Distributed provisioning of properties of operational settings of a media playback system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11726739-B2
Application number	US-202117364942-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 1, 2021
Priority date	Jul 9, 2018
Publication date	Aug 15, 2023
Grant date	Aug 15, 2023

Abstract

Devices, system, and methods are disclosed for provisioning devices over a cloud network in accordance with modifications to operational settings of a media playback system. In example embodiments, a first playback device is configured to identify a change to a property of an operational setting of the media playback system at a first geographic location of the media playback system, and based on the identified change, (i) locally provision itself in accordance with the identified change to the property of the operational setting, (ii) cause a cloud computing device located outside of the media playback system to be provisioned in accordance with the identified change to the property of the operational setting, and (iii) cause the cloud computing device to initiate provisioning of a second playback device at a second geographic location in accordance with the identified change to the property of the operational setting at the first geographic location.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A playback device comprising:
at least one processor;
a non-transitory computer-readable medium; and
program instructions stored on the non-transitory computer-readable medium that are executable by the at least one processor such that the playback device is configured to:
receive, from a remote computing device, an indication that the remote computing device has identified a change to at least one property of an operational setting of a media playback system that includes the playback device, wherein the at least one property affects an operational state of the playback device;
based on receiving the indication, determine a first remote-version indicator stored on the playback device that corresponds to a prior provisioning of the remote computing device;
transmit the first remote-version indicator to the remote computing device;
receive, from the remote computing device, (i) a second remote-version indicator that corresponds to a current provisioning of the remote computing device based on the identified change to the at least one property and (ii) an identification of the at least one property that has changed since the prior provisioning of the remote computing device; and
based at least on the second remote-version indicator, locally provision the playback device in accordance with the identified change to the at least one property of the operational setting.

2. The playback device of claim 1 , wherein:
the first remote-version indicator includes a first property value for the at least one property that has changed since the prior provisioning of the remote computing device;
the second remote-version indicator includes a second property value for the at least one property that has changed since the prior provisioning of the remote computing device; and
the program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the playback device is configured to based at least on the second remote-version indicator, locally provision the playback device in accordance with the identified change to the at least one property of the operational setting comprise program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the playback device is configured to:
replace the first property value with the second property value.

3. The playback device of claim 1 , wherein the at least one property of the operational setting of the media playback system comprises one of (i) a media service credential for a particular media service accessible by the media playback system, (ii) a feature of a playlist comprising a plurality of media items reproducible by the media playback system, (iii) an attribute of a media alarm executable by the media playback system, or (iv) an identifier corresponding to the at least one property that has changed.

4. The playback device of claim 1 , wherein the indication that the remote computing device has identified the change to the at least one property of the operational setting of the media playback system includes a request for the playback device to initiate local provisioning of the playback device in accordance with the identified change to the at least one property of the operational setting.

5. The playback device of claim 1 , wherein the indication that the remote computing device has identified the change to the at least one property of the operational setting of the media playback system includes a notification that the remote computing device has been provisioned in accordance with the identified change to the at least one property of the operational setting.

6. The playback device of claim 1 , wherein the playback device serves as a designated playback device of the media playback system for communicating with the remote computing device regarding operational settings of the media playback system, and wherein the program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the playback device is configured to receive the indication that the remote computing device has identified the change to the at least one property of the operational setting of the media playback system are based on the playback device serving as the designated playback device.

7. The playback device of claim 1 , further comprising program instructions stored on the non-transitory computer-readable medium that are executable by the at least one processor such that the playback device is configured to:
determine a local version indicator corresponding to the playback device being locally provisioned in accordance with the identified change to the property of the operational setting; and
based at least on the local version indicator, cause an additional playback device of the media playback system to be provisioned in accordance with the identified change to the at least one property of the operational setting.

8. The playback device of claim 7 , wherein the program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the playback device is configured to cause the additional playback device of the media playback system to be provisioned in accordance with the identified change to the at least one property of the operational setting comprise program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the playback device is configured to:
send a request to the additional playback device to initiate local provisioning of the additional playback device in accordance with the identified change to the at least one property of the operational setting;
receive, from the additional playback device, a third remote-version indicator that corresponds to the prior provisioning of the remote computing device, based on which the additional playback device is currently provisioned;
send, to the additional playback device, a fourth remote-version indicator that corresponds to the current provisioning of the remote computing device in accordance with the identified change to the at least one property; and
based on the fourth remote-version indicator, cause the additional playback device to be locally provisioned in accordance with the identified change to the property of the operational setting.

9. The playback device of claim 1 , wherein the first remote-version indicator comprises a first time value indicating when the remote computing device was previously provisioned, and wherein the second remote-version indicator comprises a second time value that comprises a more-recent time value than the first time value of the first remote-version indicator.

10. The playback device of claim 1 , wherein the playback device and the remote computing device are configured to communicate over a communication network that comprises one of (i) a local area network, (ii) a personal area network, or (iii) a communication network dedicated for the media playback system.

11. A non-transitory computer-readable medium, wherein the non-transitory computer-readable medium is provisioned with program instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, cause a playback device to:
receive, from a remote computing device, an indication that the remote computing device has identified a change to at least one property of an operational setting of a media playback system that includes the playback device, wherein the at least one property affects an operational state of the playback device;
based on receiving the indication, determine a first remote-version indicator stored on the playback device that corresponds to a prior provisioning of the remote computing device;
transmit the first remote-version indicator to the remote computing device;
receive, from the remote computing device, (i) a second remo

Assignees

• Sonos Inc

Inventors

• Thoresz Keith
• Casimiro Daniel
• Lad Sachin
• Beckhardt Steven

Classifications

• G06F3/165 Primary

  Management of the audio stream, e.g. setting of volume, audio stream path · CPC title

• H04R3/12

  for distributing signals to two or more loudspeakers {(specially adapted for hearing aids H04R25/407)} · CPC title

• H04R2227/005

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

• H04R27/00

  Public address systems (circuits for preventing acoustic reaction H04R3/02; circuits for distributing signals to loudspeakers H04R3/12; {monitoring or testing arrangements for public address systems H04R29/007}; amplifiers H03F) · CPC title

• H04R2430/01

  Aspects of volume control, not necessarily automatic, in sound systems · CPC title