Concepts for an intuitive user interface for DLNA using NFC technology

Abstract

Consumption of digital media is dramatically increased by the development of conventional connectivity technologies and the advent of home entertainment appliances. The evolution of networking technology, hardware development and advanced services leads to an increased sophistication of device manipulation and long learning curves for average users. DLNA standardizes the interoperablity between media devices over a framework. With the help of personal handheld devices and smart phones, a ubiquitous media network is formed at home or on the road. NFC is a radio technology bridging physical and digital world, which is now widely deployed in a varied number of application scenarios to ease Human-Computer Interaction. This master thesis proposes a system architecture based on the confluence of DLNA architecture and NFC technology to facilitate simple, intuitive and impromptu interaction with media devices. This NFC-enabled DLNA Communication system architecture defines a communication model which delivers the vision of NFC as the enabler of DLNA control and communication, a network model, a set of diverse device functional components, a set of dedicated devices and baseline principles of system architecture. Based on the generic system architecture, a research is explored on A/V and image media sharing, UI retrieval, media uploading/downloading and print document application fields. Six use cases are proposed, they share the properties and principles defined in the system architecture and additionally they maintain their own use case specific features and their proprietary NFC data formats. Among them two use cases are explained in more detail. One use case, A/V Handover, delivers a consistent "tap and exchange" scenario. The other use case, Control Handover, grants users an instantaneous access to the control UI. A prototype implementation between smart devices or home appliances are presented showcasing an instantaneous, rapid and spontaneous media sharing and management application. Following the design paradigm presented in this thesis, more use cases in specific application fields are easily to be implemented.