Download status indicators in wireless short range devices

• US 20020093923A1
• Filed: 12/20/2001
• Published: 07/18/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 12/22/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: WSOU Investments, LLC (WSOU Holdings, LLC)
• Original Assignee: Nokia Corporation
• Inventors: Bouet, Stephane
• Granted Patent: US 7,043,548 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/328
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/75 Indicating network or usage conditions on the user display
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols

Abstract

The invention discloses a method of sending a download status indicator 320 depicting the status of a data transfer between a sending device and a receiving device. The invention is suitable for use with short range radio communication technologies including Bluetooth short range connection technology. In an embodiment of the invention, the invention is employed within a Bluetooth information Kiosk environment. In the embodiment, a Kiosk 100 establishes a connection 300 with a plurality of handheld devices (102,103,104) using the Object Exchange (OBEX) protocol. The download status indicator is estimated, for example, by the Kiosk 100 from models generated from usage statistics collected from previous data transfers. The download status indicator and related information is sent in an Application Parameters header 310 comprising of a plurality of triplets and is updated repeatedly in subsequent Application Parameters headers. The download status indicator is represented in picture format and takes the form of, for example, a progress bar displayed on the receiving device depicting the amount of data successfully downloaded.

Claims

1. A method of indicating the status of a download for display on a receiving device during a wireless data transfer comprising a plurality of packets between a sending device and the receiving device, the method being characterized in that a plurality of status indicators are transmitted with the data packets associated with the data transfer.

2. A method according to claim 1 wherein the packets are further comprised of a plurality of packet headers and data packets defined in accordance with a transfer protocol, whereby the method is further characterized in that the download status indicators are transmitted within the packet headers of the data transfer.

3. A method according to claim 2 characterized in that the download status indicators are sent within a frame of packet headers in a field configuration that includes an operation code field used to identify the packet, an application parameters field containing a download status indicator picture, and a data field that includes the data for the data transfer.

4. A method according to any of the preceding claims further characterized in that the application parameters field includes a Progress Stamp for indicating the amount of data successfully downloaded, a Validity Period for indicating the period of time the status indicator is valid, and the picture data for the download status indicator.

5. A method according to any of the preceding claims characterized in that the sending device transmits data to a plurality of receiving devices in a Kiosk environment.

6. A method according to any of the preceding claims characterized in that the download status indicator transmitted to the receiving device is displayed in the form of a progress bar that expands to accurately reflect the percentage of data successfully downloaded.

7. A method according any of the preceding claims characterized in that the sending device collects statistics on data transfers with receiving devices for use in developing predictive models for calculating estimates for the download status indicator.

8. A method according any of the preceding claims characterized in that a Bluetooth Kiosk environment comprising a sending device performs the wireless data transfer to a plurality of receiving devices using the Object Exchange (OBEX) protocol.

12. A system according to any of the preceding claims wherein, the collection and analyzing means are contained within the hardware structure of the sending device.

13. A system according to any of the preceding claims wherein, the statistical parameters are kept in an activity log containing information related to previous data transfers by occurring for a time of day, a day of week, and a time of month.

9. A system for sending a download status indicator depicting the download status of a data transfer, the system comprises:

a sending device for transmitting data;

a receiving device for receiving data from the sending device;

a collector for collecting statistical parameters of data transfers between the sending device and the receiving device;

an analyzer for analyzing the statistical parameters for use in developing predictive models for calculating estimates for the download status indicator; and

a transmitter for sending the download status indicator from the sending device to the receiving device for display on the receiving device.

10. A system according to claim 9 wherein, the system sending device and the receiving device are configured in Master-Slave hierarchical relationship whereby the sending device is the Master and the receiving device is the Slave.

11. A system according to claim 10 wherein, the sending device is an information Kiosk for disseminating data and the receiving device is wireless handheld device with a graphics capable display.

14. A system according to claim 9 wherein, the download status indicator is in a picture format such as JPG, JPG2000, GIF, PNG, TIF, EXIF or AVI.

15. A system according to claim 11 wherein, the download status indicator is displayed on the wireless handheld device in the form of an progress bar.