Patent Grant
9886503
The present invention relates to a system and method for providing a broadcast radio service listener with the ability to generate a personalized radio channel playlist on a radio receiver from broadcast content as it is received. More specifically, the present invention relates to a system and method for buffering content selected from among the broadcast channels of a source stream(s) as they are received, and for generating a playback stream using the buffered content that provides a multi-channel listening experience to the user with preview, reverse, fast forward and other navigation functions for the buffered content.
On-line personalized radio service has demonstrated its appeal to music fans as evidenced by the continued growth of personalized radio service providers such as Pandora, LastFM and Slacker. These providers assemble personalized playlists for users by accessing a large music library where each song has a metadata field containing ratings on multiple stylistic parameters. A user inputs a preferred music style, and the provider's system extracts songs from the library for the playlist based on correlation to the song metadata field. Advantageously, users are provided with the capability to accelerate their discovery of new content which is largely aligned with their personal preferences, by skipping over content in the playlist which the user finds uninteresting.
A need exists for a personalized radio service using one or more broadcast services that provides personalized and updated content similar to conventional personalized radio services employing large music libraries, and that provides a spontaneous listening experience with greater opportunity for exposure to new music. A need exists for a live satellite radio offering with low cost hardware that does not require a large local song database to be built over time at a satellite receiver by recording content matches received over-the-air or via other broadcast method.
Conventional personalized radio services such as Pandora and Slacker enable users to set up different playlists for different genre preferences such as alternative, classical and comedy, but do not provide the capability to mix diverse personal content preferences into a single playlist. A need exists to expose users to diverse preferred content in a single continuous playlist without requiring manual interaction or forethought to change playlists or channels.
Satellite radio offers more than 100 channels of audio content. After initially exploring the content offering, subscribers typically narrow their listening choices to 10 or fewer favorite channels, which may be any combination of music and talk channels. For example, a subscriber may prefer listening to popular music and may preset 5 or 6 popular music channels on the radio, along with a comedy channel and news channel. With present radio receiver hardware, the subscriber is limited to listening to one channel at a time and therefore misses the opportunity to be exposed to content simultaneously broadcast on the other favorite channels. A need therefore exists for a satellite digital audio radio service (SDARS)-based personal radio service that provides the subscriber with an option to be exposed to content simultaneously broadcast on multiple channels selected for building a personalized radio channel playlist.
Conventional personalized radio services are disadvantageous in that user interaction with a computer is required to build the personalized playlist. A need exists for a personalized radio services that allows users who enjoy listening to music while driving to build a personalized radio channel playlist using a vehicle-installed radio receiver, thereby personalizing their received programming choices.
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention address at least the above problems and/or disadvantages and provide at least the advantages described below.
In accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a method and apparatus (e.g., a receiver) and computer readable code on a computer-readable medium are provided for generating a playlist from one or more received broadcast streams.
In accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a source stream comprising audio segments such as songs is transmitted to receivers. Metadata corresponding to each of the audio segments in the source stream is also transmitted to receivers. Filter data is generated at a receiver based on user inputs during playback of the received source stream that indicate preferred ones of the received audio segments. The filter data comprises metadata of the preferred received audio segments that is then used to extract other received audio segments having metadata that correlates with the filter data for generating the playlist.
In accordance with another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the intelligence to determine what music segments are to be in predetermined playback channel playlist(s) is provided at an uplink device, as opposed to a receiver determining if sufficient correlation exists between transmitted data channel metadata and filter data generated at the receiver based on user inputs.
In accordance with exemplary embodiments of the present invention, at least one of a title, artist and channel identifier for each of the audio segments in the playlist is displayed. A user can be provided with navigation control inputs to scroll forward and backward in the playlist to see the currently stored audio segments, and to select and playback the audio segments in the playlist. A user can also be provided with a user control input to select and store one of the audio segments in the playlist to a favorite song file in a non-volatile memory. In any event, a user can merely tune to the personalized radio channel playlist or Auto Track and listen to the corresponding buffered content, which has been extracted from plural channels in many instances, without requiring any navigation or channel selection if desired.
In accordance with another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, playlist configuration data can be stored comprising at least one of the filter data, and a playlist of audio segments generated using the filter data. The playlist configuration data can be transferred between at least two playback devices.
Other aspects, advantages, and salient features of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description, which, taken in conjunction with the annexed drawings, discloses exemplary embodiments of the invention.
The above and other aspects, features, and advantages of certain embodiments of the present invention will be more apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
Throughout the drawings, the same drawing reference numerals will be understood to refer to the same elements, features, and structures.
Several exemplary embodiments of the present invention are described herein. Briefly, the present invention provides a radio receiver configured to receive at least one broadcast stream comprising a plurality of different content channels. The radio receiver selects multiple channels from among the plurality of broadcast channels and buffers content from the selected channels as they are received simultaneously via the received broadcast stream(s). The buffered content is used to generate a personalized radio channel playlist that gives a listener a personalized, multiple-channel listening experience.
In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, the multiple selected channels are pre-selected and stored at the receiver (e.g., plural channels that provide a selected genre of music) to automatically generate a personalized playback channel playlist for the user without the user having to enter specific channels via a user interface on the receiver. In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, the multiple selected channels are specified by the user (e.g., a combination of favorite music channels and a news channel or comedy channel) via the receiver or another device that interfaces with the receiver. The channels in the broadcast streams can be transmitted at a real-time rate, or can be provided as fast channels that are broadcast at a rate that is n times faster than the real-time rate, which builds a buffer of personalized content at a rate faster than real-time rate.
In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, audio segments such as music segments on various ones of the plurality of broadcast channels can be selected (i.e., as opposed to predetermined channel selection) and stored at the receiver to automatically generate a personalized playback channel playlist. For example, and as described below in connection with
In any event, a user can merely tune to the personalized radio channel playlist or Auto Track and listen to the corresponding buffered content, which has been extracted from plural channels in many instances, without requiring any navigation or channel selection if desired. Additional embodiments of the present invention pertaining to buffer management, playlist navigation and management, customization and connectivity features, and content insertion are described below.
The exemplary embodiments are described herein with respect to a satellite digital audio radio service (SDARS) that is transmitted to the receivers by one or more satellites and/or terrestrial repeaters. It is to be understood that the source content stream(s) used to create a personalized radio channel playlist in accordance with the present invention can be broadcast using other content systems (e.g., other digital audio broadcast (DAB) systems or high definition (HD) radio systems), as well as other wireless or wired methods for signal transmission.
As illustrated in
With reference to
The BIC includes auxiliary information useful for services selection and non-real-time control. The present invention is characterized by the additional advantages of leveraging this auxiliary information, which is already available in an SDARS composite data stream, for additional beneficial uses. First, the auxiliary information comprises data (e.g., Program Associated Data (PAD) described below) to facilitate locating the beginnings of songs for buffering and locating dj segments for exclusion from the personalized channel. Second, the auxiliary information in the composite data stream (e.g., PAD) allows a multi-channel demultiplexer in the receiver 14 to locate and buffer the selected channels, as well as favorite songs from other non-selected channels. The auxiliary information also allows a multi-channel demultiplexer in the receiver 14 to exclude from the personalized channel any disliked songs identified by the listener. The auxiliary information that relates music genres, channels and songs/artists in an SDARS is therefore a readily available tool with which to navigate the diverse content provided via SDARS for achieving a personalized listening experience. By contrast, extensive metadata must be procured by providers of conventional personalized radio services to enable selection of content for a listener.
More specifically, the BIC can be used to display the station name of available services, a directory to the contents of the composite data stream, as well as PAD. PAD can comprise data associated with a channel such as a song name or label, artist name or label, service ID (SID), and program ID (PID), among other data. The service ID is an identifier (typically 8 bits) which is associated with a specific SDARS provider radio service (e.g., for XM Satellite Radio, the SID can identify service channels such as Top Tracks, CNN News, The Comedy Channel, and the like) and is used identify the specific service channel at the receivers 14. The program ID comprises data relating to the identity of a unique content segment such as a song on a specific CD, for example. Thus, a change in PID and/or PAD can indicate to a receiver 14 the beginning of a song for that channel and facilitate buffering of the song for the personalized radio channel.
The present invention is advantageous since the channels are partitioned into segments, and the beginnings of segments in the multiple selected channels are located for buffering to generate the personalized channel. Thus, complete segments or songs are buffered for playback on multiple, simultaneously received channels that have been selected to create the personalized radio channel playlist. This is in contrast with scanning operations on conventional radios that often bring a listener to the middle or near end of a song that had not been buffered.
As stated above, one (or more) of extracted and buffered channels can optionally be a favorite channel. More specifically, the radio receiver 14 is programmed to receive user inputs indicating favorite songs or artists and to save some of the auxiliary information for those songs and/or artists as user favorites data. For example, as described below, a radio receiver 14 can be provided with a Thumbs Up button 32 that a user can depress while listening to a song. The radio receiver 14, in turn, stores user favorites data comprising artist and/or song information obtained from the BIC pertaining to that song. In accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the radio receiver 14 monitors the BIC of the received stream(s) for content matching the user favorites data and then extracts and buffers the content for building the personalized radio channel playlist. The monitored channels encompass non-selected channels for the purpose of building the playlist and therefore increase the user's exposure to desirable content in the received source stream to beyond the selected multiple channels.
In accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the personalized channel playlist is generated by time division multiplexing the songs from up to six channels, for example, which enables the playlist to grow faster than real-time.
Assuming that radio receiver 14 start up has occurred or another personalized radio channel configuration has been selected just prior to T1, Song 1 on Ch. 40 has the first start time, followed by Song 1 on Ch. 49 and so on. These songs are preferably buffered by the radio receiver 14 in that order. Thus, at power on, the radio receiver 14 looks for a label change to indicate the start of a song on one of the multiple selected channels and begins building buffered playlist. After power down, the buffer is preferably erased. A flash memory 78 can be used to store buffered playlist segments from the most recent past use for retrieval at power up. A user can switch to another personalized radio channel configuration and start buffering for that selected configuration immediately without a power down operation. The newly buffered segments will overwrite those segments extracted using the previous personalized radio channel configuration.
With continued reference to
With reference to
The song list display screen in
As discussed in connection with
With continued reference to the control interface 22 illustrated in
In order to expose the user to each song being played on the subset of channels in the currently selected personalized radio configuration, songs or talk segments in the buffered playlist are truncated in order to reduce the average time each segment is played. For example, if the playlist has grown to 10 or more songs, each new song may be played for 45 seconds and then terminated so that the next song in the playlist can start. During the song, the user has the option to listen to the full song or back up in the playlist to listen to a previous song. A button 36 is provided to enable a user to select playback of a full-length version of the currently playing song. The user may be provided with an audible alert around 5 or 10 seconds before a song is terminated as a reminder to select playback of the full length version if desired. A user can opt to play full-length versions of all songs in the playlist but would either lose buffered content that is replaced with new content before being previewed or lose new content that could not be buffered when the buffer is full, depending on the buffer management implementation. When playing the full length version of the song, the user may optionally save the song to a separate favorite song file in non-volatile memory (not shown).
As shown in
For example, once the number of “next songs” (e.g., see songs queued after an active song in
In order to stop occasional repetition (e.g., buffering the same song being played on different channels), a duplicate filter can be deployed in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. Each time a song is listed in the playlist, the same song is added to a blocked song list stored in the radio receiver 14 for the next 10 songs or other predetermined number of songs. This insures at least 10 different songs are presented in the playlist between any 2 repeated songs.
With continued reference to
As stated above, an exemplary embodiment of the present invention uses selected content from a broadcast stream (e.g., satellite or terrestrial delivery) based on personalized settings to build a local personalized content database, that is, a user selects multiple channels from among all of the channels that are broadcast simultaneously in a source stream for simultaneous buffering in a personalized radio channel playlist in a radio receiver 14. Thus, a user is exposed to the content on the multiple channels as it is received.
Another embodiment of the present invention provides for the autogeneration of a personalized radio channel playlist based on selection of one of several offered genre-based multiple-channel personalized radio configurations. For example, the different genre-based multi-channel personalized radio configurations can be broadcast in a control data channel that is separate from the individual audio channel streams, where each configuration includes a list of individual channels for the radio receiver 14 to simultaneously extract. These preset configurations are presented to the subscriber as special “fast track” channels, such that the subscriber can “tune” to them without requiring additional interaction. A user can change between personalized radio configurations and the radio receiver 14 will immediately commence buffering based on the channels in the newly selected personalized radio configuration without requiring a power down operation.
In addition, an embodiment of the present invention allows a user to select which channels are to be included in a customized personalized radio configuration as opposed to using a preset configuration. One of the selected channels in the configuration can be a favorites channel, that is, songs or segments that are extracted from non-selected channels because they have been identified by the user as a favorite (e.g., using the thumbs up button 32 during a previous reception of the song or segment) and stored in a favorites list at the radio receiver 14. The radio receiver 14 is also configured to allow users to specify their favorite channels for building personalized radio channel playlists.
Users have the options of entering favorite song/segment and/or channel information via the user interface 22 on the radio receiver 14 or via a personal computer 46 to which the radio receiver 14 can be connected in accordance with other embodiments of the present invention that facilitate customization of personalized radio channel configurations and sharing of customized playlist building configurations and favorites information (e.g., with friends and family members who enjoy similar broadcast content and may want to build similar personalized radio channels). With reference to
For example, a direct USB connection 48 can be provided between the radio receiver 14 and the PC 46. This is particularly useful if the radio receiver 14 is portable. A radio receiver 14 that is a dedicated car-installed unit can have a removable flash memory card 80 (e.g., a micro SD card) on which customized personalized radio configuration information is stored and corresponding interface. The micro SD card can then be used with a PC 46 or other car-installed radio receiver 14. Further, wireless technology 47 such as WiFi, WiMax and cellular interfaces can be used to call a radio receiver 14 with customized personalized radio information, and to scan and receive the configuration information for uploading through the wireless-enabled radio receiver 14 to a PC 46 or other player. The radio receiver 14 can optionally be connected wirelessly to a server 52. The channel configurations can be transferred or synchronized between the PC 46 and the radio receiver 14 as needed.
In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, a web interface can be provided with user screens to allow users to create configurations and lists of favorite artists and songs for building a personalized radio channel that can be transferred to a device using, for example, a direct USB interface 48 or microSD card 50 or other portable memory device.
An “Edit Song Filters” window (not shown) can be displayed when the Edit Song Filters option is selected in the window depicted in
In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, the web interface 46 can be used to provide listener's audit information to the programming center 20. For example, patterns of listeners can be determined based on their selected configurations (e.g., music-genres, thumbs up/down operations 32, 34 and corresponding favorites and banned segments lists) which can be uploaded from their PCs 46 to the programming center 20 via the web.
As stated above, the present invention allows users to build personalized radio channel playlists from selected channels in one or more broadcast source streams such as an SDARS transmission.
An exemplary receiver 14 is depicted in
With further reference to
The RAM 76 connected to the system controller 68 in
With further reference to
With continued reference to
A RAM 76 for providing a multi-channel memory in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention is shown in
In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, predetermined personalized channel configurations can be broadcast to receivers 14 and presented to users to simplify accessibility to the service. BIC messages 88 can have different formats and functions. The BIC can be used, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, to send different personalized channel configurations to receivers 14 (e.g., a different group of preselected channels that constitute a preset personalized channel configuration). An exemplary BIC message 88, that is, a broadcast multi-channel configuration message, is shown in
Header 90: a message header identifying the message 88 as a multi-channel definition message;
M-Chan Number 91: the channel number to tune the radio receiver 14 to in order to receive this playlist configuration;
M-Chan Name 92: the name to display for this playlist configuration;
nSID 93: the number n of Service IDs (SID) or channels to simultaneously extract to build this playlist;
SIDx 94: each service listed separately which is to be extracted;
nFLT−95: the number of specific songs or artists to exclude from the playlist for this configuration
FLT-x 96: each specific song or artist listed separately which will be excluded from the playlist (note: this field may be in the form of song/artist IDs or in text format);
nFLT+97: the number of specific songs or artists which will be used to search other channels (e.g., if one of these songs or artists are found on another channel, that song or artist will be extracted and added to the playlist); and
FLT+x 98: each specific song or artist listed separately for the background channel search (note: this field may be in the form of song/artist IDs or in text format).
With reference to
Additional exemplary embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to
In accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the data channel(s) 100 in
The descriptive metadata for the active songs in the source stream is used with filter data created based on user preference inputs to identify, extract and store songs from the source stream(s) for generating the personalized radio channel playlist. For example, a subscriber can build a personalized music filter with simple input commands such as by pressing thumbs up or thumbs down keys (e.g., keys 32 and 34 shown in
The filter data preferably consists of the descriptive metadata for the tagged song, that is, the song being played back from the received stream that prompted the user to indicate approval or disapproval of the song using the programmed existing control buttons or dedicated buttons such as the keys 32 and 34. The metadata for all active songs in a broadcast stream (e.g., the 70 music channels among the 100 or so channels of audio content provided via an exemplary SDARS) is correlated with the filter data. If the correlation factor exceeds a predetermined threshold, the song is saved to a personalized channel buffer as described above in connection with
In addition, correlating the descriptive metadata of active songs in a source stream with filter data is preferably performed as the music segments in the plurality of multiplexed audio program channels of the source stream(s) are being received. Further, generating the playlist preferably comprises contemporaneously multiplexing and storing the music segments, whose correlation factors exceed a selected threshold, as they are received.
A user or subscriber preferably tunes the receiver 14 to a personalized channel to hear the filtered buffered songs that constitute the playlist. The buffered songs are preferably cleared on each power cycle of the receiver 14. As stated above, the buffered playlist songs are preferably stored as of their respective start times in the source stream. Audio segments comprising “DJ chatter” are preferably not stored in the playlist buffer. The buffered songs that constitute the playlist are preferably added and dropped on a FIFO basis and can be navigated by the user, as described above.
The database of metadata is preferably stored so as to be accessible by an uplink facility or other transmission system(s) for the source stream(s) such as the programming center 20 in
The descriptive metadata can be implemented a number of different ways. The descriptive metadata is preferably musical metadata that comprises at least some song bibliographic attributes (e.g., artist, length) and at least some song composition attributes or features (e.g., genre, form, style, tempo, arrangement or composition, key, instrumentation, melody, harmony, rhythm, and so on). For example, a descriptive metadata database can be purchased from a commercial source such as AMG or All Media Guide or from another source, in which case the metadata database is immediately available for integration with audio content library. Such a metadata database is updated as needed as new material becomes available for transmission. Alternatively, a custom descriptive metadata database can be created by purchasing song characterization software and using it for each of the songs in the library, in which case characterization data for new material is immediately available that might not otherwise be if a commercially-available metadata database were used instead. The filter data created in response to user inputs at the receiver 14 can be all or a subset of the metadata attributes available for content in the metadata database.
Exemplary data channel 100 bandwidth requirements will now be discussed. The descriptive metadata contents for each song can be selected such that 25 features or attributes are used with 4 bytes needed per feature (i.e., 800 bits). Thus, a song metadata message that can be created and sent via the channel 100 can have a length of 850 bits allowing for overhead bits. In an exemplary SDARS system, messages are sent for the 70 music channels and songs are assumed to change approximately every 3.5 minutes. Accordingly, average bandwidth for descriptive metadata for 70 songs concurrently in the multiplexed program channels of the source stream is (850 bits×70)/(3.5×60 sec) or 284 bits per second (bps). To accommodate retransmissions and peak loads, a bandwidth for the descriptive metadata for all music channels is preferably at least 2 kbps.
In accordance with another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the intelligence of determining what songs are to be included in the playlist is bounded to the uplink or transmission facility (e.g., programming center 20) and not the receiver 14. This embodiment simplifies receiver 14 implementation, and the uplink or transmission system can be upgraded over time to implement new algorithms for selecting songs for the playlist.
For example, the programming center 20 can select custom program channel playlists (herein after referred to as “Auto Tracks” or simply “Tracks”) based programming team's definitions. Based on these definitions, the uplink or transmission system 20 monitors songs on all channels that will be broadcast or otherwise transmitted on source stream(s) ahead of time (e.g., a few minutes before transmission) and determines which songs meet the definitions for a particular one or more Auto Tracks. The uplink or transmission system then composes and broadcasts or otherwise sends control messages to the receivers 14 that identify the songs for each Track. The broadcast control messages are preferably transmitted on the data channel 100 that is separate from the program channels as shown in
The receivers 14 receive and process these Track control messages. If a listener or user has selected a specific Track for playback, the receiver 14 buffers and plays the songs that belong to that Track as indicated by the control messages into a playlist buffer in a manner described above in connection with
The Auto Tracks can be based on themes or celebrity musician names such as a mostly Rock theme with primarily songs sampled from the Rock genre, along with some songs from a current Hits list and a few songs from a Jazz genre. A celebrity's picks can also be used as a theme for selected songs for a selected playlist at the receivers 14. For example, an Auto Track can be defined at the programming center 20 to be “Dylan's Picks,” that is, if Bob Dylan were listening to music such as an SDARS service, what song would he be listening to? Based on the songs that meet the defined theme or celebrity preference, other songs with similar characteristics or attributes can be located within the source stream using, for example, descriptive metadata.
Algorithms for song selection (hereinafter referred to as the “Uplink Song Picker”) are preferably employed at the uplink or transmission system, as opposed to the receivers 14. The algorithms can be based on such industry technology as that provided by Pandora internet radio, the Music Genome Project, and other similar music analysis and selection services for locating music to meet users' preferences. As stated above, a database can be employed that contains the metadata for the song picker algorithm technology of choice. For Celebrity-based Tracks, the Uplink Song Picker is trained for each celebrity for whom an Auto Track is offered at the receivers 14. In other words, a celebrity can sit down for an hour or so on an uplink facility programming console and select favorite songs from the SDARS service library containing songs and other audio content available for transmission database. The song picker algorithm then selects other songs based on this initial input. In essence, this initial input can be the initial generation of a filter for that Auto Track that is similar to the filter described above, only it is generated for use at the uplink or transmitter and not the receiver 14. The metadata or characterization data of the filter can then be correlated with metadata provided (e.g., from a database) for each song in the source stream to determine if the definition or criterion for an Auto Track is met. In addition, the uplink song picker can be passive or proactive. In other words, the uplink song picket can be passive and simply monitor songs being transmitted on the program channels to determine if any songs met the Auto Track definitions or criteria. Alternatively, the uplink song picker can be extended to influence song selection on of the program channels in a proactive manner. For example, if no songs selected for transmission met any of the Auto Track criteria, then the uplink song picker can select one or more songs that do met the criteria for at least one Auto Track and request that it be inserted or programmed on a program channel for transmission.
Exemplary data channel bandwidth requirements for the broadcast control messages will now be described. The total number of Auto Tracks is preferably bounded to an upper limit such as 32. The Track song titles change over time, along with the songs selected and transmitted in the programmed channels of the source stream(s). A selected amount of information is used to identify each song that is determine to meet the definition for a particular Auto Track. For example, 10 bytes of information can be used per song designated for an Auto Track, including Auto Track ID, Program ID, SID, Time Window, and so on. In an exemplary SDARS system, there are 70 music channels and songs are assumed to change approximately every 3.5 minutes. Accordingly, average bandwidth for a broadcast control message can be (80 bits×70)/(3.5×60 sec) or 27 bps, assuming that 70 songs concurrently in the multiplexed program channels of the source stream meet the definition of at least one Auto Track. To accommodate retransmissions and peak loads, at least 200 bps of bandwidth is allocated for broadcast control messages. If the Song Picker determines that more than one concurrent song (e.g., current songs on different program channels) in the source stream have descriptive metadata that meet the definition of the same Auto Track, either all of an upper limit of the songs are included in the broadcast control message for buffering in the playlist for that Auto Track or only the song with the greater correlation factor is used.
It is to be understood that the present invention can also be embodied as computer-readable codes on a computer-readable recording medium. The computer-readable recording medium is any data storage device that can store data which can thereafter be read by a computer system. Examples of the computer-readable recording medium include, but are not limited to, read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory (RAM), CD-ROMs, magnetic tapes, floppy disks, optical data storage devices, and carrier waves (such as data transmission through the Internet via wired or wireless transmission paths). The computer-readable recording medium can also be distributed over network-coupled computer systems so that the computer-readable code is stored and executed in a distributed fashion. Also, functional programs, codes, and code segments for accomplishing the present invention can be easily construed as within the scope of the invention by programmers skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains.
While the invention has been shown and described with reference to a certain embodiment thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Consequently, the scope of the invention should not be limited to the embodiment, but should be defined by the appended claims and equivalents thereof.
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/US2008/014013 | 12/23/2008 | WO | 00 | 6/22/2010 |
| Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| WO2009/070343 | 6/4/2009 | WO | A |
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