Location-based device docking

• US 9,207,713 B1
• Filed: 03/15/2012
• Issued: 12/08/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 03/15/2012
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Waide, Ronan C.
• Primary Examiner(s): Tsai, Henry
• Assistant Examiner(s): Shyu, Jing-Yih
• Application Number:
  US13/421,598
• Time in Patent Office: 1,363 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1632 External expansion units, e.g. docking stations
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/44 Program or device authentication
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2111 Location-sensitive, e.g. geographical location, GPS
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/00 Services specially adapted for wireless communication networks; Facilities therefor
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• 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

Multiple device rests may be placed in different locations for use with a portable device such as a smartphone, tablet computer, controller, gaming device, etc. Upon being placed in one of the device rests, the portable device receives an identifier that identifies the particular device rest and/or the location of the device rest. In response, the portable device is configured to initiate an action that has been previously associated with the particular device rest and or its location.

Claims

1. A portable device for use with multiple device rests, the portable device comprising:

one or more processors;

one or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform acts comprising;

receiving one or more selections of different actions;

associating the different actions with different ones of the device rests, wherein the different actions comprise at least one of launching an application, performing a command, initiating a function, or setting a configuration;

attempting to identify a particular device rest when the portable device is received by the particular device rest; and

performing the action or actions associated with the particular device rest in response to identifying the particular device rest, wherein the actions comprise;

configuring the particular device rest to communicate with a peripheral device;

configuring the peripheral device based on information obtained from a network-based source;

receiving information from the peripheral device;

based at least in part on the information received from the peripheral device, configuring the portable device to interact with the peripheral device; and

controlling the peripheral device from the portable device, wherein the controlling the peripheral device comprises sending operational instructions to the peripheral device, and wherein the operational instructions include operational information to control one or more components of the peripheral device.

2. The portable device of claim 1, wherein the actions further comprise launching applications on the portable device to communicate with the peripheral device.

3. The portable device of claim 1, wherein the actions further comprise:

receiving additional information from a user; and

modifying functions of the peripheral device based at least in part on the additional information received from the user.

4. The portable device of claim 1, wherein attempting to identify the particular device rest comprises receiving an identifier from the device rest.

5. The portable device of claim 1, wherein:

the multiple device rests comprise multiple instances of a product; and

attempting to identify the particular device rest comprises receiving a product instance identifier from the device rest, wherein the product instance identifier uniquely identifies the particular device rest among the multiple device rests.

6. The portable device of claim 1, wherein attempting to identify the particular device rest comprises receiving a location indicator from the device rest.

7. The portable device of claim 1, further comprising configuring the particular device rest with a location identifier.

8. The portable device of claim 1, further comprising configuring the particular device rest with a location identifier if the particular device rest is not identified when the portable device is received by the particular device rest.

9. The portable device of claim 1, further comprising prompting a user for an action to associate with the particular device rest if the particular device rest is not identified when the portable device is received by the particular device rest.

10. The portable device of claim 1, the acts further comprising querying a web-based service to identify the actions to implement.

11. The portable device of claim 1, wherein the particular device rest communicates with the peripheral device by one of a wired or near-field connection.

12. The portable device of claim 1, wherein the acts further comprise charging from the device rest when the portable device is received by the device rest.

13. One or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a portable device, cause the portable device to perform acts comprising:

receiving a location identifier from a device rest when the portable device is received by the device rest, wherein the location identifier identifies one of a plurality of different locations; and

in response to receiving a location identifier identifying a particular one of the different locations, initiating actions associated with the particular one of the different locations, wherein the actions comprise;

configuring the device rest to communicate with a peripheral device;

configuring the peripheral device based on information obtained from a network-based source;

receiving information from the peripheral device; and

based at least in part on the information received from the peripheral device, configuring the portable device to control at least some operational functions of the peripheral device, wherein controlling the peripheral device includes accessing the internet, by the portable device, to obtain customized information and programming the peripheral device using the customized information.

14. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 13, further comprising charging from the device rest when the portable device is received by the device rest.

15. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 13, wherein the location identifier comprises a product instance identifier.

16. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 15, wherein the product instance identifier identifies the device rest among multiple instances of the device rest, the product instance identifier being configurable by the portable device when the portable device is received by a chassis.

17. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 13, wherein the location identifier is previously written to the device rest by the portable device.

18. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 13, wherein the actions comprise launching one or more applications.

19. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 13, the acts further comprising querying a web-based service to identify the actions.

20. A device rest for a portable device, comprising:

a chassis configured to receive the portable device;

a device port that identifies the device rest to the portable device when the portable device is received by the chassis, wherein identifying the device rest is based at least in part on a location identifier of the device rest; and

a peripheral connector that connects the device rest to a peripheral device, wherein in response to receiving information from the peripheral device, the portable device controls at least some operational functions of the peripheral device, and wherein controlling the peripheral device includes accessing the internet, by the portable device, to obtain customized information and programming the peripheral device, by the portable device, using the customized information.

21. The device rest of claim 20, wherein the device rest provides a product instance identifier to the portable device to identify the device rest.

22. The device rest of claim 20, wherein the device rest provides a product instance identifier to the portable device to identify the device rest among multiple instances of the device rest, the product instance identifier being configurable by the portable device when the portable device is received by the chassis.

23. The device rest of claim 20, wherein the device port charges the portable device when the portable device is received by the chassis.

24. The device rest of claim 20, wherein the device port indicates a location to the portable device when the portable device is received by the chassis.

25. The device rest of claim 20, wherein the device port comprises a wired data connection.

26. The device rest of claim 20, wherein the peripheral connector comprises one of a wired or near-field connection.

27. The device rest of claim 20, wherein the peripheral device comprises one or more components, and wherein the portable device controls at least some operational aspects of the one or more components of the peripheral device.