Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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IN THE UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
An International Application for a:
DVR MODULE FOR SYSTEM HAVING A GATEWAY
Invented by:
Alexandros Cavgalar
Cross-Reference to Related Application
This application claims the benefit of US Provisional Application No.
61/565,473, filed
November 30, 2011 and US Non-Provisional Application No. 13/690,744, filed
November 30.
2012.
Technical Field
This application relates to networked systems and in particular gateway
devices, systems
and methods, and more particularly to a module for controlling a home
entertainment device such
as a digital video recorder.
Background Art
It is becoming increasingly common for homes, businesses, etc. to have access
to a wide
variety of networked or remote services. Illustrative services include
Internet service, cellular
voice and data services, on-line services, phone services (PSTN, POTS, VoIP,
etc.), cable
television services, satellite television services, satellite radio services,
etc. Unfortunately, it is
quite common for at least some of these services to each have their own access
point as well as
required hardware. As such, homes and businesses are frequently cluttered with
numerous wires
and cables as well as "electronically cluttered" with a variety of wireless
access or communication
points. Therefore, there exists a significant need for the ability to combine
the access points to a
significantly smaller number of access points as well as manage the
communications between
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devices and networks.
Disclosure of Invention
In particular, the present invention contemplates provision of a readily
installed and
removed communications module which adapts the system for home entertainment
systems. The
novel module accommodates dynamic video up-conversion, pausing, recording, and
other
functions appropriate for private consumers in a home entertainment
environment. The novel
module may be readily installed in and readily removed from by the system due
to its modularity.
Brief Description of the Drawings
The drawings, when considered in connection with the following description,
are
presented for the purpose of facilitating an understanding of the subject
matter sought to be
protected.
FIG. 1 is a first illustrative system.
FIG. 2 is a second illustrative system.
FIG. 3 is a third illustrative system.
FIG. 4 is a fourth illustrative system.
FIG. 5 is a fifth illustrative system.
FIG. 6 is a sixth illustrative system.
FIG. 7 is an illustrative gateway device.
FIG. 8 is an illustrative method for transferring calls between a gateway
device and a
telecommunications network.
FIG. 9 is an illustrative method for communicating caller ID information.
FIG. 10 is an illustrative method for providing on-demand services.
FIG. 11 is an illustrative method for providing dynamic control of streamed
content.
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FIG. 12 is an illustrative method for providing parental controls.
FIG. 13 is an illustrative method for providing text messages.
FIG. 14 is a representation of a module adapted to manage a digital video
recorder.
FIG. 15 is a representation of a full band tuner which may be incorporated in
the module
of FIG. 14.
FIG. 16 is a representation of a network incorporating the module of FIG. 14.
FIG. 17 is a representation of premises containing a digital video recorder
which may be
managed using signals communicated over the network of FIG. 16.
Modes for Carrying Out the Invention
Referring now to the FIGS. wherein like elements are referred to with the same
numerals
throughout and wherein FIG. 1 illustrates a system 100 in accordance with the
present disclosure.
The system 100 includes a gateway device 110, one or more terminals 115a-115n
(collectively
115), and an external network 120.
The external network 120 may include any number of networks capable of
providing
communications to and/or receiving communications from the gateway device 110.
For example,
the external network may be one or more, or any combination of, wireless
networks, data or
packet networks, publicly switched telephone networks (PSTN), cellular
networks, wide area
networks (WAN), adjacent local area networks (LAN), etc. In one embodiment,
the external
network 120 includes the Internet.
The participant terminals 115 may include any suitable device operable to act
as a client on
a network. Illustrative terminals 115 include, but are not limited to,
personal computers, desktop
computers, laptop computers, tablet computers, video game systems, servers,
any suitable
telecommunications device, including, but not limited to, VoIP telephones,
smart telephones or
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wireless devices, such as cellular telephones, personal digital assistants
(PDA), communications
enabled mp3 players, etc., smart meters, closed circuit television systems,
communications
enabled televisions, DVRs, set top boxes, satellite radio receivers, printers,
copiers, switches,
enterprise switches, network access storage (NAS), or any other device
suitable to act as a
terminal on the local network. The terminals 115 may communicate with the
gateway 110 using
wireless communications or hardwired connections, such as fiber optics, cable,
DSL, telephone
lines, and other similar connections.
As will be further discussed below, the gateway device 110 and terminals 115
form a local
area network (LAN) 125 such that the gateway device 110 manages communications
between the
external network 120 and LAN 125. Further, the gateway device 110 is
configured to provide
communications between and otherwise manage or control communications between
the terminals
115 and the external network 120.
The gateway device 110 includes a plurality of communications modules to
communicate
with one or more of the external network 120 and terminal(s) 115. In one
embodiment, the
gateway device 110 includes a first communication module configured to
communicate with the
external network 120. Illustrative first communications modules, include
without limitation, a
WAN communications module (e.g. any DocSIS, DSL, xDSL, ADSL, ADSL 2, ADSL 2+,
VDSL, VDSL2, SHDSL, GbE, ONT, GPON ONT, SPON ONT, EPON ONT, BPON ONT,
MoCA, TDM, any T-carrier, any E-carrier, any J-carrier, etc.), a WLAN
communications module,
an Ethernet communications module, or any other suitable communications
module.
Additionally, it will be appreciated that the term "module" should be
understood broadly so as to
encompass any device for communicating with an external network including, but
not limited to
one or any combination of modems, peripheral cards, modules, on-chip
arrangements,
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transmitters, receivers, transreceivers, etc.
The gateway device 110 further includes one or more communications modules for
communicating with one or more terminals 115. The second, third, fourth, etc.
communications
module(s) for communicating with one or more terminals 115 may include,
without limitation, a
voice gateway communications module, an Ethernet communications module, a VoIP
communications module, a Femto communications module, a Zigbee communications
module, a
WiFi communications module, WHDMI communications module, print servers, DVR
communications module, etc. In one embodiment, one or more of the
communications modules is
a wireless USB-based communications module (e.g. a wireless WHDMI USB module,
etc.). It
will be appreciated that any communications module, or any number or
combination of
communications modules, configured to communicate with one or more terminals
may be
employed and remain within the scope of the present disclosure.
Suitable illustrative communications modules for communicating with the
external
network 120 and/or terminals 115 of the system include, without limitation:
the PacketAMC
board offered by ADAX. Inc.; any of the AMC modules (AM4500, AM4510, AM4520,
etc.)
offered by Kontron AG; the iSPAN 3639 TI/E1 controller offered by Interphase
Corp.; the
ETRX3 Zigbee module offered by Telegesis Ltd.; the XB24-Z7PIT-004 module
offered by Digi
International, Inc.: the Femtocell SoC solution offered by Freescale
Semiconductor Inc.; and the
Starcore Voice Gateway offered by Freescale Semiconductor Inc. However, it
will be
appreciated that any suitable device for providing communication between the
gateway device
110 and the external network 120 and/or terminals 115 may be employed as any
suitable
communication module in the system.
FIGS. 2-6 illustrate several non-limiting examples of the implementation of
the system of
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the present disclosure. It will be appreciated that the following illustrative
embodiments are not
intended to limit the scope of the disclosure in any way. Each of the
illustrative embodiments in
FIGS. 2-6 illustrate a variety of terminals in several different settings. It
will be appreciated that
embodiments having a plurality of the same terminal type are expressly
contemplated.
Additionally, it will be appreciated that additional terminal types not shown
may be employed,
including but not limited to the various terminals mentioned above. Also,
fewer terminals than
shown may be employed and that the expression of one terminal type is not at
the exclusion of all
other terminal types. Also, it will be appreciated that the functionality of
the gateway device 110
in one embodiment may be employed in every other embodiment and it will be
appreciated that
expression of only a certain functionality in one embodiment is not at the
exclusion of all other the
functionality described in other embodiments herein.
FIG. 2 illustrates the implementation of the gateway device 110 as a home
communication
and entertainment gateway. In this embodiment, the terminals (collectively
315) include a
television 315a, a mobile device 315b, a computer 315c, a smart meter 315d, a
security system
315e, a gaming system 315f and a DVR/STB 315g. The gateway device 110 manages
communications between the terminals 315 and external network 120. For
example, the gateway
device 110 may permit access to the external network 120 by one or more of the
terminals 315 ¨
this may include, without limitation, providing communications between one or
more of the
terminals and the external network 120 by transferring data between the
terminals 315 and
network 120, which may include converting the data so that it is usable by the
terminals 315 or
endpoint in the external network 120, etc. For example, and without
limitation, the gateway
device 110 may act so as to permit one of the terminals to access the
Internet, etc. Additionally,
the gateway device 110 may manage communications between the terminals 315.
For example,
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and without limitation, the gateway device 110 may receive a command from one
terminal and
pass the command to a second terminal such that the second terminal is
responsive to the
command from the first terminal (e.g. a record command from the mobile device
315b or
computer 315c to the DVR/STB 315g, etc.). Furthermore, the gateway device 110
may manage
remote access to one of the terminals 315 over the external network 120. For
example, and
without limitation, a remote device 317 (e.g. mobile device, computer, etc.)
may be permitted to
access one of the terminals 315 so as to allow control of the terminal (e.g.
remote access to
control a smart meter 315d, security system 315e. DVR/STB 315g. etc.).
FIG. 3 illustrates the implementation of the gateway device 110 in an office
setting. The
gateway device 110 may be configured to serve as a small home office gateway,
a multi-service
business gateway or any other suitable gateway or device. In this embodiment,
the terminals
(collectively 415) include a switch 415a, such as an enterprise switch, which
is connected to
devices such as a multifunction device (copier/scanner/printer) 415b,
workstations 415c, phones
such as ISDN lines 415d or VoIP lines 415e. It will be appreciated that in
some instances a
switch may not be desirable or necessary and that a switch 415a may not be
employed and the
terminals placed in direct communication with the gateway device 110. Further,
even in instances
where a switch 415a is employed, it may still be desirable for certain
terminals to be in direct
communication with the gateway 110 including, but not limited to, workstations
415f, network
access storage (NAS) 415g, printers/scanners 415h, VoIP phone, any Power Over
Ethernet
(POE) enabled device, etc. The gateway device 110 may manage communications
between the
external network 120 and the terminals 415 as well as communications between
terminals 415.
Referring now to FIG. 4, a gateway device 110 is shown in communication with
smart
meters (collectively 515). As used herein, the term smart meter refers to any
device configured
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to monitor and/or control utilities, utility services, or the like.
Illustrative smart meters include,
without limitation, smart breaker boxes 515a, lighting control systems 515b,
smart electric meters
515c, smart gas meters, smart water meters, industrial PLCs, access control
systems, smart
appliances, or any other suitable device or devices. In one embodiment, the
gateway device 110
manages communications between one or more smart meters 515 such that the
meter(s) 515 may
be monitored or controlled by another terminal (not show in FIG. 5). Also, hi
one embodiment.
the gateway device 110 may be configured to allow remote access to one or more
smart meters
515 over the external network 120 such that a remote device 517 (e.g. mobile
device, computer.
etc.) may be permitted to access, monitor and/or control the smart meter(s)
515. It will be
appreciated that the gateway device 110 provide smart meter management,
including but not
limited to energy grid management, for home area networks (HAN) as well as
field area networks
(FAN).
Referring now to FIG. 5, another embodiment employing the gateway device 110
is
shown. In this embodiment, the terminals 615a-615n, collectively 615, include
components for a
closed-circuit television arrangement. In one embodiment, each of the
terminals 615 is a camera
such as a video camera, infrared camera, FLIR camera, thermographic camera, or
any other
device or devices suitable for a closed-circuit arrangement. In one
embodiment, a terminal is a
network digital video recorder 618 to which at least some of the cameras 615
are in
communication with. Alternatively, if the gateway device includes persistent
storage, the footage
from the terminals may be stored thereon. In one embodiment, the gateway
device 110 manages
communications between other terminals (not shown) and the camera terminals
615 so that the
other terminals are able to view, monitor and/or control the camera terminals
615 as well as view
recorded footage from the cameras that is stored in the network digital video
recorder 618 and/or
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persistent storage of the gateway device 110. Also, in one embodiment, the
gateway device 110
may be configured to allow remote access to one or more of the terminals 615
and/or 618 over
the external network 120 such that a remote device (e.g. mobile device 617a,
computer 617b,
etc.) may be permitted to view, monitor and/or control the camera terminals
615 as well as view
recorded footage from the cameras that is stored in the network digital video
recorder 618 and/of
persistent storage of the gateway device 110. Further, in one embodiment, the
gateway device
may be configured to enhance the stored video footage so as to enhance the
quality of the video
or any other suitable aspect or characteristic of the video.
Referring now to FIG. 6, the gateway device 110 may be configured to also act
as a
unified communication controller. Here, the terminals (collectively 715) may
include a video
camera 715a, a microphone 715b, and a monitor or television 715c. The
terminals may be
discrete devices or combined in any suitable combination for an integrated
device. The gateway
device 110 may be configured to provide communications between each of the
terminals 715 and
the external network 120 such that the gateway device 110 is operable to
provide real time video
conferencing.
Referring to FIG. 7, a block diagram of a gateway device 110 is shown in which
the
illustrative embodiments may be implemented. Computer-usable program code or
instructions
implementing the processes used in the illustrative embodiments described
herein, including all
methods, may be located on the gateway device 110. The gateway device 110
includes a
communications fabric 210, which provides communications between a processor
unit 215, a
memory 220, a persistent storage 225 the first communications module 230,
second
communications module 235 and third communications module 240. While three
communications
modules are shown herein, it will be appreciated that any number of
communications modules
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may be employed and remain within the scope of the present disclosure.
Further, it will be
appreciated that in some embodiments the gateway device 110 may not include a
persistent
storage 225.
The processor unit 215 serves to execute instructions for software that may be
loaded into
the memory 220. The processor unit 215 may be a set of one or more processors
or may be a
multi-processor core, depending on the particular implementation. Further, the
processor unit
215 may be implemented using one or more heterogeneous processor systems in
which a main
processor is present with secondary processors on a single chip. As another
illustrative example,
the processor unit 215 may be a symmetric/asymmetric multi-processor system
containing
multiple processors of the same type.
The memory 220, in these examples, may be, for example, a random access memory
or
any other suitable volatile or non-volatile storage device. The persistent
storage 225 may take
various forms depending on the particular implementation. For example, the
persistent storage
225 may contain one or more components or devices. For example, the persistent
storage 225
may be a hard drive, a flash memory, a rewritable optical disk, a rewritable
magnetic tape, or
some combination of the above. The media used by the persistent storage 225
also may be
removable. For example, a removable hard drive may be used for the persistent
storage 225. In
one embodiment, the persistent storage 225 also stores video data selectively
stored by a user
(e.g. as a DVR drive, etc.).
The communications modules 230, 235. 240 will be the communications modules as
previously discussed ¨ that is, at least one communications modules is
configured to communicate
with an external network and at least one module is configured to communicate
with one or more
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terminals. Each module may take any of the forms previously discussed, in one
embodiment, one
or more of the communications modules includes an ingress connector 250a-250c
(collectively
250) and an egress connector 255a-255c (collectively 255). The ingress
connector 250 may be
configured to test the incoming signal to the communications module without
interruption. The
egress connector 255 may be configured to test the outgoing signal from the
communications
module without interruption. Alternatively, an ingress connector and an egress
connector may
each be connected to the board of the gateway device 110 wherein the memory of
the gateway
device includes instructions that will allow the incoming and outgoing signals
for each
communications module to be tested via such connection to the gateway board.
Thus, the line
connections for each module may be tested.
Instructions for the operating system and applications or programs are located
on the
persistent storage 225. These instructions may be loaded into the memory 220
for execution by
the processor unit 215. The processes or methods of the different embodiments
may be
performed by the processor unit 215 using computer-implemented instructions,
which may be
located in a memory, such as the memory 220. These instructions are referred
to as program
code, computer-usable program code, or computer-readable program code that may
be read and
executed by a processor in the processor unit 215. The program code in the
different
embodiments may be embodied on different physical or tangible computer-
readable media, such as
the memory 220 or the persistent storage 225.
In one embodiment, program code 260 is located in a functional form on a
computer-
readable media 265 and may be loaded onto or transferred to the gateway device
110 for
execution by the processor unit 215. The program code 260 and the computer-
readable media
265 form computer program product 270 in these examples.
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In one example, the computer-readable media 265 may be in a tangible form,
such as, for
example, an optical or magnetic disc that is inserted or placed into a drive
or other device that is
part of the persistent storage 225 for transfer onto a storage device, such as
a hard drive that is
part of the persistent storage 225. In a tangible form, the computer-readable
media 265 also may
take the form of a persistent storage, such as a hard drive or a flash memory
that is connected to
the gateway device 110. The tangible form of the computer-readable media 265
is also referred to
as computer recordable storage media.
Alternatively, the program code 260 may be transferred to the gateway device
110 from
the computer-readable media 265 through a communication link to a
communications module.
The communication link or the connection may be physical or wireless in the
illustrative examples.
The computer-readable media 265 also may take the form of non-tangible media,
such as
communication links or wireless transmissions containing the program code 260.
In one
embodiment, the program code 260 is delivered to the gateway device 110 over
the Internet.
The different components illustrated for the gateway device 110 are not meant
to provide
architectural limitations to the manner in which different embodiments may be
implemented. The
different illustrative embodiments may be implemented in a data processing
system including
components in addition to or in place of those illustrated for gateway device
110. Other
components shown in FIG. 7 can be varied from the illustrative examples shown.
As one example, a storage device in the gateway device 110 is any hardware
apparatus
that may store data. The memory 220, the persistent storage 225, and the
computer-readable
media 265 are examples of storage devices in a tangible form.
In another example, a bus system may be used to implement the communications
fabric
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210 and may be comprised of one or more buses, such as a system bus or an
input/output bus. Of
course, the bus system may be implemented using any suitable type of
architecture that provides
for a transfer of data between different components or devices attached to the
bus system.
Further, a memory may be, for example, the memory 220 or a cache such as found
in an interface
and memory controller hub that may be present in the communications fabric
210. It will be
appreciated that the communications fabric 210 may take any suitable form
including, but not
limited to, non-blocking switch fabric, non-blocking point-to-point/multi-
point link or any other
suitable communication fabric of communications path(s) between the various
elements.
Referring now to FIGS. 8-13, illustrative methods of the gateway device 110
managing
communications between the external network 120 and/or between the terminals
are shown. It
will be appreciated that the terms "managing" and -controlling" are to be
understood broadly and
encompass not only pushing communications through from the terminal(s) to one
or both of
another terminal and external network, and vice versa, but also converting
data, providing
security checks, storing data, caching data and any other means or method for
optimizing said
communications. Furthermore, while the following methods are discussed
individually, it will be
appreciated that a gateway device 110 may perform any of these methods,
whether
simultaneously. sequentially, selectively, user-selectively, etc., and remain
within the scope of the
present disclosure. Furthermore, the methods may also be employed by any
device other than a
gateway device as described herein and be considered within the scope of the
present disclosure.
Also, while the methods may sometimes refer to a single terminal, it will be
appreciated that more
than one terminal may be employed and remain within the scope of the present
disclosure.
Referring now to FIG. 8, a method 800 for transferring calls between a
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telecommunications network and a gateway device is shown. As used herein,
telecommunications
network shall be understood broadly so as to encompass any network suitable
for providing
telecommunications, including but not limited to PSTN, POTS, cellular
networks, wireless
networks, data or packet networks, or any other suitable network. Further, it
will be appreciated
that the gateway device is hi communications with an external network as
described above,
telecommunications or otherwise. such that a call may be transferred to or
otherwise managed,
handled or controlled by the gateway device. Also, the terms "strong,"
"relatively strong,"
"weak." and "relatively weak" should be understood broadly so as to encompass
a signal or
output compared against a predetermined threshold value or a determination of
the quality or
strength of a signal based on the ability to maintain service within a
predetermined quality range,
or by any other suitable means or metric for ranking or otherwise determining
the strength and/or
quality of a signal.
First, a mobile device (also referred to as a terminal), e.g. cellular phones,
etc.. is
registered with the gateway device [step 802]. This will permit the gateway
device to only
recognize or otherwise provide service to the mobile device registered
therewith. Optionally, this
step may include installing an application on the mobile device such that the
mobile device
provides the necessary information to the gateway device (e.g. tower strength,
signal strength of
telecommunications network, etc.) and/or is responsive to commands from the
gateway device
(e.g. handover command, etc.), but it will be appreciated that such an
application may not always
be desirable or necessary.
Once the mobile device(s) have been registered, the gateway device is
configured to scan
or otherwise recognize mobile devices that become within range of the gateway
device [step 804].
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In one embodiment, a WiFi and/or a Femto module of the gateway device is
employed for
scanning or otherwise recognizing mobile devices within range. However, it
will be appreciated
that any suitable module or device may be used for this purpose. If it is
determined that a mobile
device is not connected, the gateway will remain in a stand-by mode with
respect to this method
and/or continue to scan for mobile devices [step 806]. Once a mobile device is
detected, the
gateway device will determine if the mobile device is recognized as a device
having been
previously registered with the gateway device [step 808]. In an alternative
embodiment where the
mobile device is configured to provide an initial communication to a
recognized gateway, this step
may be optional or not included in the method. If the mobile device is not
recognized, the
gateway device continues to scan for a recognized mobile device or,
alternatively, awaits an initial
communication from a previously registered mobile device [step 806]
If the mobile device is recognized by the gateway as a registered mobile
device, the
gateway device will determine the strength of the signal or communications
between the mobile
device and the gateway device [step 812]. If the signal is relatively weak,
the gateway device may
be configured to return to any of the previous steps (e.g. steps 804-810). If
the signal is relatively
strong, the gateway device will query the mobile device to determine the
strength of the signal
between the mobile device and the telecommunications network [step 812]. In
one embodiment,
the mobile device is queried for the relative signal strength between the
mobile device and a
cellular tower the mobile device is connected to. However, it will be
appreciated that the mobile
device may be queried about the signal strength between the mobile device and
any
telecommunications network and remain within the scope of the present
disclosure. If the signal
strength associated the telecommunications network is stronger than the signal
strength between
the mobile device and the gateway device, the gateway device may be configured
to return to any
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of the previous step (e.g. steps 804-812).
If the signal strength between the mobile device and the gateway device is
stronger, the
gateway device will, if necessary, make the necessary connection via the
external network such
that the call maybe transferred from the telecommunications network to the
gateway device
without interruption. The gateway device may then command the mobile device to
transfer the
call to the gateway device [step 8141.
The gateway device may further be configured to handover a call from a mobile
device in
communication with the gateway device to a telecommunications network. If a
mobile device is
connected to the gateway device [step 804], the gateway device will monitor
the signal strength
and determine if the signal strength is relatively strong or relatively weak
[step 816]. If the signal
is relatively strong, the gateway device will maintain the connection and
continuously or
periodically monitor the signal strength. If the signal strength is relatively
weak, the gateway
device will determine if a telecommunications network is within range [step
818]. This may be
accomplished by the gateway itself or by querying the mobile device to
determine if the mobile
device detects a telecommunications network. If no telecommunications network
is detected, the
gateway may be configured to return to any of the previous steps (e.g. steps
804-815).
If a telecommunications network is detected, the gateway device may determine
whether
the signal or connection with the gateway device is stronger than the signal
to the
telecommunications network [step 820]. If the signal to the gateway device is
stronger, the
gateway device may maintain the connection and may be further configured to
return to one of
the forgoing steps (e.g. steps 804-820). If the signal to the
telecommunications network is
stronger, the gateway device may command the mobile device to initiate a
handover sequence, as
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is known in the art, so that the call may be transferred from the gateway
device to the
telecommunications network [step 822]. .The method may then be concluded
and/or return to
step 804.
The forgoing method may be employed in a variety of contexts. In one
embodiment, the
mobile device is a cellular phone and the telecommunications network is a
cellular network
whereby the gateway device may transfer a call to or from the
telecommunications network to an
external network in communication with the gateway device (e.g. PSTN, POTS,
VolP, etc.). In
another embodiment, rather than a call being transferred, the connection for
streaming data (e.g.
YouTube, Hulu, Netflix, etc.) may be transferred (e.g. between a 3G or 4G
telecommunications
network and an internet connection managed or maintained by the gateway
device, etc.).
Referring now to FIG 9, a method 900 for providing caller ID information to
one or more
terminals is shown. First, one or more terminals are designated to receive
caller ID information
when an incoming call is received by the gateway device from an external
network [step 902].
Next, a call is received wherein the call has caller ID information associated
therewith [step 904].
In response thereto, the gateway device communicates the caller ID information
to the previously
designated devices [step 906].
Referring now to FIG 10, a method 100 for providing on-demand services to one
or more
terminals is shown. On-demand services shall be understood to include any
service for providing
content via an external network to a user or users. Illustrative content
includes video, audio, or
any other suitable content. Illustrative on-demand service providers include,
without limitation,
Hutu , YouTube , Netflix , Pandora , Songza and the like. First, the
registration
information for each on-demand service is entered and stored in the gateway
device [step 1002].
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A search request from at least one terminal may then be received [step 1004].
The search request
may then be communicated to each on-demand service via the external network
[step 1006]. The
search results from each on-demand service may then be received [step 1008].
The search results
may then be communicated to one or more terminal(s) [step 1010]. A command,
such as play.
download, etc., from a terminal may then be received [step 1012], The gateway
device may then
push or stream the on-demand content to one or more terminals [step 1014]. It
will be
appreciated that the gateway device may stream/push the content to the
terminal(s) as it is
received from the on-demand service. may cache a suitable amount of the
content prior to
streaming/pushing the content to the terminal(s), store the content in
persistent storage and
transmit/push the content to the terminal(s) at a later time. etc.
Referring now to FIG 11, a method 1100 of providing dynamic control of
streamed
content is provided. First, the gateway device streams content [step 1102].
The content may be
streamed from an on-demand source via the external network. from persistent
storage. or from
any other suitable source (e.g. HD television signal via antenna, etc.). The
gateway device will
stream the content to a cache, located in memory, persistent storage or other
suitable repository,
so as to buffer the streaming content [step 1104]. The buffered content may
then be pushed or
otherwise communicated to one or more terminals [step 1106]. The gateway
device may then
receive a user command [step 1108]. Illustrative user commands here include,
without limitation,
pause, record, etc. Upon receiving the user command, the cached content will
be tagged in
accordance with the user command [step 1110]. The gateway device may later
provide access to
the tagged content based on the tag [step 1112]. For example, and without
limitation, content in
cache may be tagged with a pause tag whereby a user may later access the
paused content in
cache and even from a terminal different than the terminal from which the
pause command was
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made. In another example without limitation, cached content having a record
tag may be
transferred to persistent storage for subsequent access by the user and even
from a terminal
different than the terminal from which the record command was made.
Referring now to FIG 12 a method 1200 for providing parental control is shown.
First,
the gateway device receives parental control instructions [step 1202]. The
parental control
instructions may include restrictions based on any suitable content rating
systems, restrictions
based on channel, restrictions based on time, or any suitable combination
thereof. In one
embodiment, the restrictions may also be limited to certain terminal(s) and
are not applied equally
to all terminal(s). The gateway device may then receive content to be
transmitted or pushed to
one or more terminals [step 1204]. This content may be received in response to
a specific
command (e.g to stream/play from a particular external network source,
stream/play from
persistent storage, etc.) or may be more passive in nature (e.g. channel
surfing by a user). The
gateway device may then determine if the content is permitted by the
terminal(s) according to the
parental control instructions [step 1206]. If the content is not permitted to
the terminal(s), the
gateway device will not stream/push the content to the terminal(s) [step
12081. If the content is
permitted to the terminals, the gateway device will stream/push the content to
the terminal(s)
[step 1210]. It will be appreciated that this method may be applied to any
suitable content type
including, but not limited to, video, audio, Internet content etc.
Referring now to FIG 13, a method 1300 of delivering text messages is shown.
First,
terminal(s) for receiving text messages are identified to the gateway [step
1302]. The gateway
may then receive a text message from a source via the external network [step
1304]. The
gateway device may then transmit/push the text message to the previously
identified terminal(s).
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In one non-limiting example, a terminal for receiving text messages may be a
DECT phone.
It is contemplated that one of the applications of a system as described above
is to manage
a home entertainment system, and thus to serve as a home entertainment gateway
which may for
example manage a digital video recorder (DVR). The DVR management feature may
be
implemented in AMC type form factor.
Implementation of this concept is best achieved by providing a DVR module
1400, as
shown in FIG. 14. The DVR module 1400 not only operates the DVR under its
control, but also
functions to assure that inputs may be received from different devices on the
network system
incorporating the DVR module 1400. Illustratively, a person operating a DVR
may start
operating or watching the DVR in one room of a house, but may want to move to
a different
room. The control device initially used to operate the DVR may be replaced by
another control
device in the newly selected room. The DVR module 1400 accommodates such
changes so as to
seamlessly manage the DVR despite relocation of the person operating the DVR.
In the situation where the MSO/ISP wants to drive the DVR functionality from
the cloud,
the gateway device of the present application would store the link to the
address of the content
from cloud including its parameters such as frame number, scene number. and
similar parameters.
The user can do all the viewing, pausing, recording, fast-forwarding, or
similar commands of the
content from any TV or end device.
The DVR module 1400 may comprise a connector 1410 for hardwired connection, a
video
processor 1420, a memory such as the memory 1430, which may be volatile or non-
volatile, a
large data storage device 1440 such as a hard disk drive or a solid state
memory, and an output
device 1440. The output device 1440 outputs appropriate commands to the DVR.
Optionally,
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the output device 1440 may comprise a transceiver, so that wireless inputs may
be obtained,
where it is desired to overcome limitations inherent in a hard wired input
device such as the
connector 1410.
The DVR module 1400 may contain a full band tuner 1500 as depicted in FIG. 15.
The
DVR module 1400 may contain a clock on its face plate (not shown). The DVR
module 1400
may obtain timing data from the network with which it is associated. Hence the
DVR module
1400 will automatically incorporate timing functions and will not need
programming by the user
to establish the time. Specific algorithms may be incorporated into computer
instructions loaded
into the memory of the DVR module 1400. These algorithms may control dynamic
video up-
conversion, pausing, recording, and other known DVR functions.
The DVR module 1400 may be modularly connectable to and removable from a
gateway
device which is operable to manage communications between one or more
terminals and an
external network.
The gateway device may rely upon the DVR module 1400 to provide the components
set
forth above, may alternatively or redundantly rely on the full band tuner1400
to provide the
components set forth above, and optionally may comprise a second
communications module for
providing communication between the gateway device and at least one terminal.
Referring to Figure 16, there is shown a block diagram of an exemplary network
1600
which may be utilized to operate a DVR 1610. Computer-usable program code or
instructions
implementing the processes used in the illustrative embodiments may be located
on any suitable
device in the network 1600, such as a remote control 1610 (see FIG. 17). The
network 1600 may
include a communications fabric 1603, which provides communications between a
processor unit
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1605, a memory 1607, a persistent storage 1609, a communications unit 1611, an
input/output
(I/O) unit 1613, and a display 1615. The display 1615 may be the display unit
1620 shown in Fig.
17,
The processor unit 1605 serves to execute instructions for software that may
be loaded
into the memory 1607. The processor unit 1605 may be a set of one or more
processors or may
be a multi-processor core, depending on the particular implementation.
Further, the processor
unit 1605 may be implemented using one or more heterogeneous processor systems
in which a
main processor is present with secondary processors on a single chip. As
another illustrative
example, the processor unit 1605 may be a symmetric multi-processor system
containing multiple
processors of the same type.
The memory 1607, in these examples, may be, for example, a random access
memory or
any other suitable volatile or non-volatile storage device. The persistent
storage 1609 may take
various forms depending on the particular implementation. For example, the
persistent storage
1609 may contain one or more components or devices. For example, the
persistent storage 1609
may be a hard drive, a flash memory, a rewritable optical disk, a rewritable
magnetic tape, or
some combination of the above. The media used by the persistent storage 1609
also may be
removable. For example, a SD card or other suitable storage device may be used
for the
persistent storage 1609.
The communications unit 1611, in these examples, provides for communications
with at
least the gateway device and optionally one or more terminals. The
communications unit 1611
may provide communications through the use of either or both physical and
wireless
communication links. In one embodiment, the communications unit 1611 is
configured to
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communicate with the gateway device via at least one of Bluetooth, IR, NFC,
WiFi, wireless radio
or any other suitable means or protocol.
The input/output unit 1613 allows for the input and output of data with other
devices that
may be connected to the remote control 1602. For example, the input/output
unit 1613 may
provide a connection for user input through a keyboard, keypad, touchpad,
touchscreen,
microphone or any other suitable means. Further, the input/output unit 1613
may send output to
a processing device. In the case in which the remote control 1602 is a
smartphone, the
input/output unit 1613 may also allow devices to be connected to the cellular
phone, such as
microphones, headsets, and controllers. The display 1615 provides a mechanism
to display
information to a user, such as a graphical user interface.
Instructions for the operating system and applications or programs are located
on the
persistent storage 1609. These instructions may be loaded into the memory 1607
for execution by
the processor unit 1605. The processes of the different embodiments may be
performed by the
processor unit 1605 using computer-implemented instructions, which may be
located in a
memory, such as the memory 1607. These instructions are referred to as program
code,
computer-usable program code, or computer-readable program code that may be
read and
executed by a processor in the processor unit 1605. The program code in the
different
embodiments may be embodied on different physical or tangible computer-
readable media, such as
the memory 1607 or the persistent storage 1609.
Program code 1617 is located in a functional form on a computer-readable media
1619
and may be loaded onto or transferred to any suitable component of the network
1600 for
execution by the processor unit 1605, The program code 1617 and the computer-
readable media
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1619 form computer program product 1621 in these examples. In one embodiment,
the program
code 1617 may include computer-usable program code capable of
performing any of the previously described functionality related to the remote
control.
In one example, the computer-readable media 1619 may be in a tangible form,
such as, for
example, SD card or flash memory device that is inserted or placed into a
drive or other device
that is part of the persistent storage 1609 for transfer onto a storage
device, such as a hard drive
that is part of the persistent storage 1609. In a tangible form, the computer-
readable media 1619
also may take the form of a persistent storage, such as a hard drive or a
flash memory that is
connected to the remote control 1602. The tangible form of the computer-
readable media 1619 is
also referred to as computer recordable storage media.
Alternatively, the program code 1617 may be transferred to the remote control
1602 from
the computer-readable media 1619 through a communication link to the
communications unit
1611 or through a connection to the input/output unit 1613. The communication
link or the
connection may be physical or wireless in the illustrative examples. The
computer-readable media
1619 also may take the form of non-tangible media, such as communication links
or wireless
transmissions containing the program code 1617. In one embodiment, the program
code 1617 is
delivered to the remote control 1602 over the Internet.
Referring more particularly to FIG. 17, the DVR 1610 may be connected to a
display
device 1620, which may be a computer terminal, a dedicated viewing screen, or
any other suitable
device for outputting audio and video content from the DVR 1610. The network
1600 may
comprise hardwired communications links, wireless communications links, or a
combination of
these, to enable remote commands to be entered into the DVR 1610. The command
signals may
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originate for example from a hand held remote control device 1630 located at
the premises
containing the DVR 1610.
The network 1600 is connected to a gateway device 1640 which may comprise one
or
more communications modules such as the DVR module 1400. The gateway device
1640 may
comprise other communications modules for operating devices other than the DVR
1610.
Computer-usable program code or instructions implementing control of the DVR
1610
may be located on the remote control 1630.
The processor unit, such as the video processor 1420 (see FIG. 14) serves to
execute
instructions for software that may be loaded into the memory such as the
memory 1430.
The invention may also be regarded as a local network system such as the
network 1600,
which comprises one or more terminals operable to act as a client on the local
network, and a
gateway device such as the gateway device 1640 as described above.
A gateway device such as a Cable Modem Termination System or alternatively, a
Cable
Modem may comprise a DocSIS WAN module which enables high speed data transfer.
Although not currently preferred, the DVR module 1400 may serve more than one
communications protocol. Illustratively, where two or more communications
protocols are widely
used, they may be accommodated by one DVR module which has computer
instructions
supporting two or more communications protocols.
While the present disclosure has been described in connection with what is
considered the
most practical and preferred embodiment, it is understood that this disclosure
is not limited to the
disclosed embodiments, but is intended to cover various arrangements included
within the spirit
and scope of the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such
modifications and equivalent
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terminals and an external network, the gateway device comprising:
a memory configured to store a set of instructions;
a processor configured to execute the set of instructions;
a first communications module in communication with the external network,
wherein the
first communications module comprises a processor, a memory, and has stored
within the memory
computer instructions to operate a digital video recorder, and further wherein
the computer
instructions stored within the memory enable at least one of the functions
including dynamic video
up-conversion, pausing, and recording; and
a second communications module for providing communication between the gateway
device and at least one terminal.
5. The gateway device of claim 4, wherein the first communications module is
disposed to obtain
timing data from the network with which it is associated and to automatically
incorporate timing
functions.
6. The gateway device of claim 4, wherein the first communications module
comprises a face
plate and a clock disposed on its face plate.
7. A communications module for communicating between an external network and a
digital video
recorder, wherein the communications module comprises a processor, a memory,
and has stored
within the memory computer instructions to operate the digital video recorder,
and further
wherein the computer instructions stored within the memory enable the digitial
video recorder to
perform at least one of the functions including dynamic video up-conversion,
pausing, and
recording.
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