Patent Application
20070076640
The present invention relates generally to wireless networking, and in particular to indicating interconnectivity between multiple devices in a wireless network.
Ad hoc wireless networking of electronic devices for home and office use is growing in popularity. Standards such as Bluetooth for wireless personal area networking (WPAN) and IEEE 802.11b, or WiFi (wireless fidelity), for wireless local area networking (WLAN) are increasingly used in consumer electronic products. For example, a home may have operating within it a computer, a wireless router for Internet access, a television, an amplifier, one or more speakers and a digital video recorder, all wirelessly networked and capable of ad hoc communications.
Wireless networks are often preferred to wired networks such as Ethernet networks for a variety of reasons. The absence of wiring can simplify device interconnection procedures and also significantly improve the aesthetics of a room that has numerous networked devices. Further, wirelessly networked devices can be moved relative to each other much more easily, as networking wires do not need to be routed through or along walls or hidden behind furniture.
However, as with many new technologies, setting up wireless networks can be intimidating to consumers who are unfamiliar with such networks. Further, even sophisticated and experienced users of wireless equipment can be challenged to find strategic locations for some wireless devices that enable ideal ad hoc communications between various devices in a network. Labor intensive trial and error procedures are sometimes required, involving iterative measurements of received signal strengths. Even when such procedures are successful, movement of one networked device can again require positional readjustment of various other networked devices, particularly where the networked devices are operating near the limits of their wireless range.
The accompanying figures, where like reference numerals refer to identical or functionally similar elements throughout the separate views and which together with the detailed description below are incorporated in and form part of the specification, serve to further illustrate various embodiments and to explain various principles and advantages all in accordance with the present invention.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of embodiments of the present invention.
Before describing in detail embodiments that are in accordance with the present invention, it should be observed that the embodiments reside primarily in combinations of method steps and apparatus components related to indicating wireless interconnectivity. Accordingly, the apparatus components and method steps have been represented where appropriate by conventional symbols in the drawings, showing only those specific details that are pertinent to understanding the embodiments of the present invention, so as not to obscure the disclosure with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the description herein.
In this document, relational terms such as first and second, top and bottom, and the like may be used solely to distinguish one entity or action from another entity or action without necessarily requiring or implying any actual such relationship or order between such entities or actions. The terms “comprises,” “comprising,” or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements does not include only those elements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. An element preceded by “comprises a . . . ” does not, without more constraints, preclude the existence of additional identical elements in the process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises the element.
It will be appreciated that embodiments of the invention described herein may be comprised of one or more conventional processors and unique stored program instructions that control the one or more processors to implement, in conjunction with certain non-processor circuits, some, most, or all of the functions of indicating wireless interconnectivity described herein. The non-processor circuits may include, but are not limited to, a radio receiver, a radio transmitter, signal drivers, clock circuits, power source circuits, and user input devices. As such, these functions may be interpreted as steps of a method to perform indicating wireless interconnectivity. Alternatively, some or all functions could be implemented by a state machine that has no stored program instructions, or in one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), in which each function or some combinations of certain of the functions are implemented as custom logic. Of course, a combination of the two approaches could be used. Thus, methods and means for these functions have been described herein. Further, it is expected that one of ordinary skill, notwithstanding possibly significant effort and many design choices motivated by, for example, available time, current technology, and economic considerations, when guided by the concepts and principles disclosed herein will be readily capable of generating such software instructions and programs and ICs with minimal experimentation.
Referring to
In
However, in a real-world wireless network environment, possibly involving many more devices 105-n than the four devices 105-n shown in
Referring to
The user interface 200, memory 210, communication interface 215 and alarm subsystem 220 are each operatively connected to the processor 205. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the memory 210 may comprise various types of memory such as a random access memory (e.g., static random access memory (SRAM)), read only memory (e.g., programmable read only memory (PROM)), electrically erasable programmable read only memory (EPROM)), or hybrid memory (e.g., FLASH) as is well known in the art. The processor 205 then accesses a computer useable medium in the memory 210, which medium includes computer readable program code components configured to cause the device 105-n to execute the functions of the present invention.
Referring again to
Next, the other devices 105-n in the network 100 are identified at each device 105-n. For example, the entertainment system may require that each device 105-n be capable of wirelessly communicating with one or more other devices 105-n in the network 100. As will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art, each device 105-n can be programmed to include a specific communication address for each of the other three devices 105-n in the network 100. Such addresses may be entered, for example, at a factory where the devices 105-n of the entertainment system are assembled and packaged. Or, if a network 100 includes ad hoc components that are purchased separately, the addresses of other devices 105-n in the network 100 may be entered manually at each device 105-n using the user interface 200.
Each device 105-n then determines whether a wireless communication channel is operative with each of the other devices 105-n in the network 100. Such determinations can be made for example by a first device 105-1 transmitting periodic “ping” messages to the other devices 105-n that need to be in wireless communication with the first device 105-1. After a predetermined time period, if a corresponding “pong” message is not received at the first device 105-1 from each of the other devices 105-n, then first device 105-1 will activate its alarm subsystem 220.
Thus in
Similarly, the “B” device 105-2 will be programmed to include the respective wireless address for each of the “A”, “C”, and “D” devices 105-n. The “B” device 105-2 will then determine whether a wireless communication channel is operative between “B”-“A”, “B”-“C”, and “B”-“D”. However, as indicated in
The alarm subsystems 220 according to embodiments of the present invention can include various types of alarm indicators such as Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs), display screens, or audible alarms including piezoelectric components or speakers. For example, an alarm subsystem 220 can include as alarm indicators a simple green LED to indicate that an alarm is inactive and a red LED to indicate that an alarm is active. More sophisticated alarm indicators may include for example an audible alarm that changes tone or flashing LEDs that change a rate of flashing based on a wireless signal quality. For example, a device 105-n may detect a repetitive communication such as a Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) that measures wireless signal strength received from another device 105-n. A signal strength above a certain threshold is indicated by an LED that is continuously on. If a detected signal strength decreases below the threshold, the LED will flash rapidly at first, and then slower if the signal strength drops' further. Other attributes of signal quality such as fading, phase cancellation, delay spread, and cochannel interference can be monitored in the same manner. The flashing LEDs thus effectively act as a “heartbeat”, indicating the health of the wireless communication channels operating at a particular device 105-n.
Still other embodiments of the present invention include an alarm subsystem 220 having a display that indicates an identity of all other devices 105-n in the network 100 with which a particular device 105-1 is intended to communicate. Such a display may also indicate a received signal strength associated with each other device 105-n, or identify any other device 105-n that is unconnected to a particular device 105-1.
Referring to
Advantages of the present invention thus include significant savings in time and effort when configuring and positioning devices 105-n in a wireless network 100. Embodiments of the present invention enable network users to employ intuitive alarm indicators to quickly assess the status of various wireless channels between devices 105-n in a network 100. If one or more wireless communication channels are not performing adequately, based on information obtained using the present invention a network user can readily adjust parameters in a network 100, such as the relative positioning of devices 105-n or the transmitting power of a device 105-n, to improve channel performance.
In the foregoing specification, specific embodiments of the present invention have been described. However, one of ordinary skill in the art appreciates that various modifications and changes can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention as set forth in the claims below. Accordingly, the specification and figures are to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense, and all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the present invention. The benefits, advantages, solutions to problems, and any element(s) that may cause any benefit, advantage, or solution to occur or become more pronounced are not to be construed as a critical, required, or essential features or elements of any or all the claims. The invention is defined solely by the appended claims including any amendments made during the pendency of this application and all equivalents of those claims as issued.
