Device metadata
First Claim
1. A method performed by an intermediary device residing on a network between source computers that supply device metadata via the network and user computers that request device metadata via the network, the method comprising:
- at the intermediary, via the network, receiving from different source computers units of information describing functional attributes and/or the appearances of respective different peripheral devices;
at the intermediary, storing pieces of device metadata describing the functional attributes and/or including visual representations of the respective different peripheral devices or machines, where the pieces of device metadata conform to a standard metadata schema for describing and uniquely identifying peripheral devices;
at the intermediary, via the network, receiving from different user computers requests for device metadata; and
responsive to requests for device metadata from requesting computers, sending via the network to the requesting user computers the stored pieces of device metadata corresponding to different peripheral devices and conforming to the standard metadata schema.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
Rich device metadata describing detailed attributes of peripheral devices can be used to provide device-oriented user interfaces for realistically and accurately displaying, visualizing, controlling or managing devices. Vendors of personal computers, electronics devices, or peripheral devices can provide standardized rich device metadata. An intermediary service or system can, via a network, collect the rich device metadata, validate it, and store it. User computers to which peripheral devices are connected can pull rich device metadata for their peripheral devices. The rich device metadata can then be used to manage the devices and/or to provide more realistic virtualizations of the peripheral devices. Realistic representations of the devices can be displayed. Attributes such as controls and connectors on the device can be represented in the metadata and displayed and possibly interacted with. Devices can be nested in the metadata. Rich device metadata can be extended over time. If a user does not know exactly which device is connected then a fuzzy search including possibly a fuzzy image matching process can be used to obtain a match or narrow a search to contain a list of possible devices that the user can select from.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method performed by an intermediary device residing on a network between source computers that supply device metadata via the network and user computers that request device metadata via the network, the method comprising:
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at the intermediary, via the network, receiving from different source computers units of information describing functional attributes and/or the appearances of respective different peripheral devices;
at the intermediary, storing pieces of device metadata describing the functional attributes and/or including visual representations of the respective different peripheral devices or machines, where the pieces of device metadata conform to a standard metadata schema for describing and uniquely identifying peripheral devices;
at the intermediary, via the network, receiving from different user computers requests for device metadata; and
responsive to requests for device metadata from requesting computers, sending via the network to the requesting user computers the stored pieces of device metadata corresponding to different peripheral devices and conforming to the standard metadata schema. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A volatile or non-volatile computer-readable medium storing information for enabling a computer to perform a process, the process comprising:
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sending, via a network, to a device metadata intermediary, information about or identifying a peripheral device connected with the computer; and
receiving via the network from the device metadata intermediary a piece of hierarchically structured extensible device metadata comprising detailed device information about the device, wherein the device metadata conforms to a standard device metadata schema. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A volatile or non-volatile computer-readable medium storing information for enabling a computer to perform a process, the process comprising:
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automatically detecting exposure of new functionality of a peripheral device previously and currently connected with the computer;
in response to the detecting, sending via a network to a device metadata intermediary a GUID corresponding to the peripheral device connected with the computer; and
receiving via the network from the device metadata intermediary a piece of hierarchically structured extensible device metadata comprising detailed device information about the device, where the device metadata conforms to a standard device metadata schema, and where the device metadata includes extended metadata corresponding to the newly exposed functionality of the peripheral device.
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Specification