Default Peripheral Device Selection Based on Location

• US 20090216912A1
• Filed: 02/25/2008
• Published: 08/27/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 02/25/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Lee, Jian, Yuan, Tao, Olivier, Frank
• Granted Patent: US 8,112,552 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 710/3
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/4411 Configuring for operating with peripheral devices; Loading of device drivers

Abstract

In accordance with one or more aspects of the default peripheral device selection based on location, a current location of a computing device is obtained. A mapping record of default peripheral devices to locations is accessed to identify a default peripheral device corresponding to the current location of the computing device, and the identified default peripheral device is returned as a current default peripheral device for the computing device. Additionally, an identification of a peripheral device to be a default peripheral device can be received. A mapping of the current location of the computing device to the identified default peripheral device can also be stored.

Claims

1. One or more computer storage media having stored thereon multiple instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a computing device, cause the one or more processors to:

obtain a current location of the computing device;

access a mapping record of default peripheral devices to locations to identify a default peripheral device corresponding to the current location of the computing device; and

return the identified default peripheral device as a current default peripheral device for the computing device.

2. One or more computer storage media as recited in claim 1, the instructions further causing the one or more processors to:

check whether default peripheral device selection based on location is enabled;

if default peripheral device selection based on location is enabled, then obtain the current location, access the mapping record, and return the identified default peripheral device; and

if default peripheral device selection based on location is disabled, then return a single default peripheral device for the computing device.

3. One or more computer storage media as recited in claim 1, wherein to obtain the current location of the computing device is to obtain a network location that identifies a network to which the computing device is currently coupled.

4. One or more computer storage media as recited in claim 1, wherein to obtain the current location of the computing device is to obtain GPS coordinates indicating the current location of the computing device.

5. One or more computer storage media as recited in claim 1, the instructions further causing the one or more processors to obtain the current location and access the mapping record to identify the default peripheral device corresponding to the current location of the computing device each time the current location of the device changes.

6. One or more computer storage media as recited in claim 1, wherein the default peripheral devices comprise printers, and wherein the instructions further cause the one or more processors to obtain the current location, access the mapping record, and return the identified default peripheral device in response to a request to print a document being made.

7. One or more computer storage media as recited in claim 1, the instructions further causing the one or more processors to maintain a mapping record of default peripheral devices to locations for each type of multiple different types of peripheral devices.

8. One or more computer storage media as recited in claim 1, the instructions further causing the one or more processors to display a user interface allowing a user of the computing device to select whether a default peripheral device is not to change based on a location of the computing device or whether the default peripheral device is to change based on the location of the computing device, and allowing the user to select a particular one of multiple peripheral devices to be a default peripheral device for each of multiple locations.

9. One or more computer storage media as recited in claim 1, wherein the mapping record comprises a mapping of default printers to locations, and wherein the identified default peripheral device is an identified printer.

10. One or more computer storage media having stored thereon multiple instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a computing device, cause the one or more processors to:

receive an identification of a peripheral device to be a default peripheral device;

obtain a current location of the computing device; and

store a mapping of the current location of the computing device to the identified default peripheral device.

11. One or more computer storage media as recited in claim 10, the instructions further causing the one or more processors to:

receive a user selection of a second location other than the current location of the computing device;

receive a user selection of a second peripheral device to be a default peripheral device for the second location; and

store a mapping of the second location to the second peripheral device.

12. One or more computer storage media as recited in claim 10, wherein to obtain the current location of the computing device is to obtain a network location that identifies a network to which the computing device is currently coupled.

13. One or more computer storage media as recited in claim 10, wherein the peripheral device comprises a printer, and wherein the mapping comprises a mapping of the current location of the computing device to the identified printer.

14. One or more computer storage media as recited in claim 10, the instructions further causing the one or more processors to display a user interface allowing a user of the computing device to select whether a default peripheral device is not to change based on a location of the computing device or whether the default peripheral device is to change based on the location of the computing device, and allowing the user to select a particular one of multiple peripheral devices to be a default peripheral device for each of multiple locations.

15. One or more computer storage media as recited in claim 10, the instructions further causing the one or more processors to:

check whether default peripheral device selection based on location is enabled;

if default peripheral device selection based on location is enabled, then obtain the current location and store the mapping; and

if default peripheral device selection based on location is disabled, then set the identified peripheral device as a single default peripheral device for the computing device.

16. One or more computer storage media as recited in claim 10, wherein to store the mapping is to store the mapping in an operating system registry.

17. A method for displaying a user interface on a computing device, the method comprising:

displaying a first portion including one or more options allowing a user to select whether a default peripheral device is not to change based on a location of the computing device or whether the default peripheral device is to change based on the location of the computing device; and

displaying a second portion including one or more options allowing the user to select a particular one of multiple peripheral devices to be a default peripheral device for each of multiple locations.

18. A method as recited in claim 17, wherein each of the multiple locations is a network location that identifies a network to which the computing device is coupled.

19. A method as recited in claim 17, the second portion further including one or more options allowing the user to add a mapping of a default peripheral device for the computing device to a location.

20. A method as recited in claim 17, the second portion further including one or more options allowing the user to remove a mapping of a default peripheral device for the computing device to a location.