Systems, devices, and methods effected in response to establishing and/or terminating a physical communications link

• US 9,807,221 B2
• Filed: 11/19/2015
• Issued: 10/31/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 11/28/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Thalmic Labs Inc.
• Inventors: Bailey, Matthew, Grant, Aaron, Bouchard, Eric Philippe
• Primary Examiner(s): Urban, Edward
• Assistant Examiner(s): Mathew, Max
• Application Number:
  US14/946,483
• Publication Number:
  US 20160156762A1
• Time in Patent Office: 712 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/385 Transceivers carried on the body, e.g. in helmets
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 2001/3855 carried in a belt or harness
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 2001/3861 carried in a hand or on fingers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2101/622 Layer-2 addresses, e.g. medium access control [MAC] addresses
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/724095 Worn on the wrist, hand or arm
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72412 using two-way short-range wireless interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/14 Direct-mode setup
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/18 Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

Systems, devices, and methods that are effected in or by an electronic device in response to establishing and/or terminating a physical communications link are described. An electronic device may be entered into deep sleep and may include a power control circuit that activates the device out of deep sleep in response to establishing a physical communications link with a source of electric power, such as another electronic device. Either in combination with or separate from this, an electronic device may establish wireless communications with another electronic device in response to establishing and terminating a physical communications link with the other electronic device. The physical communications link may be used to transfer device identity data from one device to the other and thereby bypass the cumbersome “discovery” process common to conventional wireless communication techniques. Portable electronic devices and personal computing devices that are operative to perform the above are described.

Claims

1. A method of establishing wireless communications between a first electronic device and a second electronic device, the method comprising:

transmitting electric power from the second electronic device to the first electronic device via a physical communications link between the first and the second electronic devices;

causing the first electronic device to wake from a deep sleep mode in which;

i) a power storage component of the first electronic device is at least partially charged, and ii) a switch that is communicatively coupleable to both the power storage component and a processor of the first electronic device is in a first state in which the power storage component and the processor are communicatively isolated from one another, wherein causing the first electronic device to wake from the deep sleep mode includes triggering the switch into a second state in which the power storage component and the processor are communicatively coupled to one another;

receiving by the second electronic device from the first electronic device, via the physical communications link between the first and the second electronic devices, a first identifier that identifies the first electronic device;

in response to a termination of the physical communications link between the first and the second electronic devices, wirelessly transmitting by the second electronic device a request to initiate a wireless communications session, wherein the request to initiate a wireless communications session includes a representation of the first identifier that identifies the first electronic device; and

establishing the wireless communications session with the first electronic device by the second electronic device.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein receiving by the second electronic device from the first electronic device, via the physical communications link between the first and the second electronic devices, a first identifier that identifies the first electronic device includes retrieving the first identifier by the second electronic device from a non-transitory storage medium of the first electronic device via the physical communications link between the first and the second electronic devices.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein receiving by the second electronic device from the first electronic device, via the physical communications link between the first and the second electronic devices, a first identifier that identifies the first electronic device includes receiving by the second electronic device from the first electronic device, via the physical communications link between the first and the second electronic devices, a media access control (“

MAC”

) address of the first electronic device.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

wirelessly receiving by the second electronic device an acceptance of the request to initiate the wireless communications session by the first electronic device based on inclusion of the representation of the first identifier that identifies the first electronic device in the request to initiate the wireless communications session.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein receiving by the second electronic device from the first electronic device, via the physical communications link between the first and the second electronic devices, a first identifier that identifies the first electronic device includes receiving by the second electronic device from the first electronic device, via the physical communications link between the first and the second electronic devices, the first identifier that identifies the first electronic device in response to an establishing of the physical communications link between the first and the second electronic devices.

6. A method of initiating wireless communications with a first electronic device by a second electronic device, the method comprising:

in response to an establishing of a physical communications link between the first and the second electronic devices;

transmitting electric power from the second electronic device to the first electronic device via the physical communications link between the first and the second electronic devices;

causing the first electronic device to wake from a deep sleep mode in which;

i) a power storage component of the first electronic device is at least partially charged, and ii) a switch that is communicatively coupleable to both the power storage component and a processor of the first electronic device is in a first state in which the power storage component and the processor are communicatively isolated from one another, wherein causing the first electronic device to wake from the deep sleep mode includes triggering the switch into a second state in which the power storage component and the processor are communicatively coupled to one another; and

receiving by the second electronic device from the first electronic device, via the physical communications link between the first and the second electronic devices, a first identifier that identifies the first electronic device;

and

in response to a termination of the physical communications link between the first and the second electronic devices, wirelessly transmitting by the second electronic device a request to initiate a wireless communications session, wherein the request to initiate a wireless communications session includes a representation of the first identifier that identifies the first electronic device.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein receiving by the second electronic device from the first electronic device, via the physical communications link between the first and the second electronic devices, a first identifier that identifies the first electronic device includes retrieving the first identifier by the second electronic device from a non-transitory storage medium of the first electronic device via the physical communications link between the first and the second electronic devices.

8. The method of claim 6 wherein receiving by the second electronic device from the first electronic device, via the physical communications link between the first and the second electronic devices, a first identifier that identifies the first electronic device includes receiving by the second electronic device from the first electronic device, via the physical communications link between the first and the second electronic devices, a media access control (“

MAC”

) address of the first electronic device.

9. A method of establishing wireless communications between a first electronic device and a second electronic device, the method comprising:

receiving electric power from the second electronic device by the first electronic device via a physical communications link between the first and the second electronic devices;

in response to receiving electric power from the second electronic device by the first electronic device via the physical communications link between the first and the second electronic devices, waking from a deep sleep mode by the first electronic device, wherein in the deep sleep mode;

i) a power storage component of the first electronic device is at least partially charged, and ii) a switch that is communicatively coupleable to both the power storage component and a processor of the first electronic device is in a first state in which the power storage component and the processor are communicatively isolated from one another, and wherein waking from the deep sleep mode by the first electronic device includes triggering the switch into a second state in which the power storage component and the processor are communicatively coupled to one another;

providing by the first electronic device to the second electronic device, via the physical communications link between the first and the second electronic devices, a first identifier that identifies the first electronic device;

in response to a termination of the physical communications link between the first and the second electronic devices, wirelessly receiving by the first electronic device from the second electronic device a request to initiate a wireless communications session, wherein the request to initiate a wireless communications session includes a representation of the first identifier that identifies the first electronic device; and

establishing the wireless communications session with the second electronic device by the first electronic device.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein providing by the first electronic device to the second electronic device, via the physical communications link between the first and the second electronic devices, a first identifier that identifies the first electronic device includes providing the second electronic device access to a non-transitory storage medium of the first electronic device via the physical communications link between the first and the second electronic devices.

11. The method of claim 9 wherein providing by the first electronic device to the second electronic device, via the physical communications link between the first and the second electronic devices, a first identifier that identifies the first electronic device includes providing by the first electronic device to the second electronic device, via the physical communications link between the first and the second electronic devices, a media access control (“

MAC”

) address of the first electronic device.

12. The method of claim 9 wherein establishing the wireless communications session with the second electronic device by the first electronic device includes wirelessly transmitting by the first electronic device an acceptance of the request to initiate the wireless communications session by the first electronic device based on inclusion of the representation of the first identifier that identifies the first electronic device in the request to initiate the wireless communications session.

13. The method of claim 9 wherein providing by the first electronic device to the second electronic device, via the physical communications link between the first and the second electronic devices, a first identifier that identifies the first electronic device includes providing by the first electronic device to the second electronic device, via the physical communications link between the first and the second electronic devices, the first identifier that identifies the first electronic device in response to an establishing of the physical communications link between the first and the second electronic devices.

14. A method of establishing wireless communications between a first electronic device and a second electronic device, the method comprising:

transmitting electric power from the second electronic device via a physical communications link between the first and the second electronic devices;

receiving electric power by the first electronic device via the physical communications link between the first and the second electronic devices;

in response to receiving electric power by the first electronic device via the physical communications link between the first and the second electronic devices, waking from a deep sleep mode by the first electronic device, wherein in the deep sleep mode;

i) a power storage component of the first electronic device is at least partially charged, and ii) a switch that is communicatively coupleable to both the power storage component and a processor of the first electronic device is in a first state in which the power storage component and the processor are communicatively isolated from one another, and wherein waking from the deep sleep mode by the first electronic device includes triggering the switch into a second state in which the power storage component and the processor are communicatively coupled to one another;

providing by the first electronic device to the second electronic device, via the physical communications link between the first and the second electronic devices, access to a first identifier that identifies the first electronic device;

receiving by the second electronic device from the first electronic device, via the physical communications link between the first and the second electronic devices, the first identifier that identifies the first electronic device;

in response to a termination of the physical communications link between the first and the second electronic devices, wirelessly transmitting by the second electronic device a request to initiate a wireless communications session, wherein the request to initiate a wireless communications session includes a representation of the first identifier that identifies the first electronic device;

wirelessly receiving the request to initiate the wireless communications session by the first electronic device;

in response to wirelessly receiving the request to initiate the wireless communications session by the first electronic device and based on inclusion of the representation of the first identifier that identifies the first electronic device in the request to initiate a wireless communications session, wirelessly transmitting by the first electronic device an acceptance of the request to initiate the wireless communications session;

wirelessly receiving the acceptance of the request to initiate the wireless communications session by the second electronic device; and

in response to wirelessly receiving the acceptance of the request to initiate the wireless communications session by the second electronic device, establishing the wireless communications session between the first electronic device and the second electronic device.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein providing by the first electronic device to the second electronic device, via the physical communications link between the first and the second electronic devices, a first identifier that identifies the first electronic device includes providing by the first electronic device to the second electronic device, via the physical communications link between the first and the second electronic devices, the first identifier that identifies the first electronic device in response to an establishing of the physical communications link between the first and the second electronic devices.