Abstract:
A novel media delivery system is disclosed with a splittable portable media player, which comprises a user interface unit and a storage unit. The user interface unit includes a user interface and a cache that stores metadata for media files. The storage unit includes a media file system and a signal process unit. The user interface unit remotely controls the storage unit that is connected (wired) with a media delivery unit, which is a stereo system with speakers in one of disclosed embodiments for audio signal. The portable media player is used as a conventional media player when the units are detached. The novel system has the advantages of simplicity over previous arts and, consequently, with lower cost. Furthermore, the wireless data transmission involved in the system consists of the metadata of media files and the security for typically copyrighted media files is superior. A novel method for sharing of media experience with a group of users is also disclosed with the use of portable media players. The method allows multiple users holding a media player with the shared metadata of media files to control the media delivery system to have a shared media experience.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    Not applicable. 
       BACKGROUND-FIELD OF INVENTION 
       [0002]    This invention relates to a portable media player for a media delivery system, specifically to a splittable portable media player, of which one part is used as a remote control and another part as a storage and signal process unit. 
       BACKGROUND-DESCRIPTION OF PRIOR ART 
       [0003]    A portable media player stores media assets such as songs and video clips, which can be played on the player. Examples of media players are the iPod from Apple, Inc. of Cupertino, Calif., Zen from Creative Technology Ltd, Singapore and the Zune from Microsoft Inc of Redmond, Wash. A media player acquires typically its media assets from a computer with media management applications, such as iTunes software, which is a product from Apple Inc. The portable media players have gained popularity due to its capability to store large number of media assets in a device, which can be put into a user&#39;s pocket when he or she is moving around. The large number of media files are organized in a way of automatic hierarchical categorization by metadata as disclosed in a U.S. Pat. No. 6,928,433 to Goodman and Egan (2005). Portable media players with wireless communication capabilities have been disclosed by Fadell, et al in a US patent application 2008/0125031. The use of the wirelessly connected portable media players to form a local network for the peer-to-peer information sharing has also been disclosed by Panabaker et al in a US patent application 2008/0005353, by Haveson et al in 2007/0297426 and by Kirovski and Jain in 2007/0136608. 
         [0004]    Although the quality of multimedia playback by computers has improved dramatically in the past, these systems still lag behind typical home entertainment systems in terms fidelity and performance. Therefore, in order to utilize the high quality playback systems and the storage capability of the portable media player, it has become available to have a portable media player that couples to accessory devices such as speakers as in a system disclosed by Hobson et al in a US patent application 2007/0230723 as shown in  FIG. 1 . A product related to the art has been commercialized in the market by Apple. According to the art, audio output characteristics of a media delivery apparatus can be controlled based on weather a removable player is attached or detached. A separate remote control is used to control the detached portable media player and the media delivery apparatus. The remote control has typically limited functionalities in comparison to the portable media player, which has a well-designed user interface. Furthermore, the additional remote control increases cost of the media delivery system. 
         [0005]    Therefore, what is desired is a system that leverages existing devices such as an iPod to provide the remote access and control. In the US patent application 2007/0169115, Ko and Lemay have disclosed an art to use a portable media player to wirelessly access and control a media sever, which is typically a computer that is streaming digital media by way of a wireless interface to a media delivery unit such as speakers in the case of streaming digital audio. The method is performed by binding the portable media player and the media server, wirelessly transmitting a signal from the media player to the media sever, and streaming the digital media data from the media server to a media delivery unit by way of a wireless interface using the received signal. The portable media player with a well-designed user interface has the advantages of easy operation by a user. However, the use of a media server complicates the system and, consequently, increases the cost of the system. Furthermore, the media files are transmitted wirelessly between the media server and the media delivery unit, which imposes security issues for a media asset with the copyright. 
         [0006]    Accordingly, it is a purpose of the present invention to provide a new splittable portable media player. One part of the player with its user interface is used as a remote control to wirelessly control another part of the player with its storage and output signal process unit that is coupled to a media delivery unit such as speakers. 
         [0007]    It is a further purpose of the present invention to provide a new splittable portable media player, which can be used as a conventional portable media player when the parts are detached. 
         [0008]    It is a further purpose of the present invention to provide a novel method for a group of users to share media experience by using the splittable media players. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0009]    A portable media player comprises two detachable units. One part is with the player&#39;s user interface and the battery (the UI unit) and another part is with the player&#39;s storage unit and signal process unit (the storage unit), which converts a digital media signal into an analog signal that is further used to drive media delivery unit such as earphones for the portable players. 
         [0010]    The UI unit comprises user interface such as a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) screen and a user interface as a rotational interface used in an iPod from Apple. A battery for the portable media player is also included in the unit to provide power supply when the unit is used as a remote control. The unit further includes a cache to store the catalog of available media items in the storage unit. The media catalog contains media item metadata (song title, author, etc.). The unit further comprises a wireless communication device to communicate with the storage unit when it is detached from the UI unit. 
         [0011]    The storage unit comprises a memory unit such as a flash memory and a signal process unit, which converts the digital signal into the analog signal that drives the media delivery unit to deliver a media experience to a user. The storage unit includes one or more connectors or ports that can be used to attach the split storage unit to a media delivery unit. In the prior art by Hobson et al, a method to connect a media player and a media delivery unit has been disclosed in details. The storage unit further comprises a wireless communication device to communicate with the UI unit when the units are detached and when the storage unit is connected to the media delivery unit. The media delivery unit has its power supply that can be used to provide power supply for the storage unit when they are detached. 
         [0012]    In one embodiment, a portable media player is split into the UI unit and the storage unit that is attached to the media delivery unit such as speakers. The method of providing wireless remote control of a remote media delivery unit attached with the storage unit is described. The method is carried out by wirelessly receiving a selected metadata of an associated media file from the UI unit by the storage unit. The storage unit will execute the selection and further convert the digital file into a media analog signal through the signal process unit. The analog signal will be processed and then be used to drive the speakers in the case of audio signal to deliver a song to the user. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0013]    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: 
           [0014]      FIG. 1  is a diagram of a media system according to one prior art. 
           [0015]      FIG. 2  is a diagram of a media system according to the present invention. 
           [0016]      FIG. 3  is a schematic functional block of a conventional portable media player. 
           [0017]      FIG. 4  is a schematic functional block of a new splittable portable media player. 
           [0018]      FIG. 5  shows a representative wireless connection between an UI unit and a media delivery unit (speakers) attached with a storage unit split from the portable media player. 
           [0019]      FIG. 6  shows how the user interface unit from a splittable media player can be used to remotely access the storage unit that is connected with the media delivery unit to affect a media experience. 
           [0020]      FIG. 7  shows a flow diagram of remotely accessing the media delivery unit through UI unit and storage unit of a split portable media player with wireless communication means. 
           [0021]      FIG. 8  shows another embodiment that the storage unit is a file system and a signal process and wireless communication interface are embedded in the media delivery unit. 
           [0022]      FIG. 9  shows a schematic of a group of users sharing a media experience by use of the splittable media players. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0023]    References will now be made in detail to a particular embodiment of the invention an example of which is illustrated in the accompanying drawings. While the invention will be described in conjunction with the particular embodiment, it will be understood that it is not intended to limit the invention to the described embodiment. To the contrary, it is intended to cover alternatives, modifications, and equivalents as may be included within the spirit and scope of invention as defined by the appended claims. 
         [0024]    According to one embodiment, the portable media player includes two attached units, which are connected as a unity when it is used as the portable media player. One part is a user interface unit and another is a storage unit. The connection includes an IEEE 1394 compliant type connector. The two units are connected and a latch system can be utilized to ease the connecting and disconnecting actions as those are obvious to the ones familiar with the art. The two units can be detached when the player is intended for a home entertainment system application. In such a circumstance, one part with the user interface and battery (UI unit) is used as remote control. Another part with the storage and signal process (storage unit) is used to connect with a media delivery unit such as speakers through a wired connection including an IEEE 1394 compliant type connector. The data can be transmitted between the UI unit and the storage unit via a wireless link that conforms to various IEEE standards such as IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.15.1 (Bluetooth) and IEEE 802.15.4 (Zigbee) as well as their amendments. 
         [0025]    When a user wishes to listen to a song stored in one&#39;s portable media player via external speakers for better quality, one will need to split the player and connect the storage unit with the speaker system. The user can use the UI unit as a remote control, which is essentially the portable media player without media files. However, the metadata associated with the media files are stored in a cache with the UI unit. It is also desirable that a nonvolatile memory such as a flash memory is an addition to the UI unit to store the mentioned metadata in case that the data will not be lost if the power of the unit is switched off. The user will be able to use the user interface of a well-designed portable media player as remote control without notifying the difference from the one using the portable media player with the media files. When a song is selected for play, the metadata associated with the media file will be sent to the storage unit via wireless connection. After receiving the metadata, the storage unit will locate the associated media file and send the processed file to the speakers for play. 
         [0026]    The proposed method can be essentially viewed as a media player with a high quality external media delivery unit. The communication between the user interface unit and the storage unit is accomplished through a wireless connection in contrast to prior arts that are accomplished via a data bus system when all units are integrated as a single handheld device. 
         [0027]    It should be noted that when the portable media player is not split for the external media delivery unit, it is essentially functioning as a conventional portable media player. The wireless communication connection will be disabled automatically through a software control. The battery associated with the user interface unit will provide power supply for the integrated portable media player. 
         [0028]    In another implementation, a portable media player can be designed and manufactured with a detachable memory card or a memory stick. The media delivery unit will have an embedded wireless communication interface and data process means including a processor, a cache and a CODEC, which are needed to receive metadata from the portable media player and to convert the digital media file into an analog signal which can be further used to drive speakers in case of audio media files. 
         [0029]    In such an implementation, when a user wishes to listen to a song stored in one&#39;s portable media player via external speakers in the media delivery unit for better sound quality, one will need to remove the memory card or the stick storing media files from the portable media player and to plug the card or the stick into a pre-manufactured slot in the media delivery unit to connect with the unit. However, the metadata associated with the media files are stored in a cache with the portable media player. The user will be able to use the user interface of a well-designed portable media player as remote control. When a song is selected for play, the metadata associated with the media file will be sent to the media delivery unit via wireless communication. After receiving the metadata, the processor in the media delivery will locate the associated media file and send the processed media files to the speakers for play. 
         [0030]      FIG. 2  shows a media delivery system  200  comprising of a media delivery unit  202  with a housing  204 , an opening or receptacle  206 , a connector  208  and speakers  209 , a splittable portable media player  210  comprises two detachable units. One unit is with the player&#39;s user interface and the battery (the UI unit  212 ) and another unit is with the player&#39;s storage and output signal process unit (the storage unit  214 ), which converts digital media data into analog signal that is further used to drive media delivery unit  202  such as speakers for a media experience for a user. The UI unit  212  further comprises user interface such as a LCD screen  218 , a rotational user interface  220  as used in the iPod from Apple and a connector (not shown) that connected to the storage unit when the portable media player is used as a single detached media system. 
         [0031]    The storage unit  214  comprises a file system and a data process unit. It further comprises one or more connectors or ports  216  that can be used to attach the split storage unit to a media delivery unit such as speakers. In the prior art by Hobson et al, a method to connect a media player and a media delivery unit has been disclosed in detail. 
         [0032]      FIG. 3  shows a schematic functional block of a conventional portable media player  300 . The media player  300  includes a processor  302  that pertains to a microprocessor or a controller for controlling the overall operation of the media player  300 . The media player  300  stores media data pertaining to media assets in a file system  304  and a cache  306 . The file system  304  is, typically, a flash memory or a plurality of flash memories or a storage disk or a plurality of disks. The file system  304  typically provides high capacity storage capability for the media player  300 . However, since the access time to the file system  304  is relatively slow, the media player  300  can also include a cache  306 . The cache  306  is, for example, Random-Access Memory (RAM) provided by semiconductor memory. The relative access time to the cache  306  is substantially shorter than for the file system  304 . However, the cache  306  does not have the large storage capacity of the file system  304 . Further, the file system  304 , when active, consumes more power than does the cache  306 . The power consumption is particularly important when the media player  300  is a portable media player that is powered by a battery  320  through power management circuits  318 . The media player  300  may also include a RAM and a Read-Only Memory (ROM), which is not shown in the diagram. The ROM can store programs, utilities or processes to be executed in a non-volatile manner. The RAM provides volatile data storage, such as for the cache  306 . 
         [0033]    The media player  300  also includes a user input device  308  that allows a user of the media player  300  to interact with the media player  300 . For example, the user input device  308  can take a variety of forms, such as a button, keypad, dial, etc. Still further, the media player  300  includes a display  310  (screen display) that can be controlled by the processor  302  to display information to the user. A data bus  314  can facilitate data transfer between at least the file system  304 , the cache  306 , the processor  302 , and the CODEC  312 . The media player  300  also includes a bus interface  316  that couples to a data link (not shown). The data link allows the media player  300  to couple to a host computer. 
         [0034]    The media player  300  serves to store a plurality of media assets (e.g., songs) in the file system  304 . When a user desires to have the media player play a particular media item, a list of available media assets is displayed on the display  310 . Then, using the user input device  308 , a user can select one of the available media assets. The processor  302 , upon receiving a selection of a particular media item, supplies the media data (e.g., audio file) for the particular media item to a coder/decoder (CODEC)  312 . The CODEC  312  then produces analog output signals for a speaker  314 . 
         [0035]      FIG. 4  shows a functional block diagram of a splittable portable media player  210 , which comprises a user interface unit (UI unit)  212  and a storage unit  214 . In comparison to  FIG. 3 , where a conventional portable media player is illustrated,  FIG. 4  illustrates that a conventional media player is split into two parts with additional function blocks as a transceiver  406  for the UI unit  212  and another transceiver  408  for the storage unit  214 . The processor and cache in the UI unit are renamed as main processor and main cache, respectively to differentiate an additional processor called auxiliary processor  410  and auxiliary cache  412  in the storage unit  214 . The UI unit may further comprises a non-volatile memory such as a flash memory  414  to store the backup data of the metadata of media files, which enables the media catalog preserves when the power supply of the UI unit is switched off. The storage unit further comprises a transceiver  408  to communicate with the UI unit when they are split and when the storage unit attached to the media delivery unit  202 . The media delivery unit has its own power supply and when the storage unit connected to the media delivery, the power supply can be shared. 
         [0036]    In one embodiment, the present invention provides a method to use UI unit  212  to remotely control a media delivery unit  202  connected with the storage unit  214 . The method is carried out by wirelessly receiving a selected metadata of a media file from the UI unit  212  by the storage unit  214 . The storage unit  214  will execute the selection and further converts the associated media file into a media analog signal through the signal process unit. Then the analog signal drives the speakers in the case of audio signal to deliver a song to the user through the speakers. 
         [0037]    As shown in  FIG. 5 , in the described embodiment, the storage unit is coupled to the media delivery unit that in this case takes the form of a stereo system  502  having a number of speakers  209 . The storage unit  214  in connection with stereo system  502  includes a wireless network interface  504 . The UI unit also includes a wireless interface  506 . The wireless network interface  504  and  506  support a wireless network. The wireless network can take the form of, for example, a “Wi-Fi” interfaces according to the IEEE 802.11 standard as well as its amendments. Other wireless network standards could also be used, either in alternative to the identified standards or in addition to the identified standards. Such other network standards could include the IEEE 802.15.1 for the Bluetooth standard or IEEE 802.15.4 for the Zigbee standard as well as their amendments. An antenna required for wireless networking is typically included within the housing of the wireless network interface  504  and  506 . Such an antenna may take a variety of forms, such as an antenna printed on a standard PCB (printed circuit board). Such antennas are well known to those skilled in the art. 
         [0038]    The wireless network supported by the wireless network interface can enable wireless communications between the UI unit  212  and the storage unit  214  when the UI unit  212  described herein is used to select a media item by use of the user interface. As briefly described above, the wireless network interface  504  and  506  have the ability to communicate a user&#39;s instruction and enable the storage unit select a media file. Although it is contemplated that audio, video, audio/video, and/or other forms of multimedia may be used with the media system described herein, one exemplary embodiment relates to the sharing of audio data stored on a storage unit with an entertainment device, such as a stereo system. 
         [0039]      FIG. 6  further illustrates graphically a data flow between the UI unit  212  and the storage unit  214  and the media delivery unit  202  that includes a stereo system  502  and a plurality of speakers  209  in an example of audio media files. Once a user has interacted with the UI unit  212  to, for example, select a new song to be played, the UI unit  212  generates a media metadata  602  that is then forwarded to the storage unit  214 . In response to the metadata  602 , the storage unit  214  locates the media file  604  and delivers to the stereo  502  and speakers  209  for an audio experience for the user. 
         [0040]      FIG. 7  shows a flow diagram of remotely accessing the media delivery unit through UI unit and storage unit of a split portable media player with wireless communication means. The process  700  begins by a process  702  splitting the portable media player into an UI unit and a storage unit and connecting the storage unit with the media delivery unit. A user operates a hierarchical user interface of the UI unit based on media catalog metadata ( 704 ). 
         [0041]    In any event, for a given media item (e.g., song), the metadata can include, song title, author, track duration, etc. that corresponds to the requested song and is typically much smaller in size than the associated media file. The user selects at least one of the displayed metadata and the UI unit receives the selection ( 706 ). It should be noted that the media file request need only include descriptive information (e.g., metadata) necessary to uniquely identify the selected song by the storage unit. At no time is the song data it transferred from the UI unit to the storage unit, thereby avoiding any copyright infringement based upon protected content. In addition, since the media file request represents a small data transfer (on the order of a few kilobytes), the amount of power required for the generation and forwarding of the media file request from the multimedia player to the media server is substantially reduced over that would be required to send the full media file. In this way, a user can effectively provide remote control of the storage unit and the media delivery unit, e.g., the stereo system, by way without adversely affecting battery life of the UI unit as the remote control. 
         [0042]    The UI unit forwards the selected metadata to the storage unit connecting with the media delivery unit via wireless communication means ( 708 ). In some cases, the media file being wirelessly forwarded is accompanied by an associated control command to control the stereo system, such as to change the volume, treble, bass, etc. In response to the multimedia metadata request from the UI unit, the storage unit locates the requested media file(s) associated with the metadata. The storage unit then retrieves the media file(s) based on the descriptive information provided by the received metadata ( 710 ). The auxiliary processor in the storage unit sends the media file to CODEC to generate appropriate signal to the media delivery unit ( 712 ), the media delivery unit receives the signal and converts the electrical signal into high quality sound signal via speakers in case of audio media files ( 714 ). 
         [0043]      FIG. 8  illustrates another embodiment of the present invention. The media delivery system comprises an expanded media delivery unit  802  and a portable media player  804 . The expanded media delivery unit includes an embedded data process unit  806  and a wireless communication interface  808 . The portable media player  804  is a media player with a wireless communication interface  810  and a removable file system (storage)  304  that is, for example, a detachable memory card or a detachable memory sticks. The data process unit  806  further includes a processor, a cache and a CODEC, which are needed to receive metadata from the portable media player and to convert the digital media file into an analog signal which can be further used to drive speakers in case of audio media files. 
         [0044]    In such an implementation, when a user wishes to listen to a song stored in one&#39;s portable media player via external speakers in the media delivery unit for better sound quality, one will need to remove the memory card or the stick  304  storing media files from the portable media player and to plug the card or the stick into a pre-manufactured slot in the media delivery unit  802  to connect with the unit. However, the metadata associated with the media files are stored in a cache with the portable media player  804 . The user will be able to use the user interface of a well-designed portable media player as remote control. When a song is selected for play, the metadata associated with the media file will be sent to the media delivery unit via wireless communication  808  and  810 . After receiving the metadata, the processor in the media delivery unit will locate the associated media file and send to the stereo system  502  and speakers  209  for play. 
         [0045]    We now describe a novel method for sharing media assets by a group of users using portable media players. One of the users has the splittable media player as we described. The other users have either conventional portable media players or the similar splittable media players. All other media payers have a wireless network interface, which conforms to the Bluetooth standard in our preferred embodiment. 
         [0046]    As shown in  FIG. 9 , one of the splittable media players will be selected as a control device. The user holding the control player will split the media player and connect the storage unit  214  with a media delivery unit  202 , which is a stereo system  502  with speakers  209  in our preferred embodiment. A wireless communication will be established between the user interface unit  212  of the control media player and its storage unit  214 . The user interface unit  212  will hold the metadata of the media assets associated with media files stored in the file system of the storage unit  214 . 
         [0047]    When other users with the portable media players  902  that have the wireless network interfaces  904  join the group, a wireless connection between the control device  212  and each of the portable media players  902  will be established. Furthermore, a wireless connection between the other media players  902  and the storage unit  214  will also be established. 
         [0048]    The control device  212  will then send the metadata of the media assets to the other media players  902  through the established wireless network. The other users will confirm such transmission and send back an acknowledgement signal to the control device  212 , which is used as remote control for the storage unit  214 . 
         [0049]    At this stage, all media players will have the metadata of the media assets stored in the file system of the storage unit  214 . All media players including the user interface unit of the controlling user will have a wireless connection with the storage unit  214 . In one of the embodiments, anyone of the users will be able to select a media item from the user interface of one&#39;s media player for the metadata associated with the media files stored in the storage unit  214  connecting to the media delivery unit  202 . After the selection, the request media metadata will be sent to the storage unit  214 . The storage unit  214  will execute the selection and send the associated media file for the processing and eventually delivering the processed analog signal to the speakers  209 . 
         [0050]    In another embodiment, anyone of non-controlling users will need to send a request signal to the controlling user&#39;s device  212  and the selected media metadata can only be sent to the storage unit  214  if an approval signal is received by the requesting user&#39;s device  902  from the controlling device  212 . The controlling use can accept or deny such a request. If the controlling user decides to accept the request, before he or she sends an approval to the requesting user, the controlling user will need to send a signal to the storage unit  214  to authorize the storage unit to accept the metadata signal from the requesting user. The operation can be programmed and controlled by the processor in the controlling user&#39;s user interface unit. 
         [0051]    While the invention has been disclosed with respect to a limited number of embodiments, numerous modifications and variations will be appreciated by those skilled in the art. Additionally, although the invention has been described particularly with respect to the audio signal processing, it should be understood that the inventive concepts disclosed herein are also generally applicable to video clip, movies, TV programs, e-book and any other media for entertainment, education and any other applications. It is intended that all such variations and modifications fall with in the scope of the following claims: