Abstract:
A method for controlling of synchronization of a digital television terminal and a display of a mobile device is disclosed. In accordance with one embodiment, a dedicated input structure of the mobile device is used. When a video program is streamed by the mobile device, a single actuation by the user on the input structure triggers the terminal of the television to stream the same program in a synchronized manner. Similarly, when a video program is streamed by the television, a single actuation from the user leads to the mobile device to stream the same program in a synchronized manner.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    Not applicable. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    1. Field of Invention 
         [0003]    This invention relates generally to media delivery system. More specifically, the invention relates to system and method for delivering media assets using a digital television system and a mobile computing and communication device. 
         [0004]    2. Description of Prior Art 
         [0005]    A digital television system is an electronic apparatus for a user to receive a television program. The program may be delivered by a content distributor to the digital television system through a communication network. The system provides a means for the user to select a preferred program from a large data base of the media assets. 
         [0006]    Mobile computing and communication devices have gained significant popularity in recent years. Users are using the mobile device such as, for example, iPhone and iPad from Apple Inc, Cupertino, Calif., to access the Internet services. It has become popular for a user to receive a digital television program using the mobile devices. Therefore the user may view a program when he is moving around. 
         [0007]    It becomes desirable that the user can switch easily between the devices by which the program is being broadcasted. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0008]    It is an object of the present invention to propose a method for synchronizing of streaming a video program by a digital television system and a mobile computing and communication device. 
         [0009]    It is another object of the present invention to propose a method of controlling the synchronization based on a “one-actuation” operation upon an input structure. 
         [0010]    It is yet a further object of the present invention to propose the method of “one-actuation” based on a dedicated input structure of the mobile device or of a remote control device. 
         [0011]    In an exemplary implementation, the digital television system and the mobile device may be connectable through an ad hoc communication link such as a Bluetooth type of connection. The digital television system and the mobile device may also be connected to a communication network. Digital media contents such as digital video programs may be delivered to the devices through the communication network. 
         [0012]    According to one embodiment, a video program is streamed by the mobile device. After an input structure of the mobile device is actuated by the user, a data file including metadata of the video program and the status of the program is sent from the mobile device to the digital television system. The status of the program may include the time and the portion of video program being played. Upon receiving the data file, the digital content of the program is delivered from a content distributor to the digital television system. The program is streamed by the television system according to the same schedule as the mobile device&#39;s. 
         [0013]    According to another embodiment, a video program is streamed by the digital television system. A data file including metadata and the status of the program is sent from the digital television system to the mobile device after the user actuates the input structure of the mobile device. Upon receiving the data file, the digital content of the program is delivered from a content distributor to the mobile device. The program is streamed by the mobile device according to the same schedule as that of the digital television system. 
         [0014]    According to one implementation, the input structure may be a dedicated one of the mobile device including a button, a switch and a touchpad. According to another implementation, the input structure may be an icon or an image displayed on a touch-sensitive screen. The user may use one of the fingers to make the selection to trigger the operation of the synchronization. 
         [0015]    According to another implementation, the input structure may be with a remote control device of the digital television system. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0016]    For a more complete understanding of the present invention and its various embodiments, and the advantages thereof, reference is now made to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: 
           [0017]      FIG. 1  is a schematic diagram of a media asset delivery system based on a digital TV system and a mobile communication device in accordance with one embodiment; 
           [0018]      FIG. 2A  is a schematic diagram of functional blocks and data flows of the system in accordance with embodiment A; 
           [0019]      FIG. 2B  is a schematic diagram of functional blocks and data flows of the system in accordance with embodiment B; 
           [0020]      FIG. 2C  is a schematic diagram of functional blocks and data flows of the system in accordance with embodiment C; 
           [0021]      FIG. 2D  is a schematic diagram of functional blocks and data flows of the system in accordance with embodiment D; 
           [0022]      FIG. 3  is a schematic diagram illustrating exemplarily a dedicated button of a mobile device is used to control the operation of synchronization; 
           [0023]      FIG. 4A  is a schematic diagram of functional blocks of the digital TV system in accordance with one implementation; 
           [0024]      FIG. 4B  is a schematic diagram of functional blocks of the mobile communication device in accordance with one implementation; 
           [0025]      FIG. 5  is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary process that the digital television system is synchronized to the mobile device for streaming a video program; 
           [0026]      FIG. 6  is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary process that the mobile device is synchronized to the digital television system for streaming a video program. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0027]    One or more specific embodiments of the present invention will be described below. These described embodiments are only exemplary of the present invention. Additionally, in an effort to provide a concise description of these exemplary embodiments, all features of an actual implementation may not be described in the specification. It should be appreciated that in the development of any such actual implementation, as in any engineering or design project, numerous implementation-specific decisions must be made to achieve the developers&#39; specific goals, such as compliance with system-related and business related constraints, which may vary from one implementation to another. Moreover, it should be appreciated that such a development effort might be complex and time consuming, but would nevertheless be a routine undertaking of design, fabrication, and manufacture for those of ordinary skill having the benefits of this disclosure. 
         [0028]      FIG. 1  is a schematic diagram illustrating a media delivery system according to one embodiment. The system  100  comprises a digital TV system  102  with a remote control device  104 . According to one implementation, the remote control device  104  may include a dedicated input structure  105  for controlling of synchronization of streaming a video program between the digital TV system  102  and a mobile computing and communication device  106 . The input structure  105  may be a button, a switch and a touch pad. The input structure  105  may also be an icon in a touch-sensitive display. According to another implementation, the mobile device  106  may include an input structure  107  for controlling synchronization of the digital TV system and the mobile device. It should be noted that one of the input structures  105  or  107  is sufficient for the operation of the system. 
         [0029]    The mobile communication device  106  may be a mobile phone with the Internet connection capability. The mobile device  106  is connectable to a content distributor  110  through a communication network  108 . The digital TV system  102  may also be connected to the content distributor  110  through the communication network  108  (not shown in  FIG. 1 ). A user  112  operates the system. The remote control device  104  and the digital TV system  102  are connected employing one of well known methods such as, for example, using the Infrared communication interface. The digital TV system  102  and the mobile device  106  may be connected using an ad hoc communication link  114 . The ad hoc communication link  114  may be conformed to various IEEE and ISO standards and their extensions such as, for example, IEEE 802.15.1 (Bluetooth), IEEE 802.15.4 (ZigBee), IEEE 802.11x (WiFi) and ISO 18092, ISO 21481 and Transfer Jet Protocol for Near Field Communication (NFC). 
         [0030]      FIG. 2A  is a schematic diagram of functional blocks and data flows of the system  100  in accordance with the embodiment A. When the mobile device  106  is used to stream a video program  201  (media asset) received from the content distributor  110 , a control signal  202  is sent from the remote control device  104  to the digital TV system  102  after the user actuates the remote control device  104 . Upon receiving the control signal  202 , the digital TV system  102  sends another control signal  203  to the mobile device  106 . A data file  204  including metadata and the status of the program is sent from the mobile device  106  to the digital TV system  102 . After the data file  204  is received by the digital TV system  102 , the digital TV system sends a request signal  205  to the content distributor  110 . The content distributor  110  sends the video program  206  (media asset) to the digital TV system  102 .  206  and  201  may the same media asset.  206  may be a portion of  201 . The user may need to pay for  201  and  206 . The user may only need to pay for  201 . 
         [0031]    It should be noted that the video program  201  and  206  may be the same content by different formats. For example, the video program  201  for the mobile device  106  may be a compressed version of the video program  206  for the digital TV system  102 . 
         [0032]    Upon receiving the media asset  206 , the digital TV system  102  starts to stream the program based on the time and the status data in the data file  204 . 
         [0033]      FIG. 2B  is a schematic diagram of functional blocks and data flows of the system  100  in accordance with the embodiment B. When the mobile device  106  is used to stream a video program  201  received from the content distributor  110 , a control signal  202  is sent from the mobile device  106  to the digital TV system  102  after the user actuates an input structure of the mobile device. A data file  204  including metadata and the status of the program is subsequently sent from the mobile device  106  to the digital TV system  102 . After the data file  204  is received by the digital TV system  102 , the digital TV system  102  sends a request signal  205  to the content distributor  110 . The content distributor  110  sends the video program  206  to the digital TV system  102 . The video program may be only a portion of the digital content being streamed by the mobile device  106 . Upon receiving the video program  206 , the digital TV system  102  starts to stream the program based on the time and the status data included in the data file  204 . 
         [0034]      FIG. 2C  is a schematic diagram of functional blocks and data flows of the system  100  in accordance with the embodiment C. When the digital TV system  102  is used to stream a video program  201  received from the content distributor  110 , a control signal  202  is sent from the remote control device  104  to the digital TV system  102  after the user actuates the remote control device  104 . Upon receiving the control signal  202 , the digital TV system  102  sends another control signal  203  to the mobile device  106 . A data file  204  including metadata and the status of the program is sent from the digital TV system  102  to the mobile device  106 . After the data file  204  is received by the mobile device  106 , the device sends a request signal  205  to the content distributor  110 . The content distributor  110  sends the video program  206  to the mobile communication device  106 . The media asset may be only a portion of the digital content being streamed by the digital TV system  102 . Upon receiving  206 , the mobile device  106  starts to stream the program based on the time and the status data included in the data file  204 . 
         [0035]      FIG. 2D  is a schematic diagram of functional blocks and data flows of the system  100  in accordance with the embodiment D. When the digital TV system  102  is used to stream a video program  201  received from the content distributor  110 , a control signal  203  is sent from the digital TV system  102  to the mobile device  106  after the user actuates an input structure of the mobile device  106 . Upon receiving the control signal  203 , the digital TV system  102  sends a data file  204  including metadata and the status of the program from the digital TV system  102  to the mobile device  106 . After the data file  204  is received by the mobile device  106 , the device sends a request signal  205  to the content distributor  110 . The content distributor  110  sends the video program  206  to the mobile device  106 . The video program  206  may be only a portion of the digital content being streamed by the mobile device  106 . Upon receiving the media asset  206 , the mobile device  106  starts to stream the program based on the time and the status data included the data file  204 . 
         [0036]      FIG. 3  is a schematic diagram illustrating a dedicated button  107  of a mobile device  106  is used to control the operation of synchronization. According to one implementation of the present invention, the mobile device is a smart phone including a display  302 . The mobile device  106  may be connected to a communication network such as the Internet. A video program  304  may be broadcasted on the display  302 . The video program  304  may be received from a content distributor  110  through the communication network. 
         [0037]    The mobile device  106  may also be a portable media player, a portable game console, a tablet compute, a laptop computer and a PDA. 
         [0038]      FIG. 4A  is a schematic representation of functional blocks of the digital TV system  102  in according with one embodiment. The system  102  comprises a display  402 . The display may be a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD). The display may also be any other types of display as known in the art. A processor  404  is used to control the operation of the digital TV system  102 . The processor  404  may include more than one type of processors including a general purpose processor such as a Central Processing Unit (CPU) and a special purpose processor such as a Graphical Processing Unit (GPU). The system  102  may also include a data storage unit  406  such as a magnetic storage unit and/or semiconductor memory devices. 
         [0039]    The digital TV system  102  may be connected to a communication network through a first communication unit  408 . The network may be a private broadband network for delivering TV programs. The network may also be a public network such as, for example, the Internet. A second communication unit  410  is used to connect the digital TV system  102  to the mobile device  106  through an ad hoc communication link  114 . The ad hoc communication link  114  may be conformed to various IEEE and ISO standards and their extensions such as, for example, IEEE 802.15.1 (Bluetooth), IEEE 802.15.4 (ZigBee), IEEE 802.11x (WiFi) and ISO 18092, ISO 21481 and Transfer Jet Protocol for Near Field Communication (NFC). The digital TV system  102  may also include a third communication unit (not shown in the figure) for connecting the system and the remote control device  104 . Most remote control devices today use Infrared communication interfaces. 
         [0040]    A synchronization manager  412  is used to synchronize the digital TV system  102  and the mobile device  106 . The synchronization manager  412  may be implemented as software. The synchronization ion manager  412  may also be implemented as a combination of the software and the hardware. 
         [0041]    The remote control device  104  may include a dedicated input structure  413  for controlling the synchronization. The input structure  413  may be a button, a switch and a touchpad. 
         [0042]      FIG. 4B  is a schematic representation of functional blocks of the mobile communication device  106 . The device  106  comprises a processor  414 , a display  416  and a data storage unit  418 . The display  416  may be a touch-sensitive type of display. The mobile device  106  may include a dedicated input structure  419 , in addition to conventional input unit of the device, for “one-actuation”control of the synchronization. The mobile device  106  includes a first communication unit  420 . The first communication unit  420  may be a standard network interface for a smart phone including a capability to connect to the Internet. The device  106  further comprises a second communication unit  422  for connecting to the digital TV system  102  through the previously mentioned ad hoc communication link  114 . The communication unit  422  in the mobile device  106  and the communication unit  410  in the digital TV system  102  may conform to the same communication standard. 
         [0043]    A synchronization manager  424  is used to synchronize the digital TV system  102  and the mobile device  106 . The synchronization manager  412  may be implemented as software. The synchronization ion manager  412  may also be implemented as a combination of the software and the hardware. 
         [0044]      FIG. 5  is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary process that the digital television system is synchronized to the mobile device for broadcasting a video program. Process  500  starts with step  502  that a video program is viewed by a user using the mobile device  106 . The mobile device may be a smart phone according to one implementation. The video program may be sent from the content distributor  110  through a communication network  108 . An ad hoc communication link  114  is established in step  504  between the digital TV system  102  and the mobile device  106 . In step  506 , the user&#39;s “one-actuation” input is received for synchronizing the digital TV system  102  and the mobile device  106 . According to one embodiment of the present invention, the user actuates an input structure of the remote control device  104 . According to another embodiment, the user actuates an input structure of the mobile device  106 . In step  508 , a data file  204  including metadata of the program being streamed and the status of the program is sent from the mobile device  106  to the digital TV system  102 . A request signal, in step  510 , is then sent from the digital TV system  102  to the content distributor  110  through the communication network  108 . The user may need to pay for the request. The content distributor  110  sends the digital content of the program to the digital TV system  102 . The digital content may be only the portion of the content unfinished in the mobile device  106 . The digital content may employ a high definition format while the one used by the mobile device  106  may be a compressed version of the digital content. In step  512 , the received digital content is streamed in a synchronized manner as the mobile device  106  based on the received data file  204 . 
         [0045]      FIG. 6  is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary process that the mobile device  106  is synchronized to the digital television system  102  for streaming a video program. Process  600  starts with step  602  that a video program is viewed by a user using the digital TV system  102 . The video program may be sent from a content distributor  110  through a communication network  108 . The video program may employ a high definition format. An ad hoc communication link  114  is established in step  604  between the digital TV system  102  and the mobile device  106 . In step  606 , the user&#39;s “one-actuation” input is received for synchronizing the digital TV system  102  and the mobile device  106 . According to one embodiment of the present invention, the user actuates an input structure of the remote control device  104 . According to another embodiment, the user actuates an input structure of the mobile device  106 . In step  608 , a data file  204  including metadata of the program being streamed by the digital TV system  102  and the status of the program is sent from the digital TV system  102  to the mobile device  106 . A request signal, in step  610 , is then sent from the mobile device  106  to the content distributor  110  through the communication network  108 . The user may need to pay for the request. The content distributor  110  sends the digital content of the program to the mobile device  106 . The content may be only the unfinished portion in the digital TV system  102 . The content may also be a compressed version for the mobile device. In step  612 , the received digital content is streamed in a synchronized manner as the digital TV system  102  based on the received data file  204 .