Patent Application
20190069015
The present disclosure relates generally to a system and method of delivering digital content to a display device and, more particularly, to a system and method for selectively casting audio-visual digital content from a user's mobile device to only a Chromecast display device in a hotel room registered to the user, where the hotel has many Chromecast display devices in its rooms operating on the same network.
Chromecast™ is a digital media device that connects to an HDMI port of a high definition television, or other suitable device, and that allows a user to display audio-visual digital content on the television that is streamed or casted using a compatible streaming application or “app,” such a Hulu™, Netflix™, Pandora™, YouTube™, Spotify™, etc., from the user's cell phone or personal computer. The user downloads the Chromecast app onto his/her cell phone, and during the set-up process of the app the user can identify, list and name any number of televisions that include a digital media device and that operate on the same network. The cell phone is also loaded with one or more of the streaming apps, where the user will open the desired streaming app, select the desired output device, such as a television, from the list, select particular content on the streaming app to be cast or streamed, and press a cast button on the app to stream the selected content to the selected output device. The streaming app is used to navigate through the content while the content is being displayed.
The Chromecast protocol discussed above operates as intended in a private environment with a limited number of output devices that can be selected. However, in a public environment, such as in a hotel, there may be many output devices operating on the same network as a Chromecast media player, such as in each separate hotel room. In the general Chromecast use case discussed above, the user could identify and select from any of those output devices using the streaming app, such as output devices in other people's rooms, resulting in obvious problems for other users in those rooms making that general use unacceptable. Thus, there needs to be a way in which only the output device in the user's room can be selected for streaming digital content.
The following discussion discloses and describes a system and method for selectively delivering audio and/or visual digital content from a mobile device, such as a cell phone, to a display device, such as a Chromecast enabled television in a hotel room. The method includes broadcasting advertisement signals from a plurality of the display devices over a first WiFi network indicating that the display devices are available to receive audio and/or visual digital content. A device controller receives the advertisement signals on the first network and generates a database identifying each display device that is available and its room location. Display commands are sent from the mobile device registered to a user in a certain hotel room to display audio and/or visual digital content on the display device in that room over a second WiFi network. The device controller receives the display commands on the second network and identifies the registered room number of the mobile device that sent the commands. The display commands are sent from the display controller to the display device on the first network based on the room location of the display device and the room location of the mobile device, and the audio and/or visual content is displayed on the display device.
Additional features of the disclosure will become apparent from the following description and appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
The following discussion of the embodiments of the disclosure directed to a system and method for selectively casting, streaming or otherwise delivering audio-visual digital content from a mobile device to a Chromecast enabled device in a hotel or other public area is merely exemplary in nature, and is in no way intended to limit the invention or its applications or uses.
A hotel guest 20 may be occupying a certain one of the hotel rooms 14 at any given point in time, and may bring with him/her a personal mobile device 22, such as a cell phone, smartphone, laptop, desktop computer, tablet computer, etc. The personal device 12 may be loaded with the necessary Chromecast app that allows it to recognize and communicate with the Chromecast device 18 on a common network and be loaded with one or more streaming apps, such as Netflix, YouTube, Spotify, etc., that allows the device 22 to stream audio and/or visual digital content to the device 18 in the manner discussed above. The system 10 also includes a controller 24 that is located in the network facility of the hotel 14, such as in a server closet. The controller 24 is in communication with the Chromecast devices 18 in every room 14 on a controller WiFi network 26 and is in communication with all of the registered personal devices 22 in the hotel 12 on a separate guest WiFi network 28. As will be discussed in detail below, the controller 24 operates various processes and algorithms that only allow each personal device 22 to stream digital content to the television 16 that is in the room 14 that is registered to the guest 20 associated with that device 22.
Each of the Chromecast devices 18 broadcasts signals or advertisements over the controller WiFi network 26 that indicate it is available to receive commands from a Chromecast app to display the audio-visual content on the television 16 it is connected to. Those signals are received by the controller 24, which generates a database or “map” in its memory that identifies which Chromecast devices 18 are available at what IP address and the specific room 14 in which each of the identified Chromecast devices 18 is located. The controller 24 also monitors each of the Chromecast devices 18 when in use over the controller network 26 to identify certain statistics for each of the devices 18, such as what app they are currently running, for example, Netflix, Hulu, etc., so that the controller 24 knows whether the Chromecast devices 18 are on line and active.
The personal devices 22 do not see the signals or advertisements broadcast from the Chromecast devices 18 indicating they are available to receive and display content because they are not connected to the controller network 26, but are connected to the guest network 28. The controller 24 operates a Chromecast application protocol while in communication with the personal devices 22 over the guest network 28 so that the personal devices 22 think they are in communication with the Chromecast devices 18 when they actually are not. When the guest 20 opens a streaming app on his/her personal device 22 that is properly configured with the Chromecast app to cast audio-visual digital content to a Chromecast device 18, the controller 24 identifies what room 14 that device 22 is registered to and only displays a selection for the Chromecast device 18 that is in the room 14 associated with that guest 20 so that the guest 20 cannot select any other of the Chromecast devices 18 in other rooms 14. In other words, when a guest 20 attempts to connect to a Chromecast device 18, the controller 24 receives the command signal from the guest's personal device 22 on the network 28, and then verifies from previously stored IP address information what room 14 that device 22 is associated with. Usually, when a guest 20 attempts to connect his/her device 22 to the guest WiFi network 28, they are required to enter their name and room number, so that the controller 24 will have that information. The controller 24 transfers the streaming signals it receives from the personal devices 22 on the guest network 28 to the selected Chromecast device 18 on the controller network 26. In other words, the controller 24 operates as only a gateway or tunnel between the Chromecast devices 18 and the personal devices 22 in that the controller 24 does not decipher, interpret or otherwise change the commands from the personal device 22 to the Chromecast device 18. In this manner, the controller 24 does not know what streaming apps the personal device 22 is streaming on the Chromecast device 18 or the content that is being streamed.
The discussion above concerning selectively displaying audio-visual digital content on a certain one of the Chromecast devices 18 is described in more detail in the following two flow chart diagrams.
At box 34, the controller 24 identifies each of the Chromecast devices 18 using, for example, a standard compliance service that supports casting connected to the controller network 26. The controller 24 reaches out to a master Google database over the Internet to obtain Chromecast mapping information that identifies which Chromecast device 18 is in which of the rooms 14, and stores in the memory of the controller 24 the mapping information for the Chromecast devices 18.
At box 36, the personal devices 22 are authenticated or registered, which may include employing an authentication engine to authenticate the personal devices 22 and creating an in-memory database in the controller 24 containing information about each of the devices 22. If available, user access gateway integration is employed that includes reaching out to a third-party user access gateway, or the same party user access gateway, to obtain a list of currently authenticated personal devices 22 that have been registered on the network 28. The information is parsed and sanitized, and then stored in an authentication engine database. The process may require that the guest 20 subscribe to a certain level of bandwidth or require that the guest 20 purchases the ability to utilize the in-room casting service. If user access gateway integration is not available or the third-party does not support the user access gateway, the controller 24 can use an API service for authenticating or registering the personal devices 22 by last name and room number. When the registration information is posted to the API service, the information is posted against the third-party property management system for validation if the information is available. The information is stored in the authentication engine database after being parsed and sanitized. An error message is returned if the registration process of a personal device 22 in the controller 24 fails.
If the hotel 12 does not have user access gateway integration at the decision diamond 46, the guest 20 can visit the app store on the device 22, and download, install and launch the vCast application at box 60. The application searches the wireless network 28 for the API service at box 62 discussed above, and once located, the vCast application displays a prompt for the guest's last name and room number at box 64. The guest 20 clicks or presses “register” on the personal device 22 at box 66 and the information discussed above is posted to the API. If the registration does not fail, a success message is displayed. Once the device 22 is registered the process then proceeds to the box 48 to launch the streaming application. Alternately, if the hotel 12 does not have user access gateway integration at the decision diamond 46, the controller 24 can manage and display a pairing code on the Chromecast device 18 at box 68, where the guest 20 will enter the pairing code at the box 64 instead of the last name and room number.
The foregoing discussion discloses and describes merely exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. One skilled in the art will readily recognize from such discussion and from the accompanying drawings and claims that various changes, modifications and variations can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure as defined in the following claims.
This application claims the benefit of the filing date of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/551,304, titled System and Method for Delivering Digital Content, filed Aug. 29, 2017, and U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/580,486, titled Improved System and Method of Delivering Digital Content, filed Nov. 2, 2017.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62551304 | Aug 2017 | US | |
| 62580486 | Nov 2017 | US |
