Output devices, such as televisions, output controllers, or audio output devices, that are setup to wirelessly receive digital content from a digital content service over the internet or from a wireless information apparatus that is in the same network as the output devices

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11096056-B2
Application number	US-201916557593-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 30, 2019
Priority date	Nov 1, 2000
Publication date	Aug 17, 2021
Grant date	Aug 17, 2021

Abstract

Output devices or systems, such as televisions, speakers, projectors, or output controllers, are herein disclosed and enabled for wirelessly receiving digital content from a digital content service or from an information apparatus. The disclosed output device includes wireless communication circuitry and an interface. To set up the output device for receiving and playing the digital content, the output device first receives, via the interface, security information, and then establishes a wireless local area network connection. Subsequent to having established the wireless local area network connection, the output device connects to a server over a network, using the wireless communication circuitry, for downloading and installing software applications or components for upgrading or modifying capabilities of the output device. Thereafter, the output device is setup for receiving the digital content from the information apparatus and from the digital content service using the downloaded and installed software applications or components.

First claim

We claim:

1. A wireless output device that is at least one of a television, an external output controller wire connectable to a television, a display device, a projector, an audio output device, a printing device, or a speaker, individually or in any combination, the wireless output device including:
an interface for interacting with a user;
operating system software to facilitate download and installation of application software or software components at the wireless output device;
one or more processors, for executing at least part of the operating system software; and
wireless communication circuitry that includes one or more wireless communication units for wireless communication, and wherein the wireless output device is operable for:
(i) connecting the wireless output device, by the wireless output device and using at least one wireless communication unit of the one or more wireless communication units of the wireless output device, to a wireless local area network;
(ii) downloading, by the wireless output device, using the at least one wireless communication unit of the one or more wireless communication units of the wireless output device, and over the wireless local area network connected in (i), the application software or the software components from one or more servers or host computers over a network to the wireless output device, the application software or the software components being downloaded for upgrading, updating, adding, or modifying features and capabilities of the wireless output device;
(iii) installing, at the wireless output device and by the wireless output device, the application software or the software components downloaded in (ii), the installation of the application software or the software components being facilitated, at least in part, by the wireless output device and using the operating system software included in the wireless output device;
(iv) wirelessly broadcasting or wirelessly announcing, by the wireless output device and using the one or more wireless communication units of the wireless output device and over the wireless local area network connected in (i), availability of the wireless output device, the wireless broadcasting or the wireless announcing by the wireless output device is for a mobile information apparatus to wirelessly discover the wireless output device, the mobile information apparatus being from among one or more mobile information apparatus that are in the wireless local area network;
(v) wirelessly transmitting, by the wireless output device and using the one or more wireless communication units of the wireless output device and over the wireless local area network connected in (i), one or more device dependent attributes to the mobile information apparatus that has wirelessly discovered the wireless output device in (iv), and wherein the one or more device dependent attributes include at least a device attribute associated with the wireless output device;
(vi) wirelessly establishing, by the wireless output device, using the one or more wireless communication units of the wireless output device, and over the wireless local area network connected in (i), a wireless communication link between the wireless output device and the mobile information apparatus that has wirelessly discovered the wireless output device in (iv), the wireless communication link being compatible, at least partly, with at least a protocol within IEEE 802.11 wireless standards, and the mobile information apparatus being from among the one or more mobile information apparatus that are in the wireless local area network, and the mobile information apparatus being a separate device from the wireless output device;
(vii) wirelessly receiving, by the wireless output device and using the one or more wireless communication units of the wireless output device and over the wireless communication link wirelessly established in (vi), intermediate output data from the mobile information apparatus that has wirelessly discovered the wireless output device in (iv), the wirelessly received intermediate output data is related to digital content that is for outputting or playing at the wireless output device, and the wirelessly received intermediate output data being associated, at least in part, with the one or more device dependent attributes wirelessly transmitted by the wireless output device to the mobile information apparatus in (v); and
(viii) processing, by the wireless output device and using the one or more processors at the wireless output device, at least part of the intermediate output data wirelessly received in (vii) into output data, the output data being related to the digital content and is for outputting or playing at the wireless output device, the processing, at the wireless output device, includes at least one of a color operation, an image processing operation, a scaling operation, a resolution operation, an interpolation operation, a decoding operation, or an encoding operation, individually or in any combination, on the at least part of the intermediate output data that is wirelessly received in (vii); and
wherein the at least one wireless communication unit of the one or more wireless communication units, which is included in the wireless output device, is compatible, at least partly, with at least a protocol within IEEE 802.11 wireless standards for connecting the wireless output device to the wireless local area network in (i).

2. The wireless output device according to claim 1 , wherein the mobile information apparatus is at least one of a smart phone, a digital camera, or an information pad, individually or in any combination; and
wherein the wireless broadcasting or the wireless announcing of the availability of the wireless output device in (iv) is for the mobile information apparatus from among the one or more mobile information apparatus to wirelessly discover, by short range wireless communication, the wireless output device, and wherein the short range wireless communication between the wireless output device and the mobile information apparatus is compatible, at least partly, with at least a protocol within IEEE 802.11 wireless standards.

3. The wireless output device according to claim 1 , wherein the wireless output device is a television or an external output controller wire connectable to a television; and wherein the wireless output device is further operable for establishing a wired connection to a local area network for accessing the network via Ethernet; and wherein the digital content includes at least one of audio data, image data, or video data, individually or in any combination.

4. The wireless output device according to claim 1 , wherein the wireless output device is an external output controller connectable to a television via a wired connection, and wherein the wireless output device is further operable for sending at least part of the output data that is processed from the intermediate output data in (viii), via the wired connection, to the television for outputting or rendering at least part of the digital content at the television; and wherein the intermediate output data wirelessly received in (vii) includes device dependent data associated with the wireless output device.

5. The wireless output device according to claim 2 , wherein, subsequent to the wireless output device having been wirelessly discovered discovered by the mobile information apparatus in (iv), the wireless output device is further operable for:
detecting or obtaining, by the wireless output device, identification information or authentication information related to the mobile information apparatus or to a user of the mobile information apparatus, individually or in any combination, the identification information or the authentication information includes one or more of a user na

Assignees

• Flexiworld Tech Inc

Inventors

• Chang William Ho
• Liu Christina Ying

Classifications

• H04L67/51

  Discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services · CPC title

• H04N1/00938

  Software related arrangements, e.g. loading applications (program loading in general G06F9/445) · CPC title

• H04N1/00488

  providing an audible output to the user · CPC title

• H04N1/32534

  details of interfacing · CPC title

• G06F3/1292

  Mobile client, e.g. wireless printing · CPC title