NETWORK PROVIDING AUTOMATIC CONNECTIONS BETWEEN DEVICES BASED ON USER TASK

• US 20110055380A1
• Filed: 09/03/2009
• Published: 03/03/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 09/03/2009
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Main, John Michael, Hanes, David H., Yockey, Robert F.
• Application Number:
  US12/553,215
• Publication Number:
  US 20110055380A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/224
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0896 Bandwidth or capacity management, i.e. automatically increasing or decreasing capacities flow or congestion control using dynamic resource allocation, e.g. in-call renegotiation, H04L47/76
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/12 Discovery or management of network topologies

Abstract

A system including a network; and a plurality of devices configured to be communicatively coupled to the network, each device configured to be automatically discoverable when connected to the network; wherein at least one of the devices is configured to: discover devices connected to the network; and establish a network communication link between at least two devices based on a user task.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a network; and

a plurality of devices configured to be communicatively coupled to the network, each device configured to be automatically discoverable when connected to the network;

wherein at least one of the devices is configured to;

discover devices connected to the network; and

establish a network communication link between at least two devices based on a user task.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the devices comprise at least one smart device and at least one peripheral device.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the network comprises an internet protocol network.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein at least one of the devices is configured to allocate network bandwidth to the devices connected to the network.

5. A system comprising:

a network;

a plurality of peripheral devices configured to be connected to the network;

a plurality of smart devices configured to be connected to the network;

wherein one of the peripheral devices or smart devices acts as a central controller, the central controller configured to;

receive an input indicating a user task;

discover available peripheral devices and smart devices connected to the network;

identify which of the available peripheral devices and smart devices are required to complete the user task; and

establish network communication links between the identified peripheral devices and smart devices to complete the user task.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the central controller is configured to allocate bandwidth to the network communication links based on priority settings of the peripheral devices and smart devices.

7. The system of claim 5, wherein the central controller is configured to disconnect the network communication links between the identified peripheral devices and smart devices in response to the user task being completed.

8. The system of claim 5, wherein the peripheral devices comprise at least one of a keyboard, a mouse, a remote control, a game controller, a microphone, a webcam, a digital camera, a camcorder, a scanner, a personal video recorder (PVR), a digital video recorder (DVR), a cellular phone, a touch display, a speaker, a display, a printer, a headset, an audio system, and a digital picture frame.

9. The system of claim 5, wherein the smart devices comprise at least one of a personal computer (PC), a server, a cellular phone, a smart phone, a personal video recorder (PVR), and a digital video recorder (DVR).

10. The system of claim 5, wherein the network comprises an internet protocol (IP) network.

11. A method for completing a user task via devices communicatively coupled to a network, the method comprising:

discovering, via at least one of the devices, devices that have been communicatively coupled to the network;

detecting, via at least one of the devices, a user task;

identifying, via at least one of the devices, which of the discovered devices are needed for completing the user task; and

establishing communication links between the identified devices to complete the user task.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

communicatively coupling an additional device to the network; and

broadcasting, via the additional device, the presence of the additional device on the network.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein discovering devices comprises discovering at least one smart device and at least one peripheral device.

14. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

disconnecting the communication links between the identified devices once the user task is completed.

15. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

allocating network bandwidth, via at least one of the devices, to the established communication links based on a priority setting for each of the identified devices.