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US-12621250-B2 - System, apparatus, and method for controlling internet devices via a mobile device session

US12621250B2US 12621250 B2US12621250 B2US 12621250B2US-12621250-B2

Abstract

Methods, a system, and apparatus for managing the separation and distribution of digital controls wherein the digital content in a network system includes receiving a request from any one of control devices, host server response to control device request (and output devices), host server may either non-discriminatively or discriminatively broadcast to any of the control devices, and control device handling responses throughout home network system. The methods, system, and computer readable medium include user experience optimized application types for (optimally) separating and distributing the associated control and associated status information elements during active sessions from the host server to the control devices and output devices within a network system. Configuring a control session comprises receiving a request to execute an input/output application from a control application executing on a mobile control device Configuring the control session also includes aggregating a plurality of real-world connectable processing nodes into an application session set of processing nodes by allocating at least one function required by the input/output application for execution on each processing node in the set of processing nodes, wherein the set of processing nodes is determined based on processing requirements of the input/output application.

Inventors

  • David Sukoff
  • Cyrus Vafadari
  • Adam Mustafa
  • Mathew Peterson

Assignees

  • SookBox LLC

Dates

Publication Date
20260505
Application Date
20231019

Claims (20)

  1. 1 . A system for distributing video and audio over a network during a content distribution control session, comprising: an audio/video control application executing on a mobile device for preparing distribution control data that corresponds to user actions of a user in a native user interface, the native user interface being native to the mobile device; and at least one content interaction indicator adapted for presentation on at least one audio/video output device that visually depicts user actions in a content interaction indicator portion of the native user interface of the mobile device.
  2. 2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one content interaction indicator facilitates a user of the mobile device interacting via the native user interface with content presented on the at least one audio/video output device.
  3. 3 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the audio/video control application is one of a plurality of instances of the audio/video control application, wherein each instance is executable on individual mobile devices.
  4. 4 . The system of claim 1 , wherein a host server is configured to retrieve audio and/or video based on the distribution control data.
  5. 5 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the audio/video control application determines which user actions in the native user interface constitute control actions and which user actions in the native user interface constitute content manipulation actions.
  6. 6 . The system of claim 5 , wherein determining if a user action in the native user interface is for control or content manipulation is based on a context of the content distribution control session and retrieved content.
  7. 7 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the audio/video control application receives data representing control elements for presentation of graphical control elements to the user.
  8. 8 . The system of claim 7 , wherein distribution control data results from user actions that manipulate the control elements.
  9. 9 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the audio/video control application is one of a plurality of instances executing on a plurality of mobile devices.
  10. 10 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the at least one content interaction indicator is capable of being manipulated by any of the plurality of mobile devices.
  11. 11 . The system of claim 9 , wherein a status of the content distribution control session is pushed from a host server to each of the plurality of mobile devices in response to any of the plurality of mobile devices impacting the status.
  12. 12 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one content interaction indicator comprises a web browser-like pointer on an audio/video output device.
  13. 13 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one content interaction indicator comprises a change in visual representation of a content item based on corresponding user actions in the native user interface.
  14. 14 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one content interaction indicator comprises metadata associated with a content item presented on an audio/video output device.
  15. 15 . A method, comprising: configuring at least one mobile distribution control device and at least one audio/video output device in a content distribution control session; receiving control data representing user interaction with distribution control elements of a user interface native to the at least one mobile distribution control device; retrieving content items from one or more content sources to satisfy a content query aspect of the control data; distributing at least one of the content items to the at least one audio/video output device; receiving content selection input data from the at least one mobile distribution control device that corresponds to user interaction with a content interaction indicator zone of the user interface; and selecting at least one of the content items based on matching a location of a content item on the at least one audio/video output device to content interaction indicator zone location information in the content selection input data.
  16. 16 . The method of claim 15 , wherein distributing the at least one of the content items is based on the control data.
  17. 17 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the at least one of the content items is selectable via the user interface native to the at least one mobile distribution control device.
  18. 18 . The method of claim 15 , wherein content items selected in a control session are selectable only by the at least one mobile distribution control device configured in the control session.
  19. 19 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the content items distributed to the at least one audio/video output device are selectable through the user interface native to the at least one mobile distribution control device via manipulation of a content interaction indicator.
  20. 20 . The method of claim 19 , wherein a representation of the content interaction indicator is presented on at least one audio/video output device.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/240,622, filed Apr. 26, 2021, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/656,147, filed Oct. 17, 2019. That application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/997,305. That application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/351,379 and a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/357,982. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/351,379 is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/149,541. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/357,982 is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/149,726, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,503,486, issued on Nov. 22, 2016, and a continuation-in-part of U.S. Pat. No. 14,149,541, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,497,137, issued on Nov. 15, 2016. Each referenced application is incorporated herein by reference. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/149,541 claims the benefit of the following provisional applications, each of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety: U.S. provisional application 61/749,436, filed Jan. 7, 2013, U.S. provisional application 61/749,430, filed Jan. 7, 2013, and U.S. provisional application 61/857,369, filed Jul. 23, 2013. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/149,541 is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/147,397 filed Jan. 3, 2014 that is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety and that claims the benefit of the following provisional applications, each of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety: U.S. provisional application 61/749,436, filed Jan. 7, 2013, U.S. provisional application 61/749,430, filed Jan. 7, 2013, and U.S. provisional application 61/857,369, filed Jul. 23, 2013. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/149,541 is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/734,511, filed Jan. 4, 2013. All of the foregoing are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field The methods and systems described, depicted, and claimed herein may relate to managing and distributing the separation of internet device information and associated controls within a network system. Description of the Related Art In the modern homes of today there typically are multiple means for receiving and displaying digital content on various display devices. Also, there are various electronic devices throughout the home that are networked together in a fashion for providing the user with a means for entertainment which often include, but are not limited to, personal computers, televisions, Internet television (“smart” televisions), digital video disk (DVD) players, compact disk (CD) players, set-top boxes (STBs), audio/video receivers (AVRs), digital video recorders (DVRs), gaming devices, digital cameras, smart-phones tablets, etc. Also, networked connected devices may also be adapted to receive content from multiple inputs representing Internet Protocol (IP) input connections. Even with all of the advancements discussed above, there still are vast limitations in user experience for many of the devices and especially when used together. For example, while browsing the Internet on digital television (either directly or indirectly through a set-top box), the user experience is typically negated by cumbersome navigation of a complicated website, either with an attached keyboard, or limited static unidirectional remote control. Typically, personal computers (PC) work better for controlling than an Internet connected television for a user to browse the web. However, the Internet connected television can surpass the user experience than that of the personal computer (PC) experience in cases where it is used for playing high-resolution video, surround sound audio, and/or displaying content in a social/entertainment settings. Conversely/similarly, in displaying digital content on a television that is typically viewed on a personal computer (PC) is also cumbersome. Typically, typing/searching for a webpage URL on a browser window of the television display is often challenging and limited by the television's remote control with static and unidirectional buttons features rather than the easier and more commonly known utilization of a mouse and keyboard on a personal computer (PC). Another recent trend with respect to consumer electronic devices (more specifically, mobile devices, such as smart-phones, tablets, etc.) is that they have become increasingly affordable. In addition, the consumer electronic devices increasingly include more advanced features. These features allow homeowners to enhance their home entertainment user experience for the specific implementations of which those electronic devices are designed and sold for. As consumer electronics devices continue to become more available and improved for the user, the user's desire to access various types of digital content provided by vario