System for detecting a wireless peripheral device by a host computer transmitting a hail message including a persistent host identifier and a host address generated

• US 6,308,227 B1
• Filed: 06/24/1998
• Issued: 10/23/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 06/24/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Original Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Inventors: Kumar, Mohan J., Choudhary, Rajiv
• Primary Examiner(s): Lee, Thomas
• Assistant Examiner(s): Park, Ilwoo
• Application Number:
  US09/103,764
• Time in Patent Office: 1,217 Days
• Field of Search: 709/222, 709/227, 709/228, 710/3, 710/4, 710/9, 710/8, 710/10, 710/105, 710/106, 713/1, 340/3-1-, 340/825.52, 340/825.53
• US Class Current: 710/4
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/5092 by self-assignment, e.g. picking addresses at random and testing if they are already in use
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/14 Session management for real-time applications in data packet communications networks H04L65/1066
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/246 Connectivity information discovery
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/26 Network addressing or numbering for mobility support

Abstract

A persistent host identifier value is used during the automatic detection (e.g., enumeration) of a wireless peripheral device by a host computer system following a power-up or reset operation of the host. Use of the persistent host identifier may allow the rapid establishment of a communication channel between the host computer system and wireless peripheral device. Once a wireless peripheral device has been enumerated, an identifier value associated with the peripheral device may also be retained, and used, during subsequent enumeration and/or binding operations.

Claims

1. A method to detect a wireless peripheral device by a host computer system comprising:

retrieving a persistent host identifier and generating a host address;

transmitting a hail message to the wireless peripheral device, the hail message including the host identifier and host address; and

receiving a response message from the wireless peripheral device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein transmitting a hail message comprises generating an infrared signal representative of the hail message.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

retrieving a wireless peripheral device identifier; and

including the retrieved wireless peripheral device identifier in the response message.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein retrieving comprises reading a persistent value representative of the wireless peripheral device identifier.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

generating a host address prior to transmitting the hail message; and

including the generated host address in the hail message.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein generating a host address comprises selecting a host address that is not being used by a second host computer system transmitting a signal to another wireless peripheral device within a signal detection range of the host computer system.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the method is performed automatically following a powering on or resetting of the host computer system.

8. A program storage device, readable by a host computer system, comprising:

instructions stored thereon for causing the computer system to;

retrieve a persistent host identifier and generate a host address;

transmit a hail message to the wireless peripheral device, the hail message including the host identifier and host address; and

receive a response message from the wireless peripheral device.

9. The program storage device of claim 8, wherein the instructions to transmit a hail message comprise instructions to generate an infrared signal representative of the hail message.

10. The program storage device of claim 8, further comprising instructions to:

retrieve a wireless peripheral device identifier; and

include the retrieved wireless peripheral device identifier in the response message.

11. The program storage device of claim 10, wherein the instructions to retrieve a wireless peripheral device identifier comprise instructions to read a persistent value representative of the wireless peripheral device identifier.

12. The program storage device of claim 8, further comprising instructions to:

generate a host address prior to performing the instructions to transmit the hail message; and

include the generated host address in the hail message.

13. The program storage device of claim 12, wherein the instructions to generate a host address comprise instructions to select a host address that is not being used by a second host computer system transmitting a signal to another wireless peripheral device within a signal detection range of the host computer system.

14. The program storage device of claim 8, wherein the instructions are encoded to execute following a powering on or resetting of the host computer system.

15. The program storage device of claim 8, wherein the wireless peripheral device comprises a pointer device.

16. A method to detect and bind a wireless peripheral device by a host computer system comprising:

generating a host address;

retrieving a persistent host identifier;

retrieving a wireless peripheral device identifier;

transmitting a first message to the wireless peripheral device, the first message including the host identifier and the host address;

receiving a response message from the wireless peripheral device; and

transmitting a second message to the wireless peripheral device, the second message including a peripheral device address.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein generating a host address comprises selecting a host address that is not being used by a second host computer system communicating with a second wireless peripheral within a signal detection range of the host computer system.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein transmitting a first message comprises generating an infrared signal representative of the first message.

19. The method of claim 16, wherein the method is automatically executed following a powering on or resetting of the host computer system.

20. A program storage device, readable by a computer system, comprising:

instructions stored thereon for causing the computer system to;

generate a host address;

retrieve a persistent host identifier;

retrieve a wireless peripheral device identifier;

transmit a first message to the wireless peripheral device, the first message including the host identifier and the host address;

receive a response message from the wireless peripheral device; and

transmit a second message to the wireless peripheral device, the second message including a peripheral device address.

21. The program storage device of claim 20, wherein the instructions to generate a host address comprise instructions to select a host address that is not being used by a second computer system to communicate with a second wireless peripheral within a signal detection range of the computer system.

22. The program storage device of claim 20, wherein the instructions to transmit a first message comprise instructions to generate an infrared signal representative of the first message.

23. The program storage device of claim 20, wherein the wireless peripheral device comprises a keyboard device.

24. A device comprising:

a generator to generate a host address;

a persistent storage device;

a circuit, operatively coupled to the persistent storage device, to retrieve a persistent host identifier and a wireless peripheral device identifier;

a first transmitter, operatively coupled to the generator and the circuit, to transmit a first message, the first message including the host address and the host identifier;

a receiver, operatively coupled to the circuit, to receive a response message; and

a second transmitter, operatively coupled to the generator and the circuit, to transmit a second message, the second message including a peripheral device address.

25. The device of claim 24, wherein the persistent storage device comprises a nonvolatile memory.

26. The device of claim 24, wherein the device is automatically activated following a powering on or resetting of a computer system operatively coupled to the device.