Discovery of nearby devices for file transfer and other communications
Patent No. US9853719 (titled "Discovery of nearby devices for file transfer and other communications") on Sep 25, 2013. The application was issued on Dec 26, 2017.
How does this patent fit in bigger picture?
Technical Landscape
In the early 2010s when ’719 was filed, wireless device discovery was typically implemented using active manual triggers where one device broadcasted a visibility signal and another performed a high-power scan to listen for it. At a time when systems commonly relied on centralized access points for data exchange rather than direct peer-to-peer links, establishing spontaneous connections between mobile units often required significant user intervention and high power consumption. Hardware and software constraints made persistent background discovery non-trivial, as maintaining active radio states for continuous scanning would rapidly deplete battery resources on mobile hardware.
Prosecution Position
The disclosed invention represents a meaningful technical advancement through a multi-tiered architectural approach to device discovery that integrates low-power personal area networks with high-bandwidth local area networks. The solution utilizes a background scanning process that filters broadcast messages based on a hierarchy of manufacturing identifiers, service types, and encrypted user identification values before activating higher-power communication circuitry. This tiered filtering enables a capability for secure, automated discovery of known contacts without requiring the device's main application processor to remain fully powered. The technical effect achieved is a power-efficient discovery mechanism that maintains user privacy through the comparison of encrypted hashes against local contact databases, overcoming the constraint of balancing persistent connectivity with limited battery life.
Claims
This patent contains 20 claims, with claims 1, 10, and 19 serving as the independent claims. These independent claims focus on a system and method for power-efficient wireless discovery and connection, specifically by using a low-power wireless protocol to scan for messages, filtering those messages based on manufacturing identifiers and encrypted user data while components are in a power-reduced state, and only transitioning to an active state to establish a second, higher-power wireless connection when a match is confirmed. The dependent claims further define the system by specifying the types of wireless protocols used, such as Bluetooth Low Energy and Wi-Fi, identifying specific communication services like file sharing or media streaming, and detailing the types of user identifiers and peer-to-peer connection methods employed.
Key Claim Terms New
Definitions of key terms used in the patent claims.
Patent Summary
Litigation Cases New
US Latest litigation cases involving this patent.
Patent Family
File Wrapper
The dossier documents provide a comprehensive record of the patent's prosecution history - including filings, correspondence, and decisions made by patent offices - and are crucial for understanding the patent's legal journey and any challenges it may have faced during examination.
Get instant alerts for new documents
US9853719
- Application Number
- US14037272A
- Filing Date
- Sep 25, 2013
- Publication Date
- Dec 26, 2017
- External Links
- Slate, USPTO , Google Patents