Wireless communication device and method for sharing device resources
First Claim
1. A method for sharing resources among wireless communication devices (WCDs) comprising:
- identifying in-proximity WCDs;
receiving a resource-sharing request from one of the WCDs; and
performing the resource-sharing request.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A wireless device resource sharer (WDRS) proxies incompatible communications between wireless devices. A wireless network may be formed allowing both compatible and incompatible wireless devices to communicate therebetween. The WDRS allows incompatible wireless devices to appear as compatible devices. In this way, the WDRS may be “invisible” to such devices allowing the wireless devices to be part of a network of “compatible” devices. The WDRS includes physical interfaces to communicate with compatible and incompatible wireless devices in accordance with various wireless network physical layers. The WDRS also includes a proxy server to proxy incompatible network application layer protocols between wireless devices. The WDRS may also share storage and processing resources with wireless devices. A policy manager within a wireless device regulates resource sharing with other devices. A wireless device may also share resources directly with other wireless devices, and may automatically and intelligently select network connectivity.
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Citations
38 Claims
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1. A method for sharing resources among wireless communication devices (WCDs) comprising:
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identifying in-proximity WCDs;
receiving a resource-sharing request from one of the WCDs; and
performing the resource-sharing request. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A wireless device resource sharer for sharing resources among a plurality of in-proximity wireless communication devices (WCDs) comprising:
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plurality of physical interfaces, each to communicate with in-proximity WCDs in accordance with a wireless network physical layer; and
a processor to identify in-proximity WCDs through the physical interfaces and perform resource-sharing requests received by the in-proximity WCDs. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A wireless communication device comprising:
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a wireless interface to communicate with an in-proximity wireless communication device (WCD) in accordance with a wireless network physical layer;
a discovery element to identify the in-proximity WCD and to a determine network application layer protocol for communicating with the in-proximity WCD; and
a policy manager to regulate resource sharing with the in-proximity WCD. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26)
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27. A computer readable medium having program instructions stored thereon for performing a method for sharing resources among wireless communication devices (WCDs) when executed within a digital processing device, the method comprising:
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identifying in-proximity WCDs;
receiving a resource-sharing request from one of the WCDs; and
performing the resource-sharing request, wherein a communication link is established with at least one of the WCDs using one of a plurality of wireless network physical layers. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29)
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30. A method of selecting network connectivity comprising:
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discovering available wireless network physical layers;
evaluating policies that relate to the available network physical layers; and
automatically selecting one of the available network physical layers based at least on the policies. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32)
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33. A resource sharing system comprising:
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a physical interface to communicate with wireless communication devices (WCDs) in accordance with a network physical layer that includes an IEEE 802.11 standard, the physical interface including a WLAN transceiver to provide digital communications in accordance with at one of the IEEE 802.11 standard; and
a processor to identify in-proximity WCDs through the physical interface and to perform resource-sharing requests received by the in-proximity WCDs. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35)
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36. A method of communicating between incompatible wireless devices comprising:
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receiving communications from a first wireless device;
transforming the communications to a format compatible for receipt by a second wireless device; and
relaying the communications from the first wireless to the second wireless device. - View Dependent Claims (37, 38)
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Specification