METHOD AND DEVICE FOR CONTROLLING PERIPHERAL DEVICES VIA A SOCIAL NETWORKING PLATFORM

• US 20150264543A1
• Filed: 09/24/2014
• Published: 09/17/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 03/12/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Tencent Technology Company Limited (Tencent Holdings Limited)
• Original Assignee: Tencent Technology Company Limited (Tencent Holdings Limited)
• Inventors: LIN, Xiangyao, FAN, Liangliang, HUA, Yaobo, CHENG, Shihai, LIU, Kai, YE, Rungui, ZHOU, Zhijie, PAN, Nongfei, SHU, Zhan, SUN, Danqing, REN, Anqi, LlU, Jinhai, LlU, Chenglin, LlU, Can
• Granted Patent: US 9,614,923 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/104 Peer-to-peer [P2P] networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/55 Push-based network services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/324 in the data link layer [OSI layer 2], e.g. HDLC
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72403 with means for local support of applications that increase the functionality
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72412 using two-way short-range wireless interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/02 including a Bluetooth interface
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/52 including functional features of a camera constructional features concerning the integration of cameras in portable phones H04M1/0264
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/21 for social networking applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/18 Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks

Abstract

A method and device for transmitting data between a peripheral device and a user device via a Bluetooth Low Energy connection, comprising: at the peripheral device: transmitting data to the user device in a simulated data stream, the transmitting comprising: identifying a first Bluetooth characteristic for writing data, the first Bluetooth characteristic having been exposed by the peripheral device to the user device; dividing a data packet into a sequence of data frames plus zero or one remainder, each data frame having a respective size equal to a predetermined data size of the identified first Bluetooth characteristic; and for each of the sequence of data frames: writing the data frame to a respective value for the identified first Bluetooth characteristic; and pushing the identified first Bluetooth characteristic for reading by the user device.

Claims

1. A method of communicating with a peripheral device over a social networking platform, comprising:

at a server of a support service provider for a type of peripheral devices including the peripheral device;

registering with a server of the social network platform as the support service provider for the peripheral device;

initiating a communication event to send an instruction to the peripheral device, initiating the communication event comprising;

generating a push request data packet for the instruction, wherein the push request data packet identifies the peripheral device as a target of the instruction; and

sending the push request data packet to the peripheral device via the server of the social networking platform and a user device coupled to the peripheral device.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a request data packet from the peripheral device via the user device coupled to the peripheral device and the server of the social networking platform; and

in response to receiving the request data packet from the peripheral device, sending a response data packet to the peripheral device via the server of the social networking platform and the user device coupled to the peripheral device.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the push request data packet, the request data packet, and the response data packet have a fixed-length packet header, and a variable-length packet body.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the fixed-length packet header includes a predetermined command identifier and a respective packet sequence number.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the response data packet includes a first packet sequence number that matches a second packet sequence number included in the request data packet, and the push request data packet includes a third packet sequence number different from the first and the second packet sequence number.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the predetermined command identifier corresponds to a command for accessing a respective function of a social network platform.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the command is for accessing a user authentication function of the social network platform, and the packet body specifying a type of user identity assigned to the peripheral device on the social network platform.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the command is for accessing a contact listing for the peripheral device on the social network platform, and the packet body specifying at least one contact representing a user, a support service provider, or another peripheral device.

9. The method of claim 6, wherein the command is for accessing a messaging function on the social network platform, and the packet body specifying a message targeting at least one contact representing a user, a support service provider, or another peripheral device.

10. The method of claim 6, wherein the command is for accessing a messaging function on the social network platform, and the packet body specifying a message originated from at least one contact representing a user, a support service provider, or another peripheral device.

11. The method of claim 6, wherein the command is for accessing a messaging function on the social network platform, and the packet body specifying a message targeting at least one contact representing a user, a support service provider, or another peripheral device.

12. The method of claim 6, wherein the command is for accessing a group chat function on the social network platform, and the packet body specifying a group chat session between the peripheral device and two or more respective social network contacts of the peripheral device, including two or more of a plurality of users, a support service provider, and a plurality of other peripheral devices.

13. The method of claim 6, wherein the command is for accessing a conversation log function on the social network platform, and the packet body specifying a conversation log for a chat session between the peripheral device and one or more respective social network contacts of the peripheral device, including one or more of a plurality of users, a support service provider, and a plurality of other peripheral devices.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the push request data packet does not require a response from the target of the instruction and the method further comprises:

concluding the communication event after sending the push request data packet without receiving any response for the push request data packet from the peripheral device.

15. A system for communicating with a peripheral device over a social networking platform, the system comprising:

one or more processors; and

memory having instructions stored thereon, the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the processors to perform operations comprising;

registering with a server of the social network platform as a support service provider for a type of peripheral devices including the peripheral device;

initiating a communication event to send an instruction to the peripheral device, initiating the communication event comprising;

generating a push request data packet for the instruction, wherein the push request data packet identifies the peripheral device as a target of the instruction; and

sending the push request data packet to the peripheral device via the server of the social networking platform and a user device coupled to the peripheral device.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving a request data packet from the peripheral device via the user device coupled to the peripheral device and the server of the social networking platform; and

in response to receiving the request data packet from the peripheral device, sending a response data packet to the peripheral device via the server of the social networking platform and the user device coupled to the peripheral device.

17. The system of claim 15, wherein the push request data packet does not require a response from the target of the instruction and the operations further comprise:

concluding the communication event after sending the push request data packet without receiving any response for the push request data packet from the peripheral device.

18. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon, the instructions, when executed by one or more processors, cause the processors to perform operations comprising:

registering with a server of the social network platform as a support service provider for a type of peripheral devices including the peripheral device;

initiating a communication event to send an instruction to the peripheral device, initiating the communication event comprising;

generating a push request data packet for the instruction, wherein the push request data packet identifies the peripheral device as a target of the instruction; and

sending the push request data packet to the peripheral device via the server of the social networking platform and a user device coupled to the peripheral device.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 18, wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving a request data packet from the peripheral device via the user device coupled to the peripheral device and the server of the social networking platform; and

in response to receiving the request data packet from the peripheral device, sending a response data packet to the peripheral device via the server of the social networking platform and the user device coupled to the peripheral device.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 18, wherein the push request data packet does not require a response from the target of the instruction and the operations further comprise:

concluding the communication event after sending the push request data packet without receiving any response for the push request data packet from the peripheral device.