Network adapter for remote devices

• US 20040090984A1
• Filed: 11/12/2002
• Published: 05/13/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 11/12/2002
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Original Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Inventors: Edwards, Jim, Saint-Hilaire, Ylian
• Application Number:
  US10/292,609
• Publication Number:
  US 20040090984A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/463
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/4633 Interconnection of networks using encapsulation techniques, e.g. tunneling

Abstract

In general, in one aspect, the disclosure describes a network adapter device that can provide a remote host with access to different peripherals connected to the network adapter device. Such peripherals can include, for example, Universal Serial Bus (USB) peripherals and/or consumer electronic peripherals.

Claims

1. A network adapter device, comprising:

a processor;

a network interface;

at least one peripheral device interface; and

logic to cause the processor to;

relay data between a peripheral device connected to the network adapter device via one of the least one peripheral device interface and a host accessible via a network accessed via the network interface; and

automatically transmit discovery data for the network adapter to the host.

2. The network adapter device of claim 1, wherein the logic to relay data comprises logic to:

encapsulate data received from the peripheral device in a first packet;

transmit the first packet to the host via the network;

de-encapsulate data included in a second packet received from the host via the network; and

transmit the de-encapsulated data to the peripheral device.

3. The device of claim 1, wherein the peripheral device interface comprises a Universal Serial Bus (USB) interface.

4. The device of claim 1, wherein the peripheral device interface comprises at least one of a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus interface, a Firewire bus interface, and a Sony/Philips Digital Interface (S/PDIF) interface.

5. The device of claim 1, wherein the logic to automatically transmit discovery data comprises logic for Universal Plug and Play (UPnP).

6. A method of providing access to a computer peripheral, the method comprising:

receiving, at a device connected to a network, a first block of Universal Serial Bus (USB) data from a locally connected USB peripheral;

encapsulating the first block of USB data within a first set of at least one Transport Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) packet; and

transmitting the first set of at least one TCP/IP packet encapsulating the first block of USB data from the networked device to a remote device over a network.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

receiving the first set of at least one TCP/IP packet at the remote device;

de-encapsulating the first block of USB data from the at least one TCP/IP packet; and

processing the USB data at the remote device using a USB stack.

8. The method of claim 6, further comprising providing Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) discovery logic at the networked device.

9. The method of claim 6, further comprising receiving Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) data from the peripheral at the networked device.

10. The method of claim 6, further comprising receiving Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) data from the peripheral at the remote device.

11. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

receiving a second set of at least one TCP/IP packet from the remote device at the networked device;

de-encapsulating a second block of USB data from the second set of at least one TCP/IP packet; and

transmitting USB data to the peripheral from the networked device.

12. A network adapter device, comprising:

a processor;

a network interface;

at least one interface to a consumer electronics device; and

logic to cause the processor to;

determine one or more characteristics of an attached consumer electronics device; and

transmit the one or more characteristics to a host located on a network via the network interface.

13. The device of claim 12, wherein the interface to the consumer electronics device comprises at least one of a Universal Serial Bus (USB) interface, Firewire interface, and a Sony/Philips Digital Interface (S/PDIF).

14. The device of claim 12, wherein the interface to the consumer electronics device comprises an interface to connect to at least one of a television and a stereo.

15. The device of claim 12, wherein the one or more characteristics comprise an identification of the attached consumer electronics device.

16. The device of claim 12, wherein the one or more characteristics comprises at least one user interface characteristic.

17. The device of claim 16, wherein the user interface characteristic comprises at least one of a screen dimension and an input mechanism provided by the consumer electronics device.

18. The device of claim 12, further comprising an interface to receive data from a user.

19. The device of claim 18, wherein the interface to receive data from the user comprises an interface to receive information from a remote control.

20. The device of claim 19, wherein the logic comprises logic to relay information received from the remote control to the host via the network interface.

21. A method, comprising:

determining one or more characteristics of a consumer electronics device attached to a network adapter via an consumer electronics interface;

transmitting the one or more characteristics to a host located on a network via a network interface;

generating user interface data based on the one or more characteristics; and

transmitting the user interface data to the consumer electronics device.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the consumer electronics interface comprises at least one of a Universal Serial Bus (USB) interface, Firewire interface, and a Sony/Philips Digital Interface (S/PDIF).

23. The method of claim 21, wherein the consumer electronics device comprises at least one of a television and a stereo.

24. The method of claim 21, wherein the one or more characteristics comprise an identification of the attached consumer electronics device.

25. The method of claim 21, wherein the one or more characteristics comprise at least one user interface characteristic.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the user interface characteristics comprise at least one of a screen dimension and an input mechanism provided by the consumer electronics device.

27. The method of claim 21, further comprising:

receiving data from a remote control; and

transmitting the receive data to the host.

28. The method of claim 21, wherein the user interface data comprises display graphics.

29. A computer program product, disposed on a computer readable medium, for providing access to a computer peripheral, the program including instructions for causing a processor to:

receive a first block of Universal Serial Bus (USB) data from a locally connected USB peripheral;

encapsulate the first block of USB data within a first set of at least one Transport Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) packet; and

transmit the first set of at least one TCP/IP packet encapsulating the first block of USB data from the networked device to a remote device over a network.

30. The program of claim 29, further comprising instructions for causing the processor to:

receive a second set of at least one TCP/IP packet from the remote device;

de-encapsulate a second block of USB data form the second set of at least one TCP/IP packet; and

transmit USB data to the locally connected USB peripheral from the networked device.