Automated sharing of application data over a near field communication link

• US 9,184,800 B2
• Filed: 05/30/2013
• Issued: 11/10/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 07/16/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Hamilton, Robert William, Coenen, Martijn Franciscus Agnes, Garb, Rachel Leah, Hamilton, Jeffrey William, Pelly, Nicholas Julian
• Primary Examiner(s): Trinh, Sonny
• Application Number:
  US13/905,210
• Publication Number:
  US 20140017996A1
• Time in Patent Office: 894 Days
• Field of Search: 455/41.1, 455/41.2, 455/41.3, 455/517
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/48 Program initiating; Program switching, e.g. by interrupt
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/54 Interprogram communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 5/72 for local intradevice communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication

Abstract

A computer-implemented technique includes establishing, at a first computing device including one or more processors, a near field communication (NFC) link with a second computing device. The technique includes identifying, at the first computing device, an application having a foreground designation in an operating system of the first computing device, the identifying being performed upon establishment of the NFC link with the second computing device. The technique includes determining, at the first computing device, an identifier for the application, wherein the identifier uniquely identifies the application at a source external to the first computing device. The technique also includes transmitting, from the first computing device, the identifier for the application via the NFC link to the second computing device.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

establishing, at a first computing device including one or more processors, a near field communication (NFC) link with a second computing device;

identifying, at the first computing device, an application having a foreground designation in an operating system of the first computing device, the identifying being performed upon establishment of the NFC link with the second computing device;

querying, at the first computing device, the application for data to share with the second computing device;

determining, at the first computing device, an identifier for the application when the application does not support data sharing, wherein the identifier uniquely identifies the application at a source external to the first computing device; and

transmitting, from the first computing device, the identifier for the application via the NFC link to the second computing device.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein identifying the application having the foreground designation in the operating system of the first computing device includes interacting, at the first computing device, with a task manager associated with the operating system of the first computing device.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein determining the identifier for the application includes interacting, at the first computing device, with a package manager associated with the operating system of the first computing device.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 wherein the identifier for the application includes a package identifier for the application in an online digital media store.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 wherein the identifier for the application includes a uniform resource locator for the source external to the first computing device.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

transmitting, from the first computing device, data shared by the application via the NFC link to the second computing device.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising retrieving, at the first computing device, data to share with the second computing device, wherein the data corresponds to another application residing on the first computing device.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, at the first computing device, a request for the application via the NFC link from the second computing device;

determining, at the first computing device, whether the application can be distributed to the second computing device; and

transmitting, from the first computing device, the application via the NFC link to the second computing device, the transmitting of the application being performed in response to the determining that the application can be distributed to the second computing device.

9. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

establishing, at a first computing device including one or more processors, a near field communication (NFC) link with a second computing device;

identifying, at the first computing device, an application having a foreground designation at the first computing device by interacting with a task manager residing on the first computing device, the identifying being performed upon establishment of the NFC link with the second computing device;

querying, at the first computing device, the application for data to share with the second computing device;

receiving, at the first computing device, data to be shared with the second computing device from the application;

determining, at the first computing device, an identifier for the application, the determining being performed when the application does not support data sharing and when the identifier uniquely identifies the application at a source external to the first computing device; and

transmitting, from the first computing device and via the NFC link to the second computing device, at least one of the data to be shared and the identifier for the application.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 9, wherein the identifier for the application includes at least one of a package identifier for the application in an online digital media store and a uniform resource locator for the source external to the first computing device.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 9, further comprising retrieving, at the first computing device, data to share with the second computing device, wherein the data corresponds to another application residing on the first computing device.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 9, further comprising:

receiving, at the first computing device, a request for the application via the NFC link from the second computing device;

determining, at the first computing device, whether the application can be distributed to the second computing device; and

transmitting, from the first computing device, the application via the NFC link to the second computing device, the transmitting of the application being performed in response to the determining that the application can be distributed to the second computing device.

13. A first computing device, comprising:

a transceiver configured to establish a data link with a second computing device, wherein the data link is established in accordance with a near field communication (NFC) protocol; and

one or more processors configured to;

execute an application having a foreground designation by an operating system of the first computing device; and

upon establishment of the data link with the second computing device, operate to execute an NFC service configured to;

(i) identify the application,

(ii) query the application for data to share with the second computing device, and

(ii) determine an identifier for the application when the application does not support data sharing,

wherein the transceiver is further configured to transmit the identifier for the application via the data link to the second computing device, and wherein the identifier uniquely identifies the application at a source external to the first computing device.

14. The first computing device of claim 13, further comprising a task manager associated with the operating system, wherein the NFC service is further configured to interact with the task manager to identify the application.

15. The first computing device of claim 13, further comprising a package manager associated with the operating system, wherein the NFC service is further configured to interact with the package manager to determine the identifier for the application.

16. The first computing device of claim 13, wherein the identifier is at least one of a package identifier for the application in an online digital media store and a uniform resource locator for the source external to the first computing device.

17. The first computing device of claim 13, wherein the transceiver is further configured to transmit the data shared by the application via the data link to the second computing device.

18. The first computing device of claim 13, wherein the NFC service is integrated into the operating system of the first computing device.

19. The first computing device of claim 13, wherein the NFC protocol is defined according to the ISO/IEC 18092 standard.

20. The first computing device of claim 13, wherein the NFC service is further configured to retrieve data to share with the second computing device, wherein the data corresponds to another application residing on the first computing device.