Methods and systems for managing inter device connectivity

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2017311368-A1
Application number	US-201715496661-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Apr 25, 2017
Priority date	Apr 25, 2016
Publication date	Oct 26, 2017
Grant date	—

Abstract

A method for managing device connectivity between a plurality of secondary devices by a primary device, including acquiring history information from at least one secondary device of the plurality of secondary devices, the history information including information relating to a current connection and at least one previous connection among the plurality of secondary devices, identifying a plurality of connection states between the plurality of secondary devices based on the history information, displaying the plurality of secondary devices and the plurality of connection states between the plurality of secondary devices, and in response to receiving an input for two secondary devices of the displayed plurality of secondary devices, changing a connection status between the two secondary devices.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method for managing device connectivity between a plurality of secondary devices by a primary device, the method comprising:
acquiring history information from at least one secondary device of the plurality of secondary devices, the history information including information relating to a current connection and at least one previous connection among the plurality of secondary devices; identifying a plurality of connection states between the plurality of secondary devices based on the history information; displaying the plurality of secondary devices and the plurality of connection states between the plurality of secondary devices; and in response to receiving an input for two secondary devices of the displayed plurality of secondary devices, changing a connection status between the two secondary devices.

2 . The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the acquiring of the history information comprises:
receiving advertised packets from the at least one secondary device periodically; determining that additional data is available from the at least one secondary device; establishing a connection between the primary device and the at least one secondary device; receiving the additional data from the at least one secondary device; and acquiring the history information from the additional data.

3 . The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the acquiring of the history information comprises:
receiving advertised packets including the history information from the at least one secondary device periodically; and storing the history information, when the advertised packets are received.

4 . The method as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising:
identifying whether the primary device has an authority to control connections corresponding to each of the plurality of secondary devices, wherein the displaying of the plurality of secondary devices comprises displaying a secondary device for which the primary device has the authority.

5 . The method as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising:
identifying a plurality of priority levels corresponding to the plurality of secondary devices in relation to the at least one secondary device, wherein the displaying of the plurality of secondary devices comprises classifying the plurality of secondary devices according to the plurality of priority levels, and displaying the plurality of secondary devices according to the plurality of priority levels.

6 . The method as claimed in claim 5 , wherein the plurality of priority levels are determined based on at least one from among hop count, ownership of the plurality of secondary devices, access points corresponding to the plurality of secondary devices, locations of the plurality of secondary devices, accessibility of the primary device, and number of previous connections.

7 . The method as claimed in claim 5 , wherein the two secondary devices comprise a first secondary device and a second secondary device, and
if the first secondary device is connected with a third secondary device of the plurality of secondary devices and the third secondary device has a same priority level as the second secondary device, the changing of the connection status comprises:
disestablishing a connection between the first secondary device and the third secondary device, and
establishing a connection between the two secondary devices.

8 . The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the changing the connection status comprises:
identifying a service available from the two secondary devices; and changing the connection status between the two secondary devices based on the service.

9 . The method as claimed in claim 8 , further comprising:
displaying a list of services, the list including the service; and changing the connection between the two secondary devices based on the service selected from the list.

10 . The method as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising:
updating the displayed plurality of connection states when the connection status of the two secondary devices is changed.

11 . An electronic device comprises:
a display; a transceiver; and a processor configured to:
acquire history information from at least one secondary device of the plurality of secondary devices, the history information including information relating to a current connection and at least one previous connection among the plurality of secondary devices;
identify a plurality of connection states between the plurality of secondary devices based on the history information;
control the display to display the plurality of secondary devices and the plurality of connection states plurality of between the secondary devices; and
in response to receiving an input for two secondary devices of the displayed plurality of secondary devices, control to change a connection status between the two secondary devices.

12 . The electronic device as claimed in claim 11 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
receive advertised packets from the at least one secondary device periodically by the transceiver; determine that additional data is available from the at least one secondary device; establish a connection between the electronic device and the at least one secondary device; receive the additional data from the at least one secondary device by the transceiver; and acquire the history information from the additional data.

13 . The electronic device as claimed in claim 11 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
identify whether the electronic device has an authority to control connections corresponding to each of the plurality of secondary devices, and control the display to display a secondary device for which the electronic device has the authority.

14 . The electronic device as claimed in claim 11 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
identify a plurality of priority levels corresponding to the plurality of secondary devices in relation to the at least one secondary device; classify the plurality of secondary devices according to the plurality of priority levels; and control the display to display the plurality of secondary devices according to the plurality of priority levels.

15 . The electronic device as claimed in claim 14 , wherein the plurality of priority levels are determined based on at least one from among hop count, ownership of the plurality of secondary devices, access points corresponding to the plurality of secondary devices, locations of the plurality of secondary devices, accessibility of the primary device, and number of previous connections.

16 . The electronic device as claimed in claim 14 , wherein the two secondary devices comprise a first secondary device and a second secondary device, and
if the first secondary device is connected with a third secondary device of the plurality of secondary devices and the third secondary device has a same priority level as the second secondary device, the processor is further configured to:
control to disestablish a connection between the first secondary device and the third secondary device, and
establish a connection between the two secondary devices.

17 . The electronic device as claimed in claim 11 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
identify a service available from the two secondary devices; and change the connection status between the two secondary devices based on the service.

18 . The electronic device as claimed in claim 11 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
control the display to disp

Assignees

• Samsung Electronics Co Ltd

Inventors

• Kandur Raja Barath Raj
• Kumar Arjun Raj
• Thangadorai Kavin Kumar
• Murugesan Kumar

Classifications

• H04L41/22 Primary

  comprising specially adapted graphical user interfaces [GUI] · CPC title

• H04W76/14

  Direct-mode setup · CPC title

• H04L12/28

  characterised by path configuration, e.g. LAN [Local Area Networks] or WAN [Wide Area Networks] (wireless communication networks H04W {; arrangements for dividing the transmission path H04W40/00}) · 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

• H04L41/0859

  by keeping history of different configuration generations or by rolling back to previous configuration versions · CPC title