Wireless connection device and wireless communication device

• US 8,588,769 B2
• Filed: 12/20/2006
• Issued: 11/19/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 07/05/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Fujitsu Client Computing Limited (Lenovo Group Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Fujitsu Limited
• Inventors: Saitou, Tomoharu
• Primary Examiner(s): Arevalo, Joseph
• Application Number:
  US11/641,712
• Publication Number:
  US 20080007485A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,526 Days
• Field of Search: 370/252, 370/328, 370/310, 370/334, 370/349, 370/336, 370/338, 370/315, 370/330, 370/395.61, 370/403, 370/475, 370/352, 455/425, 455/334, 455/68, 455/550.1, 455/562.1, 455/438, 455/558, 455/421, 455/41.2, 455/567, 455/557, 455/435, 455/410, 455/412.2, 379/265.01, 379/250
• US Class Current: 455/426.1
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 68/00 User notification, e.g. alerting and paging, for incoming communication, change of service or the like
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/12 WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/08 Access point devices

Abstract

To make it easy to specify a terminal (wireless communication device) connected to an access point (wireless connection device) by performing display corresponding to the access point to which the terminal is connected. A wireless connection device reads, from a storage unit, specified information for designating a display mode for specifying a connection of the wireless connection device itself, performs wireless communications with a wireless communication device, and notifies the wireless communication device of the specified information read from the storage unit. On the other hand, the wireless communication device performs the wireless communications with the wireless connection device, receives the specified information from the wireless connection device, and conducts the display in the display mode designated in the specified information.

Claims

1. A wireless connection device, comprising:

a storage unit to store color information for designating a display mode for specifying a connection related to the wireless connection device itself;

a wireless communication unit to perform wireless communications with wireless communication devices;

a notifying module to read the color information from the storage unit and to notify each of the wireless communication device of the color information via the wireless communication unit;

a setting module to set, when the wireless communication unit receives information containing an acknowledgment of the color information from a wireless communication device notified of the color information, information indicating that the wireless connection terminal is a color-information-adaptable terminal defined as a terminal capable of displaying based on the color information into a connection list, and to set, when the wireless communication unit receives information not containing the acknowledgment of the color information from a wireless communication device notified of the color information, information indicating that the wireless connection terminal is not the color-information-adaptable terminal defined into the connection list; and

a connection list output module to output the connection list in response to a connection list request.

2. The wireless connection device according to claim 1, further comprising a relay unit that relays the communications between the wireless communication device and another device via the wireless communication unit.

3. The wireless connection device according to claim 1, wherein the color information is information that designates at least a display color or a light emitting pattern.

4. The wireless connection device according to claim 1, wherein the wireless communication unit inserts the color information given from the notifying module into a Beacon frame or a data frame, and thus transmits the color-information-attached frame to the wireless communication device.

5. The wireless connection device according to claim 1, wherein the color information designates a display mode corresponding to a channel or a network that are utilized for the wireless communications.

6. The wireless connection device according to claim 1, wherein the wireless communication unit, when establishing a connection to the wireless communication device, transmits the color information to the wireless communication device.

7. A wireless connection method executed by a wireless connection device, comprising:

reading, from a storage unit, color information for designating a display mode for specifying a connection related to the wireless connection device itself;

performing wireless communications with wireless communication devices;

notifying each of the wireless communication devices of the color information read from the storage unit;

setting, when receiving information containing an acknowledgment of the color information from a wireless communication device notified of the color information, information indicating that the wireless connection terminal is a color-information-adaptable terminal defined as a terminal capable of displaying based on the color information into a connection list, and setting, when receiving information not containing the acknowledgment of the color information from a wireless communication device notified of the color information, information indicating that the wireless connection terminal is not the color-information-adaptable terminal into the connection list; and

outputting the connection list in response to a connection list request.

8. The wireless connection method according to claim 7, wherein the communications between the wireless communication device and another device are relayed through the wireless communications.

9. The wireless connection method according to claim 7, wherein the color information is information that designates at least a display color or a light emitting pattern.

10. The wireless connection method according to claim 7, wherein the color information is inserted into a Beacon frame or a data frame, and the color-information-attached frame is transmitted to the wireless communication device.

11. The wireless connection method according to claim 7, wherein the color information designates a display mode corresponding to a channel or a network that are utilized for the wireless communications.

12. The wireless connection method according to claim 7, wherein when establishing a connection to the wireless communication device, the color information is transmitted to the wireless communication device.

13. A non-transitory recording medium recorded with a wireless connection program for making a wireless connection device execute:

reading, from a storage unit, color information for designating a display mode for specifying a connection related to the wireless connection device itself;

performing wireless communications with wireless communication devices;

notifying each of the wireless communication devices of the color information read from the storage unit

setting, when receiving information containing an acknowledgment of the color information from a wireless communication device notified of the color information, information indicating that the wireless connection terminal is a color-information-adaptable terminal defined as a terminal capable of displaying based on the color information into a connection list, and setting, when receiving information not containing the acknowledgment of the color information from a wireless communication device notified of the color information, information indicating that the wireless connection terminal is not the color-information-adaptable terminal into the connection list; and

outputting the connection list in response to a connection list request.

14. A wireless communication device, comprising:

a wireless communication unit to perform wireless communications with a wireless connection device;

a color information acquiring module to receive from the wireless connection device color information that designates a display mode for specifying a connection related to the wireless connection device via the wireless communication unit;

a display control module to conduct a display in the display mode designated by the received color information;

a information transmitting module to transmit information indicating that the wireless connection terminal is a color-information-adaptable terminal defined as a terminal capable of displaying based on the color information to the wireless connection device; and

a connection list output module to transmit to the wireless connection device a connection request for a connection list that is a list for managing, respect to each of wireless communication devices, whether or not the wireless communication device is the color-information-adaptable terminal, and to receive and output the connection list transmitted by the wireless connection device receiving the connection request.

15. The wireless communication device according to claim 14, wherein the color information is information that designates at least a display color or a light emitting pattern.

16. The wireless communication device according to claim 14, wherein the color information acquiring module extracts the specified information from a Beacon frame or a data frame received by the wireless communication unit.

17. The wireless communication device according to claim 14, wherein the wireless communication unit, when making a request for a connection to the wireless connection device, sends back a signal purporting that the color information has been acquired.

18. A wireless communication method executed by a wireless communication device, comprising:

performing wireless communications with a wireless connection device;

receiving, from the wireless connection device, color information that designates a display mode for specifying a connection related to the wireless connection device;

conducting a display in the display mode designated by the received color information;

transmitting information indicating that the wireless connection terminal is a color-information-adaptable terminal defined as a terminal capable of displaying based on the color information to the wireless connection device;

transmitting to the wireless connection device a connection request for a connection list that is a list for managing, respect to each of wireless communication devices, whether or not the wireless communication device is the color-information-adaptable terminal; and

receiving and outputting the connection list transmitted by the wireless connection device that receives the connection request.

19. A non-transitory recording medium recorded with a wireless communication program for making a wireless communication device execute:

performing wireless communications with a wireless connection device;

receiving, from the wireless connection device, color information that designates a display mode for specifying a connection related to the wireless connection device;

conducting a display in the display mode designated by the received color information;

transmitting information indicating that the wireless connection terminal is a color-information-adaptable terminal defined as a terminal capable of displaying based on the color information to the wireless connection device;

transmitting to the wireless connection device a connection request for a connection list that is a list for managing, respect to each of wireless communication devices, whether or not the wireless communication device is the color-information-adaptable terminal; and

receiving and outputting the connection list transmitted by the wireless connection device that receives the connection request.

20. A network system, comprising:

a plurality of wireless connection devices; and

a plurality of wireless communication devices,

each of the plurality of wireless connection devices including,

a storage unit to store color information for designating a display mode for specifying a connection related to the wireless connection device itself,

a first wireless communication module to perform wireless communications with one or more wireless communication devices among the plurality of wireless connection devices,

a sending module to send the color information stored in the storage unit to a wireless communication device, the wireless communications with which are performed by the first wireless communication module,

a setting module to set, when the wireless communication unit receives information containing an acknowledgment of the color information from a wireless communication device to which the specified information is sent by the sending module, information indicating that the wireless connection terminal is a color-information-adaptable terminal defined as a terminal capable of displaying based on the color information into a connection list, and to set, when the wireless communication unit receives information not containing the acknowledgment of the color information from a wireless communication device to which the specified information is sent by the sending module, information indicating that the wireless connection terminal is not the color-information-adaptable terminal into the connection list; and

a connection list output module to output the connection list in response to a connection list request,

each of the plurality of wireless communication devices including,

a second wireless communication module to perform wireless communications with a wireless connection device among the plurality of wireless connection devices,

a color information receiving module to receive the color information from the wireless connection device, the wireless communications with which are performed by the second wireless communication module, and

a display control module conducting a display in the display mode designated by the received color information,

a information transmitting module to transmit information indicating that the wireless connection terminal is the color-information-adaptable terminal to the wireless connection device the wireless communications with which are performed by the second wireless communication module, and

a connection list output module to transmit a connection request for the connection list to the wireless connection device the wireless communications with which are performed by the second wireless communication module, and to receive and output the connection list transmitted by the wireless connection device that receives the connection request.