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U.S. Patent: 10,740,066


Patent Title

Output devices that establish wireless connection with an information apparatus subsequent to having been wirelessly discovered by the information apparatus

Meta Information

Issued Date: Dec. 25, 2018
Inventor: William Ho Chang et al
External Links: UPSTO, Google Patents

Technical Fields

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Abstract

Output devices (or output controllers connectable to an output device) that is wirelessly discoverable by an information apparatus are herein disclosed and enabled. An output device may be an audio output device, a printer, a television, a projector, or a display device. The output device may include one or more chips or chipsets that are compatible with Bluetooth or IEEE 802.11 standards. The output device is operable to: wirelessly announce its availability for the information apparatus to wirelessly discover the output device when the information apparatus is within a limited physical distance to the output device; wirelessly transmit one or more device attributes related to the output device from the output device to the information apparatus that has wirelessly discovered the output device; and wirelessly receive, from the information apparatus, output data that is in accordance, at least in part, with the one or more device attributes.

U.S. Patent Number: 10,740,066

Sample Claim

1. A wireless output controller for providing output service to one or more information apparatus that are separate devices from the wireless output controller, the wireless output controller includes:
memory or storage storing one or more device dependent attributes related to the wireless output controller, and one or more wireless communication units, the one or more wireless communication units include one or more radio frequency link controllers to enable the wireless output controller to wirelessly transmit the one or more device dependent attributes, stored in the memory or the storage and related to the wireless output controller, to the one or more information apparatus, wherein the wireless output controller is configured to:
(1) wirelessly announce or advertise, using the one or more wireless communication units of the wireless output controller, availability of the wireless output controller to enable an information apparatus, from among the one or more information apparatus, to wirelessly discover the output service provided by the wireless output controller, the wireless discovery is based, at least in part, on the information apparatus being within a limited physical distance to the wireless output controller for establishing short range wireless communication between the information apparatus and the wireless output controller;
(2) wirelessly transmit, using the one or more wireless communication units of the wireless output controller and over a radio frequency wireless communication link, the one or more device dependent attributes from the wireless output controller to the information apparatus, the wireless transmitting of the one or more device dependent attributes from the wireless output controller to the information apparatus is based, at least in part, on the wireless output controller being wirelessly discovered by the information apparatus in (1), and the one or more device dependent attributes, wirelessly transmitted from the wireless output controller to the information apparatus, are related to the wireless output controller;
(3) wirelessly receive, using the one or more wireless communication units of the wireless output controller, information or a service request from the information apparatus subsequent to the wireless output controller having wirelessly transmitted the one or more device dependent attributes from the wireless output controller to the information apparatus in (2);
(4) implement, by the wireless output controller, an authentication or security procedure in response to having wirelessly received the information or the service request from the information apparatus in (3), the authentication or the security procedure is for enabling the information apparatus or a user of the information apparatus to access services provided by the wireless output controller, the authentication or the security procedure includes detecting, by the wireless output controller, at least one of identification information, address information, security information, a password, a pin, or biometric information, individually or in any combination, related to the user of the information apparatus or the information apparatus, and wherein based, at least in part, on having successfully implemented the authentication or the security procedure by the wireless output controller, the wireless output controller is further configured to:
(5) wirelessly receive, using the one or more wireless communication units of the wireless output controller, output data from the information apparatus, the wireless receiving of the output data is based, at least in part, on having wirelessly transmitted the one or more device dependent attributes in (2) from the wireless output controller to the information apparatus; and
(6) provide, by the wireless output controller, output management functions, the output management functions include one or more of storing, buffering, queuing, or spooling, of at least part of the output data wirelessly received in (5), at the memory or the storage of the wireless output controller, for outputting or rendering at least part of the output data; and wherein the wireless output controller provides the output service to the information apparatus based on the wireless output controller: (a) having been wirelessly discovered by the information apparatus in (1), and (b) having implemented the authentication or the security procedure by the wireless output controller in (4).