DETERMINING A DEVICE IDENTIFIER FROM A LIGHT SIGNAL EMITTED BY A DEVICE

• US 20140211035A1
• Filed: 01/25/2013
• Published: 07/31/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 01/25/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: HONG, Wei
• Granted Patent: US 9,413,950 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/222.1
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4223 Cameras H04N23/00 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/42684 Client identification by a unique number or address, e.g. serial number, MAC address, socket ID network arrangements, protocols or services for addressing or naming H04L61/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/436 Interfacing a local distribution network, e.g. communicating with another STB or one or more peripheral devices inside the home
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44227 Monitoring of local network, e.g. connection or bandwidth variations; Detecting new devices in the local network configuring of peripheral devices in general G06F9/4411; monitoring connectivity in data switched networks H04L43/0811
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4788 communicating with other users, e.g. chatting arrangements for providing for computer conferences, e.g. chat rooms, to substation in data switching networks H04L12/1813; distributed application using peer-to-peer [P2P] networks H04L67/104
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/80 Camera processing pipelines; Components thereof

Abstract

A method performed by a processing system includes determining device identifier corresponding to a device from a series of captured images that include a light signal emitted by the device.

Claims

1. A method performed by a processing system, the method comprising:

capturing a series of images with a camera of the processing system to include a first light signal emitted by a first device;

determining a first device identifier corresponding to the first device from the first light signal in the series of images;

providing the first device identifier from the processing system to a device interaction service using a network connection; and

receiving first device information corresponding to the first device from the device interaction service using the network connection to enable a first functionality that produces a first interaction between the processing system and the first device when invoked.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the first light signal is emitted using at least one of infrared light, near infrared light, or visible light.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the first device information identifies a user of the first device.

4. The method of claim 3 further comprising:

displaying the first device information that identifies the user of the first device on a display of the processing system.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the first functionality includes sending designated content from the processing system to the first device.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

invoking the first functionality based on a selection from a user that indicates an angle between the first device and a plane orthogonal to the camera of the processing system.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

capturing the series of images with the camera of the processing system to include a second light signal emitted by a second device;

determining a second device identifier corresponding to the second device from the second light signal in the series of images;

providing the second device identifier from the processing system to the device interaction service using the network connection; and

receiving second device information corresponding to the second device from the device interaction service using the network connection to enable a second functionality that produces a second interaction between the processing system and the second device when invoked.

8. The method of claim further comprising:

displaying a first representation of the first device information and a second representation of the second device information on a display of the processing system;

identifying one of the first representation or the second representation corresponding to a selection input received by the processing system; and

invoking one of the first or the second functionality in response to the identified one of the first representation or the second representation.

9. An article comprising at least one machine-readable storage medium storing instructions that when executed by a processing system, cause the processing system to:

capture series of images with a camera of the processing system to include a first light signal emitted by a first processing device and a second light signal emitted by a second processing device;

determine a first device identifier corresponding to the first processing device and a second device identifier corresponding to the second processing device from the first and the second light signals in the series of images, respectively;

providing the first and the second device identifiers from the processing system to a device interaction service using a network connection of the processing system; and

display, on a display of the processing system, a first representation of the first device using first device information corresponding to the first device and a second representation of the second device using second device information, the first and the second device information received from the device interaction service.

10. The article of claim 9, wherein the first representation is selectable by a user to invoke a first functionality that produces a first interaction between the processing system and the first device, and wherein the second representation is selectable by the user to invoke a second functionality that produces a second interaction between the processing system and the second device.

11. The article of claim 9, wherein the instructions, when executed by the processing system, cause the processing system to:

display the series of images on the display of the processing system, the series of images including the first representation and the second representation.

12. The article of claim 9, wherein the instructions, when executed by the processing system, cause the processing system to:

display the first representation at a first location in the display that is selected in dependence upon a first angle between the first device and an plane orthogonal to the camera of the processing system; and

display the second representation at a second location in the display that is selected in dependence upon a second angle between the second device and the plane orthogonal to the camera of the processing system.

13. The article of claim 9, wherein the first location is further selected in dependence upon a first distance between the first device and the camera of the processing system, and wherein the second location is further selected in dependence upon a second distance between the second device and the camera of the processing system.

14. A method performed by a processing system, the method comprising:

determining first and second device identifiers from first and second light signals in a series of images, the first light signal emitted by a first device and the second light signal emitted by a second device; and

receiving, from a user of the processing system, a selection that identifies one of the first or the second device for receiving designated content.

15. The method of claim 14 further comprising:

providing, to a device interaction service, the designated content and one of the first device identifier or the second device identifier corresponding to the one of the first or the second device identified by the selection to cause the designated content to be provided to the one of the first or the second device identified by the selection.