Methods of configuring a generic bluetooth controller of a flash drive to be compatible with multiple bluetooth peripheral devices

• US 7,801,561 B2
• Filed: 09/28/2006
• Issued: 09/21/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 09/28/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SanDisk Technologies LLC (Western Digital Corporation)
• Original Assignee: SanDisk Corporation (Western Digital Corporation)
• Inventors: Parikh, Dhaval, Nagabhirava, Rajeev
• Primary Examiner(s): Urban; Edward
• Assistant Examiner(s): HANIDU, GANIYU A
• Application Number:
  US11/536,095
• Publication Number:
  US 20080081667A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,454 Days
• Field of Search: 455 412- 413, 4555561-5562, 455557-558, 713/0.1
• US Class Current: 455/557
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/6091 including a wireless interface
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72412 using two-way short-range wireless interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/005 Discovery of network devices, e.g. terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/18 Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks

Abstract

A portable flash memory drive includes a Bluetooth controller with only a subset of the layers of a Bluetooth stack necessary for operation. This enables usage of a generic Bluetooth controller in the flash drive. Specific configuration for profiles and other aspects of Bluetooth communication are handled by upper layers of the Bluetooth stack that are stored in the flash memory of the drive and thereafter loaded into a host computer. The configuration and make up of the Bluetooth stack can therefore be easily updated and changed when desired.

Claims

1. A method of providing Bluetooth communications to a host computing device, the method comprising:

providing a portable flash drive comprising a flash memory array operable to store user data files and a Bluetooth controller located in the portable flash drive and having core layers of a Bluetooth stack;

storing, in the flash memory array of the flash drive, one or more upper layers of the Bluetooth stack; and

causing, upon connection of the flash drive to a host computing device, a program to be automatically transferred from the flash memory array to an executable memory of the host computing device, and thereafter executed by the host computing device,

said program causing the upper layers of the Bluetooth stack to be loaded into the executable memory of the host computing device, thereby forming the complete Bluetooth stack usable by the host computing device to communicate with other Bluetooth peripheral devices via the portable flash drive, wherein the flash memory array is accessible by the host computing device when the portable flash drive is connected to the host.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising configuring the host computing device to communicate with a particular class of Bluetooth peripheral device.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein said program further causes the upper layers of the Bluetooth stack to be executed from the executable memory of the host computing device.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the core layers of the Bluetooth stack comprise a radio layer, a baseband layer, a link manager layer, and a host controller interface layer.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more upper layers of the Bluetooth stack comprise an application layer.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the one or more upper layers of the Bluetooth stack further comprise one or more of an L2CAP layer, an RFCOMM layer, and an SDP layer.

7. A method of enabling Bluetooth communications between a host and a peripheral device, the method comprising:

in a portable flash memory drive comprising a flash memory operable to store user data files, providing a Bluetooth controller located in the portable flash memory drive and operable to control Bluetooth radio frequency communications;

providing interface specific Bluetooth device drivers in the flash memory of the flash memory drive rather than in the Bluetooth controller; and

causing, upon connection of the flash drive to a host, the interface specific Bluetooth drivers to be automatically loaded into a memory of the host and executed by the host, thereby configuring an operating system environment of the host to recognize a class of the peripheral device and enabling the host to communicate with other Bluetooth peripheral devices via the Bluetooth controller within the portable flash memory drive, wherein the flash memory of the flash memory drive is accessible by the host when the flash memory drive is connected to the host.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising configuring the host and/or the flash drive to communicate to the recognized class.

9. A method of providing Bluetooth communications to a host computing device, the method comprising:

providing a portable flash drive configured to be recognized by a host computing device as both a CD ROM drive and a mass storage device operable to store user data files;

providing a Bluetooth radio and control circuitry within the portable flash drive; and

upon connection of the portable flash drive to the host computing device, causing the host computing device to automatically execute a program from what the host computing device recognizes as the CD ROM drive, the program when executed causing the host computing device to retrieve Bluetooth configuration information, usable by the host computing device to communicate with other Bluetooth peripheral devices via the Bluetooth radio and control circuitry of the portable flash drive, from what the host computing device recognizes as the mass storage device and to load the Bluetooth configuration information into a memory of the host computing device, wherein what the host computing device recognizes as the mass storage device is accessible by the host computing device when the portable flash drive is connected to the host computing device.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the Bluetooth configuration information comprises information relating to the class of a Bluetooth peripheral device.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising linking a host application with the class of the Bluetooth peripheral device.

12. The method of claim 9, further comprising communicating from the host computing device to a peripheral device through the Bluetooth radio and control circuitry of the portable flash drive.