Portable vehicle entertainment systems with wireless communication of entertainment content

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9247279-B2
Application number	US-201314087254-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 22, 2013
Priority date	Nov 22, 2013
Publication date	Jan 26, 2016
Grant date	Jan 26, 2016

Abstract

A portable entertainment system for a vehicle includes a portable housing, a transceiver, a processor, a memory, and a rechargeable battery. The transceiver communicates through RF signals with Portable Electronic Devices (PEDs) operated by vehicle passengers. The rechargeable battery supplies power to the transceiver, the processor, and the memory. The memory is coupled to the processor and includes entertainment content and further includes computer readable program code that causes the processor to communicate a list, of at least some of the entertainment content available in the memory, to the PEDs. A content selection message is received through the transceiver from one of the PEDs that requests communication of a selected one of the entertainment content identified in the list. The selected entertainment content is communicated through the transceiver to the PED. The transceiver, the processor, and the memory are enclosed within the portable housing.

First claim

What is claimed:

1. A portable entertainment system for a vehicle, comprising:
a portable housing comprising a catering canister configured to be stored on a catering rack of a service galley of the vehicle;
a transceiver configured to communication through radio frequency (RF) signals with Portable Electronic Devices (PEDs) operated by vehicle passengers;
at least one processor;
at least one memory; and
wherein the at least one memory is coupled to the at least one processor and comprises entertainment content and further comprises computer readable program code that when executed by the at least one processor causes the at least one processor to perform operations comprising:
communicating a list, of at least some of the entertainment content available in the at least one memory, to the PEDs;
receiving a content selection message through the transceiver from one of the PEDs that requests communication of a selected one of the entertainment content identified in the list; and
communicating the selected one of the entertainment content through the transceiver to the one of the PEDs; and

wherein the transceiver, the at least one processor, and the at least one memory are enclosed within the portable housing.

2. The portable entertainment system of claim 1 ,
wherein the catering canister comprises a metal layer that encloses the transceiver, the at least one processor, and the at least one memory to shield RF emissions therefrom; and
the portable entertainment system further comprises an antenna configured to transmit and receive RF signals between the transceiver and the PEDs operated by vehicle passengers, wherein the antenna is mounted to an exterior surface of the catering canister.

3. The portable entertainment system of claim 2 , wherein the antenna, is mounted to a front exterior surface of the catering canister facing away from the rack while the catering canister is stored on the rack.

4. The portable entertainment system of claim 2 ,
further comprising a rechargeable battery that supplies power to the transceiver, the at least one processor and the at least one memory,
wherein the catering canister has an access door that is configured to inhibit external escape of gasses from inside in case of burning of the rechargeable battery.

5. The portable entertainment system of claim 1 , wherein the portable entertainment system further comprises:
a global positioning system (GPS) antenna mounted to an exterior surface of the catering canister; and
a GPS unit connected to receive GPS signals from the GPS antenna and configured to determine a location of the portable entertainment system while the portable entertainment system is being transported from a storage facility to the vehicle.

6. The portable entertainment system of claim 5 , wherein:
the GPS unit is configured to capture and store in a memory of the GPS unit information obtained from GPS signals received by the GPS antenna while the portable entertainment system is being transported from a storage facility to the vehicle, and to process the information from the memory of the GPS unit to determine a location of the portable entertainment system while the portable entertainment system is stored on the rack of the service galley with the GPS antenna shielded from receiving further GPS signals by a surface of the vehicle.

7. The portable entertainment system of claim 5 , wherein the computer readable program code causes the at least one processor to perform operations comprising:
selecting a default language for textual information and/or audible speech relating to the entertainment content in the list that is communicated to the PEDs, responsive to the location of the portable entertainment system determined by the GPS unit.

8. A portable entertainment system for a vehicle, comprising:
a portable housing;
a transceiver configured to communication through radio frequency (RF) signals with Portable Electronic Devices (PEDs) operated by vehicle passengers;
at least one processor;
at least one memory; and
a rechargeable battery that supplies power to the transceiver, the at least one processor and the at least one memory,
wherein the at least one memory is coupled to the at least one processor and comprises entertainment content and further comprises computer readable program code that when executed by the at least one processor causes the at least one processor to perform operations comprising:
communicating a list, of at least some of the entertainment content available in the at least one memory, to the PEDs;
receiving a content selection message through the transceiver from one of the PEDs that requests communication of a selected one of the entertainment content identified in the list;
communicating the selected one of the entertainment content through the transceiver to the one of the PEDs;
monitoring remaining power of the rechargeable battery; and
controlling a level of service, that is provided to at least some of the PEDs for communication of electronic content, responsive to the remaining power of the rechargeable battery, and

wherein the transceiver, the at least one processor, and the at least one memory are enclosed within the portable housing.

9. The portable entertainment system of claim 8 , wherein the computer readable program code causes the at least one processor to perform operations comprising:
reducing bandwidth provided through the transceiver for communication to at least some of the PEDs responsive to the remaining power of the rechargeable battery no longer satisfying a defined threshold.

10. The portable entertainment system of claim 8 , wherein the computer readable program code causes the at least one processor to perform operations comprising:
reducing the level of service provided to at least some of the PEDs responsive to the remaining power of the rechargeable battery no longer satisfying a defined threshold by ceasing streaming of video content while continuing to allow downloading of application programs from the at least one memory for execution on the at least some of the PEDs to conserve remaining power of the rechargeable battery.

11. The portable entertainment system of claim 8 , wherein the computer readable program code causes the at least one processor to perform operations comprising:
associating the PEDs into a plurality of groups having different priority levels; and
reducing the level of service provided to PEDs in one of the groups while keeping unchanged the level of service provided to PEDs in another of the groups responsive to the remaining power of the rechargeable battery no longer satisfying a defined threshold.

12. The portable entertainment system of claim 8 ,
further comprising a pressure altimeter connected to the at least one processor;
wherein the computer readable program code causes the at least one processor to perform operations comprising:
selectively turning off the transceiver responsive to a signal from the pressure altimeter.

13. The portable entertainment system of claim 12 , wherein the computer readable program code causes the at least one processor to perform operations comprising:
determining an altitude within a cabin of an aircraft vehicle, in which the portable entertainment system resides, responsive to the signal from the pressure altimeter;
tracking changes in the altitude;
determining a present flight phase responsive to the tracked changes in the altitude;
providing power flow from the rechargeable battery to the transceiver responsive to the present flight phase being a first defined flight phase; and
ceasing power flow from the rechargeable battery to the tr

Assignees

• Bleacher Brett
• Musgrave Andrew
• David Thomas
• Gresham Simon
• Thales Avionics Inc

Inventors

• Bleacher Brett
• Musgrave Andrew
• Thomas David
• Gresham Simon

Classifications

• H04N21/6405

  Multicasting {(data broadcast and multicast in packet switching networks H04L12/18)} · CPC title

• H04N21/2146

  located in mass transportation means, e.g. aircraft, train or bus (flight-deck installations for entertainment or communications B64D11/0015; arrangements specially adapted for transportation systems in broadcast systems H04H20/62; moving wireless networks H04W84/005) · CPC title

• H04N21/26258

  for generating a list of items to be played back in a given order, e.g. playlist, or scheduling item distribution according to such list (retrieval of multimedia data based on playlists G06F16/40) · CPC title

• H04N21/41407

  embedded in a portable device, e.g. video client on a mobile phone, PDA, laptop (constructional details of equipment or arrangements specially adapted for portable computer application G06F1/1626; arrangements specially adapted for mobile receivers in broadcast systems H04H20/57) · CPC title

• H04N21/422

  Input-only peripherals {, i.e. input devices connected to specially adapted client devices}, e.g. global positioning system [GPS] {(input devices also receiving signals from specially adapted client devices H04N21/4104)} · CPC title