WO2006103602A1

WO2006103602A1 - Method of and controller for controlling playback of a data stream stored by means of a media item

Info

Publication number: WO2006103602A1
Application number: PCT/IB2006/050893
Authority: WO
Inventors: Leonardus Van Stuivenberg
Original assignee: Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V.
Priority date: 2005-03-29
Filing date: 2006-03-23
Publication date: 2006-10-05

Abstract

In a method of controlling playback of a data stream (AV) stored by means a media item (10), wherein controlling playback comprises stopping playback and resuming playback, when stopping playback, a stop position (SP) identifying the location within the media item (10) at which playback of the data stream (AV) was stopped, and the stop time (ST) identifying when playback was stopped are assigned to a media item identifier (ID) and are stored in a storage (6). Further, when resuming playback, the time span between the stop time (ST) of the media item (10) and the current time (CT) is determined and compared with a pre-defined time span threshold (TH), and if the determined time span exceeds said threshold (TH) playback is started from the beginning of the data stream (AV), whereas when the determined time span is equal to or less than said time span threshold (TH) playback is resumed from the stored stop position (SP).

Description

Method of and controller for controlling playback of a data stream stored by means of a media item

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a method of controlling playback of a data stream stored by means of a media item, wherein controlling playback comprises stopping playback and resuming playback. The invention further relates to a controller for controlling playback of a data stream stored by means of a media item.

The invention further relates to a media player for playing back a data stream stored by means of a media item, comprising media item playing means, input means, a timer, and having access to a storage. The invention further relates to a computer program product directly loadable into the memory of a programmable media player, which computer program product comprises software code portions for performing the steps of the method according to the first paragraph when said software code portions are executed by the media player.

The invention further relates to a computer being adapted to process the computer program product mentioned in the fourth paragraph.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Media players, e.g. CD players, exist that remember the exact playback position of a media item, e.g. the track and time index of a CD, when the playback of such a media item is stopped. Even when removing the media item from the player, and switching the player off, this information is remembered. When playback of the media item is started again in the same device, the playback position is restored and playback resumes from that position. For instance, from the document US 2003/0063528 Al an information recording and playback apparatus is known that comprises a user information acquisition unit for acquiring user information that represents a user presently using the apparatus. This apparatus further comprises a recording unit for recording on a record medium the user information and in relation to it a playback stop position information of a media item. The apparatus further comprises a playback start control unit which is designed for selecting from among the playback stop position information read from the recording medium the playback stop position information corresponding to an acquired user information and resuming playing back the media item at the selected playback stop position information.

The known apparatus and media players, however, have shown the disadvantage that the playback stop position is remembered indefinitely or until it is reset by the user. Whether it is appropriate to restore the playback stop position is, however, context dependent, but with the known apparatus and media players the context is not taken into account. US 2003/0063528 Al mentions storing of the time when playback of the media item is stopped, but this information is only used for presenting it to the user. The user can select between the two alternate playback positions, so the user makes the choice at the moment of resuming playback, but the apparatus does not do the choice automatically.

OBJECT AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the invention to provide a method of the type defined in the opening paragraph, a controller of the type defined in the second paragraph, a media player of the type defined in the third paragraph, a computer program as defined in the fourth paragraph, and a computer as defined in the fifth paragraph, in which the disadvantages defined above are avoided.

In order to achieve the object defined above, with a method according to the invention characteristic features are provided so that a method according to the invention can be characterized in the way defined below, that is:

A method of controlling playback of a data stream stored by means of a media item, wherein controlling playback comprises stopping playback and resuming playback, wherein, when stopping playback, a stop position identifying the location within the media item where playback of the data stream was stopped, and a stop time identifying when playback was stopped are assigned to a media item identifier and are memorized, and wherein, when resuming playback, the time span between the stop time of the media item and the current time is determined and compared with a pre-defined time span threshold, and if the determined time span exceeds said time span threshold playback is started from the beginning of the data stream, whereas when the determined time span is equal to or less than said time span threshold playback is resumed from the stored stop position.

In order to achieve the object defined above, with a controller according to the invention characteristic features are provided so that a controller according to the invention can be characterized in the way defined below, that is:

A controller for controlling playback of a data stream stored by means of a media item, wherein controlling playback comprises stopping playback and resuming playback, wherein the controller is operatively coupled to media item playing means, which media item playing means are designed to playback the data stream and to read a media item identifier from the media item, and wherein the controller is operatively coupled to input means and a timer and a storage, and wherein the controller is designed to receive a stop signal from the input means and as a consequence of receiving said stop signal to request from the media item playing means the media item identifier and a current playback position indicator indicating the current playback position of the data stream and representing a stop position, and to request from the timer the current time that represents a stop time, and to assign the media item identifier to the stop position and the stop time, and to store a data representation of said stop position and said stop time within the storage, and wherein the controller is designed to receive a resume signal from the input means and as a consequence of receiving said resume signal to read the stored data representation of the stop position and stop time for the media item from the storage, and to determine the time span between the stop time of the media item and the current time requested from the timer, and to compare the determined time span with a pre-defined time span threshold, and, in case that a comparison result represents that the time span exceeds said time span threshold, to instruct the media item playing means to start playback of the data stream from its beginning, or, in case that the comparison result represents that the determined time span is equal to or less than said time span threshold, to instruct the media item playing means to resume playback of the data stream from the stop position.

In order to achieve the object defined above, a media player according to the invention is provided with a controller according to the invention.

In order to achieve the object defined above, with a computer program product according to the invention characteristic features are provided so that a computer program product according to the invention is directly loadable into the memory of a programmable media player and said computer program product comprises software code portions for performing the steps of a method according to the invention when said product is executed by the media player. In order to achieve the object defined above, a computer according to the invention comprises an arithmetic-logic unit and a memory and processes the computer program product according to the invention.

The characteristic features according to the invention provide the advantage that the default behavior when resuming playback of a media item for which previously a playback stop position was remembered is made time dependent. A stop time is stored together with the remembered stop position, which stop position indicates the moment when playback was stopped. When playback of the media item is to be started again, the time span between the stored stop time and the current time is calculated; if the calculated time span exceeds a defined time span threshold, playback is started from the beginning of the media item, otherwise playback is resumed from the stored stop position. Hence, a user of the media player, when resuming playback of a media item, is not annoyed with having to interact with the media player in order to select between alternative starting positions. The invention is based on the observation that after a long time span has lapsed since the latest playback of a media item, the user, when resuming playback of a media item, will not anymore be interested in continuing the playback from the last stop position, but will rather be interested in starting playback from the beginning of the media item.

The measures as claimed in claim 2 or claim 7, respectively, provide the advantage that resuming playback of a media item is always focused on the very last playback session of the media item, whereas earlier playback sessions are disregarded.

The measures as claimed in claim 3 or claim 8, respectively, provide the advantage that when a playback session has automatically been stopped because the end of a data stream on the media item had been reached the next playback session will automatically start from the beginning of the data stream. The measures as claimed in claim 4 or claim 9, respectively, provide the advantage that different stop positions and stop times for the same media item can be stored for different users, allowing a personalization of the inventive play back resume feature for media items.

The measures as claimed in claim 5 or claim 10, respectively, provide the advantage that the stored stop positions and stop times for a media item can be shared among multiple devices, allowing to restore playback positions for the same media item across these multiple devices.

The aspects defined above and further aspects of the invention are apparent from the exemplary embodiment to be described hereinafter and are explained with reference to this exemplary embodiment.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will be described in more detail hereinafter with reference to an exemplary embodiment. However, the invention is not limited to this exemplary embodiment.

Fig. 1 shows schematically an embodiment of a media player according to the invention in a block diagram.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Fig. 1 shows a schematic block diagram of a media player 1 for playing back a data stream AV stored upon a media item 10. The media player 1 is configured as a CD and/or DVD player, and the media item 10 is a CD or DVD. However, the invention is not limited to such a configuration, but is applicable in the whole field of consumer electronics for playback of commercial or self-created content stored on media items. Basically the media item does not necessarily be a physical object like a CD or a DVD but may also be a digital representation of data associated with such data carriers or any other data object having the property to represent at least one data stream AV that can be accessed on a storage device either directly or via computer network. Such data objects may be any compressed or not compressed digital audio and / or video content. The media player 1 comprises media item playing means 2, like a player engine of a CD/DVD player being designed to read audio/video data streams AV from the media item 10 and being further designed to read control information like a media item identifier ID (e.g. a CDDB disc identifier) and position information representing a location within the data stream AV that is currently read for playback. The playing means 2 are of a conventional type used in common CD/DVD players. The media player 1 further comprises a timer 3 being able to provide the current time, and input means 4 in order to enable a user to interact with the media player 1. For instance, the input means 4 comprise START-, STOP-, ON/OFF-buttons or the like as known in prior art. The input means 4 also comprise detectors, like end switches, that detect whether a new media item 10 has been inserted into the media player 1 so that playback of this media item 10 can be automatically initiated. The media player 1 has also access to a non-volatile storage 6 for storing information as will be explained in detail below. The storage 6 is integrated into the media player 1. The media player 1 may also be arranged to access a remote storage 6 via a data network 7. It should be observed that the media player 1 can be configured as a single media item player being able to contain or access and play one media item at a time, or as a multi media item player being able to store or access a plurality of media items one of which can be selected for playback by a user at a time.

According to the invention the media player 1 further comprises a controller 5 with player logic functions to perform controlling playback of a data stream AV stored by means of the media item 10, wherein controlling playback comprises stopping playback and resuming playback of the data stream AV. The essential functions of the controller 5 are now explained in detail. Each time, when playback of a media item 10 that is currently played back by the media player 1 is stopped by a user via the input means 4, either by carrying out an explicit stop action, like pressing a STOP button or an OFF button, or by inserting or selecting a different media item 10, the input means 4 transmit a stop signal SS to the controller 5, which triggers the controller 5 to request from the media item playing means 2 the media item identifier ID and current playback position CP of the media item 10 and also queries the current time CT from the timer 3. Then the controller 5 instructs the media item playing means 2 to stop playback of the media item 10. The current playback position CP received from the media item playing means 2 defines a stop position SP exactly identifying the location on the media item 10 where playback of the data stream AV was interrupted, and the queried current time CT represents the stop time ST when playback was interrupted.

However in a further embodiment the stop position may also indicate the present position within a data stream AV of the media item 10 at the moment of receiving the stop signal SS. The controller 5 assigns the media item identifier ID to the stop time ST and stop position SP and stores a data representation of them in the storage 6. When storing said information the controller 5 also checks whether older entries of stop time ST and stop position SP exist for the current media item 10 in the storage 6, and if so, it overwrites these pre-existing entries in the storage 6 with the new entries of stop time ST and stop position SP for this media item 10. In this way it is guaranteed that always the latest stop time ST and stop position SP for the media item 10 are in the storage 6, taking into consideration that a user will not be interested in continuing playback from locations where it has been interrupted in previous sessions. However, if playback was stopped due to an end-of-media item signal EOM provided by the media item playing means 2 and indicating that the end of the data stream AV had been reached the controller 5 will delete from the storage 6 any existing entries of stop time ST and stop position SP for the media item 10, assuming that in the next playback session the user wants to start playback from the beginning of the data stream AV.

Optionally, the storage 6 used for storing the stop time ST and stop position SP is accessible via a data network 7, so that it can be shared among multiple media players as indicated in Figure 1 by a second controller 5 as part of another media player. Sharing the storage 6 via data network 7 allows to retrieve stop time ST and stop position SP for the same media item 10 from various media players 1 so that a user can insert or access this media item 10 in anyone of said media players 1 and resuming playback for this media item 10 will work in the same way in all of said media players 1.

Optionally, a user identifier UI, when input by a user via the input means 4, is stored together with stop time ST and stop position SP, allowing different stop times ST and stop positions SP for different users to be stored for the same media item 10, so that resuming of playback can be personalized for each user of the media player 1. It should be observed that, when the user identifier UI is available, overwriting or deleting of pre-existing entries of stop time ST and stop position SP in the storage 6 in the cases explained above are only carried out for entries that are assigned to the current user identifier UI.

For carrying out a playback operation on the media player 1 the user interacts with the present media player 1 through the input means 4. He may e.g. request playback either by inserting a media item 1 into the media player 1, or by selecting a new media item 10 from a collection of media items 10 stored within the media player 1. When playback is requested (indicated in Figure 1 by a resume signal RS) the controller 5 queries the media item identifier ID from the media item playing means 2. With this information the controller 5 queries the available storages 6 whether there are any entries of stop time ST and stop position SP for the media item 10 with the media item identifier ID. If that information is found, the controller 5 queries the current time CT from the timer 3 and calculates the difference between the stop time ST and the current time CT. If the calculated time span exceeds a defined time span threshold TH, the controller 5 instructs the media item playing means 2 to start playback of the data stream AV from its beginning. If the calculated time span is equal to or less than the time span threshold TH the controller 5 instructs the media item playing means 2 to restore the stop position SP and to resume playback of the data stream AV from the restored stop position SP. In this way the media player 1 according to the invention introduces a time dependent resume function, based on the approach that a user will not be interested in continuing a previously interrupted playback session when too much time has lapsed since the interrupted playback session, but he or she will want to start playback from the beginning of the media item 10. It should be observed that the time span threshold TH can be factory preset or can be set by the user via input means 4.

The inventive media player 1 may be realized in form of either hardware or by the aid of software executable by a programmable media player. Such a media player can be realized as a portable or stationary stand alone consumer electronics device and/or system, such as a audio player or a video player or the like and any combination thereof. Also a personal computer or a portable computer such as a personal digital assistant (PDA) or a mobile phone can realize the media player. In many situations a computer program product that comprises software code portions for performing the steps of the method according to the invention when the computer program product is executed by the media player is already pre- stored in such a media player, e.g. in a ROM or EPROM or any other non-volatile memory. It may also be that the computer program product can be fed into the programmable media player by the aid of a data carrier on which the computer program product is stored. In the latter case the computer program product is typically loaded into the working memory of the device, e.g. the RAM, whereas in the first case it is typically directly executed from the non- volatile memory. In both cases software portions of the computer program are executed by a processor of the media player.

Claims

1. A method of controlling playback of a data stream (AV) stored by means of a media item (10), wherein controlling playback comprises stopping playback and resuming playback, wherein, when stopping playback, a stop position (SP) identifying the location within the media item (10) where playback of the data stream (AV) was stopped, and a stop time (ST) identifying when playback was stopped are assigned to a media item identifier (ID) and are memorized, and wherein, when resuming playback, the time span between the stop time (ST) of the media item (10) and the current time (CT) is determined and compared with a pre-defined time span threshold (TH), and if the determined time span exceeds said time span threshold (TH) playback is started from the beginning of the data stream (AV), whereas when the determined time span is equal to or less than said time span threshold (TH) playback is resumed from the stored stop position (SP).

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein memorizing the stop position (SP) and the stop time (ST) that are assigned to the media item identifier (ID) is performed by storing a data representation of said stop position (SP) and said stop time (ST) by means of a storage (6), and wherein when the stop position (SP) and the stop time (ST) are stored for a media item (10) earlier stored stop position (SP) and stop time (ST) for said media item (10) already existing in the storage (6) are overwritten.

3. The method as claimed in claim 2, wherein when playback of the data stream (AV) is stopped because an end of the data stream (AV) has been reached earlier stored stop position (SP) and stop time (ST) for the media item (10) already existing in the storage (6) are deleted.

4. The method as claimed in claim 2, wherein a user identifier (UI) is stored together with the stop position (SP) and stop time (ST) of the media item (10).

5. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the storage (6) is accessible via a data network (7).

6. A controller (5) for controlling playback of a data stream (AV) stored by means of a media item (10), wherein controlling playback comprises stopping playback and resuming playback, wherein the controller (5) is operatively coupled to media item playing means (2), which media item playing means (2) are designed to playback the data stream (AV) and to read a media item identifier (ID) from the media item (10), and wherein the controller (5) is operatively coupled to input means (4) and a timer (3) and a storage (6), and wherein the controller (5) is designed to receive a stop signal (SS) from the input means (4) and as a consequence of receiving said stop signal (SS) to request from the media item playing means (2) the media item identifier (ID) and a current playback position indicator indicating the current playback position of the data stream (AV) and representing a stop position (SP), and to request from the timer (3) the current time that represents a stop time (ST), and to assign the media item identifier (ID) to the stop position (SP) and the stop time (ST), and to store a data representation of said stop position (SP) and said stop time (ST) within the storage (6), and wherein the controller (5) is designed to receive a resume signal (RS) from the input means (4) and as a consequence of receiving said resume signal (RS) to read the stored data representation of the stop position (SP) and stop time (ST) for the media item (10) from the storage (6), and to determine the time span between the stop time (ST) of the media item (10) and the current time (CT) requested from the timer (3), and to compare the determined time span with a pre-defined time span threshold (TH), and, in case that a comparison result represents that the time span exceeds said time span threshold (TH), to instruct the media item playing means (2) to start playback of the data stream (AV) from its beginning, or, in case that the comparison result represents that the determined time span is equal to or less than said time span threshold (TH), to instruct the media item playing means (2) to resume playback of the data stream (AV) from the stop position (SP).

7. The controller (5) as claimed in claim 6, wherein the controller (5) is designed to overwrite in the storage (6) existing entries of stop time (ST) and stop position (SP) for the media item (10) with new entries.

8. The controller (5) as claimed in claim 6, wherein the controller (5) is designed to delete from the storage (6) existing entries of the stop position (SP) and stop time (ST) for the media item (10) when receiving an end-of-media-item signal (EOM).

9. The controller as claimed in claim 6, wherein the controller (5) is designed to receive a user identifier (UI) from the input means (4) and to store the stop position (SP) and stop time (ST) of the media item (10) under assignment to said user identifier (UI).

10. The controller as claimed in claim 6, wherein the controller (5) is designed to access the storage (6) via a data network (7).

11. A media player (1) for playing back a data stream (AV) stored by means of a media item (10), comprising media item playing means (2), input means (4), a timer (3), and having access to a storage (6), wherein the media player (1) further comprises a controller (5) as claimed in one of claims 6 to 10.

12. A computer program product being directly loadable into the memory of a programmable media player, which computer program product comprises software code portions for performing the method according to claims 1 to 5, when said software code portions are executed by the media player.

13. A computer program product as claimed in claim 12, wherein the computer program product is stored on a computer readable medium.

14. A computer with an arithmetic-logic unit and a memory, wherein the computer is adapted to process the computer program product as claimed in claim 12.