Portable vehicle entertainment systems with wireless communication of entertainment content

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9628840-B2
Application number	US-201614988234-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 5, 2016
Priority date	Nov 22, 2013
Publication date	Apr 18, 2017
Grant date	Apr 18, 2017

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 in-flight entertainment system for an aircraft, comprising:
a portable housing comprising a crew portable canister transportable onto the aircraft;
a transceiver configured to communicate through radio frequency (RF) signals with Portable Electronic Devices (PEDs) operated by passengers;
at least one processor;
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 executed by 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 in-flight entertainment system of claim 1 , wherein the crew portable canister is configured to be stored on a catering rack of a service galley of the aircraft.

3. The portable in-flight entertainment system of claim 1 ,
wherein the crew portable canister comprises a metal layer that encloses the transceiver, the at least one processor, and the at least one memory, the metal layer of the crew portable canister at least partially shielding RF emissions from the transceiver and the at least one processor; and
the portable entertainment system further comprises an antenna configured to transmit and receive RE signals between the transceiver and the PEDs operated by passengers, wherein the antenna is mounted to an exterior surface of the crew portable canister.

4. The portable in-flight entertainment system of claim 3 , wherein:
the crew portable canister is configured to be stored on a catering rack of a service galley of the aircraft; and
the antenna, is mounted to a front exterior surface of the crew portable canister facing away from the catering rack while the crew portable canister is stored on the catering rack.

5. The portable in-flight entertainment system of claim 3 ,
further comprising a rechargeable battery that supplies power to the transceiver, the at least one processor and the at least one memory,
wherein the crew portable canister has an access door that is configured to inhibit external escape of gasses from inside the crew portable canister in case of burning of the rechargeable battery.

6. The portable in-flight entertainment system of claim 1 ,
further comprising a rechargeable battery that supplies power to the transceiver, the at least one processor and the at least one memory,
wherein the operations further comprise:
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 the electronic content, responsive to the remaining power of the rechargeable battery.

7. The portable in-flight entertainment system of claim 6 , wherein the controlling a level of service, that is provided to at least some of the PEDs for communication of the electronic content, responsive to the remaining power of the rechargeable battery, comprises:
reducing bandwidth provided through the transceiver for communicating entertainment content from the at least one memory to at least some of the PEDs responsive to the remaining power of the rechargeable battery no longer satisfying a defined threshold.

8. The portable in-flight entertainment system of claim 6 , wherein the controlling a level of service, that is provided to at least some of the PEDs for communication of the electronic content, responsive to the remaining power of the rechargeable battery, comprises:
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.

9. The portable in-flight entertainment system of claim 6 , wherein the controlling a level of service, that is provided to at least some of the PEDs for communication of the electronic content, responsive to the remaining power of the rechargeable battery, comprises:
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.

10. The portable in-flight entertainment system of claim 1 ,
further comprising a pressure altimeter connected to the at least one processor;
wherein the operations further comprise:
selectively turning off the transceiver responsive to a signal from the pressure altimeter.

11. The portable in-flight entertainment system of claim 10 , wherein the selectively turning off the transceiver responsive to a signal from the pressure altimeter, comprises:
determining an altitude within a cabin of the aircraft 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 to the transceiver responsive to the present flight phase being a first defined flight phase; and
ceasing providing power to the transceiver responsive to the present flight phase being a second defined flight phase that is different than the first flight phase.

12. A portable in-flight entertainment system for an aircraft, comprising:
a portable housing;
a transceiver configured to communicate through radio frequency (RE) signals with Portable Electronic Devices (PEDs) operated by aircraft 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 executed by the at least one processor to perform operations comprising:
communicating to the PEDs a list of at least some of the entertainment content available in the at least one memory;
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 the 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.

13. The portable in-flight entertainment system of claim 12 , wherein the controlling a level of service, that is provided to at least some of the PEDs for communication of the electronic content, responsive to the r

Assignees

• Thales Avionics Inc

Inventors

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

Classifications

• 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

• H04N21/41422 Primary

  located in transportation means, e.g. personal vehicle (arrangements specially adapted for transportation systems in broadcast systems H04H20/62) · 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

• H04N21/422

  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

• H04N21/4436

  Power management, e.g. shutting down unused components of the receiver (power management in computer systems G06F1/3203; hibernate or awake process in computer systems G06F9/4418) · CPC title