Wireless peripheral interface with universal serial bus port

• US 7,532,872 B2
• Filed: 08/08/2007
• Issued: 05/12/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 09/10/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Logitech Europe S A (Logitech International SA)
• Original Assignee: Logitech Europe S A (Logitech International SA)
• Inventors: Lazzarotto, Sergio, Zanone, Jean-Daniel, Schneider, Gerhard A.
• Primary Examiner(s): NGUYEN, THUAN T
• Application Number:
  US11/835,645
• Publication Number:
  US 20080022031A1
• Time in Patent Office: 643 Days
• Field of Search: 455/226.1, 455/557, 455/414.1, 455/500, 455/67.11, 455/550.1, 455/553.1, 455/556.1, 455/575.7, 455/101, 455/129, 370/315, 370/463
• US Class Current: 455/226.1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/387 for adaptation of different data processing systems to different peripheral devices, e.g. protocol converters for incompatible systems, open system
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/0384 Wireless input, i.e. hardware and software details of wireless interface arrangements for pointing devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2213/3814 Wireless link with a computer system port
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0231 Cordless keyboards
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/038 Control and interface arrangements therefor, e.g. drivers or device-embedded control circuitry
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/0067 with one or more circuit blocks in common for different bands

Abstract

A wireless peripheral interface is used for coupling with a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port for connecting a wireless peripheral with a host computer or controller. Wireless peripheral devices (e.g., keyboard, mouse, trackball, touch pad, joysticks, and game controllers) transmit communication signals, e.g., radio frequency (RF) signals, to the peripheral interface, which are received and processed into formats suitable for transmission to the host computer or controller via USB, either alone or in combination with other standard external bus systems, such as serial and PS/2.

Claims

1. An interface for coupling a plurality of cordless peripheral devices, each communicating on a different frequency within a frequency band, with a universal serial bus configured device, the interface comprising:

an antenna wirelessly coupled to concurrently receive a plurality of communication signals, each communication signal having a different frequency within a frequency band and corresponding to a different cordless peripheral;

a communication front-end coupled to the antenna and configured to demodulate each of the plurality of communication signals,

process, in parallel, each of the plurality of communication signals based on its frequency, and

generate, for each of the plurality of communication signals, a digital data signal; and

a processor coupled to the communication front-end for decoding the plurality of digital data signals, wherein the processor is configured to format each digital data signal into a universal serial bus data format to establish universal serial bus communication with the universal serial bus configured device.

2. The interface of claim 1, wherein the universal serial bus configured device comprises a computer system.

3. The interface of claim 1, wherein the first cordless device comprises a computer mouse and a second cordless device comprises a keyboard.

4. The interface of claim 1, wherein the frequency band comprises a range of 27 MHz to 50 MHz.

5. A method for wirelessly coupling a plurality of peripheral devices, each communicating on a different frequency within a frequency band, with a host system having a universal serial bus input/output interface, the method comprising:

concurrently receiving a first communication signal at a first frequency from a first peripheral device and a second communication signal at a second frequency from a second peripheral device;

demodulating each of the first and second communication signals and processing each based on its frequency;

generating a digital data signal for each demodulated processed communication signal;

decoding each digital data signal; and

formatting each digital data signal into a universal serial bus data format to establish universal serial bus communication with the first and second peripheral devices.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein formatting further comprises generating a build image, the build image corresponding to a protocol configuration of the universal serial bus input/output interface.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the first peripheral device comprises a computer mouse and the second peripheral device comprises a keyboard.

8. The method of claim 5, wherein the frequency band comprises a range of 27 MHz to 50 MHz.

9. A computer readable medium configured to store instructions executable by a processor to wirelessly couple a plurality of peripheral devices, each device communicating at frequency within a frequency band, with a host system having a universal serial bus input/output interface, the instructions when executed by the processor causing the processor to:

receive a plurality of communication signals from the plurality of peripheral devices, at least two communication signals having a different frequency;

demodulate each communication signal; and

process each communication signal based on its frequency to;

generate a digital data signal for the communication signal;

decode the digital data signal; and

format the digital data signal into a universal serial bus data format to establish universal serial bus communication with the peripheral device.

10. The computer readable medium of claim 9, wherein the instruction that causes the processor to format further comprises an instruction to cause the processor to generate a build image, the build image corresponding to a protocol configuration of the universal serial bus input/output interface.

11. The computer readable medium of claim 9, wherein a first peripheral device of the plurality of peripheral devices comprises a cordless mouse communicating at a first frequency and a second peripheral device of the plurality of peripheral devices comprises a cordless keyboard communicating at a second frequency.

12. The computer readable medium of claim 9, wherein the frequency band comprises a range of 27 MHz to 50 MHz.

13. An interface for coupling a plurality of peripheral devices, the devices communicating within a frequency band, with a universal serial bus, the interface comprising:

a means for receiving a plurality of communication signals within a frequency band, each communication signal corresponding to a peripheral device of the plurality of peripheral devices;

a means for demodulating each communication signal;

a means for processing, in parallel, the plurality of communication signals, each based on its frequency band, and for each communication signal from a peripheral device, for;

generating a digital data signal for each demodulated communication signal;

decoding each digital data signal; and

formatting each digital data signal into a universal serial bus data format to establish communication between the universal serial bus and the peripheral device.

14. The interface of claim 13, wherein the means for formatting further comprises a means for generating a build image, the build image corresponding to a protocol configuration of the universal serial bus.

15. The interface of claim 13, wherein each of the plurality of peripheral devices is one from a group consisting of a mouse, a trackball, a remote controller, a video camera, a game device, and a joystick.

16. The interface of claim 13, wherein the frequency band comprises a range of 27 MHz to 50 MHz.

17. The interface of claim 13, wherein a first peripheral device of the plurality of peripheral devices comprises a cordless mouse and a second peripheral device of the plurality of peripheral devices comprises a cordless keyboard.