GB2565129A

GB2565129A - Data communications

Info

Publication number: GB2565129A
Application number: GB1712497.5A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Lucas Barcias Jesus
Original assignee: Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc
Current assignee: Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc
Priority date: 2017-08-03
Filing date: 2017-08-03
Publication date: 2019-02-06
Also published as: GB201712497D0

Abstract

A data processing apparatus 220 comprising a data receiver operable according to a first communication protocol to receive a first data communication from a first device 200 external to the apparatus; a processor 250 to detect, from the first data communication, a target second device 210 external to the data processing apparatus and generate, in response to the first data communication, a second data communication to be transmitted to the second device and transmit the second data communication to the second device in a protocol different to the first protocol. The apparatus may comprise a message generator (300, fig.3) configured to generate a data communication indicating at least a target second device not being part of the one or more devices in the network and transmit the data communication to a third device being one or more other devices in the network. It may be used so that Internet of Things devices with a variety of protocols may communicate with each other.

Description

Description of Related Art

In data communication between so-called “Internet of Things” (loT) devices, a variety of data communication protocols are in use.

loT devices are typically low power, low range communication devices having specific functionality. Part of the reason for the availability of some of these communication protocols is that if all of the loT devices operated using (say) Wifi, there could potentially be too many devices in a local area for the Wifi protocol to accommodate, and also the power drain could be too high for a useable loT device. So the devices can use a variety of potentially lower power, potentially lower duty cycle protocols.

The variety of protocols can mean that loT devices may not necessarily be able to communicate with one another.

The foregoing paragraphs have been provided by way of general introduction, and are not intended to limit the scope of the following claims. The described embodiments, together with further advantages, will be best understood by reference to the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure is defined by the appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A more complete appreciation of the disclosure and many of the attendant advantages thereof will be readily obtained as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 schematically illustrates a data processing apparatus;

Figure 2 schematically illustrates example data communications between devices via the data processing apparatus of Figure 1;

Figure 3 schematically illustrates aspects of the operation of a data communications device;

Figure 4 schematically illustrates aspects of the operation of the data processing apparatus of Figure 1;

Figure 5 is a schematic flowchart illustrating a method;

Figures 6 to 9 schematically illustrate respective devices;

Figures 10 to 15 schematically illustrate respective data communications technologies;

Figure 16 schematically illustrates a data communication format; and

Figures 17 and 18 are schematic flowcharts illustrating respective methods. DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Figure 1 schematically illustrates a data processing apparatus such as (purely byway of example) a Sony ® PlayStation 4 ® Games Console. The apparatus of Figure 1 comprises a main unit 100 and various connectable peripherals 110.

The main unit 100 comprises various components, many of which are interconnected by a bus structure 120. By way of example, these components comprise: a central processing unit (CPU) 122, a graphics processing unit (GPU) 124 and a control and input/output (I/O) processor 126, each of which has associated random access memory (RAM) 123, 125, 127. A power supply unit (PSU) 130 is connectable (via a power line controller (PLC) dongle 132-to be discussed further below) to a mains or other power supply 134.

Further components connected to the bus structure 120 include a universal serial bus (USB) interface (l/F) 140, a video interface 142, a camera interface 144, a hard disk drive (HDD) interface 146, a Bluetooth (BT) transceiver 148, a WiFi transceiver 150 (a generic term for a transceiver operating under one or more of the IEEE 802.11 standards), a network interface 152 and Blu-Ray ® disk drive (BDD) interface 154.

Considering the function of these components, the CPU 122 and GPU 124 cooperate to execute computer software to perform the main functions of the data processing apparatus such as (in this example) computer gaming functions. The control and I/O processor 126 performs functions relating to the overall control of operation of the apparatus and to control of the input/output interfaces 140... 154 just described. The CPU 122, GPU 124 and/or control and I/O processor 126 operate under the control of computer program instructions or software which may be provided by a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium such as a hard disk drive 147 connected to the HDD interface 146, a BD drive 155 connected to the BDD interface 154, a memory card or other non-volatile memory (not shown) connected to the USB interface 140 or the like. During operation, the program instructions may be temporarily transferred to the RAM 123, 125 and/or 127, but the software is provided in these examples by the non-transitory machine-readable storage medium. In other examples, the software may be provided, for example, by the network interface 152 from a network-based non-transitory machine-readable storage medium (not shown in Figure 1).

A broken line surrounds items within the main unit 100. The broken line extends around the hard disk drive 147 and the BD drive 155 to indicate that these are optionally part of the main unit, or they could be implemented as connectable peripherals.

The network interface 152 provides a connection to a data network such as the internet 153. The WiFi transceiver 150 and the BT transceiver 148 provide wireless radio frequency communications with one or more external devices (not shown). The camera interface 144 provides an interface to one or more cameras such as a camera 145. Note that the camera interface may be associated with the USB interface such that the physical connection of the camera 145 to the main unit 100 is via a USB connection. However, the camera interface 144 is shown separately in Figure 1 for clarity of explanation.

The video interface 142 provides video data to an external display 143.

The USB interface provides a variety of connectability, but in the present examples it is connectable to one or more so-called dongles such as the PLC dongle 132 already mentioned and one or more other dongles 141.

In the present examples, the one or more dongles provide data communication functions using data communication protocols different to that employed by the network interface, or the wireless communication protocols employed by the BT transceiver 148 or the WiFi transceiver 150. Examples of such data communication protocols will be discussed in more detail with reference to Figures 10-15. In brief, however, these data communication protocols may be wireless radio frequency communication protocols, wired radio frequency communication protocols such as a power line communication protocol, optical communication protocols or the like. The protocol defines matters such as the transmission frequency band (for radio frequency arrangements), how the data is encapsulated for transmission, for example as packets, how the packets are formatted for sending, header data, data rates, error correction or detection, and the like. The protocols here can defined indirectly by their (lack of) compatibility: data transmitted by one protocol cannot be successfully received and totally decoded by a data received operating according to another protocol.

In the present examples, data communications can be performed between devices external to the apparatus of Figure 1, using the apparatus of Figure 1 as an intermediary. These arrangements will be described in more detail, starting with Figure 2 which schematically illustrates example data communications between devices via the data processing apparatus of Figure 1.

In Figure 2, a first device 200, device A, transmits a data communication destined for a second device 210, device B. However, the devices 200, 210 operate using different and incompatible data communication protocols. Note that only two devices 200, 210 are shown, but the present principles can be used by a larger number of devices interacting with the apparatus of Figure 1.

The apparatus of Figure 1 (shown schematically as an apparatus 220) comprises one or more data communication interfaces such as the WiFi transceiver 150, the Bluetooth transceiver 148 and the like. These are shown collectively as “internal” interfaces 230, being data transmitter/receiver arrangements forming part of the apparatus 220. Also, optionally, one or more other “external” data communication interfaces 240 such as, for example, a so-called ZigBee or Z-wave interface, or the PLC dongle 132 acting as a power line interface, each implemented by externally connectable dongles, for example, connected to the USB interface 140. A processor 250, for example the CPU 122 and/or the control and I/O processor 126 of Figure 1, controls and supervises communication via the interfaces 230 and the interfaces 240.

In overall summary, a transmitting device external to the data processing apparatus 220 (that is to say, a different device to the apparatus 220) such as the device 200 sends a data communication to the apparatus 220 using a first data communication protocol. The apparatus 220 uses one of its interfaces 230, 240 to act as a data receiver operable according to the first communication protocol, the data receiver being configured to receive a first data communication from a first device (such as the device 200) external to the data processing apparatus 220. The processor 250 detects, from the first data communication, a second (target) device or destination (such as, in this example, the device 210) external to the data processing apparatus 220. The processor 250 generates, in response to the first data communication, a second data communication to be transmitted to the second device 210. The apparatus then uses another of its interfaces 230, 240 as a data transmitter operable according to a second communication protocol different to the first communication protocol and compatible with the second device 210, and transmits the second data communication to the second device 210.

In this way, the apparatus 220 can operate, in at least some respects, as a communication and/or response hub. For devices such as the devices 200, 210 which do not have standardised communications (in that they operate according to different communication protocols which are incompatible) they cannot communicate directly with one another and so communicate via the apparatus 220.

The present arrangements are particularly suited to so-called “Internet of Things” (loT) devices. loT devices are typically low power, low range communication devices having specific functionality. loT devices currently available use a respective one of a variety of data communication protocols. Part of the reason for using some of these communication protocols is that if all of the loT devices operated using (say) Wifi, there could potentially be too many devices in a local area for the Wifi protocol to accommodate, and also the power drain could be too high for a useable loT device. So the devices can use a variety of potentially lower power, potentially lower duty cycle protocols. Some examples of loT devices will be discussed in more detail below with reference to Figures 6 to 9.

Figure 3 illustrates an example of one of the devices 200, 210, comprising a message generator/processor 300 which may be operable under the control of computer software provided by a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium (NTMRSM) 310 such as nonvolatile memory such as a flash memory, in communication with a data transmitter/receiver 320 which performs communication shown schematically by an arrow 330 with another device and/or the apparatus 220. This provides an example of data communications device comprising a data transmitter 320 operable according to a communication protocol and configured to communicate with one or more other devices in a network of devices according to the communication protocol, a message generator 300 configured to generate a data communication indicating at least a target second device, the second device not being one or more devices in the network of devices operating according to the communication protocol. The device of Figure 3 is configured to transmit a generated data communication to a third device using the data transmitter 320, the third device (an example being the apparatus 220) being one of the one or more other devices in the network of devices operating according to the communication protocol.

Figure 4 schematically illustrates aspects of the operation of the data processing apparatus of Figure 1, implemented as the apparatus 220 of Figure 2.

The apparatus 220 is configured to receive an incoming message from an external device, via one of the communications interfaces (internal or external) 230, 240. This message is provided to a decoder 400 which decodes the message and then to a depacketiser 410 which rebuilds the entire incoming data communication (if required) from a packetised structure as received. The depacketised message is passed to a parser 420 to detect the substantive content of the message. The parsed message is then passed to a communications processor 430 which accesses routing and/or action configuration data 440, for example established under the control of a software configuration process running on the apparatus 220 or one of the devices in communication with the apparatus 220 and stored in RAM 123, 127 or by one of the non-volatile machine-readable storage media discussed above. Using the routing and/or action data, the communications processor 430 detects one or both of: a target second device and a required action by that second device. This information is passed to a message creator 450 which creates a message to the target second device, optionally defining the required action. If appropriate to the outgoing communication protocol, the message is packetised by a packetiser 460 and then encoded by an encoder 470 before being routed as an outgoing message via a different communication protocol to the communication protocol of the incoming message.

Note that one or more of the interfaces 230, 240 could selectively operate according to multiple protocols. So, the fact that the outgoing message is to be routed by a different communication protocol does not necessarily mean that it is provided to a different (physical circuitry) interface to that by which the incoming message was received. However, in other examples, the interface used for the outgoing message is different to that used to receive the incoming message.

In this way, the communications processor 430 is configured to access routing configuration data which maps first data communications to second target devices. For example, the routing configuration data could map the first data communications to target second devices according to at least an identity of the first device which provided the incoming message. In other examples, the routing configuration data could map the first data communications to target second devices according to at least a part of the content of the first data communication such as an indication, provided by the first communication device, indicating the identity of a target second device.

In some examples, the communications processor 430 is configured to detect a required action associated with a received first data communication and to generate, as at least a part of the second data communication, an instruction relating to the detected action. In order to achieve this, the communications processor 430 may be configured to access action configuration data which maps first data communications to required actions. In some examples, the action configuration data may map the first data communications to required actions according to at least an identity of the first device. In other examples, the action configuration data may map the first data communications to required actions according to at least a part of a content of a first data communication.

The separate functions 400, 410, 420, 430, 450, 460, 470 are shown as individual items in Figure 4 merely for clarity of explanation. In fact, the decoder 400 and encoder 470 may be provided as part of each respective interface. Indeed, the depacketiser 410 and the packetiser 460 may be provided as part of the respective interfaces. The parser 420 and the creator 450 may be provided as part of the communications processor 430, which in turn may be implemented, for example, by one or both of the CPU 122 and the control and I/O processor 126.

The following tables represent examples of routing and/or action configuration data 440. In some examples, four devices A... D are considered, with routing (and recreation of a new message in the target protocol) handled via the apparatus 220. The devices A and C operate according to an arbitrary communications protocol 1. The device B operates according to an arbitrary communications protocol 2. The device D operates according to an arbitrary communications protocol 3. The protocols 1,2 and 3 are different to one another.

In the examples, routing configuration data is represented by the first three columns of the tables below. Action configuration data is represented by the first, second and fourth columns of the tables below.

In a first example, the routing of communications (that is to say, the identity of the second target device) is implied by the identity of the first originating device according to the routing configuration data. But action configuration data maps data payloads received from the originating devices to instructions sent to the second devices.

Originating device	1^st pay load	Routing	2^nd payload
A (by protocol 1)	switch has changed	all communications	change state of

	state	from A are routed to B (by protocol 2)	electricity supply to ceiling light
C (by protocol 1)	room temperature has risen above threshold	all communications from C are routed to D (by protocol 3)	turn on power to air conditioning fan

In another example, once again the routing configuration data maps the identity of the originating device to the identity of the target device. The data payload is simply forwarded in the second message.

Originating device	1^st pay load	Routing	2^nd payload
A (by protocol 1)	arbitrary data payload	all communications from A are routed to B (by protocol 2)	same as received data payload
C (by protocol 1)	arbitrary data payload	all communications from C are routed to D (by protocol 3)	same as received data payload

In another example, the originating device specifies as part of the payload, routing information giving the identity of the target device. The data payload is simply forwarded in the second message.

Originating device	1^st pay load	Routing	2^nd payload
A (by protocol 1)	route to B arbitrary data payload	to B (by protocol 2)	same as received data payload
C (by protocol 1)	route to D arbitrary data payload	to D (by protocol 3)	same as received data payload

In another example, once again the routing configuration data maps the identity of the originating device to the identity of the target device. Action configuration data maps data payloads received from the originating devices to instructions sent to the second devices.

Originating device	1^st pay load	Routing	2^nd payload
A (by protocol 1)	switch 1 has changed state	to B (by protocol 2)	change state of electricity supply to ceiling light

C (by protocol 1)

switch 2 has changed state

to D (by protocol 3)

turn on power to air conditioning fan

The routing configuration data can refer to one to many, many to one or many to many routing. Some examples are shown below for further example devices A...G having respective associated communication protocols.

Originating device	1^st pay load	Routing	2^nd payload
either A or C (by protocol 1)	switch 1 has changed state	to B, E (by protocol 2) and to F (by protocol 4)	change state of electricity supply controlled by that device
C (by protocol 1)	switch 2 has changed state	to D, G (by protocol 3)	turn on power controlled by that device
either H or I (by protocol 5)	switch has changed state	to F (by protocol 4)	change state of electricity supply controlled by that device

Figure 5 is a schematic flowchart illustrating a method. The method relates to an overview of operations by the device 200, the apparatus 220 and the device 210 of Figure 2. Respective operations by these different entities are shown in respective columns of Figure 5 separated by broken lines.

The particular flow of control shown here relates to transmission of a message from the device 200 to the device 210. It will be appreciate that some devices are unidirectional in this sense, in that their primary function is either to originate data as a data source or to receive data as a data sink. Of course, as part of the originating or reception of data in this form, there may be a minor two-way transmission, for example to provide acknowledgements of receipt or the like, but the overall function may be unidirectional. An example of a data source is a device acing as a sensor such as a temperature sensor. An example of a data sink is a device acting as a controller such as a power controller, for example a remotely controllable light switch. However, in other example, the devices may be bidirectional in that they can act as a data source or a data sink according to the currently required function. In the context of a bidirectional device, the device would be expected to have the functionality to be described relating to the device 200 and also the functionality to be described relating to the device 210.

For clarity of the explanation, for now, the device 200 is considered to be a data source and the device 210 a data sink.

At a step 500, an initiating action 500 occurs which causes the device 200 to create and send a message or data communication at a step 510. For example, the initiating action may be a timer event prompting, for example, an environmental or other sensing action, or it may be an event caused by the sensing of a parameter or other sensing action, or it may be an event caused by the sensing of a parameter such as a detection of a proximity of a heat source or it may be an action initiated by receipt of a message from another device or the apparatus 220.

The device 200 creates and sends a message intended for a target second device, the device 210, at the step 510.

As discussed above, the device 200 has a data transmitter operable according to a particular communication protocol to communicate with one or more other devices in a network of devices (in this example, including the apparatus 220) operating according to the communication protocol of the device 200. The step 510 provides an example of generating a data communication creating at least a target second device (the device 210 in this example) the second device not being one or more other devices in the network of devices operating according to the communication protocol of the device 200. Also at the step 510, the device 200 transmits the data communication to a third device (in this example, the apparatus 220) using its data transmitter, where the third device is one or more other devices in the network of devices operating according to the communication protocol of the device 200.

In other examples, as mentioned above, the identity of the target second device 210 could be obtained by the apparatus 220 from the identity of the device 200 sending the communication.

At a step 520, the apparatus 220 receives and decodes the message transmitted by the device 200. At a step 530, the apparatus 220 detects appropriate routing and/or action parameters associated with the present communication. At a step 540 the apparatus 220 creates a message and at a step 550, sends the message to the device 210 as the current target second device.

Therefore, the step 520 comprises an example of receiving, according to a first communication protocol, a first data communication from a first device (the device 200 in this example) external to the data processing apparatus 220. The step 530 provides an example of detecting from the first data communication, a target second device (the device 210 in this example) external to the data processing apparatus. The step 540 provides an example of generating, in response to the first data communication, a second data communication to be transmitted to the second device. The step 550 provides an example of transmitting, according to a second communication protocol different to the first communication protocol, the second data communication to the second device.

Referring to operations of the device 210, at a step 560 the device 210 receives and decodes the message sent at the step 550 and, at a step 570 performs the appropriate action as defined by the message.

It will therefore be appreciated that the apparatus of Figure 2 provides an example of a data communications network comprising one or more data communications devices such as a device of Figure 3; a data processing apparatus such as that shown in Figure 1; and a second device such as the device 210 to receive a data communication according to the respective second communication protocol.

It will also be appreciated that as regards the first data communication protocol, a network of devices operating according to that first data communication protocol includes the device 200 and the apparatus 220 (and optionally other devices, not shown). As regards to the second data communication protocol, a network of devices operating according to that protocol operates a device 210 and the apparatus 220(and optionally other devices, not shown). Therefore, the apparatus 220 represents a device within each of those networks operating according to the respective data communication protocol.

As mentioned above, the present arrangements are particularly suitable for use with socalled loT devices. Examples of such devices will now be described with reference to Figure 6 to 9. In each case, the data communication aspects of the devices are represented schematically by a block 600 labelled “Tx/Rx” (transmitter/receiver) as discussed above, it will be appreciated that an individual device could be a data source, a data sink or both. Therefore the block 600 is generic to any of these instances.

In Figure 6, a sensor and/or detector 610 such as a temperature, fire, proximity, switch operation detector is arranged to detect one or more parameters appropriate to its operation and to provide a signal 620 to the Tx/Rx block 600 indicative of such a detection. As mentioned above, the initiating action (referring to the step 500) causing the transmission of a data communication indicative of a detection can be related to the fact that the detection has been made (for example, in the case of proximity, switch operation or the like) or could be based upon a timer event, or could be based upon the detection going past a threshold such as a high temperature threshold or a low temperature threshold. This device is an example of a data source.

Figure 7 schematically represents a controller 700 such as a remotely controllable switch arranged to switch on or off an input supply 710 such as an electricity supply a gas supply a water supply or the like to provide a controlled output 720 under the control of messages 730 received via the Tx/Rx block 600. This device is an example of a data sink.

Figure 8 provides an example of a so-called wearable device 800, for example a wirelessly connectable watch device operable to send and receive data to and from another device such as a portable telephone, via the block 600. This is an example of a bidirectional device.

Figure 9 schematically represents a so-called router/mesh device 900 having a function of receiving and forwarding messages, using a common communication protocol, to another loT device. Such an arrangement can provide an increased effective range of the loT devices by using other loT devices as intermediate steps according to a common data communication protocol. The router/mesh device functionality can be provided as part of another device having its own function such as a function discussed with reference to Figures 6 to 8. The router/mesh device functionality of Figure 9 is not however the same as the functionality of the apparatus 220, because to act as a mesh device the incoming and outgoing communication protocols are the same. So, the apparatus of Figure 9 is just an example of a device which could communicate with the data processing apparatus 220, rather than itself being another example of an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Figures 10 to 15 schematically illustrate the use of respective data communication technologies or protocols appropriate to communications between the data processing apparatus 220 and the devices 200, 210.

Figure 10 provides a schematic example of a wireless radio frequency (RF) communication arrangement.

The arrangement of Figure 10 comprises a modulator/demodulator (modem) 1000 associated with an RF transceiver 1010 configured to send and/or receive RF signals 1020.

The arrangement of Figure 10 could refer to the WiFi transceiver 150 or the Bluetooth transceiver 148 according to parameters such as the operating frequency and the packetizing and identification protocols used. Indeed, the WiFi transceiver, as an example, can operate in a “WiFi” mode via a separate routing device or router, or a so-called “WiFi direct” mode providing direct communication with another device. In some examples, a WiFi interface such as the WiFi transceiver could operate in a so-called “HaLow” mode which is a low frequency WiFi-like operation.

Regarding the Bluetooth interface 148, this could operate as shown in Figure 10 as a conventional Bluetooth interface or a so-called Bluetooth low energy interface using lower transmission power. Bluetooth devices can also operate using so-called mesh functionality discussed above.

Other types of wireless radio frequency interfaces which may be implemented as dongles 141 could include so-called ZigBee orZ-wave interfaces. These use different radio frequency and communication parameters to WiFi or Bluetooth links.

Figure 11 schematically illustrates an optical communication arrangement such as, for example, a so-called light fidelity (LiFi) communication arrangement, in which a modulator 1100 provides a modulated signal 1110 to an optical source 1120 which generates light 1130 detected by an optical detector 1140 and provided to a demodulator 1150. So, the modulator 1100 and optical source 1120 are associated with a data transmitting function and the optical detector 1140 and demodulator 1150 are associated with a data receptive function. A bidirectional device may have both.

Figure 12 provides an example of communication using a so-called RFID device 1200, where RFID signifiers radio frequency identification. Here, an RFID reader 1210 interacts with the RFID device to detect a current status of the RFID device and/or to provide information to the RFID device, using a detector/generator 1220.

Figure 13 provides an example of communication using so-called near field communications (NFC) in which a first device having a modem 1300 and an NFC module 1310 communicates by near field radio frequency communications 1320 with the NFC module 1330 of another device, which in turn is in communication with a modem 1340 of that other device.

Figure 14 provides another example of optical communication, in which an image generator at a data source device provides information to a display (which, in the case of the data source device being the apparatus 220, could be the display 143). The image generator 1400 may generate, for example, so-called QR codes or other recognisable patterns for the display by the display 1410. At a data sink device a camera 1420 (which, in the case of the data sink device being the apparatus 220, could be the camera 145) detects the displayed information and provides it to an image processor 1430 which detects data to be sent to the data source device to the data sink device by the nature of the captured displayed image.

Figure 15 schematically illustrates a so-called power line control arrangement, as an example of a wired RF communication arrangement, for example one used by the PLC dongle 132 of Figure 1. A power line such as a mains power line 1500 is connected to provide power 1510 to a pair of communicating devices but is also connected at each device to a PLC module 1520, 1530 which superimposes data as RF signals onto the power line 1500 to allow communication between a first device and a second device. Each device has a respective modem 1540, 1550 to modulate useful information into the RF signals provided by the PLC modules.

Figure 16 schematically illustrates an example data communication from a first data communication device such as the device 200 discussed above, comprising a header portion 1600, for example identifying the device 200 as the originating device, an optional portion 1610 identifying a target second device and a portion 1620 containing a payload such as a required action, a detection result or the like.

Figure 17 is a schematic flowchart illustrating a method of operation of a data processing apparatus, such as the apparatus of Figure 1, the method comprising:

receiving (at a step 1700), according to a first communication protocol, a first data communication from a first device external to the data processing apparatus;

detecting (at a step 1710), from the data communication, a target second device external to the data processing apparatus;

generating (at a step 1720), in response to the first data communication, a second data communication to be transmitted to the second device; and transmitting (at a step 1730), according to a second communication protocol different to the first communication protocol, the second data communication to the second device.

Figure 18 is a schematic flowchart illustrating a method of operation of a data communications device, such as the device of Figure 3, the method comprising:

communicating (at a step 1800), using a data transmitter operable according to a communication protocol, with one or more other devices in a network of devices operating according to the communication protocol;

generating (at a step 1810) a data communication indicating at least a target second device, the second device not being one of the one or more other devices in the network of devices operating according to the communication protocol;

transmitting (at a step 1820) the data communication to a third device using the data transmitter, the third device being one of the one or more other devices in the network of devices operating according to the communication protocol.

It will be appreciated that example embodiments can be implemented by computer software operating on a general purpose computing system such as a games machine. In these examples, computer software, which when executed by a computer, causes the computer to carry out any of the methods discussed above is considered as an embodiment of the present disclosure. Similarly, embodiments of the disclosure are provided by a non-transitory, machine-readable storage medium which stores such computer software.

It will be apparent that numerous modifications and variations of the present disclosure are possible in light of the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims, the disclosure may be practised otherwise than as specifically described herein.

Claims

1. Data processing apparatus comprising:

a data receiver operable according to a first communication protocol, the data receiver being configured to receive an first data communication from a first device external to the data processing apparatus;

a processor to detect, from the first data communication, a target second device external to the data processing apparatus and to generate, in response to the first data communication, a second data communication to be transmitted to the second device; and a data transmitter operable according to a second communication protocol different to the first communication protocol, the data transmitter being configured to transmit the second data communication to the second device.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1, in which the processor is configured to access routing configuration data which maps first data communications to target second devices.

3. Apparatus according to claim 2, in which the routing configuration data maps the first data communications to target second devices according to at least an identity of the first device.

4. Apparatus according to claim 2 or claim 3, in which the routing configuration data maps the first data communications to target second devices according to at least a part of a content of the first data communication.

5. Apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, in which the processor is configured to detect a required action associated with a received first data communication and to generate, as at least part of the second data communication, an instruction relating to the detected action.

6. Apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, in which the processor is configured to access action configuration data which maps first data communications to required actions.

7. Apparatus according to claim 6, in which the action configuration data maps the first data communications to required actions according to at least an identity of the first device.

8. Apparatus according to claim 6 or claim 7, in which the action configuration data maps the first data communications to required actions according to at least a part of a content of the first data communication.

9. Apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, in which at least one of the first communication protocol and the second communication protocol is a radio frequency communication protocol.

10. Apparatus according to claim 9, in which the radio frequency communication protocol is a wireless radio frequency communication protocol.

11. Apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, in which at least one of the first communication protocol and the second communication protocol is an optical communication protocol.

12. A data communications device comprising:

a data transmitter operable according to a communication protocol and configured to communicate with one or more other devices in a network of devices operating according to the communication protocol; and a message generator configured to generate a data communication indicating at least a target second device, the second device not being one of the one or more other devices in the network of devices operating according to the communication protocol;

the data communications device being configured to transmit the data communication to a third device using the data transmitter, the third device being one of the one or more other devices in the network of devices operating according to the communication protocol.

13. Apparatus according to claim 12, in which communication protocol is a radio frequency communication protocol.

14. Apparatus according to claim 13, in which the radio frequency communication protocol is a wireless radio frequency communication protocol.

15. Apparatus according to claim 12, in which the communication protocol is an optical communication protocol.

16. A data communications network comprising:

one or more data communications devices according to any one of claims 12 to 15;

a data processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 11; and a second device configured to receive a data communication according to the second communication protocol.

17. A method of operation of a data processing apparatus, the method comprising: receiving, according to a first communication protocol, a first data communication from a first device external to the data processing apparatus;

detecting, from the first data communication, a target second device external to the data processing apparatus;

generating, in response to the first data communication, a second data communication to be transmitted to the second device; and transmitting, according to a second communication protocol different to the first communication protocol, the second data communication to the second device.

18. A method of operation of a data communications device, the method comprising: communicating, using a data transmitter operable according to a communication protocol, with one or more other devices in a network of devices operating according to the communication protocol;

generating a data communication indicating at least a target second device, the second device not being one of the one or more other devices in the network of devices operating according to the communication protocol;

transmitting the data communication to a third device using the data transmitter, the third device being one of the one or more other devices in the network of devices operating according to the communication protocol.

19. Computer software which, when executed by a computer, causes the computer to perform the method of claim 17 or claim 18.

20. A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium which stores computer software according to claim 19.