Abstract:
An on demand media device rental system includes a plurality of media devices where an individual rented one of the media devices is responsive to a user controlled remote control device that facilitate the accessing and controlling of the playback of a user selected media source that is disposed in the individual rented one of the media devices.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    The present invention relates generally to telecommunications and, more particularly, to systems wherein media and media devices are rented.  
           [0002]    Businesses, in the form of media rental stores, are popular and satisfy a need among users for a way to enjoy media at relatively low cost. Typically, a user rents a videocassette or digital videodisc (DVD) for a short period of time for viewing at a home or other location. The process offers several advantages. One advantage is flexibility afforded the user as to times of viewing, during the rental period. Another is control over the viewing process whereby the user can pause, or replay the media at will.  
           [0003]    While the present system affords several advantages, it also has limitations. For example, the process typically requires a trip to the store for selection and rental of the product, and another trip to return it. At times, this can be a burden for the user, especially in cases where the product is not returned on time and overtime charges accrue.  
           [0004]    Additionally, limited inventories at the rental store sometimes result in outages, precluding the user from renting a desired cassette or DVD. Further, the product may be flawed and this problem is not discovered until the user attempts to play it, after it has been rented.  
           [0005]    From the foregoing it will be apparent that there is a need for a rental system that can provide user access to media while eliminating a trip to a rental store. Desirably, such a system would present the user with the flexibility of conventional systems while having a high degree of predictability  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0006]    According to the present invention, there is provided an on demand media device rental system which includes a plurality of rentable media devices that when rented respond to a user controlled remote control device that facilitates the accessing and controlling of the playback of a user selected media source that has been loaded into the individual media device rented by the user. A set top box coupled to a user controlled television device is responsive to the user controlled remote control device to cause a library of available media sources to be displayed for user selection purposes and transmits the remote command signals produced by the remote control device to the rented media device for a user selected rental period of time. A server system coupled between the plurality of media devices and the set top box, couples the remote command signals transmitted by the set top box to the rented media device to enable the user to access and control the playback of the user selected media source and couples the playback of the media source to the set top box to enable the user to controllably view the playback of the media source during the user selected rental period of time. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0007]    The above mentioned features of the invention and the manner of attaining them will become apparent, and the invention itself will be best understood by reference to the following description of the embodiments of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:  
         [0008]    [0008]FIG. 1 is block diagram of a media device rental system that is constructed in accordance with the present invention;  
         [0009]    [0009]FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic view of a translation system illustrated in the block diagram of FIG. 1;  
         [0010]    [0010]FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a set top box of FIG. 2; and  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 4 is a flow chart of the steps performed by the media device rental system of FIG. 1. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0012]    Referring now to the drawings and more particularly to FIG. 1 thereof, there is shown a block diagram of a media device rental system  10 , which is constructed in accordance with the present invention. The media device rental system  10  is a “virtual rental” system that enables an individual to rent on-line, for a user selected period of time, a media device and a user selected digital video disc (DVD). In short, the media device rental system  10  provides a user with the ability to access and control the playback of the user selected DVD during the user selected rental period.  
         [0013]    According to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the media device rental system  10  includes a server system  12  that is coupled between a group  14  of media devices, such as media devices  15 ,  17  and  19  and a group  16  of translation systems, such as translation systems  18 ,  20 , and  22 . The server system  12  and the group  14  of media devices are located at a video on demand distribution center  30 , while the individual translation systems, such as translation systems  18 ,  20  and  22 , are located at individual user locations such as the home of a user, a hotel room, or a business conference room. As will be explained hereinafter in greater detail, the media device rental system  10  provides a user with the ability to access and control the playback of a user selected digital video disc, such as a digital video disc  21 , from the comfort of a home, an office, or a hotel room, or wherever the user has access to a display device, such as a television  24  and a translation system, such as the translation system  18 .  
         [0014]    Considering now the translation systems  18 ,  20 , and  22  in greater detail, only translation system  18  will be described in greater detail, since each translation system is substantially identical. Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2, the translation system  18  is coupled to the server system  12  via an optical cable network  32  and cooperates with the server system  12  where they function together in the same manner as a switched digital network.  
         [0015]    The translation system  18  is a remote-control menu based system that generally includes a set top box  25  and a remote control device  27 . The device  27  may be, for example, an infrared or a radio frequency control device. The translation system  18  enables a user to select a desired digital video disc (DVD) and to control the playback of the DVD using the remote control device  27 . In this regard, once the user has rented a media device, such as the media device  15 , and selected a desired DVD, the DVD itself, such as DVD  21 , is in the exclusive domain of the user. That is, the user can playback the DVD  21 , restart the DVD  21 , jump to selected scenes, view credits, trailers, and control the DVD  21  using all of the operation options that are otherwise available on the media device  15 .  
         [0016]    As best seen in FIG. 3, the set top box  25  includes a network interface module  33  that transmits and receives digital information via the optical cable network  32 , a hard drive  35  that stores the titles of the various DVDs that are available for viewing, and a video driver circuit  37  that enables the signals from the hard drive  35  to be translated into video signals suitable for displaying the titles on a television or a video monitor. A remote control interface module indicated generally at  39 , receives remote control signals from the remote control device  27  and converts the remote control signals into digital signals that are transmitted to the server system  12  via the network interface module  33  and the optical cable network  32 . The hard drive  35  is also coupled to the network interface module  33  so that as new titles are made available on the media device rental system  10 , the new titles can be uploaded to the hard drive  35  for user selection purposes. The network interface module  33 , the hard drive  35 , the video driver circuit  37  and the remote control interface module  39  are conventional in nature and well understood by those skilled in the art. Accordingly, they and their operation will not be described hereinafter in greater detail. It should suffice to indicate that only titles are stored on the hard drive  35 , while the actual playback digital signals produced by the DVD are directly coupled to the television or the video monitor, whichever the case may be, via the network interface module  33  and the video driver circuit  37 .  
         [0017]    Considering now the operation of the media device rental system  10  in greater detail with reference to FIG. 4, the server system  12  includes the necessary firmware and software to control the media device selection operations and the generating of invoices for rental time selected by user. As best seen in FIG. 4, a media device operations program  400  begins at a start command  402  whenever the server system  12  is powered up. The server system  12  then advances to a determination step  404  that seeks to query whether a user of any one of the translation systems  18 ,  20 , or  22  has requested rental time on one of the media devices, such as the media devices  15 ,  17  and  19 . If not, the program loops at step  404  until such a request is received.  
         [0018]    Once a rental request is received, the program advances to a retrieval step  406  that causes the account information for the user to be retrieved. In this regard, the rental request signal is encoded with sufficient information to enable the server system  12  to identify the source of the request for billing purposes and for enabling a desired video stream to be transmitted to the requesting translation system, such as the translation system  18 .  
         [0019]    After the account has been retrieved, the program advances to a determination step  408  to determine whether the user has made a DVD selection from the available titles that have previously been stored on the hard drive  35 . If a DVD selection signal has not been received the program advances to a query step  409  to determine whether the user of the requesting translation system  18  has requested to cancel the media device rental request. If so, the program returns to the start step  402  and proceeds as described previously. If the user has not cancelled the rental request the program returns to the rental request inquiry step  408  and proceeds as described previously.  
         [0020]    When the user makes a DVD selection, the program advances from the rental request step  408  to a command step  310  that acquires and dedicates an individual one of the media devices, such as the media device  15 , that has been disposed thereon the desired DVD selection requested by the user. The program then advances to a command step  412  that causes a time request signal to be generated and sent to the requesting translation system. In this regard, the server system  12  makes an inquiry as to the amount of time the user desired to rent the media device  15  with the user selected DVD. While the system imposes no time limits on the user, a typical rental period is between about 30 minutes and about 1440 minutes.  
         [0021]    The program then advances to a determination step  414  to determine whether the user of the requesting translation system  15  and provided the necessary rental time information. If not, the program returns to determination step  409  and proceeds as described previously. On the other hand, if the user of the requesting translation system  15  has provided the rental time information, the program proceeds to a command step  416  that connects the acquired media device, such as the media device  15  to the retrieved account set top box, such as the set top box  25  of translation system  18 . In this regard, the user now has complete control of the acquired media device  15 , and the selected DVD  21  for the period of time selected by the user.  
         [0022]    The program then goes to a determination step  418  to determine whether the rental time period has lapsed. If the rental time period has not lapsed, the program loops at the determination step  418  for the rental period to lapse. In this regard, when the rental time period lapses, the program proceeds to a command step  420  that causes the acquired media device  15  to be disconnected from the retrieved account set top box  25 .  
         [0023]    The program then advances to a command step  422  that generates a customer invoice for the time the media device  15  and the selected DVD  21  were rented and supplies this information to the distribution center-billing department so that the incurred charges can be invoiced to the user. For example, the rental charges can be deducted from a user provided credit card number, or added to room charges if the user is residing in a hotel room. In any event, the user is billed for the time the user rented the media device  15 .  
         [0024]    Once the user has been invoiced the program returns to the start command where the program proceeds as described previously.  
         [0025]    While particular embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed, it is to be understood that various different modifications are possible and are contemplated within the true spirit and scope of the appended claims. For example, while an optical digital switched network was described, it is contemplated that other communication paths can be established, such as a satellite communication path. As another example, while the translation system was described as having a hard drive storage device other types of storage devices are contemplated such as a RAM storage device, or a m-RAM storage device. Therefore, there is no intention of limitations to the abstract, drawings or disclosure herein presented.