Apple has been granted a patent for a “Prioritized Electronic Device in Home.”
About the patent
In the patent Apple notes that environments such as residential and professional spaces are populated by devices that can electronically perform functions that people traditionally had to manually perform. To enable a division of labor and reduce the complexity of these devices, manufacturers design and deliver use-specific devices for consumers to integrate into their environments.
To enable a cohesive environment in which these devices can combine their efforts to perform a task, a system can be used for converting an instruction from one device into a responsive action by another device.
Computing devices can communicate with each over a variety of transmission protocols from long range Internet-based communication to short-range technologies such as Bluetooth and near field communication (NFC). As devices are integrated into everyday environments, communication between the devices can be constrained by the limitations of one or more of the devices, or the limitations of a communication network. For example, one device may attempt to transmit a message to another device over a Wi-Fi network.
However, if the Wi-Fi network isn’t functioning properly (or is not otherwise accessible), the message may not be received by the other device. Another issue can be if a device has multiple communication channels open with multiple devices, the device’s processing may be diverted to maintaining separate communication channels and processing multiple data packets from multiple devices, as opposed to just transmitting data. Apple notes that this can lead to increased contention events for the device’s processing resources and increased energy demands on the device.
The newly granted patent addresses these issues by providing a communication framework in which one device in an environment is designated as a primary device for routing inter-device communications in the environment. If a device transmits a communication to another device, the communication may be initially routed to the primary device rather than being directly transmitted to the other device.
The primary device can then transmit the instruction to the other device. Advantageously, the primary device can be configured to have one or more stable and secure communication channels with the other device. Therefore, by routing communications to the primary device, this communication framework can ensure that the communication from the device is delivered to the other device. In some examples, the primary device may be configured as a resident device, configured to be stationary at a given location (e.g., at a home or office) and/or regularly plugged-in to electrical power (e.g., as opposed to using a battery).
Summary of the patent
Here’s Apple’s abstract of the patent: “Aspects of the disclosure include a method for communicating between a controller device and resident device. An example method includes detecting, by a controller, the resident device and an accessory connected to a local network. Establishing, by the controller, a first direct connection with the accessory. Receiving, by the controller, an input that identifies a control instruction for controlling the accessory.
“Determining, by the controller, whether to transmit a message comprising the control instruction to the accessory via the first direct connection with the accessory or the second direct connection with the resident device. Transmitting, by the controller, the message comprising the control instruction to the resident device via the second direct connection, the resident device configured to relay the message comprising the control instruction to the accessory.”
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