Method and apparatus for identifying neighboring device

• US 9,479,893 B2
• Filed: 04/06/2015
• Issued: 10/25/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 07/04/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Ko, Chang-seog, Park, Hyun-cheol, Kim, Young-sun, Choi, Yoo-jin
• Primary Examiner(s): Hong, Dung
• Application Number:
  US14/679,609
• Publication Number:
  US 20150215726A1
• Time in Patent Office: 568 Days
• Field of Search: 455/456.1, 455/456.2, 455/456.3, 455/456.6, 455/457, 455/414.1, 455/414.2, 455/41.1, 455/41.2
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/51 Discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/021 Services related to particular areas, e.g. point of interest [POI] services, venue services or geofences
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/005 Discovery of network devices, e.g. terminals

Abstract

A method and apparatus for identifying a neighboring device are provided. The method of identifying a neighboring device, which is performed in a user terminal, includes: obtaining identification information and location information of a plurality of neighboring devices that can wirelessly communicate with the user terminal; extracting the identification information of one of the neighboring devices, the neighboring device being in the actual location range within the field of vision of the user terminal; and using the extracted identification information to request that the neighboring device perform wireless communication with the user terminal. According to the method and apparatus, identification information of a neighboring device with which a user terminal desires to perform wireless communication can be obtained using a viewfinder or liquid crystal display of the user terminal.

Claims

1. A method of identifying a device, which is performed in a user terminal, the method comprising:

obtaining an actual location range within a field of vision of the user terminal, wherein the field of vision of the user terminal is provided through one of a viewfinder or a display of the user terminal, and wherein the user terminal is configured to establish a wireless communication only with one or more devices within the actual location range;

receiving identification information and location information of a plurality of devices, directly from the plurality of devices;

extracting the identification information of at least one device among the plurality of devices, based on the actual location range within the field of vision of the user terminal and the received location information and identification information of the plurality of devices, the at least one device being in the actual location range within the field of vision of the user terminal; and

requesting, based on the extracted identification information of the at least one device, the at least one device to perform wireless communication with the user terminal.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the obtaining of the actual location range within the field of vision of the user terminal comprises:

obtaining location information of the user terminal;

obtaining the field of vision of the user terminal, provided through one of the viewfinder or the display of the user terminal; and

obtaining the actual location range within the field of vision of the user terminal, based on the location information and the field of vision of the user terminal.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the obtaining of the location information of the user terminal comprises:

receiving a global positioning system (GPS) signal from a satellite or a wireless signal from a base station; and

obtaining the location information of the user terminal based on the received GPS signal or the received wireless signal.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the location information of the user terminal comprises at least one of latitude, longitude, direction of the field of vision, and altitude.

5. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

obtaining from the at least one device identification information of other devices belonging to a user of the at least one device which is requested to perform wireless communication with the user terminal; and

requesting, based on the obtained identification information of the other devices, the other devices to perform wireless communication with the user terminal.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the extracting of the identification information of the at least one device within the field of vision of the user terminal comprises:

selecting the at least one device, which is located in the actual location range within the field of vision of the user terminal, among the plurality of devices that can perform wireless communication with the user terminal; and

extracting the identification information of the selected device.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

photographing devices within the field of vision of the user terminal and generating a media signal; and

requesting the devices within the field of vision of the user terminal to perform wireless communication with the user terminal and transmitting the media signal to the devices.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the location information of the at least one device comprises at least one of latitude, longitude, direction of the field of vision, and altitude.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the requesting the device located within the field of vision of the user terminal to perform wireless communication with the user terminal comprises:

displaying on the viewfinder or the display of the user terminal the at least one device located within the field of vision of the user terminal, wherein the field of vision is provided through one of the viewfinder or the display of the user terminal;

receiving a selection of a device, which is to be requested to perform wireless communication with the user terminal, from among the displayed at least one device within the field of vision of the user terminal; and

requesting the selected device to perform wireless communication with the user terminal.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the displaying of the at least one device comprises:

converting locations of the at least one device to locations on the viewfinder, based on the location information of the at least one device within the field of vision, location information of the user terminal, a viewing angle of the user terminal, and a size of the viewfinder of the user terminal; and

displaying the at least one device on the converted locations on the viewfinder.

11. A user terminal for identifying a device, the user terminal comprising:

a location information processing unit configured to obtain an actual location range within a field of vision of the user terminal, wherein the field of vision is provided through one of a viewfinder or a display of the user terminal, and wherein the user terminal is configured to establish a wireless communication only with one or more devices within the actual location range;

a wireless communication unit configured to receive identification information and location information of a plurality of devices, directly from the plurality of devices; and

a media signal processing unit configured to photograph a view within the field of vision of the user terminal and generate a media signal,

wherein the location information processing unit extracts the identification information of at least one device in the actual location range within the field of vision of the user terminal among the plurality of devices, based on the received identification information and location information of the plurality of devices, and the wireless communication unit requests the at least one device to perform wireless communication with the user terminal, based on the extracted identification information of the at least one device.

12. The user terminal of claim 11, wherein the location information of the at least one device comprises at least one of latitude, longitude, direction of the field of vision, and altitude.

13. The user terminal of claim 11, wherein the wireless communication includes a short-distance wireless communication using at least one of wireless local area network, Bluetooth, ZigBee, and WiBro technologies.

14. The user terminal of claim 11, wherein the wireless communication unit obtains from the plurality of devices identification information of other devices belonging to a user of the at least one device which is requested to perform the wireless communication with the user terminal, and requests, based on the obtained identification information of the other devices, the other devices to perform wireless communication with the user terminal.

15. The user terminal of claim 11, wherein the location information processing unit comprises:

a global positioning system (GPS) signal reception unit which receives a GPS signal from a GPS satellite;

a location calculation unit configured to obtain location information of the user terminal by using the received GPS signal, and obtain, based on the location information of the user terminal, the actual location range within the field of vision of the user terminal; and

a device location processing unit configured to store the received identification information and the location information of the plurality of devices, and extract identification information of the at least one device in the actual location range within the field of vision of the user terminal.

16. The user terminal of claim 15, wherein the location information of the user terminal comprises at least one of latitude, longitude, direction of the field of vision, and altitude.

17. The user terminal of claim 11, further comprising:

an input and output unit configured to display the at least one device located within the field of vision of the user terminal on a viewfinder of the user terminal, and receive a selection of a device, which is to be requested to perform wireless communication with the user terminal, from among the displayed devices; and

a control unit configured to control the user terminal so that the identification information of the at least one device located within the field of vision can be obtained and the selected device can be requested to perform wireless communication with the user terminal; and

a memory unit configured to store programs required for controlling the user terminal.

18. The user terminal of claim 17, wherein the device location processing unit converts a location of the at least one device located within the field of vision of the user terminal into a location on the viewfinder of the user terminal, and

the input and output unit displays the at least one device at the location on the viewfinder.

19. The user terminal of claim 17, wherein the wireless communication comprises short-distance wireless communication using at least one of wireless local area network, Bluetooth, ZigBee, and WiBro technologies.

20. A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium having embodied thereon a computer program for executing a method of identifying a device, the method comprising:

obtaining an actual location range within a field of vision of a user terminal, wherein the field of vision is provided through one of a viewfinder or a display of the user terminal, and wherein the user terminal is configured to establish a wireless communication only with one or more devices within the actual location range;

receiving identification information and location information of a plurality of devices, directly from the plurality of devices;

extracting the identification information of at least one device among the plurality of devices, based on the actual location range within the field of vision of the user terminal and the received location information and identification information of the plurality of devices, the at least one device being in the actual location range within the field of vision of the user terminal; and

requesting, based on the extracted identification information of the at least one device, the at least one device to perform wireless communication with the user terminal.