Patent ID: 9344292
Filing Date: 2016-05-17
CPC Classification: H04L,H04N

Claim Text:
1. A method to identify a first playback device to be connected to a playback network at a first location, the method comprising: identifying and analyzing, automatically using a processor, a playback network topology to identify one or more second playback devices connected to the playback network at one or more second locations; analyzing, using the processor, the first playback device to be added to the playback network to identify the first playback device and the first location associated with the first playback device; comparing, using the processor, a) the first playback device to be added to the playback network to b) the one or more second playback devices already connected to the playback network to identify a relationship between the first playback device to be added to the playback network and the one or more second playback devices already connected to the playback network, wherein comparing the first playback device and the one or more second playback devices includes comparing a) at least one of the identification of the first playback and the first location with b) at least one of the identification of the one or more second playback devices and the one or more second locations to determine a compatibility in the relationship between the first playback device and the one or more second playback devices based on the comparison; when the first playback device is determined to be compatible with at least one of the one or more second playback devices, generating a first playback device name for the first playback device according to the one or more second playback devices determined to be compatible and configuring the first playback device with respect to the one or more second playback devices determined to be compatible; when the first playback device is determined to be not compatible with the one or more second playback devices, generating a subset of names for selection as the first playback device name for the first playback device based on the identification of the first playback device and the first location; updating a configuration of the playback network topology based on the first playback device name, the identification of the first playback device, and the relationship between the first playback device to be added to the playback network and the one or more second playback devices already connected to the playback network.