Systems and techniques for intelligently switching between multiple sources of universal serial bus signals

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10353842-B2
Application number	US-201715833830-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 6, 2017
Priority date	Feb 26, 2016
Publication date	Jul 16, 2019
Grant date	Jul 16, 2019

Abstract

Various embodiments concern techniques for intelligently switching between multiple sources of USB signals. More specifically, user devices are described that include a physical USB port for receiving a USB connector and one or more wireless transceivers that communicate with an accessory. The wireless transceiver(s) may communicate with the accessory using a USB-based protocol (e.g., Wireless USB). The user devices described herein can intelligently switch between these different sources of USB signals so that USB signals can be simultaneously or sequentially received from a peripheral (via the USB port) and an accessory (via the wireless transceiver(s)). In some embodiments, a switching routine is executed (e.g., by a processor or signal switch) that determines which peripheral and/or accessory is connected to a user device at a given point in time.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A computer-implemented method for switching between multiple sources of Universal Serial Bus (USB) signals, the method comprising:
examining
whether a USB connector is physically coupled to a USB port of an electronic device by determining whether a power signal is presently being received at a first electrical contact within the USB port, and
whether an accessory is wirelessly coupled to a wireless transceiver of the electronic device by determining whether a physical connection is presently being maintained between a second electrical contact accessible through a housing of the electronic device and a third electrical contact accessible through a housing of the accessory;

processing a first USB signal received at a first source,
wherein the first source is the USB port or the wireless transceiver;

determining that a second USB signal has been received at a second source,
wherein the second source is whichever of the USB port and the wireless transceiver is not the first source; and

executing a switching routine that enables the electronic device to sequentially receive the first and second USB signals at the first and second sources.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein said examining comprises:
querying whether a first data packet has been received at the USB port that includes a field indicative of a USB format; and
querying whether a second data packet has been received at the wireless transceiver that includes the field indicative of the USB format.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the first and second USB signals include a header, a payload, and a trailer.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 3 , wherein the switching routine prompts a switch based on content included in the header, the payload, or the trailer of the first or second data packet.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the switching routine is accomplished using a state machine that transitions between the first source and the second source in response to a determination that a triggering event has occurred.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 5 , wherein the triggering event is reception of a USB signal at the first or second source.

7. A non-transitory computer-readable medium with instructions stored thereon that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:
monitoring
whether a Universal Serial Bus (USB) connector is physically coupled to a USB port of an electronic device by determining whether a power signal is presently being received at a first electrical contact within the USB port, and
whether an accessory is wirelessly coupled to a wireless transceiver of the electronic device by determining whether a physical connection is presently being maintained between a second electrical contact accessible through a housing of the electronic device and a third electrical contact accessible through a housing of the accessory; and

executing a switching routine that enables the electronic device to sequentially process USB signals at the USB port and the wireless transceiver.

8. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 7 , wherein the operations further comprise:
process a first USB signal received at a first source,
wherein the first source is the USB port or the wireless transceiver;

determine that a second USB signal has been received at a second source,
wherein the second source is whichever of the USB port and the wireless transceiver is not the first source; and

process the second USB signal.

9. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 7 , wherein the operations further comprise:
intelligently switch between the USB port and the wireless transceiver to receive the USB signals in real time.

10. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 7 , wherein the operations further comprise:
generate an interface that enables an individual to override the switching routine by manually specifying a particular source;
receive user input at the interface indicative of a request to process a USB signal received from the particular source; and
process the USB signal received from the particular source.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 7 , wherein the USB port is a USB Type-C port capable of bi-directional data transfer.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11 , wherein the USB port is capable of interfacing with USB 3.0-compliant components and USB 2.0-compliant components.

13. An electronic device comprising:
a housing that includes
a wireless accessory bus for receiving an accessory, and
a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port for receiving a USB connector;

a wireless transceiver operable to communicate with the accessory via a Wireless USB communication link;
a signal switch operable to simultaneously or sequentially receive USB signals at the USB port and the wireless transceiver; and
a processor configured to
query whether the USB connector is coupled to the USB port by determining whether a power signal is presently being received at a first electrical contact within the USB port, and
query whether the accessory is coupled to the wireless transceiver by determining whether a physical connection is presently being maintained between a second electrical contact accessible through the housing of the electronic device and a third electrical contact accessible through a housing of the accessory.

14. The electronic device of claim 13 , wherein the USB port is a USB Type-C port capable of bi-directional data transfer and bi-directional power transfer.

15. The electronic device of claim 13 , wherein the USB port is capable of outputting, via a digital-to-analog (DAC) converter, an audio signal.

16. The electronic device of claim 13 , wherein the USB connector is part of a peripheral device or a cable.

17. The electronic device of claim 13 , further comprising:
a power source configured to
receive, via the first electrical contact, power from the USB connector, and
transfer, via the second electrical contact, power to the accessory.

18. The electronic device of claim 17 , wherein the power source is a lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery, a nickel-metal hydride (NiMH) battery, or a nickel-cadmium (NiCad) battery.

19. The electronic device of claim 13 , wherein the signal switch is an integrated circuit or a software module.

Assignees

• Essential Products Inc

Inventors

• Gagne-Keats Jason Sean
• Rubin Andrew E
• Evans V David John
• Hershenson Matthew
• Miao Xiaoyu
• Jiang Xinrui
• Tate Joseph Anthony

Classifications

• H04M1/72412

  using two-way short-range wireless interfaces · CPC title

• H04M1/72409

  by interfacing with external accessories (hands-free H04M1/60) · CPC title

• H04M1/0274

  for an electrical connector module · CPC title

• G06F13/4282

  on a serial bus, e.g. I2C bus, SPI bus (on daisy chain buses G06F13/4247) · CPC title

• H04M1/72527

  Electricity · mapped topic