Apparatus for and method of seamless wireless multimedia download path to peer networked appliances

• US 20030217186A1
• Filed: 05/16/2002
• Published: 11/20/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 05/16/2002
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Bushey, Robert D.
• Application Number:
  US10/147,000
• Publication Number:
  US 20030217186A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/250
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2803 Home automation networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2814 Exchanging control software or macros for controlling appliance services in a home automation network arrangements for maintenance or administration involving configuration of the network and network elements H04L41/08
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/02 Terminal devices

Abstract

The present invention encompasses a system and method in which networked appliances communicate with each other over a local area network as equals without the requirement of a supervising personal computer. The invention incorporates communication capabilities within each of the networked appliances and unique identifiers and enables the appliances themselves to communicate and exchange data, and access a wide area network such as the Internet. The networked appliances communicate with each others as peers rather than through a personal computer or central server. A network appliance of the present invention includes a memory, a data interface to a local area network and a controller. The included controller is dedicated to execute an application specific routine that processes data located in the memory, execute a network interface routine to interface to the local area network and identify a type and an address of at least one dedicated data device and exchange data between the memory of the network appliance and the dedicated data device.

Claims

1. A network appliance comprising:

a memory dedicated to and storing an application-specific routine;

a data interface to a local area network; and

a controller dedicated to execute said application-specific routine to process data in said memory,

execute a network interface routine to interface with said local area network using said data interface and identify a type and address of a dedicated data device resident on said local area network, and

exchange data between said memory and said dedicated data device.

2. The network appliance according to claim 1 further comprising a transducer responsive to an external stimulus for storing data corresponding to a characteristic of said external stimulus into said memory, said controller configured to upload said data to said dedicated data device.

3. The network appliance according to claim 2 wherein said transducer comprises one of an image sensor, an acoustic sensor and a specialized electronic media reader.

4. The network appliance according to claim 1 further comprising an output device configured to receive said data from said memory, said controller configured to download said data from said dedicated data device.

5. The network appliance according to claim 4 wherein said output device comprises one of a printer, a video display, an audio output device, and an interface to a remote network.

6. The network appliance according to claim 1 wherein said controller comprises an application-specific integrated circuit.

7. The network appliance according to claim 1 wherein said data interface comprises a wireless data transceiver.

8. The network appliance according to claim 7 wherein said wireless transceiver transmits and receives using one of a radio frequency (RF) and infrared (IR) communication link.

9. The network appliance according to claim 1 further comprising a display configured to provide an indication of said dedicated data device and an input device configured to provide for a manual selection to initiate a data transfer with said dedicated data device.

10. The network appliance according to claim 1 further including an application-specific operating system stored in said memory, said controller further executing said application-specific operating system.

11. The network appliance according to claim 1 further comprising a protocol conversion routine for converting between a first data format corresponding to a native data format of said network appliance and a second data format corresponding to a native data format of said dedicated data device.

12. A system of network appliances, comprising:

a communications network; and

a plurality of network appliances, each including;

a data interface with a local area network;

a memory dedicated to and storing an application-specific routine; and

a controller dedicated to;

execute an application-specific routine to process data,

execute a network interface routine to interface with said local area network using said data interface and identify a type and address of at least another one of said network appliances on said communications network, and

exchange said data with said other network appliance over said communications network.

13. The system of network appliances according to claim 12 wherein said communications network comprises a wireless local area network.

14. The system of network appliances according to claim 12 wherein said data interfaces comprise respective wireless data transceivers.

15. The system of network appliances according to claim 12 wherein:

each of a first group of said network appliances further comprises a dedicated input device configured to receive information; and

each of a second group of said network appliances further comprises a dedicated output device configured to generate a representation of said data onto an output media.

16. The system of network appliances according to claim 12 wherein each of said network appliances further comprises a protocol conversion routine for converting between a first data format corresponding to a native data format of said each network appliance and a second data format corresponding to another one of said network appliances.

17. A method of transferring data between first and second network appliances, comprising the steps of:

establishing communications with a local area network;

registering with said local area network;

identifying resources available on said local area network;

identifying ones of said resources satisfying predetermined compatibility criteria;

establishing communications with a selected one of said resources satisfying said predetermined compatibility criteria; and

exchanging data with said selected resource.

18. The method of claim 17 further comprising the steps of displaying said ones of said resources satisfying said predetermined compatibility criteria and selecting said one of said resources.

19. The method of claim 17 further comprising the steps of identifying a data format of said selected resource and converting between a different data format and said data format of said selected resource.

20. The method of claim 17 wherein said step of establishing communications includes steps of creating a wireless communications link between said first network appliance and said local area network and creating a wireless communications link between said local area network and said second network appliance.