Wireless system bus

• US 6,742,052 B2
• Filed: 08/09/2001
• Issued: 05/25/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 08/09/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Lenovo PC International Limited (Lenovo Group Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Himmel, Maria Azua, Spinac, Clifford Jay, Rodriguez, Herman, Smith, Newton James Jr.
• Primary Examiner(s): Gaffin, Jeffrey
• Assistant Examiner(s): CHEN, ALAN S
• Application Number:
  US09/925,255
• Publication Number:
  US 20030033452A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,020 Days
• Field of Search: 710/2, 710/9, 710/300, 710/305, 710/107, 710/109
• US Class Current: 710/2
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 74/06 using polling

Abstract

A mobile or desktop computer having a system bus that is exposed externally using a wireless transceiver so that input and output devices within proximity of the computer can be configured for immediate use. The wireless system bus of the invention provides discovery and acceptance of wireless peripheral devices within the range of the wireless transmissions. Serial or parallel communication can be supported on the same or different frequency channels. Preferably, the invention utilizes a dedicated discovery frequency for detecting the presence of peripherals in the proximity. Commands and data can be exchanged between the computer and the peripheral device in a secured manner.

Claims

1. A method for establishing a wireless communication link between a first transceiver communicatively coupled to a computer bus and a second transceiver communicatively coupled to a peripheral device, wherein the computer is configured to operate under the control of an operating system and one or more application program, the method comprising:

polling for a discovery signal from die peripheral device at one or more polling frequencies;

receiving at the first transceiver a device discovery signal from the peripheral device at a particular frequency, wherein the particular frequency is one of the one or more polling frequencies;

identifying the particular frequency, wherein the particular frequency identifies the peripheral device by type and is not a network frequency;

providing identification of the peripheral device to a bus driver through the first transceiver, wherein the bus driver is stored in a memory device that is coupled to the bus; and

communicating information from the application program over the wireless communication link to the peripheral device.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

transmitting the device discovery signal at the particular frequency from the transceiver of the peripheral device.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

determining if the particular frequency is in use before transmitting the device discovery signal.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the step of determining if the particular frequency is in use further comprises:

polling the receiver of the peripheral device at the particular frequency.

5. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

if the particular frequency is in use, waiting for a timeout period before polling again.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of communicating information from the application program over the wireless communication link to the peripheral device includes communicating information through the operating system, the device driver, the first transceiver, and the second transceiver.

7. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

communicating the device discovery from the first transceiver over the bus to the bus driver.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

automatically configuring the bus driver for communication with the peripheral device.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

assigning an address to the peripheral device; and

communicating the assigned address between the computer and the peripheral device.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the information that is communicated is selected from commands, data, and combinations thereof.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

encrypting the information before transmitting the information; and

transmitting the encrypting information.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

informing a user of the computer of the identification of the peripheral device; and

querying the user whether to accept the peripheral device.

13. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

monitoring the second transceiver at a communication frequency for wireless communications containing the assigned address; and

receiving a communication containing the assigned address, wherein the communication is a request from an application program to use the peripheral device.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

determining if the communication frequency is in use before transmitting a reply communication.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the step of determining if the device communication frequency is in use further comprises:

polling the receiver of the peripheral device at the communication frequency.

16. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

if the communication frequency is in use, waiting for a timeout period before polling again.

17. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

transmitting data from the one or more peripheral devices to the computer in reply to the request.

18. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

decrypting the encrypted information transmitted between the peripheral device and the computer.

19. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

transmitting a shutdown signal from the transceiver of the peripheral device before shutting down the peripheral device.

20. The method of claim 19, further comprising:

removing the identification of the peripheral device from the driver upon receiving a shutdown signal from the peripheral device.

21. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

continuously transmitting a signal at a unique frequency from the transceiver of the peripheral device; and

removing the identification of the peripheral device from the driver if the computer can no longer detect a signal from the peripheral device.

22. The method of claim 19, further comprising:

removing the identification of the peripheral device from the driver if no reply is received from the peripheral device within a predetermined peripheral device timeout period.

25. The method of claim 9, wherein the address is an assigned frequency, the method further comprises:

monitoring the second transceiver at the assigned frequency for wireless communications; and

receiving a communication, wherein the communication is a request from an application program to use the peripheral device.

23. A method for establishing a wireless communication link between a wireless bus extender communicatively coupled to a computer bus and a first transceiver communicatively coupled to a peripheral device that is communicably coupled to a second transceiver, wherein the computer is configured to operate under the control of an operating system and one or more application program, the method comprising:

polling for a discovery signal from the peripheral device at one or more polling frequencies;

receiving at the first transceiver a device discovery signal from the peripheral device at a particular frequency, wherein the particular frequency is one of the one or more polling frequencies;

identifying the particular frequency, wherein the particular frequency identifies the peripheral device by type and is not a network frequency;

providing identification of the peripheral device to a bus driver for the wireless bus extender, wherein the bus driver is stored in a memory device that is coupled to the bus; and

communicating commands information from the application program over the wireless communication link to the peripheral device.

24. The method of claim 23 wherein the wireless bus extender comprises a transceiver for transmitting and receiving wireless signals selected from radio frequency and infrared.

26. A computer program product including instructions embodied on a computer readable medium, for establishing a wireless communication link between a first transceiver communicatively coupled to a computer bus and a second transceiver communicatively coupled to a peripheral device, wherein the computer is configured to operate under the control of an operating system and one or more application programs the instructions comprising:

polling instructions for polling for a discovery signal from the peripheral device at one or more polling frequencies;

receiving instructions for receiving at the first transceiver a device discovery signal from the peripheral device at a particular frequency, wherein the particular frequency is one of the one or more polling frequencies;

identifying instructions for identifying the particular frequency, wherein the particular frequency identifies the peripheral device by type, and wherein the particular frequency is not a network frequency;

providing instructions for providing identification of the peripheral device to a bus driver through the first transceiver, wherein the bus driver is stored in a memory device that is coupled to the bus; and

communicating instructions for communicating information from the application program over the wireless communication link to the peripheral device.

27. The computer program product of claim 26, further comprising:

transmitting instructions for transmitting the device discovery signal from the peripheral device transceiver at the particular frequency.

28. The computer program product of claim 27, further comprising:

communicating instructions for communicating the device discovery from the first transceiver over the bus to the driver.

29. The computer program product of claim 27, further comprising:

determining instructions for determining if the particular frequency is in use before transmitting a device discovery signal.

30. The computer program product of claim 29, wherein the determining instructions for determining if the particular frequency is in use further comprises:

polling instructions for polling the peripheral device receiver at the particular frequency.

31. The computer program product of claim 29, further comprising:

waiting instructions for waiting for a timeout period before polling the peripheral device if the particular frequency is in use.

32. The computer program product of claim 26, wherein the instructions for communicating information from the application program over the wireless communication link to the peripheral device includes instructions for communicating information through the operating system, the device driver, the first transceiver, and the second transceiver.

33. The computer program product of claim 26, further comprising:

assigning instructions for assigning an address to the peripheral device; and

communicating instructions for communicating the assigned address between the computer and the peripheral device.

34. The computer program product of claim 33, further comprising:

monitoring instructions for monitoring the second transceiver for wireless communications containing the assigned address; and

receiving instructions for receiving a communication containing the assigned address, wherein the communication is a request from an application program to use the peripheral device.

35. The computer program product of claim 34, further comprising:

transmitting instructions for transmitting data from the peripheral device to the computer in reply to the request.

36. The computer program product of claim 34, further comprising:

determining instructions for determining if the communication frequency is in use before transmitting a reply communication.

37. The computer program product of claim 36, wherein the determining instructions for determining if the device communication frequency is in use further comprises:

polling instructions for polling the peripheral device receiver at the communication frequency.

38. The computer program product of claim 36, further comprising:

waiting instructions for waiting for a timeout period before polling the peripheral device if the communication frequency is in use.

39. The computer program product of claim 26, wherein the information that is communicated is selected from commands, data, and combinations thereof.

40. The computer program product of claim 26, further comprising:

encrypting instructions for encrypting the information before transmitting the information; and

transmitting instructions for transmitting the encrypted information.

41. The computer program product of claim 40, further comprising:

decrypting instructions for decrypting the encrypted information transmitted between the peripheral device and the computer.

42. The computer program product of claim 26, further comprising:

informing instructions for informing a user of the computer of the peripheral device identification; and

querying instructions for querying the user whether to accept the identified peripheral device.

43. The computer program product of claim 26, further comprising:

transmitting instructions for transmitting a shutdown signal from the peripheral device transceiver before shutting down the peripheral device.

44. The computer program product of claim 43, further comprising:

removing instructions for removing the identification of the peripheral device from the driver upon receiving a shutdown signal from the peripheral device.

45. The computer program product of claim 43, further comprising:

removing instructions for removing the identification of the peripheral device from the driver if no reply is received from the peripheral device within a predetermined peripheral device timeout period.

46. The computer program product of claim 33, wherein the address is an assigned frequency, the computer program product further comprises:

monitoring instructions for monitoring the second transceiver at the assigned frequency for wireless communications; and

receiving instructions for receiving a communication, wherein the communication is a request from an application program to use the peripheral device.

47. A computer program product that provides instructions for establishing a wireless communication link between a wireless bus extender communicatively coupled to a computer bus and a first transceiver communicatively coupled to a peripheral device that is communicably coupled to a second transceiver, wherein the computer is configured to operate under the control of an operating system and one or more application programs, the computer program product comprising;

polling instructions for polling a discovery signal from the peripheral device at various polling frequencies;

receiving instructions for receiving at the first transceiver a device discovery signal from the peripheral device at a particular frequency, wherein the particular frequency is one of the one or more polling frequencies;

identifying instructions for identifying the particular frequency, wherein the particular frequency identifies the peripheral device by type and is not a network frequency;

identification instructions for providing identification of the peripheral device to a bus driver for the wireless bus extender, wherein the bus driver is stored in a memory device that is coupled to the bus; and

communicating instructions for communicating information from the application program over the wireless communication link to the peripheral device.

48. The computer program product of claim 47, wherein the wireless bus extender comprises a transceiver for transmitting and receiving wireless signals selected from radio frequency and infrared.

49. The method of claim 23, further comprising;

assigning an address to the peripheral device; and

communicating the assigned address between the computer and the peripheral device.

50. The method of claim 49, wherein the address is an assigned frequency, the method further comprises:

monitoring the second transceiver at the assigned frequency for wireless communications; and

receiving a communication, wherein the communication is a request from an application program to use the peripheral device.

51. The computer program product of claim 26, further comprising:

configuring instructions for automatically configuring the bus driver for communication with the peripheral device.