Media Device Contact Identifier Association with Broadcast Sources

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Solution Overview

Problem

Listeners face inconvenience and time constraints when trying to participate in radio broadcast contests or talk shows, as they need to quickly find and dial the radio station's telephone number, which can be dangerous and inefficient.

Innovation Solution

A media device with a broadcast receiver, data store, and user interface that retrieves and stores contact identifiers for broadcast sources, allowing users to initiate communication quickly and conveniently, either by receiving RDS data or querying a media server, and continuously attempting to connect until the desired time or event.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Ease of operation

If a listener manually finds and dials the radio station's telephone number, then the listener can participate in the broadcast contest or talk show, but the process is time-consuming and inconvenient

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveease of initiating contact with broadcast sourceVSAvoidtime to find and dial telephone number

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of operationVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary actions by automatically retrieving and storing the broadcast source's contact information (telephone number, email, etc.) in advance. When the user wants to contact the broadcast source, the information is already available in the device's memory, eliminating the need for manual searching and dialing.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The system enables self-service by automatically obtaining contact information from the broadcast source through RDS data or media servers. The device itself performs the information retrieval and storage tasks without requiring user intervention, making the contact initiation process efficient and convenient.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #25Self-service

2Reliability

If a listener manually dials the radio station's number during a broadcast, then the listener can join the show, but the process may be dangerous depending on current user activity

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvesafety of contact initiationVSAvoiddanger from manual dialing during activity

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs the contact initiation process automatically without requiring the user to manually dial or interact with the device during potentially dangerous activities. The device autonomously retrieves contact information and initiates communication, eliminating the need for user attention and manual operations.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #25Self-service

Solution Approach 2:

The system prepares contact information in advance and stores it in the device memory before the user needs to contact the broadcast source. This preliminary preparation allows the user to initiate contact with a simple action or automatically, without needing to perform complex manual dialing operations during the broadcast.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

3Productivity

If the media device automatically retrieves and stores contact identifiers for broadcast sources, then users can quickly initiate communication, but the device complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvespeed of contact initiationVSAvoidcomplexity of contact management system

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The system leverages existing multi-functional components in the media device, such as the broadcast receiver and data processing capabilities, to perform contact information retrieval. By making these existing components serve multiple purposes (receiving broadcast content and extracting contact data), the system avoids adding significant complexity while enabling quick contact initiation.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

Solution Approach 2:

The system uses intermediaries such as media servers and RDS data as sources for contact information. These intermediaries provide the contact data in a structured format that can be automatically retrieved and stored, simplifying the device's task compared to manual information gathering while still enabling fast contact initiation.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Data Source

PatentUS8843056B2Systems, methods, and devices for associating a contact identifier with a broadcast source

Publication Date: 2014.09.23 APPLE INC

AI summary

A media device including a broadcast receiver that receives broadcast media from a plurality of broadcast sources where the broadcast receiver is tunable to a first broadcast source. The media device also includes a data store that stores a list of contact identifiers where each contact identifier is associated with a broadcast source. The media device includes a user interface that: i) provides a prompt to a user to enable the user to initiate contact with the first broadcast source, and ii) receives a user indication to initiate contact with the first broadcast source. The media device further includes a transceiver that initiates the contact with the first broadcast source by sending a communications session request via a communications network to the first broadcast source that includes a contact identifier associated with the first broadcast source.