Patent Application
20090268754
The present invention relates to communication networks, and more particularly, to providing interoperability for electronic devices via communication networks.
Electronic devices, such as televisions, personal computers, and mobile terminals, increasingly provide access to a variety of communications, multimedia, and/or data processing capabilities. For example, Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA)-compliant digital media devices are becoming more and more common in many homes. DLNA-compliant digital media devices may be configured to store, render, and/or otherwise provide access to digital media content, such as audio, video, and/or image files, in accordance with open industry standards specified by the DLNA. Such devices are typically connected on a local network, and may be configured to communicate using standardized protocols, such as the Universal Plug-and-Play (UPnP) protocol. In particular, the DLNA standard may represent the higher level content negotiation and sharing portion of the broader UPnP standard, which may deal with the lower level intercommunications between disparate networked devices.
The DLNA Interoperability Guidelines may specify that all DLNA-compliant devices have an Ethernet, Wi-Fi, or Bluetooth network interface, use TCP/IP for networking, and implement HTML and SOAP for media transport and management. Media Formats may also be specified. For example, JPEG, LPCM, and MPEG2 support may be specified for image, audio, and video devices respectively. A typical DLNA-complaint home setup may include a digital media server (DMS), a digital media renderer (DMR), and a digital media control point (DMC). The DMC, DMS, and DMR may be configured to communicate with one another using the UPnP protocol via a network. The DMS may be configured to store digital multimedia content, such as audio, video, and/or image files. The DMR may be configured to render or playback the digital multimedia data on an output device, such as a stereo or television. The DMC may be configured to coordinate and/or control operations of the DMS and/or DMR. For example, the DMC may browse the DMS to find available digital audio, video, and/or image content, and may display a listing of the available content on its graphical user interface (GUI). In response to receiving a selection of the available content from a user, the DMC may transmit a command to the DMR indicating the user's selection. The DMR may thereby fetch the indicated media from the DMS (for example, as a continuous stream), and the media may be rendered on a stereo or monitor connected to the output of the DMR. Accordingly, a network including DLNA-compliant media devices may provide a seamless environment for sharing digital media content and/or services.
According to some embodiments of the present invention, a method of controlling operations of a plurality of digital media devices on a network that are configured to communicate using a first communications protocol includes establishing a wireless connection between a mobile terminal and a digital media control point device. The digital media control point device is configured to communicate with the plurality of digital media devices via the network using the first communications protocol. A command to control an operation of at least one of the plurality of digital media devices is transmitted from the mobile terminal to the digital media control point device via the wireless connection using a second communications protocol that is different from the first communications protocol.
In some embodiments, the mobile terminal may not be configured for communication using the first communications protocol.
In other embodiments, the first and second communications protocols may correspond to a same layer of an Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model. The second communications protocol may include a reduced set of commands in comparison to that of the first communications protocol.
In some embodiments, wireless communication between the mobile terminal and the digital media control point device may be established using an application program interface (API) based on the second communications protocol. The second communications protocol may include commands that correlate to commands defined by the first communications protocol.
In other embodiments, the first communications protocol may be a Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA)-compliant application layer protocol, and the second communications protocol may be a non-DLNA-compliant application layer protocol.
In some embodiments, data may be received from the digital media control point device via the wireless connection using the second communications protocol in response to transmitting the command.
In other embodiments, the command from the mobile terminal may be received at the digital media control point device via the wireless connection using the second communications protocol. The received command may be correlated to a corresponding command in accordance with the first communications protocol, and the corresponding command may be transmitted to the at least one of the plurality of digital media devices via the network using the first communications protocol.
In some embodiments, data from the at least one of the plurality of digital media devices may be received at the digital media control point device via the network using the first communications protocol in response to transmitting the corresponding command. A portion of the received data may be extracted, and the portion of the received data may be transmitted from the digital media control point device to the mobile terminal via the wireless connection using the second communications protocol in response to receiving the command.
In other embodiments, the plurality of digital media devices may include at least one digital media server (DMS) configured to store digital media content and/or at least one digital media renderer (DMR) configured to render the digital media content on an output device.
According to other embodiments of the present invention, a method for controlling operations of a plurality of digital media devices on a network that are configured to communicate using a first communications protocol includes establishing a wireless connection between a digital media control point device and a mobile terminal. The digital media control point device is configured to communicate with the plurality of digital media devices via the network using the first communications protocol. A command to control an operation of at least one of the plurality of digital media devices is received at the digital media control point device from the mobile terminal via the wireless connection using a second communications protocol that is different from the first communications protocol. The received command is correlated to a corresponding command in accordance with the first communications protocol, and the corresponding command is transmitted to the at least one of the plurality of digital media devices via the network using the first communications protocol.
According to further embodiments of the present invention, a mobile terminal includes a wireless transceiver configured to establish a wireless connection with a digital media control point device. The digital media control point device is configured to communicate with a plurality of digital media devices via a network using a first communications protocol. The mobile terminal further includes a controller configured to transmit a command to control an operation of at least one of the plurality of digital media devices to the digital media control point device via the wireless connection using a second communications protocol that is different from the first communications protocol.
According to still further embodiments of the present invention, a digital media control point device includes a transceiver configured to establish a wireless connection between the digital media control point device and a mobile terminal. The digital media control point device is configured to communicate with a plurality of digital media devices via a network using a first communications protocol. The digital media control point device further includes a processor configured to receive a command to control an operation of at least one of the plurality of digital media devices from the mobile terminal via the wireless connection using a second communications protocol that is different from the first communications protocol. The processor is also configured to correlate the received command to a corresponding command in accordance with the first communications protocol, and transmit the corresponding command to the at least one of the plurality of digital media devices via the network using the first communications protocol.
Although described above primarily with respect to method and device aspects of the present invention, it will be understood that the present invention may be embodied as methods, devices, and/or computer program products.
The present invention now will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which illustrated embodiments of the invention are shown. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout.
The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless expressly stated otherwise. It should be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising” when used in this specification is taken to specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but does not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. It will be understood that when an element is referred to as being “connected” or “coupled” to another element, it can be directly connected or coupled to the other element or intervening elements may be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directly coupled” or “directly connected” to another element, there are no intervening elements present. Furthermore, “connected” or “coupled” as used herein may include wirelessly connected or coupled. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items, and may be abbreviated as “/”.
It will also be understood that, although the terms first, second, etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another. For example, a first communications protocol could be termed a second communications protocol, and, similarly, a second communications protocol could be termed a first communications protocol without departing from the teachings of the disclosure.
As will be appreciated by one of skill in the art, the present invention may be embodied as methods, devices, and/or computer program products. Accordingly, the present invention may be embodied in hardware and/or in software (including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.). Computer program code for carrying out operations of devices and/or systems discussed herein may be written in a high-level programming language, such as Java, C, and/or C++, for development convenience. In addition, computer program code for carrying out operations of embodiments of the present invention may also be written in other programming languages, such as, but not limited to, interpreted languages. Some modules or routines may be written in assembly language or even micro-code to enhance performance and/or memory usage. It will be further appreciated that the functionality of any or all of the program modules may also be implemented using discrete hardware components, one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), or a programmed digital signal processor or microcontroller. The program code may execute entirely on a single processor and/or across multiple processors, as a stand-alone software package or as part of another software package. The program code may execute entirely on an electronic device or only partly on the electronic device and partly on another device. In the latter scenario, the other device may be connected to the electronic device through a wired and/or wireless local area network (LAN) and/or wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider).
Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art and/or the present specification and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.
For purposes of illustration, some embodiments of the present invention are described herein in the context of a mobile terminal. As used herein, the term “mobile terminal” or “mobile electronic device” may include conventional cell phones, Personal Communications Systems (PCS)/smart phones that may include data processing, voice, video, text message, e-mail and/or Web access capabilities, Personal Digital Assistants (PDA) with wireless communications capabilities, wireless pagers, Blackberry wireless handheld e-mail devices, radios, and/or other portable electronic devices, but may exclude laptop and/or palmtop computers. Also, “digital media devices” include electronic devices configured to store, render, and/or otherwise provide access to digital media content, such as audio, video, and/or image files.
Some embodiments of the present invention may arise from realization that, while conventional digital media control point devices may communicate short commands to other passive digital media devices on a network according to standards established by the Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA), they typically do not transmit and/or receive the multimedia data traffic stored on the other passive digital media devices. Accordingly, some embodiments of the present invention provide methods and devices for allowing mobile terminals, such as mobile phones, to provide limited functionality as a digital media control point device. In particular, some embodiments of the present invention enable a mobile terminal to act as a remote control for digital media devices using a proprietary application program interface (API) between the mobile terminal and an external DLNA-compliant digital media control point device. Such mobile terminals offer a user interface (UI) and include sufficient computational power to communicate short commands and/or data to the digital media control point device, and may allow a user to move around in the home without constraint. As such, a non-DLNA compliant mobile terminal may be used to control all DLNA-compliant networked digital media devices in a home.
Some problems addressed by some embodiments of the present invention as discussed in detail below include power consumption (a mobile device implementing full DMC functionality may consume energy even in passive state, since it may constantly communicate with the devices on the network to be aware of changes), processor power (a DMC may require greater computational power due to additional network communications), new software (a mobile device implementing full DMC functionality may require a new network stack), and memory (the added DMC stack may consume a large portion of the limited memory on the mobile device, including RAM and/or flash memory). Accordingly, some embodiments of the present invention provide mobile terminals that are configured to act as resource-efficient remote control points for networked digital media devices.
The DMS 160 is a server that is configured to store digital media content, such as audio, video, and/or image data. The DMS 160 is configured to transmit selected media content to other devices on the network 130. Where more than one DMS 160 is present on the network 130, each DMS may have a unique and/or permanent identification, which can be used to select a particular server. The DMR 170 is configured to render the selected digital media content via the output device 145, such as a television, monitor, stereo, and/or other audio/video presentation device. When more than one DMR 170 is present on the network 130, each DMR may likewise have a unique and/or permanent identification that can be used to select a particular renderer. The DMC 150 is configured to coordinate and/or control operations of the DMS 160 and/or DMR 170 via the network 130. While illustrated in
The DMC 150, the DMS 160, and the DMR 170 are DLNA-compliant devices configured to communicate via the network 130 using a DLNA-compliant communications protocol. For example, the DMC 150, the DMS 160, and the DMR 170 may be configured to communicate using the UPnP AV (Audio and Video) protocol. The DLNA stack on the DMC 150 may be built up by UPnP, and as such, may use protocols including HTTP (Layer 5 of the OSI model), XML, SOAP (Layer 5 of the OSI model), SSDP (Layer 5 of the OSI model), UDP (Layer 4 of the OSI model), TCP (Layer 4 of the OSI model), and/or other protocols above the IP layer (also referred to herein as the network layer, corresponding to Layer 3 of the OSI model). In some embodiments, the DLNA stack may be situated in higher layers, such as Layer 6 (also referred to herein as the presentation layer) and/or Layer 7 (also referred to herein as the application layer) of the OSI model. Accordingly, in particular embodiments of the present invention, the DMC 150, the DMS 160, and the DMR 170 may be configured to communicate using a DLNA-compliant application layer protocol.
In contrast, the mobile terminal 125 is a non-DLNA-compliant device, and thus, is not configured for higher-layer communication using a DLNA-compliant communications protocol. As such, some embodiments of the present invention provide an Application Program Interface (API) configured to provide communication between the non-DLNA-compliant mobile terminal 125 and the DLNA-compliant DMC 150 and/or other devices. The API may be based on a different application-layer communications protocol than that used for application-layer communication between the DMC 150 and the DMS 160 and/or the DMR 170. For example, the API may be based on a proprietary ‘lightweight' application layer communications protocol, which may be better suited for small mobile electronic devices having limited memory, battery life, and/or processor power. In particular, the proprietary protocol may have a reduced set of commands in comparison with DLNA-compliant application layer protocols. The mobile terminal 125 may thereby include a relatively small client application that governs the API and the user interface for communication with the DMC 150, and the DMC 150 may execute the commands received from the mobile terminal 125, as discussed in detail below. As such, the more extensive and resource-consuming higher-layer DLNA-compliant protocols are not implemented on the mobile terminal 125.
Accordingly, the API may be used to establish wireless communication between the mobile terminal 125 and the DMC 150. For example, the API communication may be used over a socket-based interface that specifies a particular network address and a port number for communication with the DMC 150, and both the mobile terminal 125 and the DMC 150 may include a wireless local area network interface transceiver that is configured to establish the wireless connection 105 based on the specified network address and port number. The network address and port number may be found, for example, using a UDP broadcast discovery mechanism. In other embodiments, however, the API may not be socket-based. The wireless local area network interface transceiver may be provided, for instance, according to a Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11) and/or a Bluetooth standard. In addition, Near Field Communication (NFC) and Bluetooth pairing may be used to establish the wireless connection 105. The mobile terminal 125 and the DMC 150 may also include an infrared (IR) transceiver configured to establish the wireless connection 105 using an infrared coupling. In some embodiments, the wireless connection 105 may be an ad hoc connection that is established directly between the mobile terminal 125 and the DMC 150. However, in other embodiments, the wireless connection 105 may be established over the network 130 via a router and/or access point.
Using the wireless connection 105, the mobile terminal 125 transmits commands to the DMC 150 in accordance with the non-DLNA compliant communications protocol. The commands specify control of operations of one or more of the DLNA-compliant media devices 160 and 170 on the network 130. For example, the commands may be short commands provided according to a proprietary communications protocol to browse the available digital media content on one or more digital media servers 160 on the network, to select one(s) of the available digital media content for playback, and/or to select a particular digital media renderer 170 and/or an output device 145 connected thereto for playback. The commands may further include specific commands to control operation of the selected renderer 170 and/or output device 145, such as play, stop, pause, rewind, fast forward, skip forward, skip backward, set volume, get current DMR status, get events (from the current selected DMS and/or DMR), ask if DMR can play specific content, configure DMR (e.g., resolution, audio quality, equalizer mode, etc.), and/or other short commands. The DMC 150 executes the commands received from the mobile terminal 125 via the wireless connection 105 using its protocol stack. More particularly, the DMC 150 converts or correlates the received non-DLNA compliant commands to corresponding commands in accordance with the DLNA-complaint protocol used for communication with the other digital media devices on the network 130, and transmits the corresponding commands to the specified one(s) of the digital media devices on the network 130 using the DLNA-compliant protocol. As such, the mobile terminal 125 may forward relatively short commands to the DMC 150 via the wireless connection 105 using a proprietary and/or otherwise non-DLNA compliant protocol, rather than implementing the relatively large DLNA protocol stack on the mobile terminal 125.
For example, the DMC 150 may receive a command from the mobile terminal 125 in accordance with a non-DLNA compliant protocol via the wireless connection 105 to browse the available digital media content on the DMS 160. In response to the received command, the DMC 150 may transmit a corresponding command to the DMS 160 via the network 130 using the DLNA-compliant protocol, and in response, may receive data from the DMS 160 listing the available digital media stored on the DMS 160 using the DLNA-compliant protocol. The DMS 150 may then transmit the received data (or a portion thereof) to the mobile terminal 125 via the wireless connection 105 using the non-DLNA compliant protocol in response to receiving the command from the mobile terminal 125, and the mobile terminal 125 may display a listing of the digital media content available on the DMS 160. If the DMC 150 fails to receive the requested data from the DMS 160, the DMC 150 may reply to the mobile terminal 125 with an error code (stating the type of failure) and/or additional data (such as a list of other available servers) in accordance with the non-DLNA compliant protocol.
In some embodiments, the DMC 150 may be configured to aggregate network information and forward only necessary data to the mobile terminal 125 using the non-DLNA compliant protocol to improve resource efficiency. For example, the DMC 150 may pare-down and/or extract portions of the data received from the DMS 160 for transmission to the mobile terminal 125 to comply with the power, processing, and/or memory constraints of the mobile terminal 125. In particular, in the above example, the DMC 150 may extract metadata that indicates the available digital media content stored in the DMS 160, and may transmit only the metadata to the mobile terminal 125 in response to receiving the browse command. Also, the DMC 150 may be configured to transmit up-to-date state data to the mobile terminal 125 only in response to receiving a command and/or request therefrom, rather than constantly forwarding status and/or other information received from the network devices 160 and/or 170. Thus, as data may only be received at the mobile terminal 125 in response to transmission of a request and/or command, power consumption of the mobile terminal 125 may be reduced.
Accordingly, some embodiments of the present invention as illustrated by the system 100 of
Although
The transceiver 225 may include a transmitter circuit 250 and a receiver circuit 245, which respectively transmit outgoing radio frequency signals and receive incoming radio frequency signals via the antenna 265. The radio frequency signals may include both traffic and control signals (e.g., paging signals/messages for incoming calls), which may be used to establish and maintain communication with another party or destination. The transceiver 225 further includes a wireless local area network interface transceiver configured to establish a wireless client-server connection, such as an ad hoc wireless connection, with a digital media device, such as the digital media control point (DMC) 150 of
The controller 240 is coupled to the transceiver 225, the memory 230, the speaker 238, and the user interface 255. The controller 240 may be, for example, a commercially available or custom microprocessor configured to coordinate and manage operations of the transceiver 225, the memory 230, the speaker 238, and/or the user interface 255. The memory 230 may represent a hierarchy of memory that may include volatile and/or nonvolatile memory, such as removable flash, magnetic, and/or optical rewritable nonvolatile memory. The memory 230 may be configured to store several categories of software, such as an operating system, application programs, and input/output (I/O) device drivers. The operating system controls the management and/or operation of mobile terminal resources, and may coordinate execution of programs by the controller 240. The I/O device drivers typically include software routines accessed through the operating system by the application programs to communicate with input/output devices. The application programs implement various features according to embodiments of the present invention, and preferably include at least one remote control point application 222 which supports operations for establishing a wireless connection and communicating with a digital media control point (DMC) via the transceiver 225, as well as operations for providing a graphical user interface (GUI) used to remotely control digital media devices on a network.
More particularly, still referring to
In some embodiments, the remote control point application 222 including the networking socket API and the GUI may be implemented as a standalone application that can be installed in the memory 230 of the mobile terminal 200. More particularly, the memory 230 may include a Java Virtual Machine that provides access to native device functionality, and may allow for development of standalone applications, also referred to as MIDlets. As such, the remote control application 222 may be installed as a standard MIDlet in the memory of the mobile terminal 230. However, in other embodiments, the remote control point application 222 can be implemented/installed in the memory of other non-DLNA compliant devices, such as a non-DLNA complaint PC.
Further operations of the mobile terminal 200 of
Still referring to
Although
The processor 340 is coupled to the transceiver 325 and the memory 330. The processor 340 may be, for example, a commercially available or custom microprocessor that is configured to coordinate and manage operations of the transceiver 325 and/or the memory 330. The memory 330 may represent a hierarchy of memory that may include volatile and/or nonvolatile memory, such as removable flash, magnetic, and/or optical rewritable nonvolatile memory. The memory 330 may be configured to store several categories of software, such as an operating system 352, applications programs 362, and input/output (I/O) device drivers 372. The operating system 352 controls the management and/or operation of the resources of the DMC 300 and may coordinate execution of programs by the processor 340. The I/O device drivers 372 typically include software routines accessed through the operating system 352 by the application programs 362 to communicate with input/output devices. The application programs 362 are illustrative of programs that implement various features according to embodiments of the present invention.
Still referring to
The API is based on a different communications protocol than those specified by the DLNA standard. For example, the API may be a socket-based, command-driven interface that is based on a proprietary communications protocol having a reduced set of commands in comparison with DLNA-compliant protocols corresponding to the same layer of the OSI model. The reduced set of commands may include short commands to find servers and/or renderers in the network, to select and browse the available media content of a particular server, to select a renderer for playback, and/or to control the playback by the renderer. Such short commands may include, for example, play, stop, pause, rewind, fast forward, skip forward, skip backward, set volume commands, get current DMR status, get events (from the current selected DMS and/or DMR), ask if DMR can play specific content, configure DMR (e.g., resolution, audio quality, equalizer mode, etc.), and/or other short commands. As such, the mobile terminal interface 322 of the DMC 300 may receive commands from the mobile terminal in accordance with the non-DLNA compliant protocol, and the processor 340 may execute the received commands at the DMC 300. The conversion from the proprietary API to the DLNA-compliant protocol is performed by the mobile terminal interface 322 at the same OSI level or layer as the DLNA stack. Thus, the more resource-intensive DLNA-compliant protocols are not implemented on the mobile terminal.
Further operations of the DMC 300 of
Still referring to
Although
The command from the mobile terminal is received at the DMC via the wireless connection using the non-DLNA compliant protocol at block 615. The received command is correlated to a corresponding command in accordance with a DLNA compliant protocol at block 620, and is transmitted to one or more specified digital media devices via the network using the DLNA compliant protocol at block 625. In some embodiments, the DMC may include a proprietary application program interface (API) that provides communication between the non-DLNA compliant mobile terminal and the DLNA compliant DMC. For example, where the command from the mobile terminal is a request to browse available media content, the corresponding DLNA-compliant command is transmitted from the DMC to one or more digital media servers via the network using the DLNA compliant protocol. Alternatively, where the command from the mobile terminal specifies playback of selected media content, a corresponding DLNA compliant command is transmitted from the DMC to a DMR via the network using the DLNA compliant protocol, and the DMR fetches the selected media content from a specified DMS for playback on an output device connected to the DMR. As such, execution of the command from the mobile terminal is performed at the DMC, as the mobile terminal does not implement the more comprehensive DLNA compliant protocol.
In response to transmitting the corresponding DLNA compliant command, data from the specified digital media device(s) is received at the DMC via the network using the DLNA compliant protocol at block 630. For example, where the original command from the mobile terminal was a request to browse available media content stored on a specified DMS, a list of available songs and/or movies stored at the specified DMS may be received from the DMS at the DMC. Alternatively, where the original command from the mobile terminal was a request to playback specified media content, a confirmation of the playback may be received from the specified DMR at the DMC. At block 635, a portion of the received data from the specified digital media device(s) may be extracted by the DMC, and the extracted portion of the received data may be transmitted to the mobile terminal via the wireless connection using the non-DLNA compliant protocol at block 640. For example, where the received data from a DMS includes a list of available songs and/or movies stored at the DMS, the DMC may extract metadata representing the available songs and/or movies, and may transmit only the metadata to the mobile terminal. Accordingly, only needed data may be transmitted to the mobile terminal, in accordance with the memory, battery power, and/or processor limitations of the mobile terminal. The portion of the received data is transmitted from the DMC to the mobile terminal at block 640 in response to the command received from the mobile terminal at block 615. As such, battery life of the mobile terminal may be conserved, as responses from the DMC may be received only in response to transmitting a command from the mobile terminal at block 610.
The data from the DMC is received at the mobile terminal at block 645, and is displayed via a display of the mobile terminal at block 650. For example, where the original command from the mobile terminal at block 610 was a request to browse available media content on a particular DMS, metadata representing the available media content on the specified DMS is received from the DMC at block 645 and is displayed on the mobile terminal at block 650. Alternatively, where the original command from the mobile terminal was a request to play specified media content, data indicating confirmation of the requested playback is received from the DMC at block 645, and feedback indicating successful execution of the command is displayed at block 650. Additional data may also be displayed, if requested. Thus, a non-DLNA compliant mobile terminal may be used to control a number of DLNA compliant digital media devices by transmitting commands to a DMC connected to the DLNA compliant digital media devices via a network.
Accordingly, some embodiments of the present invention may allow a mobile terminal with limited functionality, such as a mobile phone, to control multiple digital media devices on a network via a digital media control point (DMC). The mobile terminal does not implement full DMC functionality, but rather, includes a relatively small Remote Control Point application that governs the socket API and the user interface. In other words, the DMC software stack is not implemented on the mobile terminal, which may save development resources.
Thus, some embodiments of the present invention may offer several advantages in comparison to existing technologies, since the Remote Control Point application may be more resource-efficient as compared to implementing the full DMC on the mobile terminal. For example, the power consumption of a mobile terminal implementing the Remote Control Point application may be reduced as compared to implementing full DMC functionality on the mobile terminal, which may be especially important due to the limitations of conventional batteries for mobile devices. Also, requirements on the mobile terminal processor may also be reduced, since the Remote Control Point application generates relatively little network traffic by communicating only short commands to a host DMC that aggregates the network information. Likewise, short replies are delivered from the DMC to the Remote Control Point application. This may require less bandwidth on the network interface, which may allow for other concurrent network applications (e.g. streaming of media to/from the limited device). Shorter response times may also be achieved by allowing the host DMC to aggregate all information and only forward useful data to the mobile terminal. The memory consumption (RAM and/or Flash) of the mobile terminal in some embodiments of the present invention may also be reduced in comparison to implementing a full DMC on the mobile terminal. Moreover, control of the digital media devices on the network using the Remote Control application according to some embodiments of the present invention is transparent to a user of the mobile terminal, i.e. the user experiences little to no difference in controlling the digital media devices, since all functionality is available via the host DMC. Thus, any mobile terminal, such as a mobile phone, can become a Remote Control Point by installing a standalone Remote Control Point application (e.g. a MIDlet), which also allows for backwards compatibility for existing mobile terminals.
The flowcharts of
These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer usable or computer-readable memory that may direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer usable or computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instructions that implement the function specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions that execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide steps for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
In the drawings and specification, there have been disclosed exemplary embodiments of the invention. However, many variations and modifications can be made to these embodiments without substantially departing from the principles of the present invention. Accordingly, although specific terms are used, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation, the scope of the invention being defined by the following claims.
