Patents Portfolio

U.S. Patent: 10,481,847

Patent Title

Information apparatus and software applications supporting output of digital content over a network to a registered output device

Meta Information

Issued Date: Nov. 19, 2019
Inventor: William Ho Chang et al
External Links: UPSTO, Google Patents

Technical Fields

Smart Phone / Tablet, Printer, Laptop

Abstract

Software applications and information apparatus supporting output of digital content over a network (e.g., Internet) to an output device (e.g., printer) are herein disclosed and enabled. To output digital content, an application for accessing a service provided over the network is installed at the information apparatus, the information apparatus discovers the output device that is in the same local area network (e.g., via IEEE 802.11) as the information apparatus, output device information is received from the discovered output device, and the output device information is transmitted to the service for registering the output device. Subsequent to registration, an application (e.g., Internet browser, email, document) at the information apparatus, having appropriate security or authentication information, may transmit digital content to the service to output the digital content at the registered output device. The output of digital content does not require a device specific driver to be installed in the information apparatus.

Sample Claim

1. A method for outputting digital content from an information apparatus to an output device by using one or more application software executable at the information apparatus, the information apparatus includes:
one or more processors;
a user interface for interacting with a user;
wireless communication circuitry that includes one or more wireless communication units for wireless
communication;
a memory or storage component; and
the one or more application software stored, at least partly, in the memory or storage component, the one or more application software includes at least one of an Internet browsing application, an email application, a document creation application, or a digital imaging application, individually or in any combination, wherein the one or more application software is executable by the one or more processors to facilitate output of the digital content from the information apparatus; and wherein the method comprises:
(1) wirelessly establishing, using the wireless communication circuitry of the information apparatus, a wireless local area network connection to a wireless local area network;
(2) wirelessly discovering, by the information apparatus, using the wireless communication circuitry of the information apparatus and over the wireless local area network connection wirelessly established in (1), an output device that is in the wireless local area network;
(3) wirelessly receiving, by the one or more application software of the information apparatus and over the wireless local area network connection wirelessly established in (1), and via the wireless communication circuitry of the information apparatus, output device information from the output device that has been wirelessly discovered by the information apparatus in (2);
(4) obtaining, by the one or more application software of the information apparatus, security or authentication information for the information apparatus to access one or more servers over a network, the one or more servers operated, at least in part, by a service provided over the network;
(5) accessing, by the one or more application software of the information apparatus, the one or more servers based, at least in part, on the security or authentication information obtained in (4);
(6) sending, by the one or more application software of the information apparatus, an output device object from the information apparatus to the one or more servers that are accessed by the information apparatus in (5), the output device object being related to the output device wirelessly discovered in (2), and the output device object includes at least part of the output device information that is wirelessly received from the output device in (3); and
(7) transmitting, using the one or more application software at the information apparatus and from the information apparatus to the one or more servers, a digital content object that includes at least part of the digital content for outputting at the output device that is wirelessly discovered by the information apparatus in (2), wherein the transmitting of the digital content object from the information apparatus to the one or more servers in (7) is subsequent to the information apparatus having sent the output device object to the one or more servers in (6); and wherein the wireless receiving of the output device information from the output device in (3) is subsequent to the information apparatus having wirelessly discovered the output device in (2), and the output device information that is wirelessly received from the output device includes at least one of identification information, capability information, address information, status information, or attribute information, individually or in any combination, related to the output device; and wherein the output device object sent from the information apparatus to the one or more servers in (6) includes at least part of the output device information wirelessly received from the output device in (3).