load the page into
a Web browser, and depending on the capabilities of the page, allow
a user to control the device and/or view device status. The degree
to which each of these may be accomplished depends on the specific
capabilities of the presentation page and device.
[0048] Various additional details related to the UPnP protocol are
available in "Understanding Universal Plug and Play: White Paper",
available at
http://www.upnp.org/download/UPNP_UnderstandingUPNP.doc, which is
hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
[0049] While the UPnP protocol is described herein as one of the
protocols 208 that may be used on the local network 385 (which
communicatively couples the computing system 300 to the media
center 350 and/or to other devices in the home environment 395,
other types of protocols may be used, such as HTTP, a custom
protocol, or any suitable combination of protocols.
[0050] In the illustrated embodiment, the CM system 335 includes a
GUI 210, a core module 212, a data store 214, a data manager 216,
and one or more gateway modules 218. The GUI 210 may present EPG
and/or other multimedia metadata information, controls, or other
tools and functionality to allow a user to view, arrange,
manipulate, or to otherwise manage and control content, media
devices (e.g., the media center 350, the other content presentation
devices 380, etc.), and/or other electronic devices. An example of
the GUI 210 is illustrated as GUI 100 in FIG. 7, and additional
examples are disclosed in the other patent applications identified
above.
[0051] In the illustrated embodiment, the core module 212 serves as
the underlying control engine for the CM system, such as to
generate or otherwise provide control requests and data requests
(e.g., in response to instructions from the GUI, such as based on
user selections of controls and other user actions). For example,
the core module 212 may generate requests for EPG metadata,
recording status information, multimedia content metadata, or other
data related to the operation of the media center 350, and then
provide the data to the GUI 210. Such data may be stored in a local
data store 214 (e.g., at least a portion of the storage 320 of FIG.
1, such as that holds an SQL or other relational database) and/or
other data repository or data structure, such as after it is
retrieved or otherwise obtained from the media center 350 or other
source. In addition, in this illustrated embodiment, a data manager
216 cooperates with the core module 212 to manage the flow of data
to, from, and within the CM system 335, such as to provide an
interface to the data store (e.g., by acting a database server for
a database portion of the data store).
[0052] The control requests generated by the core module 212 may be
sent to the media center device 350 to control or otherwise manage
the device, such as requests to record a certain program at a
certain time, to play back a recorded program, to turn ON/OFF, and
so forth. The core module 212 may also generate control and data
requests directed towards other devices, such as the content
presentation devices 380, other computing systems 390, and/or any
other device in the home environment 395 that is communicatively
coupled to or otherwise associated with the CM system 335. The core
module 212 may also control or otherwise manage other operational
features of the CM system 335, including communications, data
storage/processing/management, and other operations.
[0053] In at least some embodiments, the CM system 335 physically
or logically communicates with the media center 350 via the local
network 385, which may comprise an Ethernet network connection or
other type of network (whether wired and/or wireless). In
particular, at least some such communications may include the CM
system 335 invoking or otherwise accessing the API 204 of the media
center 350 in order to control or otherwise manage one or more of
the services 200 of the media center 350 that are exposed via the
API, such as via the UPnP Service 202 that is made available via a
network connection. In at least some embodiments, there may also be
one or more other networks 385a that the CM system 335 uses to
communicate with other devices, such as the devices 380, systems
390, and/or other devices and systems, such as by using one or more
communication protocols 208a. The networks 385a and the protocols
208a may be the same or different than the network 385 and the
protocol 208, respectively.
[0054] In at least some embodiments, the CM system 335 further
includes one or more gateway modules 218 to facilitate
communication with other device. For example, a different gateway
module 218 may be provided for each corresponding type of media
center 350 or for other type of external devices/systems in
communication with the CM system 335, such as to use APIs provided
by that type of device and/or to use one or more communication
protocols supported by that type of device. Thus, each gateway
module 218 may communicate with one or more corresponding external
devices using an appropriate protocol(s) 208 and/or 208a, such as
by way of an interface 220 of that gateway module. For example,
when the protocol 208 in use is UPnP, a gateway module 222
corresponding to the media center 350 may include a UPnP interface
220 such that calls to the media center's API 204 using the UPnP
protocol are passed through the UPnP Service. Additional details
regarding communicating between the CM system 335 and external
devices will be discussed below.
[0055] In addition, in some embodiments the CM system 335 has an
extensible architecture that allows additional gateway modules to
be added as appropriate. Thus, as additional media devices and/or
other external devices are added to the home environment 395, one
or more corresponding new gateway modules 218 may be installed or
modified in the CM system 335. Moreover, certain gateway modules
218 may be deactivated or removed if their corresponding external
device(s) is replaced, disconnected, or otherwise discontinued from
use. The capability to add, remove, and/or modify the gateway
modules 218 provides a convenient and scalable technique to
centrally manage or otherwise centrally control a plurality of
connected devices, without having to perform substantive
modifications to the underlying hardware and/or software of such
devices or of the CM system.
[0056] As described above, many media centers 350 provide an API
204 that exposes services 200 of the media centers, thereby
providing the CM system 335 with a mechanism to use to control or
otherwise access these services 200 without having to perform
hardware and/or software modifications on the media centers 350. In
some types of media centers 350 and/or with other types of media
devices, however, certain modifications may be performed in at
least some embodiments to improve the interaction between the CM
system 335 and the media center 350. For example, to implement a
"silent operation" mode when the CM system 335 is being used, the
media center 350 of an embodiment may be designed and/or configured
to be able to suppress on-screen displays or messages that
typically arise in response to direct interactions with the media
center--if so, interactions initiated from the CM system 335 may
instead cause such displays or messages to be passed to the CM
system 335 for display within the GUI 210 or for other handling as
appropriate. Similarly, other types of information that may be
provided by the media center in situations other than in response
to direct interactions (e.g., messages related to conflicts that
are detected, such as related to more programs to be simultaneously
recorded and/or presented than can be handled by the media center,
and to resolution options for the conflicts) may instead be
directed to the CM system 335 as part of such a "silent operation"
mode, such as for appropriate handling by the CM system 335 (e.g.,
by providing conflict resolution instructions from the CM system to
the media center, such as in response to user instructions via the
GUI 210).
[0057] As previously discussed, both the CM system 335 and the
media center 350 may be nodes on the same network in at least some
embodiments, such as in the examples of FIGS. 1-2--such
inter-connection allows for device discovery, command control, data
retrieval, or other operations pertaining to the communication
protocol used and/or pertaining to a specific function being
performed. In addition, the CM system 335 may connect to other
external devices and/or content sources in various ways, including
over the same network. Moreover, the CM system 335 may obtain
metadata (e.g., EPG information and/or metadata for othertypes of
multimedia content) and/or other information of interest from
connected devices in various ways. For example, in a first scenario
("scenario 1"), the CM system 335 requests the metadata from the
media center 350, while in a second scenario ("scenario 2") the CM
system 335 requests the metadata from an external source as part of
external content 360b (although the CM system 335 may still
retrieve other types of information (e.g., scheduling data) from
the media center 350 in scenario 2). In both scenarios 1 and 2, the
protocol for the connection between the CM system 335 and the media
center 350 (and/or between the CM system 335 and some other media
device) may be UPnP, UPnP and HTTP, only HTTP, some other protocol,
a custom protocol, or any suitable combination thereof. Examples of
both of the connection scenarios are provided below:
[0058] As an example involving connection scenario 1, the CM system
335 uses a suitable protocol (e.g., UPnP, HTTP, etc.) to
communicate with the media center 350 for device discovery, command
interface, data retrieval, and other operations via the local
network 385. The data retrieval may include the EPG metadata
information, which may be acquired by the media center 350 in
various ways (e.g., from a MSO head-end via a DOCSIS modem). The
media center 350 makes the EPG data available to the CM system 335
as part of the data retrieval in the specified protocol.
[0059] As an example involving connection scenario 2, the media
center 350 does not provide EPG or other multimedia content
metadata to the CM system 335, and thus the CM system 335 has a
second connection to retrieve the metadata, such as involving a
network connection to retrieve the metadata from an external data
source (e.g., using XMLTV for EPG metadata). The CM system 335 is
also capable of aggregating data from multiple sources, including
data provided from media devices, Internet data, and other data
from various other data sources.
[0060] One example implementation of the media center 350 includes
an integrated media device that uses connection scenario 1 and the
UPnP protocol. The integrated media device uses a UPnP-based
communication service (e.g., the communication service 202 on the
media center 350) for communications between the CM system 335 and
the API 204 using the UPnP protocol. The specific functions that
are exposed through the UPnP communication service may vary from
one media device to another based on what is available in the
underlying API 204 and on the specific implementation of the UPnP
service. In the CM system 335, the UPnP interface 220 of the
gateway module 222 translates command and data requests from the
core module 212 into the UPnP protocol, and then passes the
requests to the UPnP communication service 202 on the media center
350. The UPnP interface 220 also passes data received from the
media center 350 via the UPnP service 202 to the core module 212 in
an appropriate format. The data retrieval from the media center 350
may includes EPG metadata or other metadata.
[0061] Another example implementation of the media center 350
includes a standalone media device that uses connection scenario 2,
with a first connection between the media center 350 and the CM
system 335 (e.g., using UPnP) and with a second connection between
the CM system 335 and another data source for external content 360b
(e.g., using HTTP protocol). In this example, the first connection
to the media center 350 may, for example, use the UPnP protocol for
device discovery and the HTTP protocol for the command interface
and data retrieval (of scheduling data), while the second
connection to the external data source may, for example, obtain EPG
and/or other metadata using the HTTP protocol for data retrieval.
To enable such communications, one of the other gateway modules 218
of the CM system may contain both UPnP and HTTP interfaces 220, or
the CM system may instead use two gateway modules that each support
one of the UPnP and HTTP communication protocols, with the one or
more gateway modules acting in a manner previously described. In
addition, a URL or other network address information for an
external source of EGP and/or other information may be obtained by
the CM system in various, such as based on a predefined
configuration for the CM system and/or dynamically from the media
center 350.
[0062] In the above examples, the external content 360b has been
described as optionally including EPG metadata and/or other
multimedia content metadata. In other embodiments, the external
content 360b may also include various other types of content, such
as promotional types of materials for users (e.g., a trailer for a
movie, extra content such as deleted scenes, etc.). For example,
the GUI 240 may provide capabilities to allow the user to request
some promotional materials and/or the ability to select additional
services (e.g., providing additional content), such as for a
fee.
[0063] FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of the
CM system 335 operating in conjunction with the media center 350
(and/or other media device) and one or more other media servers
302. In this embodiment, the CM system 335 may instruct the media
center 350 to search for or otherwise obtain media content of
interest from one or more of the media servers, such as by
providing indications of the content of interest and/or of one or
more of the media servers. In response, the media center 350 may
contact one or more suitable media servers 302 (e.g., media servers
indicated by the CM system), obtain indications of pieces of media
content available from the media server(s) (e.g., a playlist or
other multimedia content listing 304), and provide indications of
at least some of the content (e.g., the playlist or other content
listing 304) to the CM system 335, such as for display in the GUI
210. For example, if the CM system requested information about
specified pieces of media or types of media content, the media
center may in some embodiments provide only indications of matching
pieces of media (if any), while in the other embodiments may
provide all of the identified media piece indications for analysis
by the CM system. In addition, if a media server does not provide a
playlist or other multimedia content listing, the media center may
in some embodiments generate such a content listing after obtaining
the indications of the available media pieces from the media
server, and/or the CM system may create one or more such playlists
(e.g., if the information received from the media center does not
include those playlists). A content listing may include various
metadata associated with the pieces of media content, such as
title, author, creation date, file size, media type, format,
resolution, and/or other characteristics.
[0064] After the CM system receives indications of available media
from the media center, the CM system may specify to the media
center to play or otherwise present one or more of the media
pieces, such as based on selections made by a user based on a
playlist or other information presented in the GUI, with the media
center performing the indicated operation (e.g., by presenting a
piece of media content on an associated presentation device, not
shown, such as after obtaining the media piece from an appropriate
media server, or instead by directing an appropriate media server
to cause the media piece to be presented, whether itself or via an
associated presentation device). In addition, the media center may
in some embodiments retrieve and store pieces of media content from
one or more such media servers, such as after receiving an
instruction to present those media content pieces or instead when
initially gathering information about media content pieces that are
available from media servers.
[0065] In the example embodiment of FIG. 3, the media server
device(s) 302 may comprise any type of suitable data repository
that may store media content of possible interest (e.g.;
photographs, audio files (such as MP3 files), video clips, movies,
songs, Internet Web page content, graphics and text, video games,
advertisements, or other types of multimedia content), including
devices such as one or more hard disk drives of a computer,
servers, databases, mass storage units, tape decks, CDs, DVDs,
floppy disks, and/or other type of persistent or non-persistent
storage unit. In some embodiments, the media server(s) 302 may be
located in the same household or premises as the other components
of the home environment 395, while in other embodiments the media
server(s) 302 may be located remotely from the home environment 395
and be accessible via a network such as the Internet, whether
instead of or in addition to one or more local media servers. The
media server(s) 302 may be accessible by the media center 350 by
way of a network 306, such as an internal network (e.g., an
Ethernet or LAN connection) and/or an external network (e.g., the
Internet), and may further comprise wireless and/or wired/cabled
connections. The media server(s) 302 may communicate with the media
server(s) 302 using one or more suitable communication protocols,
such as the communication protocols described herein or other
protocols or combinations thereof.
[0066] In some embodiments, the media server(s) 302 may further be
communicatively coupled or otherwise accessible to the computing
system 300, whether instead of or in addition to a connection 306
to the media center. In such embodiments, the CM system 335 may
thus communicate directly with the media server(s) 302 without the
media center 350, such as via a network 307 between the CM system
335 and the media server(s) 302 that uses one or more suitable
protocols. As with the network 306, the network 307 may comprise an
internal network (e.g., an Ethernet or LAN connection) or an
external network (e.g., the Internet), and may further comprise
wireless and/or hardwire connections.
[0067] In at least some embodiments, a user may use the GUI 210 to
instruct the CM system 335 to search a particular media server 302
and/or to search for a particular piece of media content. For
example, a search field in the GUI 210 may allow a user to create a
customized search for music having a specific genre. The core
module 212 of the CM system 335 then passes this search request to
an appropriate gateway module 218, which transmits the request to
the media center 350 using the local network 385 and a suitable
protocol 208.
[0068] The media center 350 then performs a search of media
server(s) based on the criteria provided by the user. Various
techniques may be used by the media center 350 to perform a search.
In one example implementation, the media center 350 may poll each
media server 302 via the network 306 to determine whether each
media server 302 contains pieces of media or other content that
match the search criteria. In such an implementation, each media
server 302 may return a playlist 304 that lists pieces of media
that fit the search criteria. The playlist 304 is then provided by
the media center 350 to the CM system 335.
[0069] In another example implementation, the media server(s) 302
may return a playlist 304 or other content listing that contains
indications of all of their available stored media. Thereafter, the
media center 350 may parse or otherwise process the playlist 304 to
obtain a resulting list of only media that fit the search criteria.
The resulting list is then provided by the media center 350 to the
CM system 335. In yet another embodiment, the media center 350 may
provide the playlist 304 of all available stored media to the CM
system 335, and the CM system 335 may process the playlist 304 so
that only the pieces of media that fit the search criteria are
displayed on the GUI 210. The contents of the playlist 304, whether
listing all of the pieces of media in the media server(s) 302 or a
subset thereof, may be presented on the GUI 210 and/or on a display
coupled to the media center 350 (such as on a screen of the
television 370 or on a display of the media center 350). In another
embodiment, the CM system 335 may communicate directly with the
media server(s) 302 via the network 307 to obtain a playlist 308 of
available media at the media server(s) 302. The playlist 308 may
comprise a list of all available media or a list of available media
having certain criteria, such as user-defined criteria. The
contents of the playlist 308 may then be displayed by the core
module 212 on the GUI 210 of the CM system 210.
[0070] Thereafter, the user may operate the GUI 210 to select a
piece of media content from the playlist 304 or 308 so as to cause
the selected piece of media content to be played back or otherwise
presented. For example, if the user selects a particular song for
playback from the playlist 304 or 308 using the GUI 201 (including
perhaps specifying a particular content presentation device 380 to
play back the song), the CM system 335 communicates this request to
the media center 350. The media center 350 receives this request
from the CM system 335 via the network 385, obtains a copy of the
requested song from the appropriate media server 302, and sends the
copy of the song to the specified content presentation device 380
for playback. Alternatively, the media center 350 may request the
media server 302 to provide the copy of the song directly to the
specified content presentation device 380 for playback.
[0071] In addition, in at least some embodiments the CM system 335
may be remotely accessed by a user, such as via the Internet or
other network. This remote access capability allows the user to use
the CM system 335 to remotely control content presentation control
devices accessible to the CM system (e.g., to program the media
center 350 to record a program, to view and manipulate EPG or other
metadata, to turn a home appliance ON or OFF, to activate or
deactivate parental control settings, and various other functions
that may be performed by using the CM system 335 to control the
media center 350, content presentation devices 380, and/or other
computing devices 390), without necessarily being present in the
household environment 395 and physically using the computing device
300 that provides the CM system 335. Accordingly, FIG. 4 is a block
diagram illustrating an embodiment of the CM system 335 that may be
remotely accessed via a network.
[0072] The illustrated embodiment of the CM system 335 in FIG. 4
includes a remoting facade 400 or other suitable component or layer
to support two-way communication. While the remoting facade 400 may
in some embodiments merely provide access to other elements 212-222
of the CM system such as were described with respect to FIG. 3, in
the illustrated embodiment the remoting facade provides a
higher-level interface to those CM system elements that is better
suited for communications 402 with other elements of the computing
device 300. In some embodiments, the communications 402 are
performed using Microsoft's Net remoting, with the remoting facade
400 being a Net object that is exposed to other processes and/or
components using the .Net remoting communications 402, while in
other embodiments a variety of other types of remote procedure call
("RPC") or similar intercommunication mechanisms may instead be
used. In addition, the illustrated embodiment of the computing
device 300 includes a Web server 404, which may be separate from or
part of the CM system 335. The Web server 404 includes a Web
service 414 that exposes the remoting facade 400 to a network 416
(e.g., a wireless and/or wired/cabled hardwire network, such as the
Internet, a WAN, a LAN, a telecommunications company network,
and/or other type of network).
[0073] The illustrated Web server 404 further includes a Web
application 406, which in at least some embodiments comprises an
Active Server Page ("ASP") ASP.Net Web application that provides a
Web GUI front-end for the CM system 335. The Web GUI may be
provided alternatively or additionally to the GUI 210 of FIG. 3,
such as to provide remote users on the network 416 with capability
to access and use the CM system 335 via the Web GUI while local
users access and use the CM system 335 via GUI 210. The Web
application 406 in the illustrated embodiment includes Cascade
Style Sheets (CSS) 408 that may be used to provide flexibility and
ease in generating and changing the look-and-feel of the Web GUI,
ASPX pages 410 to support its operation, and code 412 to provide
communication between the Web application 406 and the remoting
facade 400 of the CM system 335 via .Net remoting communication
402. In other embodiments, a separate Web GUI may instead not be
provided, such as if remote users receive the same GUI 210 as would
local users. In addition, in some embodiments the Web GUI may be
tailored or customized to support various types of devices (e.g.,
by varying formatting and/or amount of data provided), such as
devices with limited display area, connection speed and/or
processing power (e.g., cellphones and other handheld or mobile
devices, such as smartphones).
[0074] The Web GUI and associated functionality provided by the Web
application 406 and the Web service 414 are provided by the network
416 to one or more remote devices 418 in the illustrated
embodiment. A suitable communication protocol may be used on the
network 416 to allow communication between these elements and the
remote device(s) 418, including (without limitation) HTTP, HTTPS,
SOAP, and/or other communication protocols. Examples of a remote
device 418 may include various types of mobile devices (e.g., a
laptop, PDA, cellular telephone, Blackberry, GPS device, or other
mobile wireless device) as well as stationary computing devices
(e.g., a personal computer (PC), workstation, and so forth).
[0075] The illustrated embodiment of the remote device 418 includes
a Web browser 420 or other type of browser or application that is
suitable to communicate with the Web server 404 and/or render the
Web GUI provided by the Web application 406. For instance, the user
may use the Web browser 420 to access an interactive Web page
and/or Web site where the Web GUI is provided and accessible to
allow the user to enter (or view) commands and data, or instead may
use a CM application 422 to communicate with a Web service 414
provided by the Web server 404 using a suitable protocol (e.g.,
HTTP and SOAP). While the illustrated embodiment of the remote
device includes both a Web browser 420 and a CM application 422
(which in the illustrated embodiment includes a Web service gateway
module 424, such as a plug-in module for the CM application), in
other embodiments a remote device may include only one such access
mechanism. In this example embodiment, the user may generate
control requests and data requests using the Web GUI rendered by
the Web browser 420, with such requests then communicated by the
Web service gateway module 424 to the Web service 414, which in
turn communicates the requests to the remoting facade 400 so that
the appropriate operations may be performed by the elements 212-222
of the CM system 335 to fulfill the requests. In addition, while
not illustrated here, in other embodiments the Web browser 420 may
execute a Web page from Web application 406 containing an embedded
application (e.g., using ActiveX, s Java applet, client-side
JavaScript, etc.) that provides at least a portion of the CM system
functionality and that can interact with Web service 414.
[0076] While various embodiments of the CM system 335 have been
described in the context of controlling media devices (such as the
media center 350) in connection with media presentation, in at
least some embodiments use of the CM system 335 may be extended to
operations and/or devices that are alternative or additional to
media devices. One example of such additional use of the CM system
335 is in connection with home automation or a "smart home." For
example, in a "smart home" embodiment illustrated with respect to
FIG. 5, a home environment 395 includes one or more other
electromechanical devices that are coupled or otherwise accessible
to the CM system 335 and that may be controlled by the CM system.
In particular, a plurality of electromechanical devices 500 of
various types are present in the home environment in the
illustrated embodiment, with examples of the electromechanical
(E/M) devices including lighting systems, HVAC systems, security
systems, automated drapes, automated wall panels that may be
raised/lowered or retracted/extended, telephones, appliances, and
various other E/M devices.
[0077] Some E/M devices 500 may have their own associated
processor(s) and/or communication capability (e.g., "intelligent"
E/M devices), and may be networked to the media center 350, to the
other computing systems 390, and/or to the CM system 335 via
respective communication networks 504, 502, and 506. The
communication networks 504, 502, and 506 may comprise networks
similar to the networks 385 and 385a described previously above and
may carry communications based on one or more suitable protocols
(e.g., UPnP, HAVI, HTTP, etc.). With intelligent E/M devices 500,
the CM system 335 may directly communicate control requests and
data requests directly to such devices via the network 506, without
necessarily having to communicate through some other intelligent
device in order to initiate an action.
[0078] With less intelligent E/M devices 500, an intermediate
controlling device is used as an interface between the CM system
335 and such E/M device(s). For example, automated drapes may not
have their own associated processor and/or communication interface.
Rather, these automated drapes may have an electromechanical
actuator that may be controlled by the computing system 390 or by
some other intelligent controlling mechanism, such as via a
connection provided by the network 502. Therefore, for such less
intelligent E/M devices 500, the CM system 335 may communicate with
the computing system 390 via the network 385a and the protocol
208a, with the computing system 390 in turn interacting with the
appropriate E/M devices via the network 502.
[0079] In some embodiments, operation of at least some of the E/M
devices 500 may be correlated or otherwise tied to media
presentation. For instance, if the user wishes, to watch a movie,
various other devices may be controlled in a coordinated manner to
facilitate that media presentation (e.g., to set a certain room
temperature, lighting level, deactivation of a telephone by
directing incoming calls to voicemail, etc.). Moreover, in some
situations a user may further desire to start cooking popcorn or a
pizza in the oven. Therefore, the media center 350 (which initiates
playback of the movie) under control by the CM system 335 may
communicate the playback-related information and/or commands (e.g.,
date and time at which playback will occur, requests to perform
some action, or other commands or information) to the appropriate
E/M devices 500 and/or to the computing systems 390, or the CM
system 335 may instead directly interact with those E/M devices 500
to effect the desired results. The appropriate E/M devices 500 will
then respond as directed, such as to reduce the lighting levels,
deactivate the telephone, begin cooking popcorn, and so forth.
[0080] Thus in the embodiment described above, context information
may be maintained across these multiple types of E/M devices 500,
the media center 350, the other computing systems 390, and/or the
CM system 335. Maintaining such context insures, for instance, that
certain devices are not activated or deactivated when they should
not be. For example, by maintaining context (e.g., knowing that the
media center 350 is presently controlling presentation of a
recorded movie), an inappropriate action is not taken (e.g.,
opening all the drapes and windows to let excessive amounts of
light and noise into the home environment 395).
[0081] Moreover in some embodiments resources may be shared between
the various devices of FIG. 5. For example, state information may
be shared between the various devices so that they know the state
of each other, thus allowing devices to optimize or time their
operation based on the status of the other devices. As another
example, certain user interfaces, data repositories, communication
interfaces, networks, or other elements may be shared by the
various devices, so that each device need not necessarily provide
their own of these elements. Data re-use and data sharing may be
implemented to reduce instance of repetitive data generation,
memory accesses, or other redundancy.
[0082] FIG. 6 is a flowchart 600 of an embodiment of a routine for
operating the CM system 335. The routine begins at step 602, where
connection with one or more external devices is established based
on one or more communication protocols. For instance, at least some
such other devices may be previously known to the CM system (e.g.,
based on prior interactions), while other devices may be
dynamically identified (e.g., via UPnP discovery, description, etc.
steps as described previously above).
[0083] At step 604, the CM system 335 next sends a data request to
a connected device (e.g., based on a connection and protocol
established in step 602 for that device), such as to a media device
(e.g., the media center 350), other computing system(s) 390 and/or
one or more external data sources. The data request may be sent in
response to user input via a GUI displayed to a user (not shown) or
independently by the CM system 335 (e.g., as part of a startup
routine to obtain metadata for use with such a GUI). At step 606,
the CM system receives the requested data, which may then be
presented on a GUI at step 608 (e.g., for viewing and/or
manipulation by the user).
[0084] In the illustrated embodiment, the routine next continues to
step 610 to send a control request to a connected device (e.g.,
based on a user selection via the GUI after the user has seen the
requested data), although in other embodiments the routine may
continue instead to step 616. For instance, the user may have
reviewed a returned listing of recorded media and issued a control
request for a selected one of the listed pieces of media to be
played back. The connected device then initiates performance of the
requested operation(s) based on the control request, such as is
illustrated here at step 612 for the sake of convenience, which may
include interactions with one or more other presentation devices.
For instance, if the control request is a request to play back a
piece of recorded media, the media center 350 may provide the
recorded media to the television 370 for presentation thereon.
Alternatively or additionally, the connected device may perform the
requested operation directly. For instance, if the connected device
is an intelligent HVAC system and the control request is a request
to reduce room temperature, the HVAC system may directly change a
thermostat.
[0085] At a step 614, the CM system 335 optionally receives status
data or other feedback from the connected device based on its
performance of the control request, with the status data then
presented to the user in the GUI at step 608. For instance, the
status data may indicate that a television program is being
recorded, playback is completed, insufficient memory space is
available, the connected device has been turned ON or OFF, and so
forth. At step 616, the CM system 335 then monitors for additional
or subsequent control and/or data requests, such as from the GUI
and/or from remote users via programmatic requests (e.g., via Web
service 414). The CM system continues to monitor for these requests
until a request is detected at step 618, with the routine then
returning to steps 604 or 610 respectively to perform corresponding
data or control requests.
[0086] In some embodiments, the functionality provided by the
routine discussed above may be provided in alternative ways, such
as being split among more routines. Similarly, in some embodiments
the illustrated routine may provide more or less functionality than
is described, such as when the amount of functionality that is
provided is altered. In addition, while various operations may be
illustrated as being performed in a particular manner (e.g., in
serial or in parallel) and/or in a particular order, in other
embodiments, the operations may be performed in other orders and in
other manners. In addition, in some embodiments certain operations
may be embodied in software or other computer-readable instructions
stored on a computer-readable medium, such as software stored in
the memory 330 of the CM system 335 of FIG. 1.
[0087] FIG. 7 illustrates an example of information and
capabilities provided by an embodiment of the CM system, and in
particular illustrates various features of an example GUI,
including a variety of information and user-selectable controls.
While specific layouts and formats are shown in FIG. 7, such
specific details are not intended to be limiting or exhaustive.
Similarly, while specify types of devices are illustrated as being
currently controlled or otherwise managed via the GUI, a variety of
other types of content presentation control devices and other media
devices, as well as other electronic devices, may similarly be
associated with and managed via the GUI in other embodiments.
[0088] The example GUI 100 embodiment illustrated in FIG. 7 is
displaying program listing information for live TV in a view area
140, with the displayed listings initially based on a current time
195. The TV listings in the view area 140 are initially shown in a
grid format, with columns of the grid corresponding to successive
time units of thirty minutes each and with each row corresponding
to a different TV channel that may show one or more TV programs
during the displayed time period. The GUI also includes a variety
of other areas, including a menu bar 105 with dropdown menus,
primary content-type navigation tabs 110, secondary
content-type-specific navigation tabs 115, a view control area 125
that includes view and filter controls 120 and time controls 130, a
detail area 150, and a status control sidebar area 170 that
includes virtual remote control functionality 160 and a
user-focused content summary area 165. While not illustrated here,
in some embodiments the GUI may further have a status bar display
area along the bottom of the GUI below the detail area and status
control sidebar area.
[0089] The view control area 125 also includes a first timebar that
corresponds to a relatively long first time period at a first time
scale (which is selected based in part using time controls 130) and
that may in certain situations display limited information about
content (although in this example the first timebar does not
display any limited information about any television programs or
other content), while the view area 140 illustrates detailed
information about content for a relatively short second time period
at a second time scale, with a second timebar rendered at the top
of the view area 140.
[0090] The example GUI 100 also illustrates a variety of controls
and information 505-545 in the status control sidebar area 170,
such as to provide virtual remote control capabilities in order to
control recording of content on multiple devices (e.g., multiple
devices with DVR capabilities) and/or presentation of content on
multiple devices (e.g., multiple televisions). For example, the
illustrated sidebar area contains multiple user-selectable device
control tabs 505, with each tab representing a device that can be
controlled, such as with respect to presenting content and/or
recording or otherwise obtaining content for later presentation. In
this example, two television devices are available to which live or
previously recorded content can be directed, with the "Main TV"
device currently selected as indicated by tab 505a. The current
content information section 520 indicates that "The Simpsons"
television programming is currently being directed to the "Main TV"
television device for presentation, while other content (not shown)
may be being directed to the "Bedroom" television device. In some
embodiments, controls may be sent directly to the device being
controlled (e.g., by directing the "Main TV" television device to
change channels), while in other embodiments one or more
intermediate devices may be involved in the controls (e.g., by
directing an STB, not shown, to control live television content
sent to the currently selected television device and/or by
directing a DVR, not shown, to direct recorded television content
sent to the currently selected television device). Moreover, in
some embodiments one or more such intermediate devices may each be
able to interact with and/or control multiple presentation devices,
such as to have a single STB and/or DVR control content being
provided to two television devices (e.g., by using a MOXI device
that provides such functionality).
[0091] Content to be directed to a currently selected device may be
selected in various ways. For example, user-selectable channel
controls 540 are shown for manipulating a current channel, and in
other embodiments other controls (e.g., user-selectable numeric
buttons, not shown) may be available for specifying a particular
channel. In addition, in the current embodiment various program
listing information for live TV is shown in a separate view area in
grid format, and additional information is displayed in the detail
area for a "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" television program that
is currently selected in the view area--in this embodiment, a
user-selectable "Watch Now" control in the detail area may be
selected to cause the currently selected program to be directed to
the currently selected television device, and similar functionality
may be available for some or all of the television programs
indicated in the view area (e.g., via a pop-up menu). The
illustrated embodiment of the sidebar also includes a user-focused
content summary area 515 related to upcoming recordings and
previously recorded programs, and while a display of previously
recorded programs in section 515 is not illustrated here, a
displayed previously recorded program may be selected for current
presentation on the currently selected television device (e.g., via
instructions sent to a DVR or other storage device on which that
program is stored).
[0092] A playlist section 510 is also shown in the illustrated
embodiment, although no content is displayed in this example for a
current playlist. In at least some embodiments, content of various
types may be selected for inclusion in one or more such playlists,
and content displayed in a playlist in section 510 may similarly be
selected for current presentation on the currently selected
television device (e.g., via instructions sent to a DVR or other
storage device on which that program is stored). In the illustrated
embodiment, content in playlists may include various forms of
content, such as video information (e.g., television programming),
digital music, photos and other images, etc. In some embodiments,
the device that is currently selected for control may affect the
information in the playlist section in various ways, such as to
select a current playlist based on a current device being
controlled (e.g., based on the type of device, such as to select a
playlist having video information when the device being controlled
is a television device) and/or to enable content for current
selection only if appropriate for the currently selected device
(e.g., to disable video or image information if the currently
selected device is a speaker, but to allow video, images and music
to be presented on at least some types of television devices, such
as based on capabilities of the device).
[0093] The illustrated embodiment of the sidebar control area also
includes a variety of other controls related to content being
presented and to other types of user instructions that may be
provided. For example, various user-selectable controls may affect
the type of content being presented from among various sources,
such as live television programming (e.g., from a cable company or
satellite provider), a menu or other functionality from a DVR
(e.g., a MOXI device), and a ticker on at least a portion of the
display of the currently selected television device (e.g., with
headline news, such as from a cable company or from a provider
associated with the DVR). Various interactivity controls 530 may
further allow the user to make various selections, such as from a
menu or from among multiple options. Various controls 535 may also
be used to control the presentation of content, such as to pause
presentation, skip backward, skip forward (when available, such as
with other than live content) and rewind or fast forward, as well
as to provide an instruction to record content that is currently
being presented. One or more specialized controls 545 may also be
provided, such as to correspond to functionality that may be
available on only certain devices, such as on certain types of STBs
and/or DVRs.
[0094] While various exemplary details have been provided, the
described techniques may be used in a variety of other ways. In
addition, the described techniques are applicable to architectures
other than a set-top box architecture or architectures based upon
the MOXI.TM. system, for instance. For example, an equivalent
system and applications may be developed for other DVRs and STBs.
The methods and systems discussed herein are applicable to
differing protocols, communication media (optical, wireless, cable,
etc.) and devices (such as wireless handsets, electronic
organizers, personal digital assistants, portable email machines,
game machines, pagers, navigation devices such as GPS receivers,
etc.), and other devices are able to be controlled or to control
other devices in the manner described herein. In addition, data
structures discussed above may be structured in different manners,
such as by having a single data structure split into multiple data
structures or by having multiple data structures consolidated into
a single data structure. Similarly, in some embodiments illustrated
data structures may store more or less information than is
described, such as when other illustrated data structures instead
lack or include such information respectively, or when the amount
or types of information that is stored is altered.
[0095] Several specific protocols have been identified and
described herein for providing communication capabilities between
different devices. Various other mechanisms may be used to allow
computers (or other devices) and executing software applications to
interact. For example, remote procedure call ("RPC") protocols
allow a program on one computer to cause a program on another
computer to be executed, and various object-oriented and other
architectures such as CORBA ("Common Object Request Broker
Architecture"), DCOM ("Distributed Component Object Model"), Java
RMI ("Remote Method Invocation"), JavaSpaces, Jini, and JXTA
provide similar capabilities. In addition, a variety of middleware
programs may be implemented to connect separate applications (often
of distinct types and from unrelated sources) to allow
communication. For example, various EDI ("Electronic Data
Interchange") networks may be used to provide mechanisms to allow a
computer system of one user of the network to send data to a
computer system of another user of the network.
[0096] The widespread popularity of the World Wide Web ("Web") has
provided additional opportunities for computers to
inter-communicate. For example, much current Web use involves users
interactively requesting Web pages from Web servers (e.g., via
executing Web browser applications of the users) and receiving the
requested information in response. In addition to such interactive
user specification of requested information, there is also growing
use of the Web to support the programmatic interaction of remote
applications to exchange information via defined APIS, such as via
Web services. Web services, such as those described herein, allow
heterogeneous applications and computers to interact, and may be
defined and implemented using a variety of underlying protocols and
techniques. For example, some Web service implementations return
data in computer-readable XML format using HTTP in response to a
Web service invocation request specified as a URI ("Uniform
Resource Identifier"), such as a URL that includes a specified
operation and one or more query parameters. In other
implementations, additional underlying protocols are used for
various purposes, such as SOAP for standard message exchange, WSDL
("Web Services Description Language") for description of service
invocation interfaces (e.g., using XML format), and UDDI
("Universal Description, Discovery, and Integration service") for
discovery of available services. These are but a few examples that
may be used in various embodiments.
[0097] In the description, numerous specific details have been
given to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments. The
embodiments may be practiced without one or more of the specific
details, or with other methods, components, materials, etc. In
other instances, well-known structures, materials, or operations
are not shown or described in detail to avoid obscuring aspects of
the embodiments. Thus, although specific embodiments have been
described herein for purposes of illustration, various
modifications may be made without deviating from the spirit and
scope of the invention. Accordingly, the invention is not limited
except as by the appended claims and the elements recited therein.
In addition, while certain aspects of the invention are presented
below in certain claim forms, the inventors contemplate the various
aspects of the invention in any available claim form. For example,
while only some aspects of the invention may currently be recited
as being embodied in a computer-readable medium, other aspects may
likewise be so embodied.
* * * * *
References