Method and apparatus for indication of application layer connectivity
View Patent ↗A display indicator is provided on a set-top appliance to indicate application layer connectivity between a client device and a server belonging to a hosted service. This connectivity optionally reflects synchronization state of a service related database on the appliance and its replica on the server. A second indicator on the appliance displays the completion status of an ongoing download.
1. A front panel display for a set-top appliance comprising: a first indicator configured to reflect application layer connectivity status between a content management system executing on the set-top appliance and a hosted service through which information regarding multimedia content available for download to a computer readable medium of the set-top appliance can be obtained; and a second indicator configured to reflect current download status of the multimedia content.
2. The front panel display of claim 1 , wherein the second indicator comprises a series of light emitting diodes (LEDs).
3. The front panel display of claim 2 , wherein the LEDs are arranged so as to resemble an arc from one area of the display to another area of the display.
4. The front panel display of claim 3 , wherein the LEDs are configured to light up in such a way as to provide an approximate indication of a percentage of completion of the download status of the multimedia content.
5. The front panel display of claim 1 , wherein the first indicator comprises a first light emitting diode (LED).
6. The front panel display of claim 5 , wherein the second indicator comprises a group of LEDs which group does not include the first LED.
7. The front panel display of claim 5 , wherein the first LED is a different color than the LEDs which make up the group of LEDs.
8. The front panel display of claim 7 , wherein at least one of the LEDs which make up the group of LEDs is a different color than others of the group of LEDs.
9. The front panel display of claim 1 , wherein the second indicator comprises an alphanumeric display.
10. A method, comprising reflecting a status of a current download of multimedia content by a set-top appliance via the Internet on a first indicator of a front panel display of the set-top appliance while at the same time reflecting a current application layer connectivity status between a content management application executing on the set-top appliance and a hosted service through which information regarding the multimedia content can be obtained on a second indicator of the front panel display.
11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the status of the current download is reflected by lighting in succession a series of light emitting diodes (LEDs) which comprise the first indicator.
12. The method of claim 10 , wherein the connectivity status between the content management application and the hosted service is reflected by lighting or not lighting a light emitting diode (LED).
13. An appliance, comprising a first display configured to indicate application layer connectivity status between a content management system executing on the appliance and a hosted service through which information regarding multimedia content available for download to the appliance can be obtained; and a second display configured to reflect current download status of the multimedia content.
14. The appliance of claim 13 , wherein the first display comprises a light emitting diode (LED).
15. The appliance of claim 14 , wherein the LED is blue.
16. The appliance of claim 13 , wherein the second display comprises a series of light emitting diodes (LEDs).
17. The appliance of claim 16 , wherein the second display comprises three LEDs.
18. The appliance of claim 17 , wherein the three LEDs are arranged in an arc.
19. The appliance of claim 18 , wherein at least one of the three LEDs is a different color than the others of the three LEDs.
20. The appliance of claim 13 , wherein the second display is a different color than the first display.