Wireless Peripheral Interface with Universal Serial Bus Port

• US 20080022031A1
• Filed: 08/08/2007
• Published: 01/24/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 09/10/1999
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Logitech Europe S A (Logitech International SA)
• Original Assignee: Logitech Europe S A (Logitech International SA)
• Inventors: Schneider, Gerhard, Lazzarotto, Sergio, Zanone, Jean-Daniel
• Granted Patent: US 7,532,872 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 710/313
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/387 for adaptation of different data processing systems to different peripheral devices, e.g. protocol converters for incompatible systems, open system
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/0384 Wireless input, i.e. hardware and software details of wireless interface arrangements for pointing devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2213/3814 Wireless link with a computer system port
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0231 Cordless keyboards
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/038 Control and interface arrangements therefor, e.g. drivers or device-embedded control circuitry
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/0067 with one or more circuit blocks in common for different bands

Abstract

A wireless peripheral interface is used for coupling with a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port for connecting a wireless peripheral with a host computer or controller. Wireless peripheral devices (e.g., keyboard, mouse, trackball, touch pad, joysticks, and game controllers) transmit communication signals, e.g., radio frequency (RF) signals, to the peripheral interface, which are received and processed into formats suitable for transmission to the host computer or controller via USB, either alone or in combination with other standard external bus systems, such as serial and PS/2.

Claims

1. An interface for coupling a plurality of wireless peripheral devices, each communicating on a different frequency band, with a universal serial bus configured device, the interface comprising:

an antenna wirelessly coupled to concurrently receive a plurality of communication signals, each communication signal having a different frequency band and corresponding to a wireless peripheral;

a communication front-end coupled to the antenna and configured to

demodulate each of the plurality of communication signals,

process, in parallel, each of the plurality of communication signals based on its frequency band, and

generate, for each communication signal, a digital data signal; and

a plurality of processors coupled to the communication front-end for decoding the plurality of digital data signals, wherein at least one of the processors is configured to format a digital data signal into a universal serial bus data format to establish universal serial bus communication with the universal serial bus configured device.

2. The interface of claim 1, wherein the universal serial bus configured device comprises a computer system.

3. The interface of claim 1, wherein the wireless peripheral devices comprise peripheral devices from a group consisting of a mouse, a trackball, a remote controller, a video camera, a game device, and a joystick

13. The interface of claim 1, wherein a processor of the plurality of processors is configured to format a digital data signal into a PS/2 format to establish a PS/2 communication with a PS/2 configured device.

4. A method for wirelessly coupling a plurality of peripheral devices, each communicating on a different frequency band, with a host system having a universal serial bus input/output interface, the method comprising:

concurrently receiving a first communication signal at a first frequency band from a first peripheral device and a second communication signal at a second frequency band from a second peripheral device;

demodulating each of the first and second communication signals and processing, in parallel, the first and second communication signals, each based on its frequency band;

generating a digital data signal for each demodulated processed communication signal;

decoding each digital data signal; and

formatting each digital data signal into a universal serial bus data format to establish universal serial bus communication with the first and second peripheral devices.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein formatting further comprises generating a build image, the build image corresponding to a protocol configuration of the universal serial bus input/output interface.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein each of the first and second peripheral devices is one of a mouse, a trackball, a remote controller, a video camera, a game device, and a joystick.

14. The method of claim 4, wherein processing each communication signal comprises separating the communication signal into an appropriate channel based on its frequency band.

15. The method of claim 4, wherein processing each communication signal comprises providing the communication signal to a processor of a plurality of processors based on its frequency band.

16. The method of claim 4, wherein receiving a first communication signal at a first frequency band comprises receiving the signal by a first antenna, and receiving a second communication signal at a second frequency band comprises receiving the signal by a second antenna.

17. The method of claim 4, wherein demodulating comprises demodulating the first communication signal by a first communication front-end and demodulating the second communication signal by a second communication front-end.

7. A computer readable medium configured to store instructions executable by a processor to wirelessly couple a plurality of peripheral devices, the devices communicating at a plurality of frequency bands, with a host system having a universal serial bus input/output interface, the instructions when executed by the processor causing the processor to:

concurrently receive communication signals at a plurality of frequency bands from the plurality of peripheral devices;

demodulate each communication signal; and

process, in parallel, the communication signals, each based on its frequency band, and, for each communication signal from a peripheral device, to;

generate a digital data signal;

decode the digital data signal; and

format the digital data signal into a universal serial bus data format to establish universal serial bus communication with the peripheral device.

8. The computer readable medium of claim 7, wherein the instruction that causes the processor to format further comprises an instruction to cause the processor to generate a build image, the build image corresponding to a protocol configuration of the universal serial bus input/output interface.

9. The computer readable medium of claim 7, wherein each of the plurality of peripheral devices is one of a mouse, a trackball, a remote controller, a video camera, a game device, and a joystick.

18. The computer readable medium of claim 7, wherein the instruction that causes the processor to process comprises an instruction for separating a communication signal into an appropriate channel based on its frequency band.

19. The computer readable medium of claim 7, wherein the instruction that causes the processor to process comprises an instruction for providing a communication signal to a processor of a plurality of processors based on its frequency band.

10. An interface for coupling a plurality of peripheral devices, the devices communicating at a plurality of frequency bands, with a universal serial bus, the interface comprising:

a means for concurrently receiving a plurality of communication signals at a plurality of frequency bands, each communication signal corresponding to a peripheral device of the plurality of peripheral devices;

a means for demodulating each communication signal;

a means for processing, in parallel, the plurality of communication signals, each based on its frequency band, and for each communication signal from a peripheral device, for;

generating a digital data signal for each demodulated communication signal;

decoding each digital data signal; and

formatting each digital data signal into a universal serial bus data format to establish communication between the universal serial bus and the peripheral device.

11. The interface of claim 10, wherein the means for formatting further comprises a means for generating a build image, the build image corresponding to a protocol configuration of the universal serial bus.

12. The interface of claim 10, wherein each of the plurality of peripheral devices is one from a group consisting of a mouse, a trackball, a remote controller, a video camera, a game device, and a joystick.