Method for connecting a network receiver with one or more devices while minimizing power usage

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10219219-B2
Application number	US-201715603068-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 23, 2017
Priority date	Jan 20, 2017
Publication date	Feb 26, 2019
Grant date	Feb 26, 2019

Abstract

The disclosure generally relates to identifying a Bluetooth Low Energy (BTLE) enabled Wi-Fi network receiver and automatically connecting to the BTLE-enabled network receiver via a Wi-Fi signal without using a Wi-Fi scanning operation. In some aspects, an initial connection may be established between the network receiver and a BTLE-enabled device during which the Wi-Fi scanning operation of the device is disabled. Thereafter, the device may automatically detect the BTLE-enabled network receiver via BTLE signal and automatically connect to the network receiving using a Wi-Fi signal without using the Wi-Fi scanning operation. In this way, the battery life of the device may be conserved by disabling the Wi-Fi scanning operation. Although the electronic device may be within the Wi-Fi range of the network receiver, the device may not search for or connect to the network receiver if it is outside of the BTLE range of the network receiver.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of connecting a device to a network receiver using Bluetooth Low Energy (BTLE) comprising:
preconfiguring the device to pair with the network receiver via a Bluetooth protocol, wherein the preconfigured pairing comprises storing exchanged data for future auto-connection between the device and the network receiver;
in response to preconfiguring the device to pair with the network receiver, automatically disabling a Wi-Fi scanning operation of the device;
while the Wi-Fi scanning operation is disabled and based on the preconfigured pairing, automatically connecting to the network receiver via the Bluetooth protocol; and
establishing a Wi-Fi connection between the device and the network receiver.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
when the device is within a geographic range of the BTLE signal, automatically establishing the Wi-Fi connection between the device and the network receiver.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the device comprises one of: a portable device, a tablet, a laptop computer, a desktop computer, and a gaming console.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the network receiver comprises one of: a wireless router, an Ethernet router, a network adapter, a router/modem combination device, a Miracast device, a Chromecast device, a wireless dock, and an AirPlay device.

5. The method of claim 2 , wherein the geographic range for pairing the device to the BTLE signal can be adjusted.

6. The method of claim 2 , wherein the Wi-Fi connection between the device and the network receiver is maintained when the device exceeds the geographic range of the BTLE signal.

7. The method of claim 2 , wherein the Wi-Fi connection between the device and the network receiver is terminated when the device exceeds the geographic range of the BTLE signal.

8. The method of claim 2 , wherein terminating the Wi-Fi connection between the device and the network receiver occurs while the device is within a range of a Wi-Fi signal of the network receiver and outside the geographic range of the BTLE signal of the network receiver.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein multiple devices connect to the network receiver.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein at least one of the multiple devices pairs with the network receiver using the BTLE signal.

11. The method of claim 9 , wherein at least one of the multiple devices connects to the network receiver using a Wi-Fi signal.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the BTLE signal of the network receiver is disabled, further comprising:
connecting to the network receiver via a Wi-Fi signal using a Wi-Fi scanning operation.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein a BTLE capability of the device is disabled, further comprising:
connecting to the network receiver via a Wi-Fi signal using a Wi-Fi scanning operation.

14. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving a selection to enable the Wi-Fi scanning operation of the device.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein automatically establishing the Wi-Fi connection between the device and the network receiver further comprises first establishing a BTLE connection between the device and the network receiver.

16. A device for connecting to an auto-connect capable network receiver using a low energy signal comprising:
at least one processing unit; and
at least one memory encoding computer executable instructions that, when executed by the at least one processing unit, cause the at least one processing unit to perform a method comprising:
preconfiguring the device to pair with a network receiver via the low energy signal, wherein the low energy signal of the network receiver is associated with a geographic range, and wherein the preconfigured pairing comprises storing exchanged data for future auto-connection between the device and the network receiver;
in response to preconfiguring the device to pair with the network receiver, automatically disabling a Wi-Fi scanning operation of the device;
while the Wi-Fi scanning operation is disabled and based on the preconfigured pairing, automatically connecting to the network receiver via the low energy signal; and
establishing a Wi-Fi connection between the device and the network receiver.

17. The system of claim 16 , wherein the device comprises a stored list of at least one Bluetooth-compatible paired device.

18. The system of claim 16 , further comprising:
maintaining the Wi-Fi connection between the device and the network receiver when the device exceeds the geographic range of the low energy signal of the network receiver.

19. A computer storage device encoding computer executable instructions that when executed by at least one processor, perform a method comprising:
preconfiguring a device to pair with a network receiver via a low energy signal, wherein the low energy signal of the network receiver is associated with a geographic range, and wherein the preconfigured pairing comprises storing exchanged data for future auto-connection between the device and the network receiver;
in response to preconfiguring the device to pair with the network receiver, automatically disabling a Wi-Fi scanning operation of the device;
while the Wi-Fi scanning operation is disabled and based on the preconfigured pairing, automatically connecting to the network receiver via the low energy signal; and
establishing a Wi-Fi connection between the device and the network receiver.

20. The system of claim 16 , further comprising:
terminating the Wi-Fi connection between the device and the network receiver when the device exceeds the geographic range of the low energy signal.

Assignees

• Microsoft Technology Licensing Llc

Inventors

• Baron Andrew
• Mhatre Vishal
• Nusca Gianluigi
• Cunningham Andrew
• Durak Matthew

Classifications

• H04L67/303

  Terminal profiles · CPC title

• H04W52/0229 Primary

  where the received signal is a wanted signal · CPC title

• H04W48/18

  Selecting a network or a communication service · CPC title

• H04W48/16

  Discovering, processing access restriction or access information · CPC title

• H04W4/80

  Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication · CPC title