Mobile phone game interface

• US 9,474,965 B2
• Filed: 02/03/2014
• Issued: 10/25/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 06/05/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc. (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc. (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Patil, Pramod P.
• Primary Examiner(s): Laneau, Ronald
• Assistant Examiner(s): WILLIAMS, ROSS A
• Application Number:
  US14/171,528
• Publication Number:
  US 20140309038A1
• Time in Patent Office: 995 Days
• Field of Search: 463 40- 42, 463/46, 463/47, 709/222, 709/228, 717/178
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/214 for locating contacts on a surface, e.g. floor mats or touch pads
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/235 using a wireless connection, e.g. infrared or piconet
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/323 between game devices with different hardware characteristics, e.g. hand-held game devices connectable to game consoles or arcade machines
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/327 using wireless networks, e.g. Wi-Fi® or piconet
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/332 using wireless networks, e.g. cellular phone networks
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/35 Details of game servers
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/42 by mapping the input signals into game commands, e.g. mapping the displacement of a stylus on a touch screen to the steering angle of a virtual vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/533 for prompting the player, e.g. by displaying a game menu
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/77 involving data related to game devices or game servers, e.g. configuration data, software version or amount of memory
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/843 involving concurrently two or more players on the same game device, e.g. requiring the use of a plurality of controllers or of a specific view of game data for each player
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/92 Video game devices specially adapted to be hand-held while playing
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/1031 using a wireless connection, e.g. Bluetooth, infrared connections
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/1068 being specially adapted to detect the point of contact of the player on a surface, e.g. floor mat, touch pad
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/204 the platform being a handheld device
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/209 characterized by low level software layer, relating to hardware management, e.g. Operating System, Application Programming Interface
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/308 Details of the user interface
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/403 Connection between platform and handheld device
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/405 being a wireless ad hoc network, e.g. Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Pico net
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/406 Transmission via wireless network, e.g. pager or GSM
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/50 characterized by details of game servers
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/552 : for downloading to client devices, e.g. using OS version, hardware or software profile of the client device
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/6045 : for mapping control signals received from the input arrangement into game commands
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/8088 : involving concurrently several players in a non-networked game, e.g. on the same game console

Abstract

Systems, apparatus and methods for enabling a mobile station to control a virtual world being executed on a console system are described. The method can include establishing a communication link between the mobile station and a console system, identifying user interface characteristics of the mobile station, and providing a controller application to the mobile station, the controller application being based on the identified user interface characteristics and configured to transform user interface inputs into controller commands. The method can further include receiving signals containing data representing the controller commands from the mobile station over the communication link and determining a sequence of events of the virtual world based on the received controller commands In one aspect, the controller application can execute in the context of an application on the mobile station.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

one or more interfaces with a mobile station;

one or more processors coupled to at least one of the one or more interfaces with the mobile station and to one or more repositories, the one or more processors to execute instructions to;

identify a user interface characteristic of the mobile station;

select a controller application for the mobile station for controlling a game console system, the selection based on the identified user interface characteristic and a virtual world provided by the game console system;

identify the controller application to the mobile station, the controller application configured to execute on the mobile station in order to transform user interface inputs into controller commands for use with the game console system and the virtual world;

receive signals including data representing the controller commands from the mobile station over a communication link; and

determine a sequence of events of the virtual world provided by the game console system based on the received data representing the controller commands.

2. The system of claim 1, further comprising the mobile station configured to send the signals representing the controller commands to the game console system over the communication link.

3. The system of claim 1, further comprising a remote server configured to:

communicate with the mobile station and the game console system; and

relay the data representing the controller commands from the mobile station to the game console system.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the remote server includes the one or more processors.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the remote server provides a software component to the controller application executing on mobile device.

6. The system of claim 1, further comprising a game controller application server providing the controller application to the mobile station.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the game console system includes the one or more processors.

8. The system of claim 7, further comprising a game controller application server providing the controller application to the mobile station.

9. The system of claim 1, further comprising the game console system configured to provide the virtual world.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the virtual world is a store or catalog.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the controller application is a software component configured to execute in a context of an application on the mobile station.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the controller application is an applet.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein the controller application is selected from at least one of a configuration object or an executable object.

14. A method of enabling a mobile station to control a game console system, the method comprising:

identifying a user interface characteristic of the mobile station;

selecting a controller application for the mobile station for controlling the game console system, the selection based on the identified user interface characteristic and a virtual world displayed by the game console system;

providing the controller application to the mobile station, the controller application configured to execute on the mobile station in order to transform user interface inputs into controller commands for use with the game console system and the virtual world;

receiving signals including data representing the controller commands from the mobile station over a communication link; and

determining a sequence of events of the virtual world displayed by the game console system based on the received data representing the controller commands.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein determining the sequence of events of the virtual world displayed by the game console system based on the received data representing the controller commands further comprises manipulating on screen objects in response to the received data representing the controller commands.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein determining the sequence of events of the virtual world further comprises interacting with a store or catalog.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein determining the sequence of events of the virtual world further comprises interacting with videos or a sequence of images.

18. The method of claim 14, wherein selecting the controller application for the mobile station further comprises selecting at least one of a configuration object or an executable object to use in a context of an application executing on the mobile station.

19. A non-transitory machine-readable medium having machine-readable instructions thereon for qualifying a sales lead, which instructions, when executed by one or more computers or other processing devices, cause the one or more computers or other processing devices to:

identify a user interface characteristic of a mobile station;

select a controller application for the mobile station for controlling a game console system, the selection based on the identified user interface characteristic and a virtual world computed by the game console system;

provide the controller application to the mobile station, the controller application configured to execute on the mobile station in order to transform user interface inputs into controller commands for use with the game console system and the virtual world;

receive signals including data representing the controller commands from the mobile station over a communication link; and

determine a sequence of events of the virtual world computed by the game console system based on the received data representing the controller commands.

20. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 19, wherein the instructions further cause the one or more computers or other processing devices to:

receive model information of the mobile station over the communication link;

identify the user interface characteristic corresponding to the model of the mobile station; and

provide the controller application to be executed in a context of an application on the mobile station.