Patent Application
20060138308
The present invention generally relates to vehicle rear-seat entertainment systems and more particularly relates to the presentation of video content in such systems.
Today's rear-seat entertainment systems are typically capable of providing entertainment from one or more of the following sources: video cassette tape, digital video disc (“DVD”), television receiver, or auxiliary input (e.g., video game system console, portable DVD player, etc.). While these sources have been sufficient to date, they do not adequately support the presentation of video content that has been delivered via the Internet from newer digital video services or legally recorded with a set-top box. Some services, such as Starz! Ticket™ and MovieLink® allow a subscriber to log into a content portal and download selected movies, music videos and television programs to a personal computer. Additionally, some content providers provide set-top boxes capable of recording content legally.
A number of portable content players are available that allow downloaded video content to be viewed in a mobile environment independent of a rear-seat entertainment system. However, these devices are expensive and have small viewing screens (i.e., 7.62 cm to 10.16 cm), which reduce their utility. Portable MP3 players are also available for use in a mobile environment, but these devices are only capable of playing back audio content.
The present invention provides a mechanism to allow portable content storage devices to be used to playback video data, audio data, audio visual data and/or photo data in a mobile environment. In one form of the present invention an entertainment system includes a control unit including at least one processor, and at least one portable device adapted to connect to the control unit and to store content, the at least one processor configured to detect the connection of the at least one portable device to the control unit and to automatically locate stored content upon detection of the at least one portable device.
In another form of the present invention an entertainment system includes a control unit, an auxiliary device connected to the control unit and including at least one processor, and at least one portable device connected to the auxiliary device adapted to store content. The at least one processor is configured to detect the connection of the at least one portable device to the auxiliary device and to automatically locate stored content upon detection of the at least one portable device.
In yet another form of the present invention, a control unit includes at least one processor and a receiver, and at least one portable device is coupled to the control unit and includes a transmitter. The at least one portable device is adapted to store content and to communicate with the control unit over a wireless communication link established between the transmitter and the receiver, and the at least one processor is configured to detect the communication link and to automatically locate stored content upon detection of the communication link.
In still another form, the present invention includes a rear-seat control unit, an auxiliary device connected to the rear-seat control unit and including at least one processor and a receiver, and at least one portable device coupled to the auxiliary device and having a transmitter, the at least one portable device adapted to store content and to communicate with the auxiliary device over a wireless communication link established between the transmitter and the receiver, the at least one processor configured to detect the communication link and to automatically locate stored content upon detection of the communication link.
The above-mentioned and other features of this invention, and the manner of attaining them, will become more apparent and the invention itself will be better understood by reference to the following description of embodiments of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:
Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views. Although the drawings represent embodiments of the present invention, the drawings are not necessarily to scale and certain features may be exaggerated in order to better illustrate and explain the present invention.
The embodiments disclosed below are not intended to be exhaustive or limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed in the following detailed description. Rather, the embodiments are chosen and described so that others skilled in the art may utilize their teachings.
For purposes of the present invention, “content” is hereinafter described as audio data, video data, photo data (e.g., photographs and still video images) and/or audio visual data. Content is stored in the memory of a storage device, which in the exemplary embodiment includes a portable hard drive. However, other types of memory storage devices, volatile and non-volatile, may alternatively be used, such as memory sticks, optical disks, etc. Portable hard drive players are used to play content stored on portable hard drives. A portable hard drive player appears as a removable hard drive on a personal computer and as a valid storage device for set-top boxes used to receive and record video content from a content provider. Illustrative examples of how portable hard drives receive content are shown in
In
In
In
The use of portable hard drive 228 enables content stored therein to be viewed in a mobile environment, such as in a vehicle.
The provision of front control unit 110 enables a vehicle to be produced either with or without the audio and video functions of remote control unit 112. Left front vehicle speaker 113 and right front vehicle speaker 115 are connected to front control unit 110. Front control unit 110 is in communication with remote control unit 112 via network 142, e.g., a J1850 or a controller area network.
Remote control unit 112 is provided to enhance the entertainment experience of a vehicle's passengers. For example, if remote control unit 112 is positioned in rear seat area 116 of the vehicle, remote control unit enhances the entertainment experience of a vehicle's rear-seat passengers. Remote control unit 112 includes one or more microprocessors 130, volume and seek controls 126, and connector port 122 for connecting to auxiliary audio/video source 128, such as a video game player, a portable DVD player or a camcorder. Connected to remote control unit 112 are left rear speaker 117, right rear speaker 119 and video screen 111.
One embodiment of the vehicle entertainment system of the present invention is shown in
Remote control unit 212 includes one or more microprocessors 214 and communicates with front control unit 210 over communication network 224. Remote control unit 212 includes volume and seek controls 226 as well as connector port 230. Rear speakers 217, 219 are coupled to remote control unit 212 and enables control unit 212 to present the stored audio data to the vehicle's passengers. Similarly, video monitor 211 is coupled to remote control unit 212 and enables stored video data to be presented to the vehicle's passengers.
Connector port 230 is adapted to enable portable hard drive 228 to connect to remote control unit 212 through communication interface 232. In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, communication interface 232 is a cable utilizing one of an universal serial bus, a FireWire® (FIREWIRE is a registered trademark of Apple Computer, Inc. of Cupertino, Calif.), an IEEE 1394, an i.Link® (I.LINK is a registered trademark of Sony Corporation of Tokyo, Japan), or any other communication standard suitable for transferring content. Multiple connector ports 230 may be provided to enable multiple portable hard drives 228 and/or other portable electronic devices to connect to remote control unit 212.
In other embodiments of system 200, portable hard drive 228 may communicate with remote control unit 212 using a short range wireless radio-frequency (“RF”) technology. The most notable of these technologies include 802.11, Bluetooth and Home RF. If such a wireless technology is used, hard drive 228 may include a RF transmitter 244 and hardware configured to transmit content, and remote control unit 212 may include a receiver 246 and hardware configured to receive the transmitted content.
In accordance with system 200 of
Microprocessor 214 is also programmed to scan one or more hard drives 228 and/or other electronic devices connected to remote control unit 212 to locate content. Multiple processors may be used to carry out this function. For example, a first microprocessor may be programmed to locate audio data files stored in the WAVE, MP3 or other known audio formats. A second microprocessor may be used to locate audio visual data files stored in the Audio Video Interleave or other known audio visual formats. A third microprocessor may be used to locate video data files stored in the MPEG-2, Motion JPEG and other known video formats, and a fourth microprocessor may be used to locate and decode photo data files stored in the JPEG and other known image formats. In other embodiments of the present invention, microprocessor 214 is programmed to locate content stored in predetermined locations on portable hard drive 228, for example, in a specified “audio” or “video” content files.
Microprocessor 214 is further programmed to check appropriate rights management authorizations and to retrieve, decode and present the located content to the user of remote control unit 212 via speakers 213, 215, 217, 219 and/or video screen 211.
Another embodiment of the present invention is shown in
When one or more hard drives 228 and/or other electronic devices are connected to auxiliary device 236, microprocessor 234 is programmed to recognize that hard drives 228 have been connected and to scan hard drives 228 for content stored in the format(s) that microprocessor 234 is programmed to decode. In other embodiments of the present invention, microprocessor 234 is programmed to detect whether a RF communication link has been established between portable hard drive 228 and auxiliary device 236. Once microprocessor 234 locates the content, microprocessor 234 checks appropriate rights management authorizations and retrieves, decodes and presents the content for presentation to the end user by way of speakers 213, 215, 217, 219 and/or video screen 211.
In other embodiments of the present invention, hard drive 228 may connected to front control unit 310 positioned in front seat area 114 of the vehicle (
While this invention has been described as having an exemplary design, the present invention may be further modified within the spirit and scope of this disclosure. This application is therefore intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the invention using its general principles. Further, this application is intended to cover such departures from the present disclosure as come within known or customary practice in the art to which this invention pertains.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60639940 | Dec 2004 | US |
