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US 9,071,796 B2Granted
Managing multiple media content sources
AssigneeVerizon Patent and Licensing Inc.
InventorDoug McCausland
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Media content is received through a plurality of inputs, each input being associated with one of a plurality of media content sources. Media content is provided to a media player for display in a first viewing frame based on a first one of the media content sources. A request is received for a second viewing frame. A list of available media content sources is provided. A source selection of a second one of the media content sources is received. Media content from the selected second one of the media content sources is provided in the second viewing frame.
Claims23
A system, comprising:
- a source aggregator computing device that includes a processor and a memory and that selectively receives a plurality of instances of media content from a plurality of media content sources and selectively provides output to a media player based on at least some of the instances of media content;
- and
- a software application included within the source aggregator computing device and that:
- creates a first viewing frame,
- associates the first viewing frame with a first media content source included in the plurality of media content sources,
- provides the first viewing frame to the media player for display by the media player when the first viewing frame is active,
- provides a first instance of media content included in the plurality of instances of media content and received from the first media content source included in the plurality of media content sources for display by the media player in the first viewing frame when the first viewing frame is active,
- receives, while the first instance of media content is displayed by the media player in the active first viewing frame, a request for a creation of a second viewing frame,
- creates, in response to the request, the second viewing frame,
- provides, in response to the request, a frame header to the media player for display on a portion of the display of the first instance of media content in the first viewing frame by the media player when the first viewing frame is active, the frame header representing the second viewing frame,
- provides a list of available media content sources included in the plurality of media content sources for display by the media player in a source select menu included in the new frame header,
- receives a user selection of a second media content source included in the plurality of media content sources from the list of available media content sources displayed in the source select menu,
- associates the second viewing frame with the second media content source included in the plurality of media content sources,
- switches from the first viewing frame being active to the second viewing frame being active,
- provides the second viewing frame to the media player for display by the media player when the second viewing frame is active, the display of the second viewing frame by the media player replacing the display of the first viewing frame by the media player,
- provides a second instance of media content included in the plurality of instances of media content and received from the second media content source included in the plurality of media content sources for display by the media player in the second viewing frame when the second viewing frame is active, and
- provides the frame header representing the second viewing frame and an additional frame header representing the first viewing frame for display on a portion of the display of the second media content instance in the second viewing frame by the media player when the second viewing frame is active, the additional frame header indicating that the first instance of media content is available for access by switching from the second viewing frame being active to the first viewing frame being active.
14 more elements
A method comprising:
- receiving, by a computing device, media content from a plurality of media content sources;
- creating, by the computing device, a first viewing frame;
- associating, by the computing device, the first viewing frame with a first media content source included in the plurality of media content sources;
- providing, by the computing device, the first viewing frame to a media player for display by the media player when the first viewing frame is active;
- providing, by the computing device, a first instance of media content included in the media content and received from the first media content source included in the plurality of media content sources for display by the media player in the first viewing frame when the first viewing frame is active;
- receiving, by the computing device while the first instance of media content is displayed by the media player in the active first viewing frame, a request for a creation of a second viewing frame;
- creating, by the computing device in response to the request, the second viewing frame;
- providing, by the computing device in response to the request, a frame header to the media player for display on a portion of the display of the first instance of media content in the first viewing frame by the media player when the first viewing frame is active, the frame header representing the second viewing frame;
- providing, by the computing device, a list of available media content sources included in the plurality of media content sources for display by the media player in a source select menu included in the frame header;
- receiving, by the computing device, a user selection of a second media content source included in the plurality of media content sources from the list of available media content sources displayed in the source select menu;
- associating, by the computing device, the second viewing frame with the second media content source included in the plurality of media content sources;
- switching, by the computing device, from the first viewing frame being active to the second viewing frame being active;
- providing, by the computing device, the second viewing frame to the media player for display by the media player when the second viewing frame is active, the display of the second viewing frame by the media player replacing the display of the first viewing frame by the media player;
- providing, by the computing device, a second instance of media content included in the media content and received from the second media content source included in the plurality of media content sources for display by the media player in the second viewing frame when the second viewing frame is active;
- and
- providing, by the computing device, the frame header representing the second viewing frame and an additional frame header representing the first viewing frame for display on a portion of the display of the second media content instance in the second viewing frame by the media player when the second viewing frame is active, the additional frame header indicating that the first instance of media content is available for access by switching from the second viewing frame being active to the first viewing frame being active.
13 more elements
A method comprising:
- polling, by a computing device, a plurality of inputs;
- detecting, by the computing device, a plurality of media content sources connected to the plurality of inputs;
- receiving, by the computing device, media content from the plurality of media content sources;
- defining, by the computing device based on the detecting of the plurality of media content sources connected to the plurality of inputs and the receiving of the media content from the plurality of media content sources, a list of available media content sources;
- receiving, by the computing device, a user request for a creation of a first viewing frame;
- creating, by the computing device, the first viewing frame in response to the user request for the creation of the first viewing frame;
- providing, by the computing device, the list of available media content sources for display by a media player in a source select menu;
- receiving, by the computing device, a user selection of a first media content source from the list of available media content sources displayed in the source select menu;
- associating, by the computing device in response to the user selection, the first viewing frame with the first media content source;
- providing, by the computing device, the first viewing frame to the media player for display by the media player when the first viewing frame is active;
- providing, by the computing device, a first instance of media content included in the media content and received from the selected first media content source for display by the media player in the first viewing frame when the first viewing frame is active;
- receiving, by the computing device while the first instance of media content is displayed by the media player in the active first viewing frame, a user request for a creation of a second viewing frame;
- creating, by the computing device, the second viewing frame in response to the user request for the creation of the second viewing frame;
- providing, by the computing device in response to the user request for the creation of the second viewing frame, a frame header for display on a portion of the display of the first instance of media content in the first viewing frame by the media player when the first viewing frame is active, the frame header representing the second viewing frame;
- providing, by the computing device, the list of available media content sources for display by the media player in the source select menu in the frame header;
- receiving, by the computing device, a user selection of a second media content source from the list of available media content sources displayed in the source select menu;
- associating, by the computing device, the second viewing frame with the second media content source;
- switching, by the computing device, from the first viewing frame being active to the second viewing frame being active;
- providing, by the computing device, the second viewing frame to the media player for display by the media player when the second viewing frame is active, the display of the second viewing frame by the media player replacing the display of the first viewing frame by the media player;
- providing, by the computing device, a second instance of media content included in the media content and received from the selected second media content source for display by the media player in the second viewing frame when the second viewing frame is active;
- providing, by the computing device, the frame header representing the second viewing frame and an additional frame header representing the first viewing frame for display on a portion of the display of the second media content instance in the second viewing frame by the media player when the second viewing frame is active, the additional frame header indicating that the first instance of media content is available for access by switching from the second viewing frame being active to the first viewing frame being active.
18 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.