System and method of establishing communication between electronic devices

• US 9,883,027 B2
• Filed: 02/22/2016
• Issued: 01/30/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 02/20/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Dave, Swapnil R., Rao, Kaustubh M.
• Primary Examiner(s): BOUTAH, ALINA A
• Application Number:
  US15/050,171
• Publication Number:
  US 20160241710A1
• Time in Patent Office: 708 Days
• Field of Search: 709224227, 370311, 455574, 455412, 455 2, 455572, 455573, 713320
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/10 Active monitoring, e.g. heartbeat, ping or trace-route
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/16 Threshold monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1069 Session establishment or de-establishment
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 19/04 the ringing-current being generated at the substations
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42 Systems providing special services or facilities to subscribers specially adapted for wireless communication networks H04W4/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/04 Arrangements for maintaining operational condition
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0261 managing power supply demand, e.g. depending on battery level
• CPC Class Codes: Y02B 70/30 Systems integrating technologies related to power network operation and communication or information technologies for improving the carbon footprint of the management of residential or tertiary loads, i.e. smart grids as climate change mitigation technology in the buildings sector, including also the last stages of power distribution and the control, monitoring or operating management systems at local level
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

A contactability of a user can be maintained by identifying a secondary device and causing a contact device to establish a communication session with the secondary device when a primary device becomes unavailable. In some embodiments, when a power level of a primary device falls below a threshold, the primary device can identify a secondary device previously associated with the primary device. The secondary device can receive a signal periodically from the primary device. In response to ceasing to receive the signal that is being sent periodically from the primary device, the secondary device in some embodiments can send a notification to a contact device to inform the contact device to send a communication request to the secondary device. The secondary device can receive the communication request from the contact device and establish a communication session with the contact device.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

detecting, by a primary device, a power level of the primary device, the primary device being in communication with a contact device;

determining, by the primary device, a secondary device associated with the primary device;

sending, by the primary device, a message to the secondary device, the message indicating for the secondary device to continue communication with the contact device when the power level of the primary device reaches a predetermined threshold; and

enabling, by the primary device, the secondary device to continue communication with the contact device when the power level of the primary device has reached the predetermined threshold.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

sending a notification to the secondary device, the notification including identifying information associated with the contact device; and

periodically pinging the secondary device, wherein the power level of the primary device has reached the predetermined threshold when the secondary device ceases to receive the pinging from the primary device beyond a threshold period of time, and wherein a new communication session is established based on the identifying information associated with both the contact device.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

sending a message to a continuity server, the message specifying for the continuity server to ping the primary device on a periodic basis and notify the contact device when a response has not been received beyond a threshold period of time.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

sending a message to the contact device, the message including identifying information of the secondary device, wherein enabling the secondary device to continue communication with the contact device includes causing a new communication session to be established between the secondary device and the contact device when a set of criteria has been satisfied.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein enabling the secondary device to continue communication with the contact device includes ceasing to send a pinging signal to the secondary device and thereby causing the secondary device to send a communication request to the contact device to establish the communication between the secondary device and the contact device.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein determining the secondary device includes:

determining one or more devices associated with a user of the primary device;

presenting a set of options representing the one or more devices; and

receiving a selection of one of the set of options, wherein the one of the set of options represents the secondary device.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein determining the secondary device includes:

determining a set of electronic devices associated with a user of the primary device by accessing profile information associated with the user of the primary device; and

identifying a subset of the electronic devices in the set of electronic devices that is within a threshold distance of the primary device, wherein the subset of the electronic devices includes the secondary device.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein sending the message to the secondary device thereby enables the secondary device to continue communication with the contact device when the power level of the primary device has been detected to reach the predetermined threshold.

9. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

identifying one or more devices; and

determining communication parameters of each of the one or more devices, wherein the secondary device is determined based on the communication parameters of the devices.

10. A system comprising:

one or more processors;

memory coupled to the one or more processors, wherein the memory is encoded with a set of instructions configured to;

detect a power level of a primary device, the primary device being in communication with a contact device;

determine a secondary device associated with the primary device;

send a message to the secondary device, the message indicating for the secondary device to continue communication with the contact device when the power level of the primary device reaches a predetermined threshold; and

enable the secondary device to continue communication with the contact device when the power level of the primary device has reached the predetermined threshold.

11. The system of claim 10 wherein the set of instructions are further configured to:

send a notification to the secondary device, the notification including identifying information associated with the contact device; and

periodically ping the secondary device, wherein the power level of the primary device has reached the predetermined threshold when the secondary device ceases to receive the pinging from the primary device beyond a threshold period of time, and wherein a new communication session is established based on the identifying information associated with both the contact device.

12. The system of claim 10 wherein the set of instructions are further configured to:

send a message to a continuity server, the message specifying for the continuity server to ping the primary device on a periodic basis and notify the contact device when a response has not been received beyond a threshold period of time.

13. The system of claim 10 wherein the set of instructions are further configured to:

send a message to the contact device, the message including identifying information of the secondary device, wherein enabling the secondary device to continue communication with the contact device includes causing a new communication session to be established between the secondary device and the contact device when a set of criteria has been satisfied.

14. The system of claim 10 wherein enabling the secondary device to continue communication with the contact device includes ceasing to send a pinging signal to the secondary device and thereby causing the secondary device to send a communication request to the contact device to establish the communication between the secondary device and the contact device.

15. The system of claim 10 wherein determining the secondary device includes:

determining one or more devices associated with a user of the primary device;

presenting a set of options representing the one or more devices; and

receiving a selection of one of the set of options, wherein the one of the set of options represents the secondary device.

16. The system of claim 10 wherein determining the secondary device includes:

determining a set of electronic devices associated with a user of the primary device by accessing profile information associated with the user of the primary device; and

identifying a subset of the electronic devices in the set of electronic devices that is within a threshold distance of the primary device, wherein the subset of the electronic devices includes the secondary device.

17. The system of claim 10 wherein sending the message to the secondary device thereby enables the secondary device to continue communication with the contact device when the power level of the primary device has been detected to reach the predetermined threshold.

18. The system of claim 10 wherein the set of instructions are further configured to:

identify one or more devices; and

determine communication parameters of each of the one or more devices, wherein the secondary device is determined based on the communication parameters of the devices.

19. The system of claim 10 wherein the set of instructions are further configured to:

send another message to the secondary device, the other message specifying for the secondary device to ping the primary device on a periodic basis and notify the contact device when a response has not been received beyond a threshold period of time.

20. One or more non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by one or more computer systems, configured the one or more computer systems to perform operations comprising:

detecting a power level of a primary device, the primary device being in communication with a contact device;

determining a secondary device associated with the primary device;

sending a message to the secondary device, the message indicating for the secondary device to continue communication with the contact device when the power level of the primary device reaches a predetermined threshold; and

enabling the secondary device to continue communication with the contact device when the power level of the primary device has reached the predetermined threshold.