Communication method and device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9769686-B2
Application number	US-201414277868-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 15, 2014
Priority date	May 16, 2013
Publication date	Sep 19, 2017
Grant date	Sep 19, 2017

Abstract

A communication method used by a first device that communicates with a second device is provided. The method includes detecting an occurrence of a predetermined event related to a device scan, scanning the second device that provides identifier information and capability information, establishing a first communication link with the scanned second device by using a first communication method, determining a second communication method for communicating data with the second device via the first communication link, and establishing a second communication link with the second device by using the determined second communication method.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A communication method used by a first device that communicates with a second device, the method comprising:
detecting an occurrence of a predetermined event related to a device scan;
scanning the second device that provides identifier information and capability information through a plurality of communication methods based on the occurrence of the predetermined event;
establishing a first communication link with the scanned second device by using a first communication method from among the plurality of communication methods;
determining a second communication method for communicating data with the second device via the first communication link; and
establishing a second communication link with the second device by using the determined second communication method.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the detecting of the occurrence of the predetermined event comprises:
detecting at least one of an event of unlocking a lock screen, an event of executing a preset application, and an event of selecting a preset button.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein, in the detecting of the occurrence of the predetermined event, the predetermined event is detected based on at least one of magnetic field information obtained through a magnetic sensor, color information obtained through a Red, Green, Blue (RGB) sensor, and sound information obtained through a microphone.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the detecting of the second device comprises:
switching a communication unit in an inactive state to an active state based on the occurrence of the predetermined event; and
receiving from the second device the identifier information and the capability information through the communication unit that is switched to the active state.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the detecting of the second device comprises:
switching a plurality of communication units in an inactive state to an active state based on the occurrence of the predetermined event; and
receiving from the second device the identifier information and the capability information through the plurality of communication units that are switched to the active state.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the establishing of the first communication link comprises:
determining the first communication method from among the plurality of communication methods based on at least one of power consumption amount information and latency information; and
transmitting at least one of the identifier information, the capability information, and information about a preferred communication method to the second device through the determined first communication method.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the determining of the second communication method comprises:
selecting the second communication method based on the capability information received from the second device; and
transmitting a connection request or a negotiation request regarding the selected second communication method to the second device via the first communication link.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the selecting of the second communication method comprises:
receiving from the second device at least one of information about a state of the second device and information about a preferred communication method; and
selecting the second communication method by considering at least one of the information about a state of the second device and the information about a preferred communication method.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
transmitting data to the second device via the second communication link; and
determining at least one of whether to terminate the second communication link, and whether to maintain the first communication link, when the data transmission is completed.

10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:
receiving a request for establishing the terminated second communication link from the second device via the first communication link; and
reestablishing the second communication link in response to the request.

11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
detecting an occurrence of an error in the second communication link; and
re-determining the second communication method for communicating data with the second device via the first communication link.

12. The method of claim 1 ,
wherein the plurality of communication methods comprise at least two of a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) communication method, an ANT+ communication method, a Near Field Communication (NFC) method, a sound communication method, a ZigBee communication method, a two-dimensional barcode method, and a touch code communication method,
wherein the first communication method comprises at least one of the BLE communication method, the ANT+ communication method, the NFC method, the sound communication method, and the ZigBee communication method, and
wherein the second communication method comprises at least one of a Bluetooth communication method, a Wi-Fi communication method, a UWB communication method, and a mobile communication network.

13. A computer readable recording medium having recorded thereon a program for executing the method of claim 1 .

14. A first device comprising:
a sensing unit configured to detect an occurrence of a predetermined event related to a device scan;
a communication unit configured to scan a second device that that provides identifier information and capability information through a plurality of communication methods based on the occurrence of the predetermined event; and
a control unit configured to:
establish a first communication link with the scanned second device by using a first communication method among the plurality of communication methods,
determine a second communication method for communicating data with the second device, via the first communication link, and
establish a second communication link with the second device by using the determined second communication method.

15. The first device of claim 14 , wherein the control unit is further configured to determine the first communication method among the plurality of communication methods based on at least one of power consumption amount information and latency information.

16. The first device of claim 14 ,
wherein the control unit is further configured to select the second communication method based on the capability information received from the second device, and
wherein the communication unit is further configured to transmit a connection request or a negotiation request regarding the selected second communication method to the second device via the first communication link.

17. The first device of claim 14 ,
wherein the communication unit is further configured to transmit data to the second device via the second communication link, and
wherein the control unit is further configured to determine at least one of whether to terminate the second communication link, and whether to maintain the first communication link, when the data transmission is completed.

18. The first device of claim 14 , wherein the control unit is further configured to:
detect occurrence of an error in the second communication link, and
re-determine the second communication method for communicating data with the second device via the first communication link.

19. A method of operating an electronic apparatus, the method comprising:
monitoring at least one of physical states outside the electronic apparatus, which is performed by the electronic apparatus, via at least one of a microphone, an optical senso

Assignees

• Samsung Electronics Co Ltd

Inventors

• Kang Hyuk
• Lee Geun-Ho
• Lee Sang-Hyup

Classifications

• H04W76/14

  Direct-mode setup · CPC title

• H04W24/08 Primary

  Testing, {supervising or monitoring} using real traffic · CPC title

• H04L69/14

  Multichannel or multilink protocols · CPC title

• H04M2250/02

  including a Bluetooth® interface · CPC title

• H04W8/24

  Transfer of terminal data · CPC title