Google and UPnP Functions

July 15, 2009

UPnP is a standard that enables devices to be plugged into a network and automatically know about each other. Most people don’t worry too much about standards for networked devices behaving and doing what their owners expect.

My thought is that savvy readers of this Web log might want to take a gander at four patent documents filed on December 7 and December 8, 2008, and published on June 11, 2009. Please, dear reader, do not remind me of these points:

Patent applications may mean nothing; in fact, for one former Microsoft person, patent documents are often red herrings
Patent applications may be little more than management keeping some engineers happy or giving their parents something to show the neighbors to help explain what their progeny does for a living
Patent applications may not contain anything new, existing to recycle other, more prescient innovators ideas because the patent system is broken.

I think these four patent documents are reasonably interesting. You can get your very own copy from the ever snappy USPTO service or by paying one of the commercial outfits who will do the retrieving for those with better things to do than fool with mere busy work.

The four documents that caught my attention were:

20090150480, Publishing Assets Of Dynamic Nature In UPnP Networks
20090150481, Organizing And Publishing Assets In UPnP Networks
20090150520, Transmitting Assets In UPnP Networks To Remote Servers
20090150570, Sharing Assets Between UPnP Networks

I am reluctant to ignore these because the Google revealed that the inventors form what looks to me like an innovation team; to wit:

The italics show the three Googlers who played a part in all four patents. One can conclude that this group of seven individuals forms a core of UPnP knowledge at the Google.

So what can one do with the Google inventions disclosed in these four documents?

I will be discussing these in detail in my client briefings, so I will highlight one of the documents and offer some observations. For more, you can find out the method by looking at the About page for this Web log.

Let’s look at 20090150481. The title provides a clue: “Organizing and Publishing Assets in UPnP Networks”. The first order of business is to get up to speed on UPnP because the Google doesn’t provide the basic information needed for a person not skilled in the art to figure out what’s going on. You can start with this Wikipedia page. The information is useful but not 100 percent of the picture. I think it is a useful place to begin, however. The write up explains that connections in the home are one place where UPnP plays a role. Good clue that, particularly the reference to entertainment.

Now let’s look at what Google says the patent document 20090150481 is about:

System and computer program products for allowing a renderer in a UPnP network the capability of being able to render general Internet content of static or dynamic nature, which the renderer was not designed to render in the contents original data format and file type. The system queries all devices on the local network, queries specific remote servers over the Internet, and retrieves data feeds from remote sources. The queried and retrieved data that is not in a format and file type that can be rendered by the renderer is loaded into a template and turned into a format and file type acceptable by the renderer. The queried and retrieved data in the proper format and file type is organized in a custom format and made available for rendering to the renderer. The system has the capability of transmitting content or the metadata of the content within the devices on the local network to a hosting service over the Internet. Additionally, a second local network has the capability of accessing the content stored on the first local network.

The invention points to a more sophisticated media system, involving devices, content, and metadata. Strikes me as germane to Google’s interest in online games and other rich content.

Stephen Arnold, July 15, 2009

Written by Stephen E. Arnold · Filed Under Business strategy, Google, Rich media, Technology

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Stephen E. Arnold monitors search, content processing, text mining and related topics from his high-tech nerve center in rural Kentucky. He tries to winnow the goose feathers from the giblets. He works with colleagues worldwide to make this Web log useful to those who want to go "beyond search". Contact him at sa [at] arnoldit.com. His Web site with additional information about search is arnoldit.com.