Inter-device communications may include Wi-Fi Direct, Bluetooth and Zigbee.
Basically, in case of using the inter-device communication, one-to-one connection between two devices is possible. For instance, a smartphone-to-smartphone connection, a mouse-to-laptop connection, and a PC-to-printer (personal computer-to-printer) connection are possible. Hence, various contents such as photos, music, videos and the like can be eventually exchanged using the inter-device communication.
Moreover, the inter-device communication is available for one-to-many connection as well as for one-to-one connection. For instance, in case of using the inter-device communications, a mouse, a keyboard, a printer and the like can be simultaneously connected to a single computer.
For the driver's convenience, a vehicle is equipped with additional equipment such as a car audio, a navigator and the like. And, the additional equipment are generally attached to a dashboard provided in front of a driver seat. The equipment such as the car audio, the navigator and the like are generally called a head unit (H/U).
Recently, as vehicle equipment tend to electronically operate and mobile terminals such as a mobile phone, a smartphone and the like are used in general, many ongoing efforts are made to research and develop an interworking service between the head unit and the mobile terminal. And, the interworking service is based on the inter-device communication. Through this, the head unit can provide an application or service provided by the mobile terminal in a manner of extending the application or service into a function of the head unit. For instance, a navigation app or service screen in the mobile terminal is identically displayed on a display device of the head unit and a manipulation of the mobile terminal can be performed within a head unit device.
Thus, the demands for an inter-device communication system, apparatus and controlling method thereof are increasingly rising within legal limits regulated to enable a driver to focus on driving.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds