Abstract:
An accessory for use with an existing portable electronic device has a housing that removably couples to a housing of the existing portable electronic device such that the accessory and portable electronic device function and can be portably carried as a single unit. A tunable FM radio receiver in the housing receives an FM broadcast signal and produces a broadcast audio output. A connector on the housing electrically connects the broadcast audio output to a corresponding connector on the device. Application software residing on the device utilizes an internet connection of the device to download digital content related to the broadcast audio output and display the digital content on a display of the device.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     The present application is based upon and claims priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/047,043 filed Apr. 22, 2008. 
    
    
     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
     Not Applicable 
     REFERENCE TO SEQUENCE LISTING OR COMPUTER PROGRAM LISTING APPENDIX 
     Not Applicable 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Streaming music is more expensive to send and receive than broadcast music. However, for a variety of reasons few portable devices such as music players and mobile phones are equipped with broadcast radio receivers. Therefore, what is needed is an improved method of providing broadcast radio to a device lacking a broadcast radio receiver. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     An embodiment of the present invention is directed toward an accessory for use with an existing portable electronic device. The accessory includes a unitary housing that removably couples to a housing of the existing portable electronic device such that the accessory and portable electronic device can function and be portably carried as a single unit. A tunable FM radio receiver in the unitary housing receives an FM broadcast signal and produces a broadcast audio output. A connector on the unitary housing electrically connects the broadcast audio output of the tunable FM radio receiver to a corresponding connector on the portable electronic device when the unitary housing is coupled to the housing of the portable electronic device. Application software residing on the portable electronic device utilizes an internet connection of the device to download digital content related to the broadcast audio output of the unitary housing and displays the digital content on a display of the portable electronic device. A data input on the unitary housing receives data from the portable electronic device such that the tunable FM receiver can be tuned to a selected broadcast frequency using controls on the portable electronic device. The application software determines a location of the portable electronic device and downloads a list of available stations from a web server through the internet connection for display on a display of the portable electronic device. Once a station is selected, the application software displays song data and album art downloaded from a web server through the internet connection that corresponds to the broadcast audio output on a display of the portable electronic device. The application software also preferably prompts a listener to purchase a song corresponding to the broadcast audio output with a display of the portable electronic device and downloads a purchased song through the internet connection. The memory of the portable electronic device is preferably used to save the broadcast audio output such that audio corresponding to the broadcast audio output can be paused. 
     An embodiment of the present invention is also directed toward a method of providing FM broadcasts to an existing portable electronic device. The method commences with removably coupling an accessory in a unitary housing to a device housing of the existing portable electronic device such that the accessory and the portable electronic device function and can be carried as a single unit. An FM broadcast signal is received with a tunable FM radio receiver in the accessory and an audio output signal is produced. Application software is downloaded that configures the portable electronic device to communicate with the accessory from a web server through an internet connection. The audio output signal is transferred to the portable electronic device. An internet connection of the portable electronic device is used to download digital content corresponding to the audio data such as song data and album art from a web server. A location of the portable electronic device is determined and a list of available stations is also downloaded from the web server through the internet connection. The available stations and digital content is displayed on a display of the portable electronic device. The listener is prompted to purchase an audio track corresponding to the audio data with a display of the device and a purchased audio track is downloaded through the internet connection by the application software. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is an illustration of a radio receiving accessory coupled to a portable electronic device having application software stored in its memory in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is an illustration of the radio receiving accessory of  FIG. 1  decoupled from the portable electronic device; 
         FIG. 3  is a functional block diagram of a receiving accessory constructed in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 4  is a functional block diagram of an accessory system constructed in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 5  is an illustration of a tuning interface display produced by application software in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 6  is an illustration of a now playing interface display produced by application software in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; and 
         FIG. 7  is an illustration of a purchase track interface display produced by application software in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is directed toward a broadcast radio receiving accessory system, that includes hardware and software, which allows owners of existing portable electronic devices having audio outputs, such as iPhones™ and iPods™, to listen to, and interact with, FM radio broadcasts on their devices. The invention uses the resources of an existing FM broadcaster that has an FM transmitter, a computer server connected to the Internet, and a software application capable of coordinating the transmission of audio programming over the FM transmitter with the transmission of corresponding PAD (Program Associated Data) and metadata over the Internet by the server. The invention also uses a receiving component that contains an FM tuner that attaches to an input/output connector of the electronic device such as the 30-pin connector at the bottom of the iPhone™ or iPod™. 
     The FM tuner is controlled by application software that runs on the electronic device. The application software can be downloaded to the device from the internet, a memory storage device or a personal computer. The application software preferably automatically identifies the listener&#39;s geographic location and populates a menu with available local broadcast radio stations. The application software in the digital device obtains location information, such GPS, cell phone triangulation and Wi-Fi triangulation information, from the device and provides the location information to the web based service. The web based service then provides a list of local stations to the device over the Internet. 
     In addition to allowing listeners to tune the radio to a desired frequency using the controls of the existing device, and listen to broadcast FM radio through their device&#39;s headphones, the application software displays PAD and other metadata received from the Internet via a wireless Internet connection, such as Wi-Fi or EDGE, available to the existing portable device. Programming data comes in from the broadcasters&#39; FM transmitter, while PAD comes in from the broadcaster&#39;s Internet data service. The application software on the existing device multiplexes the two separate data streams into a rich radio experience for the user of the device. Furthermore, the two data streams, programming and PAD, do not need to be transmitted or received synchronously. For example PAD can be transmitted over the Internet ahead of the transmission of FM programming data. PAD and programming data can be synchronized by the receiving device for playback. In addition, the digital downloading of content provides opportunities for interaction with listeners and the collection of consumer data. 
     The invention displays on the device&#39;s display, for the song received from the accessory&#39;s FM receiver, the song title, album if available, and the artist&#39;s name as retrieved from the web. The application software also preferably displays various data such as the last three songs played (broadcast) on any station, album art for the currently playing song, the name and picture of the current DJ, other DJ information or links, the station name and logo, and other data about the station. The application software also allows songs to be bookmarked for later purchase and can use the links developed for HD Radio iTunes Tagging. 
     The invention also produces and collects identifying and anonymous user data for sale to advertisers and radio stations (e.g., geographic location of listeners, duration and time of day stations were listened to). When tuned to a radio station, listeners are able to respond to direct marketing and station promotion messages (e.g., touching a virtual button on the iPhone™ screen to signal approval of a new song, to bookmark a song for later purchase from an online music store or elsewhere, or to signal interest in receiving further information associated with an advertisement) preferably via email. 
     When tuned to a radio station received through the accessory, listeners can be signed in to the application&#39;s web service with a unique user account that contains demographic or psychographic data, as well as those listeners&#39; “click trails” (e.g., music liked, music purchased, daily listening times, location while listening, responses to ads) all of which can potentially be shared with advertisers and radio stations if desired. The application software allows listeners to share what radio station they are listening to, and data about the songs they like, via means such as Facebook™ and MySpace™ widgets. 
     The present invention is preferably accomplished through an accessory for a portable electronic device that receives broadcast radio stations and application software in the portable electronic device that communicates digitally with the accessory. However, in an alternative embodiment, the software in the device may be used to convert digital commands and data from the device into audio tones that are sent to an audio output of the device and detected by the accessory and decoded into digital data by the application software. This allows the accessory to communicate with a preexisting device that does not have a digital input or output. The application software preferably establishes communication with a web based service that provides data related to the broadcast through a web interface on the device. However, the accessory itself can be provided with a wireless internet connection, although this increases the cost of the accessory. 
     Referring now to the figures,  FIG. 1  is an illustration of a radio receiving accessory  2  constructed in accordance with present invention coupled to a portable electronic device  4  such as a mobile phone or digital music player having a touch screen display  6 . The receiving accessory  2  contains a tunable FM receiver and the device  4  contains the application software needed to manage the receiver and retrieve data from the Internet.  FIG. 2  is an illustration of the receiving accessory  2  of  FIG. 1  disconnected from the portable electronic device  4 . The accessory  2  has a connector  8  that couples to a corresponding connector on the portable electronic device  6  and extends from the unitary housing  10  of the receiving accessory  2 . 
       FIG. 3  is a functional block diagram of the receiving accessory  2  of  FIGS. 1 and 2 . The preferred receiving accessory  2  includes a tunable FM radio receiver  11  that receives an FM radio broadcast. The tunable FM receiver preferably has the ability to receive and interpret Radio Data System (RDS) data broadcasts when RDS is available. The receiver  11  uses an FM antenna  19  that may be coupled to the device to use a conductive portion of the device to boost the performance of the antenna  19 . No controls and no display on the receiving accessory  2  are required. The radio receiver  11  in the accessory  2  can be tuned through the device&#39;s controls and the selected frequency displayed on the display of the device. However, the accessory  2  can be provided with controls if desired. Since the receiving accessory  2  preferably uses many of the controls and features of the existing device, the receiving accessory  2  can be simply and inexpensively constructed. A device input/output connector  13  couples the accessory  2  to the electronic device for which it is designed. A microprocessor  15  and memory  17  are used control the tunable receiver  11  and run and store the software required by the receiving accessory  2  to communicate with the device. The application software can pause live radio through the use of a circular buffer in the accessory memory  17  or the device&#39;s memory. 
     The accessory system has the ability to submit requests to stations to play a specific song through the web or cellular interface of the device. The system preferably uses an SMS alert system to alert a user when a requested artist/song is about to play and can be programmed to automatically tune to the selected station. Preferably, the user will request a song, receive an email or text message stating when the song will be played, and click on a link to automatically open the application software and tune the receiver to the appropriate station. The device can display a list of songs playing in a users broadcast market. The user can program the device to play certain songs whenever they are played on an available station or change stations whenever a black listed song is about to play. Intelligent software can be used to examine a user&#39;s music library and anticipate songs that they will like and automatically tune to a station playing a song that the user may like. 
     If the device does not have a digital data input/output that allows digital control signals to be sent to and from the receiving accessory, the application software can create audio outputs corresponding to control functions that are sent to the receiving accessory through the audio output of the device. The receiving accessory receives the tones and decodes them according to a predetermined decoding scheme. A simple two output tone scheme can be created to effectively transmit binary digital data to the receiving accessory through the audio output of the portable device. The same process can be used to transmit data to the device through an audio input of the device. 
     The present invention need not be embodied in an accessory and can be implemented in any device that has the capability to receive broadcast radio signals and can connect to the internet. 
       FIG. 4  is a functional block diagram of a radio accessory system for implementing an embodiment of the present invention. The radio accessory system hardware and software  12 , which includes the receiving accessory  2 , device  4  and corresponding application software discussed herein, receives an analog FM radio broadcast  14  from a broadcast entity  16  through an FM receiver in the system  12 . The broadcast entity  16  also provides data to a web based server  18  that provides web services that can be accessed through an internet connection. The system  12  includes an internet connection in either the receiving accessory  2  or device  4  which it uses to download web content  20  such as the radio station ID and logo, song metadata, DJ name and photo, SMS requests and alerts, music store links album artwork, etc from the web based server  18 . The system  12  has the ability to automatically switch from FM radio to IP Radio when Wi-Fi is present, for better reception. Preferred Wi-Fi transceivers for connection to by the system  12  can be identified by the user. 
     The system  12  also uses its internet connection to push user data and requests  22  to the web based server  18 . The system  12  can, preferably with the user&#39;s consent, return data to radio station broadcasters  16  showing the number of listeners in near real-time, including their rough geographic locations. Listeners are able to respond to direct marketing and station promotion messages (e.g., touching a virtual button on the device screen to signal approval of a new song, to bookmark a song for later purchase, or to signal interest in receiving further information associated with an advertisement, via email). The application software can display the current artist&#39;s upcoming concert dates, and their proximity to the user&#39;s location. Ticket purchases can be made through the use of the application software and web interface. 
     Listeners can be signed into the web server  18  with a unique user account that contains demographic or psychographic data, as well as those listeners&#39; “click trails” (e.g., music liked, music purchased, daily listening times, location while listening, responses to ads) all of which can be shared with the radio stations or advertisers with the users consent. This information is collected by the application software in the system  12 . If the device is a mobile phone, the application software can provide the users phone number to the web service  18 . 
     The system  12  includes application software which allows listeners to share what station they are listening to, and data about the songs they like, via various means such as Facebook™ and MySpace™ widgets. The application software in the system  12  also has the ability to “tag” a currently playing track for later purchase from an on-line music store and keeps a record of previously played tracks on a given station. The system  12  sends the listener data to the web server  18  where it can be published or shared on websites through widgets or objects. 
     The system  12  preferably allows listeners to type in an artist or song name that will be sent as a request to a broadcast entity  16 . A responding SMS text message is then sent to the listener&#39;s device that confirms that the requested music is in the queue. Preferably, the system is designed so that the responding SMS text message contains a link that, when selected (touched), instructs the device to launch the application and automatically tune it to the correct station to hear the requested music. The system  12  application software also allows a user to request a SMS text message when a particular song is scheduled to be played on an available station. Once a request is received, the web server  18  generates an SMS text message with a link that, when selected, launches the system  12  application software and tunes the radio receiver to the correct station frequency. The system  12  also has a purchase current track function  24  that allows a user to directly purchase music from a web based music store  26 . 
       FIG. 5  is an illustration of a tuning display screen  30  generated on the touch display of the device to which the receiving accessory is coupled. While the illustrated display is preferred, any suitable display format may be used. The tuning display screen  30  displays information needed to use the accessory. The preferred tuning display screen  30  shown displays a list of available radio station identifiers  32  in a particular area such as a city  48 . The user can select a station by touching the station identifier  32  on the touch screen. An area selector input  44  allows the user to enter a menu and alter the region for which the station identifiers  32  are displayed. The station identifiers  32  may include a graphic logo  34  provided by the station. Preferred stations for which additional meta data is available preferably show up highlighted in the tuning menu. A more station data selection input  36  allows a user to view any additional station data available such as genre or programming schedule. A set of menu selections allow the user to select present stations  38 , search for particular stations  40 , or tune to a particular frequency  42 . The radio presets may be user-defined radio presets or favorites that can be selected from a list. A now playing input  46  allows the user to view additional information concerning the currently playing track in a now playing interface  50  as shown in more detail in  FIG. 6 . 
     The receiving accessory and application software for the audio output device may be used to provide the device with a number of additional advanced features such as location based tuning. In such an embodiment, the application automatically identifies the listener&#39;s geographic location through any number of available means such as the Global Positioning System and populates a tuning menu with local radio stations (alternatively, listeners can manually enter their location information). Available local radio stations show up highlighted in the tuning menu. The application software or service provider can categorize the stations into genres or formats. The application software can also collect data such as time listened to, songs heard, time of turn off, driving status, promotions, smash or trash. The application software book also bookmarks songs for later purchase online. 
     The now playing display screen  50  shown in  FIG. 6  displays information such as the station tuned in  51 , album art  52  and song data  54 . The now playing display  50  also has a purchase track input  56  that allows the user to automatically purchase a digital copy of the currently playing track from an online music store. A number of navigation inputs  58  are provided that allow the user to switch between the various displays screens. 
     When the purchase track input  56  is activated, a purchase screen display  60  opens on the display of the device as shown in  FIG. 7 . The purchase screen display  60  allows the user to purchase the track either directly  62  or through the desktop  64  software of the device. In the preferred embodiment, listeners can bookmark songs for later purchase from an online music retailer such as iTMS™ (iTunes Music Store). Alternatively, listeners are able to purchase a song immediately by activating the purchase directly selection  62  that launches the online music retailer&#39;s website on the phone (if connected via Wi-Fi) or, tag a song for later purchase from the online music store on the desktop via a tagging technology. A cancel input  66  allows the user to cancel their purchase request and return the prior display. 
     Although there have been described particular embodiments of the present invention of a new and useful RECEIVER FOR AUDIO PLAYER, it is not intended that such references be construed as limitations upon the scope of this invention except as set forth in the following claims.