METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CREATING AND MANAGING CLUSTERS OF MOBILE AUDIO DEVICES
First Claim
1. A method for accepting or rejecting a third mobile audio device to a cluster comprising a first mobile audio device and a second mobile audio device, comprising:
- sending information about the user of the third device from the third device to the first device;
receiving and transmitting the sent information about the user of the third device from the first device to the second device;
displaying the sent information about the user of the third device on the first device;
displaying the transmitted information about the user of the third device on the second device;
deciding jointly by the user of the first device and the user of the second device whether to share music with the user of the third device; and
accepting or rejecting the third device depending on the joint decision.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The invention relates to a method and apparatus for controlling access of a mobile audio device to a cluster of compatible devices. More particularly, the invention pertains to a method to establish communications between a portable audio player and one or more audio players within a cluster. By way of example, users can use identifiers and matching to decide whether to accept or reject a requesting audio player to join the cluster. Further, the identifiers may be stored on the audio players for future reference. Also, directional exchange of information can allow a user to visually select members of the cluster. In a further example, a mobile audio device is configured to communicate within a cluster of audio devices. In addition, the broadcasting responsibility can be transferred among members of the group.
108 Citations
46 Claims
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1. A method for accepting or rejecting a third mobile audio device to a cluster comprising a first mobile audio device and a second mobile audio device, comprising:
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sending information about the user of the third device from the third device to the first device;
receiving and transmitting the sent information about the user of the third device from the first device to the second device;
displaying the sent information about the user of the third device on the first device;
displaying the transmitted information about the user of the third device on the second device;
deciding jointly by the user of the first device and the user of the second device whether to share music with the user of the third device; and
accepting or rejecting the third device depending on the joint decision. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
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4. A portable audio device enabled to request to join a cluster of portable audio devices using a localized audio network, comprising:
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a means for transmitting information associated with the portable audio device;
a means for receiving information transmitted from another device within the cluster;
a means for displaying the received information; and
a means for inputting votes for accepting the audio device into the cluster;
wherein the votes enable the joint decision whether to accept or reject the audio device into the cluster. - View Dependent Claims (5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A system of music sharing for a plurality of mobile users, comprising:
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a first sharing device and a second sharing device, each device comprising a musical signal store, a musical signal transmitter, a musical signal receiver, and a musical signal player;
a broadcast user operating the first sharing device;
a member user operating the second sharing device, wherein the broadcast user plays the musical signal for his own enjoyment on the first sharing device and transmits the musical signal to the receiver of the second sharing device of the member user, on which the musical signal is played for the member user; and
a manual switch on at least one second sharing device, wherein actuation of the switch causes the first sharing device to cease transmitting the musical signal and for the second sharing device to begin transmitting musical signal from the musical signal store of the second sharing device. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A wireless communications system for sharing audio entertainment between a first mobile device and a second mobile device in the presence of a non-participating third mobile device, comprising:
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an announcement signal transmitted by the first mobile device for which the second mobile device and the third mobile device are receptive;
a response signal transmitted by the second mobile device in response to the announcement signal for which the first mobile device is receptive and for which the third mobile device is not receptive;
an identifier signal transmitted by the first mobile device to the second mobile device in response to the response signal, and which is not receptive to the third mobile device;
a broadcast signal comprising audio entertainment that is transmitted by the first mobile device, and which is receptive by the second mobile device on the basis of the reception of the identifier signal;
wherein the broadcast signal is transmittedby a connectionless transport protocol and the announcement signal is transmitted by a connection-oriented transport protocol; and
a transfer signal that is transmitted by the first mobile device upon halting the transmission of its broadcast signal, and which transfer signal is receptive by the second mobile device, such that reception by the second mobile device causes the device to transmit a second broadcast signal comprising audio entertainment for which the first unit is receptive.
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17. A wireless communications system for sharing audio entertainment between a first mobile device and a second mobile device, comprising:
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a broadcast identifier transmitted by the first mobile device to the second mobile device;
a personal identifier transmitted by the second mobile device to the first mobile device;
a broadcast signal comprising audio entertainment that is transmitted by the first mobile device of which the second device is receptive, wherein the first mobile device and the second mobile device have displays which can display the identifier signal that they receive and the second mobile device can play the audio entertainment from the broadcast signal that it receives; and
a transfer signal that is transmitted by the first mobile device upon halting the transmission of its broadcast signal, and which transfer signal is receptive by the second mobile device, such that reception by the second mobile device causes the device to transmit a second broadcast signal comprising audio entertainment for which the first unit is receptive.
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18. A portable device that can share audio entertainment with a compatible portable device, comprising:
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a transmitter for broadcasting to a compatible device, the broadcast comprising at least one of audio entertainment, an identifier associated with the portable device, or a transfer signal;
a receiver for receiving transmissions from a compatible device, the received transmissions comprising at least one of an identifier associated with the device that is broadcasting to the device;
audio entertainment and transfer signals broadcast to the device;
audio storage for storing audio entertainment received by the receiver;
a means for outputting audio entertainment, the audio entertainment being received by the receiver or from the audio storage; and
a manual switch, wherein actuation of the switch causes the portable device to switch between transmitting audio entertainment and receiving transmissions from the compatible device. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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21. A method for the user of a sharing mobile wireless audio device to join in a sharing group with at least one other mobile wireless audio device, comprising:
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establishing contact between the sharing device and the other mobile wireless audio device, wherein the contacting comprises physical proximity or directional communication;
exchanging information by the contact from the other audio device with the sharing mobile audio device;
determining whether the exchanged information satisfies criteria for joining;
allowing the other audio device to join the sharing group if the criteria are satisfied. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. A sharing mobile audio device, comprising:
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a base electronic product selected from the group consisting of a telephone, a portable audio device, an MP3 player, and a portable digital assistant; and
a unit directly integrated with the base electronic product, for enabling wireless transmission and reception of communications between members of a cluster of compatible mobile devices, the unit further comprising;
a digital exchanger that exchanges digital information between the audio device and the other audio device, wherein the exchange comprises at least one of physical proximity or directional communication;
a determiner that determines whether the exchanged digital information satisfies criteria for joining; and
a means for joining the cluster. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31)
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32. A wireless communications system for sharing audio entertainment between a first mobile device and a second mobile device with a third mobile device additionally requesting to share audio entertainment, comprising:
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a broadcast identifier transmitted by the first mobile device to the second mobile device;
personal information transmitted by the second mobile device to the first mobile device;
a transmitter for transmitting the broadcast signal comprising audio entertainment that is transmitted by the first mobile device of which the second device is receptive, wherein the first mobile device and the second mobile device have displays which can display the identifier signal that they receive and the second mobile device can play the audio entertainment from the broadcast signal that it receives; and
a third mobile device whose user requests to receive the broadcast signal and additionally comprising a requester identifier signal transmitted by the third mobile device to the first mobile device;
wherein the user of the first mobile device and the user of the second mobile device make a communal decision on whether to share audio entertainment with the third mobile device. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35, 36, 37)
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38. A method for a first portable audio player to decide whether to accept a second portable audio player into an audio sharing cluster, comprising:
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establishing communications between the portable audio player and the second portable audio player;
passing from the second audio player to the first audio player identifiers from prior clusters to which the second audio player had been associated;
matching the identifiers passed by the second audio player to the first audio player with a list of identifiers;
deciding to accept the second audio player into the cluster based on the matching; and
storing the identifier of the second audio player into the first audio player if the second audio player is accepted into the sharing cluster. - View Dependent Claims (39, 40, 41)
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42. A wireless audio player enabled to share an audio selection with a second wireless audio player, comprising:
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means for establishing communications between the portable audio player and the second portable audio player;
means for transmitting from the second audio player to the first audio player identifiers from prior music sharing clusters to which the second audio player had been associated;
means for matching the identifiers passed by the second audio player to the first audio player with a list of identifiers;
means for deciding to transmit to the second audio player based on the matching; and
means for storing the identifier of the second audio player into the first audio player. - View Dependent Claims (43, 44, 45)
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46. An audio device enabled to control access by a searching audio device to a cluster comprising a plurality of compatible audio devices that form a local audio network, the audio device comprising:
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means for sending information about a user of the searching device from the searching device to the audio device, wherein the searching device is searching for a cluster to join;
means for receiving and transmitting the sent information from the audio device to the plurality of audio devices in the cluster;
means for displaying the sent information on the audio device;
means for displaying the transmitted information on the plurality of devices in the cluster;
means for the cluster to jointly decide whether to share music with the user of the searching device; and
means for accepting or rejecting the searching device depending on the joint decision.
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Specification