Apparatus and method of repeating for infrared communication devices
AssigneeKabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
InventorTakuya Kawamura
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A repeater apparatus (1001) is constituted from infrared transmitter sections (1s, 2s, 3s) and infrared receiver sections (1r, 2r, 3r) as well as connection control sections (1C, 2C, 3C) and further a repeater section (101), thereby attaining independent communications with the individual one of several associated equipments with respect to infrared communication apparatus of the direct emission type which supports only one-to-one (1-to-1) or one-to-several (1-to-N) communication schemes, thus enabling achievement of N-to-N communication forms by performing transfer of data information being received by each communication equipment to others.
Claims8
A repeater apparatus for connecting a plurality of infrared communication devices, the repeater apparatus comprising:
- a plurality of infrared transmitting means for transmitting infrared signals;
- a plurality of infrared receiving means for receiving infrared signals;
- control means for establishing connections between two or more of the plurality of infrared communication devices through the plurality of infrared transmitting means and the plurality of infrared receiving means;
- a group establishing means for setting two or more connections as one group among the connections established by the control means;
- and
- a repeating means for broadcasting information received from an infrared communication device belonging to the group established by the group establishing means to other infrared communication devices belonging to the group.
A method for connecting a plurality of infrared communication devices using a repeater apparatus the method comprising the steps of:
- establishing connections between the plurality of infrared communication devices through the repeater apparatus using a plurality of infrared transmitting means and a plurality of infrared receiving means;
- setting two or more of the established connections as a group;
- and
- broadcasting information output from an infrared communication device belonging to the established group to other infrared communication devices belonging to the group.
An infrared communication system using a repeater apparatus for connecting two or more infrared communication devices, the repeater apparatus comprising:
- means for receiving a request from an infrared communication device to establish a connection between the infrared communication device and the repeater apparatus;
- means for determining whether a connection may be allowed between the other infrared communication devices and the repeater apparatus;
- means for transmitting the request from the repeater apparatus to the other infrared communication devices;
- means for establishing a connection between the requesting infrared communication device and the repeater apparatus and connections between the other infrared communication devices and the repeater apparatus, by returning a response indicating that the connections are allowed to the requesting infrared communication device after receiving confirmation that connection establishment is allowed from the other infrared communication devices;
- and
- means for setting a plurality of the infrared communication devices connected by the established connections as a group, and transferring information within the established group.
A communication method for a repeater apparatus transferring information between infrared communication devices, the communication method comprising:
- receiving a request from an infrared communication device for establishing a connection between the infrared communication device and the repeater apparatus;
- determining whether a connection is allowed between the other infrared communication devices and the repeater apparatus;
- transmitting a request for connection establishment from the repeater apparatus to the other infrared communication devices;
- establishing a connection between the requesting infrared communication device and the repeater apparatus and connections between the other infrared communication devices and the repeater apparatus, by returning a response indicating the connections are allowed to said one infrared communication device after receiving confirmation of connection establishment to be allowed from the other infrared communication devices;
- and
- setting a plurality of infrared communication devices connected by the established connections as a group, and transferring information within the established group.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.