Controlling and manipulating groupings in a multi-zone media system
AssigneeSonos, Inc.
InventorRobert A. Lambourne
Life of this patent
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Abstract
In general, techniques of controlling a plurality of multimedia players in groups are disclosed. According to one aspect of the present invention, a mechanism is provided to allow a user to group some of the players according to a theme or scene, where each of the players is located in a zone. When the scene is activated, the players in the scene react in a synchronized manner. For example, the players in the scene are all caused to play a multimedia source or music in a playlist, wherein the multimedia source may be located anywhere on a network.
Claims20
A method comprising:
- displaying, by a controller device, a plurality of zone names for user selection via a display interface, each zone name of the plurality of zone names representing a particular zone that contains at least one player configured for multimedia playback in that zone;
- receiving, by the controller device, a first user input to form a zone group, wherein the zone group comprises at least two of the plurality of zones;
- determining, by the controller device, whether the at least two of the plurality of zones are playing back different multimedia content;
- when the at least two of the plurality of zones are playing back different multimedia content, displaying, by the controller device, a playback selection, wherein the playback selection identifies the different multimedia content being played by the at least two of the plurality of zones;
- receiving, by the controller device, a second user input identifying one of the different multimedia content;
- transmitting, by the controller device, a zone group configuration, wherein the zone group configuration facilitates synchronized playback by the zone group of the multimedia content identified in the second user input.
A multimedia controller including a processor, the controller configured to:
- display a plurality of zone names for user selection via a display interface, each zone name of the plurality of zone names representing a particular zone that contains at least one player configured for multimedia playback in that zone;
- receive a first user input to form a zone group, wherein the zone group comprises at least two of the plurality of zones;
- determine whether the at least two of the plurality of zones are playing back different multimedia content;
- when the at least two of the plurality of zones are playing back different multimedia content, display a playback selection, wherein the playback selection identifies the different multimedia content being played by the at least two of the plurality of zones;
- receive a second user input identifying one of the different multimedia content;
- transmit a zone group configuration, wherein the zone group configuration facilitates synchronized playback by the zone group of the multimedia content identified in the second user input.
A non-transitory computer-readable medium including a set of instructions for execution by a processor, the set of instructions, when executed, implement a controller configured to:
- display a plurality of zone names for user selection via a display interface, each zone name of the plurality of zone names representing a particular zone that contains at least one player configured for multimedia playback in that zone;
- receive a first user input to form a zone group, wherein the zone group comprises at least two of the plurality of zones;
- determine whether the at least two of the plurality of zones are playing back different multimedia content;
- when the at least two of the plurality of zones are playing back different multimedia content, display a playback selection, wherein the playback selection identifies the different multimedia content being played by the at least two of the plurality of zones;
- receive a second user input identifying one of the different multimedia content;
- transmit a zone group configuration, wherein the zone group configuration facilitates synchronized playback by the zone group of the multimedia content identified in the second user input.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.