In-flight Media System Seat Transition
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Solution Overview
Problem
In-flight entertainment and communications systems lack user flexibility, particularly in allowing seamless transition of media and user settings when passengers change seats, leading to disruptions in media playback and loss of user-specific data.
Innovation Solution
A system where a central server manages user-specific data for each earphone device, allowing unlinking and re-linking with different local units, storing and retrieving data associated with unique identifiers, enabling continuous media playback and settings across different devices and seats.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a passenger changes seats and unlinks their earphone device from one local unit to another, then the system should maintain user-specific data and resume media playback seamlessly, but the current system lacks the capability to store and retrieve such data across different devices
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary data storage mechanism between the earphone device and local units. When an earphone device unlinks from a local unit, the system stores user-specific data (including media playback state) in a temporary storage location. When the earphone device links to a new local unit, the system retrieves the stored data, enabling seamless transition without data loss.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary actions by storing user-specific data before the actual seat change occurs. When unlinking is detected, the data is saved in advance, ensuring that when the passenger connects to a different local unit, the information is already prepared and ready for retrieval, preventing any data loss during the transition.
2Ease of operation
If the system stores user-specific data for each earphone device to enable seamless transitions, then user flexibility improves, but system complexity increases due to additional data management requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The earphone device itself performs self-service by storing and retrieving its own user-specific data. When the earphone device unlinks from a local unit, it automatically saves its state information. When linking to a new unit, it automatically retrieves its data without requiring complex external management systems, thereby reducing overall system complexity while maintaining ease of operation.
3Reliability
If the system maintains user-specific data across multiple local units, then user experience is preserved during seat changes, but the amount of data management and processing increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by storing user-specific data locally at each local unit rather than centrally managing all data across the entire system. Each local unit maintains its own data storage capabilities, allowing the system to retrieve user data without requiring energy-intensive centralized data management operations, thus reducing overall energy consumption while maintaining reliability.
Data Source
AI summary
A system provides media content/communications data to a plurality of devices. The system includes a server system that includes a central server in communication with a plurality of local units each acting as a client to the central server. The central server is configured to provide content to each local unit. The system includes at least one earphone device linkable to each local unit to convert an audio signal received from the server system into an audible sound output to a user. The system is configured to identify a potential unlinking of an earphone device from an output of a local unit, store user-specific data corresponding to a condition of operation of the local unit substantially at the time of the potential unlinking, identify an attempt to link the earphone device with an output of a local unit, and retrieve the stored user-specific data.