Cross-Platform Playback Session Transfer With Position Continuity
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing media playback systems lack seamless interoperability between different platforms, requiring users to manually stop and recreate playback sessions when transitioning between devices from one domain to another, which is inconvenient and cumbersome, especially when dealing with playlists and play positions.
Innovation Solution
Automating the playback session transition process by querying the current state of the source domain, detecting trigger conditions such as location changes or device proximity, and sending instructions to initiate the playback session on the target domain with the correct audio content and play position.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If playback sessions are manually stopped and recreated when transitioning between devices from different domains, then platform interoperability is achieved, but user convenience deteriorates and operational complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a session manager as an intermediary component that bridges different playback domains (native and extrinsic). The session manager detects playback events from extrinsic domains, queries playback state information, and automatically initiates corresponding playback sessions in the native domain, eliminating the need for manual intervention and enabling seamless cross-platform transitions.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary actions by pre-configuring the session manager with the necessary playback state information and establishing event listening mechanisms before transitions are needed. When a playback event occurs in an extrinsic domain, the session manager already has the infrastructure in place to immediately query and reproduce the playback state, enabling automatic and seamless transitions without user intervention.
2Adaptability or versatility
If playback sessions are manually stopped and recreated when transitioning between devices from different domains, then platform interoperability is achieved, but time consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The session manager acts as a real-time intermediary that continuously monitors playback events across domains. When a transition event is detected, it immediately queries the playback state and initiates the corresponding session in the target domain, eliminating the time delay associated with manual stop and recreate operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The system maintains continuity of playback by automatically detecting playback events and initiating corresponding sessions in different domains without interruption. The session manager ensures that playback state information is preserved and transferred seamlessly, allowing the useful action of audio playback to continue uninterrupted across platform boundaries.
3Ease of operation
If playback state information is queried and transferred between domains, then seamless playback transition is achieved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The session manager is designed as a universal component that handles multiple functions: listening to playback events from various extrinsic domains, querying playback state information, and initiating playback sessions in the native domain. This multi-functional design consolidates complexity into a single manageable component rather than requiring separate mechanisms for each function.
Solution Approach 2:
The session manager serves as an intermediary layer that abstracts the complexity of cross-domain playback state management. It provides a standardized interface for event detection, state querying, and session initiation, shielding the rest of the system from the underlying complexity while enabling seamless playback transitions.
Data Source
AI summary
As noted above, example techniques relate to playback transitions between platforms. In an example implementation, while a first playback device is playing back audio content during a first playback session in a first domain, a mobile device detecting a first event configured as a trigger to transfer playback to a second domain on a second playback device. In response to detecting the first event, the mobile device determining playback information for the playback session and sends, via a network interface, instructions to initiate a playback session in the second domain to reproduce the first playback session in the first domain.