WO2023211419A1

WO2023211419A1 - Docking station connection audio messages

Info

Publication number: WO2023211419A1
Application number: PCT/US2022/026099
Authority: WO
Inventors: Osaid Ahmed SHAMSI; YuHua CHU; Thong Thai
Original assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
Priority date: 2022-04-25
Filing date: 2022-04-25
Publication date: 2023-11-02

Abstract

In an example in accordance with the present disclosure, a computing device docking station is described. The computing device docking station includes a computing device port to establish a connection with a host computing device and a peripheral device port to establish a connection with a peripheral device. The computing device docking station also includes a port control system to detect a connection between 1) the peripheral device and the peripheral device port and 2) the host computing device and the computing device port. A dock management controller of the computing device docking station 1) generates an audio message which presents identifying information of a connected device and 2) transmits the audio message to be output by an audio output device.

Description

DOCKING STATION CONNECTION AUDIO MESSAGES

BACKGROUND

[0001] Computing devices can be connected to any number of peripheral devices to increase their functionality. For example, a monitor or multiple monitors may be coupled to a computing device to provide a visual interface for the user. As another example, an input device such as a mouse, keyboard, touch pad, etc. may be coupled to the computing device. As other examples, the peripheral device may be a storage device, a scanner, a printer, and/or a projector.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0002] The accompanying drawings illustrate various examples of the principles described herein and are part of the specification. The illustrated examples are given merely for illustration, and do not limit the scope of the claims.

[0003] Fig. 1 is a block diagram of a computing device docking station for generating connection audio messages, according to an example of the principles described herein.

[0004] Fig. 2 is a flowchart of a method for generating audio messages for announcing computing device docking station connections, according to an example of the principles described herein.

[0005] Fig. 3 is a diagram of connected devices and a computing device docking station for generating connection audio messages, according to an example of the principles described herein. [0006] Fig. 4 is a flowchart of a method for generating audio messages for announcing computing device docking station connections, according to an example of the principles described herein.

[0007] Fig. 5 depicts a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium for announcing computing device docking station connections, according to an example of the principles described herein.

[0008] Throughout the drawings, identical reference numbers designate similar, but not necessarily identical, elements. The figures are not necessarily to scale, and the size of some parts may be exaggerated to more clearly illustrate the example shown. Moreover, the drawings provide examples and/or implementations that coincide with the description; however, the description is not limited to the examples and/or implementations provided in the drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0009] Peripheral devices connect to a computing device to augment the performance of the computing device. Peripheral devices may be of a variety of types. For example, a peripheral device may be an input device such as a microphone, a keyboard, a mouse, or another type of peripheral device. In some examples, a peripheral device may be an output device such as a monitor, a projector, or a virtual reality headset. In yet another example, the peripheral device may be an external memory device. While specific reference is made to a few example peripheral devices, there are a wide variety of peripheral devices that could be coupled to a computing device and the list of peripheral devices is sure to expand over time.

[0010] The present specification describes a computing device docking station that couples a computing device to peripheral devices. The computing device docking station provides a single physical connection between the peripheral devices and the computing device. That is, rather than connecting each peripheral device to the computing device individually, the peripheral devices are coupled to the docking station and the docking station is coupled to the computing device with a single connection. As such, the docking station facilitates portability of the computing device as a single connector is connected/disconnected from the computing device docking station during transport, rather than a disconnection/connection of each of multiple peripheral devices.

[0011] However, in some examples, a user may be uncertain whether a proper connection has been made between the computing device and the computing device docking station and between the peripheral devices and the computing device docking station. For example, the computing device docking station may be placed in a poorly lit environment such as under a table or within an enclosure. A secure connection in these environments may be cumbersome as a user may not be able to see the ports. As another example, the ports to which the host computing devices and peripheral devices are connected may be on rear-facing surfaces of the computing device docking station where they are out of visual range of a user who is connecting the devices to the docking station. As such, it may be unclear if a proper connection has been made on the computing device docking station when trying to plug in a host computing device or peripheral device.

[0012] Accordingly, the present specification describes a computing device docking station, method, and computer-readable storage medium that announces which port has received a connection and identifies the peripheral or host computing device that has been plugged into the port. In an example, such an announcement is a verbal announcement to specifically identify the port and a connected peripheral/host computing device, rather than an audible nonverbal cue such as tones or beeps. As such, the present computing device docking station may play a pre-recorded, or dynamic, verbal message on an integrated speaker, or externally coupled speaker, announcing what device was plugged in to which port. Doing so may increase the dock’s accessibility in difficult to see conditions. In some examples, the identification of the host computing device or peripheral device may indicate a type of the device. In other examples, the identification of the host computing device or peripheral device may include specific device information such as a make and model of the attached peripheral or host computing device. In some examples where a peripheral device is connected to a peripheral device port, such a verbal audio message may be generated independent of processing resources of the host computing device.

[0013] Specifically, the present specification describes a computing device docking station. The computing device docking station includes a computing device port to establish a connection with a host computing device and a peripheral device port to establish a connection with a peripheral device. A port control system of the computing device docking station detects a connection between 1) the peripheral device and the peripheral device port and 2) the host computing device and the computing device port. The computing device docking station also includes a dock management controller. The dock management controller 1) generates an audio message which presents identifying information of a connected device and 2) transmits the audio message to be output by an audio output device.

[0014] The present specification also describes a method. According to the method, a dock management controller detects a connection between a device and a device port of a computing device docking station. The dock management controller identifies a type of the device that is connected to the device port and extracts a port identifier for the device port. The dock management controller generates an audio message which verbalizes the type of the device and the port identifier for the device port and outputs the audio message via an audio output device.

[0015] The present specification also describes a non-transitory machine- readable storage medium encoded with instructions executable by a processor. The machine-readable storage medium includes instructions to, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to, at a computing device docking station, acquire identifying information about a peripheral device, responsive to a connection of the peripheral device to a peripheral device port of the computing device docking station. From the identifying information, the instructions are executable by the processor, to cause the processor to identify a type of the peripheral device. The instructions are also executable by the processor, to cause the processor to extract an identifier for the peripheral device port. The instructions are also executable by the processor, to cause the processor to generate an audio message which presents the type of the peripheral device and the identifier for the peripheral device port and output the audio message via an audio output device.

[0016] As will be described below, using such a computing device docking station, method, and machine-readable storage medium may, for example, 1) provide for audible indication of connections between the computing device docking station and host computing devices and peripheral devices, 2) identify the ports and devices coupled to the computing device docking station; and 3) announce the connection/disconnection, in some examples regardless of whether or not a host computing device is connected to the host computing device. However, it is contemplated that the devices disclosed herein may address other matters and deficiencies in a number of technical areas, for example.

[0017] As used in the present specification and in the appended claims, the term, “controller” includes a processor and memory. The processor includes the circuitry to retrieve executable code from the memory and execute the executable code. As specific examples, the controller as described herein may include machine-readable storage medium, machine-readable storage medium and a processor, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a semiconductor-based microprocessor, a central processing unit (CPU), and a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), and/or other hardware device.

[0018] The memory may include a machine-readable storage medium, which machine-readable storage medium may contain, or store machine-usable program code for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. The memory may take many forms including volatile and non-volatile memory. For example, the memory may include Random-Access Memory (RAM), Read-Only Memory (ROM), optical memory disks, and magnetic disks, among others. The executable code may, when executed by the respective component, cause the component to implement at least the functionality described herein. [0019] As used in the present specification and in the appended claims, the term “active” refers to a computing device docking station or a computing device port that is in communication with a host computing device that is awake, or active and driving content to connected peripheral devices. By comparison, an “inactive” docking station or computing device port is 1) not coupled to a host computing device or 2) is coupled to a host computing device that is in a sleep state (e.g., sleep, hibernation) where the host computing device is not driving content to the connected peripheral devices and/or computing device docking station. For example, even though a computing device docking station may be detecting connections and generating audio messages, such a computing device docking station may be “inactive” if not connected to a host computing device or connected to an inactive or sleeping host computing device.

[0020] Further, as used in the present specification and in the appended claims, the term “a number of” or similar language is meant to be understood broadly as any positive number including 1 to infinity.

[0021] Turning now to the figures, Fig. 1 is a block diagram of a computing device docking station (100) for generating connection audio messages, according to an example of the principles described herein. As described above, the computing device docking station (100) provides a simplified interface between a host computing device and a number of peripheral devices of a variety of types. That is, rather than multiple cable connections between the computing device and peripheral devices, the computing device has a single connection with the computing device docking station (100), which computing device docking station (100) has multiple connections to the peripheral devices. As such, when a user moves the host computing device, the user disconnects the single docking station connection. This is simpler than disconnecting multiple peripheral device connections were the computing device docking station (100) not present.

[0022] As described above, the computing device docking station (100) generates and outputs an audio message, which may be a verbal message, that indicates a connection has been established and identifies the port and device associated with the connection. Accordingly, the computing device docking station (100) includes a computing device port (102) to establish a connection with a host computing device. That is, the docking station (100) may facilitate connection of a host computing device to multiple peripheral devices via a single connection between the computing device docking station (100) and the host computing device.

[0023] The computing device port (102) may be of a variety of types. For example, the computing device port (102) may be a universal serial bus (USB) Type-C port to receive a USB Type-C connector of a host computing device. While particular reference is made to a particular type of computing device port (102), the computing device port (102) may be of a variety of types. Moreover, while specific reference is made to a wired computing device port (102), in some examples the computing device port (102) may be a wireless port to establish a wireless connection with the host computing device.

[0024] The computing device docking station (100) also includes a peripheral device port (104) to establish a connection with a peripheral device. As with the computing device port (102), the peripheral device port (104) may be of a variety of types. For example, the peripheral device may be a display device for visual presentation of information. In this example, the peripheral device port (104) may be a high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI) port, a DisplayPort, or a USB Type-C port, among others. When the peripheral device is a nondisplay device such as a keyboard, mouse, camera, virtual reality headset, printer, scanner, or any other type of peripheral device, the port may be of various other types including USB Type-A. Again, while particular reference is made to particular types of peripheral device ports (104), the peripheral device ports (104) may be of a variety of types. Moreover, while specific reference is made to wired peripheral device ports (104), in some examples the peripheral device ports (104) may be wireless ports to establish a wireless connection with the various peripheral devices.

[0025] It should be noted that while Fig. 1 depicts a single peripheral device port (104) and a single computing device port (102), the computing device docking station (100) may include multiple peripheral device ports (104) and multiple computing device ports (102). Moreover, it may be the case that multiple peripheral devices are connected to the computing device docking station (100) in a daisy-chain fashion. For example, a DisplayPort may support multiple display devices connected to a single peripheral device port (104) as depicted below in Fig. 3.

[0026] The computing device docking station (100) may also include a port control system (106), which may include one or multiple individual port controllers, to detect a connection between the peripheral devices and the peripheral device ports (104) and may also detect a connection between a host computing device and the computing device port (102).

[0027] Specifically, the port controllers may detect that a connection is established between a host computing device/peripheral device and the associated ports (102, 104) via a handshake operation. That is, once a connection is established, via a wired connection or a wireless connection, metadata is transmitted to the associated port controller indicating that a connection has been made. In a similar fashion, the port controllers may detect when a connection has been interrupted, for example as a peripheral device or host computing device is disconnected from the computing device docking station (100). As described below, the port controllers of the port control system (106) may be able to acquire additional information, such as a type of device and device-specific information.

[0028] The port controllers of the port control system (106) may take on a variety of forms based on the type of port (102, 104) they are associated with. For example, a port controller associated with a display device port may be a multi-stream transport (MST) hub that is able to read extended display identification data (EDID) received from a particular display device. The EDID for a display device may describe the capabilities of the display device and may include device specific information such as a manufacturer identification, product identification, serial number, and manufacture date among others. The MST hub may retrieve the EDID for the particular display device and communicate this information to the dock management controller (108). Based on this received information, the audio message, which may be verbal, may indicate the display device on different levels of granularity. For example, the audio message may indicate a type or category of the peripheral device, or may indicate device-specific information as found in the EDID.

[0029] Such an MST hub, or other port controller, may perform hot plug detection (HPD) wherein the connection is detected, and EDID information acquired, while both the computing device docking station (100) and the display device are powered on. As such, the MST hub, or other display device-specific peripheral device port controller (104) may be connected to a display device such that responsive to an HPD or other connection signal, the MST hub determines whether a display device is plugged in and can retrieve the display device EDID from which an audio message, which may be verbal, is generated. [0030] A similar operation may be performed for a non-display peripheral device, such as a keyboard, a mouse, a camera, a printer, or a scanner, among other non-display peripheral devices. For example, the port controller may be a power delivery (PD) controller which communicates with USB Type-C devices and similarly detects connection between a USB Type-C peripheral device and may determine a device type and/or device-specific information for the connected USB Type-C peripheral device. Examples of types of peripheral devices include a keyboard, a mouse, a printer, a scanner, a speaker, etc. Device-specific information for the connected device may indicate the make, model, serial number, etc. for the peripheral device. As described above, the port controller may identify the type of device and in some cases the devicespecific information.

[0031] As yet another example, the port controller may be a USB hub which communicates with USB Type-A devices and similarly detects a connection between a USB Type-A peripheral device and may determine the type of peripheral device and/or device-specific information for the connected USB Type-A peripheral device. Note that while particular reference is made to particular types of port controllers, a variety of other types of port controllers may be implemented to detect connections with different peripheral devices and extract identifying information for such.

[0032] The computing device docking station (100) also includes a dock management controller (108) to 1 ) generate an audio message which presents identifying information of a device associated with a detected connection and 2) transmits the audio message to be output by an audio output device.

Specifically, the dock management controller (108) is coupled to the port control system (106) and individual port controllers to receive the connection/identifying information for various connected peripheral devices and host computing devices and generates the associated audio message indicating such. That is, the port control system (106) and the individual controllers that make up the port control system (106) may detect the presence of a connection at an associated port (102, 104) and may transmit a signal indicative of the connection to a dock management controller (108), which dock management controller (108) generates the audio message indicating the connection.

[0033] In an example, the audio message may be a pre-recorded verbal message. That is, the dock management controller (108) may include a database of pre-recorded audio messages that indicate 1) a connection was made, 2) a type of the host computing device or peripheral device that was connected, 3) device-specific information for the connected device, or 4) a port identifier of the port (102, 104) where the connection was made, or combinations thereof. The dock management controller (108) may include a lookup table to identify the appropriate audio message based on the collected information from the port control system (106). For example, a display device port controller may indicate a first display device is connected to a first display device port labeled “Monitor Port 1 .” Relying on this communicated information, the dock management controller (108) may map the information to an identifier such that an audio message indicating the connection may be called from the database and transmitted. Specifically, the dock management controller (108) may execute generate audio message instructions (110), to generate a verbal audio message announcing “A monitor has been connected at Monitor Port 1.” While particular reference is made to pre-recorded verbal messages stored in a database, such a message may also be stored on a remote computing device. In this example, the dock management controller (108) may communicate with the remote computing device, for example a remote server, to identify and acquire the pre-recorded message. [0034] In other examples, the dock management controller (108) may generate a dynamic audio message. That is, rather than selecting a static audio message, the dock management controller (108) may generate an audio message that is specific to the information collected. For example, the port controller may acquire device-specific information for a peripheral device connected to a particular peripheral device port (104). In this example, the dock management controller (108) executing generate audio message instructions (110), may retrieve from a remote server, an audio message which specifies the peripheral device based on the device-specific information acquired by the associated port controller. Accordingly, in this example, rather than the audio message just identifying the type of the peripheral device and/or the port identifier, the generated audio message may include the device-specific information such as the manufacture, model name, model number, etc.

[0035] Whatever the form of the generated audio message, the dock management controller (108) executing output audio message instructions (112) may transmit the audio message to be output by an audio output device. That is the audio message data may be transmitted to an audio output device, such as an integrated speaker, or to an audio jack connected to an external speaker, such that an audible announcement of the connection is made.

[0036] In some examples, the generation and output of the audio message may be made when the computing device port (102) is active. That is, a host computing device may be coupled to the computing device docking station (100) via the computing device port (102).

[0037] In another example, the computing device port (102) is inactive, meaning that there is no host computing device coupled to the computing device port (102) or the connected host computing device is in a sleep or hibernate mode. In this example, the dock management controller (108) and the port control system (106) are still able to detect connections, acquire identifying information for the device and associated port and generate the audio message. As such, the computing device docking station (100) generates audio messages, even when host computing device processing resources are unavailable to generate the audio message. [0038] As such, the present computing device docking station (100) provides connection status information in an audible and verbal form. This is due to the port control system (106) operation to collect connection information for the computing device docking station (100) and the dock management controller (108) to generate and output the audio message regardless of whether a host computing device is coupled to the computing device docking station (100) or not.

[0039] Fig. 2 is a flowchart of a method (200) for generating audio messages for announcing computing device docking station connections, according to an example of the principles described herein. According to the method (200), the port control system (106) of a computing device docking station (100) detects (block 201) a connection between a device and a device port (104) of a computing device docking station (100). That is, the computing device docking station (100) is made up of a variety of ports including both wired and wireless ports. Each of these ports is monitored by a port controller. The various port controllers track information regarding connections and disconnections at the respective ports. That is, upon connection of a peripheral device to a peripheral device port (104) or of a host computing device to a computing device port 9102), a connection signal may be transmitted. Upon disconnection of the device from the device port (102, 104), the connection signal is interrupted, which is also detected by the respective port controller. Accordingly, the port control system (106) may determine when different devices are connected and disconnected from the computing device docking station (100).

[0040] The port controllers may also identify (block 202) a type of the device that is connected to the device port (102, 104). Examples of types of peripheral devices include a mouse, a keyboard, a printer, a scanner, a camera, or any other variety of peripheral device. While specific reference is made to specific types of peripheral devices, other types of peripheral devices may be identified as well. In other examples additional information, such as device-specific information such as the make and model of the device may also be acquired. [0041] The port control system (106) may also extract (block 203) a port identifier for the peripheral device port (104), or the computing device port (102), where the associated device is connected. That is, a computing device docking station (100) may include a variety of ports, and may include different ports that are of the same type. For example, a computing device docking station (100) may include two USB Type-C ports.

[0042] The identifier for the peripheral device port may take a variety of forms. For example, the identifier may be of a port type. Examples of port types include a video port, an audio port, a network port, a USB Type-A port, a USB Type-C port, an HDMI port, a DisplayPort, and a Thunderbolt port. While particular reference is made to particular port types, a variety of other port types may be used to identify the peripheral device port (104) that has received a connection with a peripheral device. This port type information may be transmitted to the dock management controller (108) and included in the audio message.

[0043] As another example, the port identifier for the device port (102, 104) may be a port name or a number. That is, as described above, there may be multiple ports of the same type, and each may be uniquely identified by a port number. Accordingly, the port control system (106) may identify the device port (102, 104) that has received a connection with a peripheral device or a host computing device and may transmit an identifier of such to the dock management controller (108) for inclusion in the generated audio message.

[0044] The dock management controller (108) may generate (block 204) an audio message which verbalizes 1) the type of the device and 2) the port identifier for the device port (102, 104). That is, the generated audio message may reflect the information collected from a port controller associated with a device port (102, 104) with which a communication path has been established with a peripheral device or host computing device. As described above, the audio message may be a verbal message indicating the type of the device and the port identifier for the device port (102, 104) rather than a non-verbal audible emission.

[0045] As described above, such generation (block 204) may be at an inactive computing device docking station (100). That is, the audio message may be generated (block 203), notwithstanding no active host computing device is coupled to the computing device port (102). That is, rather than relying on the host computing device to generate any notification regarding a device connection, the computing device docking station (100) itself generates the notification.

[0046] As described above, generation (block 204) of the audio message may include identifying, from a lookup table, the audio message based on the type of the device and the port identifier for the device port (102, 104). That is, the lookup table may include a mapping between pre-recorded audio messages and data or metadata associated with the identifying information for the device and device port (102, 104). The dock management controller (108) may then extract the audio message from a database of the computing device docking station (100).

[0047] As described above, generation (block 204) of the audio message may include retrieving the audio message from a remote computing device based on the connection of the device to the device port (102, 104). That is, rather than retrieving the audio message from an on-board memory device, the dock management controller (108) may communicate with a remote server to retrieve the audio message. In this example, the audio message may be a static pre-recorded message that identifies the category of the device and the port identifier of the device port (102, 104), or may be a dynamic message that includes additional device-specific information, such as the make and model of the device.

[0048] In either case, the dock management controller (108) may output (block 205) the audio message via an audio output device. This may include outputting (block 205) the audio message on an integrated speaker of the computing device docking station (100) or may include transmitting the audio message to an external audio output device, for example via an audio jack integrated into the computing device docking station (100).

[0049] Fig. 3 is a diagram of connected devices and a computing device docking station (100) for generating connection audio messages, according to an example of the principles described herein. Fig. 3 clearly depicts the computing device docking station (100) with a host computing device (314) coupled to a computing device port (102). In one example, the computing device port (102) may be a USB Type-C port.

[0050] Fig. 3 also depicts various display devices (318-1 , 318-2, 318-3) coupled to display peripheral device ports (104-2, 104-3) of the computing device docking station (100). In the example depicted in Fig. 3, two display devices (318-2, 318-3) are daisy-chained to a single display peripheral device port (104-4). As described above, the display ports may be DisplayPort or HDMI ports. While particular reference is made to DisplayPort and HDMI ports, the display peripheral device ports may be of other types. For example, the display port may be a USB Type-C port among others.

[0051] Fig. 3 also depicts additional peripheral devices (316-1 , 316-2) coupled to additional peripheral device ports (104-1 , 104-2). As described above, the peripheral device ports (104) may be of varying types and may be based on a type of peripheral device to be connected at the port (104). For example, the first peripheral device (316-1) may be a USB Type-A device and the first peripheral device port (104-1) may be a USB Type-A port. By comparison, the second peripheral device (316-2) may be a USB Type-C device and the second peripheral device port (104-2) may be a USB Type-C port. While particular reference is made to particular peripheral device port types, a variety of different port types may be found on the computing device docking station (100), including wireless ports.

[0052] Fig. 3 also clearly depicts the port control system (106) which may be made up of a variety of port controllers. For example, the port control system (106) may include an MST hub (320) which is a port controller for the display peripheral device ports (104-3, 104-4). The MST hub (320) may communicate via inter-integrated (I2C) or other connection with the dock management controller (108) to communicate connection information. For example, the MST hub (320) can detect when a display device (318) is hot plugged into a respective port (104-3, 104-4). The MST hub (320) may then read the EDID information for connected display devices (318) which may include such information as a make and model of the connected display devices (318). This information is transmitted to the dock management controller (108) to be used in generation of the audio message.

[0053] The port control system (106) may also include power delivery (PD) controllers (324-1 , 324-2) for both upstream and downstream devices. For example, the PD upstream facing port (UFP) controller (324-1) may detect the connection with the host computing device (314) and the PD downstream facing port (DFP) controller (324-2) may detect the connection with a downstream USB Type-C peripheral device. The PD controllers (324) may be electrically connected to the dock management controller (108) via an I2C connection, USB Type-C connection, or any other type of connection. As with the MST hub (320), the PD controllers (324) may collect identifying information such as a type (e.g., mouse, keyboard, printer, camera, scanner, etc.) and/or device-specific information for the connected host computing device (314) and peripheral device (316-2). Such information may be passed to the dock management controller (108) for generation of an audio message as described above.

[0054] The port control system (106) may also include a USB hub (322) to detect a connection with downstream USB Type-A peripheral devices. The USB hub (322) may be electrically connected to the dock management controller (108) via a USB Type-A connection, or any other type of connection. As with the MST hub (320) and PD controllers (324), the USB hub (322) may collect identifying information such as a type (e.g., mouse, keyboard, printer, camera, scanner, etc.) and/or device-specific information for the peripheral device (316-1). Such information may be passed to the dock management controller (108) for generation of an audio message as described above. Accordingly, the present computing device docking station (100) may include any number and type of port controllers to monitor the connection state and/or the identity of connected peripheral devices, host computing devices (314) and ports (102, 104) such that this information may be presented in a verbal audio message as described above.

[0055] Fig. 3 also depicts additional components. For example, as described above, the dock management controller (108) generates an audio message which may be output on a variety of audio output devices. In one example, the audio output device is an integrated speaker (328) of the computing device docking station (100). In this example, the integrated speaker (328) may be coupled to the dock management controller (108) through the USB hub (322). [0056] In another example, the audio output device is an external audio output device, such as an external speaker or headphones. In this example, the computing device docking station (100) includes an audio jack (326) to receive a connector of the external audio output device. As with the ports, such an audio jack may be wired or wireless.

[0057] Moreover, as described above, the audio message may be a static pre-recorded audio message. In this example, the computing device docking station (100) includes a database (330) of audio messages indexed by device type and port identifier. Accordingly, the dock management controller (108) extracts the audio messages from the database (330) based on a detected type of the device and port identifier for the device port (102, 104) as acquired by a respective port controller of the port control system (106). That is, the dock management controller (108) may receive information regarding the connection between a device and one of the ports (102, 104) and may rely on this information to select a static message from the database (330) that corresponds to the collected connection information.

[0058] As another example, rather than selecting a static message, the dock management controller (108) may acquire the audio message from a remote computing device. In this example, the computing device docking station (100) includes a network connection interface (332), which may be wired or wireless, to connect with the remote computing device. In this example, the dock management controller (108) requests the audio message from the remote computing device based on the connection between the port (102, 104) and the device. That is, the dock management controller (108) may receive identifying information of both connected peripheral and host computing devices and the ports (102, 104) to which they are connected and may request from the remote computing device a message, whether pre-recorded or dynamically generated, which identifies the category of the device, device-specific information, and/or the identifier of the port to which the connected device is connected. [0059] Fig. 4 is a flowchart of a method (400) for generating audio messages for announcing computing device docking station connections, according to an example of the principles described herein. According to the method (400), the port control system (106) detects (block 401) a connection of a peripheral device to a computing device docking station (100) and identifies (block 402) a category of the peripheral device. This may be performed as described above in connection with Fig. 2.

[0060] Also as described above, the various port controllers of the port control system (106) may identify (block 403) device-specific information for the peripheral devices, which device-specific information may include, but is not limited to, manufacturer name, model name, model identifier, serial number, and/or manufacture date. In this example, the generated audio message may include this device-specific information. The port control system (106) may extract (block 404) a port identifier for the peripheral device port (104) where the peripheral device is connected. This may be performed as described above in connection with Fig. 2.

[0061] In addition to the category and device-specific information for the peripheral device and the peripheral device port (104), the port control system (106) may acquire (block 405) additional information about the connection. For example, the additional information may indicate the bandwidth, status, or other health metric for the connection. As with the aforementioned connection information, this additional information may be included in the audio message. Accordingly, the dock management controller (108) may generate (block 406) the audio message and may output (block 407) the audio message as described above in connection with Fig. 2.

[0062] As described above, the detection of a connection may also be performed for a host computing device (314). Accordingly, the port control system (106) may detect (block 408) a connection between a host computing device (314) and a computing device port (102) of the computing device docking station (100). The associated port controller may identify (block 409) the host computing device (314), for example by host computing device type and/or device-specific identifying information such as make and model. Examples of types of host computing devices (314) include laptop, desktop computers, and others.

[0063] In this example, the dock management controller (108) may generate (block 410) an additional message which states the identity of the host computing device (314), and potentially a port identifier of the computing device port (102) to which the host computing device (314) is connected, and outputs (block 411) the additional audio message via the audio output device. In one particular example, the announcement of the peripheral device connection and the host computing device connection may be in the same audio message. [0064] As described above, not only does the computing device docking station (100) detect and announce connections of devices, the computing device docking station (100) may detect and announce disconnections of devices. That is, the same port controllers that are able to detect device connections via connection signals may also detect interruption of those connection signals which is indicative of a disconnected device.

[0065] Accordingly, the port controllers may detect (block 412) a disconnection of the peripheral device, or host computing device (314), from a respective port (102, 104). Responsive to this disconnection, the dock management controller (108) generates (block 413) an additional audio message stating the disconnection of the peripheral device, or host computing device (314) from the respective port and outputs (block 414) the additional audio message via the audio output device as described above. As such, the present method (400) provides audio, and in some cases verbal, notifications of the connection/disconnection events from the computing device docking station (100).

[0066] Fig. 5 depicts a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium (534) for announcing computing device docking station connections, according to an example of the principles described herein. To achieve its desired functionality, a computing device docking station (100) includes various hardware components. Specifically, a computing device docking station (100) includes a processor and a machine-readable storage medium (534). The machine-readable storage medium (534) is communicatively coupled to the processor. The machine-readable storage medium (534) includes a number of instructions (536, 538, 540, 110, 112) for performing a designated function. In some examples, the instructions may be machine code and/or script code.

[0067] The machine-readable storage medium (534) causes the processor to execute the designated function of the instructions (536, 538, 540, 110, 112). The machine-readable storage medium (534) can store data, programs, instructions, or any other machine-readable data that can be utilized to operate the computing device docking station (100). Machine-readable storage medium (534) can store machine readable instructions that the processor of the computing device docking station (100) can process, or execute. The machine- readable storage medium (534) can be an electronic, magnetic, optical, or other physical storage device that contains or stores executable instructions. Machine-readable storage medium (534) may be, for example, Random-Access Memory (RAM), an Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM), a storage device, an optical disc, etc. The machine-readable storage medium (534) may be a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium (534).

[0068] Referring to Fig. 5, acquire identifying information instructions (536), when executed by the processor, cause the processor to, responsive to a connection of a peripheral device to a peripheral device port (104) of the computing device docking station (100), acquire identifying information of the peripheral device. Identify type instructions (538), when executed by the processor, cause the processor to, identify a type of the peripheral device from the identifying information. Extract identifier instructions (540), when executed by the processor, cause the processor to, extract an identifier for the peripheral device port (104). Generate audio message instructions (110), when executed by the processor, cause the processor to, generate an audio message which presents the type of the peripheral device and the identifier for the peripheral device port (104). Output audio message instructions (112), when executed by the processor, cause the processor to, output the audio message via an audio output device. [0069] In summary, using such a computing device docking station, method, and machine-readable storage medium may, for example, 1 ) provide for audible indication of connections between the computing device docking station and host computing devices and peripheral devices, 2) identify the ports and devices coupled to the computing device docking station; and 3) announce the connection/disconnection, in some examples regardless of whether or not a host computing device is connected to the host computing device. However, it is contemplated that the devices disclosed herein may address other matters and deficiencies in a number of technical areas, for example.

Claims

CLAIMS What is claimed is:

1 . A computing device docking station, comprising: a computing device port to establish a connection with a host computing device; a peripheral device port to establish a connection with a peripheral device; a port control system to detect a connection between: the peripheral device and the peripheral device port; and the host computing device and the computing device port; and a dock management controller to: generate an audio message which presents identifying information of a connected device; and transmit the audio message to be output by an audio output device.

2. The computing device docking station of claim 1 , wherein: the computing device port is inactive; and the connected device is connected at a peripheral device port.

3. The computing device docking station of claim 1 , wherein the audio output device is an integrated speaker of the computing device docking station.

4. The computing device docking station of claim 1 : wherein the audio output device is an external audio output device; and the computing device docking station further comprises an audio jack to establish a connection with the external audio output device.

5. The computing device docking station of claim 1 : further comprising a database of audio messages indexed by device type and port identifier; and wherein the dock management controller is to extract the audio message from the database based on a detected type of the connected device and port identifier for a device port that has a connection with the connected device.

6. The computing device docking station of claim 1 : further comprising a network connection interface to connect with a remote computing device that is to store a database of audio messages; and wherein the dock management controller is to request the audio message from the remote computing device.

7. A method, comprising: detecting a connection between a device and a device port of a computing device docking station; identifying a type of the device that is connected to the device port; extracting a port identifier for the device port; generating an audio message which verbalizes the type of the device and the port identifier for the device port; and outputting the audio message via an audio output device.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein outputting the audio message comprises transmitting the audio message to an external audio output device.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein generating the audio message comprises: identifying, from a lookup table, the audio message based on the type of the device and the port identifier for the device port; and extracting the audio message from a database of the computing device docking station.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein generating the audio message comprises retrieving the audio message from a remote computing device based on the connection of the device to the device port.

11. The method of claim 7: further comprising identifying device-specific information for the device; and wherein the audio message comprises the device-specific information.

12. The method of claim 7, further comprising: detecting a connection of a host computing device to a computing device port of the computing device docking station; identifying the host computing device; generating an additional audio message which verbalizes an identity of the host computing device; and outputting the additional audio message via the audio output device.

13. The method of claim 7, further comprising: detecting a disconnection of a peripheral device from a peripheral device port; generating an additional audio message which verbalizes the disconnection of the peripheral device from the peripheral device port; and outputting the additional audio message via the audio output device.

14. A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium encoded with instructions executable by a processor, the machine-readable storage medium comprising instructions to, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to, at a computing device docking station: responsive to a connection of a peripheral device to a peripheral device port of the computing device docking station, acquiring identifying information of the peripheral device; from the identifying information, identify a type of the peripheral device; extract an identifier for the peripheral device port; generate an audio message which presents the type of the peripheral device and the identifier for the peripheral device port; and output the audio message via an audio output device.

15. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 14, further comprising instructions to, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to acquire additional information about the connection, wherein the audio message comprises the additional information.