Low-power wireless content communication between devices

• US 10,136,291 B2
• Filed: 08/03/2017
• Issued: 11/20/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 12/29/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Weiss, Aaron Arthur
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Hai V
• Application Number:
  US15/668,583
• Publication Number:
  US 20170332191A1
• Time in Patent Office: 474 Days
• Field of Search: 455 412
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/385 Transceivers carried on the body, e.g. in helmets
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 2001/3861 carried in a hand or on fingers
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0229 where the received signal is a wanted signal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/18 Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

Low-power wireless content communication techniques between devices are described. In one or more implementations, a method is described of controlling transfer of content to a wearable device from one or more computing devices over a lower power wireless communication connection. The method includes initiating a transfer of content to the wearable device over the lower power wireless communication connection to support playback of the content at the wearable device, in which the low power wireless communication connection does not support streaming of the content in an amount sufficient to support real time playback of the content at the wearable device. The transfer is managed of a plurality of portions of the content to the wearable device over the lower power wireless communication connection in which individual ones of the plurality of portions are transferred from the one or more computing device responsive to availability of the lower power wireless communication connection with the one or more computing devices. The plurality of portions of the content are caused to be stored locally at the wearable device.

Claims

1. A device for controlling transfer of content over a low power wireless communication connection, the device comprising:

a transfer manager module configured to;

initiate a transfer of content to a wearable device over the low power wireless communication connection to support playback of the content at the wearable device, the low power wireless communication connection not having sufficient bandwidth to support streaming of the content in an amount sufficient to support real time playback of the content at the wearable device;

manage the transfer of a plurality of portions of the content to the wearable device over the low power wireless communication connection in which individual ones of the plurality of portions are transferred from one or more computing devices responsive to availability of the low power wireless communication connection with the one or more computing devices; and

cause the plurality of portions of the content to be stored locally at the wearable device.

2. A device as described in claim 1, wherein the low power wireless communication connection complies with a Bluetooth Low Energy Protocol, a Wi-Fi Low Energy Protocol, or a 2.4 GHz wireless protocol.

3. A device as described in claim 1, wherein the device comprises the wearable device.

4. A device as described in claim 3, wherein the transfer manager module of the wearable device is further configured to manage the transfer by:

identifying the one or more computing devices as part of a request for the content; and

requesting the transfer of the individual ones of the plurality of portions of the content from the identified one or more computing devices.

5. A device as described in claim 4, wherein:

the plurality of portions of the content includes a first portion and a second portion;

the one or more computing devices include a first computing device and a second computing device; and

the transfer manager module is further configured to obtain the first portion from the first computing device and the second portion from the second computing device using a low power wireless communication device of the wearable device.

6. A device as described in claim 3, wherein the wearable device is configured to be worn on a wrist or as a broach, a necklace, or a ring.

7. A device as described in claim 1, wherein the transfer manager module is further configured to manage the transfer at least partly through use of a service backend that controls which of the plurality of portions are transferred by which of the one or more computing devices.

8. A device as described in claim 7, wherein the service backend is not directly accessible by the wearable device over a network connection, and the service backend is directly accessible by the one or more computing devices.

9. A device as described in claim 1, wherein the device comprises a computing device of the one or more computing devices.

10. A device as described in claim 9, wherein the transfer manager module of the computing device is configured to obtain at least one portion of the plurality of portions of the content from a service backend.

11. A device as described in claim 9, wherein the transfer manager module of the computing device is configured to control which of the plurality of portions of the content are transferred to the wearable device by which of the one or more computing devices.

12. A method of controlling transfer of content to a wearable device from one or more computing devices over a low power wireless communication connection, the method comprising:

forming the low power wireless communication connection between the one or more computing devices and the wearable device, the wearable device including a housing configured to be worn by a user, the low power wireless communication connection incapable of supporting a streaming of the content in an amount sufficient to support real time playback of the content by an output device secured to the housing of the wearable device;

managing transfer of a plurality of portions of the content to the wearable device over the low power wireless communication connection in which individual ones of the plurality of portions are transferred from the one or more computing devices; and

ceasing the transfer responsive to a determination that the wearable device is outside a range of the one or more computing devices.

13. A method as described in claim 12, wherein the managing comprises:

identifying, by the wearable device, at least one computing device of the one or more computing devices from which content is to be obtained; and

requesting the transfer of the individual ones of the plurality of portions of the content from the identified computing device.

14. A method as described in claim 12, wherein:

the managing comprises receiving, by the wearable device, the plurality of portions of the content from the one or more computing devices via the low power wireless communication connection; and

the housing is configured to be worn on a wrist or as a broach, a necklace, or a ring.

15. A method as described in claim 12, wherein:

the managing comprises transferring, by a computing device of the one or more computing devices, at least one portion of the plurality of portions of the content to the wearable device via the low power wireless communication connection; and

the content comprises at least one of audio media or video media.

16. A method as described in claim 12, further comprising:

causing the plurality of portions of the content to be placed in a local storage at the wearable device; and

playing back the plurality of portions of the content from the local storage of the wearable device.

17. A system comprising:

a memory device configured to store a plurality of portions of content; and

a transfer manager module configured to;

support a transfer of the plurality of portions of the content between one or more computing devices and a wearable device via a low power wireless communication connection that does not support streaming of the content in an amount sufficient to support real time playback of the content by the wearable device; and

manage how at least one of the wearable device or the one or more computing devices is configured to control the transfer of the plurality of portions of the content to the wearable device over the low power wireless communication connection responsive to availability of the low power wireless communication connection as determined by detection of a user login through the one or more computing devices.

18. A system as described in claim 17, wherein the transfer manager module is configured to provide the plurality of portions of the content to the one or more computing devices via at least one network.

19. A system as described in claim 17, wherein the low power wireless communication connection complies with a Bluetooth Low Energy Protocol, a Wi-Fi Low Energy Protocol, or a 2.4 GHz wireless protocol.

20. A system as described in claim 17, wherein the transfer manager module is further configured to enable the wearable device to control the transfer by requesting the transfer of individual ones of the plurality of portions of the content from the one or more computing devices that have been associated with the user login.