Statement of the Problem

Background:

Whether on campus, in the gym or riding the subway, people are listening to songs on portable music players. These music players provide hours of enjoyment for their users. A user can preload a variety of songs onto the music player. One limitation is the users have no chance of listening to another user's songs. We propose a product which will bridge the possibilities for a user to listen to their favorite music and the user experiencing new types of music. This product will have the ability to stream a song that one user is listening to, to another user's music player wirelessly. With the use of this product, individuals will gain the ability to share their taste in music with the individuals around them, and thus expand the musical tastes of others.

The Design:

The music player will have two modes. The first mode will allow the user to play music stored in the music player's memory through the headphones and to send music wirelessly to other music players in wireless range. The second mode will allow the user to receive music wirelessly and play it through the headphones. When streaming a song wirelessly the player will send information associated with the song along with the song itself. This information will be the music player identification, song title, and artist. The receiving player will store this information and allow the user to rate the current song as well as store a short clip of the song. The information will be used later to select future songs that user might potentially purchase. For example, if a user liked several songs from the same artist the player would be more likely to select a future song by this artist or another song from the same genre. In addition, if a user liked multiple songs from the same user it will be more likely to choose a song from that user if it is in range. The information will also be downloaded during syncing allowing the user to purchase the new music they like through an online music store. The project will be based on an embedded processor development kit to which we will add a wireless chipset. Investigation of options from several vendors is currently taking place.

Deliverables of the Design Project:

Depending on unit cost, either two prototypes will be delivered or one protoype and a PC-based solution for demonstration purposes. Each unit will be a fully functional digital music player with wireless transfer capability through the use of Bluetooth or WiFi technology. Additional features will include large storage space, a LCD display, navigation buttons, a battery, ability to transfer music via Firewire/USB, and casing. The player's software must be easy to use and make possible both the exchange of music from a PC and wirelessly.