GB2466824A

GB2466824A - Simultaneous, multiple channel communication between a personal computer and mobile device

Info

Publication number: GB2466824A
Application number: GB0900294A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Juraid Anwer
Original assignee: KEY CRITERIA CONNECT Ltd
Current assignee: KEY CRITERIA CONNECT Ltd
Priority date: 2009-01-09
Filing date: 2009-01-09
Publication date: 2010-07-14
Also published as: WO2010079358A2; WO2010079358A3; GB0900294D0

Abstract

A communication system and method for communication between a personal computer and at least one mobile device using two or more communication channels, operated simultaneously. The communication system comprises: a first software program configured to identify a unique identification code allocated to at least one mobile device connected to or within connecting range of the personal computer; and a second software program for identifying and selecting possible communication channels between the personal computer and the or each mobile device, wherein the second software program is configured to select and enable a first and at least a second communication channel between the personal computer and the or each mobile device to operate simultaneously. The software programs are located in the personal computer or in the mobile device. In operation, devices connected to or within range of the personal computer are discovered by scanning all available communication channels and a connection is made to a selected device, whose identity is catalogued. If subsequent channel scanning discovers a device that is already catalogued, an additional connection to the device is opened, using the new channel. The channels may be wired or wireless, e.g. cable, BluetoothTM, GPRS, WI-FiTM, infrared, 3G, GSM and may be selected and enabled in order based on their bandwidth/speed. High bandwidth channels may be used for data files such as music, videos, photos and low bandwidth channels used for text messages and personal information management (PIM). By using two or more channels, file queues can be avoided when a large data file is being transferred.

Description

Communication System

Technical field

[0001] The invention relates to a communication system and method for communication between a personal computer and a mobile device such as a mobile phone.

Background art

[0002] Currently communication between personal computers and mobile devices is by means of a variety of communication channels available such as a static connection provided by a cable, or some kind of wireless communication such as, for example, BluetoothTM, GPRS, Wi-FiTM, or infrared.

[0003] The term static' is used here to indicate a device that it primarily in a single location when it is in use. A personal computer may be considered to be such a static device. The static device may be moved within a particular location (e.g. within a room) or between locations for different sessions of use (e.g. between different rooms or buildings). The term mobile' is used here to indicate a device that can be used on the move.

Clearly a laptop computer with a wireless connection is not static within the strict meaning of the word. It is possible for example that a laptop or palmtop computer might function as either the static device (when connected to a broadband connection) or as a mobile device (when connected to a narrow band connection such as GPRS).

[0004] A device manager on the personal computer is the software that manages communications and channels with a mobile device. Currently the device manager software connects to a mobile device using a single channel at a time which means that if a file transfer takes place across a particular channel the mobile device is effectively not capable of taking another request until the file transfer has occurred. If this file is large it may take several minutes to complete the transfer. Currently during this time no other file transfer can occur as only the one communication chosen can be used at any one time.

[0005] The current invention differs from those systems and methods currently in use in that it allows more than one communication channel to be used at any particular time. One advantage of this is that a user will be able to transfer more than one file at the same time by using different communication channels to transfer files of differing sizes. This also obviously then has the further advantage of providing a time saving opportunity for the user.

Disclosure of the invention

[0006] A first aspect of the invention comprises a communication system for communication between a personal computer and at least one mobile device, the communication system comprising, -a first software program for implementing a device identification logic located in the personal computer or in the mobile device, wherein the first software program is configured to identify a unique identification code allocated to at least one mobile device connected to or within connecting range of the personal computer; -a second software program for identifying and selecting possible communication channels between the personal computer or in the mobile device and the or each mobile device being located in the personal computer; and -the second software program being configured to select and enable a first and at least a second communication channel between the personal computer and the or each mobile device to operate simultaneously.

[0007] The second software program may contain logic which selects and enables communication channels in order based on their bandwidth.

[0008] In one form of the invention a communication channel may be a wireless channel such as, for example, BluetoothTM, GPRS, Wi-FiTM, infrared, 3G or GSM. A communication channel may also be a wired channel such as a cable.

[0009] A communication channel may be used to communicate data from the mobile device to the personal computer or from the personal computer to the mobile device. The communication data may be data files of varying sizes such as, for example, video files, music files, photo files, contact information files, calendar information files, text message files, battery level information files, and signal strength information files.

[0010] The mobile device may be a hand-held computer, a mobile phone, a PDA, a portable media player, or the like.

[0011] The personal computer may be a static device such as a desktop computer, or may be mobile computer such as a hand-held computer, a laptop computer or a PDA.

[0012] A second aspect of the invention comprises a method of communication between a personal computer and at least one mobile device, the method corn pri sing, -locating one or more mobile devices which are connected to or which are within connecting range of a personal computer by means of a first software program for implementing a device identification logic located in the personal computer or in the mobile device; -identifying the or at least one mobile device connected to or within connecting range of the personal computer by means of the first software program; -identifying possible communication channels between the or at least one of the mobile devices and the personal computer by means of a second software program for identifying and selecting possible communication channels between the personal computer and the mobile device which is located in the personal computer or in the mobile device; -selecting a first communication channel between the or at least one of the mobile devices and the personal computer; -connecting a first communication channel between the or at least one of the mobile devices and the personal computer; -selecting at least a second communication channel between the same mobile device and the personal computer; and -connecting at least a second communication channel between the selected mobile device and the personal computer simultaneously with connecting the first communication channel.

[0013] The method of communication between a personal computer and at least one mobile device may further comprise communicating data from the or each mobile device to the personal computer or from the personal computer to the or each mobile device.

[0014] The personal computer may be a static device such as a desktop computer, or may be mobile computer such as a hand-held computer, a laptop computer, a PDA, a portable media player, or the like.

Brief description of the drawings

[0015] The invention will now be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein: Figure 1 shows a schematic diagram showing prior art device management data flow between software of a personal computer and a mobile device connected to the personal computer; and Figure 2 shows a schematic diagram showing device management data flow between software of a personal computer and a mobile device connected to the personal computer according to the invention.

Detailed description of the invention

[0016] A communication system and method for communication between a personal computer and a mobile device according to the invention will now be described in more detail. A schematic view of a prior art embodiment of the data flow from a personal device to a mobile device is shown in Figure 1.

[0017] A schematic view of one embodiment of the data flow of the communication system 10 according to the invention is shown in Figure 2.

[0018] A mobile device which forms part of the system is capable of storing media and personal information manager (PIM) content. The mobile device may comprise any one of a number of hand-held devices such as mobile phones, personal digital assistants (PDA's), personal media or multimedia players, such as audio or MP3 players, and the like. A personal computer which forms part of the system may be static or may be a mobile computer itself such as, for example, a laptop computer, a hand-held computer, PDA or the like.

[0019] Previously, mobile devices acted independently of the user's personal computer and information stored on the mobile device was only managed using the mobile device on which it was stored. As mobile devices such as mobile phones became more and more powerful, they have become capable of storing information that users want to transfer onto their personal or home computers. This information is stored in various types of files and may comprise, for example, video files, music files, photo files, contact information files, calendar information files, text message files, battery level information files, signal strength information files, and the like.

[0020] Current software programs written for a personal computer are now able to interact with a mobile device, such as a mobile phone, and send or receive data files and text messages in accordance with protocols created by the device manufacturers. These software programs in the personal computer will communicate with the mobile device and send data files in sequential order to the mobile device. This communication with the mobile device is handled sequentially and the software program in the personal computer is only able to send or receive one data file at a time over any given communication channel. This is a physical limitation of the available communication channels and applies to currently available software programs used for these purposes. When transferring large data files such as, for example, movie video files and music or audio files, the transfer can take a number of minutes, effectively blocking' the mobile device for any other type of communication. Prior to the current invention the only option available when the user wanted to transfer more than one data file was to display a progress bar which informs the user of how much time was still required for any particular file to be completely transferred.

[0021] Most modern mobile devices have two methods of communication, wired and wireless. There are various types of communication channels possible between a personal computer and mobile devices or similarly between one mobile device and another mobile device. These communication channels each have a single unique transport mechanism for communicating between the devices and are each communication channel is qualified by its bandwidth. These communication channels are mapped by the software program of the device manager in the personal computer or mobile device, as the case may be. Examples of these communication channels includes, but is not limited to wireless communication channels such as BluetoothTM, GPRS, WiFiTM, infrared, 3G, or GSM, or wired communication channels such as a cable.

[0022] The communication system and method of the invention comprises the use of parallel multi-channel communication between the personal computer and at least one mobile device that allows a personal computer to communicate with mobile devices by using all possible communication channels present. The current invention allows a software program to be installed in the personal computer or in the user's mobile device to categorise content of a data file which is to be communicated as high, or low bandwidth, and then to make a decision about which communication channel to use to transfer the data file.

[0023] In traditional system design the software program connects using a single channel at a time which means that if a data file transfer takes place across that channel the mobile device is effectively not capable of taking another request until the file transfer has occurred. If this is a large data file it may take several minutes to complete.

[0024] The current invention includes a software program which allows multiple data files to be transferred in parallel between the personal computer and the mobile device. If a large data file is sent across to the personal computer or mobile device it is still capable of communicating over the other available channels and simultaneously transferring other files.

[0025] To identify a mobile device, the personal computer or the user mobile device must be able to manage its own unique identifier that never changes, even after a re-boot. All mobile phones also contain a unique identifier that is called the International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI).

Other mobile devices may also contain an IMEI or they may be identified by an abstract value called a Unique Identifier (UID) which is specific to each device. The personal computer or the user mobile device includes software which identifies each mobile device connected to it or within connecting range thereof by identifying the unique IMEI or UID of each mobile device.

[0026] The point of first contact is when the device manager software of the personal computer or the user mobile device is run and it is asked to discover devices that are connected (or paired) with the personal computer or the user mobile device. The device manager will use all communication channels available to it to discover mobile devices within connecting range of the personal computer or the user mobile device.

[0027] Once the mobile devices have been discovered, a list will be displayed on the personal computer screen or on the user mobile device screen, as the case may be, and the user must then select a mobile device from the list.

Once the mobile device has been selected, the device manager software will connect to the selected mobile device and retrieve the IMEI or UID for that mobile device. The mobile device is registered with the device manager software of the personal computer or the user mobile device and catalogued internally using its IMEI or UID.

[0028] The point of second contact is once the device manager software has acquired an IMEI or UID for a particular mobile device, it can begin its scanning to locate other communication channels that may be available.

The device manager will use periodic scanning using all communication channels to discover mobile devices in the proximity of, or physically connected to the personal computer.

[0029] When additional devices are discovered during periodic scanning by the device manager they are queried for their IMEI or UID. If an IMEI or UID is discovered that has already been catalogued by the device manager an additional communication channel is opened to that mobile device using the new communication channel such as BluetoothTM, Wi-FiTM, 3G, GSM or cable.

[0030] A permanent binding is made for this additional channel inside the device manager so that both communication channels are used the next time the mobile device is connected to the personal computer or the user mobile device. Each channel is qualified by its bandwidth and mapped to data types internally by the device manager. In multi-channel mode the device manager will, for example, move media such as music, videos and photos over high bandwidth channels and will move personal information management (PIM) or text messages over low bandwidth channels. If the device manager has only one communication channel open to the mobile device everything will go across that single channel.

[0031] If the device manager is operating in multi-channel mode and one of those communication channels disappears, such as, for example, when the user disconnects the cable, the device manager will temporarily block the communication channel that is no longer available and will divert all file transfer traffic with the existing open communication channels. This provides a large increase in the reliability of transferring files.

[0032] At present, if a user wishes to send a large file to the personal computer or the user mobile device it has to go over a single channel and this will block all other file transfers to and from the personal computer or user mobile device because the communication channel acts like a queue. The current invention's multi-channel communication system and method will allow the user to interact with the personal computer or user mobile device via a communication channel even when a file transfer is taking place.

[0033] The current invention uses the device's Unique Identifier (UID) or IMEI to manage the device across multiple simultaneous connections using all the available channels that the device exposes.

[0034] When a device is connected to the system using one of the aforementioned channels the computer software queries the device and records its UID or IMEI.

[0035] The computer software then periodically queries all devices in the neighbourhood (wired or wireless) and queries each one in turn for its UID or IMEI. If a UID or IMEI is returned that the computer software already knows about, it can bind to the device on the new channel because it is able to deduce that the device on the new channel is the same device that is already connected using an existing channel.

[0036] Typically the computer software is able to bandwidth speed test each communication channel and decide the relative speed when compared to the current connected channels. If only a single communication channel is open then all information must go across that channel. If two or more channels are available the computer software decides which one is the fastest channel. Once the fastest channel is deduced it is used to transfer media related files which are the larger file size. The other slower bandwidth channels are used to query the mobile device for diagnostics and for transfer of smaller files such as calendar, contacts and text messages. This invention allows the computer software to continue communicating with the mobile device and transferring data files even when a large file transfer is in progress.

[0037] A specific example illustrating the functionality of the system and method of communication of the current invention follows below.

[0038] Firstly, a user connects a mobile device via cable directly to their home personal computer. Computer software installed on the personal computer then opens a communication channel and queries the mobile device for its Unique Identifier (UID). The UID for the mobile device is retrieved and stored by the personal computer software. After a period of time the personal computer software scans the BluetoothTM network neighbourhood to discover which mobile devices are in connecting range.

A number of mobile devices respond and the personal computer software then retrieves the UID for each mobile device that responds. A comparison is then made with the stored UID inside the personal computer software to see if any of the new UIDs match. If a match is found the software then connects to the mobile device on the BluetoothTM communication channel and then pairs' that channel with the current wired communication channel.

[0039] The software then performs a speed check and deduces that the cabled channel is the fastest' channel out of the two connected channels. The computer software then creates an internal rule that allows only large files over the cable and all other, smaller files are to be transferred over the BluetoothTM connection. The computer software is now able to communicate with the mobile device, even when a large file transfer is in progress. The computer software will continue to do periodic checks to deduce if another communication channel becomes available for connection to that device.

Claims

Claims 1. A communication system for communication between a personal computer and at least one mobile device, the communication system comprising, -a first software program for implementing a device identification logic located in the personal computer or in the mobile device, wherein the first software program is configured to identify a unique identification code allocated to at least one mobile device connected to or within connecting range of the personal computer; -a second software program for identifying and selecting possible communication channels between the personal computer or in the mobile device and the or each mobile device being located in the personal computer; and -the second software program being configured to select and enable a first and at least a second communication channel between the personal computer and the or each mobile device to operate simultaneously.
2. A communication system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the second software program contains logic which selects and enables communication channels in order based on their bandwidth.
3. A communication system as claimed in claims 1 or 2, wherein a communication channel is a wireless channel.
4. A communication system as claimed in claim 3, wherein the wireless communication channel is BluetoothTM, GPRS, Wi-FiTM, infrared, 3G or GSM.
5. A communication system as claimed in claims 1 or 2, wherein communication channel is a wired channel.
6. A communication system as claimed in claim 5, wherein the wired communication channel is a cable.
7. A communication system as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein a communication channel is used to communicate data from the mobile device to the personal computer or from the personal computer to the mobile device.
8. A communication system as claimed in claim 7, wherein the data is data files of varying sizes such as video files, music files, photo files, contact information files, calendar information files, text message files, battery level information files, and signal strength information files.
9. A communication system as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein the mobile device is a hand-held computer, a mobile phone, a PDA or a portable media player.
10. A communication system as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein the personal computer is a static device such as a desktop computer.
11. A communication system as claimed in any of claims 1 to 9, wherein the personal computer is a mobile computer such as a hand-held computer, a laptop computer or a PDA.
12. A method of communication between a personal computer and at least one mobile device, the method comprising, -locating one or more mobile devices which are connected to or which are within connecting range of a personal computer by means of a first software program for implementing a device identification logic located in the personal computer or in the mobile device; -identifying the or at least one mobile device connected to or within connecting range of the personal computer by means of the first software program; -identifying possible communication channels between the or at least one of the mobile devices and the personal computer by means of a second software program for identifying and selecting possible communication channels between the personal computer and the mobile device which is located in the personal computer or in the mobile device; -selecting a first communication channel between the or at least one of the mobile devices and the personal computer; -connecting a first communication channel between the or at least one of the mobile devices and the personal computer; -selecting at least a second communication channel between the same mobile device and the personal computer; and -connecting at least a second communication channel between the selected mobile device and the personal computer simultaneously with connecting the first communication channel.
13. A method as claimed in claim 12, which further comprises communicating data from the or each mobile device to the personal computer or from the personal computer to the or each mobile device.
14. A method as claimed in claims 12 or 13, wherein the personal computer is a static device such as a desktop computer.
15. A method as claimed in claims 12 or 13, wherein the personal computer is a mobile computer.
16. A method as claimed in claim 15, wherein the mobile computer is a hand-held computer, a laptop computer, PDA or a portable media player.Amendments to the claims have been filed as follows Claims 1. A communication system operable to enable communication between a personal computer or a user mobile device and at least one further mobile device, the communication system comprising: -a first software program operable to implement a device identification logic being located in the personal computer or in the user mobile device; -the first software program being configured to identify a unique device identification code allocated to at least one further mobile device for selection of the identified further mobile device; -the further mobile device being connected to or being within connecting range of the personal computer or the user mobile device; -a second software program being locatable in the personal computer or the user mobile device, or being locatable in the further mobile device; -the second software program being operable to identify and select possible communication channels between the personal computer or the user mobile device, and the or each identified and selected further mobile device; -the second software program being configured to select and enable a first and at least a second communication channel between the personal computer or the user mobile device, and the or each identified and selected further mobile device so that the first and at least a second communication channel operate simultaneously; and -the second software program containing logic which is operable to select and enable communication channels in order based on their bandwidth.2. A communication system as claimed in claim 1, wherein a communication channel is a wireless channel.3. A communication system as claimed in claim 2, wherein the wireless communication channel is BluetoothTM, GPRS, Wi-FiTM, infrared, 3G or GSM.4. A communication system as claimed in claim 1, wherein a communication channel is a wired channel.5. A communication system as claimed in claim 4, wherein the wired communication channel is a cable.6. A communication system as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein a communication channel is used to communicate data from the identified and selected further mobile device to the personal computer or the user mobile device, or from the personal computer or user mobile device to the identified and selected further mobile device.7. A communication system as claimed in claim 6, wherein the data is data files of varying sizes such as video files, music files, photo files, contact information files, calendar information files, text message files, battery level information files, and signal strength information files.8. A communication system as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein the user mobile device or the further mobile device is a hand-held computer, a mobile phone, a PDA or a portable media player.9. A communication system as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein the personal computer is a static device such as a desktop computer.10. A communication system as claimed in any of claims ito 9, wherein the user mobile device or the further mobile device is a mobile computer such as a hand-held computer, a laptop computer or a PDA.ii. A communication system as claimed in any of claims 1 to 9 wherein the user mobile device or the further mobile device is a mobile phone or a portable media player.12. A method of communication between a personal computer or a user mobile device and at least one further mobile device, the method comprising: -locating one or more further mobile devices which are connected to or which are within connecting range of a personal computer or a user mobile device by means of a first software program operable to implement a device identification logic, the first software program being located in the personal computer or in the user mobile device; -identifying the or at least one further mobile device connected to or within connecting range of the personal computer or the user mobile device by means of the first software program identifying a unique device identification code allocated to the at least one further mobile device; -selecting the identified at least one further mobile device; -identifying possible communication channels between the or at least one of the identified and selected further mobile devices and the personal computer or user mobile device by means of a second software program, the second software program being operable to identify and select possible communication channels between the personal computer or the user mobile device and the further mobile device, and the second software program being locatable in the personal computer or in the user mobile device; or being locatable in the further mobile device; -selecting a first communication channel between the or at least one of the identified and selected further mobile devices and the personal computer or the user mobile device; -connecting a first communication channel between the or at least one of the identified and selected further mobile devices and the personal computer or the user mobile device; -selecting at least a second communication channel between the same identified and selected further mobile device and the personal computer or the Q user mobile device; -connecting at least a second communication channel between the identified and selected further mobile device and the personal computer or the user mobile device so that the first and at least a second communication channel operate simultaneously; and -selecting and enabling communication channels in order based on their bandwidth by means of logic contained in the second software program.13. A method as claimed in claim 12, which further comprises communicating data from the or each identified and selected further mobile device to the personal computer or the user mobile device, or from the personal computer or the user mobile device to the or each identified and selected further mobile device.14. A method as claimed in claims 12 or 13, wherein the personal computer is a static device such as a desktop computer.15. A method as claimed in claims 12 or 13, wherein the user mobile device or the further mobile device is a mobile computer.16. A method as claimed in claim 15, wherein the mobile computer is a hand-held computer, a laptop computer, or a PDA.
17. A method as claimed in claims 12 or 13, wherein the user mobile device or the further mobile device is a portable media player. L()