Data processing: database and file management or data structures – Database design – Data structure types
Reexamination Certificate
1996-10-02
2001-03-06
Feild, Joseph H. (Department: 2771)
Data processing: database and file management or data structures
Database design
Data structure types
C434S319000, C434S320000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06199076
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to electronic information distribution systems and more particularly to a system for dynamically and interactively selecting and playing particular programs from a program library.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The three dominant commercial systems for providing audio programming to a listeners are broadcast radio systems, cassette tape playback systems and compact disk playback systems.
Broadcast radio uses both the AM and FM frequency bands making a large number of simultaneously broadcast programs available on an essentially random access basis. Unfortunately, since most broadcast stations attempting to appeal to the same general listening audience, much of the programming is duplicative and special interest programs are broadcast on a limited basis. In addition, because there is no convenient way for listeners to be aware of the wide variety of materials scheduled for broadcast, most people listen to only a limited number of stations which dependably broadcast the programming considered to be most acceptable. Even when desired programming is found, it must typically be listened to when it is broadcast; that is, at times chosen by the broadcaster and not the listener.
Tape and compact disk audio players offer the listener the opportunity to purchase specific music selections or albums performed by favorite artists and to replay selections from these purchased recording whenever desired. Pushbutton track selection, as well as improved fidelity, has made the CD player the preferred choice of many, despite the cost and inconvenience of purchasing a library of desired disks. Unfortunately, specialized information programming, unlike music, is largely unavailable on tape or disk, and that media is not capable of adequately conveying rapidly evolving information such as local and world news, weather reports, and rapidly changing trade and business information. Although broadcast radio provides adequate, up to the minute coverage of general news topics, specialized information continues to be largely unavailable on any of these three audio delivery systems, not withstanding the fact that radio, tape and CD players continue to be widely used, particularly in automobiles, for general news and music programming.
More recently, “Internet radio” sources has been introduced which make files of audio program material available for downloading on the World Wide Web using conventional web browsers to locate and request specific files which are then played in real time by special programs, including the popular “Real Audio” program offered by Progressive Networks. Although Internet radio systems make it possible to deliver a richly diverse selection of audio programs to interested listeners on request, including specialized information not offered by conventional broadcast media, the use of a visual web browser to search for and then play individual program selections one at a time makes conventional Internet radio players impractical for routine desktop use, and wholly unsuitable for use by an automobile drive.
It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide easy access to rich selection of audio programming and to allow the listener to dynamically and interactively locate and select desired programming from the available collection in an easy and intuitive way without the need for a visual display screen and using only simple selection controls.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention takes the form of an audio program player which automatically plays a predetermined schedule of audio program segments and which further includes simple controls that allow the listener to perform one or more of the following functions:
to skip the remainder of any segment being played in order to listen to the next program segment;
to skip backward to the beginning of the current segment, and then backward again to the beginning of the prior segment on the schedule, thereby replaying any desired segment or search for a previously played segment in the sequence;
to listen if desired to an audio speech announcement describing each segment before it is played, and to skip the forward or backward to the next or prior announcement, thereby immediately obtaining the information needed to determine whether a given segment is or is not of interest;
to listen if desired to an audio speech announcement describing a subject matter categories within which several program segments are grouped, and to skip from category announcement to category announcement in either the forward or reverse direction, skipping all program segments in categories of insufficient interest;
a. to listen to only predetermined highlight passages in any program segment, thereby more rapidly reviewing the highlights only of a program segment with the ability to commence normal playing at any point where the highlight passage reveals information which the listener desires to hear in more detail;
b. to execute a hyperlink jump to a different, cross-referenced position in the program sequence, or to a program segment not specified in the program sequence, and to provide audible cues to the listener to identify passages which identify the presence of a cross-referencing hyperlink.
According to a further feature of the invention, the audio program player plays program segments in an order determined by a session schedule which identifies an ordered sequence of program segments. The session schedule is preferably created in the first instance by a server subsystem which develops and periodically transmits to the session schedule to the player. According to still another feature of the invention, the player subsystem incorporates means for modifying the session schedule received from the server subsystem by adding or deleting specific programs and by altering the order in which the programs are presented.
As contemplated by the invention, the player subsystem includes a control mechanism responsive to commands received from a listener to dynamically alter the sequence and content of the programming material actually presented. More specifically, the player may advantageously incorporate means for skipping the remaining content of any program being played at any time, or returning to the beginning of a particular subject to replay its content. Each given program segment is preferably preceded by a topic description segment, and the program skipping mechanism is the player is preferably adapted to automatically skip to the next topic description, bypassing the intervening program content, whenever a skip command is receive when a topic description is being played. Similarly, related topics (program segments) are sequentially grouped together by subject category, and a subject description program segment advantageously precedes each subject collection. When the user issues a skip command at the time a subject description is playing, the player automatically skips all of the program segments (topics) within the described subject and continues by playing the next subject description. In this way, the listener can rapidly skim through subject categories, one at a time, until a desired subject is reached, and then allow the player to play topic descriptions one at a time until a desired topic (program segment) is reached.
In accordance with still another feature of the invention, means are employed for identifying one or more discrete passages within any program segment as being a “highlight,” and the player incorporates means operative when the player is placed in a “play highlights” mode for skipping those portions of the content which are not highlights, thus enabling the listener to review only the key points of a presentation, or to more rapidly locate particular passages on interest within the body of a particular program segment.
According to yet another feature found in the preferred embodiment of the invention, a designated portion of a program segment may be designated as a hyperlink anchor from which, at the request of the user, the player jumps to another portion of the session seq
Call Charles G.
Goessling Daniel F.
Logan James
Call Charles G.
Feild Joseph H.
Kindred Alford W.
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