Patent Publication Number: US-2007121581-A1

Title: Method of playing a multimedia content transmitted by a third-party on a user device

Description:
FIELD OF TIE INVENTION  
      The invention relates to a user device, a third-party device, and a system comprising a user device, a third-party device and a network, wherein said user device and said third-party device comprise means for communicating via said network.  
      The invention also relates to a method of playing a multimedia content on a user device, and a program comprising instructions for implementing such a method when executed by a processor in a user device.  
      The invention applies to, for example, personal communication devices, such as phones, ADSL modems, set-top-boxes having Web access, or the like.  
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      U.S. patent application Ser. No. 2002193094A1 describes a method of downloading a phone software product (e.g. games, ring tones, banners, logos, etc.) to a wireless phone on request by a user. This is achieved by dialing a pay-per-call number belonging to a special pay-per-call numbering plan. The call is routed to a wireless telephone service provider and then to a software product content provider. The software product content provider prompts the user to select one or more software products to be downloaded and transfers the selected software product to the wireless telephone service provider which, in turn, transfers the software product to the wireless phone via an SMS gateway. The wireless service provider bills the subscriber at a premium rate for the phone call and transfers at least a portion of the premium rate to the software product content provider as payment for the downloaded software product.  
      One of the objects of the invention is to propose another application in which multimedia content is transmitted to a user device, for example a mobile phone, via a network.  
     SUMMARY OF TIE INVENTION  
      A user device according to the invention is defined in claims  1  to  4 . A method of playing a multimedia content on a user device according to the invention is defined in claims  5  to  9 . A third-party device according to the invention is defined in claim  10 . A system according to the invention is defined in claim  11 , and a program according to the invention is defined in claim  12 .  
      A user device according to the invention comprises means for communicating via a network, means for booting, means for implementing, during said booting, a protocol for transmitting a multimedia content by a third-party device to said user device via said network, and means for playing, during said booting, a multimedia content transmitted by said third-party device.  
      According to the invention, a protocol for transmitting a multimedia content from a third-party to the user device is automatically implemented each time the user device is booted up without any interaction of the user, which means that the user does not select the transmitted multimedia content. When the user switches on the device, multimedia content is automatically played. This multimedia content is customized by the third-party and can be updated by the third-party, if required. Transmission and playing take place during booting.  
      One advantage of the invention is to allow transmission of a start-up multimedia content (for instance a video introduction, a video logo, an advertisement, etc.) from a third-party to a user device. By way of example the third-party may be the operator of the network, a content provider or the manufacturer of the user device. According to the invention, such a start-up multimedia content is customized by the third-party and can be updated whenever the third-party wishes to do so.  
      Another advantage of the invention is that such a start-up multimedia content is transmitted from the third-party to the user device in such a way that it minimizes the inconvenience for the user. According to the invention, the multimedia content is transmitted and played while the user device is booting. During booting, the user does not have access to the user device. However the communication means of the user device can operate from an early stage of the booting phase (what usually takes time in booting is charging the operating system of the user device; on average this may take 30 seconds or even more for high-end devices). The invention takes advantage of this situation by proposing that a start-up multimedia content is transmitted and played during a period of time when the user would be unable to use his device anyway. If the playback is terminated at the end of the booting process, there will be no inconvenience at all for the user.  
      Transmission from said third-party device to said user device is achieved either by downloading or by streaming. Downloading requires the multimedia content to be stored in a memory in the user device. Streaming has the advantage that such a storage in the user device is not needed. When the downloading mode is used, implementation of the transmission protocol only leads to an effective downloading of multimedia content when the third-party wishes to update the multimedia content to be played by the user device during booting.  
      Advantageously, the multimedia content is compressed in order to lower the network resources required for transmission. For example, it is compressed by using the H 263  standard.  
      In a specific embodiment of the invention, when the multimedia content is streamed by the third-party device, playing of the multimedia content is stopped when the booting process is finished in order that the user may start using his device immediately. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
      These and other aspects of the invention are further described with reference to the following Figures:  
       FIG. 1  is a schematic diagram of an example of a system according to the invention,  
       FIG. 2  is a general schematic diagram of a method according to the invention of playing a multimedia content in a user device,  
       FIG. 3  is a schematic diagram of a first alternative of the method of  FIG. 2 ;  
       FIG. 4  is a schematic diagram of a second alternative of the method of  FIG. 2 ;  
       FIG. 5  is a block diagram of a user device according to the invention,  
       FIG. 6  is a block diagram of a third-party device according to the invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
      Referring to  FIG. 1 , the system comprises a user device  10 , a network  20  and a third-party device  30 . The network  20  comprises a telephone network  40  having a Web or a WAP gateway  50 . The third-party device  30  is a Web or a WAP server having access to the Web  60 .  
      In a first example, the telephone network  40  is of the GPRS or UMTS type, and the user device is a mobile phone having access to the telephone network  40  via a radio link. In a second example, the user device is an ADSL box or a set-top-box connected to the telephone network  40  via a telephone wire.  
      The telephone network  40  is operated by an operator. The third-party may be the operator of the network  40  or any other actor, such as the manufacturer of the user device or a content provider having a business relationship with the operator.  
       FIG. 2  is a general block diagram of a method according to the invention of playing a multimedia content on the user device  10 . As indicated in  FIG. 2 , this method comprises a step  100  of initiating the booting process of the user device  10 . This step  100  is executed when the user switches on the user device. Then three processes P 1 , P 2  and P 3  are run in parallel: 
      the booting process P 1  (box  102 ),     a process P 2  of implementing a protocol for transmitting a multimedia content from the third-party device  30  to the user device  10  (box  104 ),     a process P 3  of playing a multimedia content transmitted by the third-party device  30  (box  106 ).    
      Dependent on the embodiment considered, there may be a relationship between processes P 2  and P 3 . In  FIG. 2 , this relationship is represented by an arrow  108 .  
      When all of the three processes are finished (which is represented in box  109 ), the user device is available to the user for normal operations.  
      A first embodiment of the method of  FIG. 2  will now be described in detail with reference to  FIG. 3  In this first embodiment, the user device  10  has a content memory MEM for storing the content V BOOT  to be played during booting. The content playing process P 3  plays the content V BOOT  stored in the content memory MEM when the user device is switched on. The content transmission process P 2  allows replacement of the content to be played during booting. This is achieved by downloading a new content. The new content will be played during the next booting process (that is, the next time the user device is switched on).  
      It is to be noted that downloading takes time so that the process P 2  may finish after completion of the booting process P 1 .  
      In this first embodiment, the process P 2  of implementing the content transmission protocol comprises: 
      a step  110  of transmitting a first request RD 1  from said user device  10  to said third-party device  30 , the first request RD 1  asking whether the third-party device  30  has a content to download to said user device  10 ,     a step  112  of transmitting a positive response AO from the third-party device  30  to the user device  10  when the third-party device has a multimedia content to download,     a step  114  of transmitting a second request RD 2  from the user device  10  to the third-party device  30 , said second request asking for the download of a content,     a step  116  of downloading a content V D  from said third-party device to said user device, and     a step  118  of storing the downloaded content VD into the content memory MEM.     In this first alternative, the content playing process P 3  plays the content V MEM  (if any) that is stored in the content memory MEM prior to the execution of the process P 2 .    

      In this first alternative, the content transmission protocol is based on the HTTP transport protocol. By way of example, the first request RD 1  contains a unique identifier of the current start-up content V BOOT  played by the user device  10  during booting. This identifier may be the name of the content file, a URL of the content file, an MD 5  key, or the like. This unique identifier is used by the third-party device  30  to decide whether or not a new content is to be downloaded to the user device  10 , i.e. whether it has to send a positive response to the user device  10 . Upon reception of a positive response AO, the user device  10  sends the second request RD 2  asking for the download of multimedia content. This RD 2  request points towards a CGI script (CGI stands for Common Gateway Interface) hosted by the third-party device  30 . Upon reception of the request RD 2  by the third-party device  30 , the CGI script is executed which results in the download of the appropriate content.  
      In another embodiment not represented here, sending the second request RD 2  upon reception of a positive response AO is not systematic. Based on one or more pre-defined criteria, the user device  10  may decide whether or not it sends the second request RD 2 . For example, the load of the network, or the size of the available memory may be a criterion.  
      In an alternative embodiment the first request RD 1  does not contain any identifier of the current start-up content V BOOT  stored in the user device. Instead of sending such an identifier, the third-party device keeps a record of the start-up content or contents currently stored in the user devices and decides whether or not to send a new content by looking up its record.  
      A second embodiment of the method of  FIG. 2  will now be described in detail with reference to  FIG. 4  In this second embodiment, no start-up content is stored in the user device  10 . The start-up content to be played during booting is transmitted from the third-party device  30  to the user device  10  by streaming each time the user device  10  is booted up. The process P 2  of implementing the content transmission protocol comprises: 
      a step  120  of transmitting a request RS from the user device  10  to the third-party device  30 , said request asking for the streaming of a content, and     a step  122  of streaming a content from the third-party device  30  to the user device  10  in response to said request.    

      In this second embodiment the content-playing process P 3  plays the streamed content as it is received by the user device  10 .  
      In this second embodiment, the content transmission protocol is based on the RTSP transport protocol. By way of example, the request RS points towards a known gateway in the network (for example, gateway  50  in  FIG. 1 ) and the gateway contains a redirection to a third-party device  30  where the content to be streamed is hosted.  
      Optionally, in this second embodiment, the streaming and playing processes P 2  and P 3  are forced to terminate as soon as the booting process P 1  is finished in order that the user may start using the user device  10 . In  FIG. 4 , this forced termination of processes P 2  and P 3  is represented by an arrow  124 .  
       FIG. 5  gives a representation of a user device  10 . The user device  10  comprises: 
      a transmission/reception circuit  200  for transmission/reception via the network  20 ,     a display  202 ,     a user interface  204 ,     a content player  206  for playing content,     a microprocessor arrangemnent  208  which comprises a working memory  210 , a program memory  212  and a processor  214 , and     an interconnection bus  216 .    
      In the first embodiment of the invention, the user device  10  also comprises a content memory  220  for storing content, in particular the content that is to be played during booting. As this memory can be omitted in the second alternative embodiment of the invention, it is represented in broken lines.  
      The program memory  212  contains programs for controlling the operation of the user device  10  and, inter alia, a program PU (or a set of programs) for implementing the processes P 1 , P 2  and P 3  described above.  
       FIG. 6  is a block diagram of a third-party device  30 . It comprises: 
          a memory  300  for storing multimedia contents, in particular a content to be downloaded or streamed to user devices during their booting in order to be played by said user devices while they are booting,         transmission/reception means  310  for transmission/reception via the Web,     a microprocessor arrangement  320  which comprises a working memory  330 , a program memory  340  and a processor  350 , and     an interconnection bus  360 .    
      The program memory  320  contains programs for controlling the operation of the third-party device  30  and, inter alia, a program PT for implementing the process P 2  described above.  
      With respect to the user device, method, third-party device, system and programs described above, modifications or improvements may be proposed without departing from the scope of the invention. The invention is thus not limited to the examples provided.  
      Use of the verb “comprise” and its conjugations in the text and in the claims does not exclude the presence of means or steps other than those stated.  
      Use of the article “a” or “an” for designating an element or step does not exclude the presence of a plurality of such elements or steps.