1. A method for discovering a wireless device on a computer network, the method comprising:
broadcasting from the wireless device a first data packet containing identification information associated with the wireless device, wherein the identification information contains at least a location and a functionality of the wireless device; and
broadcasting from the wireless device a second data packet a plurality of times, wherein a first occurrence of the second data packet is broadcast at a first power level and a second occurrence of the second data packet is broadcast at a second power level lower than the first power level.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein broadcasting is in response to a query received from an external device.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the wireless device is an imaging device.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the identification information further contains a device description and necessary permissions.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein the first data packet further contains a checksum for error checking.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the first power level is lower than a power level used to broadcast the first data packet.
7. The method of claim 6, wherein the power level used to broadcast the first data packet is a maximum power level for the wireless device.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein a third occurrence of the second data packet is broadcast at a third power level lower than the second power level, a fourth occurrence of the second data packet is broadcast at a fourth power level lower than the third power level, a fifth occurrence of the second data packet is broadcast at a fifth power level lower than the fourth power level, and a sixth occurrence of the second data packet is broadcast at a sixth power level lower than the fifth power level.
9. The method of claim 8, wherein the first power level is approximately 400 mW, the second power level is approximately 300 mW, the third power level is approximately 200 mW, the fourth power level is approximately 100 mW, the fifth power level is approximately 50 mW and the sixth power level is approximately 10 mW.
10. A method for discovering a wireless device on a computer network, the method comprising:
broadcasting from the wireless device a first data packet containing identification information associated with the wireless device, wherein the identification information contains at least a location and a functionality of the wireless device; and
broadcasting from the wireless device a second data packet a plurality of times, wherein the second data packet is broadcast at more than one power level.
11. The method of claim 10, wherein each occurrence of the second data packet is broadcast at a power level lower than a power level used for a prior occurrence.
12. The method of claim 10, wherein the first data packet further contains an indication of a number of times the second data packet will be broadcast and a power level for each occurrence of the second data packet.
13. The method of claim 10, wherein each occurrence of the second data packet contains an indication of the power level used to broadcast that occurrence.
14. A method for discovering a wireless device on a computer network, the method comprising:
broadcasting from the wireless device a first data packet containing identification information associated with the wireless device, wherein the identification information contains at least a location and a functionality of the wireless device; and
broadcasting from the wireless device a second data packet a predetermined number of times at diminishing power levels.
15. A wireless device, comprising:
a processor;
a transceiver coupled to the processor; and
a computer-usable media containing computer-readable instructions adapted to cause the processor to perform a method, the method comprising:
causing the transceiver to broadcast a first data packet containing identification information associated with the wireless device, wherein the identification information contains at least a location and a functionality of the wireless device; and
after broadcasting the first data packet, causing the transceiver to broadcast a first occurrence of second data packet at a first power level and to broadcast a second occurrence of the second data packet at a second power level lower than the first power level.
16. The wireless device of claim 15, wherein the computer-readable instructions are further adapted to cause the processor to cause the transceiver to broadcast the first data packet in response to receiving a query at the transceiver.
17. The wireless device of claim 15, wherein the computer-readable instructions are further adapted to cause the processor to cause the transceiver to broadcast the first data packet periodically.
18. The wireless device of claim 15, wherein the wireless device is an imaging device, further comprising a formatter for rendering image data into a printable image and a print engine for converting the printable image into a tangible image.
19. The wireless device of claim 15, wherein the identification information further contains a device description and necessary permissions.
20. The wireless device of claim 15, wherein the first data packet further contains a checksum for error checking.
21. The wireless device of claim 15, wherein the first power level is lower than a power level used for broadcasting the first data packet.
22. The wireless device of claim 21, wherein the power level used for broadcasting the first data packet is a maximum power level for the wireless device.
23. The wireless device of claim 15, wherein a third occurrence of the second data packet is broadcast at a third power level lower than the second power level, a fourth occurrence of the second data packet is broadcast at a fourth power level lower than the third power level, a fifth occurrence of the second data packet is broadcast at a fifth power level lower than the fourth power level, and a sixth occurrence of the second data packet is broadcast at a sixth power level lower than the fifth power level.
24. The wireless device of claim 23, wherein the first power level is approximately 400 mW, the second power level is approximately 300 mW, the third power level is approximately 200 mW, the fourth power level is approximately 100 mW, the fifth power level is approximately 50 mW and the sixth power level is approximately 10 mW.
25. A wireless peripheral device, comprising:
a processor;
a transceiver coupled to the processor; and
a computer-usable media containing computer-readable instructions adapted to cause the processor to perform a method, the method comprising:
causing the transceiver to broadcast a first data packet containing identification information associated with the wireless peripheral device; and
after broadcasting the first data packet, causing the transceiver to broadcast a second data packet a predetermined number of times at diminishing power levels.
26. A wireless imaging device, comprising:
a processor;
a formatter coupled to the processor;
a print engine coupled to the formatter; and
a transceiver coupled to the processor, wherein the transceiver is adapted to transmit a first data packet at an initial power level, the first data packet containing identification information associated with the imaging device, and to transmit a second data packet a plurality of times at diminishing power levels.
27. A method of choosing a peripheral device on a wireless computer network containing a plurality of peripheral devices, the method comprising:
receiving one or more first data packets, wherein each of the first data packets contains identification information associated with a peripheral device;
in response to receiving a first data packet from a peripheral device, listening for a second data packet and counting a number of times the second data packet is received from that peripheral device;
ranking the plurality of peripheral devices based at least in part on the number of times the second data packet is counted for each peripheral device.
28. The method of claim 27, further comprising:
modifying the ranking based at least in part on continued monitoring of signal reliability from each of the peripheral devices.
29. The method of claim 28, wherein modifying the ranking further comprises assigning an initial score based on a number of times the second data packet is counted for a peripheral device, increasing the score if a maximum number of second data packets is counted for that peripheral device and decreasing the score if less than a maximum number of second data packets is counted for that peripheral device.
30. The method of claim 27, further comprising:
broadcasting a query to request the first data packets.
31. The method of claim 27, further comprising:
determining a desired functionality for a peripheral device to be chosen;
obtaining information indicative of the functionality of each peripheral device from their respective first data packets; and
eliminating any peripheral device not containing the desired functionality.
32. The method of claim 31, further comprising:
further ranking the plurality of peripheral devices based in part on their functionality.
33. The method of claim 27, further comprising:
obtaining information indicative of a functionality of each peripheral device from their respective first data packets; and
further ranking the plurality of peripheral devices based in part on their functionality.
34. A method of choosing a peripheral device on a wireless computer network containing a plurality of peripheral devices, the method comprising:
receiving one or more first data packets, wherein each of the first data packets contains identification information associated with a peripheral device and wherein each of the first data packets further contains information about a number of times a second data packet will be transmitted and a power level for each such transmission;
in response to receiving a first data packet, listening for the second data packet and determining a lowest power level at which the second data packet is received;
ranking the plurality of peripheral devices based at least in part on the lowest power level at which the second data packet is received for each peripheral device.
35. An imaging device, comprising:
means for rendering image data and providing a tangible output representative of the image data;
means for broadcasting a first data packet containing identification information associated with the imaging device; and
means for broadcasting a second data packet a plurality of times, wherein the
means for broadcasting the second data packet is adapted to broadcast the occurrences of the second data packet at diminishing power levels.
36. The imaging device of claim 35, wherein each occurrence of the second data packet contains an indication of a power level used to broadcast that occurrence.
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 cellular M2M chipset for providing communication with and control a device having no network connectivity, comprising:
a processor;
a memory in operable communication with the processor;
a communication module in operative communications with the processor and the memory, the communication module providing for connection to a cellular network and a device or sensor having no ability to connect with a network; and
a software program stored in the memory, the software program consisting of programming commands for controlling the processor to establish a cellular connection through the communication module with a cellular network.
2. The chipset of claim 1, wherein the software program includes programming commands for controlling the processor to communicate with the device or sensor.
3. The chipset of claim 1, wherein the processor and communication module comprise a very low throughput compared to conventional cellular chipsets utilized in cellular handsets.
4. The chipset of claim 1, wherein the communication module is configured as an LTE end-node.
5. The chipset of claim 1, wherein the software program lacks programming commands for providing a user interface.
6. The chipset of claim 1, wherein the memory is a subscriber identification module.
7. A system for monitoring andor controlling a device or sensor utilizing a cellular network, comprising:
a chipset having a processor, memory, and a communication module for establishing a connection with a cellular network and for establishing a connection with a device or sensor, the communication module including a cellular access point;
a subscriber identification card which is provisioned for establishing a connection to the cellular network; and
a client cellular interface supported by the cellular network connection, the client cellular interface being configured to establish communication with the cellular network, whereby data passed to the client cellular interface is routed within the cellular network to a computing device.
8. The system of claim 7, wherein the chipset is an LTE end-node chipset.
9. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the chipset comprises limited functionality so as to support M2M connectivity.
10. The system of claim 7, wherein the chipset lacks a user interface or a Human Machine Interface (HMI).
11. The system of claim 7, wherein the device or sensor is incapable of communicating or establishing network connections in absence of the chipset.
12. The system of claim 7, wherein the computing device is configured to receive M2M communications from the chipset.
13. The system of claim 7, further comprising a software application stored on a non-transitory machine-readable medium of the computing device, wherein the software application is configured to establish a cellular connection between the computing device and the chipset by way of the cellular access point, and wherein the software application effectively operates as a user interface for the chipset, thereby enabling a user to remotely monitor, operate, and control the device or sensor by way of the computing device.
14. The system of claim 7, wherein the computing device is a mobile phone or a tablet computer.
15. The system of claim 7, wherein the computing device is a portable computing device capable of participating in a wireless cellular connection.
16. The system of claim 7, wherein the chipset periodically sends information about the status of the device or sensor to the computing device.
17. The system of claim 16, wherein the computing device includes a software application which receives the information sent by the chipset and then displays the information to a user.
18. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the information is deployed as a Webpage, which periodically updates and displays new information received from the chipset.
19. A method for connecting a computing device to a legacy device so as to remotely monitor, operate, or control the legacy device, the method comprising:
providing a cellular machine-to-machine (M2M) chipset that is capable of establishing a cellular network connection in cooperation with a Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) which is provisioned with a cellular network connection;
configuring the cellular network connection to support a client cellular interface and a cellular access point, wherein the client cellular interface is configured to establish cellular connections with a communications network, whereby data passed to the client cellular interface is routed within the communications network to the computing device, and wherein the cellular access point is configured to receive cellular connections whereby the computing device may connect directly to the cellular M2M chipset; and
coupling the cellular M2M chipset to the legacy device, such that the legacy device is responsive to commands received from the computer device to the cellular M2M chipset by way of the cellular network connection.
20. The method of claim 19, further comprising providing a software application stored on a non-transitory machine-readable medium of the computing device, wherein the software application is configured to establish a cellular connection between the computing device and the cellular M2M chipset by way of the cellular network connection, and wherein the software application effectively operates as a user interface for the cellular M2M chipset, thereby enabling a user to remotely monitor, operate, or control the legacy device by way of the computing device.
21. The method of claim 19, wherein coupling the cellular M2M chipset to the legacy device further comprises configuring the cellular M2M chipset to periodically send information about the status of the legacy device to the computing device.
22. The method of claim 19, wherein the computing device includes a software application which receives the information sent by the cellular M2M chipset and then displays the information to the user, and wherein the software application sends user-entered commands to the cellular M2M chipset, such that the software application operates as a Human Machine Interface (HMI) for the cellular M2M chipset.