Shared Television Sessions for Tuner Resource Arbitration
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Solution Overview
Problem
Resource limitations in multi-room television systems, such as limited tuners and bandwidth, restrict user access to television content, leading to conflicts when all tuners are in use.
Innovation Solution
Implementing shared television sessions where multiple rendering devices can share a tuner device, allowing users to join or initiate sessions based on permissions and configuration settings, enabling simultaneous viewing of different content without requiring multiple tuners.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If multiple tuners are provided to allow simultaneous television content playback and recordings, then user access to television content is improved, but device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple rendering devices are merged into a shared television session, allowing them to simultaneously access and control a single tuner device. This combining approach enables multiple users to watch different content or the same content simultaneously without requiring multiple physical tuners, thus resolving the contradiction between user access and device complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The tuner device is designed to serve multiple rendering devices simultaneously through the shared television session mechanism. A single tuner can be shared among multiple users who can each control it according to their permissions, making the tuner universal and multi-functional rather than dedicated to a single device
2Device complexity
If a single tuner is shared among multiple rendering devices, then device complexity is reduced, but control conflicts and resource management complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts tuner control permissions based on the shared television session state. Different rendering devices can be granted different levels of control (full control, view-only, etc.) depending on their role in the session, allowing flexible and adaptive control management that resolves conflicts without requiring complex static permission structures
Solution Approach 2:
The system provides feedback mechanisms to manage tuner control conflicts. When control inputs are received from multiple rendering devices, the system processes these inputs according to the established permissions and configuration settings, providing feedback on which controls are accepted and which are blocked, thereby simplifying control management through structured response mechanisms
3Reliability
If multiple tuners are allocated to each rendering device, then independence and reliability are improved, but resource utilization efficiency decreases
Solution Approach 1:
Rendering devices in a shared television session can independently control the shared tuner according to their permissions without requiring allocation of dedicated tuners. Each device serves itself by sending control inputs to the tuner, and the system automatically manages the control arbitration, eliminating the need for pre-allocation while maintaining independence and maximizing utilization efficiency
Data Source
AI summary
Shared television sessions are described. In embodiment(s), television content can be received via a tuner of a tuner device. A shared television session can be established between rendering devices that share the tuner of the tuner device to receive the television content. A tuner configuration input can be received when initiated at a rendering device, and the tuner configuration input can be communicated to the tuner device to change the television content. The tuner device can receive different television content via the tuner according to the tuner configuration input. Tuner update data associated with the tuner configuration input can then be communicated to update the rendering devices that further share the tuner of the tuner device to receive the different television content.