Patent ID: 9710222
Date: 2017-07-18
CPC Classifications: G05B,G06F,H04N,H04R

Claim:
1. A portable playback device comprising: a network interface; a processor comprising instructions, which when executed, cause the processor to: join, by the portable playback device, a playback network having two or more zone players; after joining the playback network, wirelessly receive, by the portable playback device via the network interface from a first zone player of the two or more zone players, a state variable which (i) identifies the two or more zone players joined to the playback network but does not identify that the portable playback device is joined to the playback network, and (ii) identifies that the playback network has a first zone group comprising first zone players of the two or more zone players for playing audio in a first zone and a second zone group comprising second zone players of the two or more zone players for playing audio in a second zone, wherein the portable playback device is not a member of the first zone group or the second zone group; and wherein the first zone group comprising the first zone players indicated by the state variable play back first audio in synchrony and the second zone group comprising the second zone players indicated by the state variable play back second audio in synchrony; update, by the portable playback device, the received state variable stored on the portable playback device to identify that the portable playback device is joined to the playback network and the portable playback device is a member of the first zone group; wirelessly send, by the portable playback device via the network interface, the updated state variable to a second zone player of the two or more zone players; and play, by the portable playback device, the first audio which is associated with audio content received over the playback network via the network interface when the portable playback device is joined to the playback network and the portable playback device is a member of the first zone group of the playback network.