Extended connectivity point-of-deployment apparatus and concomitant method thereof

A point-of-deployment (POD) module, comprising:

• a decrypter to decrypt an incoming media stream in accordance with a first code;
• a receiver to receive multimedia data from an external media server;
• a hard disk drive to store the decrypted media stream and the received multimedia data;
• a media switch coupled to the hard disk drive to retrieve therefrom the stored media stream and the stored multimedia data;
• a processor to perform multimedia time warping on the retrieved media stream;
• an encrypter to encrypt the time-warped media stream;
• and
• an interface connector through which to transmit the encrypted media stream and the retrieved multimedia data to a host device, the interface connector mechanically separable from a corresponding interface connector on the host device.

A point-of-deployment (POD) presentation system, comprising:

• a media server to provide access-protected multimedia data;
• a presentation device to present accessible multimedia data in a manner perceptible by a human user;
• a processor in the presentation device to generate the perceptible multimedia data from encoded multimedia data provided thereto;
• a wireless transceiver mechanically separable from the presentation device at an electrical interface connector to receive the access-protected multimedia data from the media server over a wireless communication channel;
• and
• a media processor in electrical communication with the wireless transceiver and with the processor in the presentation device through the electrical connector to decrypt the access-protected multimedia data received over the wireless communication channel and to produce therefrom the encoded multimedia data, and to provide the encoded multimedia data to the processor in the presentation device through the electrical interface connector;
• and
• a peripheral device in communication with the wireless transceiver through a second wireless communication channel.

A point-of-deployment (POD) apparatus to descramble audio/video (A/V) data for presentation on a host device, the POD apparatus comprising:

• an electrical connector to provide a communication path to the host device when mechanically coupled to a corresponding connector thereof;
• a communication port selectively separable from the host device at the electrical connector through which to receive scrambled A/V data from a source other than the host device and through which to receive multimedia data from a media server over a communication channel;
• and
• a data processing system selectively separable from the host device at the electrical connector to descramble the scrambled A/V data, to encode the descrambled A/V data into a format compatible with the presentation capabilities of the host device, to retrieve the multimedia data from the media server responsive to a corresponding user command, to encode the retrieved multimedia data into the format compatible with the presentation capabilities of the host device, and to selectively transmit the encoded A/V data and the encoded multimedia data to the host device through the electrical connector.

A point-of-deployment (POD) apparatus to descramble audio/video (A/V) data for presentation on a host device, the POD apparatus comprising:

• an electrical connector to provide a communication path to the host device when mechanically coupled to a complementary connector thereof;
• a communication port through which to receive scrambled A/V data encoded in an inband signal channel, to receive incoming auxiliary data encoded in an out-of-band (OOB) channel and to transmit outgoing auxiliary data in the OOB channel;
• a control port selectively separable from the host device at the electrical connector to receive user command data associated with the inband channel;
• an OOB transceiver selectively separable from the host device at the electrical connector to decode the incoming auxiliary data and to encode the outgoing auxiliary data;
• a data processing system selectively separable from the host device at the electrical connector to generate user interface data in accordance with the incoming auxiliary data, to transmit the user interface data to the host device in a format compatible with the presentation capabilities thereof, to receive the command data from the control port responsive to user manipulation of the transmitted user interface data, to format the outgoing auxiliary data in accordance with the command data, to encode the descrambled A/V data into the format compatible with the presentation capabilities of the host device, and to transmit the descrambled A/V data to the host device.

A method of retrieving media data through a point-of-delivery (POD) module for presentation on a host device, the method comprising:

• establishing an electrical interface between the host device and the POD module;
• receiving encrypted program content data from a program content server;
• decrypting the received program content file upon a positive determination that receipt thereof is authorized by the program content server;
• discovering at least one media server on at least one communication network;
• negotiating a communication session between the POD module and the media server;
• generating a graphical user interface (GUI) listing the decrypted program content file and the media files stored on the media server;
• transmitting the generated GUI from the POD module through the electrical interface to the host device;
• selecting the decrypted program content file or a media file from the listing of media files via the transmitted GUI;
• retrieving the selected media file from the media server through at least one command compliant with the communication session;
• and
• transmitting a selected one of the retrieved media file and the decrypted program content data from the POD module through the electrical interface to the host device.