Method and apparatus for infrared data communication
First Claim
1. A transmitter for use in a network carrying a plurality of data bits, said transmitter comprising:
- a physical layer;
a first link layer;
means for providing at least a subset of said plurality of data bits;
means for making said first link layer match a second link layer in a handheld device;
means for making said at least said subset of said plurality of data bits available to said first link layer;
means for making said at least said subset of said plurality of data bits available to said first physical layer;
means for generating a signal comprising said at least said subset of said plurality of data bits; and
means for transmitting said signal to said handheld device in a format compliant with and receivable by said second link layer.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus and method for conveying contextually relevant information to a wireless client (112) is disclosed. More particularly, an emitter (108) transmits a diffuse infrared signal to a client (112) having an IrDA infrared communication interface (130). Emitter (108) communicates with client (112) by making a link layer in emitter (108) compliant with an IrDA link layer running on client (112). To perform communication, data is received at emitter (108) from a service provider (102). The data is formatted into an IrDA compliant diffuse infrared signal and transmitted to client (112). Client (112) receives the data and parses it to extract contextually relevant information contained therein.
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Citations
57 Claims
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1. A transmitter for use in a network carrying a plurality of data bits, said transmitter comprising:
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a physical layer;
a first link layer;
means for providing at least a subset of said plurality of data bits;
means for making said first link layer match a second link layer in a handheld device;
means for making said at least said subset of said plurality of data bits available to said first link layer;
means for making said at least said subset of said plurality of data bits available to said first physical layer;
means for generating a signal comprising said at least said subset of said plurality of data bits; and
means for transmitting said signal to said handheld device in a format compliant with and receivable by said second link layer. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 25, 26, 27, 28, 30, 31, 32, 33, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39)
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12. A handheld device for receiving a unidirectional infrared transmitted signal containing a message over a communication medium, said handheld device comprising:
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a physical layer;
a link layer;
means for receiving said transmitted signal to form a received signal;
means for passing said received signal to said physical layer;
means for passing said received signal from said physical layer to said link layer; and
means for utilizing information contained in said received signal to accomplish a task.
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24. A method of utilizing executable code in a handheld device comprising the steps of:
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receiving a signal at a physical layer communicatively associated with a communication interface to form a received signal;
passing said received signal from said physical layer to a link layer;
extracting information contained in said received signal; and
making said information available to a user of said handheld device.
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29. A method of utilizing executable code in a source device to convey a plurality of bits to a handheld device having a communication interface and a first link layer, said method comprising the steps of:
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formatting said at least a subset of said plurality of bits into a data signal;
making said data signal available to a second link layer compatible with said first link layer;
receiving said data signal at a second physical layer; and
making said data signal available to a transmitter for conveying to said communication interface;
whereby said at least a subset of said plurality of bits is conveyed to said handheld device.
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34. A unidirectional computer-readable data signal for modifying the operation of a handheld device having an infrared-data-association (IrDA) compliant communication interface, said data signal comprising:
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machine-readable information encoded in an infrared-data-association (IrDA) compliant format for processing by said handheld device, said information having been received from a diffuse infrared transmitter conveying said data signal; and
whereby said operation of said handheld device is modified upon processing said information.
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40. A computer-readable data signal generated by a transmitting device for modifying the operation of a handheld device, said data signal comprising:
machine-readable information obtained from at least a subset of a plurality of bits making up said data signal, said information organized into an infrared-data-association (IrDA) compliant format by interacting with a first link layer in said transmitting device before trasmission as a diffuse infrared signal, said information for modifying the operation of said handheld device upon interacting with a second link layer in said handheld device. - View Dependent Claims (41, 42)
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43. A method for conveying at least a subset of a plurality of data bits from a transmitter to a handheld device, said method comprising the steps of:
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making a first link layer in said transmitter match a second link layer in said handheld device;
providing said at least said subset of said plurality of data bits;
making said at least said subset of said plurality of data bits available to said first link layer;
receiving said at least said subset of said plurality of data bits at a first physical layer in said transmitter;
generating an infrared signal comprising said at least said subset of said plurality of data bits; and
conveying said infrared signal to a communication interface associated with said handheld device in a format compliant with and receivable by said second link layer;
whereby at least said subset of said plurality of data bits is conveyed to said handheld device. - View Dependent Claims (44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57)
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49. A method of receiving a unidirectional-infrared-data-signal from a transmitter comprising:
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receiving said data signal at a communication interface to form a received signal;
passing said received signal from said communication interface to a physical layer;
making said received signal available to a link layer; and
utilizing information contained in said received signal to accomplish a task.
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Specification