What is claimed is:
1. A time keeping apparatus comprising:
a generator unit that generates electricity using external energy;
a storage unit that stores the electricity;
a time display unit that displays time by using the electricity supplied from the storage unit;
a generation state detecting unit that detects an operation state of the generator unit and that outputs a detected generation state signal;
a mode switching unit that, responsive to the detected generation state signal, switches an operation mode of the time display unit between a normal operation mode in which the time display operation is performed and a power saving mode in which the time display operation is stopped;
a receiver unit for receiving external time information during both the normal operation mode and the power saving mode;
a current time counting unit that updates current time information by referring to the time that corresponds to the time information received by the receiver unit; and,
wherein the mode switching unit is responsive to the detected generation state signal to switch the operation mode from the normal operation mode to the power saving mode when the state of the generator unit is detected to be in a non-generation state.
2. A time keeping apparatus of claim 1, wherein the cycle of receiving the time information is longer in the power saving mode than in the normal operation mode.
3. A time keeping apparatus of claim 1, wherein the receiver unit receives the time information when the operation mode is switched from the normal operation mode to the power saving mode.
4. A time keeping apparatus of claim 1, wherein when the detected generation state signal has indicated that the generator unit has not been generating for more than a prescribed time period, the mode switching unit determines a state of the generator unit as in the non-generation state.
5. A time keeping apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:
a current time display switching unit that is responsive to the operation mode switching from the power saving mode to the normal operation mode to switch a state of the time display unit from a time display stoppage state to a current time display state in which a current time is displayed, based on the current time information; and
wherein the time display unit comprises at least one hand for displaying time; and wherein
the at least one hand is not driven during the power saving mode; and,
the current time display switching unit drives the at least one hand to a location corresponding to the current time when switching to the current time display state.
6. A time keeping apparatus of claim 5, wherein the at least one hand moves to a prescribed location before the mode switching unit switches the operation mode from the normal operation mode to the power saving mode; and,
the current time display switching unit drives the hands from the prescribed location to a location corresponding to the current time when switching to the current time display state.
7. A time keeping apparatus of claim 5, further comprising:
a hand location counter that outputs a counted value that corresponds to the number of drive pulses generated for driving the at least one hand; and,
a nonvolatile memory for storing the counted value when the operation mode is switched from the normal operation mode to the power saving mode; and
wherein the current time display switching unit controls switching operation to the current time display state based on the counted value.
8. A time keeping apparatus of claim 5, further comprising a hand location determination unit for determining the at least one hand location; and wherein
the current time display switching unit drives the at least one hand to a location corresponding to the current time from the hand location determined by the hand location determination unit when switching to the current time display state.
9. A time keeping apparatus of claim 1, wherein the generator unit comprises a solar cell.
10. A time keeping apparatus of claim 9, further comprising a voltage determining unit that determines a storage voltage of the storage unit, and
wherein the receiver unit stops receiving the time information when the storage voltage is lower than a prescribed voltage and the operation mode is in the power saving mode.
11. A time keeping apparatus of claim 10, wherein the prescribed voltage is set to a value such that the receiver unit can complete receiving the time information.
12. A time keeping apparatus of claim 9, further comprising a carry-state detecting circuit for detecting whether or not the apparatus is in a carry-state.
13. A time keeping apparatus of claim 1, wherein the generator unit comprises an oscillating weight and a rotor, and that generates electricity by using rotation of the rotor that is driven by movement of the oscillating weight.
14. A time keeping apparatus of claim 13, wherein the generation state detecting unit detects a state of generation based on voltage generated by the generator unit.
15. A time keeping apparatus of claim 1, wherein the generator unit comprises a thermoelectric generator that generates electricity by using external thermal energy.
16. A time keeping apparatus comprising:
a generator unit that generates electricity using external energy;
a storage unit that stores the electricity;
a time display unit that displays time by using the electricity supplied from the storage unit;
a carry-state detecting unit that detects a carry-state of the time keeping apparatus and that outputs a detected carry-state signal;
a mode switching unit that, responsive to the detected carry-state signal, switches an operation mode of the time display unit between a normal operation mode in which the time display operation is performed and a power saving mode in which the time display operation is stopped;
a receiver unit that receives external time information during both the normal operation mode and the power saving mode;
a current time counting unit for updating current time information by referring to the time which corresponds to the time information received by the receiver unit; and,
wherein the mode switching unit is responsive to the detected carry-state signal to switch the operation mode from the normal operation mode to the power saving mode when the carry-state of the time keeping apparatus is detected to be in a non-carried state.
17. A method for controlling a time keeping apparatus that comprises a generator unit that generates electricity by converting external energy to electrical energy and a time display unit that performs a time display, the method comprising:
detecting an operation state of the generator unit and outputting a detected generation state signal;
in response to the detected generation state signal, switching an operation mode of the time display unit between a normal operation mode in which the time display is performed and a power saving mode in which the time display is stopped;
receiving external time information during both the normal operation mode and the power saving mode;
updating a current time information that corresponds to the current time by referring to the received external time information; and,
responsive to the detected generation state signal, switching the operation mode from the normal operation mode to the power saving mode when the state of the generator unit is detected to be in a non-generation state.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A non-transitory computer readable medium of a first computing device that participates in a communication session among a plurality of computing devices, the computer readable medium storing a computer program that is executable by at least one processing unit, the computer program comprising sets of instructions for:
joining a first network that is established for routing a first type of media content data among the plurality of computing devices;
through the first network, receiving media content data of the first type;
from the received media content data of the first type, producing a first media presentation on the first computing device;
joining a second network that has a different network topology than the first network and that is established for sharing a second type of media content data among the plurality of computing devices;
through the second network, receiving media content data of the second type while concurrently receiving media content data of the first type through the first network;
from the received media content data of the second type, producing a second media presentation on the first computing device,
wherein the second network uses one of the computing devices as a central network hub for audio processing, wherein the audio processing includes accounting for silent participants.
2. The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the computer program further comprises sets of instructions for:
through the first network, transmitting media content data of the first type; and
through the second network, transmitting media content data of the second type while concurrently transmitting media content data of the first type through the first network.
3. The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the sets of instructions for producing the first and second media presentations comprises sets of instructions for:
providing the first media presentation on the first computing device; and
providing the second media presentation on the first computing device concurrently with the first media presentation.
4. The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the computer program further comprises a set of instructions for using the first network to set up the second network.
5. The computer readable medium of claim 4,
wherein the second network is a star network that uses the central network hub for receiving content from each computing device in the second network and distributing the received content to other computing devices in the second network,
wherein the computer program further comprises sets of instructions for:
using the first network to identify one computing device out of the plurality of computing devices that should be designated as the central network hub;
designating the identified computing device as the hub of the star network.
6. The computer readable medium of claim 5, wherein the central network hub capabilities comprises at least one of (i) device type of the computing device, (ii) Network Address Translation (NAT) router type of the router the computing device is behind, (iii) number of links that a computing device can establish with the other computing devices, and (iv) quality of the links.
7. The computer readable medium of claim 6, wherein the device type comprises at least one of (i) the speed of the computing device’s Central Processing Unit (CPU), and (ii) memory capacity of the computing device.
8. The computer readable medium of claim 6, the quality of links comprises at least one of (i) bandwidth of each link, and (ii) bit error rate of each link.
9. The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the first network is a mesh network and the second network is a star network.
10. A method for a first computing device to participate in a communication session among a plurality of computing devices, the method comprising:
joining a first network that is established for routing a first type of media content data among the plurality of computing devices;
through the first network, receiving media content data of the first type;
from the received media content data of the first type, producing a first media presentation on the first computing device;
joining a second network that has a different network topology than the first network and that is established for sharing a second type of media content data among the plurality of computing devices;
through the second network, receiving media content data of the second type while concurrently receiving media content data of the first type through the first network;
from the received media content data of the second type, producing a second media presentation on the first computing device,
wherein the second network uses one of the computing devices as a central network hub for audio processing, wherein the audio processing includes accounting for silent participants.
11. The method of claim 10, wherein the computer program further comprises sets of instructions for:
through the first network, transmitting media content data of the first type; and
through the second network, transmitting media content data of the second type while concurrently transmitting media content data of the first type through the first network.
12. The method of claim 10, wherein the sets of instructions for producing the first and second media presentations comprises sets of instructions for:
providing the first media presentation on the first computing device; and
providing the second media presentation on the first computing device concurrently with the first media presentation.
13. The method of claim 10, wherein the different network topologies of the first and second networks provide different schemes for distributing media content data among the plurality of computing devices.
14. The method of claim 10, wherein the first network has a mesh topology that provides multiple paths for providing media content data from one computing device to at least another computing device, while the second network is a non-mesh topology that provides at most only one path for providing media content data from any one computing device to any other computing device.
15. A computing device to participate in a communication session among a plurality of computing devices, the computing device comprising:
a first module (i) to set up a first network for routing a first type of media content data among the plurality of computing devices, (ii) through the first network, to receive media content data of the first type, and (iii) from the received media content data of the first type, to produce a first media presentation on the computing device; and
a second module (i) to set up a second network for sharing a second type of media content data among the plurality of computing devices, the second network having a different network topology than the first network, (ii) through the second network, to receive media content data of the second type, while the first module is concurrently receiving media content data of the first type through the first network, and (iii) from the received media content data of the second type, to produce a second media presentation on the computing device,
wherein the second network uses one of the computing devices as a central network hub for processing, wherein the audio processing accounting for silent participants.
16. The computing device of claim 15, wherein the first module transmits media content data of the first type through the first network while the second module concurrently transmits media content data of the second type.
17. The computing device of claim 15, wherein the different network topologies of the first and second networks provide different schemes for distributing media content data among the plurality of computing devices.
18. The computing device of claim 15, wherein the first network has a mesh topology that provides multiple paths for providing media content data from one computing device to at least another computing device, while the second network is a non-mesh topology that provides at most only one path for providing media content data from any one computing device to any other computing device.
19. The computing device of claim 15, wherein the media content data of the first type comprises media content data generated by the computing devices to perform a particular task, while the media content data of the second type comprises media content data captured from users of the computing devices.
20. The computing device of claim 15, wherein the media content data of the first and second types are not control data for establishing or maintaining the communication session along the first and second networks.