Room association based on name

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10712997-B2
Application number	US-201715682506-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 21, 2017
Priority date	Oct 17, 2016
Publication date	Jul 14, 2020
Grant date	Jul 14, 2020

Abstract

Systems and methods for use in a media playback system comprising one or more playback devices are disclosed, where a playback device has a corresponding first set of device attributes used by a first controller application. The methods include: (i) identifying a second set of device attributes used by a second controller application to control the playback device, (ii) selecting a second device attribute for the playback device from the second set of device attributes based at least in part on a first device attribute; (iii) storing the selected second device attribute in the first set of device attributes; and (iv) controlling at least one function of the playback device using the selected second device attribute.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. Tangible, non-transitory computer-readable media comprising instructions stored therein, wherein the instructions, when executed by one or more processors, cause a computing device to perform a method comprising:
in a media playback system comprising one or more playback devices, wherein a playback device of the media playback system has a corresponding first set of device attributes used by a first controller application to identify and control the playback device, identifying a second set of device attributes used by a second controller application to identify and control the playback device;
selecting a second device attribute for the playback device from the second set of device attributes used by the second controller application based at least in part on a first device attribute of the first set of device attributes used by the first controller application, wherein the second set of device attributes comprises a set of room type identifiers, and wherein selecting the second device attribute based at least in part on the first device attribute comprises selecting a room type identifier from the set of room type identifiers;
causing the selected second device attribute to be stored in the first set of device attributes used by the first controller application to control the playback device; and
after causing the selected second device attribute to be stored in the first set of device attributes for the playback device, controlling at least one function of the playback device using the selected second device attribute.

2. The tangible, non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 1 , wherein controlling at least one function of the playback device using the selected second device attribute comprises controlling at least one function of the playback device using the selected second device attribute with the first controller application.

3. The tangible, non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 1 , wherein controlling at least one function of the playback device using the selected second device attribute comprises controlling at least one function of the playback device using the selected second device attribute with the second controller application.

4. The tangible, non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 1 , wherein identifying a second set of device attributes used by a second controller application to control the playback device comprises:
receiving the second set of device attributes from one or more of the second controller application, a cloud computing system, and/or an application programming interface; and
storing the second set of device attributes used by the second controller application to control the playback device.

5. The tangible, non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 1 , wherein the first device attribute comprises a player name, and wherein selecting the second device attribute based at least in part on the first device attribute comprises selecting the room type identifier from the set of room type identifiers based at least in part on the player name.

6. The tangible, non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 1 , wherein the first device attribute comprises a player type, and wherein selecting the second device attribute based at least in part on the first device attribute comprises selecting the room type identifier from the set of room type identifiers based at least in part on the player type.

7. The tangible, non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 1 , wherein the first device attribute comprises a player icon, and wherein selecting the second device attribute based at least in part on the first device attribute comprises selecting the room type identifier from the set of room type identifiers based at least in part on the player icon.

8. The tangible, non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 1 , wherein the first device attribute comprises a player configuration, and wherein selecting the second device attribute based at least in part on the first device attribute comprises selecting the room type identifier from the set of room type identifiers based at least in part on the player configuration.

9. The tangible, non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 1 , wherein the first device attribute comprises a zone name for a zone associated with the playback device, and wherein selecting the second device attribute based at least in part on the first device attribute comprises selecting the room type identifier from the set of room type identifiers based at least in part on the zone name.

10. The tangible, non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 1 , wherein the first device attribute comprises a session name for a session associated with the playback device, and wherein selecting the second device attribute based at least in part on the first device attribute comprises selecting the room type identifier from the set of room type identifiers based at least in part on the session name.

11. The tangible, non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 1 , wherein causing the selected second device attribute to be stored in the first set of device attributes used by the first controller application to control the playback device comprises the computing device writing the selected second device attribute to one or more files stored on one or more of the playback device or a cloud computing system server.

12. The tangible, non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 1 , further comprising:
displaying, via a graphical user interface, one or more attributes from the first set of device attributes or the second set of device attributes in a user interface menu;
receiving, via the graphical user interface, a selection of one of the displayed device attributes associated with the playback device; and
sending a command to the playback device based at least in part on the received selection of the one of the displayed device attributes associated with the playback device.

13. The tangible, non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises:
identifying a third set of device attributes used by a third controller application to control the playback device;
selecting a third device attribute for the playback device from the third set of device attributes used by the third controller application based at least in part on a first device attribute of the first set of device attributes used by the first controller application;
causing the selected third device attribute to be stored in the first set of device attributes used by the first controller application to control the playback device; and
after causing the selected second device attribute to be stored in the first set of device attributes for the playback device, controlling at least one function of the playback device using the selected third device attribute with one or more of the first controller application, the second controller application, or the third controller application.

14. A method comprising:
in a media playback system comprising one or more playback devices, wherein a playback device of the media playback system has a corresponding first set of device attributes used by a first controller application to identify and control the playback device, identifying a second set of device attributes used by a second controller application to identify and control the playback device;
selecting a second device attribute for the playback device from the second set of device attributes used by the second controller application based at least in part on a first device attribute of the first set of device attributes used by the first controller app

Assignees

• Sonos Inc

Inventors

• Wilberding Dayn
• Bierbower Chris
• Fabok Mish
• Szymanski Jake
• Hooge Jd
• Wood Tristan
• Truex Chip
• Butts Christopher
• Bates Paul

Classifications

• H04N21/8113

  comprising music, e.g. song in MP3 format · CPC title

• H04N21/458

  Scheduling content for creating a personalised stream, e.g. by combining a locally stored advertisement with an incoming stream; Updating operations, e.g. for OS modules {; time-related management operations (arrangements for replacing or switching information during the broadcast or during the distribution H04H20/10)} · CPC title

• H04N21/43615

  Interfacing a Home Network, e.g. for connecting the client to a plurality of peripherals (home Audio Video Interoperability [HAVI] data switching networks H04L12/2805) · CPC title

• H04N21/4524

  involving the geographical location of the client (retrieval from the Internet by querying based on geographical locations G06F16/9537; systems specially adapted for using geographical information in broadcast systems H04H60/70; protocols in which the network application is adapted for the location of the user terminal in communication control or processing H04L67/52; services making use of the location of users or terminals in wireless networks H04W4/02; locating users or terminals in wireless networks H04W64/00) · CPC title

• H04R2227/005

  Audio distribution systems for home, i.e. multi-room use · CPC title