Bluetooth enabled mobile device charging cradle and system
First Claim
1. A charging cradle, comprising:
- an RF transceiver;
an antenna coupled to said RF transceiver; and
an input for coupling a peripheral electronic device to said RF transceiver.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A mobile device charging cradle (46) to enable short distance wireless communication between a personal computer (10) and at least one other short distance wireless communication enabled electronic device (50). In a preferred embodiment of the invention, a short distance wireless radio (transceiver—Bluetooth enabled) (44) and antenna (42) are added to a charging cradle to produce a combination charging and short distance wireless communication enabled cradle (46) which is coupled via a data cable (12) to a personal computer (10). The short distance wireless (in this case RF) communication enabled cradle enables a system in which a legacy architecture personal computer may communicate with other short distance RF communication enabled electronic devices. Such communication is enabled whether or not another RF communication enabled portable electronic device is coupled to the cradle. In another embodiment of the invention, a universal serial bus USB in a computer is used as a power source for the previously described cradle. In one embodiment, a data/power cable (78) couples a computer (70) having an external USB connector (72) to the short distance wireless communication enabled cradle (74). The cable includes electronic circuitry (82) for converting the voltage level supplied by the USB to a voltage level usable by the cradle—including its Bluetooth radio (44) and any peripheral electronic device that may be coupled to the cradle (52,54).
265 Citations
30 Claims
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1. A charging cradle, comprising:
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an RF transceiver;
an antenna coupled to said RF transceiver; and
an input for coupling a peripheral electronic device to said RF transceiver. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A system, comprising:
a peripheral electronic device and a data cable coupling said computer to a charging cradle for another peripheral electronic device, said charging cradle comprising an RF transceiver coupled to said data cable and an antenna coupled to said RF transceiver. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. A system, comprising:
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a computing apparatus having a Universal Serial Bus and an external connector coupled to said Universal Serial Bus;
a charging cradle for a peripheral electronic device, said charging cradle comprising an RF transceiver coupled to an antenna; and
a multi-conductor cable coupling said external connector to said charging cradle, at least two of said conductors in said multi-conductor cable carrying data between said computing apparatus and said RF transceiver and at least two other of said conductors carrying power between said computing apparatus, said RF transceiver and a connector for powering a peripheral electronic device coupled to said cradle. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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Specification