CN101013902B - Bluetooth communication through a single virtual port - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides a system for providing Bluetooth communication from a first Bluetooth-enabled device to a second Bluetooth-enabled device. The system includes a bluetooth manager that provides a graphical user interface; an output port driver that shares configuration information with the bluetooth manager and is started by the bluetooth manager; a first serial port that receives data from an application running on a first device data, the first serial port acts as a virtual serial port, wherein the first serial port is not connected to the communications hardware; a second serial port, which is connected to the communications hardware, the second serial port acts as an output port; and a bluetooth stack that receives data to be communicated from the second serial port; wherein the output port driver directs data from the first serial port to the second serial port via the output port driver.

Description

Bluetooth communication via a single virtual port

technical field

The present invention relates generally to Bluetooth-enabled devices, and more particularly to enhancing the usability of the Serial Port Profile (SPP) of the Bluetooth protocol.

Background technique

The Bluetooth communication protocol is a system for short-range wireless communication between devices.

In a typical scenario, a Bluetooth-enabled device A expects to communicate with a similarly-enabled device B using a Bluetooth connection. In traditional configurations, when a device is within communication range, communication cannot initially take place. That is, device A has no prior knowledge of device B's existence and therefore cannot communicate with it. Figure 1 shows a flow diagram of a process for establishing communication. In step 102, device A performs scan-associate processing when communication is requested. This scan correlation process is often a time-consuming process, typically taking up to several minutes. In step 104, the presence of device B is established. With the presence of device B established, in step 106 a virtual serial port is created in device A and in step 108 communication between device A and device B is initiated.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a Bluetooth-enabled device A202 that may be used in the method described above. Along with some hardware, the figure presents the functional components involved in Bluetooth communication, where a functional component is a unit of software or a state created by software interacting with the hardware of device 202 .

The application 204 running in the device A 202 requests Bluetooth communication with the device B 203 . The Bluetooth stack 210 may be provided within or outside of the operating system of the device 202 . The stack 210 implements multiple layers of Bluetooth functionality, it provides an implementation of the RFComm protocol to emulate the serial port functionality of a Bluetooth radio 212, and it provides an implementation of SDP to discover and search for Bluetooth devices and services.

The user uses the Bluetooth manager 208 to activate a connection to a remote device such as device B 203 . The Bluetooth manager 208 then interacts with the Bluetooth stack 210 which creates the virtual serial port. The Bluetooth manager 208 communicates with the stack 210 and executes independently of the stack 210 . The Bluetooth manager 208 is adapted to provide an interface between the user and the stack 210 . In this example, the virtual serial port BSP2:206 is opened. Bluetooth stack 210 receives data from application 204 via virtual serial port 206 and provides it to Bluetooth radio 212 .

In another prior art system, an automatic scan association process is performed periodically to determine Bluetooth devices available for communication. Once it is determined that communication will be possible for a particular device, it is added to the list of devices available for communication. In the systems described above, the list of possible devices is not configured by the user.

In the prior art, there are also systems for which the availability of Bluetooth communication is advantageous, but which undesirably makes the system "discoverable" in the scan association process. This may be the case for systems located in public places. In this case, the system does not want the Bluetooth functionality to be visible to any members of the public who have access to the system and have the ability to scan for Bluetooth enabled devices.

Therefore, there is a need for a system that does not require scanning for association processing when communicating, provides the user with a configurable list of devices with which communications can be established, and does not require the system to identify itself as "discoverable" to other Bluetooth-enabled devices. ".

Contents of the invention

The present invention relates to a system and method for SPP in Bluetooth protocol.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved system and method for Bluetooth communication. A further object of the invention is to obviate or alleviate at least one disadvantage of the prior art.

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a system for providing Bluetooth communication from a first Bluetooth enabled device to a second Bluetooth enabled device. The system includes a bluetooth manager that provides a graphical user interface; an output port driver that shares configuration information with the bluetooth manager and is started by the bluetooth manager; a first serial port that receives data from an application running on a first device data, the first serial port acts as a virtual serial port, wherein the first serial port is not connected to the communications hardware; a second serial port, which is connected to the communications hardware, the second serial port acts as an output port; and a bluetooth stack that receives data to be communicated from the second serial port; wherein the output port driver directs data from the first serial port to the second serial port via the output port driver.

This summary of the invention does not necessarily describe all features of the invention. Other aspects and advantages of the invention, as well as the structure and operation of various embodiments of the invention, will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon review of the following description of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Description of drawings

These and other features of the invention will become more apparent from the following description with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a flowchart of a method for connecting to a Bluetooth device in the prior art;

2 is a schematic block diagram of components of a Bluetooth device in the prior art;

3 is a schematic block diagram of a Bluetooth device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

4 is a schematic block diagram of components of a Bluetooth device according to an embodiment of the invention;

Figure 5a is a flowchart of a method for configuring a Bluetooth device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 5b is a flowchart of a method for establishing communication with a Bluetooth device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 6a is a schematic block diagram illustrating a connection with a Bluetooth device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 6b is a schematic block diagram illustrating a connection with a Bluetooth device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Detailed ways

The present invention provides systems and methods that enable Bluetooth communication between two Bluetooth enabled devices. The method allows user configuration, limits the number of serial ports opened, and does not require the user to perform scan association processing during communication.

Figure 3 schematically depicts a device on which the invention may be applied. In this embodiment, the device is a handheld terminal suitable for collecting data. Device 301 includes CPU 302 , random access memory 304 , non-volatile memory 306 and Bluetooth radio 308 . The device of this embodiment also includes an RF radio 310 . The term radio is used to describe RF radio 310 and Bluetooth radio 308, generally including those elements that would be apparent to those skilled in the art that are required for these types of communications. The system of the present invention is typically stored in non-volatile memory 306 as electronic signals. The system can run in CPU 302 and can be loaded in whole or in part in RAM 304 during operation. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the present invention can be used in any device suitable for storing and running programs and can be used for Bluetooth communication. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that FIG. 3 does not necessarily show all components within the Bluetooth enabled device 301 .

Fig. 4 is a schematic block diagram of a device with Bluetooth function 402 according to this embodiment. Figure 4 depicts the characteristics of device B203 as device 402 communicates with the device. As in FIG. 2, the elements shown in FIG. 4 may be hardware elements, software, or a state constructed by software, and the latter two elements generally interact with hardware elements including the elements shown in FIG. 3, and/or run on it. Figure 4 also depicts the nature of the interactions between the different components. Solid block arrows represent data flow and/or function calls between elements, while dashed arrows represent exchange of configuration information.

In this embodiment, the device A402, especially the CPU302, runs the Windows ^™ CE operating system on it. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that other operating systems including, but not limited to, Linux, Apple OS X, and Palm OS are also within the scope of the present invention. Bluetooth manager 407 is a graphical user interface (GUI) used by a user of device A 402 to configure the Bluetooth subsystem of device 402 for communication. The Bluetooth manager 407 communicates with the Bluetooth stack 412 and provides configuration information to the output port driver 408 . In this embodiment, the stack 412 is the Microsoft ^™ Bluetooth stack provided by the Windows CE operating system. Other implementations of the Bluetooth stack suitable for the operating system implemented (including Windows CE) are also within the scope of the invention.

The output port driver 408 is the central entity of this embodiment. The output port driver 408 is a virtual device driver in the form of a .DLL file. The output port driver 408 creates a virtual serial port 406 and an output serial port 410 which becomes an output port (BSP9: ). Virtual serial ports 406 are used by applications 404 . It is a virtual port in the sense that the application 404 sees it as an output port without it having any physical serial communication hardware associated with it. The output port driver 408 also provides the user with the Bluetooth manager 407 and ensures that the Bluetooth stack 412 connects to the desired device.

Virtual serial port 406 , output port driver 408 , output serial port 410 , Bluetooth stack 412 are all elements of the data path formed between application 404 and Bluetooth radio 414 .

The system of the present invention allows communication between Bluetooth enabled devices without performing scan association processing at the time of communication. In addition, this method allows communication with devices in the fixed device list. These aspects will now be considered with reference to the system shown in FIG. 4 .

The communication method according to the embodiment of the present invention is performed in two steps. In the first step, configure the device for communication. This step occurs before communication is desired. It can be executed by a user or a system administrator and can be considered a setup program. The second step occurs at the time of communication. During this step, the device is configured as illustrated in FIG. 4 .

Figure 5a shows the setup procedure according to an embodiment of the present invention. In step 502, scan correlation processing is performed. In step 504, the device responsive to the process is added to the menu of available devices. In step 506, the process asks if there are any more devices to add to the list of available devices. If there are other devices, processing returns to step 502 and another scan association process is performed. If there are no other devices to be registered, then processing passes to step 508 where a menu listing available devices is provided. With respect to the discussion of Figure 4, device B 203 would be the device listed in the menu above.

Figure 5b shows a flowchart of a method of establishing communication when communication is desired. In step 520 , the Bluetooth manager 407 receives an instruction to load the output port driver 408 . In step 522, the output port driver 408 is loaded. The output port driver 408 begins execution in step 524 . In step 526, it creates a virtual serial port 406 called BSP2: and listens on port 406. The application 404 opens a virtual serial port 406, and the user selects a Bluetooth device, such as device B203, to connect remotely to, from a selection menu. In step 528, the output port driver 408 receives the selection. In step 530, output port driver 408 communicates with Bluetooth stack 412 to create output serial port 410 (BSP9:). In step 532 , the output port driver 408 creates the output serial port 410 . Output port driver 408 redirects all data streams from application 404 to output serial port 410 via virtual serial port 406 . Thus in step 534 data traffic is transmitted to and from the port.

Figures 6a and 6b schematically show the procedure for connecting to a new device. In FIG. 6 a , application 602 is in communication with device X 604 , wherein application 602 is running in device 605 . In particular, data from application program 602 flows through virtual serial port 606 (BSP2: ) to output port driver 608 and via serial port 610 to device X 604 . Device X 604 is selected from a selection menu accessed by and contained within device A402.

When a user of device A 605 wishes to establish communication with another device, such as device Y 614, they bring up a selection menu and select the device therefrom. The output port driver 608 keeps the port BSP2:606 it created, but drops the connection to the device X604 by deleting the port BSP9:610. Driver 608 activates its new connection with device Y 614 by creating port BSP9:610 again. This provides seamless switching to and from new devices 614 without performing scan association processing.

The following examples illustrate the operation and use of the systems and methods of the present embodiments. In the case of a warehouse, there is a choice of network access points, printers and scanners with which the operator of the handheld data capture terminal may have to communicate. At predetermined intervals, the administrator performs a scan association process for Bluetooth-enabled devices with which the user desires to communicate. Once this process is performed, a list of available devices is compiled. During use of the handheld terminal, the user can select a device with which to establish communication from a selection menu.

The output port prompt mode is a configuration that the user can set via the Bluetooth Manager that manages the behavior of the output port selection menu. It has two options "every" and "once". Setting the value to "every" means that the output port selection menu will appear automatically each time the application "turns on" the output port. Setting the value to "once" means that the output port selection menu will appear automatically only when the application "turns on" the output port and there is no current selection of a remote device. Hotkey invocation of the output port selection menu is available regardless of the value of the output port prompt mode.

While this invention has been described in terms of what are presently considered to be the more practical and preferred embodiments, it has to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications may be made and equivalent structures and functions may be provided without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the claims. Accordingly, the invention as defined by the claims must be accorded the broadest possible interpretation so as to include all such modifications and equivalent structures and functions.

Claims (6)

1. a foundation provides the method for the communication path of Bluetooth communication, wherein data be passed to application program and from application passes to first equipment of carrying out said method in bluetooth radio, said method comprising the steps of:

Create virtual serial port and use the output port driver to monitor above that;

Open said virtual serial port;

Second equipments choice of reception to communicating with it, said second equipment is listed on the choice menus of available devices, is used for disposing the scanning association process of the creation facilities program (CFP) of said first equipment through execution, sets up said choice menus;

Create the output serial port, with said second devices communicating; And

To be routed to said output serial port from the data of said virtual serial port via said output port driver.

2. the method for claim 1 comprises: receive instruction to load the output port driver.

3. the method for claim 1, the output serial port that is associated that is used for the 3rd equipment through deletion cancel with the 3rd equipment between be connected after, realize creating the step of output port.

4. one kind provides from the system of the Bluetooth communication of the equipment of equipment to the second band Bluetooth function of the first band Bluetooth function, and said system is positioned at the equipment of the said first band Bluetooth function, and said system comprises:

The bluetooth manager, it provides graphic user interface;

First serial port, it receives the application's data of moving on comfortable said first equipment, and said first serial port serves as virtual serial port, and wherein said first serial port is not connected with communication hardware;

Second serial port, it is connected to communication hardware, and said second serial port serves as output port;

Output port driver, itself and said bluetooth manager are shared configuration information and are started by said bluetooth manager, and guide the data from said first serial port to arrive said second serial port via said output port driver; And

Bluetooth stack, its reception will be from the data of said second serial port transmission;

Wherein, Based on to will communicate with it second the band Bluetooth function equipments choice create said second serial port; Said second equipment is listed on the choice menus of available devices; Be used for disposing the scanning association process of creation facilities program (CFP) of the equipment of the said first band Bluetooth function through execution, set up said choice menus.

5. system as claimed in claim 4, wherein, data are passed to bluetooth radio from said bluetooth stack.

6. method as claimed in claim 4, the output serial port that is associated that is used for the 3rd equipment through deletion cancel with the 3rd equipment between be connected after, create said second serial port.

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