Method of selecting an external electronic device connected with an electronic device and electronic device using same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10278042-B2
Application number	US-201715592848-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 11, 2017
Priority date	Apr 11, 2014
Publication date	Apr 30, 2019
Grant date	Apr 30, 2019

Abstract

A method of selecting an external electronic device connected with an electronic device is provided. The method determining, among the plurality of external electronic devices, at least one external electronic device connected with the electronic device, transmitting signals to the at least one external electronic device, receiving data corresponding to the signals from the at least one external electronic device, selecting one of the at least one external electronic device based on the received data and transmitting an operation execution signal for the data to the selected external electronic device. A method of selecting an external electronic device connected with electronic device is provided. The method includes receiving a signal from the electronic device, transmitting data corresponding to the signal to the electronic device, receiving an operation execution signal for the data from the electronic device and performing at least one of various operations according to the operation execution signal.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of selecting an external electronic device connected with an electronic device, the method comprising:
determining, among a plurality of external electronic devices, external electronic devices connected with the electronic device;
determining, among the external electronic devices connected with the electronic device, external electronic devices not being worn; and
transmitting an operation execution signal to other external electronic devices except for the external electronic devices not being worn among the external electronic devices connected with the electronic device.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the determining of the external electronic devices comprises:
determining whether the external electronic devices connected with the electronic device are capable of outputting data on types of signals to be transmitted; and
determining, among the external electronic devices capable of outputting the data, the external electronic devices not being worn.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the transmitting the operation execution signal comprises:
determining whether other external electronic devices being worn are capable of outputting data on types of signals to be transmitted; and
transmitting, among other electronic devices being worn, the operation execution signal to electronic devices capable of outputting the data.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining whether the external electronic devices connected with the electronic device use a same account as that of the electronic device.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the transmitting of the operation execution signal comprises:
receiving sensor values of the other electronic devices except for the external electronic devices not being worn;
selecting an external electronic device having a smallest sensor value among the received sensor values; and
transmitting the operation execution signal to the selected external electronic device.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the transmitting of the operation execution signal comprises:
selecting an external electronic device that can output data corresponding to types of signals to be transmitted among the other external electronic devices except for the external electronic devices not being worn; and
transmitting the operation execution signal to the selected external electronic device.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
performing an operation corresponding to data received from the other external electronic devices according to the transmitted operation execution signal.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the performing comprises:
performing an operation corresponding to an average value of the data received from the other external electronic devices.

9. An electronic device comprising:
a transceiver configured to communicate with a plurality of external electronic devices;
a display; and
at least one processor configured to:
determine, among the plurality of external electronic devices, external electronic devices connected with the electronic device,
determine, among the external electronic devices connected with the electronic device, external electronic devices not being worn, and
transmit an operation execution signal to other external electronic devices except for the external electronic devices not being worn among the external electronic devices connected with the electronic device.

10. The electronic device of claim 9 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:
determine whether the external electronic devices connected with the electronic device are capable of outputting data on types of signals to be transmitted, and
determine, among the external electronic devices capable of outputting the data, external electronic devices not being worn.

11. The electronic device of claim 9 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:
determine whether other external electronic devices being worn are capable of outputting data on types of signals to be transmitted; and
transmit, among the other external electronic devices being worn, the operation execution signal to the external electronic devices capable of outputting the data.

12. The electronic device of claim 9 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:
determine whether the external electronic devices connected with the electronic device use a same account as that of the electronic device.

13. The electronic device of claim 9 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:
receive sensor values of the other external electronic devices except for the external electronic devices not being worn,
select an external electronic device having a smallest sensor value among the received sensor values, and
transmit the operation execution signal to the selected external electronic device.

14. The electronic device of claim 9 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:
select an external electronic device that can output data corresponding to types of signals to be transmitted among the other external electronic devices except for the external electronic devices not being worn, and
transmit the operation execution signal to the selected external electronic device.

15. The electronic device of claim 9 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to perform an operation according to data received from the other external electronic devices according to the transmitted operation execution signal.

16. The electronic device of claim 15 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to perform an operation corresponding to averaging a value of the data received from the other external electronic devices.

17. A method in an external electronic device connected with an electronic device, the method comprising:
determining whether the external electronic device is being worn or not being worn;
receiving an operation execution signal from the electronic device; and
performing at least one of various operations according to the operation execution signal,
wherein the external electronic device is determined as being worn.

18. The method of claim 17 , further comprising:
receiving a signal from the external electronic device;
transmitting data corresponding to a type of the signal to other external electronic devices; and
selecting one of the other external electronic devices based on the received data, excluding external electronic devices not being worn.

19. The method of claim 18 , wherein the transmitting of the data comprises transmitting the data to other external electronic devices being worn among other external electronic devices capable of outputting data on types of the signals.

20. The method of claim 18 , wherein the transmitting of the data comprises transmitting the data to other external electronic devices capable of outputting data on types of the signals among other external electronic devices being worn.

21. The method of claim 18 , wherein the transmitting of the data comprises:
selecting the one of the other external electronic devices using a same account as that of the electronic device from the other external electronic devices, excluding the external electronic devices that are not worn; and
transmitting the signal to the other external electronic devices that can output data for the type of the signal among remaining external electronic devices of the other external electronic devices.

Assignees

• Samsung Electronics Co Ltd

Inventors

• Won Sungjoon
• Powderly James

Classifications

• G06F1/163

  Wearable computers, e.g. on a belt · 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

• H04W8/22

  Processing or transfer of terminal data, e.g. status or physical capabilities · CPC title

• H04W76/14

  Direct-mode setup · CPC title

• H04B1/385

  Transceivers carried on the body, e.g. in helmets · CPC title