阅读说明：本技术 游戏控制器 (Game controller ) 是由 R.纳卡亚马 E.黄 N.加里 于 2014-03-17 设计创作，主要内容包括：本发明提供了一种用于与交互式应用对接的控制器,其包括：外壳,所述外壳由主体、从所述主体的第一端延伸的第一延伸部分和从所述主体的第二端延伸的第二延伸部分界定,所述第一延伸部分和所述第二延伸部分用来分别由用户的第一只手和第二只手握住；输入装置,其沿着所述主体的顶表面定位；触敏面板,其沿着所述主体的所述顶表面界定。(The present invention provides a controller for interfacing with an interactive application, comprising: a housing defined by a body, a first extension portion extending from a first end of the body, and a second extension portion extending from a second end of the body, the first and second extension portions to be held by a first and second hand of a user, respectively; an input device positioned along a top surface of the body; a touch-sensitive panel defined along the top surface of the body.)

1. A controller for interfacing with an interactive application, comprising:

a housing defined by a body, a first extension portion extending from a first end of the body, and a second extension portion extending from a second end of the body, the first and second extension portions to be held by a first and second hand of a user, respectively;

a button positioned along a top surface of the body, the button configured to access a cache portion of a game and activate a sharing interface to share the game of the cache portion.

2. The controller of claim 1, further comprising: a second input device selected from the group consisting of a touch sensitive panel, a joystick, a button, a trigger, a directional pad.

3. The controller of claim 1, further comprising,

a tracking panel defined along a front side surface of the body; and

a light defined in the body to illuminate the tracking panel.

4. The controller of claim 3, wherein the tracking panel is defined by a translucent material.

5. The controller of claim 1, further comprising one or more of an accelerometer, a gyroscope, or a magnetometer.

6. The controller of claim 1, wherein the game is shared to a user's social media website.

7. The controller of claim 6, wherein sharing a game comprises sharing one or more of an image or a video clip.

8. The controller of claim 6, wherein sharing the game comprises streaming live video of the user game.

9. A controller for interfacing with an interactive application, comprising:

a housing defined by a body, a first extension portion extending from a first end of the body, and a second extension portion extending from a second end of the body, the first and second extension portions to be held by a first and second hand of a user, respectively;

a button positioned along a top surface of the body, the button configured to access a cached portion of a game and activate a sharing interface to share the cached portion of the recorded game to a social media website of the user.

10. The controller of claim 9, wherein sharing a game comprises sharing one or more of an image or a video clip.

11. The controller of claim 9, wherein sharing the game comprises streaming live video of the user game.

12. The controller of claim 9, further comprising an input device positioned along a top surface of the body.

13. The controller of claim 12, wherein the input device is selected from the group consisting of a touch sensitive panel, a joystick, a button, a trigger, a directional pad.

14. The controller of claim 9, further comprising:

a tracking panel defined along a front side surface of the body; and

a light defined in the body to illuminate the tracking panel.

15. The controller of claim 14, wherein the tracking panel is defined by a translucent material.

16. The controller of claim 9, further comprising one or more of an accelerometer, a gyroscope, or a magnetometer.

17. A controller for interfacing with an interactive application, comprising:

a housing defined by a body, a first extension portion extending from a first end of the body, and a second extension portion extending from a second end of the body, the first and second extension portions to be held by a first and second hand of a user, respectively;

a touch-sensitive panel defined along the top surface of the body;

a button positioned along a top surface of the body, the button configured to activate a sharing interface to share a game;

a tracking panel defined along a front side surface of the body; and

a light defined in the body to illuminate the tracking panel so as to be visually tracked according to image recognition techniques to determine a position and orientation of the controller.

18. The controller of claim 17, wherein the tracking panel is defined by a translucent material.

19. The controller of claim 17, wherein sharing a game comprises sharing one or more of an image or a video clip.

20. The controller of claim 17, wherein sharing the game comprises streaming live video of the user game.

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a controller for interfacing with an interactive program.

Background

The video game industry has produced many changes over the years. As computing power has expanded, developers of video games have also created game software that takes advantage of these increases in computing power. To this end, video game developers have been coding games that incorporate complex operations and mathematical operations to produce a very realistic game experience.

An example game platform may be SonySony

(PS2) and Sony

(PS3), each of which is sold in the form of a game console. As is well known, game consoles are designed to connect to a monitor (typically a television) and enable user interaction through a handheld controller. One example of a hand-held controller is manufactured by Sony Computer enterprise inc

3, a wireless controller.

Embodiments of the present invention arise in this context.

Summary of The Invention

Embodiments of the present invention provide a controller that interfaces with an interactive application (e.g., a video game). Several inventive embodiments of the present invention are described below.

In one embodiment, a controller for interfacing with an interactive application is provided, comprising: a housing defined by a body, a first extension portion extending from a first end of the body, and a second extension portion extending from a second end of the body, the first and second extension portions to be held by a first and second hand of a user, respectively; an input device positioned along a top surface of the body; a touch-sensitive panel defined along the top surface of the body.

In one embodiment, the input device is selected from the group consisting of a joystick, a button, a trigger, a directional pad.

In one embodiment, the controller further comprises a tracking panel defined along a front side surface of the body; and a light defined in the body to illuminate the tracking panel.

In one implementation, the tracking panel is defined by a translucent material.

In one embodiment, the controller further comprises one or more of an accelerometer, a gyroscope, or a magnetometer.

In one embodiment, the input device is a button configured to activate a sharing interface to share the recorded game to the user's social graph.

In one embodiment, the game of the shared recording includes sharing one or more of an image or video clip.

In one embodiment, sharing the recorded game includes streaming live video of the user game.

In another embodiment, a controller for interfacing with an interactive application includes: a housing defined by a body, a first extension extending from a first end of the body, and a second extension extending from a second end of the body, the first and second extensions for being held by a first and second hand of a user, respectively; a button positioned along a top surface of the body, the button configured to activate a sharing interface to share the recorded game to a social graph of the user.

In one embodiment, the game of the shared recording includes sharing one or more of an image or video clip.

In one embodiment, sharing the recorded game includes streaming live video of the user game.

In one implementation, the controller also includes a touch-sensitive panel defined along the top surface of the body.

In one embodiment, the controller further comprises an input device positioned along a top surface of the body.

In one embodiment, the input device is selected from the group consisting of a joystick, a button, a trigger, a directional pad.

In one embodiment, the controller further comprises a tracking panel defined along a front side surface of the body; and a light defined in the body to illuminate the tracking panel.

In one implementation, the tracking panel is defined by a translucent material.

In one embodiment, the controller further comprises one or more of an accelerometer, a gyroscope, or a magnetometer.

In another embodiment, a controller for interfacing with an interactive application is provided, comprising: a housing defined by a body, a first extension extending from a first end of the body, and a second extension extending from a second end of the body, the first and second extensions for being held by a first and second hand of a user, respectively; a touch-sensitive panel defined along the top surface of the body; a button positioned along a top surface of the body, the button configured to activate a sharing interface to share a recorded game to a social graph of a user; a tracking panel defined along a front side surface of the body; and a light defined in the body to illuminate the tracking panel.

In one implementation, the tracking panel is defined by a translucent material.

In one embodiment, the game of the shared recording includes sharing one or more of an image or video clip.

In one embodiment, sharing the recorded game includes streaming live video of the user game.

Other aspects of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, illustrating by way of example the principles of the invention.

Brief Description of Drawings

The invention may best be understood by reference to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

fig. 1 illustrates a perspective view of a controller 10 for interfacing with an interactive program, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates a user holding the controller 10 in his hand near the display 30, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 3 illustrates the combined use of input devices on the controller 10 to control a virtual perspective in a three-dimensional virtual environment, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 4A and 4B illustrate a side angle view and a front view of the controller 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention, respectively.

Fig. 5A illustrates a side view of the controller 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 5B-5M illustrate various tracking features for tracking panels according to embodiments of the invention.

Fig. 6 illustrates a perspective view of the controller 10 having a recess 56 defined along a front side of the body of the controller, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 7 illustrates a bottom view of the controller 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 8 illustrates a cross-sectional view of the controller 10 showing the operation of the 3D control stick 22.

Fig. 9 illustrates a back perspective view of the controller 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 10A illustrates another perspective view of the controller 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 10B illustrates the controller 10 without a 3D control stick, according to an embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 11A illustrates a top view of a controller device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 11B illustrates a perspective view of a controller device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 illustrates hardware and user interfaces that may be used to provide interaction with a video game according to one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 13 illustrates additional hardware that may be used to process instructions according to one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 14 is an exemplary illustration of scenarios A through E and respective users A through E interacting with a game client 1102 connected to a server process via the Internet, according to one embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 15 illustrates an embodiment of an information service provider architecture.

Detailed Description

The following embodiments describe methods and apparatus for interfacing with interactive programs.

It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art, that the present invention may be practiced without some or all of these specific details. In other instances, well known process operations have not been described in detail in order not to unnecessarily obscure the present invention.

Fig. 1 illustrates a perspective view of a controller 10 for interfacing with an interactive program, according to an embodiment of the present invention. The controller 10 includes a main body 12 and extension portions 14a and 14 b. The extension portions 14a and 14b are configured to be held by the left and right hands of a user, respectively, and thus serve as handles or handle portions to enable the user to securely grasp the controller. Various input devices, such as buttons 16, joystick 18, and directional pad 20 are included on the top surface of body 12. The top of the 3D control rod 22, which extends through the body of the controller from top to bottom, is also shown and is described in more detail below. A speaker 24 for playing sound is provided which provides feedback to the user.

Further, the controller 10 includes a touch panel 26 defined along the back side of the body that faces the user when the controller is held in a normal position. The touch panel 26 is oriented in a generally vertical manner and between the extensions 14a and 14b so that a user holding the controller through the extensions can easily use the touch panel with the thumb of either hand. Touch panel 26 utilizes touch sensitive technology (e.g., resistive, capacitive, etc.) to detect touch gestures. In the illustrated embodiment, the touch panel 26 also has a slight outward curvature from bottom to top that, by virtue of its shape, provides a tactile feel that enables a user to easily determine the approximate vertical position of their thumb on the touch panel based solely on feel.

In another embodiment, the controller 10 may include one or more microphones for capturing sound from the interactive environment. In some embodiments, the microphones may be arranged as a microphone array. In one embodiment, the arrangement constitutes a linear array of microphones. When three or more microphones are included in the microphone array, the location of the sound source relative to the microphones may be determined based on analysis of audio data captured from the microphone array. More specifically, a sound source may be localized relative to a microphone array based on the relative time of its sound as captured by each microphone of the microphone array. In conjunction with the known location and orientation of the controller (e.g., as determined based on sensors and tracking methods defined elsewhere herein) and the known location and orientation of the evolved microphone array, the location of the sound source within the interactive environment can be determined. Furthermore, the captured sound may be processed to exclude sounds that do not originate from a certain area of the interactive environment.

In one embodiment, the touch panel 26 may be coupled with a display screen to provide a touch screen interface as part of the controller. The touch screen interface may be controlled by the interactive application to display various images in accordance with the interactive application. For example, the touch screen may display images depicting areas of the touch screen corresponding to various functions of the interactive application. Also for example, the touch screen may display lines indicating gestures that the user may perform. The user may trace the lines shown on the touch screen in order to perform the indicated gesture. Still further by way of example, the touch screen may be configured to display a gesture or gestures of the user by providing a visual trace line of the user touching and sliding/moving their finger along the touch screen. In one embodiment, the touch screen is configured to display the most recent gesture or gestures that have been performed on the touch screen. For example, an old gesture may be dismissed from the display when a new gesture is detected, or a trace line may be configured to disappear from the display over time, or dismisse from the display after some preset time has elapsed.

The arrangement of one or more microphones on the controller may be advantageous over alternative microphone arrangements (e.g., near the display, on a separate device) in that the controller is held by the user and thus is close to the user. Further, where there are multiple users, each operating one controller, then the proximity of each user's corresponding controller to him/herself helps reduce cross-talk, thereby facilitating better recognition of sound as from a particular user. Furthermore, when multiple controllers are utilized, then the audio data captured from the multiple controllers may be combined for analysis, along with the position and orientation of the controllers, enabling the location of the source of the sound to be determined with a higher level of accuracy.

FIG. 2 illustrates a user holding the controller 10 in his hand near the display 30, according to an embodiment of the present invention. As can be seen, the vertical orientation of the touch panel 26 is such that the touch panel is substantially parallel to the display screen 30 when the user holds the controller in the normal manner and faces the display screen. In this manner, the touch panel 26 can be utilized as an intuitive input mechanism to provide directional input in a plane parallel to the display screen 30(x-y plane). For example, the touch panel 26 may be used to control an on-screen cursor or cross-hair, or to scroll vertically and horizontally, or to provide other types of input along the x-y plane.

Fig. 3 illustrates the combined use of input devices on the controller 10 to control a virtual perspective in a three-dimensional virtual environment, according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown, the controller 10 is operated near the display 30. In some prior art systems, a controller having two vertically oriented joysticks is utilized to control the movement and orientation of a virtual perspective associated with a character or other object in a video game. Typically, one joystick will control the x-axis translation (side-to-side translation) and the z-axis translation (front-to-back translation) of the viewing angle, while the other joystick controls the pitch (vertical rotation) and yaw (horizontal rotation) of the viewing angle. However, using a vertically oriented joystick to control pitch and roll is not intuitive, especially because the forward/reverse joystick input must be converted to a pitch motion, which is essentially a vertically oriented motion. In fact, it is not uncommon for the system to provide a "normal" setting where the forward and backward movements of the joystick correspond to positive and negative changes in pitch, respectively, and a configuration where the forward and backward movements of the joystick correspond to the exact opposite of negative and positive changes in pitch, respectively (sometimes referred to as an airplane-like configuration).

However, in contrast to the non-intuitive control scheme just described, the touch panel 26 and joystick 18 of the presently disclosed controller 10 may be utilized in a more intuitive manner to enable control of the virtual viewing angle. In one embodiment, the joystick 18 is used to control x-axis translation and z-axis translation, and the touch panel 26 is used to control pitch and yaw. With the touch panel 26 defined along the sides of the body of the controller and vertically oriented so as to be substantially parallel to the plane of the display 30, its use to control pitch and roll is intuitive to the user. In the illustrated embodiment, the right joystick 18 is shown for ease of description only, and is not limiting. In embodiments of the controller 10 having left and right joysticks, one or both of the joysticks may be configured to control x-axis translation and z-axis translation.

In still other implementations, it will be appreciated that the touch panel 26 and joystick 28 may be combined in other ways to provide control of the virtual viewing angle. For example, the touch panel 26 may be used to control pitch and x-axis translation, while the joystick 18 is used to control yaw and z-axis translation. Furthermore, while reference has been made to control of virtual perspectives, the presently described control schemes are applicable to controlling the motion, orientation, or position of any type of character, vehicle, weapon, or other object in a virtual environment.

Fig. 4A and 4B illustrate a side angle view and a front view of the controller 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention, respectively. As shown, the controller 10 includes a tracking panel 52 defined along a front side of the body opposite a back side on which the touch panel is located. The tracking panel 52 is illuminated and may be visually tracked in accordance with image recognition techniques to determine the position and orientation of the controller 10. The tracking panel 52 may be contoured to provide a wide angle of visibility. For example, in the illustrated embodiment, the tracking panel 52 includes an upwardly facing top 54a and a downwardly facing bottom 54b, which in combination provide a wide angle of visibility to enable the controller 10 to be visually tracked in a wide variety of positions. The tracking panel 52 may be defined by a translucent material and internally illuminated by a light source, such as one or more LEDs.

Fig. 5A illustrates a side view of the controller 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. As can be seen, the tracking panel 52 is defined so as to also serve as a support for the front of the controller, thus preventing the bottom trigger 50 from being accidentally depressed.

It will be appreciated that in various implementations, the tracking panel 52 may have any of a variety of tracking features having various shapes, sizes, or forms. Some examples of these shapes and forms are provided with reference to fig. 5B-5M. In one implementation, illustrated in fig. 5B, the tracking panel may define a single rectangular shape. In other embodiments, the tracking panel may have any other shape, such as circular, oval, triangular, square, polygonal, and the like. In another embodiment, the tracking panel may comprise a plurality of rectangular shapes, as shown in fig. 5C. It will be appreciated that multiple rectangular shapes may be illuminated the same color or different colors. Although eight rectangular shapes are shown in fig. 5C, there may be any number of rectangular shapes. In the implementation of fig. 5D, the tracking panel is defined by a plurality of circles. In the embodiment of fig. 5DE, the tracking panel is defined by a single oval shape. In the embodiment of fig. 5F, the tracking panel includes a plurality of shapes, including squares, triangles, circles, and "X", all of which are horizontally aligned. It will be appreciated that any combination of shapes may be utilized in embodiments of the present invention.

When multiple tracking features are utilized (e.g., multiple shapes that may be the same shape or different shapes), they may be individually illuminated to facilitate identification of a particular controller when multiple controllers are present. For example, a first controller may be controlled to illuminate a particular one or combination of the shapes, a second controller may be controlled to illuminate a different particular one or combination of the shapes, and so on. In this manner, each of the plurality of controllers may be identified and resolved from each other based on analysis of the captured image of the tracking feature, as each controller is configured to illuminate a unique one or combination of shapes present on the controller as the tracking feature.

In the embodiment of fig. 5G, the tracking panel includes a plurality of vertically oriented rectangles positioned in a horizontal array. In the embodiment of fig. 5H, the tracking panel includes a plurality of horizontally oriented rectangles arranged in a vertical array. Fig. 5I illustrates an embodiment in which the tracking panel includes letters. It will be appreciated that the tracking panel may include any letter, number, symbol, or other character in accordance with various embodiments of the present invention. While the illustrated embodiment includes multiple shapes that are separate from one another, it will be appreciated that in other embodiments, such as the embodiment shown in fig. 5J, may have multiple shapes disposed adjacent to one another. In the implementation illustrated in fig. 5J, the tracking panel defines a plurality of rectangles arranged adjacent to one another, wherein there is no space between adjacent rectangles.

It will also be appreciated that the tracking panel may be defined to have various three-dimensional shapes. For example, fig. 5K illustrates a cross-sectional view of a tracking panel that includes a concave feature for tracking. Fig. 5L illustrates a cross-sectional view of a tracking panel including convex features for tracking. The foregoing examples of features that may be defined as part of a tracking panel are provided by way of example only and are not limiting. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that in various other embodiments, the tracking panel may include features of any shape, size, or form.

Fig. 5M illustrates a tracking panel defined by a matrix of pixels, each of which may be individually illuminated. In the illustrated embodiment, the particular pattern illuminated by the pixels of the tracking panel can be configured to have any of a variety of designs, and can be configured to display different patterns of different controllers when multiple controllers are in operation.

Fig. 6 illustrates a perspective view of the controller 10 having a recess 56 defined along a front side of the body of the controller, according to an embodiment of the present invention. The depression may be illuminated and utilized for visual tracking of the controller. In one embodiment, the depressions are illuminated differently: for example, from top to bottom or side to side, with different colors or different brightness/darkness, with smooth or sharp transitions, or combinations thereof. The distinctive illumination in combination with the change in size, shape or orientation of the recess in the captured image of the controller may be detected and analyzed to determine the position and orientation of the controller relative to the image capture device. In various implementations, the particular shape of the depression 56 may vary in terms of both its surface shape (the shape defined by the depression at the surface of the controller) and the shape of the recessed portion. For example, the surface shape may be circular as shown, rectangular or bar-shaped, polygonal, etc. And the recessed portion may be semi-circular, semi-oval, angular, faceted, or the like. Additionally, in some implementations, there may be more than one recess defined on the controller.

Fig. 7 illustrates a bottom view of the controller 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The bottom of the 3D control rod 22 is visible protruding from the recess 60.

Fig. 8 illustrates a cross-sectional view of the controller 10 showing the operation of the 3D control stick 22. As mentioned, the 3D control rod 22 extends from the top surface of the body through the body of the controller to its bottom surface. The 3D control stick 22 includes a top plate 70a and a bottom plate 70b for contacting the user's fingers. In one embodiment, the lever is mounted in and pivots about its central position. Thus, horizontal movement of the top plate 70a results in movement of the bottom plate 70b in the opposite direction, and vice versa. Further, in one embodiment, the 3D control rod 22 may translate up and down in a vertical manner. In one embodiment, the 3D control rod 22 may also be translated in a horizontal direction, moving the entire control rod in a horizontal manner.

In one embodiment, this free movement of the 3D control rod 22 (including pivoting about its central position, and vertical and horizontal translational movement) is accomplished by means of a floating mount. For example, in one embodiment, the central portion of the control rod is mounted in a compliant material 72 that allows the control rod to "float" and thereby facilitate such movement. In one embodiment, the control rod includes a flange 71 to facilitate secure mounting within the compliant material 72. The compliant material may be any type of resilient material that enables the lever 22 to be moved by a user, but returns the lever to a normal centered orientation when unaffected by the user. The sensor 74 detects movement of the control rod 22, and the sensor data analyzer 76 analyzes raw data from the sensor to determine the orientation and/or movement of the control rod 22.

Fig. 9 illustrates a back perspective view of the controller 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 10A illustrates another perspective view of the controller 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 10B illustrates the controller 10 without a 3D control stick, according to an embodiment of the invention.

It will be appreciated that in various embodiments, the controller may include any of a variety of additional features, including (but not limited to) tactile feedback mechanisms, such as vibration mechanisms, various data and power connectors, such as USB connectors, various inertial sensors, such as accelerometers, gyroscopes, and magnetometers, among others. Additional details regarding possible features that may be included in the controller may be found in reference to U.S. patent No. 12/259,181 entitled "Determining Location and Movement of Ball-attach controller," filed on 27.10.2008, and U.S. application No.11/382,036 entitled "Method and System for Applying results to Visual Tracking," filed on 6.5.2006, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.

Fig. 11A illustrates a top view of a controller device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The controller 100 includes various buttons 102 that may be configured for various purposes, as well as directional buttons 104 for providing directional input. A left joystick 108 and a right joystick 110 are provided. The system button 112 may perform or otherwise provide access to various system functions, such as exiting the video game, pausing or shutting down the game console, shutting down the controller device 100, and so forth.

The speaker 114 is provided to allow audio output to appear at the controller, which may enrich the user's game by allowing some audio to be presented through the controller (rather than in conjunction with the remainder of the audio output of the video game). For example, ambient sound from the virtual environment of a video game may be presented through normal audio mechanisms (e.g., as part of the video output of the video game), while audio from communications (e.g., telephone, radio, etc.) is presented, among other things, through the controller speaker 114. When multiple players are participating in a game, the audio for a particular player may be routed to a controller operated by that player. In this manner, players of a multiplayer game may each receive audio specific to them and readily discern such audio as is appropriate for them, even when participating in a game in the same local gaming environment.

The controller device 100 includes a touch sensitive panel 116 to facilitate touch-based input. The options button 118 may be configured to provide access to various options that may be specific to a game console, a cloud gaming platform, a particular video game, or some other context. The share button 120 may provide access to a share interface to share a user game to a social network, such as sharing a screenshot or video clip of the user game, or initiating streaming live of the user's current game. In one embodiment, the share button provides access to a cached video of the user's recent games from which the user may select a portion or screenshot to share to a social network, such as a gaming social network or other social network.

Fig. 11B illustrates a perspective view of the controller device 100, according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown, the controller 100 includes trigger buttons 130, 132, 134, and 136 that provide additional input for the game. A light bar 138 is defined on the front side of the controller 100 to facilitate identification and tracking of the controller 100. The light bar 138 may be illuminated to have a particular color and may be identified from a captured image of the game environment. It will be appreciated that the position and orientation of the controller 100 may be determined by tracking the light bar 138.

In one embodiment, a method for storing a game is contemplated. The game may be executed by the operating system of the game console in response to a user request, which may be in the form of a standard file operation on a data set associated with the desired game. The request may be transmitted from an application associated with the game. The game may, for example, include video content, audio content, and/or static visual content, including wallpaper, themes, code "extension" content, or any other type of content related to the game. It is contemplated that such content may be user-generated or developer-generated, free or paid for, full or trial, and/or sold or rented.

A portion of the game may be cached, i.e., temporarily stored. For example, previously completed levels for the first 15 seconds of previous actions within the game may be temporarily stored, as further described herein. The term "portion" as used herein may correspond to any game portion, related or arbitrary group, which may be divided into single or multiple bits or bytes of data. For example, a "portion" of a game may correspond to a level, chapter, scene, action, character, background, structure, route, action, song, theme, duration, size, file, portion thereof, and combinations thereof. Further, portions of the game may include screenshots or video captures of a specified duration.

In one embodiment, portions of the game may be stored locally in temporary or permanent memory on the game console. Alternatively or additionally, portions of the game may be transmitted over a network for remote storage. For example, portions of the game may be transmitted over a wireless or wired network to another computing device, another game console, or a remote server. Such remote servers may include social media servers.

If desired, game portions that are not restored from game caches or portions outside of a particular game interval (e.g., a particular duration, level, chapter, route, etc.) may be removed from the cache. This removal process can be accomplished using standard file operations on the operating system.

Portions of the game may be displayed on any number of display devices that have access to the stored game. For example, the stored game may be displayed on a television connected to the game console from which the game was captured. In another example, the stored game may be displayed on a computer to which the stored game is transmitted. The stored games may be displayed alone or in conjunction with other information, such as on a social media website.

In one embodiment, the portion of the game is displayed by another game console associated with the user other than the user who cached or captured the game. According to this embodiment, a portion of a game may show a ball being thrown from a first user to a second user from the perspective of the first user. Portions of the game may then be transmitted to the second user's game console. Thus, the second user may then view the game from the perspective of the first user. The second user may also have a stored game portion showing the ball being thrown by the first user and caught by the second user from the second user's perspective. In this embodiment, the second user may view the game from both the first user's perspective and the second user's perspective. In addition, however, the portion of the game stored by the second user may be transmitted to the first user's game console so that the first user may view the game from two perspectives. This embodiment is applicable to any number of users having any number of perspectives, and thus the game can be viewed from any number of different perspectives.

With respect to the storage, transmission, and/or display of a portion of a game as described herein, it is contemplated that a portion of a game may be stored, transmitted, and displayed as image or video data. However, in another embodiment, a portion of the game may be stored and transmitted as telemetry or metadata representing image or video data, and may be recreated into an image or video by the game console or other device prior to display.

In some embodiments, a portion of the game has a predetermined relationship to the game executed. For example, a portion of a game may correspond to a certain amount of the game prior to the currently executed game (e.g., the first 10 seconds of the game). In another embodiment, the first portion of the game has a predetermined relationship with the second portion of the game. For example, the first portion of the game may correspond to an amount of the game (e.g., a 10 second game before the capture button is selected) prior to receiving the request to capture the second portion of the game. In each of these embodiments, the amount of play buffered before the current game or requested game may be configured and adjusted by the user according to their particular preferences.

In other embodiments, the buffer is "smart" or "elastic" so that it captures the game according to variables without regard to time. In one such embodiment, the first portion of the game has a predetermined relationship to game related events. For example, the first portion of the game may be buffered to include statistical anomalies such as reaching a high score, collecting a large number of points in a short time, selecting multiple buttons on the controller, and other rare events. Such statistical anomalies can generally be determined by comparing game metrics to an average metric for a particular game or for all games. Such average metrics may be stored locally or remotely for comparison. For example, the game console may track a global high score for a particular game and buffer games that the user approaches and exceeds the high score. In another example, the remote server may track a global high score for a particular game and communicate this information to the game console, which buffers the game that the user approaches and overrides the high score.

In another example, a portion of the game may be buffered to include achievements, such as awards or other landmarks reached. Such prizes or landmarks commemorate any goal or game achievement, such as a certain number of points earned, a certain level reached, etc. For example, the game may be buffered to include awarding prizes up to a 10-point, up to 100,000 points, and so on.

Similarly, progress toward reaching an event may be buffered for inclusion in a portion of the game, in addition to actual awarding of prizes or statistical anomalies. For example, a screen shot may be taken at each level of 1 to 10, creating an album to commemorate the receipt of a prize reaching level 10. As another example, a video may be taken of the user winning the game the first to fifth times, with five wins awarding prizes.

Thus, according to embodiments of the present invention, at least a portion of the game being executed may remain in the running buffer at all times. In other words, when a request to share a portion of a game is received, a portion of a previous game has been captured to include previous footage. For example, if a request to share a game is received after the user crosses the finish line of the tournament game, the buffered game may include a footage of the user crossing the finish line. In other words, the user will be able to capture the time that occurred before requesting the shared game.

It should be appreciated that a user may share a game (e.g., a selected screen shot, video, or live game stream) with one or more specifically selected friends, the entire social graph, or any user in the social network. The social network may be a social network related to the platform on which the video game is running, or a third party social network that exists independent of the video game or its platform. The social network may be accessed through an API defined to allow interfacing with the social network. Users who have shared games may receive notifications telling them of the games they share. Such notifications may be in the form of mails to social news feeds, private messages through social networks, in-game notifications, emails, chat notifications, and the like. Sharing games with a social network may entail making the games available to other subsets of the social network users (which may or may not be part of the social graph of the sharing user). For example, for a given video game, any user of the social network (who also owns the video game) may share or have the game available, and thus be granted access to the video game's shared game. Such shared games may be accessed through online forums, chat rooms, or other online channels that are open only to video game players. In one embodiment, the video game may have a dedicated page or site on the social network. The shared game may be open to users who access the pages or sites of the video game. Of course, it will be appreciated that from the perspective of the sharing user, options may be provided to allow the user to specify and adjust who and what forums their games will be shared with.

While the various interfaces for sharing may be accessible by pressing a dedicated button (e.g., pressing a controller share button), it will be appreciated that in other embodiments some or all of these interfaces may not be needed to assist in sharing games with a user's social graph. For example, in one embodiment, the controller share button may be configured to capture a screen shot of the user game when it is pressed. The captured screen shots may then be automatically uploaded and shared to the user's social graph.

In another embodiment, pressing a share button on the controller initiates recording of the game video. When the share button is pressed a second time, the recording of the game video stops, and the video clip may be uploaded and shared to the user's social graph. In one embodiment, the uploading and sharing of the video clip to the user's social graph may occur automatically after the video recording operation is completed. However, in another embodiment, when the share button is pressed a second time to stop recording, an interface is presented that allows the user to customize various options (e.g., crop the video, select a representative screen shot for the video), identify the particular user with whom to share the video, add a caption or title, etc. After being customized by the user, the video may be shared with others or available for viewing.

In one embodiment, a share button on the controller may be configured to share a game video of a predetermined duration on the social network. For example, the user may specify that the first 10 seconds of the game video will be shared to the user's social graph when the share button is pressed. In another embodiment, it may be specified that when the share button is pressed, the next 10 seconds of the game video will be recorded and shared to the social graph. It should be appreciated that the options for cropping videos and performing other types of customization may be applied to recorded game videos. Further, game video recorded a predetermined duration after the button is triggered may be combined with game video buffered as already described.

In yet another embodiment, a share button on the controller device may be configured to initiate live video streaming of the user activity game. Live video streaming may be predefined to be available only to members of a user's social graph, or other smaller or larger groups of users, such as a particular subset of the user's social graph, all users who own or have access to the same video game, any game platform user, and so forth.

FIG. 12 illustrates hardware and user interfaces that may be used to provide interaction with a video game according to one embodiment of the invention. FIG. 12 schematically illustrates an embodiment according to the present invention

Playstation

An entertainment device, an overall system architecture of a console that is compatible to interface a control device with a computer program executed at a base computing device. A system unit 700 is provided to which various peripheral devices can be connected to the system unit 700. The system unit 700 includes: a Cell processor 728;a dynamic random access memory (XDRAM) unit 726; a real compositor graphics unit 730 with a dedicated Video Random Access Memory (VRAM) unit 732; and an I/O bridge 734. System unit 700 also includes Blu for reading from disk 740a

Magnetic disk

An optical disk reader 740 and a removable slot-in Hard Disk Drive (HDD)736 that is accessible through the I/O bridge 734. Optionally, the system unit 700 further comprises a Memory for reading compact flash cards, Memory

A memory card reader 738 for a memory card or the like, which is similarly accessible via the I/O bridge 734.

I/O bridge 734 is also connected to six Universal Serial Bus (USB)2.0 ports 724; gigabit ethernet port 722; IEEE 802.11b/g Wireless network (Wi-Fi) port 720; and capable of supporting up to seven bluetooth connections

Wireless link port 718.

In operation, the I/O bridge 734 handles all wireless, USB, and Ethernet data, including data from one or more game controllers 702 and 703. For example, when a user is playing a game, the I/O bridge 734 receives data from the game controller 702 and 703 via the Bluetooth link and directs it to the Cell processor 728, which updates the current state of the game accordingly.

In addition to the game controller 702 and 703, the wireless, USB, and Ethernet ports provide connectivity to other peripheral devices, such as a remote control device 704, a keyboard 706, a mouse 708, a portable entertainment device 710 (e.g., Sony Playstation)

An entertainment device), a camera 712 (e.g.,a camera), a microphone headset 714, and a microphone 715. In principle, such peripheral devices may thus be wirelessly connected to the system unit 700; for example, the portable entertainment device 710 may communicate via a Wi-Fi dedicated connection, while the microphone headset 714 may communicate via a Bluetooth link.

Providing these interfaces means that the Playstation3 device is also compatible with other peripheral devices, such as Digital Video Recorders (DVRs), set-top boxes, digital cameras, portable media players, voice-over-IP phones, mobile phones, printers, and scanners.

Further, a conventional memory card reader 716 may be connected to the system unit via a USB port 724, enabling reading

Or Playstation

A memory card 748 of the type used by the device.

The game controller 702 703 is operable to communicate wirelessly with the system unit 700 via a Bluetooth link or to connect to a USB port to provide power through the USB port to charge the battery of the game controller 702 703. Game controller 702 may also include memory, a processor, a memory card reader, persistent memory (e.g., flash memory), a light emitter (e.g., illuminated globe, LED, or infrared), 703Light), microphones and speakers for ultrasonic communication, sound isolation booths, digital cameras, internal clocks, recognizable shapes (e.g., spherical portion facing a game console), and protocols used, such as

WiFi^TMWireless communication of (2), etc.

The game controller 702 is a controller designed for two-handed use, and the game controller 703 is a one-handed controller with accessories. In addition to one or more analog joysticks and conventional control buttons, game controllers are susceptible to three-dimensional position determination. Thus, gestures and actions of a game controller user may be converted into game inputs in addition to or in lieu of conventional button or joystick commands. Alternatively, other wireless-enabled peripheral devices (e.g., Playstation)^TMA portable device) may be used as the controller. Is at Playstation^TMIn the case of a portable device, additional game or control information (e.g., control instructions or number of lives) may be provided on the screen of the device. Other alternative or complementary control means may be used, such as a dance mat (not shown), a light pen (not shown), a steering wheel and pedals (not shown) or a predetermined controller, such as a single or several large buttons (also not shown) for a quick response quiz game.

The remote control device 704 is also operable to wirelessly communicate with the system unit 700 via a bluetooth link. Remote control 704 includes a device suitable for Blu Ray^TMThe operation of the disc BD-ROM reader 540 and the control for disc content navigation.

In addition to conventional pre-recorded and recordable CDs and so-called super-audio CDs, Blu Ray^TMThe disc BD-ROM reader 740 is operable to read a CD-ROM compatible with the Playstation and Playstation2 devices. In addition to conventional pre-recorded and recordable DVDs, the reader 740 is also operable to read DVD-ROMs compatible with the Playstation2 and Playstation3 devices. The reader 740 is further operable to read BD-ROM compatible with the Playstation3 device and a conventional pre-recorded and Blu-Ray recordable (Blu-Ray) disc.

The system unit 700 is operable to provide audio and video generated or decoded by the Playstation3 device via the real synthesizer graphics unit 730 to a display and sound output device 742, such as a monitor or television having a display 744 and one or more speakers 746, through audio and video connectors. Audio connector 750 may include conventional analog and digital outputs while video connector 752 may variously include component video, S-video, composite video, and one or more high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI) outputs. Thus, the video output may be in a PAL or NTSC format, or 720p, 1080i or 1080p high definition, for example.

Audio processing (generation, decoding, etc.) is performed by the Cell processor 728. Operating system support for Playstation3 devices

5.1 surround sound,

Cinema surround (DTS), and from

Decoding of 7.1 surround sound of disk.

In this embodiment, camera 712 includes a single Charge Coupled Device (CCD), LED indicator, and hardware-based real-time data compression and encoding device, such that compressed video data may be transmitted in a suitable format, such as an intra-image based MPEG (moving Picture experts group) standard, for decoding by system unit 700. The camera LED indicator is arranged to illuminate in response to suitable control data from the system unit 700, for example to indicate an adverse lighting condition. Embodiments of the camera 712 may be variously connected to the system unit 700 via a USB, bluetooth, or Wi-Fi communication port. Embodiments of the camera may include one or more associated microphones and may also be capable of transmitting audio data. In a camera embodiment, the CCD may have a resolution suitable for high definition video capture. In use, the images captured by the camera may be incorporated into a game or interpreted as game control input, for example. In another embodiment, the camera is an infrared camera adapted to detect infrared light.

Typically, appropriate software, such as device drivers, will be provided for successful data communication with a peripheral device (e.g., a camera or remote control device) via one of the communication ports of the system unit 700. Device driver technology is well known and will not be described in detail herein, merely to note that those skilled in the art will appreciate that a device driver or similar software interface may be required in the described embodiments.

FIG. 13 illustrates additional hardware that may be used to process instructions according to one embodiment of the invention. The Cell processor 728 has an architecture that includes four basic components: external input and output structures including memory controller 860 and dual bus interface controllers 870A, 870B; a main processor called Power processing element 850; eight coprocessors referred to as Synergistic Processing Elements (SPEs) 810A-H; and a circular data bus connecting the above components and referred to as an element interconnect bus 880. The total floating point performance of the Cell processor is 218GFLOP compared to the floating point performance of 6.2GFLOP for the emotion engine of the Playstation2 device.

The main processing element (PPE)850 is based on a bi-directional simultaneous multithreading Power 570, which accommodates a PowerPC core (PPU)855 that runs at 3.2GHz of internal clock. It includes 512kB level 2 (L2) cache and 32kB level 1 (L1) cache. The PPE 850 is capable of eight separate position operations per clock cycle, scaled to 25.6GFLOP at 3.2 GHz. The primary task of the PPE 850 is to act as a controller for the co-processing elements 810A-H, which handle most of the computational workload. In operation, the PPE 850 maintains a job queue, schedules jobs for the synergistic processing elements 810A-H, and monitors their progress. Thus, each synergistic processing element 810A-H runs a kernel whose role is to fetch work, execute work, and synchronize with the PPE 850.

Each Synergistic Processing Element (SPE)810A-H includes a respective Synergistic Processing Unit (SPU)820A-H, and a respective Memory Flow Controller (MFC)840A-H, which in turn includes a respective Dynamic Memory Access Controller (DMAC)842A-H, a respective Memory Management Unit (MMU)844A-H, and a bus interface (not shown). Each SPU820A-H is a RISC processor clocked at 3.2GHz and includes a 256kB local RAM 830A-H, extendable in principle to 4 GB. Each SPE gives a single precision performance of theoretically 25.6 GFLOP. An SPU may process 4 single-precision floating point numbers, 4 32-bit numbers, 8 16-bit integers, or 16 8-bit integers in a single clock cycle. The store operation may also be performed during the same clock cycle. The SPUs 820A-H do not directly access the system memory XDRAM 726; the 64-bit address formed by the SPU820A-H is passed to the MFC 840A-H, which MFC 840A-H instructs its DMA controller 842A-H to access memory through the element interconnect bus 880 and the memory controller 860.

An Element Interconnect Bus (EIB)880 is a logical circular communication bus within Cell processor 728 that connects the above-described processor elements, i.e., PPE 850, memory controller 860, dual bus interface 870A, B, and 8 SPEs 810A-H, for a total of 12 participating elements. Participating components can simultaneously read and write to the bus at 8 bytes per clock cycle. As previously described, each SPE810A-H includes a DMAC 842A-H for scheduling long read or write sequences. The EIB contains 4 channels, two of which are clockwise and counter-clockwise, respectively. Thus, for 12 participating components, the longest stepwise data flow between any two participating components is 6 steps in the appropriate direction. Thus, with full utilization between participating elements through arbitration, the theoretical peak instantaneous EIB bandwidth of 12 slots is 96B per clock. This corresponds to a theoretical peak bandwidth of 307.2GB/s (gigabytes per second) at a clock rate of 3.2 GHz.

The memory controller 860 includes an XDRAM interface 862 developed by Rambus corporation. The memory controller interfaces with Rambus XDRAM 726 at a theoretical peak bandwidth of 25.6 GB/s.

Dual bus interface 870A, B includes Rambus

System interface 872A, B. The interface is organized into 12 lanes, each 8 bits wide, with five paths inbound and seven outbound. This provides a theoretical peak band of 62.4GB/s between the Cell processor and I/O bridge 734 via controller 870A and between the Cell processor and real simulator graphics unit 730 via controller 870BWide (where 36.4GB/s is outbound and 26GB/s is inbound).

The data sent by the Cell processor 728 to the real simulator graphics unit 730 typically includes a display list, which is a sequence of commands to draw vertices, apply textures to polygons, specify lighting conditions, and so forth.

FIG. 14 is an exemplary illustration of scenarios A through E and respective users A through E interacting with a game client 1102 connected to a server process via the Internet, according to one embodiment of the invention. A game client is a device that allows a user to connect to a server application and process via the internet. The game client allows users to access and play online entertainment content such as, but not limited to, games, movies, music, and photos. In addition, the game client may provide access to online communication applications, such as VOIP, text chat protocols, and email

The user interacts with the game client via the controller. In some embodiments, the controller is a game client specific controller, while in other embodiments, the controller may be a combination of a keyboard and a mouse. In one embodiment, the game client is a stand-alone device that can output audio and video signals to create a multimedia environment through a monitor/television and associated audio equipment. For example, the game client may be, but is not limited to, a thin client, an internal PCI expansion card, an external PCI expansion device, an expansion card device, an internal, external, or wireless USB device, or a Firewire device, among others. In other embodiments, the game client is integrated with a television or other multimedia device, such as a DVR, Blu-Ray (Blu-Ray) player, DVD player, or multi-channel receiver.

In scenario A of FIG. 14, user A interacts with a client application displayed on monitor 1104A using a controller 1106A paired with game client 1102A. Similarly, within scene B, user B interacts with the client application displayed on monitor 1104B using a controller 1106B that is paired with game client 1102B. Scene C illustrates the scene seen from behind user C when user C views a monitor displaying games and a buddy list from game client 1102C. In one embodiment, while FIG. 14 shows a single server processing module, there are multiple server processing modules worldwide. Each server processing module includes sub-modules for user session control, sharing/communication logic, user geographic location, and load balancing processing services. Further, the server processing module includes network processing and distributed storage.

When the game client 1102 connects to the server processing module, user session control may be used to authenticate the user. Authenticated users may have associated virtualized distributed storage and virtualized network processing. Example items that may be stored as part of the user's virtualized distributed storage include purchased media such as, but not limited to, games, video, music, and the like. In addition, the distributed storage may be used to save game state for multiple games, custom settings for a single game, and customized settings for a game client. In one embodiment, a server-processed user geolocation module is used to determine the geographic location of users and their respective game clients. The geographic location of the user may be used by the sharing/communication logic and load balancing processing server to optimize performance based on the geographic location and processing requirements of the multiple server processing modules. Virtualizing one or both of network processing and network storage would allow the processing tasks of the game client to be dynamically transferred to underutilized server processing modules. Thus, load balancing may be used to minimize latency associated with data transfers between the slave storage recall and server processing module and the game client.

The server processing module has instances of server application a and server application B. The server processing module can support multiple server applications, such as server application X₁And server application X₂As indicated. In one embodiment, the server processing is based on a cluster computing architecture that allows multiple processors within a cluster to process a server application. In another embodiment, different types of multi-computer processing schemes are applied to the processing server application. This allows the server process to be scalable to accommodate a large number of game clients executing multiple client applications and corresponding server applications. Alternatively, server processing may be scalable to accommodate being more demandingGraphics processing or gaming, video compression, or increased computational requirements as required by application complexity. In one embodiment, the server processing module performs most of the processing via the server application. This allows relatively expensive components (such as graphics processors, RAM, and general purpose processors) to be located in a central location and reduces the cost of the game client. The processed server application data is sent back to the respective game client via the internet to be displayed on the monitor.

Scenario C illustrates an exemplary application executable by the game client and server processing modules. For example, in one embodiment, game client 1102C allows user C to create and view a buddy list 1120 that includes user A, user B, user D, and user E. As shown, in scene C, user C is able to see real-time images or avatars of the users on monitor 1104C. The server process executes the respective applications of the game client 1102C and executes with the respective game clients 1102 of user a, user B, user D, and user E. Because the server process knows the application that game client B is executing, user A's buddy list may indicate which game user B is playing. Still further, in one embodiment, user A may view the real scene in the game video directly from user B. This may be accomplished by sending only user B's processed server application data to game client a in addition to game client B.

In addition to being able to view video from buddies, the communication application may allow real-time communication between buddies. As applied in the previous example, this allows user a to provide encouragement or clues when viewing user B's real-time video. In one embodiment, two-way real-time voice communications are established through a client/server application. In another embodiment, the client/server application supports text chat. In yet another implementation, the client/server application converts the speech to text for display on the screen of the buddy.

Scene D and scene E illustrate respective user D and user E interacting with game consoles 1110D and 1110E, respectively. The game consoles 1110D and 1110E are each connected to a server processing module and illustrate a network in which the server processing module coordinates the game for the game consoles and game clients.

Fig. 15 illustrates an embodiment of an information service provider architecture. An Information Service Provider (ISP)1370 delivers a large number of information services to users 1382 scattered throughout and connected by a network 1386. An ISP may only deliver one type of service (e.g., stock price updates) or various services (e.g., broadcast media, news, sports, games, etc.). In addition, the services provided by each ISP are dynamic, i.e., services can be added or removed at any point in time. Thus, ISPs that provide a particular type of service to a particular individual may change over time. For example, a user may be served by an ISP near the user when the user is at his home, or by a different ISP when the user travels to a different city. The home ISP will transfer the required information and data to the new ISP so that the user information "follows" the user to a new city making the data closer to the user and easier to access. In another embodiment, a host-server relationship may be established between a host ISP that manages user information and a server ISP that directly interfaces with the user under the control of the host ISP. In other embodiments, as the client moves around the world, data is transferred from one ISP to another ISP so that the ISP serving the user in a better location is the ISP delivering the service.

The ISP1370 includes an Application Service Provider (ASP)1372 that provides computer-based services to customers over a network. Software provided using the ASP model is also sometimes referred to as on-demand software or software as a service (SaaS). A simple way to provide access to a specific application (such as customer relationship management) is by using a standard protocol, such as HTTP. The application software resides in the provider's system and is accessed by the user through a web browser using HTML, through the provider's dedicated client software, or other remote interface (e.g., thin client).

Services delivered over large geographic areas often use cloud computing. Cloud computing is a type of computing in which dynamically scalable and often virtualized resources are provided as services over the internet. Users need not be experts that support the technical structure in their "cloud". Cloud computing can be divided into different services, such as infrastructure as a service (IaaS), platform as a service (PaaS), and software as a service (SaaS). Cloud computing services often provide general-purpose business online applications that are accessible from a web browser, while software and data are stored on servers. The term "cloud" is used to mirror the internet, being an abstraction of its hidden complex infrastructure based on how the internet is depicted in a computer network diagram.

Further, the ISP1370 includes a Game Processing Server (GPS)1374, which is used by game clients to play single-or multi-player video games. Most video games played over the internet operate through a connection to a game server. Typically, games use a dedicated server application that collects data from players and distributes it to other players. This is more efficient and effective than a point-to-point arrangement, but requires a separate server to host the server application. In another embodiment, the GPS establishes communication between the player and their respective gaming device, and information exchange occurs without relying on a central GPS.

The dedicated GPS is a server that runs independently of the client. Such servers typically run on dedicated hardware located in the data center, providing more bandwidth and dedicated processing power. Dedicated servers are the preferred method of hosting game servers for most PC-based multiplayer games. Massively multiplayer runs on a dedicated server that is typically hosted by a software company that owns the game rights, allowing it to control and update the content.

A Broadcast Processing Server (BPS)1376 distributes the audio or image signals to listeners. Broadcasting to a very narrow range of listeners is sometimes referred to as narrowcasting. The final station of the broadcast distribution is how the signal reaches the listener or viewer, which may be propagated over the air to antennas and receivers as with a radio or television station, or may be propagated through a radio station by cable television or cable broadcast (or "wireless cable"), or directly from the network. The internet may also bring broadcasts or television to the audience, particularly with multicast broadcasts, allowing sharing of signals and bandwidth. Historically, broadcasts have been delimited by geographic areas, such as national broadcasts or regional broadcasts. However, with the proliferation of the fast internet, broadcasts are not geographically limited and their content can reach almost any country in the world.

A Storage Service Provider (SSP)1378 provides computer storage and related management services. The SSP also provides periodic backup and archiving. By providing storage as a service, users can subscribe to more storage as needed. Another major advantage is that SSPs include backup services and users do not lose all their data when a computer hardware drive is broken. Further, multiple SSPs may have full or partial copies of user data, which allows users to access data in an efficient manner, independent of the location or device used by the user. For example, a user may access personal documents at a home computer, or via a mobile phone when the user is outside.

The communication provider 380 provides connectivity for the user. One type of communication provider is an Internet Service Provider (ISP), which provides access to the internet. The ISP connects its customers using data transmission technologies suitable for transporting internet protocol datagrams (e.g., dial-up, DSL, cable modem, wireless or dedicated high-speed interconnect). The communication provider may also provide messaging services such as email, instant messaging, and SMS text. Another type of communication provider is the Network Service Provider (NSP), which sells broadband or network access by providing direct backbone access to the internet. The network service provider may consist of a telecommunications company, a data carrier, a wireless communication provider, an internet service provider, a cable operator providing high speed internet access, etc.

The data exchange 1388 interconnects several modules within the ISP1370 and connects these modules to the users 1382 via the network 1386. The data exchange 1388 may cover a small area where all of the modules of the ISP1370 are close to each other, or may cover a large geographic area when different modules are spread out in different places. For example, data exchange 1388 can include a fast gigabit ethernet (or faster), or an intercontinental Virtual Local Area Network (VLAN) located within a data center chassis.

User 1382 accesses remote services using client device 1384, which includes at least one CPU, a display, and I/O. The client device may be a PC, mobile phone, netbook, PDA, etc. In one embodiment, the ISP1370 identifies the type of device used by the client and adjusts the communication method employed. In other cases, the client device accesses the ISP1370 using standard communication methods (e.g., html).

Embodiments of the invention may be used with a variety of computer system configurations, including hand-held devices, microprocessor systems, microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics, minicomputers, mainframe computers, and the like. The invention may also be practiced in distributed computing environments where tasks are performed by remote processing devices that are linked through a wired or wireless network.

In view of the above embodiments, it should be appreciated that the invention may employ various computer-implemented operations involving data stored by computer systems. The operations are those requiring physical manipulations of physical quantities. Any of the operations described herein that form part of the invention are useful machine operations. The invention also relates to an apparatus or device for performing these operations. The apparatus may be specially constructed for the required purposes, or it may be a general-purpose computer selectively activated or configured by a computer program stored in the computer. In particular, various general-purpose machines may be used with computer programs written in accordance with the teachings herein, or it may be more convenient to construct a more specialized apparatus to perform the required operations.

The invention may also be embodied as computer readable code on a computer readable medium. The computer readable medium is any data storage device that can store data which can thereafter be read by a computer system. Examples of computer readable media include hard disk drives, Network Attached Storage (NAS), read-only memory, random-access memory, CD-ROMs, CD-R, CD-RWs, magnetic tapes, and other optical and non-optical data storage devices. The computer readable medium can include a computer readable tangible medium distributed over a network coupled computer system so that the computer readable code is stored and executed in a distributed fashion.

Although the method operations are described in a particular order, it should be understood that other housekeeping operations may be performed between the operations, or the operations may be adjusted so that they occur at slightly different times, or may be distributed within the system allowing the processing operations to occur at processing-related intervals, so long as the processing of the overlay operation is performed in the manner desired.

Although the foregoing invention has been described in some detail for purposes of clarity of understanding, it will be apparent that certain changes and modifications may be practiced within the scope of the appended claims. Accordingly, the present embodiments are to be considered as illustrative and not restrictive, and the invention is not to be limited to the details given herein, but may be modified within the scope and equivalents of the appended claims.