PEER TO PEER SHARING OF FUNCTIONALITY OF MOBILE DEVICES

• US 20080250408A1
• Filed: 03/25/2008
• Published: 10/09/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 04/04/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Tuen Solutions LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
• Inventors: Cheng, Roger Shu Kwan, Murch, Ross David, Lau, Vincent Kin Nang, Mow, Wai Ho, Tsui, Chi Ying
• Granted Patent: US 8,340,658 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 718/100
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2207/40 adapted for charging from various sources, e.g. AC, DC or multivoltage
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/001 Energy harvesting or scavenging
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/00302 Overcharge protection
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/32 for charging batteries from a charging set comprising a non-electric prime mover rotating at constant speed
• CPC Class Codes: H02N 2/18 producing electrical output from mechanical input, e.g. generators for measurement devices G01
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/51 Discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services
• CPC Class Codes: Y02A 90/10 Information and communication technologies [ICT] supporting adaptation to climate change, e.g. for weather forecasting or climate simulation
• CPC Class Codes: Y02B 40/00 Technologies aiming at improving the efficiency of home appliances, e.g. induction cooking or efficient technologies for refrigerators, freezers or dish washers

Abstract

Systems and methodologies for sharing functionality among mobile devices in a peer to peer manner are described herein. A mobile device can include a plurality of functional components that can each perform respective functionality. Examples of the functionalities can include transceiver communications, processing, power, memory, input and output for the mobile device. Further, the mobile device can include a sharing component that enables sharing a particular third party functional component to replace or supplement operation of a corresponding functional component of the mobile device. The third party functional component, for instance, can be made available for sharing by at least one of a disparate mobile device or a stand alone functional component. Moreover, a host component can allow a disparate mobile device to use an available one or more of the plurality of functional components of the mobile device.

Claims

1. A mobile device comprising:

a plurality of functional components that perform respective functionalities including transceiver communications, processing, power, memory, input and output for the mobile device; and

a sharing component that enables sharing a particular third party functional component to replace or supplement operation of a corresponding functional component on the mobile device.

2. The mobile device of claim 1, the particular third party functional component being made available for sharing by at least one of a disparate mobile device or a stand alone functional component.

3. The mobile device of claim 1, further comprising a functionality expansion component that identifies a set of third party functional components, including the particular third party functional component, available for borrowing and enables the mobile device to select and employ the particular third party functional component from the set.

4. The mobile device of claim 3, further comprising a diagnosis component that recognizes whether one or more of the plurality of functional components become disabled, unavailable, inactivated, or inefficient.

5. The mobile device of claim 3, further comprising a task evaluation component that analyzes a task to be performed by the mobile device and selects at least one local functional component and at least one remote functional component to be used to accomplish the task, the at least one local functional component being from the plurality of functional components of the mobile device and the at least one remote functional component including the particular third party functional component.

6. The mobile device of claim 3, further comprising an availability recognition component that identifies available functional components hosted by differing devices accessible to be shared by the mobile device.

7. The mobile device of claim 1, further comprising a host component that allows a disparate mobile device to use an available one or more of the plurality of functional components of the mobile device.

8. The mobile device of claim 7, the host component automatically makes the one or more of the plurality of functional components of the mobile device available for sharing by the disparate mobile device.

9. The mobile device of claim 7, further comprising an authorization component that at least one of authorizes or authenticates the disparate mobile device upon the disparate mobile device selecting to employ the available one or more of the plurality of functional components of the mobile device.

10. The mobile device of claim 7, further comprising a contention resolution component that allocates use of the available one or more of the plurality of functional components of the mobile device when requested by multiple, competing disparate mobile devices for use with respective tasks, the respective tasks being unable to be satisfied upon granting the requests from the multiple, competing disparate mobile devices.

11. The mobile device of claim 1, further comprising a credit/debit component that maintains an account associated with the sharing component, the account being credited when disparate devices are allowed to employ one or more of the plurality of functional components of the mobile device and the account being debited when borrowing use of the particular third party functional component.

12. The mobile device of claim 1, further comprising a routing component that routes data to be transmitted via one or more peers.

13. The mobile device of claim 1, each of the plurality of functional components being componentized and each of the plurality of componentized functional components including a respective sharing component that enables sharing functionality.

14. The mobile device of claim 1, the mobile device being a node within a mesh network of devices, each of the devices sharing one or more of processing, communication, connectivity, or information in a peer to peer manner.

15. A method for use in connection with a mobile device, comprising:

utilizing one or more local functional components of a local mobile device;

monitoring for a disabled functional component from the one or more local functional components; and

sharing a third party functional component to replace or supplement operation of the corresponding disabled functional component of the local mobile device.

16. The method of claim 15, monitoring for the disabled functional component from the one or more functional components further comprises diagnosing whether the one or more local functional components of the local mobile device are at least one of disabled, unavailable, inactivated, or inefficient.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

analyzing a task to be performed from the local mobile device to determine functional components to be used to effectuate the task;

recognizing available functional components hosted by differing devices accessible to be shared by the local mobile device to supplement, replace or enhance the one or more local functional components of the local mobile device; and

borrowing a subset of the available functional components to perform the task.

18. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

notifying at least a subset of disparate mobile devices in proximity concerning one or more local functional components made available for sharing; and

enabling one or more of the notified, disparate mobile devices to borrow the one or more local functional components to carry out a task.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

receiving multiple competing requests for the one or more local functional components made available for sharing;

analyzing whether the one or more local functional components are able to satisfy the multiple competing requests; and

granting a subset of the multiple competing requests based upon at least one of evaluation of a buddy list of mobile devices, perceived needs of requesting mobile devices, merits of tasks to be performed with the one or more local functional components by the requesting mobile devices, or expected amounts of time of use of the one or more local functional components by the requesting mobile devices.

20. A system that enables hybrid processing with multiple shared processors of nearby mobile devices, comprising:

means for performing a first subset of processing locally with a first processor of a first mobile device; and

means for performing a second subset of the processing with one or more remote processors of one or more remote mobile devices in proximity to the first mobile device.