Utilization and configuration of wireless docking environments

• US 9,811,116 B2
• Filed: 04/30/2014
• Issued: 11/07/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 05/24/2013
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Huang, Xiaolong, De Vegt, Rolf, Davidson, Andrew Mackinnon, Raveendran, Vijayalakshmi Rajasundaram
• Primary Examiner(s): Myers, Paul R
• Application Number:
  US14/265,777
• Publication Number:
  US 20140351476A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,287 Days
• Field of Search: 710303, 710304, 710313, 710200
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1632 External expansion units, e.g. docking stations
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/00 Interconnection of, or transfer of information or other signals between, memories, input/output devices or central processing units interface circuits for specific input/output devices G06F3/00 ; multiprogram control therefor G06F9/46; multiprocessor systems G06F15/16
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1044 Group management mechanisms management of multicast group membership H04L12/185; reconfiguring of node membership in a computing system to eliminate errors G06F11/1425
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/51 Discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services

Abstract

In one example, a method includes determining, by a wireless dockee (WD), one or more wireless docking environments (WDNs) associated with a wireless docking center (WDC), wherein each WDN of the one or more WDNs corresponds to at least one peripheral function (PF) of one or more PFs that are each associated with the WDC. In this example, the method also includes wirelessly accessing, by the WD, a respective at least one PF corresponding to a particular WDN of the one or more WDNs associated with the WDC.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

determining, by a wireless dockee (WD), one or more wireless docking environments (WDNs) associated with a wireless docking center (WDC), wherein each WDN of the one or more WDNs corresponds to at least one peripheral function (PF) of one or more PFs that are each associated with the WDC, wherein determining the one or more WDNs comprises receiving, by the WD and from the WDC, a message that identifies the one or more WDNs associated with the WDC, and wherein, for each respective WDN of the one or more WDNs identified by the message, the message indicates a WDN type of the respective WDN, wherein the WDN type of the respective WDN is from a plurality of WDN types, and wherein the plurality of WDN types includes;

an office WDN type, and

an entertainment WDN type;

selecting, by the WD, a particular WDN of the one or more WDNs associated with the WDC, wherein selecting the particular WDN comprises sending, by the WD and to the WDC, a request to select the particular WDN, and wherein the request does not individually identify the at least one PF corresponding to the particular WDN; and

wirelessly accessing, by the WD, the at least one PF corresponding to the selected particular WDN of the one or more WDNs associated with the WDC.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein, for each respective WDN of the one or more WDNs identified by the message, the message indicates one or more of:

an identification value of the respective WDN,

a name of the respective WDN,

and

one or more PFs that correspond to the respective WDN.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of WDN types further includes one or more of:

a public workplace WDN type,

an audio only WDN type, and

an enterprise office WDN type.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting the particular WDN comprises:

sending, by the WD and to the WDC, a request to select the particular WDN;

receiving, by the WD and from the WDC, a message indicating whether or not the WDC accepts the request for the WD to select the particular WDN; and

responsive to determining that the WDC accepts the request, wirelessly accessing, by the WD, the respective at least one PF corresponding to the particular WDN.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the request to select the particular WDN includes an identification value of the particular WDN.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising one or more of:

creating, by the WD, a new WDN that corresponds to a set of PFs of the one or more PFs associated with the WDC;

modifying, by the WD, an existing WDN of the one or more WDNs associated with the WDC; and

deleting, by the WD, an existing WDN of the one or more WDNs associated with the WDC.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein creating comprises:

sending, by the WD and to the WDC, a request to create the new WDN, wherein the request indicates the set of PFs of the one or more PFs associated with the WDC; and

receiving, by the WD and from the WDC, a message indicating whether or not the WDC accepts the request to create the new WDN.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the request indicates that the set of PFs requested to correspond to the new WDN consists of one or more PFs currently being accessed by the WD.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the request individually identifies the set of PFs requested to correspond to the new WDN.

10. The method of claim 6, wherein modifying the existing WDN of the one or more WDNs associated with the WDC comprises:

sending, by the WD and to the WDC, a request to modify the existing WDN, wherein the request indicates the existing WDN and a set of PFs requested to correspond to the existing WDN; and

receiving, by the WD and from the WDC, a message indicating whether or not the WDC accepts the request to modify the existing WDN.

11. The method of claim 6, wherein deleting the existing WDN of the one or more WDNs associated with the WDC comprises:

sending, by the WD and to the WDC, a request to delete the existing WDN, wherein the request indicates the existing WDN; and

receiving, by the WD and from the WDC, a message indicating whether or not the WDC accepts the request to delete the existing WDN.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, by the WD and from the WDC, a message that includes information regarding the one or more WDNs associated with the WDC; and

receiving, by the WD and from the WDC and at a second, later, time, a second message indicates that the information regarding the one or more WDNs associated with the WDC has changed.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the WDNs is a WD specific WDN created by the WD, and wherein configuration information for the WD specific WDN is stored on one or both of the WD and the WDC.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the WDNs is a WDC specific WDN not created by the WD, and wherein configuration information for the WDC specific WDN is stored on the WDC.

15. A wireless dockee (WD) comprising:

a memory;

one or more processors;

at least one module executable by the one or more processors to;

determine one or more wireless docking environments (WDNs) associated with a wireless docking center (WDC), wherein each WDN of the one or more WDNs corresponds to at least one peripheral function (PF) of one or more PFs that are each associated with the WDC, wherein, to determine the one or more WDNs, the at least one module is executable by the one or more processors to receive, from the WDC, a message that identifies the one or more WDNs associated with the WDC, and wherein, for each respective WDN of the one or more WDNs identified by the message, the message indicates a WDN type of the respective WDN, wherein the WDN type of the respective WDN is from a plurality of WDN types, and wherein the plurality of WDN types includes;

an office WDN type, and

an entertainment WDN type;

select the particular WDN of the one or more WDNs associated with the WDC, wherein, to select the particular WDN, the at least one module is executable by the one or more processors to send, to the WDC, a request to select the particular WDN, and wherein the request does not individually identify the at least one PF corresponding to the particular WDN; and

wirelessly access the at least one PF corresponding to the selected particular WDN of the one or more WDNs associated with the WDC.

16. The WD of claim 15, wherein, for each respective WDN of the one or more WDNs identified by the message, the message indicates one or more of:

an identification value of the respective WDN,

a name of the respective WDN,

and

one or more PFs that correspond to the respective WDN.

17. The WD of claim 15, wherein the plurality of WDN types further includes one or more of:

a public workplace WDN type,

an audio only WDN type, and

an enterprise office WDN type.

18. The WD of claim 15, wherein the at least one module is executable by the one or more processors to select the particular WDN by at least:

sending, to the WDC, a request to select the particular WDN;

receiving, from the WDC, a message indicating whether or not the WDC accepts the request for the WD to select the particular WDN; and

responsive to determining that the WDC accepts the request, wirelessly accessing the respective at least one PF corresponding to the particular WDN.

19. The WD of claim 18, wherein the request to select the particular WDN includes an identification value of the particular WDN.

20. The WD of claim 15, wherein the at least one module is further executable by the one or more processors to one or more of:

create a new WDN that corresponds to a set of PFs of the one or more PFs associated with the WDC;

modify an existing WDN of the one or more WDNs associated with the WDC; and

delete an existing WDN of the one or more WDNs associated with the WDC.

21. The WD of claim 20, wherein the at least one module is executable by the one or more processors to create the new WDN by at least:

sending, to the WDC, a request to create the new WDN, wherein the request indicates the set of PFs of the one or more PFs associated with the WDC; and

receiving, from the WDC, a message indicating whether or not the WDC accepts the request to create the new WDN.

22. The WD of claim 21, wherein the request indicates that the set of PFs requested to correspond to the new WDN consists of one or more PFs currently being accessed by the WD.

23. The WD of claim 21, wherein the request individually identifies the set of PFs requested to correspond to the new WDN.

24. The WD of claim 15, wherein the at least one module is further executable by the one or more processors to:

receive, from the WDC, a message that includes information regarding the one or more WDNs associated with the WDC; and

receive, from the WDC and at a second, later, time, a second message indicates that the information regarding the one or more WDNs associated with the WDC has changed.

25. The WD of claim 15, wherein at least one of the WDNs is a WD specific WDN created by the WD, and wherein configuration information for the WD specific WDN is stored on one or both of the WD and the WDC.

26. The WD of claim 15, wherein at least one of the WDNs is a WDC specific WDN not created by the WD, and wherein configuration information for the WDC specific WDN is stored on the WDC.

27. A wireless dockee (WD) comprising:

means for determining one or more wireless docking environments (WDNs) associated with a wireless docking center (WDC), wherein each WDN of the one or more WDNs corresponds to at least one peripheral function (PF) of one or more PFs that are each associated with the WDC, wherein the means for determining the one or more WDNs comprise means for receiving, from the WDC, a message that identifies the one or more WDNs associated with the WDC, and wherein, for each respective WDN of the one or more WDNs identified by the message, the message indicates a WDN type of the respective WDN, wherein the WDN type of the respective WDN is from a plurality of WDN types, and wherein the plurality of WDN types includes;

an office WDN type, and

an entertainment WDN type;

means for selecting a particular WDN of the one or more WDNs associated with the WDC, wherein the means for selecting the particular WDN comprise means for sending, to the WDC, a request to select the particular WDN, and wherein the request does not individually identify the at least one PF corresponding to the particular WDN; and

means for wirelessly accessing the at least one PF corresponding to the selected particular WDN of the one or more WDNs associated with the WDC.

28. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium stores instructions that, when executed, cause one or more processors of a wireless dockee (WD) to:

determine one or more wireless docking environments (WDNs) associated with a wireless docking center (WDC), wherein each WDN of the one or more WDNs corresponds to at least one peripheral function (PF) of one or more PFs that are each associated with the WDC, wherein the instructions that cause the one or more processors to determine the one or more WDNs comprise instructions that cause the one or more processors to receive, from the WDC, a message that identifies the one or more WDNs associated with the WDC, and wherein, for each respective WDN of the one or more WDNs identified by the message, the message indicates a WDN type of the respective WDN, wherein the WDN type of the respective WDN is from a plurality of WDN types, and wherein the plurality of WDN types includes;

an office WDN type, and

an entertainment WDN type;

select a particular WDN of the one or more WDNs associated with the WDC, wherein the instructions that cause the one or more processors to select the particular WDN comprise instructions that cause the one or more processors to send, to the WDC, a request to select the particular WDN, and wherein the request does not individually identify the at least one PF corresponding to the particular WDN; and

wirelessly access the at least one PF corresponding to the selected particular WDN of the one or more WDNs associated with the WDC.

29. A method comprising:

determining, by a wireless docking center (WDC), one or more wireless docking environments (WDNs) associated with the WDC, wherein each WDN of the one or more WDNs corresponds to at least one peripheral function (PF) of one or more PFs that are each associated with the WDC; and

sending, by the WDC and to a wireless dockee (WD), a message that identifies the one or more WDNs associated with the WDC, wherein, for each respective WDN of the one or more WDNs identified by the message, the message indicates a WDN type of the respective WDN, wherein the WDN type of the respective WDN is from a plurality of WDN types, and wherein the plurality of WDN types includes;

an office WDN type, and

an entertainment WDN type;

receiving, by the WDC and from the WD, a request to select a particular WDN of the one or more WDNs associated with the WDC, wherein the request does not individually identify the at least one PF corresponding to the particular WDN; and

providing, by the WDC and to the, wireless access to the at least one PF corresponding to the selected particular WDN of the one or more WDNs associated with the WDC.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein, for each respective WDN of the one or more WDNs identified by the message, the message indicates one or more of:

an identification value of the respective WDN,

a name of the respective WDN,

and

one or more PFs that correspond to the respective WDN.

31. The method of claim 29, wherein the plurality of WDN types further includes one or more of:

a public workplace WDN type,

an audio only WDN type, and

an enterprise office WDN type.

32. The method of claim 29, further comprising:

sending, by the WDC and to the WD, a message indicating whether or not the WDC accepts the request for the WD to select the particular WDN; and

responsive to determining that the WDC accepts the request, providing, to the WD, the wireless access to the respective at least one PF corresponding to the particular WDN.

33. The method of claim 32, wherein the request to select the particular WDN includes an identification value of the particular WDN.

34. The method of claim 29, further comprising one or more of:

creating, by the WDC, a new WDN that corresponds to a set of PFs of the one or more PFs associated with the WDC;

modifying, by the WDC, an existing WDN of the one or more WDNs associated with the WDC; and

deleting, by the WDC, an existing WDN of the one or more WDNs associated with the WDC.

35. The method of claim 34, wherein creating comprises:

receiving, by the WDC and from the WD, a request to create the new WDN, wherein the request indicates the set of PFs of the one or more PFs associated with the WDC; and

sending, by the WDC and to the WD, a message indicating whether or not the WDC accepts the request to create the new WDN.

36. The method of claim 35, wherein the request indicates that the set of PFs requested to correspond to the new WDN consists of one or more PFs currently being accessed by the WD.

37. The method of claim 35, wherein the request individually identifies the set of PFs requested to correspond to the new WDN.

38. The method of claim 34, wherein modifying the existing WDN of the one or more WDNs associated with the WDC comprises:

receiving, by the WDC and from the WD, a request to modify the existing WDN, wherein the request indicates the existing WDN and a set of PFs requested to correspond to the existing WDN; and

sending, by the WDC and to the WD, a message indicating whether or not the WDC accepts the request to modify the existing WDN.

39. The method of claim 34, wherein deleting the existing WDN of the one or more WDNs associated with the WDC comprises:

sending, by the WD and to the WDC, a request to delete the existing WDN, wherein the request indicates the existing WDN; and

receiving, by the WD and from the WDC, a message indicating whether or not the WDC accepts the request to delete the existing WDN.

40. The method of claim 29, further comprising:

sending, by the WDC and to the WD, a message that includes information regarding the one or more WDNs associated with the WDC; and

responsive to determining, at a second, later, time, that the information regarding the one or more WDNs associated with the WDC has changed, sending, by the WDC and to the WD, a second message indicating that the information regarding the one or more WDNs associated with the WDC has changed.

41. The method of claim 29, wherein at least one of the WDNs is a WD specific WDN created by the WD, and wherein configuration information for the WD specific WDN is stored on one or both of the WD and the WDC.

42. The method of claim 29, wherein at least one of the WDNs is a WDC specific WDN not created by the WD, and wherein configuration information for the WDC specific WDN is stored on the WDC.

43. A wireless docking center (WDC) comprising:

a memory;

one or more processors;

at least one module executable by the one or more processors to;

determine one or more wireless docking environments (WDNs) associated with the WDC, wherein each WDN of the one or more WDNs corresponds to at least one peripheral function (PF) of one or more PFs that are each associated with the WDC; and

send, to a wireless dockee (WD), a message that identifies the one or more WDNs associated with the WDC, wherein, for each respective WDN of the one or more WDNs identified by the message, the message indicates a WDN type of the respective WDN, wherein the WDN type of the respective WDN is from a plurality of WDN types, and wherein the plurality of WDN types includes;

an office WDN type, and

an entertainment WDN type;

receive, from the WD, a request to select the particular WDN of the one or more WDNs associated with the WDC, wherein the request does not individually identify the at least one PF corresponding to the particular WDN; and

provide, to the WD, wireless access to the at least one PF corresponding to the selected particular WDN of the one or more WDNs associated with the WDC.

44. The WDC of claim 43, wherein, for each respective WDN of the one or more WDNs identified by the message, the message indicates one or more of:

an identification value of the respective WDN,

a name of the respective WDN,

and

one or more PFs that correspond to the respective WDN.

45. The WDC of claim 43, wherein the WDN plurality of WDN types further includes one or more of:

a public workplace WDN type,

an audio only WDN type, and

an enterprise office WDN type.

46. The WDC of claim 43, wherein the at least one module is further executable by the one or more processors to:

send, to the WD, a message indicating whether or not the WDC accepts the request for the WD to select the particular WDN; and

responsive to determining that the WDC accepts the request, provide, to the WD, the wireless access to the respective at least one PF corresponding to the particular WDN.

47. The WDC of claim 46, wherein the request to select the particular WDN includes an identification value of the particular WDN.

48. The WDC of claim 43, wherein the at least one module is further executable by the one or more processors to one or more of:

create a new WDN that corresponds to a set of PFs of the one or more PFs associated with the WDC;

modify an existing WDN of the one or more WDNs associated with the WDC; and

delete an existing WDN of the one or more WDNs associated with the WDC.

49. The WDC of claim 48, wherein the at least one module is executable by the one or more processors to create the new WDN by at least:

receiving, from the WD, a request to create the new WDN, wherein the request indicates the set of PFs of the one or more PFs associated with the WDC; and

sending, to the WD, a message indicating whether or not the WDC accepts the request to create the new WDN.

50. The WDC of claim 49, wherein the request indicates that the set of PFs requested to correspond to the new WDN consists of one or more PFs currently being accessed by the WD.

51. The WDC of claim 49, wherein the request individually identifies the set of PFs requested to correspond to the new WDN.

52. The WDC of claim 43, wherein the at least one module is further executable by the one or more processors to:

send, to the WD, a message that includes information regarding the one or more WDNs associated with the WDC; and

responsive to determining, at a second, later, time, that the information regarding the one or more WDNs associated with the WDC has changed, send, to the WD, a second message indicating that the information regarding the one or more WDNs associated with the WDC has changed.

53. The WDC of claim 43, wherein at least one of the WDNs is a WD specific WDN created by the WD, and wherein configuration information for the WD specific WDN is stored on one or both of the WD and the WDC.

54. The WDC of claim 43, wherein at least one of the WDNs is a WDC specific WDN not created by the WD, and wherein configuration information for the WDC specific WDN is stored on the WDC.

55. A wireless docking center (WDC) comprising:

means for determining one or more wireless docking environments (WDNs) associated with the WDC, wherein each WDN of the one or more WDNs corresponds to at least one peripheral function (PF) of one or more PFs that are each associated with the WDC; and

means for sending, to a wireless dockee (WD), a message that identifies the one or more WDNs associated with the WDC, wherein, for each respective WDN of the one or more WDNs identified by the message, the message indicates a WDN type of the respective WDN, wherein the WDN type of the respective WDN is from a plurality of WDN types, and wherein the plurality of WDN types includes;

an office WDN type, and

an entertainment WDN type;

means for receiving, from the WD, a request to select a particular WDN of the one or more WDNs associated with the WDC, wherein the request does not individually identify the at least one PF corresponding to the particular WDN; and

means for providing, by the WDC and to the WD, wireless access to the at least one PF corresponding to the selected particular WDN of the one or more WDNs associated with the WDC.

56. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium stores instructions that, when executed, cause one or more processors of a wireless docking center (WDC) to:

determine one or more wireless docking environments (WDNs) associated with the WDC, wherein each WDN of the one or more WDNs corresponds to at least one peripheral function (PF) of one or more PFs that are each associated with the WDC; and

send, to a wireless dockee (WD), a message that identifies the one or more WDNs associated with the WDC, wherein, for each respective WDN of the one or more WDNs identified by the message, the message indicates a WDN type of the respective WDN, wherein the WDN type of the respective WDN is from a plurality of WDN types, and wherein the plurality of WDN types includes;

an office WDN type, and

an entertainment WDN type;

receive, from the WD, a request to select a particular WDN of the one or more WDNs associated with the WDC, wherein the request does not individually identify the at least one PF corresponding to the particular WDN; and

provide, to the WD, wireless access to the at least one PF corresponding to the selected particular WDN of the one or more WDNs associated with the WDC.