Patent Application

App. No. 14/144,513

Abstract

Claims (62)

1 . A method comprising:

initiating proximity detection;

establishing a first communication link between a speaker box and a mobile computing device;

receiving a first identifier via the first communication link from the mobile computing device;

detecting a packet via a second communication link;

determining the mobile computing device is in a range of proximity of the speaker box a first point in time; and

transferring control of the speaker box to the mobile computing device as a function of the range of proximity.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the mobile computing device is in the range of proximity of the speaker box comprises:

receiving a radio frequency (“RF”) signal including packets including a second identifier from the mobile computing device via the second communication link.

3 . The method of claim 2 , further comprising:

determining a signal strength based on reception of the packets including the second identifier.

4 . The method of claim 3 , further comprising:

comparing a value of the signal strength against a threshold value;

determining that the value of the signal strength exceeds the threshold value; and

generating data representing an indication that the mobile computing device is the range of proximity.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein transferring control of the speaker box to the mobile computing device comprises:

determining a selection of audio associated with the mobile computing device; and

causing generation of the audio at the speaker box.

6 . The method of claim 5 , further comprising:

accessing the audio stored in the mobile computing device.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein initiating proximity detection comprises:

establishing a second communication link;

receiving a second identifier via the second communication link;

8 . The method of claim 7 , wherein initiating proximity detection comprises:

entering a monitoring mode to detect packets communicated via the second communications link.

9 . The method of claim 7 , further comprising:

receiving packets via the second communications link; and

associating the first identifier with the second identifier to identify the mobile computing device.

10 . The method of claim 9 , further comprising:

associating data representing a control state for the mobile computing device.

11 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining the mobile computing device is the range of proximity at a second point in time;

maintaining an indication that mobile computing device is in control; and

maintaining the first communications link with the mobile computing device.

12 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising:

determining another mobile computing device is the range of proximity at a third point in time;

maintaining an indication that mobile computing device is in control; and

maintaining the first communications link with the mobile computing device.

13 . The method of claim 12 , further comprising:

determining the mobile computing device is beyond the range of proximity; and

transferring control of the speaker box to the another mobile computing device.

14 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first communications link includes a near field communications protocol and the second communications link includes a far field communications protocol.

15 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the near field communications protocol includes a Bluetooth protocol and the far field communications protocol includes a WiFi protocol.

16 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first communications link and the second communications link include the same protocol.

17 . The method of claim 1 , wherein establishing the first communication link between the speaker box and the mobile computing device and determining the mobile computing device is in the range of proximity of the speaker box occurs in a registration duration of time.

18 . A system comprising:

a speaker box comprising:

a plurality of transducers configured to emit acoustic signals as audio;

a memory including executable instructions; and

a processor configured to:

execute a first portion of the executable instructions to initiate proximity detection;

execute a second portion of the executable instructions to establish a first communication link between a speaker box and a mobile computing device;

execute a third portion of the executable instructions to receive a first identifier via the first communication link from the mobile computing device;

execute a fourth portion of the executable instructions to detect a packet via a second communication link;

execute a fifth portion of the executable instructions to determine the mobile computing device is in a range of proximity of the speaker box a first point in time; and

execute a sixth portion of the executable instructions to transfer control of the speaker box to the mobile computing device as a function of the range of proximity.

19 . The system of claim 18 , wherein the processor is further configured to:

execute a seventh portion of the executable instructions to determine a signal strength based on reception of the packets including the second identifier;

execute an eighth portion of the executable instructions to compare a value of the signal strength against a threshold value execute a ninth portion of the executable instructions to determine that the value of the signal strength exceeds the threshold value; and

execute a tenth portion of the executable instructions to generate data representing an indication that the mobile computing device is the range of proximity.

20 . The system of claim 17 , wherein the sixth portion of the executable instructions to transfer control of the speaker box to the mobile computing device further comprises:

executable instructions to cause generation of audio by the plurality of transducers responsive to the audio streaming from a mobile computing device.

Assignments (10)