UTILIZATION AND CONFIGURATION OF WIRELESS DOCKING ENVIRONMENTS

• US 20140351476A1
• Filed: 04/30/2014
• Published: 11/27/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 05/24/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Huang, Xiaolong, De Vegt, Rolf, Davidson, Andrew Mackinnon, Raveendran, Vijayalakshmi Rajasundaram
• Granted Patent: US 9,811,116 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 710/303
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1632 External expansion units, e.g. docking stations
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/00 Interconnection of, or transfer of information or other signals between, memories, input/output devices or central processing units interface circuits for specific input/output devices G06F3/00 ; multiprogram control therefor G06F9/46; multiprocessor systems G06F15/16
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1044 Group management mechanisms management of multicast group membership H04L12/185; reconfiguring of node membership in a computing system to eliminate errors G06F11/1425
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/51 Discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services

Abstract

In one example, a method includes determining, by a wireless dockee (WD), one or more wireless docking environments (WDNs) associated with a wireless docking center (WDC), wherein each WDN of the one or more WDNs corresponds to at least one peripheral function (PF) of one or more PFs that are each associated with the WDC. In this example, the method also includes wirelessly accessing, by the WD, a respective at least one PF corresponding to a particular WDN of the one or more WDNs associated with the WDC.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

determining, by a wireless dockee (WD), one or more wireless docking environments (WDNs) associated with a wireless docking center (WDC), wherein each WDN of the one or more WDNs corresponds to at least one peripheral function (PF) of one or more PFs that are each associated with the WDC; and

wirelessly accessing, by the WD, a respective at least one PF corresponding to a particular WDN of the one or more WDNs associated with the WDC.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining, by the WD, the one or more WDNs associated with the WDC comprises:

receiving, by the WD and from the WDC, a message that identifies the one or more WDNs associated with the WDC.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein, for each respective WDN of the one or more WDNs identified by the message, the message indicates one or more of:

an identification value of the respective WDN,

a name of the respective WDN,

a WDN type of the respective WDN, and

one or more PFs that correspond to the respective WDN.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the WDN type of the respective WDN is from a plurality of WDN types, and wherein the WDN plurality of WDN types includes one or more of:

an office WDN type,

an entertainment WDN type,

a public workplace WDN type,

an audio only WDN type, and

an enterprise office WDN type.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

selecting, by the WD, the particular WDN of the one or more WDNs associated with the WDC.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein selecting the particular WDN comprises:

sending, by the WD and to the WDC, a request to select the particular WDN;

receiving, by the WD and from the WDC, a message indicating whether or not the WDC accepts the request for the WD to select the particular WDN; and

responsive to determining that the WDC accepts the request, wirelessly accessing, by the WD, the respective at least one PF corresponding to the particular WDN.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the request to select the particular WDN includes an identification value of the particular WDN.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising one or more of:

creating, by the WD, a new WDN that corresponds to a set of PFs of the one or more PFs associated with the WDC;

modifying, by the WD, an existing WDN of the one or more WDNs associated with the WDC; and

deleting, by the WD, an existing WDN of the one or more WDNs associated with the WDC.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein creating comprises:

sending, by the WD and to the WDC, a request to create the new WDN, wherein the request indicates the set of PFs of the one or more PFs associated with the WDC; and

receiving, by the WD and from the WDC, a message indicating whether or not the WDC accepts the request to create the new WDN.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the request indicates that the set of PFs requested to correspond to the new WDN consists of one or more PFs currently being accessed by the WD.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the request individually identifies the set of PFs requested to correspond to the new WDN.

12. The method of claim 8, wherein modifying the existing WDN of the one or more WDNs associated with the WDC comprises:

sending, by the WD and to the WDC, a request to modify the existing WDN, wherein the request indicates the existing WDN and a set of PFs requested to correspond to the existing WDN; and

receiving, by the WD and from the WDC, a message indicating whether or not the WDC accepts the request to modify the existing WDN.

13. The method of claim 8, wherein deleting the existing WDN of the one or more WDNs associated with the WDC comprises:

sending, by the WD and to the WDC, a request to delete the existing WDN, wherein the request indicates the existing WDN; and

receiving, by the WD and from the WDC, a message indicating whether or not the WDC accepts the request to delete the existing WDN.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, by the WD and from the WDC, a message that includes information regarding the one or more WDNs associated with the WDC; and

receiving, by the WD and from the WDC and at a second, later, time, a second message indicates that the information regarding the one or more WDNs associated with the WDC has changed.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the WDNs is a WD specific WDN created by the WD, and wherein configuration information for the WD specific WDN is stored on one or both of the WD and the WDC.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the WDNs is a WDC specific WDN not created by the WD, and wherein configuration information for the WDC specific WDN is stored on the WDC.

17. A wireless dockee (WD) comprising:

a memory;

one or more processors;

at least one module executable by the one or more processors to;

determine one or more wireless docking environments (WDNs) associated with a wireless docking center (WDC), wherein each WDN of the one or more WDNs corresponds to at least one peripheral function (PF) of one or more PFs that are each associated with the WDC; and

wirelessly access a respective at least one PF corresponding to a particular WDN of the one or more WDNs associated with the WDC.

18. The WD of claim 17, wherein the at least one module is executable by the one or more processors to determine the one or more WDNs associated with the WDC by at least:

receiving, from the WDC, a message that identifies the one or more WDNs associated with the WDC.

19. The WD of claim 18, wherein, for each respective WDN of the one or more WDNs identified by the message, the message indicates one or more of:

an identification value of the respective WDN,

a name of the respective WDN,

a WDN type of the respective WDN, and

one or more PFs that correspond to the respective WDN.

20. The WD of claim 19, wherein the WDN type of the respective WDN is from a plurality of WDN types, and wherein the WDN plurality of WDN types includes one or more of:

an office WDN type,

an entertainment WDN type,

a public workplace WDN type,

an audio only WDN type, and

an enterprise office WDN type.

21. The WD of claim 17, wherein the at least one module is further executable by the one or more processors to:

select the particular WDN of the one or more WDNs associated with the WDC.

22. The WD of claim 21, wherein the at least one module is executable by the one or more processors to select the particular WDN by at least:

sending, to the WDC, a request to select the particular WDN;

receiving, from the WDC, a message indicating whether or not the WDC accepts the request for the WD to select the particular WDN; and

responsive to determining that the WDC accepts the request, wirelessly accessing the respective at least one PF corresponding to the particular WDN.

23. The WD of claim 22, wherein the request to select the particular WDN includes an identification value of the particular WDN.

24. The WD of claim 17, wherein the at least one module is further executable by the one or more processors to one or more of:

create a new WDN that corresponds to a set of PFs of the one or more PFs associated with the WDC;

modify an existing WDN of the one or more WDNs associated with the WDC; and

delete an existing WDN of the one or more WDNs associated with the WDC.

25. The WD of claim 24, wherein the at least one module is executable by the one or more processors to create the new WDN by at least:

sending, to the WDC, a request to create the new WDN, wherein the request indicates the set of PFs of the one or more PFs associated with the WDC; and

receiving, from the WDC, a message indicating whether or not the WDC accepts the request to create the new WDN.

26. The WD of claim 25, wherein the request indicates that the set of PFs requested to correspond to the new WDN consists of one or more PFs currently being accessed by the WD.

27. The WD of claim 25, wherein the request individually identifies the set of PFs requested to correspond to the new WDN.

28. The WD of claim 17, wherein the at least one module is further executable by the one or more processors to:

receive, from the WDC, a message that includes information regarding the one or more WDNs associated with the WDC; and

receive, from the WDC and at a second, later, time, a second message indicates that the information regarding the one or more WDNs associated with the WDC has changed.

29. The WD of claim 17, wherein at least one of the WDNs is a WD specific WDN created by the WD, and wherein configuration information for the WD specific WDN is stored on one or both of the WD and the WDC.

30. The WD of claim 17, wherein at least one of the WDNs is a WDC specific WDN not created by the WD, and wherein configuration information for the WDC specific WDN is stored on the WDC.

31. A wireless dockee (WD) comprising:

means for determining one or more wireless docking environments (WDNs) associated with a wireless docking center (WDC), wherein each WDN of the one or more WDNs corresponds to at least one peripheral function (PF) of one or more PFs that are each associated with the WDC; and

means for wirelessly accessing a respective at least one PF corresponding to a particular WDN of the one or more WDNs associated with the WDC.

32. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium stores instructions that, when executed, cause one or more processors of a wireless dockee (WD) to:

determine one or more wireless docking environments (WDNs) associated with a wireless docking center (WDC), wherein each WDN of the one or more WDNs corresponds to at least one peripheral function (PF) of one or more PFs that are each associated with the WDC; and

wirelessly access a respective at least one PF corresponding to a particular WDN of the one or more WDNs associated with the WDC.

33. A method comprising:

determining, by a wireless docking center (WDC), one or more wireless docking environments (WDNs) associated with the WDC, wherein each WDN of the one or more WDNs corresponds to at least one peripheral function (PF) of one or more PFs that are each associated with the WDC; and

providing, by the WDC and to a wireless dockee (WD), wireless access to a respective at least one PF corresponding to a particular WDN of the one or more WDNs associated with the WDC.

34. The method of claim 33, further comprising:

sending, by the WDC and to the WD, a message that identifies the one or more WDNs associated with the WDC.

35. The method of claim 34, wherein, for each respective WDN of the one or more WDNs identified by the message, the message indicates one or more of:

an identification value of the respective WDN,

a name of the respective WDN,

a WDN type of the respective WDN, and

one or more PFs that correspond to the respective WDN.

36. The method of claim 35, wherein the WDN type of the respective WDN is from a plurality of WDN types, and wherein the WDN plurality of WDN types includes one or more of:

an office WDN type,

an entertainment WDN type,

a public workplace WDN type,

an audio only WDN type, and

an enterprise office WDN type.

37. The method of claim 33, further comprising:

receiving, by the WDC and from the WD, a request to select the particular WDN of the one or more WDNs associated with the WDC;

sending, by the WDC and to the WD, a message indicating whether or not the WDC accepts the request for the WD to select the particular WDN; and

responsive to determining that the WDC accepts the request, providing, to the WD, the wireless access to the respective at least one PF corresponding to the particular WDN.

38. The method of claim 37, wherein the request to select the particular WDN includes an identification value of the particular WDN.

39. The method of claim 33, further comprising one or more of:

creating, by the WDC, a new WDN that corresponds to a set of PFs of the one or more PFs associated with the WDC;

modifying, by the WDC, an existing WDN of the one or more WDNs associated with the WDC; and

deleting, by the WDC, an existing WDN of the one or more WDNs associated with the WDC.

40. The method of claim 39, wherein creating comprises:

receiving, by the WDC and from the WD, a request to create the new WDN, wherein the request indicates the set of PFs of the one or more PFs associated with the WDC; and

sending, by the WDC and to the WD, a message indicating whether or not the WDC accepts the request to create the new WDN.

41. The method of claim 40, wherein the request indicates that the set of PFs requested to correspond to the new WDN consists of one or more PFs currently being accessed by the WD.

42. The method of claim 40, wherein the request individually identifies the set of PFs requested to correspond to the new WDN.

43. The method of claim 39, wherein modifying the existing WDN of the one or more WDNs associated with the WDC comprises:

receiving, by the WDC and from the WD, a request to modify the existing WDN, wherein the request indicates the existing WDN and a set of PFs requested to correspond to the existing WDN; and

sending, by the WDC and to the WD, a message indicating whether or not the WDC accepts the request to modify the existing WDN.

44. The method of claim 39, wherein deleting the existing WDN of the one or more WDNs associated with the WDC comprises:

sending, by the WD and to the WDC, a request to delete the existing WDN, wherein the request indicates the existing WDN; and

receiving, by the WD and from the WDC, a message indicating whether or not the WDC accepts the request to delete the existing WDN.

45. The method of claim 33, further comprising:

sending, by the WDC and to the WD, a message that includes information regarding the one or more WDNs associated with the WDC; and

responsive to determining, at a second, later, time, that the information regarding the one or more WDNs associated with the WDC has changed, sending, by the WDC and to the WD, a second message indicating that the information regarding the one or more WDNs associated with the WDC has changed.

46. The method of claim 33, wherein at least one of the WDNs is a WD specific WDN created by the WD, and wherein configuration information for the WD specific WDN is stored on one or both of the WD and the WDC.

47. The method of claim 33, wherein at least one of the WDNs is a WDC specific WDN not created by the WD, and wherein configuration information for the WDC specific WDN is stored on the WDC.

48. A wireless docking center (WDC) comprising:

a memory;

one or more processors;

at least one module executable by the one or more processors to;

determine one or more wireless docking environments (WDNs) associated with the WDC, wherein each WDN of the one or more WDNs corresponds to at least one peripheral function (PF) of one or more PFs that are each associated with the WDC; and

provide, to a wireless dockee (WD), wireless access to a respective at least one PF corresponding to a particular WDN of the one or more WDNs associated with the WDC.

49. The WDC of claim 48, wherein the at least one module is further executable by the one or more processors to:

send, to the WD, a message that identifies the one or more WDNs associated with the WDC.

50. The WDC of claim 49, wherein, for each respective WDN of the one or more WDNs identified by the message, the message indicates one or more of:

an identification value of the respective WDN,

a name of the respective WDN,

a WDN type of the respective WDN, and

one or more PFs that correspond to the respective WDN.

51. The WDC of claim 50, wherein the WDN type of the respective WDN is from a plurality of WDN types, and wherein the WDN plurality of WDN types includes one or more of:

an office WDN type,

an entertainment WDN type,

a public workplace WDN type,

an audio only WDN type, and

an enterprise office WDN type.

52. The WDC of claim 48, wherein the at least one module is further executable by the one or more processors to:

receive, from the WD, a request to select the particular WDN of the one or more WDNs associated with the WDC;

send, to the WD, a message indicating whether or not the WDC accepts the request for the WD to select the particular WDN; and

responsive to determining that the WDC accepts the request, provide, to the WD, the wireless access to the respective at least one PF corresponding to the particular WDN.

53. The WDC of claim 52, wherein the request to select the particular WDN includes an identification value of the particular WDN.

54. The WDC of claim 48, wherein the at least one module is further executable by the one or more processors to one or more of:

create a new WDN that corresponds to a set of PFs of the one or more PFs associated with the WDC;

modify an existing WDN of the one or more WDNs associated with the WDC; and

delete an existing WDN of the one or more WDNs associated with the WDC.

55. The WDC of claim 54, wherein the at least one module is executable by the one or more processors to create the new WDN by at least:

receiving, from the WD, a request to create the new WDN, wherein the request indicates the set of PFs of the one or more PFs associated with the WDC; and

sending, to the WD, a message indicating whether or not the WDC accepts the request to create the new WDN.

56. The WDC of claim 55, wherein the request indicates that the set of PFs requested to correspond to the new WDN consists of one or more PFs currently being accessed by the WD.

57. The WDC of claim 55, wherein the request individually identifies the set of PFs requested to correspond to the new WDN.

58. The WDC of claim 48, wherein the at least one module is further executable by the one or more processors to:

send, to the WD, a message that includes information regarding the one or more WDNs associated with the WDC; and

responsive to determining, at a second, later, time, that the information regarding the one or more WDNs associated with the WDC has changed, send, to the WD, a second message indicating that the information regarding the one or more WDNs associated with the WDC has changed.

59. The WDC of claim 48, wherein at least one of the WDNs is a WD specific WDN created by the WD, and wherein configuration information for the WD specific WDN is stored on one or both of the WD and the WDC.

60. The WDC of claim 48, wherein at least one of the WDNs is a WDC specific WDN not created by the WD, and wherein configuration information for the WDC specific WDN is stored on the WDC.

61. A wireless docking center (WDC) comprising:

means for determining one or more wireless docking environments (WDNs) associated with the WDC, wherein each WDN of the one or more WDNs corresponds to at least one peripheral function (PF) of one or more PFs that are each associated with the WDC; and

means for providing, by the WDC and to a wireless dockee (WD), wireless access to a respective at least one PF corresponding to a particular WDN of the one or more WDNs associated with the WDC.

62. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium stores instructions that, when executed, cause one or more processors of a wireless docking center (WDC) to:

determine one or more wireless docking environments (WDNs) associated with the WDC, wherein each WDN of the one or more WDNs corresponds to at least one peripheral function (PF) of one or more PFs that are each associated with the WDC; and

provide, to a wireless dockee (WD), wireless access to a respective at least one PF corresponding to a particular WDN of the one or more WDNs associated with the WDC.