WIRELESS TRANSFER APPARATUS AND WIRELESS TRANSFER METHOD

• US 20100296558A1
• Filed: 05/19/2010
• Published: 11/25/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 05/19/2009
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Inventors: MATSUSHITA, Ken, MIYAZATO, Hideki
• Application Number:
  US12/783,361
• Publication Number:
  US 20100296558A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 375/220
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2101/622 Layer-2 addresses, e.g. medium access control [MAC] addresses
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/2596 Translation of addresses of the same type other than IP, e.g. translation from MAC to MAC addresses
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/5038 for local use, e.g. in LAN or USB networks, or in a controller area network [CAN]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/5046 Resolving address allocation conflicts; Testing of addresses testing when self-assigning an address H04L61/5092
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/43637 involving a wireless protocol, e.g. Bluetooth, RF or wireless LAN [IEEE 802.11] arrangements for wireless networking or broadcasting of information in indoor or near-field type systems H04B10/114
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/775 between a recording apparatus and a television receiver
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/26 Network addressing or numbering for mobility support

Abstract

According to one embodiment, a wireless transfer apparatus generates physical addresses by adding values, which are different between the source-side wireless transfer apparatuses, to a physical address received from a sink device, and transmits the generated physical addresses to the source-side wireless transfer apparatuses. The wireless transfer apparatus switches the source-side wireless transfer apparatus, which is to be used for transmitting content data to the sink device, to the source-side wireless transfer apparatus corresponding to the identifier which is associated with the physical address included in a source change request transmitted from the sink device.

Claims

1. A wireless transfer apparatus comprising:

a wired communication interface configured to communicate with a sink device;

a wireless communication interface configured to wirelessly communicate with a plurality of source-side wireless transfer apparatuses that are connected by wire to a plurality of source devices;

a physical address generator configured to generate a plurality of physical addresses by adding values, which are different between the source-side wireless transfer apparatuses, to a physical address received from the sink device via the wired communication interface, and to transmit the generated physical addresses to the source-side wireless transfer apparatuses via the wireless communication interface;

a physical address storing module configured to store the generated physical addresses in association with identifiers of the source-side wireless transfer apparatuses; and

a routing control module configured to switch a first source-side wireless transfer apparatus, which is configured to transmit content data to the sink device, to a second source-side wireless transfer apparatus corresponding to the identifier which is associated with the physical address in a source change request from the sink device.

2. The wireless transfer apparatus of claim 1, wherein the physical address generating module is configured to add values, which are different between the source-side wireless transfer apparatuses, to an upper bit portion of plural bits which represent a digit next to a last effective digit of the physical address received from the sink device.

3. The wireless transfer apparatus of claim 1, wherein the physical address generating module is configured to add values, which are different between the source-side wireless transfer apparatuses, to an upper bit portion of plural bits which represent a digit next to a last effective digit of the physical address which is received from the sink device, and

at least one of the plurality of source-side wireless transfer apparatuses comprises first and second input ports which are configured to connect to source devices, and is configured to generate first and second physical addresses corresponding to the first and second input ports by adding values, which are different between the input ports, to a lower bit portion of plural bits which represent a last effective digit of the physical address generated by the physical address generating module.

4. The wireless transfer apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a measuring module configured to measure radio wave intensities of radio signals received from the plurality of source-side wireless transfer apparatuses,

wherein the physical address generating module is configured to change the values to be added to the received physical address such that a lowest physical address is allocated to the source-side wireless transfer apparatus with a highest radio wave intensity of the plurality of source-side transfer apparatuses, based on a result of the measurement.

5. A wireless transfer method of executing wireless data transfer between a sink device and a plurality of source-side wireless transfer apparatuses connected to a plurality of source devices, the method comprising:

generating a plurality of physical addresses by adding values, which are different between the source-side wireless transfer apparatuses, to a physical address received from the sink device via a wired communication interface, and wirelessly transmitting the generated physical addresses to the source-side wireless transfer apparatuses;

storing the generated physical addresses in association with identifiers of the source-side wireless transfer apparatuses; and

switching the source-side wireless transfer apparatus, which is configured to transmit content data to the sink device, to the source-side wireless transfer apparatus corresponding to the identifier which is associated with the physical address of the plurality of physical addresses in a source change request from the sink device.

6. The wireless transfer method of claim 5, wherein said generating the plurality of physical addresses comprises adding values, which are different between the source-side wireless transfer apparatuses, to an upper bit portion of plural bits which represent a digit next to a last effective digit of the physical address received from the sink device.

7. The wireless transfer method of claim 5, wherein said generating the plurality of physical addresses comprises adding values, which are different between the source-side wireless transfer apparatuses, to an upper bit portion of plural bits which represent a digit next to a last effective digit of the physical address received from the sink device, and at least one of the plurality of source-side wireless transfer apparatuses comprises first and second input ports which are configured to connect to source devices, and is configured to generate first and second physical addresses corresponding to the first and second input ports by adding values, which are different between the input ports, to a lower bit portion of plural bits which represent a last effective digit of the generated physical address.

8. The wireless transfer method of claim 5, further comprising measuring radio wave intensities of radio signals from the plurality of source-side wireless transfer apparatuses,

wherein said generating the plurality of physical addresses comprises changing the values to be added to the received physical address such that a lowest physical address is allocated to the source-side wireless transfer apparatus with a highest radio wave intensity of the plurality of source-side transfer apparatuses, based on a result of the measuring.