TWI521995B - System and method for hardware resource sharing - Google Patents

Description

Hardware resource sharing system and method

The present invention relates to a hardware resource sharing system and method, and more particularly to a hardware resource sharing system and method for using hardware resources of another electronic device by a connection between electronic devices.

Electronic devices such as smart phones, personal data assistants (PDAs), and portable media players (PMPs) have become very popular due to their slimness and compactness. These electronic devices are typically provided with hardware resources such as display screens, cameras, video recorders, and wireless or wired communication systems. However, there are usually some differences between electronic devices of different brand models. For example, some electronic devices may not include a camera, and the display screens of various electronic devices may have different resolutions and sizes.

Due to the above differences, it is natural to derive the idea of sharing hardware resources between different electronic devices. For example, when a user wants to display a digital photo stored by an electronic device on a friend, if the screen resolution of the friend's electronic device is found to be higher, the user may wish to view the photo using the friend's electronic device. The problem is that there is no such technology at present. If the user wants to use the display screen of a friend's electronic device, it is necessary to carry a digital photo between the two electronic devices using a storage medium such as a memory card, which is not only inconvenient, but also in time. Lack of efficiency.

Based on the above, the present invention provides a hardware resource sharing system and method for allowing one electronic device to use the hardware resources of another electronic device through a wired or wireless connection between the electronic devices.

The present invention provides a hardware resource sharing system that includes two electronic devices. The first electronic device includes a first application, and the second electronic device includes at least one hardware resource. The first electronic device establishes a first connection with the second electronic device, and the first application uses the hardware resources of the second electronic device through the first connection.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the first application transmits a control signal to the hardware resource through the first connection, and after the hardware resource performs the operation indicated by the control signal, the response signal is transmitted to the first application through the first connection. Program.

In an embodiment of the invention, the first connection may be a Bluetooth, Near Field Communication (NFC), or Universal Serial Bus (USB) connection.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the first electronic device and the second electronic device also establish a second connection. The first application transmits a control signal to the hardware resource through the first connection, and after the hardware resource performs the operation indicated by the control signal, the response signal is transmitted to the first application through the first connection or the second connection. The first electronic device and the second electronic device select one of the first connection and the second connection according to the transmission speed of the first connection and the second connection and the data amount of the response signal to transmit the response signal.

In an embodiment of the invention, the transmission speed, the transmission distance, and the power consumption of the first connection are both smaller than the second connection.

In an embodiment of the invention, the first connection may be a Bluetooth or near field communication connection, and the second connection may be a Wi-Fi or Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) connection.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the second electronic device further includes a second application, and the second application may also use the hardware resource. The first application obtains the usage setting of the second application from the second electronic device when the hardware resource is used, and the first application may change the usage setting when using the hardware resource, and use the hard The physical resource is then passed back to the second electronic device.

The present invention further provides a hardware resource sharing method, that is, a method performed by the first electronic device and the second electronic device described above. This method includes the following steps. First, the first electronic device establishes a first connection with the second electronic device, and then the first application of the first electronic device uses the hardware resources of the second electronic device through the first connection.

Based on the above, the present invention allows different electronic devices to share each other's hardware resources. Due to the use of existing wired or wireless connection technologies, the system and method proposed by the present invention can be widely implemented to achieve rapid and convenient sharing of hardware resources.

The above described features and advantages of the present invention will be more apparent from the following description.

1 is a schematic diagram of a hardware resource sharing system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The hardware resource sharing system of FIG. 1 includes electronic devices 110 and 150. The electronic devices 110 and 150 can be smart phones, personal digital assistants, portable media players, or similar electronic devices. The electronic device 110 includes applications 111 and 112, a hardware resource 113, a processor 116, a Bluetooth system 114, and a Wi-Fi system 115. The electronic device 150 includes an application 152, a hardware resource 153, a processor 156, a Bluetooth system 154, and a Wi-Fi system 155.

The hardware resources 113 and 153 may be any hardware resources installed in a general electronic device, such as a keyboard, a standard positioning device supporting a Global Positioning System (GPS), a camera, a video recorder, a liquid crystal panel, or the like. Display screens, standard wireless or wired communication systems such as the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), or storage devices such as memory cards and hard drives.

Each hardware resource has a corresponding application for providing a user interface, accepting user operations, and driving or using corresponding hardware resources according to the user's operation. In the embodiment of FIG. 1, the application 111 corresponds to the hardware resource 113, and the applications 112 and 152 correspond to the hardware resource 153. If the electronic device 110 is to use the hardware resources of the electronic device 150, the electronic device 110 must install the corresponding application in advance, and vice versa. For example, in order for the electronic device 110 to use the hardware resource 153 of the electronic device 150, the electronic device 110 must install the corresponding application 112 in advance. The electronic device 150 necessarily uses its own hardware resource 153, so the electronic device 150 also has the same corresponding application 152.

Processors 116 and 156 are the core of electronic devices 110 and 150, respectively. The two processors control all activities and functions of the associated electronic device, including executing an application of the associated electronic device. The Bluetooth systems 114 and 154 are responsible for the Bluetooth communication function between the electronic devices 110 and 150. Wi-Fi systems 115 and 155 are responsible for Wi-Fi communication functions between electronic devices 110 and 150.

2 is a flow chart of a hardware resource sharing method performed by the electronic devices 110 and 150 of FIG. By this method, the electronic devices 110 and 150 can share each other's hardware resources.

The method flow of FIG. 2 is described below. The method of FIG. 2 is exemplified by the electronic device 110 using the hardware resource 153 of the electronic device 150. First, the electronic device 110 and the electronic device 150 establish two connections 121 and 122 (step 210). Connection 121 uses the Bluetooth protocol, and connection 122 uses the Wi-Fi protocol. Next, the application 112 uses the hardware resources 153 via the connections 121 and 122 (step 220).

Step 220 is divided into five small steps of 230 to 270. The applications 112 and 152 each have a set of usage settings for the hardware resource 153, such as the aperture size and shutter speed of the camera. Under normal circumstances, the version of the application 152 is a newer version. In order to obtain a newer usage setting, the application 112 can obtain usage settings of the application 152 regarding the hardware resource 153 from the electronic device 150 when the hardware resource 153 is used (step 230). Next, depending on the usage requirements, the application 112 can change its usage settings when the hardware resource 153 is used (step 240), for example, adjusting the aperture size and shutter speed of the camera in response to user operations. The application 112 transmits a control signal to the hardware resource 153 via the connection 121 (step 250). The hardware resource 153 performs the operation indicated by the control signal (step 260), and then transmits a response signal to the application 112 via the connection 121 or the connection 122 (step 270).

The above response signal is an execution result generated after the hardware resource 153 performs an operation indicated by the control signal, such as a status report or data generated by performing the above operation. The electronic devices 110 and 150 select one of the wires 121 and 122 to transmit a response signal according to the transmission speed of the wires 121 and 122 and the amount of data of the response signal. In this embodiment, the connection 121 can use the near field communication standard or other similar standards in addition to the Bluetooth standard. Wiring 122 can use Wi-Fi standards, global microwave interworking standards, or other similar standards. Compared with the two connections, the connection speed of the connection line 121 is slower, the transmission distance is shorter, but the power consumption is relatively low. The connection 122 has a faster transmission speed and a longer transmission distance, but consumes more power. In order to save power, the application control signal and the response signal with a small amount of data are transmitted by the connection 121, and the response signal with a large amount of data is transmitted by the connection 122.

For example, a response signal such as a status report is transmitted back to the application 112 using the power-saving connection 121 because the amount of data is small. If the hardware resource 153 is a camera or a video recorder, and the operation indicated by the application 112 is capturing an image, the response signal is a digital image obtained, because the digital image has a large amount of data, and the speed is fast but compared. The power consuming connection 122 is passed back to the application 112.

After the application 112 has used the hardware resource 153, the changed usage setting can be transmitted back to the electronic device 150 for storage by the electronic device 150 (step 280). Thus, the electronic device 150 can also retain the latest version of the usage settings. The general usage setting can be transmitted using the connection 121 because the amount of data is small. Step 280 of FIG. 2 does not have to be performed. If the application 112 does not change the usage settings, or the electronic device 150 does not need to retain the latest usage settings, then step 280 does not have to be performed.

With the above hardware resource sharing method, the user of the electronic device 110 can use the hardware resources of the electronic device 150 through the wireless connections 121 and 122 as if the electronic device 150 is directly operated. Vice versa, the user of the electronic device 150 can also use the hardware resources of the electronic device 110 through the wireless connections 121 and 122, as if the electronic device 110 is directly operated.

The wires 121 and 122 of Figure 1 are both wirelessly connected, but other embodiments of the present invention may use wired connections, such as the embodiment of Figure 3. 3 is a schematic diagram of a hardware resource sharing system in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention. Compared with the embodiment of FIG. 1, the electronic device 110 of FIG. 3 changes the Bluetooth system 114 and the Wi-Fi system 115 to the USB system 117, and the electronic device 150 also changes the Bluetooth system 154 and the Wi-Fi system 155 to USB. System 157. The electronic devices 110 and 150 are docked using a USB cable to establish a USB connection 123. In the embodiment of FIG. 3, the control signals, response signals, and usage settings are all transmitted via connection 123.

In summary, the present invention allows different electronic devices to share each other's hardware resources. Due to the use of existing wired or wireless connection technologies, the system and method proposed by the present invention can be widely implemented to achieve rapid and convenient sharing of hardware resources.

Although the present invention has been disclosed in the above embodiments, it is not intended to limit the invention, and any one of ordinary skill in the art can make some modifications and refinements without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. The scope of the invention is defined by the scope of the appended claims.

110. . . Electronic device

111. . . application

113. . . Hardware resources

114. . . Bluetooth system

115. . . Wi-Fi system

116. . . processor

117. . . USB system

121~123. . . Connection between electronic devices

150. . . Electronic device

152. . . application

153. . . Hardware resources

154. . . Bluetooth system

155‧‧ Wi-Fi system

156‧‧‧ processor

157‧‧‧USB system

210~280‧‧‧ Process steps

1 is a schematic diagram of a hardware resource sharing system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a flow chart of a hardware resource sharing method performed by the system of FIG. 1.

3 is a schematic diagram of a hardware resource sharing system in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention.

110. . . Electronic device

111, 112. . . application

113. . . Hardware resources

114. . . Bluetooth system

115. . . Wi-Fi system

116. . . processor

121, 122. . . Connection between electronic devices

150. . . Electronic device

152. . . application

153. . . Hardware resources

154. . . Bluetooth system

155. . . Wi-Fi system

156. . . processor

Claims (5)

A hardware resource sharing system includes: a first electronic device, including a first application; and a second electronic device, including a second application and a hardware resource, wherein the first electronic device and the first The second electronic device establishes a first connection and a second connection, and the first application transmits a control signal to the hardware resource through the first connection, after the hardware resource performs the operation indicated by the control signal Transmitting, by the first connection or the second connection, a response signal to the first application, the first electronic device and the second electronic device according to the transmission speed of the first connection and the second connection And the data amount of the response signal selects one of the first connection and the second connection to transmit the response signal, wherein the first application and the second application both use the hardware resource, when the first An application obtains usage settings of the second application for the hardware resource from the second electronic device when the hardware resource is used, the first application changes the usage setting, and uses the hardware After using the set source to return the second electronic device. The hardware resource sharing system of claim 1, wherein the transmission speed, the transmission distance, and the power consumption of the first connection are smaller than the second connection. The hardware resource sharing system of claim 1, wherein the first connection is a Bluetooth, near field communication, or universal serial bus connection, and the second connection is Wi-Fi or global Microwave intercommunication. A hardware resource sharing method includes: establishing a first connection between a first electronic device and a second electronic device And a second application; the first application of the first electronic device transmits a control signal to a hardware resource of the second electronic device through the first connection; the hardware resource performs the control signal indication Transmitting, by the first connection or the second connection, a response signal to the first application; wherein the first electronic device and the second electronic device are connected to the second connection according to the first connection Selecting one of the first connection and the second connection to transmit the response signal, and the second electronic device further includes a second application, the first application And the second application uses the hardware resource; when the first application uses the hardware resource, obtains, by the second electronic device, the usage setting of the second application about the hardware resource; and the first An application changes the usage setting and passes the usage setting back to the second electronic device after using the hardware resource. The hardware resource sharing method of claim 4, wherein the transmission speed, the transmission distance, and the power consumption of the first connection are smaller than the second connection.