Zone group control

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9924221-B2
Application number	US-201615288575-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 7, 2016
Priority date	Jul 14, 2014
Publication date	Mar 20, 2018
Grant date	Mar 20, 2018

Abstract

Method and systems are provided for detecting and handling, by a controller device, a loss of control of a playback queue of a zone group of a media playback system. Detection of loss of control of the playback queue of the zone group may involve one or more of determining (i) that the zone group no longer exists, (ii) that a queue identifier is no longer assigned to a playback queue of the zone group, and (iii) that the controller device is no longer in communication with the media playback system, among others. Handling of the loss of control may involve one or more of (i) unsubscribing from messages relating to the zone group, (ii) ceasing to send commands to the zone group, and (iii) updating a user interface to indicate that the controller device no longer has control of the playback queue of the zone group, among others.

First claim

We claim:

1. A method comprising:
causing a playback queue to be stored in memory;
receiving, via a playback device of a zone group, a first transmission from a controller device, wherein the first transmission comprises (i) a first command to modify the playback queue, (ii) a queue identifier assigned to the playback queue, and (iii) a queue owner identification corresponding to the playback queue, wherein the queue owner identification authorizes the controller device to control the playback queue while the queue identifier is assigned to the playback queue;
determining, via the playback device, that the first transmission includes the queue identifier and the corresponding queue owner identification;
in response to the determination, modifying the playback queue based on the first command;
playing, via the playback device, audio content associated with the modified playback queue;
receiving, via the playback device, a second transmission from the controller device, wherein the second transmission comprises (i) a second command to modify the playback queue and (ii) the queue identifier;
determining, via the playback device, that the second transmission does not include the queue owner identification; and
in response to determining that the second transmission does not include the queue owner identification, ignoring the second command to modify the playback queue.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving, via the playback device, a third transmission from the controller device, wherein the third transmission comprises (i) a third command to control one or more playback functions and (ii) the queue identifier, wherein the third transmission does not include the queue owner identification; and
controlling playback of the audio content based on the third command.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the one more playback functions comprise at least one of play, pause, or skip a song in the playback queue.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the playback device comprises the memory, and wherein causing the playback queue to be stored in memory comprises storing, via the playback device, the playback queue in the memory.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the modified playback queue comprises a resource identifier associated with the audio content, and wherein the method further comprises retrieving, via the playback device, the audio content based on the resource identifier.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving, via the playback device, a third transmission from another controller device, wherein the third transmission comprises (i) a third command to modify the playback queue, (ii) the queue identifier assigned to the playback queue, and (iii) the queue owner identification;
determining, via the playback device, that the third transmission includes the queue identifier and the corresponding queue owner identification; and
in response to determining that the third transmission includes the queue identifier and the queue owner identification, modifying the playback queue based on the third command.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving, via the playback device, a third transmission from another playback device, wherein the third transmission comprises (i) a third command to control one or more playback functions and (ii) the queue identifier, wherein the third transmission does not include the queue owner identification; and
controlling, via the playback device, playback of the audio content based on the third command.

8. A playback device, comprising:
one or more processors; and
tangible, non-transitory computer-readable memory having stored thereon instructions executable comprising instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the playback device to perform functions comprising:
causing a playback queue to be stored in memory;
receiving a first transmission from a controller device, wherein the first transmission comprises (i) a first command to modify a playback queue, (ii) a queue identifier assigned to the playback queue, and (iii) a queue owner identification corresponding to the playback queue, wherein the queue owner identification authorizes the controller device to control the playback queue while the queue identifier is assigned to the playback queue;
determining that the first transmission includes the queue identifier and the corresponding queue owner identification;
in response to the determination, modifying the playback queue based on the first command;
playing audio content associated with the modified playback queue;
receiving a second transmission from the controller device, wherein the second transmission comprises (i) a second command to modify the playback queue and (ii) the queue identifier;
determining that the second transmission does not include the queue owner identification; and
in response to determining that the second transmission does not include the queue owner identification, ignoring the second command to modify the playback queue.

9. The playback device of claim 8 , wherein the functions further comprise:
receiving a third transmission from the controller device, wherein the third transmission comprises (i) a third command to control one or more playback functions and (ii) the queue identifier, wherein the third transmission does not include the queue owner identification; and
controlling playback of the audio content based on the third command.

10. The playback device of claim 9 , wherein the one more playback functions comprise at least one of play, pause, or skip a song in the playback queue.

11. The playback device of claim 8 , wherein causing a playback queue to be stored in memory comprises storing the playback queue in memory of the playback device.

12. The playback device of claim 8 , wherein the modified playback queue comprises a resource identifier associated with the audio content, and wherein the functions further comprise retrieving the audio content based on the resource identifier.

13. The playback device of claim 8 , wherein the functions further comprise:
receiving a third transmission from another controller device, wherein the third transmission comprises (i) a third command to modify the playback queue, (ii) the queue identifier assigned to the playback queue, and (iii) the queue owner identification;
determining that the third transmission includes the queue identifier and the corresponding queue owner identification; and
in response to determining that the third transmission includes the queue identifier and the queue owner identification, modifying the playback queue based on the third command.

14. The playback device of claim 8 , wherein the functions further comprise:
receiving a third transmission from another playback device, wherein the third transmission comprises (i) a third command to control one or more playback functions and (ii) the queue identifier, wherein the third transmission does not include the queue owner identification; and
controlling playback of the audio content based on the third command.

15. Tangible, non-transitory computer-readable memory comprising instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause a playback device to perform functions comprising:
causing a playback queue to be stored in memory;
receiving, via a playback device of a zone group, a first transmission from a controller device, wherein the first transmission comprises (i) a first command to modify the playback queue, (ii) a queue identifier assigned to the playback queue, and (iii) a queue owner identification corresponding to the playba

Assignees

• Sonos Inc

Inventors

• Coburn Iv Arthur
• Liu Sherwin

Classifications

• H04N21/8113

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

• H04L2012/2849

  Audio/video appliances · CPC title

• H04N21/4825

  using a list of items to be played back in a given order, e.g. playlists · CPC title

• H04N21/485

  End-user interface for client configuration · CPC title

• H04N21/4227

  {Providing} Remote input by a user located remotely from the client device, e.g. at work · CPC title