The present disclosure relates generally to systems, apparatus, and methods for personal computing. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to systems, apparatus, and methods relating to a wearable electronic hub device and/or a satellite device with enhanced portability, versatility, efficiency, and security.
Consumers are currently inundated with all different types and sizes of intelligent electronic devices, including, for example, smartphones, tablet computers, notebook or laptop computers, desktop computers, and smart television sets. The increasing variety of intelligent electronic devices is intended, in part, to provide users functionality for different purposes in a variety of different environments. For example, a smartphone provides a user with access to telephone and computer processing functions while remaining mobile, whereas a tablet computer, while also portable, provides a user with a larger screen than a smartphone, but may be awkward for placing telephone calls. Similarly, a portable notebook or laptop computer provides a user with a larger screen than a smartphone, but also enhances word processing applications, for example, with a built-in keyboard. Meanwhile, a desktop computer or smart television may provide an even larger screen, particularly for viewing media, but is not as easily portable due to size, weight, etc.
Each of these devices is not only expensive and duplicative in its computing components, but also personal to its user. That is, each device stores various forms of personal information, such as user profiles, applications, files, libraries, etc. Efforts have been made to provide syncing between devices so that a user may have access to the same personal information regardless of the device at hand by uploading personal information to another device or cloud server and/or downloading personal information from another device or cloud server. However, these efforts are limited by network connectivity requirements and differences in operating systems and/or applications. As a result, if a device is lost or stolen, personal information may also be lost if syncing has not occurred and/or stolen if device security is breached. To avoid a security breach, each device further may rely on a specific and/or different user authentication protocol.
The inventor recognized that despite the flooded device market, current electronic device producers are making duplicative devices with no significant differences beyond size and/or portability. The inventor also recognized that, because screen size is indirectly related to portability, a different hardware ecosystem that combines portability with larger screen sizes would greatly benefit consumers. The inventor further recognized that the most portable device possible is a wearable device. Instead of trying to maximize screen size on a wearable device, the inventor recognized and appreciated that a wearable smart device may be paired with interchangeable “dummy” screen devices with varying sizes.
According to some embodiments, a wearable device is an electronic hub device comprising the most important, expensive, and personal aspects of computing, whereas the dummy screen devices are electronic satellite devices that can be shared, lost, stolen, and/or replaced without the same security risks and expenses associated with the duplicative hardware components and personal information in current smartphones, tablet computers, laptop computers, and other devices. Such satellite devices do not need to sync with another device or server because the same computing hub device is always being used. The satellite devices may be agnostic as to the operating system of the hub device. In some embodiments, a hub device allows a user to start an application on one satellite device screen then seamlessly transition to another satellite device screen. Because the hub device retains all personal computing information, a satellite device does not need to retain any personal data and has smaller memory and/or energy requirements. Consequently, these satellite devices may be lighter, thinner, less expensive, easier to design and manufacture, and easier to aggregate and/or integrate with different environments. For example, one or more satellite devices may be kept in a user's home, office, car, etc., so that the user only needs to carry the wearable hub device and nothing else. Accordingly, the inventor recognized and appreciated a new hardware ecosystem that replaces the current paradigm of multiple and separate computing devices by altogether bypassing the tradeoff between portability and screen size and allowing objects everywhere to become smart by first becoming “dumb.”
In an embodiment, a wearable electronic computing hub device for wirelessly coupling with an electronic satellite device includes a wireless communication interface to wirelessly couple the hub device to the satellite device, at least one memory for storing processor-executable instructions and user data, and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the first wireless communication interface and the memory. Upon execution of the processor-executable instructions by the at least one processor, the at least one processor controls the wireless communication interface to wirelessly couple with the satellite device, which includes a touch screen, operate a graphical user interface for display on the touch screen, and receive at least one distinct signal from the satellite device. The at least one distinct signal is generated by the satellite device to represent at least one location of at least one touch that occurs in a plane of the touch screen. The at least one processor also processes the at least one distinct signal. Upon decoupling the hub device from the satellite device, the hub device stores at least some of the user data while the satellite device is incapable of retaining any of the user data, which includes the at least one distinct signal.
In an embodiment, a wearable electronic computing hub device for wirelessly coupling with an interchangeable electronic satellite device includes a wristband to be worn on the wrist of a user, a wireless communication interface to wirelessly couple the hub device to the satellite device, at least one memory for storing processor-executable instructions and user data, and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the first wireless communication interface and the memory. Upon execution of the processor-executable instructions by the at least one processor, the at least one processor controls the wireless communication interface to wirelessly couple with the satellite device based on a proximity of the satellite device, which includes a touch screen, operate a graphical user interface for display on the touch screen, and receive at least one distinct signal from the satellite device. The at least one distinct signal is generated by the satellite device to represent at least one location of at least one touch that occurs in a plane of the touch screen. The at least one processor also processes the at least one distinct signal. Upon decoupling the hub device from the satellite device, the hub device retains at least some of the user data while the satellite device is incapable of retaining any of the user data, which includes the at least one distinct signal.
In an embodiment, an electronic satellite device for wirelessly coupling with a wearable electronic computing hub device includes a wireless communication interface to wirelessly couple the satellite device to the hub device and a touch screen. Upon wirelessly coupling the satellite device with the hub device, the satellite device displays on the touch screen a graphical user interface operated, via the wireless communication interface, by the hub device, detects at least one touch that occurs in a plane of the touch screen, generates at least one distinct signal representative of at least one location of the at least one touch in the plane of the touch screen for each of the at least one touch, and transmits the at least one distinct signal to the hub device via the wireless communication interface, such that the hub device processes the at least one distinct signal. Upon decoupling the satellite device from the hub device, the hub device retains user data while the satellite device is incapable of retaining any of the user data, which includes the at least one distinct signal.
In an embodiment, a kit for personal computing includes a wearable electronic computing hub device and an electronic satellite device for wirelessly coupling with the hub device. In an embodiment, a method includes wirelessly coupling a wearable electronic computing hub device and at least one electronic satellite device. In an embodiment, a method includes wirelessly charging a wearable electronic computing hub device using at least one electronic satellite device through inductance charging and/or resonance charging.
In an embodiment, a hub computing apparatus to be worn as a personal accessory, the apparatus includes a housing having a shape to facilitate wearing by and/or contact with a person during operation of the apparatus, at least one sensor disposed within the housing to facilitate sensing of at least one motion of the apparatus, at least one communication interface disposed within the housing to facilitate wireless communication between the apparatus and at least one dumb display device, at least one battery disposed within the housing to provide power for the apparatus, at least one charging system disposed within the housing to wirelessly charge the at least one battery, at least one memory storing processor-executable instructions, and at least one processor, communicatively coupled to at least the at least one sensor, the at least one memory and the at least one communication interface. Upon execution by the at least one processor of the processor-executable instructions, the at least one processor A) monitors the at least one sensor to detect a first motion of the apparatus corresponding to a first gesture of the person, and B) controls the at least one communication interface to establish a first wireless communication link between the apparatus and the at least one dumb display device based at least in part on the first detected motion.
The shape of the housing may facilitate wearing of the apparatus around a wrist of the person. The first gesture of the person may include knocking by the person on the at least one dumb display device using a hand coupled to the wrist on which the apparatus is worn. The detected first motion may correspond to the knocking by the person.
In an embodiment, a system includes a hub computing apparatus and the at least one dumb display device wirelessly coupled to the hub computing apparatus. The at least one dumb display device may include a touch panel to facilitate user input and at least one second communication interface to facilitate wireless communication of video signals from the hub computing apparatus to the at least one dumb display device and at least one signal representing the user input from the at least one dumb display device to the hub computing apparatus. The system may further include a dongle to wirelessly receive video and audio signals from the hub computing device and transmit the received video and audio signals, via a high definition multimedia interface (HDMI), to a television or computer monitor.
In an embodiment, a kit includes the hub computing apparatus and the at least one dumb display device. The kit further may include a dongle to wirelessly receive video and audio signals from the hub computing device and transmit the received video and audio signals, via a high definition multimedia interface (HDMI), to a television or computer monitor.
In an embodiment, a hub computing apparatus to be worn as a personal accessory includes a housing having a shape to facilitate wearing by and/or contact with a person during operation of the apparatus, at least one communication interface disposed within the housing to facilitate wireless communication between the apparatus and at least one peripheral device, at least one battery disposed within the housing to provide power for the apparatus, at least one charging system disposed within the housing to wirelessly charge the at least one battery, at least one memory storing processor-executable instructions, and at least one processor, communicatively coupled to at least the at least one sensor, the at least one memory and the at least one communication interface. Upon execution by the at least one processor of the processor-executable instructions, the at least one processor controls the at least one communication interface to establish a first wireless communication link between the apparatus and the at least one peripheral device based at least in part on a proximity of the at least one peripheral device to the hub computing apparatus. The shape of the housing may facilitate wearing of the apparatus around a wrist of the person. The at least one peripheral device may include a touch panel to facilitate user input and at least one second communication interface to facilitate wireless communication of at least one signal representing the user input from the at least one peripheral device to the hub computing apparatus.
In an embodiment, a system includes the hub computing apparatus and the at least one peripheral device, the at least one peripheral device including a dongle to wirelessly receive video and audio signals from the hub computing device and transmit the received video and audio signals, via a high definition multimedia interface (HDMI), to a television or computer monitor.
It should be appreciated that all combinations of the foregoing concepts and additional concepts discussed in greater detail below (provided such concepts are not mutually inconsistent) are contemplated as being part of the inventive subject matter disclosed herein. In particular, all combinations of claimed subject matter appearing at the end of this disclosure are contemplated as being part of the inventive subject matter disclosed herein. It should also be appreciated that terminology explicitly employed herein that also may appear in any disclosure incorporated by reference should be accorded a meaning most consistent with the particular concepts disclosed herein.
Other systems, processes, and features will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the following drawings and detailed description. It is intended that all such additional systems, processes, and features be included within this description, be within the scope of the present invention, and be protected by the accompanying claims.
The skilled artisan will understand that the drawings primarily are for illustrative purposes and are not intended to limit the scope of the inventive subject matter described herein. The drawings are not necessarily to scale; in some instances, various aspects of the inventive subject matter disclosed herein may be shown exaggerated or enlarged in the drawings to facilitate an understanding of different features. In the drawings, like reference characters generally refer to like features (e.g., functionally similar and/or structurally similar elements).
The present disclosure describes systems, apparatus, and methods for personal computing, particularly relating to a wearable electronic hub device and an electronic satellite device for pairing with the wearable electronic hub device to enhance computing portability, versatility, efficiency, and security. According to some embodiments, the wearable electronic hub device removes the need for additional computing devices such as smartphones, tablet computers, laptop computers, etc., by comprising enough computing power to run most commonly used telecommunication and computing applications on interchangeable satellite devices with various display sizes. Thus, the hub device securely maintains the most important, expensive, and personal aspects of computing, whereas a satellite device can be shared, lost, stolen, and/or replaced without the same expense or risk to personal information associated with the duplicative hardware components and personal information in current computing devices.
According to some embodiments, a wearable electronic hub device is a body-borne computer or wearable electronic hub device designed to be worn by a user under, with, or on top of clothing, accessories, or other wearable elements.
According to some embodiments, a wearable electronic hub device includes at least one communication interface. The at least one communication interface may be configured to connect with another device using at least one of near-field communication, a contactless smart card, a wireless local area network (WLAN) (e.g., WiGig, WiFi, or other technologies that follow the IEEE 802.11 standard), a wireless personal area network (WPAN) (e.g., Bluetooth, ZigBee, or other technologies that follow the IEEE 802.15 standards), a cellular network (e.g., GSM, GPRS, CDMA, EV-DO, EDGE, UMTS, DECT, iDEN, HSPA, LTE, AMPS, PCS, or other technologies), a wireless wide area network (WWAN), a wireless mesh network, a wireless metropolitan area network (WMAN) (e.g., WiMAX or other technologies that follow the IEEE 802.16 standard), and a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) (e.g., the U.S. Global Positioning System (GPS), the E.U. Galileo positioning system, the Russian Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS), the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System, the Chinese BeiDou Navigation Satellite System, or other systems). The hub device may include a wireless communication transceiver, disposed within a wearable electronic hub device body, to receive and transmit communications. The hub device may utilize a high-bandwidth wireless protocol (e.g., WiGig), along with Bluetooth Low Energy (Bluetooth LE) and/or Wi-Fi Direct, to stream video, audio, data, and other content.
According to some embodiments, a wearable electronic hub device includes at least one internal memory component with sizable storage.
According to some embodiments, a wearable electronic hub device includes a power supply interface, such as a power supply plug-in socket on the outer surface of the hub device for a power supply plug-in and/or at least one rechargeable battery, operably coupled to the at least one processor, to provide electrical power to the at least one processor. The hub device may also include a resonance charging coil (e.g., a coiled copper loop antenna), operably coupled to the power supply, to charge the power supply through magnetic resonance.
According to some embodiments, a wearable electronic hub device includes a data sensor to detect location movement and/or direction of the electronic hub device. The data sensor may include, but not limited to, one or more of an accelerometer (e.g., n-axis, where n can be 3, 6, or another positive integer), a gyrometer (e.g., n-axis, where n can be 3, 6, or another positive integer), and a digital compass.
According to some embodiments, a wearable electronic hub device includes at least one user interface, with one or more tactile (e.g., a button, a vibration motor), visual (e.g., a display, a touchscreen, a camera), and/or audio (e.g., a speaker, a microphone) input/output components. For example, a display or touchscreen may be only large enough for basic indications like one or more of time/date, a notification (e.g., a missed telephone call), and a connectivity toggle.
According to some embodiments, a wearable electronic hub device includes at least one processor. In some embodiments, a wearable electronic hub device includes a processor disposed within a wearable electronic hub device body and operably coupled to a wireless communication interface (e.g., a transceiver), an internal memory component, a battery, a data sensor, and/or an input/output component.
According to some embodiments, a wearable electronic hub device may determine a type of communication request and may generate a notification based on the communication type. The hub device may comprise a vibration motor, disposed within the device body to enable the device to vibrate. The vibration motor may comprise piezoelectric vibration mechanisms to facilitate various types of vibrations.
In some embodiments, the hub device may determine a vibration pattern based on the type of the communication request for the vibration motor to vibrate a wearable electronic hub device body according to the vibration pattern. A user may be able to customize said vibration patterns to, for example, distinguish incoming communications from different contacts. The configuration of customized vibration patterns may be enabled by a tangible haptic interface wherein the user may tap a configuration sequence on a wearable electronic hub device screen, wherein each tap on the configuration sequence is timely coordinated with a vibration pulse chosen from a pre-recorded set of unique vibration pulses available to configure customized vibration patterns.
In some embodiments, a wearable electronic hub device may determine that a movement detected by the motion sensor indicates a control command in response to a notification label and/or a vibration notification. In addition, a wearable electronic hub device may execute the determined control command.
A wearable electronic hub device may comprise a wireless display module 308, including a wireless high definition multimedia interface (e.g., WiGig), mechanisms to establish short-range wireless interconnections (e.g., Bluetooth), pairing mechanisms to perform near field communications (NFC), multicast wireless sensor network technologies, etc.
A wearable electronic hub device may further include one or more sensors, actuators, and other computing components 310 including, but not limited to, a multipoint control unit (MCU), a nine-axis motion tracking sensor with an embedded gyroscope, accelerometer, and/or compass, one or more buttons, wireless charging mechanisms, an authentication sensor and/or chip, a vibration motor, an LCD touch screen, a global positioning system (GPS), and a power block and/or battery.
According to some embodiments, security for a wearable electronic hub device relies on a user performing an authentication method, either actively (e.g., the user enters a password or submits to biometric scanning) or passively (e.g., the device automatically recognizes a biometric signal, such as a heart signature). A user's biometric data may include, but is not limited to, a fingerprint, an iris/retina scan, a heart-signature, a blood pressure pattern, a body temperature pattern, etc. In some embodiments, a wearable electronic hub device includes one or more sensors for collecting biometric data.
In some embodiments, the management server 608 forwards a corresponding CVR 610 to a repository of client data 612 or otherwise accesses the repository 612. The data repository 612 may store client credentials to verify the validity of the user credentials received with the CVR 606, 610. Thereafter, the management server 608 may receive from the data repository 612 a response to the CVR 614 and may send a corresponding CVR response 616 to the service provider 604 to confirm whether the user credentials received with the CVR 606, 610 are associated with an existing client of the service provider 604. The service provider 604 may analyze the CVR response 616 and/or send a corresponding SAR response 618 to the hub device 600.
For example, when a user uses the hub device 600 to access a service provider 604, the provider 604 may detect the source of the access request as originating from a wearable electronic hub device, and may provide an option of, for example, “Login with Your Wearable Device.” Upon user selection of this login mode, the service provider 604 may collect the hardware identifier of the hub device 600 and additional information. The service provider 604 may direct the SAR 602 to the management server 608, which may in turn authenticate the hub device 600 based on a database 612 of hardware identifiers. In this way, the user wearing the hub device 600 may not need to enter additional credentials (e.g., user name, password, etc.) to securely login into a personal account with the service provider 604.
A “dumb” or “dummy” device may have basic connectivity (e.g., WiGig, Bluetooth LE, or WiFi Direct) in order to pair or tether with a wearable electronic hub device. A dummy device may physically resemble a smart device like a typical smartphone or tablet computer because it includes a display screen and/or a speaker to output what the hub device serves wirelessly as well as a capacitive touch panel, a microphone, a camera, and/or a sensor to transmit audio, video, and/or sensory input back to the hub device. A dummy device may even wirelessly charge the hub device. What a dummy device does not do is keep data received from or transmitted to the hub device, particularly after a pairing or tethering session has ended.
According to some embodiments, a dummy device is an example of an electronic satellite device that can be shared, lost, stolen, and/or replaced without the same security risks and expenses associated with the duplicative hardware components and personal information in current smartphones, tablet computers, laptop computers, and other devices. A user does not need to sync a satellite device to download personal information from another device or server because the user always has the necessary personal information to operate the satellite device conveniently stored on the same wearable electronic hub device. Satellite devices may be agnostic as to the operating system of the hub device. In some embodiments, a user may start an application on one satellite device screen then seamlessly transition to another satellite device screen without closing the application, taking the time to sync information, or losing information.
Because the wearable hub device retains all the necessary personal computing information, a satellite device does not need to retain any personal data and has smaller memory and/or energy requirements. As a result, satellite devices may be lighter, thinner, less expensive, easier to design and manufacture, and/or easier to aggregate and/or integrate with different environments. For example, one or more satellite devices may be kept in a user's home, office, car, etc., so that the user only needs to carry a wearable electronic hub device and nothing more. Such a satellite device may resemble, as shown in
According to some embodiments, an electronic satellite device includes at least one communication interface. The at least one communication interface may be configured to connect with a wearable electronic hub device using at least one of near-field communication, a contactless smart card, a wireless local area network (WLAN) (e.g., WiGig, WiFi, or other technologies that follow the IEEE 802.11 standard), a wireless personal area network (WPAN) (e.g., Bluetooth, ZigBee, or other technologies that follow the IEEE 802.15 standards), and a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) (e.g., the U.S. Global Positioning System (GPS), the E.U. Galileo positioning system, the Russian Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS), the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System, the Chinese BeiDou Navigation Satellite System, or other systems). The satellite device may include a wireless communication transceiver, disposed within the satellite device body, to receive and transmit communications from a hub device. The satellite device may utilize a high-bandwidth wireless protocol (e.g., WiGig), along with Bluetooth Low Energy (Bluetooth LE) and/or Wi-Fi Direct, to stream video, audio, data, and other content from a hub device.
Instead of trying to maximize screen size on a wearable electronic hub device carrying the most important, expensive, and personal aspects of computing, wearable smart devices may be paired with interchangeable satellite devices, such as dummy screen devices The satellite device may have basic connectivity (e.g., WiGig, Bluetooth LE, and/or Wi-Fi Direct) to wirelessly connect with a hub device, display output from the hub device, and transmit user input back to the hub device.
In some embodiments, a wearable electronic hub device and a satellite device comprise low power consumption wireless communication mechanisms, such as Bluetooth LE. Bluetooth LE provides a lightweight link layer capable of providing ultra-low power idle mode operation, simple device discovery, and reliable point-to-multipoint data transfer with advanced power-save and secure encrypted connections. A device may remain in sleep mode most of the time, only waking up when it receives a connection request through the Bluetooth LE mechanism, thus keeping power consumption to a minimum.
A wearable electronic hub device may send, via a wireless transceiver, a connection request to a satellite device. Thereafter, the hub device may receive, via the wireless transceiver, a connection approval from the satellite device in response to the connection request. Now paired or tethered to the satellite device, the hub device then may send, via the wireless transceiver, data content to output (e.g., display) on the satellite device and receive, via the wireless transceiver, data content input collected by the satellite device. Alternatively, a wearable electronic hub device may receive, via a wireless transceiver, a connection request from a satellite device. Thereafter, the hub device may send, via the wireless transceiver, a connection approval to the satellite device in response to the connection request. Now paired or tethered to the satellite device, the hub device then may send and receive, via the wireless transceiver, data content.
In some embodiments, a wearable electronic hub device automatically pairs or tethers to a satellite device based at least on the proximity of the satellite device and/or satellite device recognition.
A wearable electronic hub device may recognize and be paired or tethered with only one satellite device, one satellite device at a time, or more than one satellite device, concurrently or in sequence.
In some embodiments, a user of a wearable electronic hub device may access a screen to confirm, adjust, and/or change settings of a particular communication mechanism and/or to view the devices that are tethered through a particular communication mechanism. In addition, a user may enable or disable a communication mechanism (e.g., Bluetooth LE) using, for example, a toggle control. Similarly, a user may enable or disable an auto-connect mode employing, for example, another toggle control. When an auto-connect setting is enabled, a wearable electronic hub device may automatically connect to one or more known devices within a proximity of the hub device. Moreover, a user of a wearable electronic hub device may view the satellite device(s) to which a wearable electronic hub device is tethered. For example, a wearable electronic hub device may be simultaneously wirelessly tethered via Bluetooth LE to a pocket-sized dummy screen device and also to a wireless multimedia interface apparatus for streaming to a television.
In some embodiments, a motion pattern like “knock-knock” or another motion pattern instead may indicate a tethering request when a communication request is received at a wearable electronic hub device. For example, a user wearing the hub device around his or her wrist may receive a phone call at the hub device (notified by, e.g., a beep, vibration, etc.). The user may raise the device by raising his or her wrist to scratch behind his or her ear, and thereby trigger a command for a wearable electronic hub device to answer the phone call, etc. A variety of different motion patterns may be used for motion control of the hub device including, but not limited to, waving, scratching, knocking, and tapping (one or more fingers). In one implementation, a user may define a motion pattern for a designated command via a user interface component, for example, defining “knock-knock” as a tethering request for nearby display device, “scratching” as answering an incoming call, “waving” as moving the mouse on a tethered display device, etc.
In some embodiments, as shown in
In some embodiments, the hub device 2400 may instantiate a device query on a communication stack within communication range of the hub device 2400. Thereafter, a wearable electronic hub device 2400 may receive an indication of a first satellite device 2404 and a second satellite device 2406 within the communication stack. Furthermore, a wearable electronic hub device may send a first connection request to the first satellite device 2404 and thereafter it may receive a first connection approval from the first satellite device 2402 in response to the first connection request.
In some embodiments, the hub device 2400 may receive from the motion sensor, an indication of a second motion pattern 2408. The hub device 2400 may determine that the second motion pattern 2408 indicates a second tethering request. The hub device 2400 may send a second connection request to the second satellite device 2406 and thereafter it may receive a second connection approval from the second satellite device 2404 in response to the second connection request.
A user may configure a wearable electronic hub device to program and customize a motion pattern, via a touch screen UI tethered with a wearable electronic hub device. For example, a user may program and customize a new motion pattern and/or override a preset motion pattern.
In some embodiments, a user may provide a name to identify a motion pattern corresponding to a preset motion pattern, for example, a bump or a motion pattern previously recorded by the user. A user may also configure the number of repetitions of the specified motion pattern that will have to be performed before an action is executed. Similarly, the actions that may be executed after a motion pattern has been detected by a wearable electronic hub device may be specified. For example, the exchange of social profile information, start audio recording, start movement recordings and the like actions. Additionally, a user may want to be notified after the action or actions have been completed.
In some embodiments, a wearable electronic hub device may be charged wirelessly, using for example, inductive charging or resonant inductive charging. Inductive charging relies on an electromagnetic field to transfer energy between two objects.
Since the hub device 2500 is intended to maximize mobility, only the satellite device 2502 may include a portal for charging 2504 (e.g., Aux-USB) in some embodiments. The satellite device 2502 also may include a first induction coil to create an alternating electromagnetic field. Meanwhile, the hub device 2500 may include a second induction coil to take power from the electromagnetic field and convert it back into electrical current to charge the battery. The two induction coils in proximity combine to form an electrical transformer.
Greater distances between sender and receiver coils can be achieved when the inductive charging system uses resonant inductive coupling to wirelessly transmit energy between two magnetically coupled coils that are part of resonant circuits tuned to resonate at the same frequency. According to some embodiments, a wearable electronic hub device includes a magnetic resonator to receive a flow of power from a magnetic near field induced by a source resonator. A source resonator may be coupled with and/or embedded in a close-range satellite device in order to charge the hub device's battery by magnetic resonant power transfer. In this way, a wearable electronic hub device may take advantage of a close-range satellite device, which is preferably equipped with a larger battery, to charge its battery.
In some embodiments, a charging mode recognition component comprised by a wearable electronic hub device may determine which device or devices may be powered or charged at a given time when a hub device is electrically and/or magnetically attached to a satellite device. When one of the attached devices emits a charging indication or request, the charging mode recognition component may determine if a wearable electronic hub device is connected to a power outlet or any other external power source. In some embodiments, when a wearable electronic hub device is not connected to a power outlet or any other external power source then the hub device may charge power from the power source comprised by the satellite device. Alternatively, if a wearable electronic hub device is connected to a power outlet or any other external power source, then the hub device may charge the power source comprised by the display device. Furthermore, the charging mode recognition component may notify the user of the hub device of the current charging mode and device or devices charging statuses.
While various inventive embodiments have been described and illustrated herein, those of ordinary skill in the art will readily envision a variety of other means and/or structures for performing the function and/or obtaining the results and/or one or more of the advantages described herein, and each of such variations and/or modifications is deemed to be within the scope of the inventive embodiments described herein. More generally, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that all parameters, dimensions, materials, and configurations described herein are meant to be exemplary and that the actual parameters, dimensions, materials, and/or configurations will depend upon the specific application or applications for which the inventive teachings is/are used. Those skilled in the art will recognize, or be able to ascertain using no more than routine experimentation, many equivalents to the specific inventive embodiments described herein. It is, therefore, to be understood that the foregoing embodiments are presented by way of example only and that, within the scope of the appended claims and equivalents thereto, inventive embodiments may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described and claimed. Inventive embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to each individual feature, system, article, material, kit, and/or method described herein. In addition, any combination of two or more such features, systems, articles, materials, kits, and/or methods, if such features, systems, articles, materials, kits, and/or methods are not mutually inconsistent, is included within the inventive scope of the present disclosure.
The above-described embodiments can be implemented in any of numerous ways. For example, embodiments of disclosed herein may be implemented using hardware, software or a combination thereof. When implemented in software, the software code can be executed on any suitable processor or collection of processors, whether provided in a single computer or distributed among multiple computers.
Further, it should be appreciated that a computer may be embodied in any of a number of forms, such as a rack-mounted computer, a desktop computer, a laptop computer, or a tablet computer. Additionally, a computer may be embedded in a device not generally regarded as a computer but with suitable processing capabilities, including a Personal Digital assistant (PDA), a smart phone or any other suitable portable or fixed electronic device.
Also, a computer may have one or more input and output devices. These devices can be used, among other things, to present a user interface. Examples of output devices that can be used to provide a user interface include printers or display screens for visual presentation of output and speakers or other sound generating devices for audible presentation of output. Examples of input devices that can be used for a user interface include keyboards, and pointing devices, such as mice, touch pads, and digitizing tablets. As another example, a computer may receive input information through speech recognition or in other audible format.
Such computers may be interconnected by one or more networks in any suitable form, including a local area network or a wide area network, such as an enterprise network, and intelligent network (IN) or the Internet. Such networks may be based on any suitable technology and may operate according to any suitable protocol and may include wireless networks, wired networks or fiber optic networks.
The various methods or processes outlined herein may be coded as software that is executable on one or more processors that employ any one of a variety of operating systems or platforms. Additionally, such software may be written using any of a number of suitable programming languages and/or programming or scripting tools, and also may be compiled as executable machine language code or intermediate code that is executed on a framework or virtual machine.
Also, various inventive concepts may be embodied as one or more methods, of which an example has been provided. The acts performed as part of the method may be ordered in any suitable way. Accordingly, embodiments may be constructed in which acts are performed in an order different than illustrated, which may include performing some acts simultaneously, even though shown as sequential acts in illustrative embodiments.
All publications, patent applications, patents, and other references mentioned herein are incorporated by reference in their entirety.
All definitions, as defined and used herein, should be understood to control over dictionary definitions, definitions in documents incorporated by reference, and/or ordinary meanings of the defined terms.
The indefinite articles “a” and “an,” as used herein in the specification and in the claims, unless clearly indicated to the contrary, should be understood to mean “at least one.”
The phrase “and/or,” as used herein in the specification and in the claims, should be understood to mean “either or both” of the elements so conjoined, i.e., elements that are conjunctively present in some cases and disjunctively present in other cases. Multiple elements listed with “and/or” should be construed in the same fashion, i.e., “one or more” of the elements so conjoined. Other elements may optionally be present other than the elements specifically identified by the “and/or” clause, whether related or unrelated to those elements specifically identified. Thus, as a non-limiting example, a reference to “A and/or B”, when used in conjunction with open-ended language such as “comprising” can refer, In some embodiments, to a only (optionally including elements other than B); in another embodiment, to B only (optionally including elements other than a); in yet another embodiment, to both a and B (optionally including other elements); etc.
As used herein in the specification and in the claims, “or” should be understood to have the same meaning as “and/or” as defined above. For example, when separating items in a list, “or” or “and/or” shall be interpreted as being inclusive, i.e., the inclusion of at least one, but also including more than one, of a number or list of elements, and, optionally, additional unlisted items. Only terms clearly indicated to the contrary, such as “only one of” or “exactly one of,” or, when used in the claims, “consisting of,” will refer to the inclusion of exactly one element of a number or list of elements. In general, the term “or” as used herein shall only be interpreted as indicating exclusive alternatives (i.e. “one or the other but not both”) when preceded by terms of exclusivity, such as “either,” “one of,” “only one of,” or “exactly one of.” “Consisting essentially of,” when used in the claims, shall have its ordinary meaning as used in the field of patent law.
As used herein in the specification and in the claims, the phrase “at least one,” in reference to a list of one or more elements, should be understood to mean at least one element selected from any one or more of the elements in the list of elements, but not necessarily including at least one of each and every element specifically listed within the list of elements and not excluding any combinations of elements in the list of elements. This definition also allows that elements may optionally be present other than the elements specifically identified within the list of elements to which the phrase “at least one” refers, whether related or unrelated to those elements specifically identified. Thus, as a non-limiting example, “at least one of a and B” (or, equivalently, “at least one of a or B,” or, equivalently “at least one of a and/or B”) can refer, In some embodiments, to at least one, optionally including more than one, a, with no B present (and optionally including elements other than B); in another embodiment, to at least one, optionally including more than one, B, with no a present (and optionally including elements other than a); in yet another embodiment, to at least one, optionally including more than one, a, and at least one, optionally including more than one, B (and optionally including other elements); etc.
In the claims, as well as in the specification above, all transitional phrases such as “comprising,” “including,” “carrying,” “having,” “containing,” “involving,” “holding,” “composed of,” and the like are to be understood to be open-ended, i.e., to mean including but not limited to. Only the transitional phrases “consisting of” and “consisting essentially of” shall be closed or semi-closed transitional phrases, respectively, as set forth in the United States Patent Office Manual of Patent Examining Procedures, Section 2111.03.
The present application claims a priority benefit to U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 61/985,393, entitled “Intelligent Wearable Data Processing and Control Platform apparatuses, Methods and Systems,” filed on Apr. 28, 2014. The present application also claims a priority benefit to U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 61/985,929, entitled “Client Component Integrated Portal apparatuses, Methods and Systems,” filed on Apr. 29, 2014. The present application also claims a priority benefit to U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 62/015,144, entitled “Wearable Device Based Social Connection Platform apparatuses, Methods and Systems,” filed on Jun. 20, 2014. The present application also claims a priority benefit to U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 62/103,548, entitled “Wearable Data Processing and Control Platform Methods and Systems,” filed on Jan. 14, 2015.
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
PCT/IB2015/001471 | 4/28/2015 | WO | 00 |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
61985929 | Apr 2014 | US | |
62103548 | Jan 2015 | US | |
62015144 | Jun 2014 | US | |
61985393 | Apr 2014 | US |