Patent Application
20070300017
The invention relates to a portable data storage device
The invention further relates to a system for the storage of data.
The invention further relates to a method of a self organizing storage of data.
The invention further relates to a method of organizing of content in a network.
The invention further relates to a computer program product.
Portable data storage devices are well known from the state of the art. Such storage devices, e.g. CDs, DVDs, floppy discs or USB sticks, have the disadvantage that they are just “passive” storage media. This means that these devices have no intelligence of their own and therefore cannot exert influence for instance on the kind of content or data stored (e.g. mp3 music, video, jpeg pictures, documents etc). Therefore every time a user wants to store content on such a device the user must manually select the respective content. Thus the ease of use is rather low.
It is an object of the invention to provide a device of the type defined in the opening paragraph, a system of the type defined in the second paragraph, a method of the type defined in the third paragraph, a method of the type defined in the fourth paragraph and a computer program product of the type defined in the fifth paragraph, in which the disadvantages defined above are avoided.
In order to achieve the object defined above, with a device according to the invention characteristic features are provided so that a device according to the invention can be characterized in the way defined below, that is:
A portable data storage device comprising means for searching for data stored on another device that match with a user configurable profile of the data storage device and for receiving data from another device and means for storing said received data in the data storage device if they match with said profile.
In order to achieve the object defined above, with a system according to the invention characteristic features are provided so that a system according to the invention can be characterized in the way defined below, that is:
A distributed self organizing system for the storage of data, which system comprises at least two autonomous storage devices comprising means for exchanging data with one another, wherein the system is arranged to search for data stored on the storage devices, that match with a user set storage profile of at least one of the data storage devices and to store data matching with said storage profile of a data storage device in that device.
In order to achieve the object defined above, with a method according to the invention characteristic features are provided so that a method of a self organizing storage of data according to the invention can be characterized in the way defined below, that is:
A method of a self organizing storage of data, wherein it is searched for data stored on a first data storage device that match with a user set storage profile of a second data storage device, wherein data stored on the first data storage device matching with the profile of the second data storage device will be stored in the second data storage device.
In order to achieve the object defined above, with a further method according to the invention characteristic features are provided so that a method of self organizing of content in a network according to the invention can be characterized in the way defined below, that is:
A method of organizing of content in a network of devices, content being stored on a device and comprises representation-data for representing the content and organizing-data for organizing the content in the network, the method comprises the following steps:
on a first device, on which the first content is stored, using said first content for creating an organizing-request by the aid of the organizing-data of said first content; and
communicating the organizing-request from said content to another content stored in the first device or stored in at least a second device in the network; and re-arranging the distribution of content dependent on the response to the organizing-request.
In order to achieve the object defined above, with a computer program product to the invention characteristic features are provided so that a computer program product according to the invention can be characterized in the way defined below, that is:
A computer program product directly loadable into the memory of a programmable device, comprising software code portions for performing the steps of a method of a self organizing storage of data according to the invention or for performing the steps of a method of organizing of content in a network according to the invention.
The measures according to the invention provide the advantage that it is possible to achieve a physical and semantically self-organization of memory contents. Since the data are stored on different devices according to the user set storage profiles of the devices, a user is enabled to physically retrieve stored content by selecting a storage device. Also self-organization of content based on the intelligence of the content itself is advantageously enabled, which only requires a user to trigger the process of self-organization.
The measures as claimed in claim 2 or in claim 23, provide the advantage that a physical organization of contents stored can be achieved very quickly and efficiently.
However, it has proved to be particularly advantageous if the measures of claim 3 are provided. This achieves the advantage of an optimal allocation of contents to storage devices based on semantics.
The measures as claimed in claim 4 or in claim 24 provide the advantage that a storage device autonomously decides whether data match with a content defined in its user set profile or not. So the storage device does not need any additional information about the data stored. Thus a certain intelligence of the storage device is provided.
The measures as claimed in claim 5 or in claim 13 or in claim 26, provide the advantage that the decision whether data match with the user set storage profile or not is: done very quickly and with just a little complexity.
The measures as claimed in claim 6 provide the advantage that a self organizing system of storage devices is achieved very easily achieved just by putting two or more storage devices close together or connecting them into one network.
The measures as claimed in claim 7 provide the advantage that a user is able to see the content stored on a storage device, e.g. by means of a display showing the content stored.
The measures as claimed in claim 8 provide the advantage that a user can easily recognize at a glance which kind of content is stored on a certain storage device by its appearance.
The measures as claimed in claim 9 or in claim 18 allows a user, after selecting a storage device according to rudimental information provided by illumination means, to view the content stored on this device in more detail and to easily retrieve content stored.
The measures as claimed in claim 10 provides a very efficient power management of the storage device.
The measures as claimed in claims 11 or in claim 20 or in claim 28 allow to define the behavior of the storage device in a storage system or to realize an archival system when considering the creation or change date of data when performing the storage.
The measures as claimed in claim 13 further provides the advantage that the system autonomously analyzes the content of data without the need of receiving additional information from outside. Further it can be proved very easily using the meta data, whether content stored on a device matches with the profile of another device.
The measures as claimed in claim 15 or in claim 19 or in claim 25 provide the advantage that the storage devices can be realized very simply and with low costs.
The measures as claimed in claim 16 provide the advantage that a self organizing storage system can be realized very simply and with low effort.
The measures as claimed in claim 17 or in claim 27 provide the advantage that a content analysis can be done very quickly and very efficient without the need for a high computing power in a single storage device.
The measures as claimed in 21 provide the advantage that a distributed meta database can be achieved very easily.
The measures as claimed in claim 29 provide the advantage that an update of the storage device can be achieved very simple.
The measures as claimed in claim 30 provide the advantage that the expertise of the storage device can be changed according to the users needs.
The measures as claimed in claim 31 provide the advantage that new content not already available in the storage system or on the storage device can automatically be downloaded without the assistance of the user.
The measures as claimed in claim 33 provide the advantage that intelligent content in the form of autonomous content entities perform the act of re-organizing the distribution of content within the network on its own initiative and under its own control by the aid of the executable command or commands.
The measures as claimed in claim 34 provide the advantage that active content entities can exchange representation-data between each other or provide copies of representation-data to be used by other autonomous content entities.
The measures as claimed in claim 35 provide the advantage that autonomous content entities can be re-allocated between devices on its own initiative.
The aspects defined above and further aspects of the invention are apparent from the examples of embodiment to be described hereinafter and are explained with reference to these examples of embodiment.
The invention will be described in more detail hereinafter with reference to examples of embodiment but to which the invention is not limited.
The Figures are schematically drawn and not true to scale, and the identical reference numerals in different Figures refer to corresponding elements. It will be clear for those skilled in the art, that alternative but equivalent embodiments of the invention are possible without deviating from the true inventive concept, and that the scope of the invention will be limited by the claims only.
This means for autonomously looking for data and storing these data are, according to the embodiment shown, by means of a processor 4, which comprises a respective software that is executable by the processor 4, communication means 2 connected with the processor 4 and at least one permanent memory 5 connected with the processor 4. Instead of using the suitable programmed processor 4 the storage bubble 1 can be provided with one or more circuits realizing the same functionalities. It is to mention that also a dynamic memory can be provided in the meaning of having a memory and a processor integrated into each other. The communication means 2 can be realized e.g. with means for wireless communication as they are state of the art for instance means for Bluetooth or Wireless Fidelity Connection (WI-FI) or communication according to the NFC standard. By means of the communication means 2 the storage bubble 1 can communicate with other storage bubbles or other devices. Furthermore the storage bubble 1 comprises an internal current supply that is not shown in
A user can set a profile 3 for the storage bubble 1 being for instance: “This bubble will be used in low bandwidth environments (e.g. environments where only communication via Bluetooth is available) or popular music only.”
This profile 3 provides the storage bubble 1 with information about the content to gather. The profile 3 is, according to the embodiment shown, stored in the permanent memory 5 of the storage bubble 1 and be defined at different levels of granularity.
The profile 3 can for instance only contain information about the type of content that shall be stored in the permanent memory 5 of the storage bubble 1, e.g. audio, video, digital pictures and text or other types of data. In this case the storage bubble 1 will collect any audio, video, text or other type of data. For all content types selected in the profile 3 a bandwidth profile can be given by providing a target bit rate or target communication technology, e.g. Bluetooth for the selected content type.
Further the user can give more specific information about the chosen content when setting up the profile 3. Setting up the profile 3 for videos can be based on a selection from a standard set of genres, events or content moods (romantic, funny, etc.). Setting up the profile 3 for videos can be further based on keywords in the title, author information and spoken words in the content or pieces of video for example.
For audio data the set up of the profile 3 can be based on a selection from a standard set of genres, events or content moods. Setting up the profile 3 for audio contents can also be based on keywords in the title, artist information and spoken/sung words in the content. Audio profiles can in principle also be based on “humming” or other acoustic information, i.e. the user hums what the audio should sound like. In the last case the storage device can comprise means for the input of voice such as a microphone.
For text contents setting up the profile 3 can be based on keywords.
For data of any type setting up the profile 3 can be based on file name and file extension.
However it is possible that the profile 3 contains information of how to deal with contents created on certain dates. Thus it is possible to discriminate on file creation or—change date. In this way storage bubbles 1 interconnected with one another and constituting a network as shown in
The storage bubble 1 also comprises an input device, not shown in
To make setting of the profile 3 easier a user can, according to an embodiment of the invention, choose from preset contents and data formats the favored contents and formats, e.g. by activating the desired contents and formats via mouse click. However, it can also be provided that several pre-defined profiles are available. Thus a user can choose one of several preset profiles of the bubble 1.
In addition the profile 3 could be set by giving one or more content items. For example the user may select several photos, e.g. beach photos, and then tell the storage bubble 1 to generate a profile 3 based on these photos. After this the storage bubble 1 will look for other beach photos stored on other devices as well. This provides the advantage that the user does not have to specify a detailed profile 3, he only has to provide examples of the content that he wants to be stored on the storage bubble 1.
In a further embodiment the profile is sent wireless to the bubble 1. To this end, the bubble has an RF-ID reader for reading tags that hold a profile 3 stored as data in them. A user can set or change a profile 3 of bubble 1 by holding a tag close to the bubble and confirming a “set profile” action in a suitable way, e.g. pressing confirm on a touch sensitive screen. Another suitable wireless transmission mechanism may be used for sending the profile 3, e.g. via an optical barcode.
An important concept used within the organization of data in the present context are content meta data. These meta data provide information about content such as: Title of content, video/program or music genre, positions of events in the content, such as football goal events, content mood, low-level content features (average luminance, amount of motion in video content, audio features, etc.), content signatures (humming signature for instance), information of how content is encoded, bit rate information, objects on a photo, etc.
The meta data of content are used to decide, based on the storage profile 3, if the content stored on an other device is of interest to the storage bubble 1 and if and how the content shall be processed. Meta data of content could be already available from a stationary storage device however this should not be expected by default. In order to keep the storage bubble 1 independent from the functionality of other devices the storage bubble 1 can comprise means for analyzing data on its own. This analyzing means can for instance be realized with a software installed on the processor 4 of the storage bubble 1. This analyzing software can be realized by means of a software as, for instance, commonly used for speech pattern recognition. The analyzed data can for instance be searched for specific keywords. According to the result of the analyzing process meta data containing information about the analyzed content can be created. This meta data can provide the information described above. The meta data of analyzed content are preferably stored in the storage bubble 1.
Whether a content, or to be more exact the data containing this content, match with the profile 3 of the storage bubble 1 can be proved via comparing the profile 3 with the meta data of the possible content.
According to an embodiment of the invention the storage profile 3 of the storage bubble 1 can also contain information about the desired storage bubble behavior concerning for instance when to delete or move what content and what part of the content profile 3 has higher priority than another part of the content profile 3. When almost all the storage capacity of the storage bubble 1 is used the storage bubble 1 can make a decision how to respond to this situation. Thus the storage bubble 1 can request an other storage bubble of a network 20 of storage bubbles 1 as shown in
Further it can be defined in the profile 3 what to do when the storage bubble 1 is full and no other storage bubble accepts content. In this case the bubble 1 can according to the settings of the user profile 3 delete content directly, stop immediately with gathering content or delete content only after a few days or weeks and then continue gathering and organizing. All these features of the storage bubble 1 are provided by the aid of the communication means 2, the memory 5 and the processor 4 mentioned above.
In addition the processor 4 of a first storage bubble 21 can e.g. comprise a software for watching how full the memory 5 is. If the stored content in memory 5 represents a size that is more than a certain threshold the processor 4 can transmit via the communication means 2 content and the allocated meta data to another storage bubble 22.
If a first storage bubble 21 requests the transfer of content to a second storage bubble 22 because the first storage bubble 21 is full there is provided an acceptance policy in place. This policy can for instance be based on the level of profile fitness of the content, the storage capacity available and a minimum reserve storage capacity of the second storage bubble 22.
The content from stationary storage devices or other storage bubbles copied or moved to the storage bubble 1 can be downscaled versions or otherwise processed versions of the original content. For instance to watch a video on a Personal Digital Assistant while traveling could require a low bit rate or low resolution version of the original video. Said downscaling and processing can be carried out for instance by means of a suitable programming of the processor 4.
In principle content processing functions, such as transcoding, that are frequently needed are realized in the storage bubble 1 itself, as mentioned above, to keep it as autonomous as possible.
But according to another embodiment of the invention it is also possible that a stationary storage device or any other device processes the content of interest for the interested storage bubble 1 as a service. For instance a Hard Disc Drive recorder usually has an encoder/decoder functionality. This functionality can be used to transcode a requested video stream to the requested format. Transcoding and other processing functionalities are, according to a preferred embodiment of the invention, offered through standardized interfaces and service discovery, for instance using Universal Plug and Play (uPnP).
The storage bubble 1 further comprises, according to the embodiment of the invention as shown in
According to
When a bubble 1 is selected based on this rudimentary information about the content, more detailed indication methods can provide further information about the content to the user, e.g. by means of a display 11 on which the user can browse through the content stored on the storage bubble 1.
For instance the display 11 of the storage bubble 1 can show multiple icons 12, 13, 14, 15 of different sizes, wherein an icon indicates what content is stored and the size of the icon 12, 13, 14, 15 indicates how much is stored of that content type.
According to another embodiment of the invention E-ink displays can be used. This means that the icons 12, 13, 14, 15 on the display 11 remain visible for a few days even though the display is not powered. In such a way there may be no need for LIED lights for indication. The display could actually be a “skin” of the device; the skin is visible from all sides making it more easy to visually select a storage bubble from different perspectives.
To make it possible to compare the amount of content of different modality, e.g. audio and video, the icon size can be related to the number of streams or files stored on the device rather than the storage size. Using, for instance, a touch screen interface clicking an icon 12, 13, 14, 15 will show a list or summaries of the content represented by the icon.
It is possible to realize just one of the above mentioned indication methods (via display, or color) or a combination of these indication methods in the storage bubble 1.
Summarizing the indication methods it can be said that the color (illumination) indication is the most rudimentary and provides a first clue to the user. When picking up the storage device 1 the user can switch on the display 11, if one is provided, and see what is stored in the bubble 1 in more detail by looking at the icons 12, 13, 14, 15. If, based on the icons shown, the content type of interest is available, the user can browse further by selecting the icon 12, 13, 14, 15 of interest.
In order to save battery life the embodiment of the storage bubble 1, as shown in
The highlighted area 7 in
Specific content can for instance be represented on the display 11 in the following ways:
Video streams can be summarized by showing a video manga (a video manga is a video summary in the form of a (Japanese) comic book.), a sequence of key frames, a trailer showing some key scenes or a DVD or VHS box cover. Also a simple list with the title and playing actors can be given;
for digital pictures, for instance, thumbnail versions can be shown or an automatically generated photo collage of a set of pictures can be shown;
playing the chorus in case of a popular song, showing the CD cover with song title, showing a transcript of the speech in the audio, could represent audio streams or showing text parts of a text document.
In all cases also a simple directory tree showing file name and other attributes could be given.
If the content type of interest is available the content of that type can be browsed using summarized representations (step C). In the present example the user browses through comedy series. The comedy series stored can be represented for instance by the respective video cover 18 or manga.
Because different media, such as audio, video and pictures need different storage capacities and have different content analysis needs, multiple kinds of storage bubbles can be defined. Different storage bubble types can be sold as active counter parts of passive storage media. This will certainly be possible looking at the decreasing trend of processing, storage and networking technology costs. Storage bubble models with the following storage capacities and functionality could be differentiated for instance: A storage bubble 1 with the storage capacity of a typical memory stick or other solid state memory card, e.g. 128 MB, with text and spread sheet analysis capabilities and simple text and spread sheet browsing capabilities or image content analysis capabilities and image thumbnail rendering capabilities;
a storage bubble 1 with the storage capacity of a normal CD with audio or content analysis capabilities and simple audio rendering capabilities;
a storage bubble 1 with the storage capacity of a DVD with video content analysis capabilities and simple video summarization capabilities using thumbnail key frames or a thumbnail video manga compilation;
a storage bubble 1 with the storage capacity of a BluRay Disc with video content analysis capabilities and simple video summarization capabilities using thumbnail key frames or a thumbnail video manga compilation or
a generic storage bubble 1 with a storage capacity of a large HDD, e.g. 300 GB, and a large variety of content analysis capabilities.
What wireless networking capabilities are present could also be differentiated although this will limit the communication only to devices that have the same communication and networking capabilities.
Using for instance a Wireless Fidelity Connection (WI-FI connection) the storage bubble 1 can also directly access an Internet service via a broadband connection, e.g. ADSL. As a service it is, according to an embodiment of the invention, possible to download different content analysis functionalities for a fee from a server via the Internet such that the storage bubble 1 can change its “expertise” from, for instance, audio to digital pictures. The service lists all the content analysis possibilities for each storage bubble model.
Further the Internet service provides, according to a further embodiment of the invention, content that fits in the profile 3 of the storage bubble 1. The content of interest can be bought directly from the Internet service. A user can for instance set in the profile 3 of the storage bubble 1 the maximum amount of money that the storage bubble 1 can spend. The user can give, when subscribing to the online service, all information to make an automatic purchase possible, e.g. credit card information.
To give a user more control over purchase the user can get a message, e.g. an SMS, MMS or e-mail, with a link to a site enabling a user to cancel or approve the order put by a storage bubble 1. The message mentioned above can, according to an embodiment of the invention, be transmitted to the storage bubble 1 and be displayed on the storage bubble 1 too. Although the focus here is on portable storage bubbles 1 the method described above can be applied to network storage devices in general.
Self organization of the content stored in the system 19 can be achieved very easily since the storage bubbles 21, 22, 23, 24 are arranged to exchange content and other data, e.g. meta data, with one another, using wireless networking technology, for instance WI-FI and Bluetooth, such that the profiles of all the bubbles 21, 22, 23, 24 are satisfied as much as possible.
The protocol and interface for content and (meta) data exchange and processing can for instance be an industry standard protocol and interface, e.g. MPEG-21, uPnP, or any proprietary protocol and interface.
Although digital home video/audio/pictures can be seen as an external source digital video cameras 33 and audio recorders having network capabilities can directly be accessed by a storage bubble 21, 22, 23, 24. In general any device with wireless network capabilities that implements a protocol and interface for content and Meta data exchange and processing can directly be accessed by a storage bubble (
According to
Although a storage bubble 21, 22, 23, 24 could in principle get content directly from input sources this is not the main intention of storage bubbles. Although storage bubbles can have different forms and implementations, they are generic storage devices independent of any form of content type and specific means of retrieving information, such as a tuner for analogue digital video broadcasts or a DVD. Further the costs of a storage bubble 21, 22, 23, 24 as a consumer electronics product should be low such that consumers are willing to buy many storage bubbles 21, 22, 23, 24 enabling the concept of self organization. But nevertheless a storage bubble 21, 22, 23, 24 can comprise, although it is not the preferred embodiment, rendering capabilities.
The more storage bubbles 21, 22, 23, 24 there are available in the system 19 the more fine grained the content can be semantically segmented over multiple storage bubbles, the easier it gets to physically retrieve specific content by selecting a specific bubble, the bigger the total storage capacity of the bubble network, the more content redundancy can be created, the easier it is for users to consume the same content at possibly multiple locations that are not connected through a communication network.
Further the system 19 is arranged to search for data stored on the storage devices 25, 26, 27, 33 that match with user set profiles of the storage bubbles 21, 22, 23, 24 and to store data matching with the storage profile of a storage bubble 21, 22, 23, 24 in this bubble.
For instance one storage bubble 21 has the profile to collect songs of a certain kind for a low bandwidth environment (e.g. environments where only communication via Bluetooth is available) it will communicate with other storage bubbles 22, 23, 24 of the same or other type and ask for popular songs in a low bit rate format. A storage bubble 22 that has some popular songs could for instance, indicate that the popular songs can be moved to the storage bubble 21 instead of copied because the popular songs do not really fit in its own profile, and better fit with the other storage bubble's profile.
The self organization of the storage system 19 results in a physical separation of content on the different storage bubbles 21, 22, 23, 24. A user can physically grab the content he or she is interested in because of the storage bubble's means of showing what content is stored on a storage bubble 21, 22, 23, 24. In this way the storage bubbles 21, 22, 23, 24 organize the available content such that each storage bubble 21, 22, 23, 24 complies with its profile as good as possible. This mechanism enables users to physically get content they are interested in by selecting a storage bubble. Thus the system 19 comprising storage bubbles 21, 22, 23, 24 represents a distributed storage home network. This instead of a centralized or less distributed network.
By physically organizing content in the portable storage bubbles 21, 22, 23, 24 according to the invention it is not hard to envision a consumer's home filled with storage bubbles 21, 22, 23, 24 of this kind in drawers, under the bed, close to some rendering devices etc. If, for instance, a user likes to watch action movies he/she could look in the drawer for a green lit storage bubble, when green corresponds to the genre “action movies”. When the user found such a bubble he/she could, for instance, put it close to a TV equipped with means for communicating with the storage bubble, e.g. Bluetooth, and play one of the action movies stored on the bubble. Alternatively, for example, the user could instruct the storage bubble to stream the content to the TV of choice.
In general there are three sources of content for a storage bubble 21, 22, 23, 24: other storage bubbles 21, 22, 23, 24, stationary storage devices 25, 26, 27, 33 or an external network such as the Internet. For all content stored on storage bubbles 21, 22, 23, 24 Meta data will be available that are needed by another storage bubble 21, 22, 23, 24 to decide whether the content is of interest. On the other hand, for stationary storage devices and other common storage devices 25, 26, 27, 33 the availability of the meta data of interest or even any meta data can not be assumed.
Assuming that a stationary or other storage device 25, 26, 27, 33 provides uPnP like services, such as providing lists of available content and of what type the content is, e.g. pictures, audio, video or any other type of data, a storage bubble 21, 22, 23, 24 can download and analyze the content stored on these devices 25, 26, 27, 33. Based on this analysis a storage bubble 21, 22, 23, 24 can decide by comparing the analyzed content with its profile what content to copy to its own storage space. Content analysis of content from a stationary or other storage device has to be performed only if no other storage bubble 21, 22, 23, 24 has analyzed that content before to obtain the same meta data. To ascertain whether a content in question is already analyzed a storage bubble 21, 22, 23, 24 can send a request to the other storage bubbles 21, 22, 23, 24 in the network 20.
A storage bubble 21, 22, 23, 24 will start analyzing external content only if the request to other storage bubbles 21, 22, 23, 24 for meta data did not succeed. A storage bubble 21, 22, 23, 24 can store meta data of any content analyzed by that storage bubble, even if the content was not copied to the storage bubble, because it did not fit the profile of the device.
Because the amount of content to be analyzed can be large a storage bubble 21, 22, 23, 24 can request other storage bubbles to help to search for content that fits the profile of the storage bubble 21, 22, 23, 24 requesting the help. Storage bubbles 21, 22, 23, 24 that honour that request for help get assigned a part of the content list to analyze. The helping storage bubbles 21, 22, 23, 24 send the content analysis results back to the requesting storage bubbles 21, 22, 23, 24.
According to an embodiment of the invention the storage bubbles 21, 22, 23, 24 can decide to honour a content analysis help request if they have fulfilled their own profile goal. That is when all content available from any storage device 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, including other storage bubbles 21, 22, 23, 24, has been analyzed and no new content was found that matches the assigned profile. Using a standard like uPnP, a storage bubble 21, 22, 23, 24 can subscribe to a storage device 25, 26, 27, 33 to get a signal when new content is available on that storage device 25, 26, 27, 33. When it is signaled, the respective storage bubble 21, 22, 23, 24 could analyze the content and decide if the content is of interest based on the assigned profile.
In principle it is also possible that a storage bubble 21, 22, 23, 24 misses some of content analysis capabilities that are required to fulfill its profile. In that case a storage bubble 21, 22, 23, 24 can according to an embodiment of the invention negotiate with another storage bubble 21, 22, 23, 24 with the right capabilities to do the content analysis.
The generated meta data of any content that is analyzed is kept on the storage bubble 21, 22, 23, 24 that has analyzed the content. If the content analysis was done upon request of another storage bubble 21, 22, 23, 24 the meta data can also be copied to the requesting storage bubble. The meta data are associated to content through identifying information about the content, such as file name and creation date.
By keeping the meta data of any content analyzed on the storage bubbles 21, 22, 23, 24 that analyzed the content or has requested analysis a partially redundant distributed meta data database builds up in the network of storage bubbles. Thus by means of the storage system according to the invention a distributed Meta data database can be achieved.
It must be noted that the content analysis could be replaced by human annotation of the content using a user interface. This is only feasible if the Meta data of interest are restricted to rudimentary information such as genre. Semi-automatic annotation techniques can result in more detailed annotations, e.g. the user can indicate in one image who is the grandmother, the storage bubble can use this information to find and annotate the presence of the grandmother in other images.
According to an embodiment of the invention a user is able to control which of the storage bubbles 21, 22, 23, 24 or other devices 25, 26, 27, 33 have access control to the content stored on the storage bubbles 21, 22, 23, 24. For instance using uPnP, a storage bubble 21, 22, 23, 24 can discover other devices 25, 26, 27, 33 in the network. For each device 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 33 the user can specify what access rights it has. Also access rules with which a user can provide general security rules, e.g. “all devices can access all music on this bubble”, can be defined in the profiles of the storage bubbles 21, 22, 23, 24.
Since all storage bubbles 21, 22, 23, 24 can communicate and exchange data with one another all the storage bubbles 21, 22, 23, 24 of the network 20 can be virtually represented by any device able to communicate with the storage bubbles 21, 22, 23, 24.
According to
Also for playback of streams or viewing files the stream or file of a remote storage bubble 21, 22, 23, 24 can be routed to the representing device 34. This device 34 can be used as a storage device manager. This “manager” device 34 can for instance temporarily act as a master in the network 20 of storage bubbles shown in
From the perspective of the manager device 34 able to represent any storage bubble 21, 22, 23, 24 in the network 20, all the content in the storage network 20 seems to be hierarchically clustered in an intelligent way. This is because the content is intelligently clustered over multiple levels of information detail (e.g. on the highest level only a color indicator is used on a lower level icons are used, etc.). Especially when users have many storage bubbles 21, 22, 23, 24 it is of interest to have an overview of all storage bubbles 21, 22, 23, 24 in the network 20. In general, from the perspective of the manager device 34, the user can transparently browse the combined storage space created by all storage bubbles 21, 22, 23, 24; thus the user does not have to know on which storage bubble 21, 22, 23, 24 content of interest is stored.
The user interface of the selected storage bubble 21 can be routed to and shown on the manager device 34 (step D). In this way using a storage bubble as a storage bubble manager 34 a user can perform search actions such as shown in
Thus the manager device 34 can act as a virtual representation of a remote storage bubble 21, 22, 23, 24. If a user does not want to physical get a certain storage bubble 21, 22, 23, 24, the user can pick up a storage bubble 21, 22, 23, 24 close to him or her and use this as a virtual representation of the selected storage bubble 21, 22, 23, 24. To provide the manager functionality described above the storage bubbles 21, 22, 23, 24 each can comprise a respective software installed in their processors. In a preferred embodiment a user can choose from a menu shown on the display of the selected bubble, e.g. the bubble 22, the menu point “make this bubble a bubble manager”. After activating this menu point the bubble 22 can send via its communication means, indicated with 2 in
The content stored in the storage bubble network 20, as shown in
According to
Also the content analysis processing in the storage system or the network of storage bubbles can be done centralized by a master device too, e.g. on the storage bubble manager 34.
Further instead of having the bubbles just lying around, the bubbles 21, 22, 23, 24 could be inserted in collets or slots, respectively, of a kind of grid-tray 49 connected or connectable to the storage bubble manager 34 as shown in
In the embodiment using the grid tray 49 the storage bubbles 21, 22, 23, 24 can be very simple. The simplest forms are storage bubbles 21, 22, 23, 24 only containing storage, a small display and/or other indication methods and a processor.
It should be noted that the above-mentioned embodiments illustrate rather than limit the invention, and that those skilled in the art will be capable of designing many alternative embodiments without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. In the claims, any reference signs placed in parentheses shall not be construed as limiting the claims. The word “comprising” and “comprises”, and the like, does not exclude the presence of elements or steps other than those listed in any claim or the specification as a whole. The singular reference of an element does not exclude the plural reference of such elements and vice-versa. In a device claim enumerating several means, several of these means may be embodied by one and the same item of hardware. The mere fact that certain measures are recited in mutually different dependent claims does not indicate that a combination of these measures cannot be used to advantage.
A further aspect of the invention relates to a method of organizing content in a network of data storage devices. In this particular embodiment the content is a so-called Autonomous Content Entity (see European IST 6th Framework project AceMedia), in short ACE. Such an ACE is stored on an ACE enabled device and comprises representation-data representing the content itself, like music, photos, video, documents or the like. The ACE further comprises organizing-data for organizing the content in the network. The organizing-data comprise a layer of executable program code, e.g. at least one command but typically sets of commands, for being executed by command processing means of the device. The relationship of such ACEs to the above-mentioned bubbles is given in the fact that ACEs are software versions of the storage bubbles. In contrast to the storage bubbles ACEs can organize themselves over different physical or logical locations. The storage bubbles mentioned above as they are implemented by hardware cannot achieve this.
Such command processing means of said device are e.g. arranged for providing functionalities like ACE to ACE communication, allowing an ACE to request properties and capabilities of the local device or perhaps of any device on the local network, allowing ACEs to contact sites on the web for updates, for fresh metadata, or information from the web in general, allowing ACEs to get content from a repository, allowing an ACE to create its own GUI pane, onto which content can be rendered and UI elements like buttons and sliders can be placed. These functionalities are provided by a so-called application modules on an ACE enabled device. In this exemplary embodiment the functionality of allowing ACEs to get content (i.e. ACEs, or representation-data of ACEs or content of ACEs) from a repository is of particular importance as will be described below.
The ACE enabled device further comprises a so-called ACE Manager or Kernel. The ACE Manager acts as a central coordinator that mediates between the ACEs, the user and the outside world of the device. The ACE manager is an active component that uses the functionalities of other components, such as ACE storage and ACE execution.
An ACE can be inactive (i.e. its code is just residing in the repository) or active. In order to activate an ACE, the ACE Manager gets the ACE commands and gives it to the command executing means, where the appropriate ACE method is run. The ACE commands may implement self-replication behavior and self-presenting functionality (e.g. a photo album that can make a collage of itself and show it to the user). ACEs can also communicate messages via an interface, via which the ACE Manager can deliver or receive these messages.
The organizing-data further comprise an organizing-profile for representing a desired organization of the content in the network. The organizing-profile can be set or adjusted by a user of the device any time the user has the desire to do so.
According to the invention the method of organizing content in the network comprises the step of using a content, which is an ACE, on a first device for creating an organization-request by the aid of the organizing-data. Herein the word using means that the executable commands of the ACE are executed by the command processing means and during the execution said organizing-profile is utilized to create the organizing-request. Hence the “intelligence” of the ACE itself is active in this process and only supported by the device. Accordingly the organizing request represents the organizing-profile for which matching ACEs or representation-data of ACEs are searched in the network.
In a further step of the method according to the invention the organizing-request is communicated by the aid of the above-mentioned features and functionalities respectively to at least a second ACE enabled second device in the network.
In a further step of the method according to the invention the distribution of content between the first device and the second device or a plurality of second devices is re-arranged dependent on the response of the involved devices. In particular this re-arranging depends on the type of self-organization that is selected or provided by the ACEs involved in this process. Basically it must be distinguished between a first type of self-organization, which is the organization of ACEs, and a second type of self-organizing, which is the organization of content over ACEs.
With respect to the first type of self-organization two different modes can be distinguished. These modes are the delegation-mode and the pro-active mode. In the delegation-mode an ACE (e.g. ACE A) asks other ACEs (e.g. ACE B1, B2, . . . Bn) to act on the profile of the ACE A if appropriate. In the pro-active-mode the ACE A requests so called meta-data, which represent the representation-data stored in the other ACE, of the other ACEs from these ACEs and acts on this information if this is appropriate based on its own organizing-profile.
The functionalities or activities relating to self-organization are explained by reference to the FIGS. 10 to 13, in which the following abbreviations have been used:
AceBrowser means a software program by the aid of which the user can brows the ACEs that are present in a local device or on a network, and in which a user can execute ACEs that contain executable code in the organizing-data of the ACE.
:INetwork means the network interface, an interface via which the ACE Manager of a device can send messages and data to, and recive messages and data from, other devices in the local network.
:AceManager indicates an ACE Manager as described above.
:IRepository means an interface via which the ACE Manager can retrieve ACEs or representation-data of ACEs from the Repository, which may be located on the local drive, or on any other device on the local network that has a Repository.
:Ace2System:AM means an interface via which an ACE executing on the local device is able to retrieve system information, for example the amount of available storage space on a device, the type of a device (e.g. being mobile or having fixed location), or the amount of energy available in the battery of a device. The abbreviation AM refers to the name “Application Module”, used for any software component that provides an interface via which ACEs are able to use functionalities in the software component.
A2:Intelligent Layer means the executable code in the organizing-data of an ACE, named A2;
:ExEnv refers to the said command processing means, which is named “Execution Environment” (ExEnv) in the figure.
Ace2Ace:AM means the ACE to ACE communication component, an interface via which an ACE can communicate with another ACE, which may be located on the same device as the first ACE or on another device in the local network.
In the following a scenario is described, in which representation-data is copied, which leads to a collection of content. Reference is made to
‘Antonio is web-browsing on the couch, using his WebTablet. He suddenly gets the nice idea to make a photo collage, to get himself in the holiday mood. He surfs to aces4free.com and searches for ‘holiday’. One of the hits is an ACE item called “Aloha—beach & surf” which contains a collage of 10 nice photos of Hawaii.’
At this point it needs to mentioned that some sites offer free ACEs, created by users themselves. The site provides security checks on ACEs. The users trust these ACEs.
‘The description reads “This ace will find all beach & surf stuff in your collection—enjoy dudes”. Antonio clicks the link and thereby downloads the ACE. He switches to his ACEBrowser applications to start the ACE.’
It is mentioned that an ACEBrowser is a separate application that communicates with the aceMedia platform on the WebTablet. It allows a user to browse and run ACEs.
‘First, the ACE displays itself as a collage on the WebTablet. An icon indicates that the ACE is meanwhile looking for other beach and surf photos.’
It is to mention that the Aloha ACE performs a query (home-network-wide) for similar photos to the ones it already contains, and for photos having keywords “beach” and “sea”. Matching photos are being collected in the ACE. The query is sent from the local device (WebTablet) to all ACE-enabled devices in the home.
‘The ACE also looks for any song of“The Beach Boys”, but Antonio has none. After 40 photos, the ACE stops collecting and displays (the first part of) a collage of all collected beach photos on the WebTablet screen. Antonio is happy that his photos are so beautifully collaged; he removes a few that are boring and clicks the “save collage” button.’
It is to mention that, in this instance, the executable code in the ACE has the “intelligence” or knowledge to create nice collages. The ACE behaves well: without explicit user consent, no user-owned pictures are saved.
‘Browsing the repository, Antonio sees the new Aloha ACE there and decides to mail it to his sister Laura.
Later that day, Laura receives the email from Antonio on her PC. She clicks the attached ACE. The ACE shows itself as a collage in a window, and the text below the! collage suggests that Laura should click the button “Add my beach photos” in order to add her own beach photos.’
It is to mention that the ACE is able to keep its state: it knows that it has already collected pictures once before. It also detects a new environment (at Laura's) so it presents the option to add more beach photos.
‘She clicks the button and 10 photos from Laura's PC are found and added to the collage. Laura mails the ACE back to Antonio straight away! Meanwhile she enjoys the collage and starts thinking about holidays . . . ’
In the following a scenario is described in which self-organization is explained by the aid of a leader-follower-concept, in which one ACE takes the role of a leader and others take the role of followers. The scenario described is schematically shown in
‘Recently Laura upgraded her home network to be ACE-compliant. Her ACEs containing photos, music and videos are automatically organized across several ACE-enabled devices. Laura's home network consists of several small portable storage devices, digital photo album, a laptop, PDA and a general storage server.’
It is provided that all of Laura's content consists of ACEs. By default, code for self-organization behaviour is added in the ACE Intelligence layer for all new content that is created. All devices that create or import content are configured to insert such default code modules into an ACE. This code may be combined with other code for other functions that are needed in an ACE.
‘Today Laura wants to change the default organization a bit. Using her AceBrowser she can browse all ACEs in the network. She selects two music albums (ACEs) on her mp3 player, that she likes a lot. The GUI of the ACEs appears on her screen, %with the button ‘Collect similar items on mp3-player’. Laura clicks the button, and selected music albums start to copy themselves to the mp3-player.’
At this point it needs to be explained that the button triggers self-organization. The selected ACE becomes a ‘leader’ that gathers similar items around it, the ‘followers’. The leader stays at its current device. The Intelligence code for leader/follower is the same—the user, using the AceBrowser, initiates the change of roles. Content is selected based on: number of times played, type of content (mp3 songs/albums only), storage space of the mp3 player, genre of the music. Copy is used by default, not move, because the mp3-player is a mobile device. The ACEs know this.
‘Next, Laura selects one of the old TV recordings on her ACE-PVR, moves it to the storage server, then uses the option ‘Collect similar video around me’. This starts a process of old TV recordings moving from the PVR (and several other devices in the home!) to the storage archive server. The PVR is now almost empty, so it is ready to record new TV programs again.’
Similarity is now based on: date of the TV recordings, number of times played, type of content (video only), storage space of the server (it has plenty of room in this example), and perhaps genre of the video.
According to the above-described scenario ACE mobility (shown in the sequence diagram of
Also ACE to ACE communication or inter ACE communication is required in order to enable self-organization of ACEs. The sequence diagram of
Also ACE massage broadcasting is required for the purpose of self-organization. The sequence diagram of
The message is delivered to N ACEs on the device, which were not active (running, with thread) at the moment of arrival of the message. Therefore, the inactive AC:Es have to be fetched through the repository interface, and instantiated, before the message car be delivered. The execution environment (ExEnv) judges whether each ACE has an appropriate method to receive message msg (in other words, if the ACE is an intended recipient of broadcast msg). ACEs that do not have a suitable method are not instantiated. Ace2Ace: AM remains inactive. It is only called if an ACE needs to send a broadcast. The ACEManager performs ACE message delivery.
By providing the above-mentioned features and functionalities it is advantageously achieved that ACEs, which are intelligent active content, can actively search and gather representation-data stored in other ACEs that are located within one device and/or distributed over several devices over the network. Hence the distribution of representation-data in the network is changed by the aid of communication between the ACEs, which reflects a self-organization of representation-data based on ACE activities. By providing the above mentioned features and functionalities it also advantageously achieved that ACEs that are distributed in a device and/or over several devices in the network can actively move themselves in the network or generate children (copies or duplicates having identical or similar properties) of themselves within the network and/or within devices by the aid of inter-ACE-communication. Hence the distribution of ACEs in the network is changed by the aid of communication between the ACEs, which reflects a self-organization of ACEs itself based on ACE activities.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 04104564.2 | Sep 2004 | EP | regional |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/IB05/53052 | 9/16/2005 | WO | 3/21/2007 |
