Registering access device multimedia content via a broadband access gateway
View Patent ↗A system and method of registering or exchanging information about the availability of multimedia information and services is disclosed. Access devices in a wireless local area network (WLAN) and/or personal area network (PAN) may register, with a wireless broadband access gateway, selected information about multimedia information and services that they have and may share. Information about the available multimedia information and services may be shared by the wireless broadband access gateway with other access devices within the coverage area of the WLAN or PAN. Access devices may then access the multimedia information and services of other access devices via the wireless broadband access gateway, based upon information identifying and authenticating the recipient. A broadband connection permits the gateway to pass multimedia information and service activity to and from the access devices within the coverage area of the WLAN or PAN.
1. A system supporting sharing of one or both of multimedia information and media-related services among a plurality of access devices, the system comprising:
a gateway communicatively coupled to a broadband network and at least one wireless interface, the gateway selectively exchanging multimedia information among the at least one wireless interface and the broadband network, and communicating with the plurality of access devices via the at least one wireless interface;
the gateway receiving identification information from each of the plurality of access devices;
the gateway collecting, from a first of the plurality of access devices, information descriptive of one or both of multimedia information and media-related services available on the first of the plurality of access devices;
the gateway selecting at least a portion of the information descriptive of one or both of the multimedia information and the media-related services available on the first of the plurality of access devices and collected from the first of the plurality of access devices based upon the identification information received from a second of the plurality of access devices; and
the gateway distributing to the second of the plurality of access devices the selected portion of the collected information.
2. The system according to claim 1 wherein multimedia information comprises one or more of streaming video, broadcast video, voice, digital data, text, digitized audio, digitized still images, digitized video, and digitized music.
3. The system according to claim 1 wherein media-related services comprise one or more of accessing, recording, playing, exchanging, transmitting, receiving, converting, and translating of multimedia information.
4. The system according to claim 1 wherein the identification information comprises one or more of an identifier of an access device, a user identifier, a member identifier, an electronic serial number, a media access control (MAC) address, an administrative identifier, a password, a commercial credit card number, a personal identification number, and a digital certificate.
5. The system according to claim 1 wherein the at least one wireless interface is compliant with the BLUETOOTH V1.2 or compatible personal area network (PAN) specification.
6. The system according to claim 1 wherein the at least one wireless interface communicates using an unlicensed frequency band.
7. The system according to claim 1 wherein the at least one wireless interface communicates at a frequency of approximately 2.4 gigahertz.
8. The system according to claim 1 wherein the at least one wireless interface is compliant with one or more of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, and 802.11n standards.
9. The system according to claim 1 wherein the broadband network comprises one or more of a digital subscriber line (DSL) network, a cable network, a satellite network, a cellular network, and the Internet.
10. The system according to claim 9 wherein the cellular network comprises one or more of a global system for mobile communications (GSM) network, a time division multiple access (TDMA) network, a code division multiple access (CDMA) network, and a universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS) network.
11. The system according to claim 1 wherein the information descriptive of multimedia information comprises at least one of a file name, a file type, a media type, a file size, a duration, a playback time, a member number, an administrative ID, an electronic serial number, an Internet protocol (IP) address, a media access control (MAC) address, information identifying a make of an access device, and information identifying a model of an access device.
12. The system according to claim 1 wherein the plurality of access devices comprises one or more of a mobile multimedia handset, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a personal computer (PC), a digital scanner, a digital camera, a printer, headphones, and a pointing device.
13. A method supporting the sharing of one or both of multimedia information and media-related services using a plurality of access devices, the method comprising:
collecting, via one or both of a wireless and a wired network, information describing one or both of multimedia information and media-related services available from the plurality of access devices;
receiving identification information identifying each of the plurality of access devices;
selecting a portion of the information describing one or both of the multimedia information and the media-related services available from a first of the plurality of access devices based upon the identification information identifying a second of the plurality of access devices; and
distributing the selected portion of collected information to the second of the plurality of access devices.
14. The method according to claim 13 wherein the information describing multimedia information available from the plurality of access devices comprises one or more of a file name, a file type, a media type, a file size, a duration, a playback time, a member number, an administrative ID, an electronic serial number, an Internet protocol (IP) address, a media access control (MAC) address, information identifying a make of an access device, and information identifying a model of an access device.
15. The method according to claim 13 wherein the information describing media-related services comprises representations of one or more of accessing, recording, playing, exchanging, transmitting, receiving, converting, and translating of multimedia information.
16. The method according to claim 13 wherein the wireless network is compliant with the BLUETOOTH V1.2 or compatible personal area network (PAN) specification.
17. The method according to claim 13 wherein the wireless network communicates using an unlicensed frequency band.
18. The method according to claim 13 wherein the wireless network communicates at a frequency of approximately 2.4 gigahertz.
19. The method according to claim 13 wherein the wireless network is compliant with one or more of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, and 802.11n standards.
20. The method according to claim 13 further comprising exchanging, via one or both of the wireless and/or a broadband network, the one or both of the multimedia information and the media-related services.
21. The method according to claim 20 wherein the broadband network comprises one or more of a digital subscriber line (DSL) network, a cable network, a satellite network, a cellular network, and the Internet.
22. The method according to claim 21 wherein the cellular network comprises one or more of a global system for mobile communications (GSM) network, a time division multiple access (TDMA) network, a code division multiple access (CDMA) network, and a universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS) network.
23. The method according to claim 13 wherein the multimedia information comprises one or more of streaming video, broadcast video, voice, digital data, text, digitized audio, digitized still images, digitized video, and digitized music.
24. The method according to claim 13 wherein the plurality of access devices comprises one or more of a mobile multimedia handset, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a personal computer (PC), a digital scanner, a digital camera, a printer, headphones, and a pointing device.
25. A computer-readable medium, having stored thereon a computer program having a plurality of code sections for operating a gateway supporting the sharing of one or both of multimedia information and media-related services among a plurality of access devices, the code sections executable by a processor for causing the processor to perform the operations comprising:
collecting, via at least one of a wireless and a wired network, information describing one or both of the multimedia information and the media-related services available from the plurality of access devices;
receiving identification information identifying each of the plurality of access devices;
selecting a portion of the information describing one or both of the multimedia information and the media-related services available from a first of the plurality of access devices based upon the identification information identifying a second of the plurality of access devices; and
distributing the selected portion of collected information to the second of the plurality of access devices.
26. The computer-readable medium according to claim 25 wherein the information describing multimedia information available from the plurality of access devices comprises one or more of a file name, a file type, a media type, a file size, a duration, a playback time, a member number, an administrative ID, an electronic serial number, an Internet protocol (IP) address, a media access control (MAC) address, information identifying a make of an access device, and information identifying a model of an access device.
27. The computer-readable medium according to claim 25 wherein the information describing media-related services comprises representations of one or more of accessing, recording, playing, exchanging, transmitting, receiving, converting, and translating of multimedia information.
28. The computer-readable medium according to claim 25 wherein the wireless network is compliant with the BLUETOOTH V1.2 or compatible personal area network (PAN) specification.
29. The computer-readable medium according to claim 25 wherein the wireless network communicates using an unlicensed frequency band.
30. The computer-readable medium according to claim 25 wherein the wireless network communicates at a frequency of approximately 2.4 gigahertz.
31. The computer-readable medium according to claim 25 wherein the wireless network is compliant with one or more of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, and 802.11n standards.
32. The computer-readable medium according to claim 25 wherein the code sections executable by the processor further causing the processor to perform the operations comprising:
exchanging, via one or both of the wireless and a broadband network, the one or both of the multimedia information and the media-related services.
33. The computer-readable medium according to claim 32 wherein the broadband network comprises one or more of a digital subscriber line (DSL) network, a cable network, a satellite network, a cellular network, and the Internet.
34. The computer-readable medium according to claim 33 wherein the cellular network comprises one or more of a global system for mobile communications (GSM) network, a time division multiple access (TDMA) network, a code division multiple access (CDMA) network, and a universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS) network.
35. The computer-readable medium according to claim 25 wherein the multimedia information comprises one or more of streaming video, broadcast video, voice, digital data, text, digitized audio, digitized still images, digitized video, and digitized music.
36. The computer-readable medium according to claim 25 wherein the plurality of access devices comprises one or more of a mobile multimedia handset, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a personal computer (PC), a digital scanner, a digital camera, a printer, headphones, and a pointing device.