IP Library Granted Patent US 8,149,829
Granted Patent B2
US 8,149,829 · App. 12/699,846 · Granted Apr 3, 2012

Personal area network with automatic attachment and detachment

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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 8,149,829
App. No.
12/699,846
Granted
Apr 3, 2012
Kind
B2
Abstract

A network ( 100 ) includes a hub device ( 110 ) and at least one unattached peripheral device ( 120 ). The unattached peripheral device ( 120 ) transmits an attach request to the hub device ( 110 ) with a selected address, receives a new address from the hub device to identify the unattached peripheral device ( 120 ), and communicates with the hub device ( 110 ) using the new address.

Claims (57)

1. A hub device for use within a network, comprising:

circuitry; and

a transceiver in communication with the circuitry, the hub device configured to cause the transceiver to:

send a signal associated with an availability of the hub device for peripheral device attachment,

receive, from a first peripheral device, a first peripheral device message indicating an availability of the first peripheral device for communicating with the hub device,

send, to the first peripheral device, a first peripheral device identifier during an attachment process,

receive, from the first peripheral device, a first peripheral device response including the first peripheral device identifier,

send a hub message to the first peripheral device including resource information and direction information associated with data transfer, and

receive, from the first peripheral device, a second peripheral device message including the first peripheral device identifier.

2. The hub device of claim 1 , wherein the transceiver further includes instructions for:

broadcasting a heartbeat signal to begin an attach cycle.

3. The hub device of claim 2 , wherein the instructions for broadcasting include:

broadcasting a new range of available identifiers with each heartbeat signal.

4. The hub device of claim 1 , wherein the transceiver further includes instructions for:

listening, for identifiers in a range of available identifiers, for a signal from the first peripheral device.

5. The hub device of claim 1 , wherein the transceiver further includes instructions for:

determining whether a transmission from first peripheral device was successful, and

detaching the first peripheral device when the transmission fails to be successful in a predetermined number of attempts.

6. A method for attaching a first peripheral device to a network having a hub device connected to a set of peripheral devices, the method, performed by the hub device, comprising:

sending a signal associated with an availability of the hub device for peripheral device attachment;

receiving, from the first peripheral device, a first peripheral device message indicating an availability of the first peripheral device for communicating with the hub device;

sending, to the first peripheral device, a first peripheral device identifier during an attachment process;

receiving, from the first peripheral device, a first peripheral device response including the first peripheral device identifier;

sending a hub message to the first peripheral device including resource information and direction information associated with data transfer; and

receiving, from the first peripheral device, a second peripheral device message including the first peripheral device identifier.

7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:

broadcasting a range of available identifiers from which the first peripheral device selects to use when sending the first peripheral device message to the hub device.

8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising:

listening, for each of the identifiers in the range of available identifiers, for a signal from the first peripheral device;

determining whether a transmission from the first peripheral device at one of the identifiers was successful; and

discarding an attach attempt by the first peripheral device at the one identifier when the transmission fails to be successful in a predetermined number of attempts.

9. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:

attaching the first peripheral device to the network to create a newly attached peripheral device which communicates with the hub device.

10. A non-transitory computer-readable medium that stores instructions executable by a hub device to cause the hub device to perform a method for attaching a first peripheral device to a network, the method comprising:

sending a signal associated with an availability of the hub device for peripheral device attachment;

receiving, from a first peripheral device, a first peripheral device message indicating an availability of the first peripheral device for communicating with the hub device;

sending to the first peripheral device, a first peripheral device identifier during an attachment process;

receiving, from the first peripheral device, a first peripheral device response including the first peripheral device identifier;

sending a hub message to the first peripheral device including resource information and direction information associated with data transfer; and

receiving, from the first peripheral device, a second peripheral device message including the first peripheral device identifier.

11. A peripheral device, comprising:

a memory having instructions for:

receiving a signal from a hub device in association with an availability of the hub device for peripheral device attachment to the hub device,

transmitting to the hub device a first peripheral device message indicating an availability of the first peripheral device for communicating with the hub device,

receiving a first peripheral device identifier from the hub device during an attachment process,

sending to the hub device a first peripheral device response including the first peripheral device identifier,

receiving from the hub device a hub message including resource information and direction information associated with data transfer, and

sending a second peripheral device message including the first peripheral device identifier; and

a processor that executes the instructions in the memory.

12. The node of claim 10 , wherein the network includes a personal area network.

13. The node of claim 10 , wherein the network includes a local area network.

14. The node of claim 10 , wherein the network includes a world-wide network.

15. The node of claim 10 , wherein the network includes a star-topology network.

16. The node of claim 10 , wherein the resource information identifies a number of bytes.

17. The node of claim 10 , wherein the resource information includes an appropriate empty data block.

18. The node of claim 10 , wherein the direction includes a direction from the hub to the first peripheral device.

19. The node of claim 10 , wherein the direction includes a direction from the first peripheral device to the hub.

Assignments (4)
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Oct 26, 2020
From: JEFFERIES FINANCE LLC
To: RPX CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 054486/0422 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Aug 23, 2019
From: AZURE NETWORKS, LLC
To: RPX CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 050150/0341 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Jun 29, 2018
From: RPX CORPORATION
To: JEFFERIES FINANCE LLC
Reel/Frame 046486/0433 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Sep 1, 2010
From: AZURE NETWORKS, LLC
To: TRI-COUNTY EXCELSIOR FOUNDATION
Reel/Frame 024915/0521 →