Rendering on composite portable devices

• US 9,158,333 B1
• Filed: 03/02/2010
• Issued: 10/13/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 03/02/2010
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Froment, Arnaud, Lachwani, Manish
• Primary Examiner(s): Htun, San
• Assistant Examiner(s): Navar, Erica
• Application Number:
  US12/715,943
• Time in Patent Office: 2,051 Days
• Field of Search: 370/270, 455/414.1, 455/556.1, 455/556.2, 455/557, 455/3.06, 455418-420, 709/213, 709/215, 709/216, 709/227, 709/231, 709/232, 715716-718, 345 11- 13
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1615 with several enclosures having relative motions, each enclosure supporting at least one I/O or computing function constructional details of portable telephones comprising a plurality of mechanically joined movable body parts H04M1/0206
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3212 Monitoring battery levels, e.g. power saving mode being initiated when battery voltage goes below a certain level
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72409 by interfacing with external accessories hands-free H04M1/60
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72412 using two-way short-range wireless interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 10/00 Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management

Abstract

Constituent electronic devices such as eBook reader devices may be combined to form a composite device. Resources such as power, data, processing capabilities, network interfaces, displays, and so forth may be shared between the constituent devices. Resources may also be allocated and transferred to increase operational time of depleted individual electronic devices. Content may be presented across the constituent devices of the composite device. A relative spatial arrangement of the composite devices may be determined to facilitate the presentation.

Claims

1. A portable device comprising:

one or more processors;

a memory coupled to the one or more processors; and

a one or more modules stored in the memory and executable on the one or more processors to;

establish a composite device comprising the portable device and at least one other device attached to a backplane, wherein the backplane is a device separate from the portable device and the at least one other device and the backplane comprises multiple connection points;

determine a spatial arrangement of the portable device and the at least one other device based at least in part on a first connection point on the backplane for the portable device and at least one other connection point for the at least one other device; and

provide information to the at least one other device for presentation on the at least one other device based at least in part on the spatial arrangement between the portable device and the at least one other device.

2. The portable device of claim 1, wherein the one or more modules are further executable on the one or more processors to present at least a portion of a first content object while the at least one other device uses the provided information to present at least a portion of a second content object associated with the first content object.

3. The portable device of claim 1, wherein the provided information comprises at least one of text, audio, or video, and wherein the information includes an invariant reference number to synchronize presentation of the information on the at least one other device with the portable device.

4. The portable device of claim 1, wherein the portable device is embodied as an electronic book reader device.

5. The portable device of claim 1, wherein the one or more modules are further executable on the one or more processors to establish communication between the portable device and the at least one other device through at least one of:

a wireless connection;

a wired connection;

or

an optical connection.

6. The portable device of claim 1, wherein the backplane comprises a cover for the portable device.

7. The portable device of claim 1, wherein the one or more modules are further executable on the one or more processors to receive motion data relative to a common origin point from one or more sensors of the portable device.

8. The portable device of claim 1, wherein the one or more modules are further executable on the one or more processors to determine the spatial arrangement of the portable device and the at least one other device based at least in part from an interchange of electromagnetic signals between the portable device and the at least one other device.

9. The portable device of claim 1, wherein the at least one other device includes one or more of an accelerometer, a gyroscope, or a quartz rate sensor.

10. The portable device of claim 1, wherein the one or more modules are further executable on the one or more processors to receive a user input specifying the spatial arrangement of the portable device and the at least one other device, wherein the spatial arrangement is determined based at least in part on the user input.

11. The portable device of claim 1, wherein the one or more modules are further executable on the one or more processors to:

pre-process an image for presentation; and

transfer, based at least in part on the spatial arrangement of the portable device and the at least one other device, the pre-processed image from the portable device to the at least one other device for presentation.

12. One or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform acts comprising:

establishing a composite device comprising multiple constituent computing devices, individual ones of the constituent computing devices configured to attach to a backplane, wherein the backplane is a device separate from the constituent computing devices and the backplane comprises multiple connection points;

determining, for each of the constituent computing devices, a connection point of the multiple connection points on the backplane to which a respective constituent computing device attaches;

determining a spatial arrangement of the constituent computing devices based at least in part on the connection point on the backplane for each of the constituent computing devices;

determining, on a first constituent computing device of the multiple constituent computing devices, data for presentation on a second constituent computing device of the multiple constituent computing devices based at least in part on the spatial arrangement of the constituent computing devices; and

sending the data to the second constituent computing device for presentation.

13. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 12, the sending further comprising sending the data from the first constituent computing device to the second computing device via a local or a personal area network.

14. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 12, the sending further comprising sending an instruction to cause presentation of the data on the second constituent computing device.

15. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 12, wherein the data comprises an invariant reference number to synchronize presentation of the data on the second constituent computing device.

16. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 12, wherein:

the data comprises data for presentation on the second constituent computing device and at least one other constituent computing device; and

the determining the data for presentation on the second constituent computing device further comprises determining the data based at least in part on the spatial arrangement of the second constituent computing device and the at least one other constituent computing device of the multiple constituent computing devices.

17. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 12, further comprising:

exchanging electromagnetic signals between at least one of the first constituent computing device or the second constituent computing device and a third constituent computing device of the multiple constituent computing devices; and

determining the spatial arrangement of the multiple constituent computing devices based at least in part on the exchanged electromagnetic signals.

18. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 12, further comprising:

receiving by at least one of the first constituent computing device or the second constituent computing device, motion information from a third constituent computing device of the multiple constituent computing devices, the motion information indicating movement of the third constituent computing device from a common origin point; and

determining the spatial arrangement of the multiple constituent computing devices based at least in part on the motion information.

19. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 12, further comprising:

presenting a user interface displaying representations of the multiple constituent computing devices; and

receiving user input via the user interface; and

determining the spatial arrangement based at least in part on the user input.

20. A method comprising:

creating a composite device comprising multiple constituent computing devices, individual ones of the constituent computing devices configured to attach to a backplane, wherein the backplane is a device separate from the constituent computing devices and the backplane comprises multiple connection points, the constituent computing devices comprising at least a first computing device and a second computing device;

determining, for each of the constituent computing devices, a connection point of the multiple connection points on the backplane to which a respective constituent computing device attaches;

determining a spatial arrangement of the second computing device relative to the first computing device based at least in part on the connection point on the backplane for each of the constituent computing devices;

determining, based at least in part on the spatial arrangement, a portion of content on the first computing device for presentation on the second computing device; and

sending the portion of content from the first computing device to the second computing device.

21. The method of claim 20, further comprising sending an instruction from the first computing device to the second computing device, the instruction to cause presentation of the portion of content on the second computing device, the portion of content including an invariant reference number to synchronize, with the first computing device, presentation of the content on the second computing device.

22. The method of claim 20, further comprising:

receiving, by the first computing device, electromagnetic signals from the second computing device; and

determining the spatial arrangement based at least in part on the electromagnetic signals.

23. The method of claim 20, further comprising:

receiving user input associated with the spatial arrangement of the first computing device and the second computing device; and

determining the spatial arrangement based at least in part on the user input.

24. The method of claim 20, wherein the determining the spatial arrangement further comprises determining the spatial arrangement based at least in part on a linear offset from a common origin point.

25. The method of claim 20, wherein the constituent computing devices communicate with each other using at least one of:

a wireless connection;

a wired connection;

or

an optical connection.