WIRELESS DOCKING WITH OUT-OF-BAND INITIATION

• US 20120099566A1
• Filed: 10/20/2010
• Published: 04/26/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 10/20/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: RPX Corporation
• Original Assignee: Nokia Corporation
• Inventors: Laine, Tuomas, Bacioccola, Andrea, Suumäki, Jan
• Granted Patent: US 8,462,734 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/338
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72412 using two-way short-range wireless interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/06 Optimizing the usage of the radio link, e.g. header compression, information sizing , discarding information system modifying transmission characteristic according to link quality by modifying frame length H04L1/0007; dynamic adaptation of the packet size for flow control or congestion control H04L47/365
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/18 Negotiating wireless communication parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/00 Local resource management
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/10 Connection setup
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/10 Small scale networks; Flat hierarchical networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/12 WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/18 Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks

Abstract

Example method, apparatus, and computer program product embodiments are disclosed to enable out-of-band communications to be used in out-of-band initialization methods for simplified configuring of an in-band wireless docking environment for wireless devices. An example embodiment of the invention includes composing a wireless configuration for a plurality of devices in an in-band short-range wireless docking environment, by using out-of-band connections from a mobile device to the plurality of devices to send in-band short-range communication connection parameters including a timer value related to an expected completion time of a connection handover to in-band short-range communication.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

initiating out-of-band connections by a mobile wireless device to a plurality of wireless devices;

sending, by the mobile wireless device, in-band wireless short-range communication connection parameters over one or more of the out-of-band connections, including a timer value related to an expected completion time of a connection handover to in-band wireless short-range communication;

receiving, by the mobile wireless device, information from the plurality of wireless devices regarding a wireless docking environment, via the out-of-band connections; and

composing a configuration for the plurality of devices in a wireless docking environment based on the in-band short-range communication connection parameters and the information regarding the wireless docking environment.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the out-of-band connections are based on an NFC Forum logical link control protocol and the devices use an NFC Forum connection handover protocol to exchange the in-band communication connection parameters.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the in-band short-range communication is via a Wi-Fi wireless network and the carrier configuration record includes an IEEE 802.11 service set identifier, authentication and encryption type deployed by the wireless network, a network key that a wireless station needs to authenticate with the network, and a MAC address of a device receiving the configuration, if known.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the in-band short-range communication is via a Bluetooth wireless network and the carrier configuration record includes a Bluetooth piconet identifier, authentication and encryption type deployed by the wireless network, a network key that a wireless station needs to authenticate with the network, and an address of a device receiving the configuration, if known.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the mobile device performs the step of composing the optimal wireless configuration for the plurality of devices to enable them to operate in a distributed wireless docking environment.

6. The method of claim 5, which further comprises:

establishing by the mobile device, in-band short-range communication connections with the plurality of devices, based on the in-band short-range communication connection parameters and the received information;

applying by the mobile device, the optimal wireless configuration to the plurality of devices, via the in-band short-range communication connections, to enable the plurality of devices to operate in the wireless docking environment; and

communicating by the mobile device, with the plurality of devices in the wireless docking environment, via the in-band short-range communication connections.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

sending, by the mobile device, an indication that a another device will perform a connection setup with one or more of the plurality devices, via the out-of-band connection;

receiving, by the mobile device, connectivity settings from the one or more of the plurality devices, via the out-of-band connection;

initiating, by the mobile device, another out-of-band connection with the another device; and

sending by the mobile device, in-band short-range communication connection parameters including one or more parameters indicating a timer value related to the expected completion time of the connection handover, the information from the plurality devices for a wireless docking environment, and the connectivity settings, to the another device via the another out-of-band connection, to enable the another device to setup in-band short-range communication connections with the plurality of devices according to the in-band short-range communication connection parameters, after the expected completion time.

8. A device, comprising:

at least one processor;

at least one memory including computer program code;

the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the device at least to;

initiate by the device as a mobile wireless device, out-of-band connections to a plurality of wireless devices;

send, by the mobile wireless device, in-band wireless short-range communication connection parameters over one or more of the out-of-band connections, including a timer value related to an expected completion time of a connection handover to in-band wireless short-range communication;

receive, by the mobile wireless device, information from the plurality of wireless devices regarding a wireless docking environment, via the out-of-band connections; and

compose a configuration for the plurality of devices in a wireless docking environment based on the in-band short-range communication connection parameters and the information regarding the wireless docking environment.

9. The device of claim 8, wherein the out-of-band connections are based on an NFC Forum logical link control protocol and the devices use an NFC Forum connection handover protocol to exchange the in-band communication connection parameters.

10. The device of claim 9, wherein the in-band short-range communication is via a Wi-Fi wireless network and the carrier configuration record includes an IEEE 802.11 service set identifier, authentication and encryption type deployed by the wireless network, a network key that a wireless station needs to authenticate with the network, and a MAC address of a device receiving the configuration, if known.

11. The device of claim 9, wherein the in-band short-range communication is via a Bluetooth wireless network and the carrier configuration record includes a Bluetooth piconet identifier, authentication and encryption type deployed by the wireless network, a network key that a wireless station needs to authenticate with the network, and an address of a device receiving the configuration, if known.

12. The device of claim 8, wherein the mobile device performs the step of composing the optimal wireless configuration for the plurality of devices to enable them to operate in a distributed wireless docking environment.

13. The device of claim 12, which further comprises:

the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the device at least to;

establish by the mobile device, in-band short-range communication connections with the plurality of devices, based on the in-band short-range communication connection parameters and the received information;

apply by the mobile device, the optimal wireless configuration to the plurality of devices, via the in-band short-range communication connections, to enable the plurality of devices to operate in the wireless docking environment; and

communicate by the mobile device, with the plurality of devices in the wireless docking environment, via the in-band short-range communication connections.

14. The device of claim 8, further comprising:

the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the device at least to;

send, by the mobile device, an indication that a another device will perform a connection setup with one or more of the plurality devices, via the out-of-band connection;

receive, by the mobile device, connectivity settings from the one or more of the plurality devices, via the out-of-band connection;

initiate, by the mobile device, another out-of-band connection with the another device; and

send by the mobile device, in-band short-range communication connection parameters including one or more parameters indicating a timer value related to the expected completion time of the connection handover, the information from the plurality devices for a wireless docking environment, and the connectivity settings, to the another device via the another out-of-band connection, to enable the another device to setup in-band short-range communication connections with the plurality of devices according to the in-band short-range communication connection parameters, after the expected completion time.

15. The device of claim 14, wherein the out-of-band connections are based on an NFC Forum logical link control protocol and the devices use an NFC Forum connection handover protocol to exchange the in-band short-range communication connection parameters.

16. The device of claim 15, wherein the in-band short-range communication is via a Wi-Fi wireless network and the carrier configuration record includes an IEEE 802.11 service set identifier, authentication and encryption type deployed by the wireless network, a network key that a wireless station needs to authenticate with the network, and a MAC address of a device receiving the configuration, if known.

17. The device of claim 15, wherein the in-band short-range communication is via a Bluetooth wireless network and the carrier configuration record includes a Bluetooth piconet identifier, authentication and encryption type deployed by the wireless network, a network key that a wireless station needs to authenticate with the network, and an address of a device receiving the configuration, if known.

18. A computer program product comprising computer executable program code recorded on a computer readable storage medium, the computer executable program code comprising:

code for initiating out-of-band connections by a mobile wireless device to a plurality of wireless devices;

code for sending, by the mobile wireless device, in-band wireless short-range communication connection parameters over one or more of the out-of-band connections, including a timer value related to an expected completion time of a connection handover to in-band wireless short-range communication;

code for receiving, by the mobile wireless device, information from the plurality of wireless devices regarding a wireless docking environment, via the out-of-band connections; and

code for composing a configuration for the plurality of devices in a wireless docking environment based on the in-band short-range communication connection parameters and the information regarding the wireless docking environment.

19. The computer program product of claim 18, further comprising:

code for sending, by the mobile device, an indication that a another device will perform a connection setup with one or more of the plurality devices, via the out-of-band connection;

code for receiving, by the mobile device, connectivity settings from the one or more of the plurality devices, via the out-of-band connection;

code for initiating, by the mobile device, another out-of-band connection with the another device; and

code for sending by the mobile device, in-band short-range communication connection parameters including one or more parameters indicating a timer value related to the expected completion time of the connection handover, the information from the plurality devices for a wireless docking environment, and the connectivity settings, to the another device via the another out-of-band connection, to enable the another device to setup in-band short-range communication connections with the plurality of devices according to the in-band short-range communication connection parameters, after the expected completion time.

20. A method, comprising:

forming, by a wireless docking station device, an out-of-band connection with a mobile wireless device;

receiving, by the wireless docking station device, first in-band short-range communication connection parameters for a timer value related to an expected completion time of a connection handover, connectivity settings of a second device, and information from the second device for a wireless docking environment, from the wireless mobile device via the out-of-band connection, to enable setting up a first in-band short-range communication connection with the second device according to the first in-band short-range communication connection parameters, after the expected completion time;

receiving, by the wireless docking station device, second in-band short-range communication connection parameters, connectivity settings of a third device, and information from the third device for a wireless docking environment, from the mobile device via the out-of-band connection, to enable setting up a second in-band short-range communication connection with the third device according to the second in-band short-range communication connection parameters;

composing, by the wireless docking station device, a wireless configuration for the mobile device, the second device, and third device to operate in a wireless docking environment, based on the information from the second device and the third device for the wireless docking environment;

establishing, by the wireless docking station device a first in-band short-range communication connection with the second device in accordance with the timer value interval, and a second in-band short-range communication connection with the third device;

applying, by the wireless docking station device, the wireless configuration to the second device and the third device to enable them to operate in the wireless docking environment; and

communicating, by the wireless docking station device, with the wirelessly configured second and third devices in the wireless docking environment.