The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Mar. 26, 2002
Filed:
Mar. 30, 1999
Edward Blaine Eytchison, Milpitas, CA (US);
Other;
Abstract
A method of managing resources within a network for consumer electronic media devices. In one embodiment, the method is implemented as a software resource manager which provides a centralized resource allocation, reservation and access control functionalities for a home entertainment server. Particularly, user applications of the home server receive instructions from a user or other entities for a media service, and converts the instructions into a request that identifies the necessary resources for providing the media service. The software resource manager then determines whether such resources are available upon receiving the request. Importantly, the software resource manager also determines whether a routing path between the necessary resources has sufficient bandwidth for performing the requested media service. If necessary resources and bandwidth are available, the software resource manager then sends control signals to the source and destination devices causing them to perform the requested media services. Additionally, the software resource manager of the present invention provides event scheduling and request arbitration functionalities to the home entertainment server. In this manner, a secure home entertainment network that is protected from misuse and abuse can thus be achieved.