Communication system with automatic configuration of the communication interface

• US 20040054816A1
• Filed: 10/09/2003
• Published: 03/18/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 09/01/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Buffalo Patents, LLC
• Original Assignee: Stephen Tide Consulting LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Inventors: Carapelli, Giovanni
• Granted Patent: US 7,664,885 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 710/1
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 1/00 Details of, or arrangements associated with, antennas arrangements for varying orientation of directional pattern H01Q3/00

Abstract

The present invention provides a communication system comprising a Master unit (1) and at least one Client unit (3), means to automatically establish a wireless bi-directional connection between said Client unit and said Master unit when they are close together; and means to automatically configure a communication interface (5) between said Master unit and said Client unit after connection is established. The invention thus enables systems with different protocols to find and communicate via said configured communication interface (5).

Claims

1. A communication system comprising a Master unit (1) and at least one Client unit (3) characterised in that the system further comprises means to automatically establish a wireless bi-directional connection between said Client unit (3) and said Master unit (1) when they are within close proximity to each other, and means to automatically configure a communication interface (5) between said Master unit (1) and said Client unit (3) after connection is established.

2. A system according to claim 1, wherein said means to automatically establish a wireless bi-directional connection between said Client unit (3) and said Master unit (1) consists of a radio frequency (RF) bi-directional interface (5) provided at said Master unit and at said Client unit.

3. A System according to claim 1 or 2, wherein said means to automatically configure a communication interface (5) between said Master unit (1) and said Client unit (3) comprises driver software provided at the Master unit (1) and at the Client unit and respectively transmitted to the Master unit and to the Client unit in order to automatically configure a communication interface (5) between said Master and Client units.

4. A System according to claim 3, wherein said driver software comprise discovery and lookup software (9) able to discover, join and make available to each other said Master and Client unit.

5. A System according to any preceding claim further comprising at least one Service Provider unit (6) connected to said Master unit (1) and means to automatically configure a communication interface between said Client unit (3) and said Service Provider unit (6) said Master, Client and Service Provider units being able to be connected through a network.

6. A System according to claim 5 wherein said means to automatically configure a communication interface between said Client unit and said Service Provider unit comprises:

driver software of the Client unit provided at the Client unit and transmitted to the Master unit through said communication interfaces (5);

driver software of the Service Provider unit (6) provided at the Master unit (1);

means to associate said driver software of the Client unit and of the Service Provider unit in order to automatically configure a communication interface between said Client unit and said Service Provider unit.

7. A system according to claim 6, wherein said driver software of the Client unit and of the Service Provider unit comprises a proxy code respectively of the Client unit and of the Service Provider unit.

8. A system according to claim 6 or 7, wherein said means to associate said driver software of the Client unit and of the Service Provider unit comprise discovery and lookup software (9) able to discover, join and make available to each other said client and service unit.

9. A system according to any one of claims 6 to 8 wherein said driver software of said Service Provider unit is downloaded by said Master unit from a remotely located controller (10) connected to said network.

10. A system according to claim 9, wherein said controller is connected to said network through the Internet.

11. A system according to any one of claims 5 to 10, wherein the Master unit, Client unit and Service Provider unit are connected through a TCP/IP enabled network.

12. A system according to any preceding claim wherein said Master unit (1) is a control station of a vending system, and said Client unit (3) is a mobile communicator of a purchaser.