WO2007010577A1

WO2007010577A1 - Instant download system of music files from radio over telephone connection

Info

Publication number: WO2007010577A1
Application number: PCT/IT2006/000510
Authority: WO
Inventors: Piergiorgio Gasparetti
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2005-07-19
Filing date: 2006-07-04
Publication date: 2007-01-25
Anticipated expiration: 2008-01-19
Also published as: ITMC20050067A1

Abstract

This patent application refers to an instant download system of music files from the radio over a telephone connection and to the device for the implementation of the said system.

Description

Instant download system of music files from radio over telephone connection.

This patent application refers to an instant download system of music files from the radio over a telephone connection and to the device for the implementation of the said system. The system has been devised to satisfy the needs of people listening to music over the radio, especially through the stereo radio system installed in the car.

As a matter of fact, it is quite common to listen to a good song without knowing the title or the name of the artist and it would be nice to be able to listen to it again.

At present the lack of aforementioned pieces of information does not allow the user to obtain the song through traditional methods, i.e. buying a CD or downloading the MP3 file from the Internet.

Theoretically, the sound could be recorded from the radio station, but this could only be done with an old radio-recorder. In fact, this type of device has practically disappeared from the market (being replaced by CD or MP3 players) and, in any case, has never been used in car audio systems.

Moreover, the radio listener may decide to record the song after broadcasting has started; in this case, even if the user is provided with a device able to record the song in real time, the result of the recording would be totally unacceptable,

In addition to the above, the quality of the recording from the radio station would not be good, including if the most advanced recording technologies are used. This is due to the fact that, especially in case of a radio system installed in a moving car, radio broadcasting is characterised by limited stability and clarity.

A careful examination of these problems, which are typical of the traditional technology, has led to the design of the system according to the present invention, which represents an easy and practical system for the instant download of music files.

In fact, the new system allows the radio listener to send a purchase order for the song to a remote central storage system (based on the Internet or other server) in real time. After receiving the order, the central storage system sends the file of the song to the user, charging the cost on the user's account.

In particular, according to the system of the invention, every song broadcast on the radio is accompanied by a corresponding identification code that is detected by the device and used with the purchase order sent to the central storage system, which is basically configured as a database.

Because of the acquisition of the said identification code, the remote memory is able to identify the song that corresponds to the user's purchase order among all the music files stored in the data base.

In order to implement the said invention, the user must be provided with a special device that, in addition to receive standard radio broadcasting, is also able to recognise the identification codes of the songs, send the purchase order to the remote memory and store every music file received from the remote server in a specific memory, thus executing the corresponding purchase order.

All the purchase orders sent by the user to the remote memory, as well as all the music files sent by the remote memory to the users are transmitted over the telephone line. Preferably, the music files are transmitted in MP3 format, but any other different format can be used, if compatible with the new system.

This brief description clearly shows the great advantages of the new system of the invention.

In fact, through this invention, the user can purchase a song without knowing the title and the singer. Moreover, he will receive a first-quality version of the song, because the song is not recorded from the user's car audio, which may be of good or bad quality or more or less disturbed. As a matter of fact, the song is acquired from the remote database, in which music files are stored with perfect quality and sent to the purchaser in the same perfect condition.

In this way, the system of the invention is particularly suitable for car audio systems, that is to say audio systems that are installed in cars or vehicles in general.

Another advantage of the new system is that the user can order a song from the database and receive it in integral version, even if the song is being broadcast over the radio for a certain time. In fact, while the song is being broadcast over the radio, the system is able to detect the identification code of the song. In this way, the user can decide to send the purchase order for the song also when the song is almost ended.

It must be said that, in order to use the services delivered by the new system of the invention, the user must enter a subscription contract with the service provider and have a bank account that can be used by the service provider to charge the costs of the song purchased by the user.

As already mentioned, the automatic implementation of the system of the invention is made possible by means of a device especially designed to be associated with a radio system installed in vehicles (car audio systems) or in fixed radio sets (home radio systems), as well as with a radio system of the type of systems incorporated in last-generation mobile telephones.

For major clarity the description of the invention continues with reference to the enclosed drawings, which are intended for purposes of illustration only and not in a limiting sense, whereby:

- figure 1 is a block diagram of the different units included in the operation of the system of the invention, in a solution designed to be implemented in case of car audio systems installed in vehicles;

- figure 2 is a diagrammatic view of the structure of the device designed for the actuation of the system of the invention;

- figure 3 is the same as figure 1 , although it refers to a solution designed to be implemented in case of fixed radio systems; - figure 4 is the same as figure 1 , although it refers to a solution designed to be implemented in cooperation with a radio system associated with a mobile telephone.

With reference to figure 2, the device designed for the implementation of the system of the invention, which is connected to an audio system, consists in an audio device that includes an AM/FM tuner that receives RDS signals or digital signals of any other kind, a CPU processor equipped with writable internal or external memory. Through a communication port, the processor can manage a data and/or Internet connection (over fixed telephone lines, such as ISDN, ADSL or mobile telephone lines, like

GSM/GPRS/UMTS).

More precisely, the device (1 ) includes a tuner (2), a CPU processor

(3), a memory unit (4), a card (5) with external communication port (USB and/or wireless) and a slot for SIM card (6) used to pay for the service. With reference to figure 1 , the network used to manage data/information is as follows: the identification code of the song is transmitted through RDS or any other method from radio station (R) during the broadcasting of the song.

If the listener wants to download the song's file (in MP3 or WMA, AIFF, WPI, WAV, etc. format), he can push the button (7) provided on the device

(1) or on other peripheral devices associated with it in order to send the purchase order for the song.

In that way, the CPU (3) establishes a data connection with a remote server or an Internet provider (S) through the modem (M) of a mobile telephone (T) with GSM/GPRS/UMTS connection and downloads (with a charge of money) the file associated to the code from the database of music files hosted at the server or provider (S).

The connection between the modem/mobile telephone system is made through USB cable, Bluetooth/wireless port or similar. The correct operation of the system of the invention requires the existence of a contract between the radio station (R) and the music database manager (S) to guarantee the song identification. The payment of the service can be made by prepaid SIM card or credit card once the user has been identified by the music database manager (S).

The prepaid card can be installed in the HW system or can be the same card used in the mobile telephone. The above mentioned writable memory (4) can be a CDR/RW and/or

DVD R/RW (4a), a hard disk (4b) or a flash memory (4c), and the communication card (5) can be an USB card (5a) or Wireless Bluetooth card (5b).

With reference to figure 3, a second application of the new system of the invention is associated with a PC (8) or to an existing HW in a "domestic" or in any case fixed configuration.

Through a modem (M), the PC (8) can connect to the Internet, using an ISDN, PSDN or ADSL fixed telephone line, to download the file of the song listened on the radio. In this case, the device (1) can be without writable memory because the same is already incorporated in the PC (8).

With reference to figure 4, the device (1 ) is incorporated inside a mobile telephone (C) and uses its modem (M) for connection.

In brief, the system of the invention consists in the ordered sequence of the following operations:

- broadcasting by a radio station (R) of a song associated with a specific identification code;

- reading of the identification code by a special device (1 ) associated with a radio system during broadcasting of the song; - sending, by the user of the special device (1), while listening to the song, of a purchase order to the manager (S) of a remote memory in which music files are stored and associated with the same reference codes used by the radio station during broadcasting;

- sending, by the manager (S) of the remote memory, of the requested music file to the device (1 ) that has sent the purchase order, where the file is stored in a specific memory (4);

- charging, by the manager (S) of the remote memory, of the cost of the purchased song on a prepaid card or credit card (6) associated with the device (1 ) that has sent the purchase order.

Claims

1 ) A system characterised in that it comprises:

- reading of the identification code by a special device (1 ) during broadcasting of the song;

- sending, by the user of the special device (1), while listening to the song, of a purchase order to the manager (S) of a remote memory in which music files are stored and associated with the same reference codes used by the radio station during broadcasting; - sending, by the manager (S) of the remote memory, of the requested music file to the device (1) that has sent the purchase order, where the file is stored in a specific memory (4);

2) Device for the implementation of the system defined in the previous claim, characterised in that it comprises a tuner (2), a CPU processor (3), a memory unit (4), a communication card (5) with a modem (M) and the relative actuation button (7), a slot for a SIM card (6) for the payment of the service; it being provided that the CPU processor (3) is able to recognize the identification code received from the tuner (2) and, after the impulse received when the button (7) is actuated, manage in a sequence the sending of the purchase order with code for every song to the manager (S) of the remote memory; the reception of the music file coming from the manager (S); the storing of the music file in the memory (4) and the payment of the amount due to the manager (S) by a prepaid card or credit card.

3) Device according to claim 2, characterised in that the memory (4) consists in a CDR/RW and/or DVD R/RW (4a), a hard disk (4b) or a flash memory (4c)

4) Device according to claim 2, characterised in that the connection with the modem (M) is a USB card (5a) or a Wireless-Bluetooth card (5b). 5) Device according to claim 2, characterised in that the modem (M) is a modem for the mobile telephone network or a modem for the fixed telephone network.

6) Device according to the claims 2 and 5, characterised in that the card (5) is connected with an external modem (M) incorporated in a mobile telephone (T) or with an external modem (M) incorporated in a PC (8).

7) Device according to the claim 2, characterised in that the card (5) is connected with the modem (M) of a mobile telephone (C) in which the same is contained.