Techniques for sharing documents stored at a remote file storage server using short range wireless communication-enabled computing devices

• US 9,774,372 B1
• Filed: 08/19/2013
• Issued: 09/26/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 08/19/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Goodwin, Bruce Lewis, Shanbhag, Shrikant Ravindra
• Primary Examiner(s): Liao, Hsin-Chun
• Application Number:
  US13/970,222
• Time in Patent Office: 1,499 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 5/72 for local intradevice communication

Abstract

A computer-implemented technique can include receiving, at a first computing device including one or more processors, a request to share a document stored at a remote file storage server. The first computing device can establish a short range wireless communication link with a second computing device associated with an intended recipient of the document. The first computing device can obtain an identifier for the intended recipient from the second computing device using the short range wireless communication link. The first computing device can associate the identifier with the request and can then transmit the request to the remote file storage server. The request can cause the remote file storage server to provide the intended recipient with access to the document via the second computing device.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

receiving, at a first computing device including one or more processors, a request to share a document stored at a remote file storage server, the request including a document identifier for the document and a type of access for sharing the document;

establishing, at the first computing device, a short range wireless communication link with a second computing device associated with an intended recipient of the document;

requesting, from the first computing device, a recipient identifier for the intended recipient from the second computing device via the short range wireless communication link;

receiving, at the first computing device, the recipient identifier from the second computing device via the short range wireless communication link in response to the requesting;

associating, at the first computing device, the recipient identifier with the request; and

transmitting, from the first computing device, the request to the remote file storage server, wherein the request includes the recipient identifier and the type of access for sharing the document, and wherein the request causes the remote file storage server to provide the intended recipient with the type of access to the document via the second computing device.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

executing, at the first computing device, a data sharing application to access the remote file storage server; and

receiving, at the first computing device, a selection of the document at the remote file storage server via the data sharing application.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein the request to share the document is received in response to receiving the selection of the document.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the type of access for sharing the document is at least one of (i) read-only access, (ii) read-write access, and (iii) execute access.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

establishing, at the first computing device, a short range wireless communication link with a plurality of computing devices, each of the plurality of computing devices being associated with a potential recipient of the document; and

outputting, at the first computing device, a list of the potential recipients on a display of the first computing device.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 5, further comprising:

receiving, at the first computing device, a selection of one or more potential recipients for the document from the list of the potential recipients to obtain one or more selected recipients; and

transmitting, from the first computing device, the request to share the document to the remote file storage server, wherein the request to share the document includes a specific recipient identifier for each of the one or more selected recipients, and wherein the request causes the remote file storage server to provide access to the one or more selected recipients with access to the document via their one or more computing devices, respectively.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the recipient identifier is defined as at least one of (i) an email address for the intended recipient and (ii) a network address associated with the second computing device.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein requesting the recipient identifier is initiated in response to establishing the short range wireless communication link between the first computing device and the second computing device.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein establishing the short range wireless communication link between the first computing device and the second computing device is performed based on the ISO/IEC 18092 standard.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the recipient identifier for the intended recipient comprises randomly generated authorization data.

11. A non-transitory, computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon, which, when executed by one or more processors of a first computing device, cause the first computing device to perform operations comprising:

receiving a request to share a document stored at a remote file storage server, the request including a document identifier for the document and a type of access for sharing the document;

establishing a short range wireless communication link with a second computing device associated with an intended recipient of the document;

requesting a recipient identifier for the intended recipient from the second computing device via the short range wireless communication link;

receiving the recipient identifier from the second computing device via the short range wireless communication link in response to the requesting;

associating the recipient identifier with the request; and

transmitting the request to the remote file storage server, wherein the request includes the recipient identifier and the type of access for sharing the document, and wherein the request causes the remote file storage server to provide the intended recipient with the type of access to the document via the second computing device.

12. The computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the operations further comprise:

executing a data sharing application to access the remote file storage server; and

receiving a selection of the document at the remote file storage server via the data sharing application.

13. The computer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the request to share the document is received in response to receiving the selection of the document.

14. The computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the type of access for sharing the document is at least one of (i) read-only access, (ii) read-write access, and (iii) execute access.

15. The computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the operations further comprise:

establishing an short range wireless communication link with a plurality of computing devices, each of the plurality of computing devices being associated with a potential recipient of the document; and

outputting a list of the potential recipients on a display of the first computing device.

16. The computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving a selection of one or more potential recipients for the document from the list of the potential recipients to obtain one or more selected recipients; and

transmitting the request to share the document to the remote file storage server, wherein the request to share the document includes a specific recipient identifier for each of the one or more selected recipients, and wherein the request causes the remote file storage server to provide access to the one or more selected recipients with access to the document via their one or more computing devices, respectively.

17. The computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the recipient identifier is defined as at least one of (i) an email address for the intended recipient and (ii) a network address associated with the second computing device.

18. The computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein requesting the recipient identifier is initiated in response to establishing the short range wireless communication link between the first computing device and the second computing device.

19. The computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein establishing the short range wireless communication link between the first computing device and the second computing device is performed based on the ISO/IEC 18092 standard.

20. The computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the recipient identifier for the intended recipient comprises randomly generated authorization data.