System and method for internet access to a personal television service
View Patent ↗A communication system and a family of methods for remote access to personal television service are disclosed. A remote personal TV service center provides centralized program guide information. A user may access the personal TV service center through a digital video recorder which is connected to the personal TV service center via telephone modem or a network server. A user may access the personal TV service center through a remote computer terminal or a personal digital assistant which is connected to a computer network. The user selects program events and programs the digital video recorder by using a graphical user interface installed in the front panel of the digital video recorder, or using a similar GUI incorporated into the Web pages presented to remote users by a Web server. The media stream stored in one digital video recorder may be transferred to another digital video recorder.
1. A system comprising:
a media receiver, comprising:
input receiving logic, implemented at least partially by hardware at the media receiver, configured to receive input indicating criteria for choosing media content to transfer from the media receiver to a portable media playback device, the criteria explicitly selecting one or more items of media content;
connection establishing logic, implemented at least partially by hardware at the media receiver, configured to establish a connection between the portable media playback device and the media receiver;
content selecting logic, implemented at least partially by hardware at the media receiver, configured to, after receiving the input, upon connection of the media receiver and the portable media playback device, based on the criteria, automatically choose media content to transfer to the portable media playback device;
content transferring logic, implemented at least partially by hardware at the media receiver, configured to, upon connection of the media receiver and the portable media playback device, automatically transfer the chosen media content from the media receiver to the portable media playback device;
the portable media playback device, comprising:
connection establishing logic, implemented at least partially by hardware at the portable media playback device, configured to establish the connection between the portable media playback device and the media receiver;
content receiving logic, implemented at least partially by hardware at the portable media playback device, configured to receive media content upon the connection of the portable media playback device to the media receiver;
media playing logic, implemented at least partially by hardware at the portable media playback device, configured to play at least a portion of the media content received from the media receiver.
2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the input receiving logic is further configured to receive an explicit choice of the chosen media content from a user.
3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the criteria is based on user preferences.
4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the content selecting logic is further configured to compare content information specified in the criteria to program information specified for a plurality of media content items.
5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the criteria specifies a title or a description of the chosen media content.
6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the content selecting logic is further configured to compare content information specified in the criteria to descriptive information specifying content lengths for a plurality of media content items.
7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the content selecting logic is further configured to compare content information specified in the criteria to descriptive information specifying ratings for a plurality of media content items.
8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the media receiver further comprises a content downloader configured to download one or more items in the chosen media content from another device.
9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the media receiver further comprises content recording logic, implemented at least partially by hardware at the media receiver, configured to record at least one or more items of the chosen media content from a broadcast source.
10. The system of claim 1 , wherein the media receiver is a server to which the portable media playback device connects over a network.
11. The system of claim 1 , wherein the media receiver is a server at a cable head end.
12. The system of claim 1 , wherein the media receiver is a digital video recorder.
13. The system of claim 1 , wherein the connection is a network connection facilitated by a service center.
14. The system of claim 1 , wherein the connection is established by a user plugging the portable media playback device into the media receiver.
15. The system of claim 1 , wherein the connection is an encrypted connection.
16. The system of claim 1 , wherein the portable media playback device is a battery driven device that operates independent of the media receiver.
17. The system of claim 1 , wherein the media playing logic is configured to play back at least a particular media content item selected via a user interface on the portable media playback device, from the chosen media content.
18. The system of claim 1 , wherein the portable media playback device comprises one or more storage devices configured to store the chosen media content.
19. The system of claim 1 , wherein the content transferring logic is further configured to automatically transfer, with the chosen media content, descriptive information about the chosen media content.
20. The system of claim 1 ,
wherein the content transferring logic is further configured to automatically transfer, with the chosen media content, rules that cause the portable media playback device to enforce a copy protection scheme with respect to the at least one item of the chosen media content;
wherein the portable media playback device further comprises copy protection enforcing logic, implemented at least partially by hardware at the portable media playback device, configured to enforce the copy protection scheme in accordance to the rules.
21. The system of claim 1 , wherein the media receiver further comprises operational information collecting logic, implemented at least partially by hardware at the media receiver, configured to, upon a subsequent connection of the media receiver and the portable media playback device, receive operational information from the portable media playback device.
22. The system of claim 1 ,
wherein the media receiver further comprises operational information collecting logic, implemented at least partially by hardware at the media receiver, configured to, upon a subsequent connection of the media receiver and the portable media playback device, receive operational information from the portable media playback device;
wherein the media receiver further comprises operational information transferring logic, implemented at least partially by hardware at the media receiver, configured to transfer the operational information to a server.
23. The system of claim 1 , wherein the content transferring logic is further configured to encrypt the chosen media content for transfer.
24. The system of claim 1 ,
wherein the media receiver further comprises a content database configured to store data that describes a plurality of media content items, including the chosen media content, wherein the content database includes the content information to which the criteria is compared;
wherein the content selecting logic is further configured to select which of the plurality of media content items described in the content database are to be transferred to the portable media playback device based on the criteria.
25. The system of claim 1 , further comprising:
a server configured to distribute authorization data to the media receiver and the portable media playback device;
wherein the at least one of the media receiver and the portable media playback device is configured to transfer the chosen media content only upon verifying that, based on the authorization data, the media receiver is authorized to transfer the chosen media content to the portable media playback device.
26. The system of claim 1 , further comprising:
a server configured to distribute authorization data to the media receiver and the portable media playback device;
wherein the at least one of the media receiver and the portable media playback device is configured to transfer the chosen media content only upon verifying that, based on the authorization data, the media receiver is authorized to transfer the chosen media content to the portable media playback device;
wherein the media receiver is further configured to upload, to the server, a record indicating that the chosen media content was transferred to the portable media playback device.
27. The system of claim 1 , further comprising:
a server configured to distribute authorization data to the media receiver and the portable media playback device;
wherein the at least one of the media receiver and the portable media playback device is configured to transfer the chosen media content only upon verifying that, based on the authorization data, the media receiver is authorized to transfer the chosen media content to the portable media playback device;
wherein the media receiver is further configured to upload, to the server, a record indicating that the chosen media content was transferred to the portable media playback device;
wherein the server comprises a record processor that examines records of content transfers for one or more of: copy protection violations, or unauthorized content transfers.