Apparatus and method for sharing data among multiple terminal devices
First Claim
1. A method of sharing functional operability data between a plurality of terminal devices comprising:
- gathering a plurality of terminal devices that are each selectively configurable to operate as either a transmit-mode device or a receive-mode device when sharing functional operability data;
coupling at least one terminal device that has desired functional operability data and a plurality of terminal devices which lack the desired functional operability data to a plurality of ports that are coupled together with a data transfer connection;
monitoring the occurrence of a trigger event when the terminal devices are coupled to the plurality of ports and determining if a terminal device has desired functional operability data for distribution;
upon the occurrence of a trigger event, automatically operating the at least one of the terminal devices in a transmit-mode state as a transmit-mode terminal device if it has the desired functional operability data and operating other devices of the plurality of terminal devices in a receive-mode state as receive-mode terminal devices if they lack the desired functional operability data;
determining that the transmit-mode terminal device that is coupled to a port has distributable desired functional operability data;
if the transmit-mode terminal device has distributable desired functional operability, transmitting the distributable functional operability data from the transmit-mode terminal device port to the plurality of receive-mode terminal devices in ports to be received by the receive-mode terminal devices for enabling the receive-mode terminal devices with the desired functional operability associated with the data.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Apparatus and method for propagating data between multiple terminal devices includes determining the functional operability of a plurality of devices to assess which devices are properly configured. If a device is properly configured, operating the device in a transmit-mode to transmit functional operability data. If a device is not properly configured, operating the device in a receive-mode to receive the functional operability data. Coupling a transmitting device and at least one receiving device to a plurality of ports that are operably connected together so that the transmitting device and receiving device share the functional operability data.
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Citations
39 Claims
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1. A method of sharing functional operability data between a plurality of terminal devices comprising:
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gathering a plurality of terminal devices that are each selectively configurable to operate as either a transmit-mode device or a receive-mode device when sharing functional operability data; coupling at least one terminal device that has desired functional operability data and a plurality of terminal devices which lack the desired functional operability data to a plurality of ports that are coupled together with a data transfer connection; monitoring the occurrence of a trigger event when the terminal devices are coupled to the plurality of ports and determining if a terminal device has desired functional operability data for distribution; upon the occurrence of a trigger event, automatically operating the at least one of the terminal devices in a transmit-mode state as a transmit-mode terminal device if it has the desired functional operability data and operating other devices of the plurality of terminal devices in a receive-mode state as receive-mode terminal devices if they lack the desired functional operability data; determining that the transmit-mode terminal device that is coupled to a port has distributable desired functional operability data; if the transmit-mode terminal device has distributable desired functional operability, transmitting the distributable functional operability data from the transmit-mode terminal device port to the plurality of receive-mode terminal devices in ports to be received by the receive-mode terminal devices for enabling the receive-mode terminal devices with the desired functional operability associated with the data. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A method for propagating data between multiple devices comprising:
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determining the functional operability of a plurality of devices to assess which devices are properly configured with functional operability data for operating on a wireless network, wherein the devices are each selectively configurable for operating as either a transmit-mode device or a receive-mode device when sharing functional operability data; monitoring the occurrence of a trigger event with the terminal devices and determining if a terminal device has desired functional operability data for distribution; upon the occurrence of a trigger event, if a device is properly configured with functional operability data for operating on a wireless network, automatically operating the device in a transmit-mode state as a transmit-mode terminal device to transmit functional operability data to another device; if a device is not properly configured with functional operability data for operating on a wireless network, automatically operating the device in a receive-mode state as a receive-mode terminal device to receive the functional operability data from the transmit-mode device; coupling a transmit-mode device and a plurality of receive-mode devices to a plurality of ports that are operably connected together so that the transmitting device and receiving device share the functional operability data; determining that the functional operability data in the transmit-mode device is distributable and, if the transmit-mode terminal device has distributable functional operability data, transmitting the distributable functional operability data from the transmit-mode device to the plurality of receive-mode devices. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23)
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24. A terminal device for operating on a wireless network comprising:
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processing circuitry configured to monitor the occurrence of a trigger event and, upon detecting the trigger event, further configured to verify the functional operability of the terminal device on the wireless network; and communication circuitry; the processing circuitry, upon verifying the functional operability of the terminal device on the wireless network, further operable for automatically operating the terminal device in a transmit-mode state for transmitting functional operability data to other terminal devices using the communication circuitry and if unable to verify the functional operability of the terminal device on the wireless network, operable for operating the terminal device in a receive-mode state for receiving functional operability data from another terminal device that has a desired functional operability using the communication circuitry; the processing circuitry further operable for determining that a terminal device in the transmit-mode state has distributable functional operability data, and if it does, operable for transmitting the distributable functional operability data from the transmit-mode terminal device to another terminal device. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37)
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38. A terminal device comprising:
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circuitry configured, when enabled, for communicating with a network, the terminal device operable to monitor for the occurrence of a trigger event for transmitting to or receiving functional operability data from another terminal device; upon the occurrence of a trigger event, the terminal device operable for determining if it is enabled for communicating with the network; if enabled, the terminal device further operable for automatically operating in a transmit-mode state for transmitting functional operability data for receipt by another terminal device; if not enabled, the terminal device further operable for operating in a receive-mode state for receiving functional operability data transmitted by another similarly-configured transmit-mode terminal device; the terminal device further operable for determining that, if in the transmit-mode state, it has distributable functional operability data, and if it does, operable for transmitting the distributable functional operability data from the transmit-mode terminal device to another terminal device. - View Dependent Claims (39)
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Specification