US2012117585A1PendingUtilityA1

Method and system for applying content restrictions to renderers in identified network viewing areas

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Assignee: CURTIS SCOTTPriority: Apr 29, 2009Filed: Apr 28, 2010Published: May 10, 2012
Est. expiryApr 29, 2029(~2.8 yrs left)· nominal 20-yr term from priority
Inventors:Scott CurtisGregory M. EvansEugene Matthew FarrellyRavi Reddy KatpellyKenneth Jennings
H04N 9/7921H04N 21/4135H04N 21/4334H04N 21/44016H04N 5/76H04N 21/43615H04N 5/765G11B 27/105H04N 21/4363G11B 2020/10537H04N 21/4583H04N 21/440218H04N 21/4542G11B 20/10527H04N 21/4325
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Claims

Abstract

A media broker includes a communication interface communicatively coupling the media broker to one or more media storage devices and one or more renderers and a controller associated with the communication interface adapted to transmit a request for location information to one or more renderers, receive location information from each of the one or more renderers and determine, based upon the received location information, one or more viewing areas each comprising at least one of the one or more renderers. And then applying the media restrictions assigned to the renderers in those viewing areas, while still allowing media storage devices detected in any viewing area to record media of any rating.

Claims

exact text as granted — not AI-modified
1 . A media broker comprising:
 a communication interface communicatively coupling the media broker to one or more media storage devices and one or more renderers; and   a controller associated with the communication interface adapted to:
 transmit a request for location information to one or more renderers; 
 receive location information from each of the one or more renderers; and 
 determine, based upon the received location information, one or more viewing areas each comprising at least one of the one or more renderers. 
   
     
     
         2 . The media broker of  claim 1  wherein the location information received from at least one of the one or more renderers comprises an absolute location of the at least one of the one or more renderers. 
     
     
         3 . The media broker of  claim 1  wherein the location information received from at least one of the one or more renderers comprises a relative location of another one of the one or more renderers. 
     
     
         4 . The media broker of  claim 1  wherein the controller is further adapted to verify a location of the one or more renderers. 
     
     
         5 . The media broker of  claim 4  wherein the controller is adapted to verify the location of the one or more renderers by pinging a plurality of the one or more renderers each in the same viewing area and measuring a latency of a reply from each of the plurality of the one or more renderers. 
     
     
         6 . The media broker of  claim 1  wherein the controller is adapted to assign a viewing area media item access parameter to each of the one or more viewing areas. 
     
     
         7 . The media broker of  claim 6  wherein the controller is further adapted to:
 receive a request to alter the viewing area media item access parameter associated with one of the one or more viewing areas; and 
 update the viewing area media item access parameter associated with the one of the one or more viewing areas associated with the request to alter the viewing area media item access parameter. 
 
     
     
         8 . The media broker of  claim 7  wherein the request is received from a system administrator. 
     
     
         9 . The media broker of  claim 7  wherein the controller is further adapted to instruct one of the one or more media storage devices to record a media item without regard to the one or more viewing areas. 
     
     
         10 . The media broker of  claim 6  wherein the controller is further adapted to:
 receive information indicative of a viewer having an associated media item content rating clearance entering into one or more viewing areas; and 
 update the viewing area media item access based upon the associated media item content rating clearance. 
 
     
     
         11 . A method comprising:
 transmitting a request for location information to one or more renderers;   receiving location information from each of the one or more renderers; and   determining one or more viewing areas each comprising at least one of the one or more renderers.   
     
     
         12 . A computer-readable medium embodied in an article of manufacture encoded with instructions for directing a processor to:
 transmit a request for location information to one or more renderers;   receive location information from each of the one or more renderers; and   determine, based upon the received location information, one or more viewing areas each comprising at least one of the one or more renderers.   
     
     
         13 . A renderer comprising:
 a communication interface communicatively coupling the renderer to one or more media storage devices and a media broker; and   a controller associated with the communication interface adapted to:
 receive a request for location information from the media broker; 
 determine a location of the renderer; and 
 transmit the location to the media broker. 
   
     
     
         14 . The renderer of  claim 13  wherein the controller is further adapted to utilize GPS to determine the location. 
     
     
         15 . The renderer of  claim 13  wherein the controller is further adapted to determine a location of at least one other renderer in proximity to the renderer. 
     
     
         16 . The renderer of  claim 15  wherein the controller is further adapted to determine a location of at least one other renderer by transmitting an RF interrogation signal and receiving a reply from the at least one other renderer. 
     
     
         17 . The renderer of  claim 16  wherein the location of the at least one other renderer is a location relative to the location of the renderer. 
     
     
         18 . The renderer of  claim 15  wherein the controller is further adapted to transmit the location of the at least one other renderer to the media broker. 
     
     
         19 . A computer-readable medium embodied in an article of manufacture comprising a renderer encoded with instructions for directing a processor to:
 receive a request for location information from a media broker;   determine a location of the renderer; and   transmit the location to the media broker.   
     
     
         20 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 19  wherein the processor is further directed to utilize GPS to determine the location. 
     
     
         21 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 19  wherein the processor is further directed to determine a location of at least one other renderer in proximity to the renderer. 
     
     
         22 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 21  wherein the processor is further directed to determine a location of at least one other renderer by transmitting an RF interrogation signal and receiving a reply from the at least one other renderer. 
     
     
         23 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 22  wherein the location of the at least one other renderer is a location relative to the location of the renderer. 
     
     
         24 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 21  wherein the processor is further directed to transmit the location of the at least one other renderer to the media broker. 
     
     
         25 . A media broker comprising:
 a communication interface communicatively coupling the media broker to one or more media storage devices and one or more renderers; and   a controller associated with the communication interface adapted to:
 transmit a request in response to an occurrence of a trigger for location information of one or more renderers; 
 receive the location information; and 
 determine a need to notify a system administrator based upon the received location information. 
   
     
     
         26 . The media broker of  claim 25  wherein the controller is further adapted to notify the system administrator. 
     
     
         27 . The media broker of  claim 26  wherein the controller operates to notify the system administrator via a communication methodology selected from the group consisting of email, text messaging and phone communication. 
     
     
         28 . The media broker of  claim 25  wherein the trigger comprises the passage of a predetermined period of time. 
     
     
         29 . A computer-readable medium embodied in an article of manufacture comprising a media broker encoded with instructions for directing a processor to:
 transmit a request in response to an occurrence of a trigger for location information of one or more renderers;   receive the location information; and   determine a need to notify a system administrator based upon the received location information.   
     
     
         30 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 29  wherein the processor is further instructed to notify the system administrator. 
     
     
         31 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 30  wherein the processor operates to notify the system administrator via a communication methodology selected from the group consisting of email, text messaging and phone communication. 
     
     
         32 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 29  wherein the trigger comprises the passage of a predetermined period of time.

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