Radio station list management
View Patent ↗The present disclosure provides radio station list management in a wireless receiver. Upon detection of a scan event, a plurality of radio broadcast channels is scanned to detect available radio stations. Available radio stations that fail to meet a preference criterion are identified and removed to form a list of preferred radio stations. The scan event may be generated dependent upon a time, a location of the wireless receiver, or a broadcast signal quality. Preference criteria may include station content classification and signal quality.
1. A method of managing preferred radio stations in a wireless receiver, the method comprising:
in response to detecting a scan event, scanning a plurality of radio broadcast channels to detect available radio stations of the plurality of radio broadcast channels;
identifying radio stations of the available radio stations that fail to meet a preference criterion;
removing the identified radio stations from the available radio stations to form a list of preferred radio stations that meet the preference criterion; and
storing the list of preferred radio stations;
where detecting the scan event comprises detecting at least one of the following events:
connection of an ear-phone to a playback circuit of the wireless receiver; and
detecting signal quality below a set threshold, and
where storing the list of preferred radio stations comprises:
storing a broadcast channel of each radio station in the list of preferred radio stations; and
storing a location of the wireless receiver,
the method further comprising:
comparing a first list of preferred radio stations stored at a first location with a second list of preferred radio stations stored at a second location; and
replacing the first and second lists of preferred radio stations with a third list of preferred radio stations if the first and second lists of preferred radio stations have a predetermined number of entries in common;
where the third list of preferred radio stations includes a combination of the first and second lists of preferred radio stations.
2. The method of claim 1 , where detecting the scan event further comprises:
determining a location of the wireless receiver; and
comparing the location of the wireless receiver to a previous location of the wireless receiver associated with a previous scan event.
3. The method of claim 1 , where identifying radio stations of the available radio stations that fail to meet the preference criterion comprises:
identifying radio stations having signal quality below a threshold.
4. The method of claim 1 , where identifying radio stations of the available radio stations that fail to meet the preference criterion comprises:
identifying radio stations having a content classification that does not match a selected content classification.
5. The method of claim 4 , where the content classification is determined from a database of classifications.
6. The method of claim 4 , where the content classification is determined from an analysis of a signal broadcast from the radio station.
7. The method of claim 4 , where the content classification is determined from Radio Data System (RDS) subcarrier signals broadcast from the radio stations.
8. The method of claim 1 , where identifying radio stations of the available radio stations that fail to meet the preference criterion comprises:
identifying radio stations that have substantially no content.
9. The method of claim 1 currently amended, where storing the list of preferred radio stations comprises:
storing a broadcast channel of each radio station in the list of preferred radio stations; and
storing a location of the wireless receiver.
10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
in response to user input, selecting a radio station of the list of preferred radio stations.
11. A wireless receiver comprising:
a scanner operable to scan a plurality of radio broadcast channels to find available radio stations in response to a scan event;
a station list editor operable to remove radio stations of the available radio stations that fail to meet a preference criterion to form a list of preferred radio stations; and
a memory operable to store the list of preferred radio stations;
a scan event generator; and
a scan event detector arranged to detect the scan event,
where the scan event detector is operable to detect connection of an ear-phone to a playback circuit of the wireless receiver, and
wherein detecting the scan event comprises a signal quality analyzer detecting signal quality below a set threshold.
12. The wireless receiver of claim 11 , wherein detecting the scan event comprises a timer detecting a timed event.
13. The wireless receiver of claim 11 , wherein detecting the scan event further comprising:
a locator detecting a geographical location of the wireless receiver; and
comparing the location of the wireless receiver to a previous location of the wireless receiver associated with a previous scan event.
14. The wireless receiver of claim 11 , wherein the memory is operable to store a list of user preferences relating to radio stations, and where the station list editor is responsive to the list of user preferences.
15. The wireless receiver of claim 11 , further comprising an analysis module operable to determine a content classification of a radio station, wherein the station list editor is responsive to the analysis module.
16. The wireless receiver of claim 15 , wherein the analysis module comprises a Radio Data System (RDS) receiver.
17. The wireless receiver of claim 11 , further comprising an analysis module operable to monitor signal quality of a radio station signal, wherein the station list editor is responsive to the analysis module.
18. The wireless receiver of claim 11 , further comprising a user interface to enable input of user preferences relating to radio stations.
19. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, manage preferred radio stations in a wireless receiver by causing the processor to:
in response to detection of a scan event, scan a plurality of broadcast channels to detect available radio stations of the plurality of radio broadcast channels to find available radio stations;
identify radio stations of the available radio stations that fail to meet a preference criterion;
remove the identified radio stations from the available radio stations to form a list of preferred radio stations that meet the preference criterion;
store the list of preferred radio stations;
generate a scan event when an ear-phone is connected to a playback circuit of the wireless receiver; and
generate a scan event automatically when signal quality of a broadcast radio signal falls below a set threshold.