[19]
`United States Patent
`5,926,624
`[11] Patent Number:
`[45] Date of Patent: Jul. 20, 1999
`Katz et al.
`
`
`
`U8005926624A
`
`[54] DIGITAL INFORMATION LIBRARY AND
`DELIVERY SYSTEM WITH LOGIC FOR
`GENERATING FILES TARGETED TO THE
`PLAYBACK DEVICE
`
`[75]
`
`Inventors: Donald R. Katz, Montclair, N.J.;
`Edwin J. Lau, San Jose, Calif;
`Timothy Mott, Ketchum, Id.; Scott A.
`Brenneman, Menlo Park, Calif;
`Benjamin Che-Ming Jun, Palo Alto,
`Calif; Samuel Hong-Yen Pai, Menlo
`Park, Calif.
`
`[73] Assignee: Audible, Inc., Wayne, NJ.
`
`[21] Appl. No.: 08/710,114
`
`[22]
`
`Filed:
`
`Sep. 12, 1996
`
`Int. Cl.6 ...................................................... G06F 17/30
`[51]
`[52] US. Cl.
`............... 395/200.47; 707/104; 395/200.58;
`705/27
`[58] Field of Search ..................................... 345/327, 156,
`345/169; 705/26, 27; 395/200.31, 200.32,
`200.33, 200.47, 200.48, 200.49, 200.58;
`707/10, 27, 104, 500, 200, 203
`
`[56]
`
`References Cited
`U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
`
`3,763,330 10/1973 Fulwiler .................................. 179/100
`
`5/1981 Shutterly .......
`4,266,243
`358/121
`................................ 179/1
`4,393,277
`7/1983 Besen et al.
`
`(List continued on next page.)
`FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS
`
`0128093
`2651352
`8704309
`
`12/1984 European Pat. Off
`......... H04N 7/08
`3/1991
`France ................
`G08G 1/096
`
`7/1987 WIPO .............................. H04B 7/00
`
`OTHER PUBLICATIONS
`
`Nessett et al. “Layering central autehntication on eXisiting
`distributed system terminal services”, Security and Privacy,
`1989 IEEE Symposium, pp. 290—299.
`
`Kang “New digital multisignature scheme in electronic
`contract systems”, Information Theory, 1995 International
`Symposium, p. 486.
`Desmedt, Y. et al., "Multi—Receiver/Multi—Sender Network
`Security: Efficient Authenticated Multicast/Feedback”,
`INFOCOM, 1992, pp. 2045—2054.
`
`“Silicon Valley Start—up to Create New On—ramp to the
`Information Superhighway with its Listen—up Audio System
`and Audio—On—Demand Subscription Service”, Nathan
`Schulhof, Information Highway Media Corporation, 3pp.,
`Sep. 1994.
`
`(List continued on next page.)
`
`Primary Examiner—Dung C. Dinh
`Attorney, Agent, or Firm—Blakely, Sokoloff, Taylor &
`Zafman LLP
`
`[57]
`
`ABSTRACT
`
`A computer network based digital information library sys-
`tem employing authentication and encryption protocols for
`the secure transfer of digital information library programs to
`a client computer system and a mobile digital information
`playback device removably connectable to the client com-
`puter system. The present invention is a computer network
`based library and information delivery system for accessing
`and obtaining selected digital information files. The library
`and information delivery system comprises: 1) a library
`server having a plurality of digital information files; 2) a
`client computer system coupled to the library server over a
`network; and 3) a mobile device removably connectable to
`the client computer system,
`the client computer system
`including logic for requesting a download of a selected one
`or more of the digital information files from the library
`server, the client computer system further including logic for
`downloading the selected one or more of the digital infor-
`mation files to the mobile device.
`
`Farn et al. “An authenticate processing for the information
`system in insdustrial technology research institute”, Carna-
`33 Claims, 10 Drawing Sheets
`han Conference on Security Technology, 1991, pp. 59—67.
`
`Mobile Playback Devrce
`
`
`: Compressed Digilal Inronnanan Files
`i____,,,,,___3fi
`
`
`
`
`
`Client Browser
`Encrypted and Compiessed
`Drgrial lnloimanon Fries
`
`
`Disiribunon
`
`Distributable
`Mass Storage
`Medla
`
`
`Lmrary Server
`
`mery Management Sultware
`
`
`I______________ lf:::::§‘fiEK°—E::7ifi
`
` Amhouzalion Serve!
`
`F F _ EtEnfinEifiafifinc‘nEng— _ _ l
`Chem|2___¥fl_‘l
`Library Site m
`
`SCEA Ex. 1004 Page 1
`
`SCEA Ex. 1004 Page 1
`
`

`

`5,926,624
`
`Page 2
`
`US. PATENT DOCUMENTS
`
`.
`
`
`
`
`6/1984 Baran ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 370/104
`4,455,651
`9/1984 Claytor -
`~~ 340/825
`4,473,824
`2/1985 Gremillet
`369/30
`4499568
`7/1987 Takahashi
`455/38
`4,682,368
`10/1987 Shibata .......
`.. 364/513
`4,698,776
`2/1988 Iaumiet a1~
`~~ 364/900
`4,725,977
`9/1988 Duncan
`~~ 341/110
`4,772,873
`11/1988 Rubin ......
`.. 340/825
`4,788,543
`11/1988 Jones et a1.
`. 370/691
`4,788,675
`..
`7/1989 Parker et a1.
`360/15
`4,851,931
`7/1990 Pocock etal- -
`358/86
`4,941,040
`1/1991 Simko ~~~~~~~~~~~~
`- 365/45
`4,989,179
`8/1991 Linna 6t a1~
`381/59
`5,042,070
`
`5,055,947 10/1991 Satoh ---------
`- 360/62
`5,065,258
`11/1991 Warren et a1.
`.
`360/15
`
`3/1992 Foresman et a1.
`.. 364/401
`5,099,422
`.. 375/122
`5,132,992
`7/1992 Yurt et a1.
`
`.. 235/492
`5,159,182 10/1992 E15616 .........
`12/1992 Bradley et al.
`5,172,413
`380/20
`
`1/1993 Rhoades .........
`5,181,107
`. 358/86
`358/86
`3/1993 McCalley 6t al~
`591919410
`
`369/84
`3/1993 Ha“ """"""""
`57191573
`.. 358/191
`5/1993 Yee et a1.
`5,210,611
`9/1993 Litteral et a1.
`358/85
`5,247,347
`
`..
`.. 273/439
`10/1993 Reed et a1.
`5,251,909
`.. 375/122
`10/1993 Yurt et a1.
`5,253,275
`
`5/1994 Clark ..............
`.. 364/401
`5,311,423
`5,359,698 10/1994 Goldberg et a1.
`. 395/2.1
`5,371,532 12/1994 Gelman 6t 91-
`-- 348/7
`
`“1995 Clark. """""
`" 364/401
`59383412
`.. 358/342
`5,420,690
`5/1995 K01sh1 .....
`
`5,440,336
`8/1995 Buhro et a1.
`348/13
`
`..
`...... 348/7
`5,442,389
`8/1995 Blahut et a1.
`........................... 395/2.79
`5,491,774
`2/1996 Norris et al.
`
`2/1996 Belove et al.
`.............................. 707/3
`5,491,820
`2/1996 Balogh et a1.
`. 707/104
`5,493,677
`
`6/1996 Ryan ........................................... 380/9
`5,524,051
`7/1996 McCullough ........................... 345/329
`5,539,658
`7/1996 Story .................... 348/7
`5,541,638
`
`. 364/514
`9/1996 Schulhof et a1.
`5,557,541
`
`. 364/514
`5,572,442 11/1996 Schulhof et a1.
`
`. 395/326
`5,579,471
`11/1996 Barber et a1.
`
`5/1997 Kjkinis et a1.
`..
`. 395/893
`5,634,080
`
`5,664,228
`9/1997 Mital
`395/882
`
`..
`395/20001
`5,675,734 10/1997 Hair
`
`..
`5,699,526
`12/1997 Siefert
`707/10
`3/1998 Herr—Hoyman et a1.
`.
`.. 395/200.49
`5,727,156
`5,727,159
`3/1998 Kjkinis ...............
`395/200.76
`5,732,219
`3/1998 Blumer et a1.
`.. 395/200.57
`5,752,244
`5/1998 Rose et a1.
`.................................. 707/5
`
`
`
`OTHER PUBLICATIONS
`
`IEEE Communications Magazine, May 1994. “Interactive
`Video On Demand”. Daniel Deloddere, Willem Verbiest,
`and Henri Verhille.
`
`IEEE Communications Magazine, May 1994. Baseband and
`Passband Transport Systems for Interactive Video Services.
`J Richard Jones
`.
`.
`.
`i
`.
`.
`Information Highway Media Corporation Von Gehr as
`Investment Banker IHM—94002—1.F. Oct. 13, 1994.
`Popular Mechanics Feb. 1995. Read Me A Story.
`76 PC Today Jan. 1995. PC Today Features News Article on
`Information Highway Media Corporation.
`Electronic Entertainment Feb. Electronic Entertainment.
`.
`.
`.
`44 Popular Sc1ence Feb. 1995. The Capt1ve Audience Net-
`work
`Autoweek Nov. 14. Aural hygiene.
`
`SCEA Ex. 1004 Page 2
`
`SCEA Ex. 1004 Page 2
`
`

`

`US. Patent
`
`Jul. 20, 1999
`
`Sheet 1 0f 10
`
`5,926,624
`
`Mass Storage
`Medium
`
`108
`
` Read Only
` Mass Storage
`
`Devrce
`
`
`1 07
`mfi
`
`Memory
`
`Processor
`
`fl
`
`
`
`
`125
`
`i S
`
`ound Circuitry
`fig
`
`
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`
`
`HeaJdpillone
`ac fl
`
`Speakers
`
` Wireless
`
`
`Transmitter
`m
`
`
`fl
`
`SCEA Ex. 1004 Page 3
`
`.
`.
`Communication
`
`Device
`
`
`
`
`
`Dis Ia
`
`p y
`121
`
`Keyboard
`122
`
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`
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`
`
`
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`8:912?
`
`
`
`
`123
`124
`
`
`
`
`
`
`SCEA Ex. 1004 Page 3
`
`

`

`US. Patent
`
`Jul. 20, 1999
`
`Sheet 2 0f 10
`
`5,926,624
`
`Mobile Playback Device
`______________ .|
`
`Player ID (Public and Private)
`
`l
`
`I
`
`Encrypted and Compressed
`Digital Information Files
`
`Distributable
`Mass Storage
`Media A
`
`Distribution
`Network
`m
`
`Library Server
`
`
`
`Authoring System
`
`Client Information including
`Client ID
`
`FIG. 2
`
`Library Site @
`
`SCEA Ex. 1004 Page 4
`
`SCEA Ex. 1004 Page 4
`
`

`

`US. Patent
`
`Jul. 20, 1999
`
`Sheet 3 0f 10
`
`5,926,624
`
`0mm
`
`$55,290me
`
`922
`
`32>th
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`
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`
`SCEA Ex. 1004 Page 5
`
`SCEA Ex. 1004 Page 5
`
`

`

`US. Patent
`
`Jul. 20, 1999
`
`Sheet 4 of 10
`
`5,926,624
`
`Playback
`Device
`&
`
`Playback
`Device
`a;
`
`0 0 0
`
`Playback
`Device
`
`m
`
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`System
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`m
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`Authorization
`
`280
`
`FIG. 4
`
`SCEA Ex. 1004 Page 6
`
`SCEA Ex. 1004 Page 6
`
`

`

`US. Patent
`
`Jul. 20, 1999
`
`Sheet 5 0f 10
`
`5,926,624
`
`
`
`
`
`Playback
`Playback
`Playback
`Device
`Device
`Device
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`21—2
`
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`
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`
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`
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`
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`
`
`Authorization
`
`
`
`FIG. 5
`
`SCEA Ex. 1004 Page 7
`
`SCEA Ex. 1004 Page 7
`
`

`

`US. Patent
`
`Jul. 20, 1999
`
`Sheet 6 0f 10
`
`5,926,624
`
`Playback
`Device
`&
`
`Playback
`Device
`21—2
`
`0 0 0
`
`Playback
`Device
`2E
`
`
`
`m
`
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`Device
`
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`System
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`
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`SYStem
`m
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`m
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`
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`Authoring
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`@
`
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`FIG. 6
`
`670
`
`SCEA Ex. 1004 Page 8
`
`SCEA Ex. 1004 Page 8
`
`

`

`US. Patent
`
`Jul. 20, 1999
`
`Sheet 7 0f 10
`
`5,926,624
`
`22
`
`Playback
`Device
`
`0 0 0
`
`Playback
`Device
`
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`
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`,
`,
`Scrambled Compressed Digital
`Information Files &
`
`2%
`Library Key
`Player lD Table Public/Priv.) 266
`—
`2_6_4
`
`Usage Statistics
`
`Library Site 2E
`
`Authoring System
`
`Authorization Server
`
`2_7Q
`
`Client Information including
`Client ID
`
`2g
`
`FIG. 7
`
`SCEA Ex. 1004 Page 9
`
`SCEA Ex. 1004 Page 9
`
`

`

`US. Patent
`
`Jul. 20, 1999
`
`Sheet 8 0f 10
`
`5,926,624
`
`Playback
`Device
`fig
`Network
`Interface
`§1_0
`
`Playback
`Device
`22
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`
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`
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`
`Usage Statistics
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`
`Client Information including
`Client ID
`
`2 2
`
`FIG. 8
`
`SCEA Ex. 1004 Page 10
`
`SCEA Ex. 1004 Page 10
`
`

`

`US. Patent
`
`Jul. 20, 1999
`
`Sheet 9 0f 10
`
`5,926,624
`
`
`
`Playback
`Device
`
`
`
`fig
`
`
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`21
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`
`
` Mass Storage
`
`241
`
`Network
`
` Authoring System
`
`Authorization Server
`
`FIG. 9
`
`SCEA Ex. 1004 Page 11
`
`SCEA Ex. 1004 Page 11
`
`

`

`US. Patent
`
`Jul. 20, 1999
`
`Sheet 10 0f 10
`
`5,926,624
`
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`SCEA Ex. 1004 Page 12
`
`SCEA Ex. 1004 Page 12
`
`
`
`
`
`

`

`5,926,624
`
`1
`DIGITAL INFORMATION LIBRARY AND
`DELIVERY SYSTEM WITH LOGIC FOR
`GENERATING FILES TARGETED TO THE
`PLAYBACK DEVICE
`
`FIELD OF THE INVENTION
`
`The present invention relates generally to a digital infor-
`mation transmission,
`receiving, and playback system.
`Specifically, the present invention pertains to a computer
`network based digital information library providing interac-
`tive client computer access.
`
`DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART
`
`technological advances in the compression of
`Recent
`digital data and the expansion of storage capacities of
`computer systems together with the increased bandwidth of
`computer network infrastructures have created new possi-
`bilities for personalized access to and usage of large amounts
`of digital
`information. One form of this type of digital
`information is audio information delivered across a com-
`
`puter network as digitized information.
`In the field of interactive digital information transmission,
`receiving, and playback systems, several patents are known
`to the present applicants. US. Pat. No. 5,132,992, issued Jul.
`21, 1992 to Yurt et al. (Yurt), describes a system of distrib-
`uting video and/or audio information employing digital
`signal processing to achieve high rates of data compression.
`The Yurt patent describes a transmission system including a
`conversion means for placing the items from a source
`material library into a predetermined format as formatted
`data. Audio data is compressed by an audio compressor by
`application of an adaptive differential pulse code modulation
`(ADPCM) process to the audio data. Stored items are
`accessed in the compressed data library through the use of
`a unique address code assigned to each item during storage
`encoding. The unique address code is used for requesting
`and accessing information and items throughout the Yurt
`transmission and receiving process. The Yurt transmission
`system includes means by which a user enters a customer
`identifier (ID) code by which the system accesses the users
`account, and indicates to the system that
`the user is a
`subscriber of the system. If a subscriber is in good standing,
`the Yurt system delivers selected titles using the described
`techniques.
`One significant problem with the audio transmission and
`receiving system described in Yurt is the lack of an effective
`means for ensuring the security of the digital information
`library and of the items downloaded to a user from the
`digital information library. Although Yurt describes the use
`of a unique identification code assigned to items in the
`library and a customer ID code assigned to particular users,
`no authentication protocols or encryption techniques are
`described to prevent
`the unauthorized creation of clone
`libraries or the unauthorized download or copying of library
`items. Secondly, Yurt and related prior art does not describe
`an authentication or encryption means providing secure
`transactions between a server based digital
`information
`library supporting a client computer system having an
`interface to a mobile playback device. Thirdly, the prior art
`does not describe a mechanism for selecting a digital infor-
`mation passage to be previewed. Prior art systems also do
`not describe a system whereby only part of a program gets
`downloaded from a client computer system to a mobile
`playback device depending on how much storage space is
`available in the mobile playback device. Prior art systems
`also do not describe a mechanism for specifying multiple
`
`2
`information
`programs to be downloaded from a digital
`library into a mobile playback device. Prior art systems also
`do not detail the processes required in the authoring system
`to generate content
`for
`the digital
`information library.
`Finally, prior art systems do not describe an accounting
`system whereby library content providers can perform real-
`time queries on usage information related to the access of
`library items.
`SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
`
`The preferred embodiment of the present invention is a
`computer network based digital information library system
`employing authentication, targeting, and encryption proto-
`cols for the secure transfer of digital information library
`programs to a client computer system and a mobile digital
`information playback device removably connectable to the
`client computer system. The present invention is a computer
`network based library and information delivery system for
`accessing and obtaining selected digital information files.
`The library and information delivery system comprises: 1) a
`library server having a plurality of digital information files;
`2) a client computer system coupled to the library server
`over a network; and 3) a mobile device removably connect-
`able to the client computer system,
`the client computer
`system including logic for requesting a download of a
`selected one or more of the digital information files from the
`library server, the client computer system further including
`logic for downloading the selected one or more of the digital
`information files to the mobile device.
`
`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
`
`The accompanying drawings, which are included as part
`of the present specification, illustrate the presently preferred
`embodiment of the present invention and together with the
`general description given above and the detailed description
`of the preferred embodiment given below serve to eXplain
`and teach the principles of the present invention.
`FIG. 1 illustrates a typical computer platform on which
`the present invention may be implemented.
`FIG. 2 illustrates a high level block diagram of the
`computer network based digital information library system
`of the present invention.
`FIG. 3 illustrates a high level block diagram of the
`authoring system of the present invention.
`FIG. 4 illustrates an alternative embodiment having a
`plurality of library servers.
`FIG. 5 illustrates an alternative embodiment having a
`plurality of library server processes.
`FIG. 6 illustrates an alternative embodiment having a
`single authoring/authorization server.
`FIG. 7 illustrates an alternative embodiment wherein
`
`client computer systems have a local library.
`FIG. 8 illustrates an alternative embodiment wherein
`
`mobile playback devices have a direct network interface in
`lieu of a client computer system.
`FIG. 9 illustrates an alternative embodiment wherein a
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`kiosk is used to retain and distribute selected programming.
`FIG. 10 illustrates an alternative embodiment wherein all
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`system components are connected through a common net-
`work.
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`DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE
`PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
`
`The preferred embodiment of the present invention is a
`computer network based digital information library system
`
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`5,926,624
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`3
`employing authentication, targeting, and encryption proto-
`cols for the secure transfer of digital information library
`programs to a client computer system and a mobile digital
`information playback device removably connectable to the
`client computer system.
`In the following detailed
`description, numerous specific details are set forth in order
`to provide a thorough understanding of the present inven-
`tion. However, it will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in
`the art that these specific details need not be used to practice
`the present
`invention.
`In other
`instances, well known
`structures, interfaces, and processes have not been shown in
`detail
`in order not
`to unnecessarily obscure the present
`invention.
`
`FIG. 1 illustrates a typical data processing system upon
`which one embodiment of the present invention is imple-
`mented. It will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the
`art, however that other alternative systems of various system
`architectures may also be used. The data processing system
`illustrated in FIG. 1 includes a bus or other internal com-
`
`munication means 101 for communicating information, and
`a processor 102 coupled to the bus 101 for processing
`information. The system further comprises a random access
`memory (RAM) or other volatile storage device 104
`(referred to as main memory), coupled to bus 101 for storing
`information and instructions to be executed by processor
`102. Main memory 104 also may be used for storing
`temporary variables or other intermediate information dur-
`ing execution of instructions by processor 102. The system
`also comprises a read only memory (ROM) and/or static
`storage device 106 coupled to bus 101 for storing static
`information and instructions for processor 102, and a mass
`storage device 107 such as a magnetic disk drive or optical
`disk drive. Mass storage device 107 is coupled to bus 101
`and is typically used with a computer readable mass storage
`medium 108, such as a magnetic or optical disk, for storage
`of information and instructions. The system may further be
`coupled to a display device 121, such as a cathode ray tube
`(CRT) or a liquid crystal display (LCD) coupled to bus 101
`through bus 103 for displaying information to a computer
`user. An alphanumeric input device 122, including alpha-
`numeric and other keys, may also be coupled to bus 101
`through bus 103 for communicating information and com-
`mand selections to processor 102. An additional user input
`device is cursor control 123, such as a mouse, a trackball,
`stylus, or cursor direction keys coupled to bus 101 through
`bus 103 for communicating direction information and com-
`mand selections to processor 102, and for controlling cursor
`movement on display device 121. Another device which
`may optionally be coupled to bus 101 through bus 103 is a
`hard copy device 124 which may be used for printing
`instructions, data, or other information on a medium such as
`paper, film, or similar types of media. In the preferred
`embodiment, a communication device 125 is coupled to bus
`101 through bus 103 for use in accessing other nodes of a
`network computer system or other computer peripherals.
`This communication device 125 may include any of a
`number of commercially available networking peripheral
`devices such as those used for coupling to an Ethernet, token
`ring, Internet, or wide area network. It may also include any
`number of commercially available peripheral devices
`designed to communicate with remote computer peripherals
`such as scanners, terminals, specialized printers, or audio
`input/output devices. Communication device 125 may also
`include an RS232 or other conventional serial port, a con-
`ventional parallel port, a small computer system interface
`(SCSI) port or other data communication means. Commu-
`nications device 125 may use a wireless means of data
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`transfer devices such as the infrared IRDA protocol, spread-
`spectrum, or wireless LAN. In addition, communication
`device 125 is used in the preferred embodiment to couple the
`mobile playback device 212 to the client computer system
`214 as described in more detail below. One other device
`
`used in the preferred embodiment is sound circuitry 130
`either with attached speakers or headphones 132, or with
`analog audio outputs suitable for input into audio reproduc-
`tion equipment such as external amplifiers and speakers,
`cassette adapters, etc. Sound circuitry 130 is well known in
`the art for playing audio files. Alternatively, sound circuitry
`may be a radio transmitter which transmits audio data on a
`predefined frequency for reception and playback by a radio
`receiver. Other wireless methods are possible.
`Note that any or all of the components of the system
`illustrated in FIG. 1 and associated hardware may be used in
`various embodiments of the present invention; however, it
`will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that
`any configuration of the system may be used for various
`purposes according to the particular implementation. In one
`embodiment of the present invention, the data processing
`system illustrated in FIG. 1 is an IBM® compatible personal
`computer (PC), an Apple MacIntosh® personal computer, or
`a SUN® SPARC Workstation. Processor 102 may be one of
`the 80X86 compatible microprocessors such as the 80486 or
`PENTIUM® brand microprocessors manufactured by
`INTEL® Corporation of Santa Clara, Calif.
`The software implementing the present invention can be
`stored in main memory 104, mass storage device 107, or
`other storage medium accessible to processor 102. It will be
`apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that the methods
`and processes described herein can be implemented as
`software stored in main memory 104 or read only memory
`106 and executed by processor 102. This software may also
`be resident on an article of manufacture comprising a
`computer usable mass storage medium 108 having computer
`readable program code embodied therein and being readable
`by the mass storage device 107 and for causing the processor
`102 to perform digital information library transactions and
`protocols in accordance with the teachings herein.
`Digital Information Library System
`FIG. 2 illustrates the computer network architecture used
`in the preferred embodiment of the present invention. In
`general, the network architecture of the present invention
`includes a library site 250 coupled to a client site 210 via a
`conventional distribution network infrastructure 240. This
`conventional distribution network infrastructure 240 can be
`
`implemented as a standard telephone connection provided
`between the library site 250 and client site 210 through an
`Internet provider to enable data communication on the
`Internet over a conventional telephone network. This use of
`the Internet as a distribution network is well known to those
`
`of ordinary skill in the art. In an alternative embodiment
`having cable modem capability, communication over a con-
`ventional cable network is possible in lieu of communication
`over the telephone network. The cable network is typically
`much faster (i.e. provides a much greater bandwidth) than
`the standard telephone network; however, cable modems are
`typically more expensive than standard POTS (plain old
`telephone system) modems. In another alternative embodi-
`ment having conventional Integrated Services Digital Net-
`work (ISDN) capability,
`the distribution network 240 is
`accessed using an ISDN modem. Again, the ISDN network
`is typically faster than the POTS network; however, access
`to an ISDN network is generally more expensive. Cable
`modems and ISDN implementations are alternative commu-
`nications media to the POTS implementation.
`
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`5,926,624
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`In addition, it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill
`in the art that other forms of networking may equivalently be
`supported by the present invention. For example, a wireless
`transmission means such as infrared or radio links may also
`provide the distribution network 240 described in the present
`application. As an alternative to the Internet, a proprietary
`network/bulletin board such as AMERICA-ON-LINE
`(AOL), or COMPUSERVE may be used.
`Each of the servers at library site 250 and the client
`computer system 214 at client site 210 can be implemented
`as a computer system such as the one described above in
`connection with FIG. 1. It will be apparent to one of ordinary
`skill in the art that the library server 260, authoring system
`280, and authorization server 270 can be remotely located
`yet networked together as a distributed system using the
`techniques described above. In addition, the present inven-
`tion allows for multiple library servers, authoring systems
`and authorization servers. Conversely, the servers may be
`implemented as separate functions of a single machine.
`These alternative embodiments are illustrated in FIGS. 4—8
`and are described in more detail below.
`
`The mobile playback device 212 is a minimally
`configured, low-cost, standalone mobile unit for receiving
`and storing digital information files or programs as down-
`loaded by library server 260 and client computer system 214
`and for playing back the digital information files or pro-
`grams for a user of the mobile playback device 212. The
`mobile playback device 212 is temporarily removably
`coupled to the client computer system 214 while the down-
`load takes place. Once downloaded, the mobile playback
`device 212 may be detached from the client computer
`system 214 and used as a standalone digital information
`playback device. A co-pending US. Patent Application
`titled, “Interactive Audio Transmission, Receiving and Play-
`back System”, assigned Ser. No. 08/490,537, now US. Pat.
`No. 5,790,423 and assigned to the Audible Words Corpora-
`tion of Montclair, NJ. describes the details of mobile
`playback device 212.
`In its basic form, the preferred embodiment of the present
`invention is a digital information library system providing
`selection of digital information programming on demand
`over a computer network. In an alternative embodiment, the
`digital information programming is selected via the com-
`puter network but delivered using mass storage media 241.
`This alternative embodiment is described in more detail
`below.
`
`The digital information library is an indexed collection of
`digital
`information programming, drawing content from
`digital information sources such as books, daily news and
`entertainment feeds, conferences and educational sources,
`other computer systems, the host on the World Wide Web
`(W) of the Internet, and customized audio or visual
`image programming. Other sources of the digital informa-
`tion content include, but are not limited to, conference or
`seminar proceedings, lecture or speech materials, language
`lessons, readings, comedy, customized spoken digests and
`related, “need-to-know” business information, computer
`software, local sound studio material, text to speech con-
`version of machine readable files, pre-recorded material
`from magnetic tape, CD-ROM, digital audio tape, or analog
`cassette tape. This digital information content is input as raw
`digital information content to authoring system 280 shown
`in FIG. 2.
`In an alternative embodiment, a raw digital
`information digitizer 307 is included for receiving raw input
`and converting the input to a digital form which can be
`manipulated as a digital information file.
`information
`In an alternative embodiment,
`the digital
`comprises digitized image or graphics data used to produce
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`visual images on a display screen or projection screen. These
`images may be included in the digital information retained
`and maintained by the library server 260.
`Authoring System
`Authoring system 280 is used to edit, index, compress,
`scramble, segment, and catalog digital information content
`into digital information programs in digital information files,
`which are stored on mass storage media 241 or on library
`server 260 as scrambled and compressed digital information
`files 262. The digital
`information programs are initially
`categorized according to traditional criteria (e.g. genre,
`modern fiction, mystery, adventure, romance, non-fiction,
`classics, self-help, science fiction, westerns, etc.). Catego-
`ries associated with specific authors or publishers are also
`provided. Both unabridged and abridged titles are provided.
`In some circumstances,
`it may be necessary to digitize
`digital information content from an undigitized form. The
`raw information digitizer 307 is provided for this purpose.
`Authoring system 280 also partitions digital information
`content into segments, which can be identified, searched,
`and skipped over if desired. All of these functions are
`performed by authoring system 280.
`FIG. 3 illustrates the authoring system 280 of the pre-
`ferred embodiment. Authoring system 280 receives digital
`information content from a variety of conventional sources
`as raw digitized data. This digital information data is fed to
`three components of the authoring system 280 of the pre-
`ferred embodiment. The digital information compressor 314
`receives the raw digital data and compresses the digitized
`data. There are a variety of conventional
`techniques in
`existence for compressing digital data. These techniques can
`be optimized depending upon the type of digital data being
`processed. Thus,
`the present
`invention provides several
`compression methods and a means for the authoring system
`operator 305 to select between these methods based upon the
`category of digital information content 310 being input to
`the digital information compressor 314. Alternatively, the
`selection of compression method may be performed auto-
`matically by interpretation of the digital information content
`310 itself. A compressed digital information file is output by
`digital information compressor 314 to scrambler 318.
`The raw digital information content 310 is also fed to
`template header generator 312. Each digital information file
`maintained by the library server 260 includes other descrip-
`tive information used to identify the file’s content and to
`provide information used to process the digital information
`within the file. Each digital
`information file includes a
`template header, a descrambling map, selected preview
`clips, and the digital information programming itself. In the
`preferred embodiment,
`the template header comprises a
`number of attributes corresponding to the digital information
`in the file. For example, the digital information may be audio
`information generated from the content of a book or other
`published work. In this example,
`the audio file template
`header contains attributes including: 1) the title of a book,
`volume, or medium from which the digital
`information
`content