Electronic device and operating method thereof

By identifying and managing the bandwidth usage of connected devices in electronic devices, deciding whether it is possible to establish a new Bluetooth connection, and recommending the release of connected devices through the user interface to release bandwidth, multiple Bluetooth device connection management in the prior art is solved. problem, enabling efficient Bluetooth connection request processing.

CN119366261APending Publication Date: 2025-01-24SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO LTD
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Patent Information

Application Number
CN202380050065.4
Authority / Receiving Office
CN · China
Patent Type
Applications(China)
Current Assignee / Owner
Priority Date
2022-09-28
Filing Date
2023-06-27
Publication Date
2025-01-24

AI Technical Summary

Technical Problem

The prior art is difficult to effectively manage wireless connections between multiple Bluetooth devices, especially in the case of bandwidth limitations, resulting in the failure of Bluetooth connection requests to be successfully processed.

Method used

By implementing a processor configuration in an electronic device, it is possible to identify and manage the bandwidth usage of connected devices, decide whether it is possible to establish a new Bluetooth connection based on the remaining bandwidth and the bandwidth requirements of the requesting device, and recommend released connected devices through the user interface to free up bandwidth.

Benefits of technology

In the case of limited bandwidth, the connection of multiple Bluetooth devices is effectively managed to ensure that the Bluetooth connection request of the new equipment can be successfully handled and improved the efficiency of system resource utilization.

✦ Generated by Eureka AI based on patent content.

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Abstract

The electronic device includes a processor configured to execute instructions to: receive a wireless connection request from a first device; checking wireless bandwidth usage of the first device; determining whether a wireless connection to the first device is possible based on the remaining wireless bandwidth of the electronic device and the use of the wireless bandwidth of the first device; when it is determined that the wireless connection of the first device is impossible due to the remaining wireless bandwidth of the electronic device, a user interface is instructed to be provided to enable a user to be based on the remaining wireless bandwidth of the electronic device and the wireless bandwidth of the first device. Selecting, from one or more different wireless devices that have been wirelessly connected, at least one different wireless device that can be wirelessly disconnected to enable the first device to wirelessly connect; disconnecting a wireless connection with at least one different wireless device selected according to the input through the user interface; and establishing a wireless connection with the first device when the wireless connection with the different wireless device is disconnected.
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Description

Technical Field

[0001] The disclosed embodiments relate to an electronic device for performing wireless connection and an operating method thereof, and more particularly, to an electronic device for providing Bluetooth connection to a plurality of Bluetooth devices and an operating method thereof. Background Art

[0002] Bluetooth is a wireless communication protocol that uses UHF radio wave frequencies in the 2.4 GHz industrial, scientific, medical (ISM) band to allow various Bluetooth devices to connect wirelessly at a speed of about 1Mbps, so that a Bluetooth device can discover and wirelessly connect to another Bluetooth device when another Bluetooth device is present in its vicinity. Bluetooth is managed by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG). Bluetooth can comply with the IEEE 802.15.1 standard and its derivatives. In the Bluetooth communication scheme, a Bluetooth device is configured to use a Bluetooth device (BD) address set in another Bluetooth device and a Bluetooth device name entered by a user for mutual identification, and send information to the other Bluetooth device. Therefore, Bluetooth devices can communicate with each other without using a cable directly connected between them. Due to this convenience, the Bluetooth function has become popular, widespread, and is being widely used. Summary of the invention

[0003] The electronic device may include: a communicator; a memory configured to store one or more instructions; and a processor configured to execute the one or more instructions stored in the memory. The processor is configured to execute the one or more instructions to: receive a request for a wireless connection from a first device; identify the use of the wireless bandwidth of the first device; determine whether a wireless connection to the first device is possible based on the remaining wireless bandwidth of the electronic device and the use of the wireless bandwidth of the first device; in response to determining that a wireless connection to the first device is not possible based on the remaining wireless bandwidth of the electronic device and the use of the wireless bandwidth of the first device, provide a user interface to a display to allow a user to select at least one other wireless device from one or more other wireless devices that have been wirelessly connected to the electronic device through other device wireless connections, the other device wireless connection to the at least one other wireless device to be released; release the other device wireless connection to the at least one other wireless device selected according to the input through the user interface, and in response to releasing the other device wireless connection, establish a wireless connection to the first device.

[0004] The processor is further configured to execute one or more instructions to perform the identification based on at least one of: manufacturer information of the first device, information about a wireless function requested by the first device, or information about a wireless bandwidth requested by the first device.

[0005] The processor is further configured to execute one or more instructions to calculate a remaining wireless bandwidth of the electronic device by excluding bandwidth used by one or more other wireless devices already wirelessly connected to the electronic device from an available bandwidth of the electronic device.

[0006] The processor is also configured to execute one or more instructions to: determine that a wireless connection to the first device is possible when the remaining wireless bandwidth of the electronic device is greater than or equal to the usage of the wireless bandwidth of the first device, and determine that a wireless connection to the first device is not possible when the remaining wireless bandwidth of the electronic device is less than the usage of the wireless bandwidth of the first device.

[0007] The processor is also configured to execute one or more instructions to: recommend, through a user interface, the release of the other device wireless connection to at least one recommended device among the one or more other wireless devices that have been wirelessly connected to the electronic device based on the order of duration of the other device wireless connection of each other wireless device among the one or more other wireless devices that have been wirelessly connected to the electronic device.

[0008] The processor is further configured to execute one or more instructions to: periodically release the other device wireless connection to any other device among the one or more other wireless devices based on the duration of the other device wireless connection of any other device among the one or more other devices being longer than a predetermined threshold.

[0009] The processor is also configured to execute one or more instructions to: recommend, through a user interface, the release of the other device wireless connection to at least one of the one or more other wireless devices based on the relevance of the one or more other wireless devices to the application running in the electronic device.

[0010] The processor is also configured to execute one or more instructions to: recommend, through a user interface, release of the other device wireless connection to at least one recommended device among the one or more other wireless devices based on the order in which the other wireless devices have usage corresponding to the usage of the wireless bandwidth of the first device.

[0011] The processor is further configured to execute one or more instructions to recommend, through a user interface, release of an other device wireless connection to at least one recommended device among the one or more other wireless devices that supports a USB connection to the electronic device.

[0012] An operating method for an electronic device may include: receiving a request for a wireless connection from a first device; identifying the use of a wireless bandwidth of the first device; determining whether a wireless connection to the first device is possible based on the remaining wireless bandwidth of the electronic device and the use of the wireless bandwidth of the first device; in response to determining that a wireless connection to the first device is not possible based on the remaining wireless bandwidth of the electronic device and the use of the wireless bandwidth of the first device, providing a user interface to a display to allow a user to select at least one other wireless device whose other device wireless connection is to be released from one or more other wireless devices that have been wirelessly connected to the electronic device via other device wireless connections; releasing the other device wireless connection to the at least one other device selected according to input through the user interface; and in response to releasing the other device wireless connection, establishing a wireless connection to the first device.

[0013] Identifying the use of the wireless bandwidth of the first device may include identifying based on at least one of manufacturer information of the first device, information about a wireless function requested by the first device, or information about a wireless bandwidth requested by the first device.

[0014] The operating method may further include calculating a remaining wireless bandwidth of the electronic device by excluding a bandwidth used by one or more other wireless devices that have been wirelessly connected to the electronic device from an available bandwidth of the electronic device.

[0015] The operating method may also include: when the remaining wireless bandwidth of the electronic device is equal to or greater than the usage of the wireless bandwidth of the first device, determining that the wireless connection to the first device is possible; and when the remaining wireless bandwidth of the electronic device is less than the usage of the wireless bandwidth of the first device, determining that the wireless connection to the first device is impossible.

[0016] The operating method may also include: recommending, through a user interface, the release of the other device wireless connection to at least one recommended device among the one or more other devices that have been wirelessly connected to the electronic device, based on the order of duration of the other device wireless connection of each other device.

[0017] The operating method may also include periodically releasing the other device wireless connection to any other wireless device among the one or more other wireless devices based on a duration of the other device wireless connection of any other wireless device among the one or more other wireless devices being longer than a predetermined threshold.

[0018] The operating method may further include: recommending, through a user interface, the release of the other device wireless connection to at least one recommended device among the one or more other wireless devices based on the degree of relevance of the one or more other wireless devices to the application running in the electronic device.

[0019] The operating method may further include recommending, through a user interface, release of the other device wireless connection to at least one recommended device among the one or more other wireless devices based on an order of usage of the other wireless devices corresponding to usage of the wireless bandwidth of the first device.

[0020] The operating method may further include: recommending, through a user interface, the release of the other device wireless connection to at least one recommended device among the one or more other wireless devices that supports a USB connection to the electronic device.

[0021] A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium may include a program stored therein for executing an operation method, which may include: receiving a request for a wireless connection from a first device; identifying the use of the wireless bandwidth of the first device; determining whether a wireless connection to the first device is possible based on the remaining wireless bandwidth of the electronic device and the use of the wireless bandwidth of the first device; in response to determining that a wireless connection to the first device is not possible based on the remaining wireless bandwidth of the electronic device and the use of the wireless bandwidth of the first device, providing a user interface to a display to allow a user to select at least one other wireless device among one or more other wireless devices that have been wirelessly connected to the electronic device through the other device wireless connection, whose other device wireless connection is to be released; releasing the other device wireless connection to the at least one other device selected according to input through the user interface; and in response to releasing the other device wireless connection, establishing a wireless connection to the first device.

[0022] The request for the wireless connection may be a request for a Bluetooth connection. The use of the wireless bandwidth of the first device may be the use of the Bluetooth bandwidth of the first device. The wireless connection to the first device may be a Bluetooth connection to the first device. The remaining wireless bandwidth of the electronic device may be the remaining Bluetooth bandwidth of the electronic device. At least one other wireless device of the one or more other wireless devices may be at least one other Bluetooth device of the one or more other Bluetooth devices. The other device wireless connection may be an other device Bluetooth connection. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0023] The present disclosure can be easily understood by combination of the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings, and the drawing numerals refer to structural elements.

[0024] Figure 1is a reference diagram for describing examples of various Bluetooth devices that can be connected to an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0025] Figure 2 An example of a bandwidth required by each function / manufacturer of a Bluetooth device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown.

[0026] Figure 3 An example of time multiplexing scheduling according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown.

[0027] Figure 4 is a block diagram of an example of an electronic device and a Bluetooth device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0028] Figure 5 is a detailed block diagram of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0029] Figure 6 is a flowchart illustrating an operating method of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0030] Figure 7 An example of information on a Bluetooth bandwidth of each device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown.

[0031] Figure 8 An example of information on Bluetooth bandwidth for each device manufacturer according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown.

[0032] Fig. 9 An example of information on a Bluetooth bandwidth for each device function according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown.

[0033] Fig.10 is an example of a flowchart of a method of recommending one of the already connected Bluetooth devices for Bluetooth disconnection based on an order of connection time points according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0034] Fig.11 An example of a list of Bluetooth devices connected to an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown.

[0035] Fig.12 is an example of a user interface for selecting at least one Bluetooth device whose Bluetooth connection can be released according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0036] Fig.13 is an example of a flowchart of a method of recommending a Bluetooth device for Bluetooth disconnection among already connected Bluetooth devices based on correlation with an application running in an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0037] Fig.14 An example of a list of Bluetooth devices connected to an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown.

[0038] Fig.15 is an example of a user interface for selecting at least one Bluetooth device whose Bluetooth connection can be released according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0039] Fig.16 is an example of a flowchart of a method of recommending a Bluetooth device for Bluetooth disconnection among already connected Bluetooth devices based on whether a universal serial bus (USB) connection is supported according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0040] Fig.17 An example of a list of Bluetooth devices connected to an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown.

[0041] Fig.18 is an example of a user interface for selecting at least one Bluetooth device for Bluetooth disconnection according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0042] Fig.19 is an example of a flowchart of a method for recommending a Bluetooth device for Bluetooth disconnection among already connected Bluetooth devices based on the Bluetooth bandwidth of a first device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0043] Fig. 20 An example of a list of Bluetooth devices connected to an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown.

[0044] Fig.21 is an example of a user interface for selecting at least one Bluetooth device for Bluetooth disconnection according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0045] Embodiments will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings to help those of ordinary skill in the art to easily implement them. However, the disclosed embodiments can be implemented in many different forms and are not limited to those discussed herein. In the accompanying drawings, for the sake of clarity, parts that are not relevant to the description are omitted, and throughout the specification, the same reference numerals represent the same elements. Throughout the accompanying drawings, the same reference numerals represent the same elements.

[0046] When A is said to be “connected” to B, it means “directly connected” to B or “electrically connected” to B through C between A and B. Unless otherwise stated, the terms “comprises” or “comprising” are inclusive or open-ended and do not exclude additional unrecited elements or method steps.

[0047] The phrases "an embodiment," "an embodiment of the disclosure," or "some embodiments" that frequently appear in the specification do not always refer to the same embodiment.

[0048] Some embodiments may be described in terms of function block components and various processing steps. Some or all of the function blocks may be implemented by any number of hardware and / or software components configured to perform a specific function. For example, the function blocks may be implemented by one or more processors or microprocessors, or by circuit elements for performing the intended function. In addition, for example, the function blocks may be implemented in various programming or scripting languages. The function blocks may be implemented in algorithms executed on one or more processors. In addition, the disclosed embodiments may employ any number of conventional techniques for electronic configuration, signal processing, and / or data processing. The terms "module" and "configuration" are used broadly and are not limited to mechanical or physical components.

[0049] The connecting lines or members between the elements shown in the drawings are illustratively shown as functional and / or physical connections or circuit connections. In practice, alternative or additional functional, physical or circuit connections may be adopted between the elements.

[0050] The expression "at least one of A, B, or C" means only A, only B, only C, both A and B, both A and C, both B and C, all of A, B, and C, or variations thereof.

[0051] An electronic device is a computing device that includes a communication module for performing Bluetooth communication, and can exist in a variety of forms. For example, the electronic device can be a wearable device, a smart phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a media player, a tablet personal computer (PC), a laptop, a media player, a television (TV), a digital TV, a smart TV, a digital signage and / or a digital billboard, but is not limited thereto. In the following, for ease of explanation, a device capable of providing Bluetooth communication will be referred to as an electronic device.

[0052] The term "Bluetooth" as used herein may refer to devices, software, interfaces and / or other components that operate in accordance with one or more Bluetooth technology standards including Bluetooth Core Specification Versions 1.2, 2.0, and 2.1+ (EDR).

[0053] In the accompanying drawings, the case where the electronic device is a TV will be taken as an example. In addition, in the accompanying drawings, the same elements are represented by the same reference numerals. In addition, in the entire specification, the same elements are represented by the same terms.

[0054] An electronic device and an operating method thereof will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0055] Figure 1 is a reference diagram for describing examples of various Bluetooth devices that can be connected to an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0056] refer to Figure 1 , the electronic device 100 can use the Bluetooth communication protocol to connect to one or more Bluetooth devices.

[0057] The electronic device 100 may be connected to the Bluetooth speaker 10 for communication using the Bluetooth communication protocol and output voice or audio data to the Bluetooth speaker 10 .

[0058] The electronic device 100 may be connected to the sound bar 20 using the Bluetooth communication protocol to communicate and output voice or audio data to the sound bar 20 .

[0059] The electronic device 100 can use the Bluetooth communication protocol to connect to the Bluetooth headset 30 for communication, and output voice or audio data to the Bluetooth headset 30 or receive voice or audio data obtained by the Bluetooth headset 30. For example, when performing a voice call function and running a game application, the electronic device 100 can receive the user's voice data obtained by the Bluetooth headset 30, or send voice data of other users of the voice call to the Bluetooth headset 30.

[0060] The electronic device 100 may connect to the smartphone 40 for communication using the Bluetooth communication protocol, and transmit or receive audio data, video data, or control data to or from the smartphone 40 .

[0061] The electronic device 100 may be connected to the remote controller 50 using the Bluetooth communication protocol for communication, and transmit or receive a control signal or voice data to or from the remote controller 50. For example, the electronic device 100 may receive a control signal input to the remote controller 50 to control the electronic device 100.

[0062] The electronic device 100 can use the Bluetooth communication protocol to connect to the Bluetooth-connected microphone (or microphone) 60 for communication, and receive voice data or audio data obtained by the Bluetooth-connected microphone 60. For example, when performing a voice recognition function or running a karaoke application, the electronic device 100 can receive the user's voice data or audio data obtained by the Bluetooth-connected microphone 60 through the Bluetooth-connected microphone 60.

[0063] The electronic device 100 can use the Bluetooth communication protocol to connect to the Bluetooth-connected camera 70 for communication and receive image data obtained by the Bluetooth-connected camera 70. For example, when performing a video call operation, the electronic device 100 can receive an image of a user of a video call captured by the Bluetooth-connected camera 70 from the Bluetooth-connected camera 70.

[0064] The electronic device 100 may use the Bluetooth communication protocol to connect to the Bluetooth-connected game controller 80 for communication, and receive a signal corresponding to a control input input to the Bluetooth-connected game controller 80. For example, when running a game application, the electronic device 100 may receive a control signal corresponding to a control input inputted through the Bluetooth-connected game controller 80 from the Bluetooth-connected game controller 80.

[0065] In this way, the electronic device 100 supporting Bluetooth communication can be connected to one or more Bluetooth devices within the allowable range of the Bluetooth communication bandwidth of the electronic device 100. When the electronic device 100 receives a request for Bluetooth communication connection from a new Bluetooth device, the available Bluetooth bandwidth of the electronic device 100 for connecting to the new Bluetooth device may be lacking. In this case, the electronic device 100 can release the connection to the Bluetooth device selected from the one or more Bluetooth devices that have been connected to establish a Bluetooth connection to the new Bluetooth device. Optionally, the electronic device 100 can output a message indicating that the connection to the new Bluetooth device is impossible.

[0066] In the event that a connection request is received from a new Bluetooth device, the electronic device 100 may perform an operation of recommending the best Bluetooth connection to the user based on a result of determining whether to establish a Bluetooth connection to the new Bluetooth device based on at least one of the environmental information of the new Bluetooth device requesting connection or the environmental information of the electronic device 100, rather than simply releasing the existing Bluetooth connection or indicating that it is impossible to connect to the new Bluetooth device.

[0067] Figure 2 An example of a bandwidth required by each function / manufacturer of a Bluetooth device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0068] In a piconet, the master unit works like a base station. Bluetooth basically uses a frequency hopping method and has 1600 hops per second. The slave unit that once participated in the piconet is synchronized with the clock of the master unit. This makes it possible to perform communication while following the frequency hopping sequence determined by the master unit. The frequency hopping sequence is an agreement between the master unit and the slave unit. When the slave unit fails to synchronize with the master unit and ends up failing to follow the frequency hopping sequence, the channels of the two units are always out of sync and never communicate. Like the frequency hopping method, time division duplex (TDD) is an important communication method of Bluetooth. Each channel with a bandwidth of 1MHz is allocated a time slot of 625 μs. A packet is sent in each time slot, and in the case of a long packet, it is divided and sent in multiple time slots.

[0069] The Bluetooth bandwidth, i.e., the amount of time slots required, may vary depending on the function used by the Bluetooth device. Furthermore, even for Bluetooth devices performing the same function, the Bluetooth bandwidth, i.e., the amount of time slots required, may vary depending on the manufacturer.

[0070] refer to Figure 2 , the functions performed in the background of the electronic device 100 may include page scanning, query scanning, and notifications, which may require 36 time slots, 18 time slots, and 4 time slots, respectively. According to the advanced audio distribution profile (A2DP) profile, data transmissions of 195kbps and 237kbps may each require 24 time slots. The Bluetooth remote control function may require 2 time slots. For human interface devices (human interface devices, HID), keyboard operation may require 6 time slots, mouse operation requires 6 time slots, operation of a game controller (manufacturer A) requires 6 time slots, operation of a game controller (manufacturer B) requires 6 time slots, operation of a game controller (manufacturer C) requires 8 time slots, and operation of a game controller (manufacturer D) requires 12 time slots.

[0071] Therefore, different bandwidths may be required for Bluetooth communications depending on the manufacturer of the Bluetooth device and the functions performed using the Bluetooth device.

[0072] Figure 3 An example of time multiplexing scheduling according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown.

[0073] refer to Figure 3 , the time multiplexing scheduling window includes a total of 24 time slots from T1 to T24. Each time slot is 625 μs long. Figure 3 For example, 3 time slots from T1 to T3 may be allocated to the first Bluetooth device, 5 time slots from T4 to T8 may be allocated to the second Bluetooth device, 8 time slots from T9 to T16 may be allocated to the third Bluetooth device, and 6 time slots from T17 to T22 may be allocated to the fourth Bluetooth device. 2 time slots from T23 and T24 are reserved as available bandwidth for connecting to new Bluetooth devices. In other words, the total number of time slots constituting the scheduling window of the electronic device 100 may be the maximum Bluetooth bandwidth of the electronic device 100, and the number of remaining time slots obtained by excluding the number of time slots occupied by one or more already connected Bluetooth devices from the maximum Bluetooth bandwidth may be the available Bluetooth bandwidth of the electronic device 100.

[0074] In this scenario, when the bandwidth required by the new Bluetooth device that sends the request for Bluetooth connection is 2 time slots or less, the electronic device 100 can use two time slots T23 and T24 to process Bluetooth communication, so that there is no difficulty in establishing a connection to the new Bluetooth device. On the other hand, when the bandwidth required by the new Bluetooth device that sends the request for Bluetooth connection is 3 time slots or more, the electronic device 100 can determine that the communication with the new Bluetooth device cannot be processed with the available bandwidth of the current 2 time slots. Therefore, the electronic device 100 can recommend the user to release the Bluetooth connection to one or more Bluetooth devices that have been connected to process the request for Bluetooth connection from the new Bluetooth device.

[0075] When recommending the release of a Bluetooth connection to one or more Bluetooth devices that are already connected, the electronic device 100 may recommend a Bluetooth device to disconnect by considering environmental information of the electronic device 100 or environmental information of a Bluetooth device that sends a request for a Bluetooth connection.

[0076] The environmental information of the electronic device 100 may include information about one or more Bluetooth devices connected to the electronic device 100. For example, the information about the one or more Bluetooth devices connected to the electronic device 100 may include information about the connection time point of the one or more Bluetooth devices connected to the electronic device 100. The electronic device 100 may recommend a Bluetooth device whose Bluetooth connection is to be released among the one or more Bluetooth devices connected to the electronic device 100 based on the order of earlier connection time points. Since the Bluetooth device with the earliest connection time point is considered to be the least likely to be used again, it is desirable to recommend the Bluetooth device with the earliest connection time point as the Bluetooth device to be disconnected.

[0077] The environment information of the electronic device 100 may include attribute information of an application running in the electronic device 100. The attribute information of the application running in the electronic device 100 may include information about the category or type of the application running in the electronic device 100. The electronic device 100 may recommend a Bluetooth device whose Bluetooth connection is to be released among one or more Bluetooth devices connected to the electronic device 100 based on the order in which the Bluetooth device is less relevant to the attribute of the application running in the electronic device 100. Therefore, a Bluetooth device having a low correlation with the attribute of the application currently running in the electronic device 100 is considered unlikely to be used by the user now or in the near future, so it is expected to recommend the Bluetooth device as a Bluetooth device to be disconnected.

[0078] The environmental information of the electronic device 100 may include information about whether the Bluetooth device connected to the electronic device 100 supports USB connection. For example, the information about whether the Bluetooth device connected to the electronic device 100 supports USB connection refers to information about whether the Bluetooth device connected to the electronic device 100 also supports USB connection. The electronic device 100 may recommend a device that supports USB connection among one or more Bluetooth devices connected to the electronic device 100 as a Bluetooth device whose Bluetooth connection is to be released. In this way, when there is a device that supports USB connection among the Bluetooth devices currently connected to the electronic device 100, the device that supports USB connection has an alternative method for USB connection, and therefore it is desirable to recommend the device as the Bluetooth device to be disconnected.

[0079] The environment information of the device requesting the Bluetooth connection may include information about the expected use of the Bluetooth bandwidth of the device requesting the Bluetooth connection. The electronic device 100 may recommend a Bluetooth device whose Bluetooth connection is to be released among one or more Bluetooth devices connected to the electronic device 100 based on the order in which the Bluetooth devices have a bandwidth corresponding to or similar to the expected use of the Bluetooth bandwidth of the device requesting the Bluetooth connection. Therefore, it is recommended to disconnect the Bluetooth device currently connected to the electronic device 100 that has the closest similarity to the expected use of the Bluetooth bandwidth required by the Bluetooth device requesting the new connection, thereby ensuring the best available Bluetooth bandwidth.

[0080] Figure 4 is a block diagram of an example of an electronic device and a Bluetooth device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0081] refer to Figure 4 , the system may include an electronic device 100 and a Bluetooth device 200.

[0082] The Bluetooth device 200 may include a communicator 210 , a memory 220 , and a processor 230 .

[0083] The Bluetooth device 200 may be any electronic device that can perform Bluetooth communication. For example, the Bluetooth device 200 may include a Bluetooth speaker, a Bluetooth sound bar, a Bluetooth headset, a smart phone, a Bluetooth communication remote controller, a Bluetooth connection microphone, and / or a Bluetooth game controller.

[0084] The communicator 210 may use various communication technologies to communicate with external devices. In particular, the communicator 210 may use a Bluetooth communication module to establish a Bluetooth communication connection.

[0085] The memory 220 may store data or one or more instructions required to control or operate the Bluetooth device 200 .

[0086] The processor 230 may control the functions of the Bluetooth device 200 to be implemented by executing one or more instructions stored in the memory 220 .

[0087] The electronic device 100 may include a communicator 110 , a memory 120 , and a processor 130 .

[0088] The electronic device 100 may include various types of electronic devices, for example, computers such as desktops, laptops, and tablets, TVs, set-top boxes, smart phones, game consoles, music players, video players, medical equipment, and / or home appliances.

[0089] The communicator 110 may perform connection and communication with one or more Bluetooth devices at least through a Bluetooth communication module.

[0090] The memory 120 may store programs for processing and control of the processor 130, and store data input to or output from the electronic device 100. In addition, the memory 120 may store data necessary for the operation of the electronic device 100.

[0091] The memory 120 may include at least one type of storage medium, including flash memory, hard disk, multimedia card micro memory, card-type memory (e.g., SD or XD memory), random access memory (RAM), static random access memory (SRAM), read-only memory (ROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), magnetic storage, magnetic disk, and optical disk.

[0092] The processor 130 controls the general operation of the electronic device 100. For example, the processor 130 may perform the functions of the electronic device 100 by executing one or more instructions stored in the memory 120.

[0093] The processor 130 may have a built-in memory storing one or more instructions, and execute one or more instructions stored in the built-in memory to perform the operation of the electronic device. In other words, the processor 130 may execute at least one instruction or program stored in the built-in memory or the memory 120 equipped in the processor 130 to perform the operation.

[0094] The processor 130 may execute one or more instructions stored in the memory 120 to receive a request for a Bluetooth connection from the first device and identify usage of the Bluetooth bandwidth of the first device.

[0095] The processor 130 may execute one or more instructions stored in the memory 120 to determine whether a Bluetooth connection to the first device is possible based on the remaining bandwidth of the electronic device and the Bluetooth bandwidth of the first device.

[0096] The processor 130 can execute one or more instructions stored in the memory 120 to, in response to determining that a Bluetooth connection to the first device is impossible based on the remaining bandwidth of the electronic device, provide a user interface based on the remaining bandwidth of the electronic device and the Bluetooth bandwidth of the first device, the user interface being used to select at least one Bluetooth device that can release its Bluetooth connection from one or more Bluetooth devices to which a Bluetooth connection has been established to allow a Bluetooth connection to the first device.

[0097] The processor 130 may execute one or more instructions stored in the memory 120 to release the Bluetooth connection to the at least one Bluetooth device selected according to the input through the user interface and perform the Bluetooth connection to the first device.

[0098] The processor 130 can execute one or more instructions stored in the memory 120 to identify the use of the Bluetooth bandwidth of the first device based on at least one of the manufacturer information of the first device included in the Bluetooth connection request of the first device, information about the Bluetooth function requested by the first device, or information about the Bluetooth bandwidth requested by the first device.

[0099] The processor 130 may execute one or more instructions stored in the memory 120 to calculate the remaining bandwidth of the electronic device by excluding the bandwidth used by one or more Bluetooth devices that have been Bluetooth-connected to the electronic device from the available bandwidth of the electronic device.

[0100] The processor 130 can execute one or more instructions stored in the memory 120 to determine that a Bluetooth connection to the first device is possible when the remaining bandwidth of the electronic device is equal to or greater than the usage of the Bluetooth bandwidth of the first device, and determine that a Bluetooth connection to the first device is not possible when the remaining bandwidth of the electronic device is less than the usage of the Bluetooth bandwidth of the first device.

[0101] The processor 130 may execute one or more instructions stored in the memory 120 to recommend, through the user interface, the release of the Bluetooth connection based on the order of the Bluetooth device having an earlier connection time point among the one or more Bluetooth devices to which the Bluetooth connection has been established.

[0102] The processor 130 can execute one or more instructions stored in the memory 120 to periodically release the Bluetooth connection to one or more Bluetooth devices to which the Bluetooth connection has been established based on the order of the Bluetooth devices with earlier connection time points among the one or more Bluetooth devices that have been Bluetooth connected.

[0103] The processor 130 may execute one or more instructions stored in the memory 120 to recommend, through the user interface, the release of the Bluetooth connection based on the correlation of one or more Bluetooth devices to which the Bluetooth connection has been established with the application running in the electronic device.

[0104] The processor 130 may execute one or more instructions stored in the memory 120 to recommend, through a user interface, the release of a Bluetooth connection based on an order of Bluetooth devices having usage corresponding to bandwidth usage of the first device among one or more Bluetooth devices to which a Bluetooth connection has been established.

[0105] The processor 130 can execute one or more instructions stored in the memory 120 to recommend the release of the Bluetooth connection to the Bluetooth device supporting USB connection through the user interface, and recommend the USB connection to the Bluetooth device supporting USB connection, which is a Bluetooth device among one or more Bluetooth devices to which the Bluetooth connection has been established.

[0106] like Figure 3 The block diagram of the electronic device 100 shown is merely an example implemented in an embodiment. The components of the block diagram may be merged, added, or omitted according to the actual specifications of the electronic device 100. For example, two or more components may be merged into one, or a single component may be divided into two or more components as needed. The functions performed in the blocks are shown for exemplary purposes, and the disclosed embodiments are not limited to the detailed operations or components corresponding to the block diagrams.

[0107] Figure 5 is a detailed block diagram of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Figure 5 The electronic device 100 shown may correspond to Figure 4 Therefore, the above description of the electronic device 100 will not be repeated. Figure 4 The content of the description.

[0108] refer to Figure 5 , the electronic device 100 may include a tuner 105 , a communicator 110 , a display 140 , a video processor 145 , a memory 120 , a processor 130 , an audio output 150 , a detector 160 , an audio processor 170 , an input / output 180 , and a user input 190 .

[0109] The tuner 105 can tune to the frequency of a channel that the electronic device 100 intends to receive among many radio components by amplifying, mixing, and resonating the broadcast signal received by wire or wirelessly. The broadcast signal includes audio, video, and additional information such as an electronic program guide (EPG).

[0110] The tuner 105 can receive a broadcast signal in a frequency band corresponding to a channel number (e.g., cable channel number 506) according to a user input (e.g., a control signal such as a channel number input, a channel up / down input, and a channel input on an EPG screen) received from an external control device (not shown) (e.g., a remote controller).

[0111] The tuner 105 may receive broadcast signals from various sources such as terrestrial broadcasters, cable broadcasters, satellite broadcasters, and / or Internet broadcasters. The tuner 105 may also receive broadcast signals from sources such as analog broadcasters or digital broadcasters. The broadcast signals received by the tuner 105 are decoded and divided into audio, video, and / or additional information. The divided audio, video, and / or additional information may be stored in the memory 120 under the control of the processor 130.

[0112] The tuner 105 may be implemented as an integral device of the electronic device 100 or in a separate device having a tuner electrically connected to the electronic device 100 (eg, a set-top box (not shown), a tuner (not shown) connected to the input / output 180 ).

[0113] The communicator 110 communicates with an external electronic device (not shown) through at least one wired or wireless communication network. The communicator 110 may communicate with the Bluetooth device 200 .

[0114] The communicator 110 can communicate with an external device (e.g., Bluetooth device 200) through a communication network. Specifically, the communicator 110 can have a form including at least one communication module, a communication circuit and / or other communication components, and can send data to or receive data from an external device through the communication module and / or the communication circuit.

[0115] Specifically, the communicator 110 may include at least one short-range communication module 111 to perform communication according to a communication standard such as Bluetooth, wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi), Bluetooth low energy (BLE), near field communication / radio frequency identification (RFID), Wi-Fi Direct, ultrawideband (UWB), or Zigbee.

[0116] In addition, the communicator 110 may further include a remote communication module 112 to perform communication with a server for supporting remote communication according to a remote communication standard. Specifically, the communicator 110 may include a remote communication module for performing communication through a network for Internet communication. In addition, the communicator 110 may include a communication network according to a communication standard such as 3G, 4G and / or 5G.

[0117] The display 140 displays a screen. Specifically, a video included in a broadcast signal received through the tuner may be displayed on the screen under the control of the processor 130. In addition, the display 140 may display content received through the communicator 110 or the input / output 180, such as a video.

[0118] The display 140 may also output an image stored in the memory 120 under the control of the processor 130. The display 140 may display a voice user interface (UI) (e.g., including a voice instruction guide) for performing a voice recognition task corresponding to voice recognition or a motion UI (e.g., including a user motion guide for motion recognition) for performing a motion recognition task corresponding to motion recognition.

[0119] The video processor 145 may perform image processing on the video data. Specifically, the video processor 145 may perform processing on the video data (e.g., image signal) received by the electronic device 100. The video processor 145 may perform various image processing on the video data, such as decoding, scaling, noise removal, frame rate conversion, and / or resolution conversion.

[0120] The memory 120 may store at least one instruction. The memory 120 may also store at least one instruction to be executed by the processor 130. The memory 120 may also store at least one program to be executed by the processor 130. The memory 120 may also store an application for providing a specific service.

[0121] Specifically, the memory 120 may include at least one type of storage medium, including flash memory, a hard disk, a multimedia card micro memory, a card-type memory (e.g., SD or XD memory), a random access memory (RAM), a static random access memory (SRAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), a magnetic memory, a magnetic disk, and an optical disk.

[0122] The memory 120 may store information 500 about a Bluetooth device connected to the electronic device. The information 500 about the Bluetooth device may include information about a connection time point of a connected Bluetooth device 510, information about whether a connected Bluetooth device 520 supports a USB connection, information about bandwidth usage of a connected Bluetooth device 530, and information about a correlation between a connected Bluetooth device and an application 540.

[0123] The audio input / output 150 may output audio that can be audibly recognized by a user, or detect and / or receive audio. Specifically, the audio input / output 150 may include an audio input 151 and an audio output 152.

[0124] The audio input 151 receives audio. Specifically, the audio input 151 may include a microphone (specifically, a microphone) that receives an external acoustic signal (audio) and processes it into electrical voice data. For example, the microphone included in the audio input 151 may receive an acoustic signal from an external device or a speaker (e.g., other users on a video call). In addition, the microphone included in the audio input 151 may use various noise elimination algorithms to eliminate noise generated in the process of receiving the external acoustic signal.

[0125] The audio output 152 outputs audio under the control of the processor 130 .

[0126] Specifically, the audio output 152 may output audio, such as voice or sound, received through the communicator 110 .

[0127] The audio output 152 outputs audio included in a broadcast signal received through the tuner under the control of the processor 130. The audio output 152 may output audio, such as voice or sound, received through the communicator 110 or the input / output 180. In addition, the audio output 152 may output audio stored in the memory 120 under the control of the processor 130.

[0128] In addition, the audio output 152 can output the audio stored in the memory 120 under the control of the processor 130. The audio output 152 may include at least one of a speaker, a headphone output terminal, or a Sony / Philips Digital Interface (S / PDIF) output terminal. The audio output 152 may include a combination of a speaker, a headphone output terminal, and a Sony / Philips Digital Interface (S / PDIF) output terminal.

[0129] The audio processor 170 processes audio data. For example, the audio processor 170 may perform various processes on the audio data, such as decoding, amplification, and / or noise removal. The audio processor 170 may include a plurality of audio processing modules to process audio of a plurality of contents.

[0130] The detector 160 detects a user's voice, a user's image, or a user's interaction.

[0131] The microphone 161 receives a voice uttered by the user. The microphone 161 may convert the received voice into an electrical signal and output the electrical signal to the processor 130. The user's voice may include, for example, a voice corresponding to a menu or function of the electronic device 100. For example, the recognition range of the microphone 161 is recommended to be 4 meters or less from the microphone 161 to the user's position, and the recognition range of the microphone 161 may vary corresponding to the amplitude of the user's voice and surrounding conditions (e.g., speaker sound, surrounding noise).

[0132] The microphone 161 may be implemented integrally with or separately from the electronic device 100. The separate type microphone 161 may be electrically connected to the electronic device 100 through the communicator 110 or the input / output 180.

[0133] It is obvious to those skilled in the art that the microphone 161 may be omitted depending on the performance and structure of the electronic device 100 .

[0134] The camera module 162 may receive an image, such as a continuous frame, corresponding to the user's motion including a gesture within the camera recognition range. For example, the recognition range of the camera module 162 may be a range of 0.1 to 5 m from the camera module 162 to the user. The user's motion may include, for example, the motion of a part of the user's body or a part of the user (such as the user's face, facial expression, hand, fist, or finger). The camera module 162 may convert the received image into an electrical signal under the control of the processor 130 and output the electrical signal to the processor 130.

[0135] The camera module 162 may include a lens and an image sensor. The camera module 162 may support optical zoom or digital zoom using multiple lenses and image processing. The recognition range of the camera module 162 may be set in various ways according to the camera angle and the surrounding environment conditions. When the camera module 162 includes multiple cameras, the multiple cameras may be used to receive a three-dimensional (3D) still image or 3D motion. The camera 162 may include two or more cameras, including, for example, a normal camera and a zoom camera.

[0136] The camera module 162 may be implemented integrally with or separately from the electronic device 100. An additional device (not shown) including a separate camera module 162 may be electrically connected to the electronic device 100 through the communicator 110 or the input / output 180.

[0137] It is obvious to those skilled in the art that the camera module 162 may be omitted depending on the performance and structure of the electronic device 100 .

[0138] The optical receiver 163 receives an optical signal (including a control signal) received from an external control device through a light window on the frame of the display 140. The optical receiver 163 may receive an optical signal corresponding to a user input (e.g., touch, press, touch gesture, voice, or user's motion) from a remote control device. The control signal may be extracted from the received optical signal under the control of the processor 130.

[0139] The input / output 180 may receive input data in various formats. The data received by the input / output 180 may have a format such as RGBA or YUV. The input / output 180 may receive a plurality of input data items (specifically, image sources) in various formats.

[0140] The input / output module 180 receives video (e.g., moving images), audio (e.g., voice and / or music), and / or additional information (e.g., EPG) from the outside of the electronic device 100 under the control of the processor 130. The input / output module 180 may include one of a high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI) port 181, a component jack 182, a personal computer (PC) port 183, and a universal serial bus (USB) port 184. The input / output 180 may include a combination of the HDMI port 181, the component jack 182, the PC port 183, and the USB port 184.

[0141] It will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that the configuration and operation of input / output 180 may be implemented in a variety of ways in the disclosed embodiments.

[0142] The user input 190 may receive a user input to control the electronic device 100. For example, the user interface 190 may receive a video call request from the user.

[0143] The user input 190 may include a user input device including a touch panel for detecting a user's touch, a button for receiving a user's pressing operation, a scroll wheel for receiving a user's rotating manipulation, a keyboard and / or a dome switch, but is not limited thereto.

[0144] In addition, the user input 190 is a voice recognition device for voice recognition, such as a microphone that can receive a user's voice command or voice request. Therefore, the processor 130 can control an operation corresponding to the voice command or voice request to be performed.

[0145] In addition, the user input 190 may include a motion detection sensor (not shown). For example, the motion detection sensor (not shown) may detect the motion of the electronic device 100 and receive the detected motion as a user input. The aforementioned voice recognition device (not shown) and the motion detection sensor (not shown) may not be integrated in the user input 190, but may be included in the electronic device 100 as a module separate from the user input 190.

[0146] In addition, the user input 190 may receive user input through, for example, a remote controller. In this case, the user input 190 may include a communication module for receiving a signal corresponding to the user input from a remote controller (not shown). For example, when the remote controller sends an infrared (IR) signal corresponding to the user input, the user interface 190 may include a photo receiving module for receiving the IR signal.

[0147] The processor 130 may control general operations of the electronic device 100 and signal flows between internal components (not shown) of the electronic device 100, and process data. The processor 130 may execute an operating system (OS) and various applications stored in the memory 120 at the user's request or when predetermined conditions are met.

[0148] The processor 130 may include a graphics processing unit (not shown) for graphics processing corresponding to the video. The graphics processing unit may use a calculator (not shown) and a renderer (not shown) to generate a screen including various objects such as icons, images and / or texts. The calculator may use user interactions detected by a detector (not shown) to calculate attribute values ​​such as coordinate values, shapes, sizes and / or colors that each of the objects can be displayed with based on the layout of the screen. The renderer generates screens including various layouts of objects based on the attribute values ​​calculated by the calculator.

[0149] The processor 130 may perform operations of the electronic device 100 as disclosed herein using various information included in the Bluetooth device information 500 stored in the memory 120 .

[0150] Now refer to Figures 6 to 21 Operations performed by the electronic device 100 are described in detail.

[0151] Figure 6 is a flowchart illustrating a method of operating an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Figure 6 The illustrated method of operating an electronic device refers to an operation flow performed by the electronic device 100 .

[0152] refer to Figure 6In operation 610, the electronic device 100 may receive a Bluetooth connection request from the first device 200. In order to distinguish the Bluetooth device that has been Bluetooth-connected to the electronic device 100 from the Bluetooth device that newly sends the connection request, the Bluetooth device that newly sends the connection request will now be referred to as the first device. The first device may refer to Figure 4 A Bluetooth device 200 is shown.

[0153] In operation 620, the electronic device 100 may identify the use of the Bluetooth bandwidth of the first device. Specifically, the electronic device 100 may identify the use of the Bluetooth bandwidth of the first device required to perform Bluetooth communication with the first device.

[0154] The Bluetooth connection request received from the first device may include identification information of the first device. The electronic device 100 may store information about the Bluetooth bandwidth required by each Bluetooth device. Therefore, the electronic device 100 may identify the use of the Bluetooth bandwidth of the first device that has sent the Bluetooth connection request by referring to the identification information of the first device included in the Bluetooth connection request and the information about the Bluetooth bandwidth of each device stored.

[0155] Figure 7 An example of information on a Bluetooth bandwidth of each device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown.

[0156] refer to Figure 7 , the information 700 about the Bluetooth bandwidth of each device indicates that the first device requires a bandwidth of 18 time slots, the second device requires a bandwidth of 12 time slots, the third device requires a bandwidth of 2 time slots, and the fourth device requires a bandwidth of 6 time slots. For example, the first to fourth devices may include a Bluetooth headset, a Bluetooth microphone, a Bluetooth game controller, and / or a Bluetooth speaker.

[0157] The Bluetooth connection request received from the first device may also include manufacturer information as identification information of the first device. The electronic device 100 may store information about the Bluetooth bandwidth required by each device manufacturer for each Bluetooth device. Therefore, the electronic device 100 may determine the use of the Bluetooth bandwidth of the first device that has sent the Bluetooth connection request by referring to the manufacturer information of the first device included in the Bluetooth connection request and the stored information about the Bluetooth bandwidth of each device manufacturer.

[0158] Figure 8 An example of information on Bluetooth bandwidth for each device manufacturer according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown.

[0159] refer to Figure 8, the information 800 about the Bluetooth bandwidth for each device manufacturer indicates that the first manufacturer of the first device requires a bandwidth of 16 time slots, the second manufacturer requires a bandwidth of 12 time slots, the third manufacturer requires a bandwidth of 16 time slots, and the fourth manufacturer requires a bandwidth of 18 time slots. For example, the first device may be a game controller, and the first to fourth manufacturers may be different manufacturers of the game controller. Even for the same type of game controller, different bandwidths may be required for each manufacturer of the game controller, so the bandwidth of the Bluetooth device that has requested a Bluetooth connection can be more accurately determined by managing the bandwidth information for each manufacturer.

[0160] The Bluetooth connection request received from the first device may also include information about the function to be performed by the first device through Bluetooth communication. The electronic device 100 may store information about the Bluetooth bandwidth of each function of each Bluetooth device. Therefore, the electronic device 100 may identify the use of the Bluetooth bandwidth of the first device that has sent the Bluetooth connection request by referring to the function information of the first device included in the Bluetooth connection request and the stored information about the Bluetooth bandwidth of each function.

[0161] Fig. 9 An example of information on a Bluetooth bandwidth for each device function according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown.

[0162] refer to Fig. 9 , information 900 about the Bluetooth bandwidth of each function of the Bluetooth device indicates that the first function of the first device requires a bandwidth of 4 time slots, the second function requires a bandwidth of 12 time slots, and the third function requires a bandwidth of 16 time slots. For example, the first device may be a smart phone, and the first function of the first device may be a remote control function, the second function of the first device may be a mirroring function, and the third function of the first device may be a game controller function. Even smart phone devices of the same type may require different bandwidths for each function to be performed through Bluetooth communication, so the bandwidth of a Bluetooth device that has requested a Bluetooth connection may be more finely determined by managing bandwidth information for each device function.

[0163] The electronic device 100 may store one or more of bandwidth information for each Bluetooth device 700 , bandwidth information for each manufacturer of the Bluetooth device 800 , and bandwidth information for each function of the Bluetooth device 900 .

[0164] In operation 630 , the electronic device 100 may determine whether a Bluetooth connection is possible based on the remaining bandwidth of the electronic device 100 and the Bluetooth bandwidth of the first device.

[0165] The remaining bandwidth of the electronic device 100 may refer to a bandwidth obtained by excluding a bandwidth for connecting to an already connected Bluetooth device from the maximum Bluetooth bandwidth of the electronic device 100. Figure 3 As shown in , the remaining bandwidth of the electronic device 100 may be the remaining two time slots obtained by excluding the bandwidth occupied by the already connected Bluetooth device (ie, 22 time slots) from the maximum bandwidth (24 time slots) of the electronic device 100 .

[0166] The electronic device 100 may determine a Bluetooth bandwidth of the first device that has transmitted the connection request, as described in operation 620 .

[0167] The electronic device 100 may compare the remaining bandwidth of the electronic device 100 with the Bluetooth bandwidth of the first device, and when the remaining bandwidth of the electronic device 100 is equal to or greater than the Bluetooth bandwidth of the first device, determine that the connection for the Bluetooth communication of the first device is possible. In this case, the electronic device 100 may proceed to operation 660 to perform an operation of Bluetooth connection to the first device.

[0168] The electronic device 100 may compare the remaining bandwidth of the electronic device 100 with the Bluetooth bandwidth of the first device, and when the remaining bandwidth of the electronic device 100 is less than the Bluetooth bandwidth of the first device, determine that the connection for the Bluetooth communication of the first device is impossible. In this case, operation 640 may be continued.

[0169] In operation 640 , the electronic device 100 may provide a user interface to select at least one Bluetooth device whose release of Bluetooth connection is possible among one or more Bluetooth devices that have been Bluetooth-connected, to enable connection to the first device.

[0170] The electronic device 100 may obtain information about one or more Bluetooth devices that have been connected via Bluetooth. The one or more Bluetooth devices that have been connected via Bluetooth may include a device to which a Bluetooth connection has been previously established and to which the Bluetooth connection has not yet been released. For example, a Bluetooth device that is once connected by establishing a Bluetooth connection according to a policy of the electronic device 100 until an operation of releasing the Bluetooth connection occurs may remain in a Bluetooth connection state for several hours to several days.

[0171] The information about the one or more Bluetooth devices that have been Bluetooth-connected may include information about a connection time point of the one or more Bluetooth devices that have been Bluetooth-connected.

[0172] The information about the one or more Bluetooth devices that have been Bluetooth-connected may include information about bandwidth used by the one or more Bluetooth devices that have been Bluetooth-connected.

[0173] The information about one or more Bluetooth devices that have been connected via Bluetooth may include information about whether the one or more Bluetooth devices that have been connected via Bluetooth support USB connection. For example, a Bluetooth device may include information indicating that a USB connection may be supported, and another Bluetooth device may include information indicating that a USB connection may not be supported.

[0174] The information about the one or more Bluetooth devices that have been connected via Bluetooth may include an indication of how relevant the one or more Bluetooth devices that have been connected via Bluetooth are to a specific application. For example, the information about the one or more Bluetooth devices that have been connected via Bluetooth may include an indication of how relevant each of the one or more Bluetooth devices that have been connected via Bluetooth is to a gaming application or an indication of how relevant each of the one or more Bluetooth devices that have been connected via Bluetooth is to a video application.

[0175] The electronic device 100 may provide a user interface by referring to the information about one or more Bluetooth devices that have been Bluetooth-connected as described above to select at least one Bluetooth device whose Bluetooth connection can be released from the one or more Bluetooth devices to enable connection to the first device.

[0176] The electronic device 100 can provide a user interface based on an order with an earlier connection time point by referring to information about a connection time point of one or more Bluetooth devices that are already connected to Bluetooth, so as to select at least one Bluetooth device whose release of the Bluetooth connection is possible among the one or more Bluetooth devices that are already connected to Bluetooth.

[0177] The electronic device 100 can provide a user interface to select at least one Bluetooth device for Bluetooth disconnection based on the order of Bluetooth devices having a Bluetooth bandwidth corresponding to or most similar to the Bluetooth bandwidth of the first device by referring to information about the bandwidth used by one or more Bluetooth devices that have been connected to Bluetooth.

[0178] The electronic device 100 may provide a user interface based on the order indicating Bluetooth devices that can support USB connection to select at least one Bluetooth device whose release of Bluetooth connection is possible by referring to information about whether one or more Bluetooth devices that have been Bluetooth connected support USB connection.

[0179] The electronic device 100 may provide a user interface based on an order with lower relevance to the application by referring to information indicating how relevant one or more Bluetooth devices that are already connected to Bluetooth are to the application running in the electronic device 100, so as to select at least one Bluetooth device whose Bluetooth connection release is possible. For example, when the application running in the electronic device 100 is a game application, the electronic device 100 may provide a user interface in an order with lower relevance to the game application, so as to select at least one Bluetooth device whose Bluetooth connection release is possible from among the one or more Bluetooth devices that are already connected to Bluetooth. For example, when the application running in the electronic device 100 is a video application, the electronic device 100 may provide a user interface in an order with lower relevance to the video application, so as to select at least one Bluetooth device whose Bluetooth connection release is possible from among the one or more Bluetooth devices that are already connected to Bluetooth.

[0180] In operation 650, the electronic device 100 may release a Bluetooth connection to at least one Bluetooth device selected according to an input through the user interface.

[0181] In operation 660, as the available bandwidth of the electronic device 100 increases with the release of the Bluetooth connection to at least one Bluetooth device to enable the Bluetooth connection to the first device, the electronic device 100 may perform an operation of the Bluetooth connection to the first device.

[0182] The electronic device 100 can recommend a Bluetooth device for Bluetooth disconnection based on the order of connection time points between the Bluetooth devices that have been connected. Figures 10 to 12 Give a description.

[0183] Fig.10 is an example of a flowchart of a method of recommending one of the already connected Bluetooth devices for Bluetooth disconnection based on an order of connection time points according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0184] refer to Fig.10 In operation 1010, the electronic device 100 may remain in a state of being connected to one or more Bluetooth devices. For example, the electronic device 100 may remain in a state of being connected to Bluetooth #1, Bluetooth #2, ..., and Bluetooth device #N. Once a connection operation is performed, the electronic device 100 may remain in a connection state until a disconnection operation is performed.

[0185] In operation 1020 , the electronic device 100 may receive a Bluetooth connection request from the first device 200 .

[0186] In operation 1030, the electronic device 100 may identify usage of a Bluetooth bandwidth of the first device 200. Specifically, the electronic device 100 may identify usage of a Bluetooth bandwidth of the first device required to perform Bluetooth communication with the first device.

[0187] The Bluetooth connection request received from the first device may include identification information of the first device. The electronic device 100 may store information about the Bluetooth bandwidth required by each Bluetooth device. Therefore, the electronic device 100 may determine the use of the Bluetooth bandwidth of the first device that has sent the Bluetooth connection request by referring to the identification information of the first device included in the Bluetooth connection request and the stored information about the Bluetooth bandwidth of each device.

[0188] The Bluetooth connection request received from the first device may also include manufacturer information as identification information of the first device. The electronic device 100 may store information about the Bluetooth bandwidth required by each device manufacturer for each Bluetooth device. Therefore, the electronic device 100 may determine the use of the Bluetooth bandwidth of the first device that has sent the Bluetooth connection request by referring to the manufacturer information of the first device included in the Bluetooth connection request and the stored information about the Bluetooth bandwidth of each device manufacturer.

[0189] The Bluetooth connection request received from the first device may also include information about the function to be performed by the first device through Bluetooth communication. The electronic device 100 may store information about the Bluetooth bandwidth of each function of each Bluetooth device. Therefore, the electronic device 100 may determine the use of the Bluetooth bandwidth of the first device that has sent the Bluetooth connection request by referring to the function information of the first device included in the Bluetooth connection request and the stored information about the Bluetooth bandwidth of each function.

[0190] The electronic device 100 may store one or more of bandwidth information for each Bluetooth device 700 , bandwidth information for each manufacturer of the Bluetooth device 800 , and bandwidth information for each function of the Bluetooth device 900 .

[0191] In operation 1040 , the electronic device 100 may determine whether a Bluetooth connection to the first device 200 is possible.

[0192] The remaining bandwidth of the electronic device 100 may refer to a bandwidth obtained by excluding a bandwidth for connecting to an already connected Bluetooth device from the maximum Bluetooth bandwidth of the electronic device 100. Figure 3 As shown in , the remaining bandwidth of the electronic device 100 may be the remaining two time slots obtained by excluding the bandwidth occupied by the already connected Bluetooth device (ie, 22 time slots) from the maximum bandwidth (24 time slots) of the electronic device 100 .

[0193] The electronic device 100 may determine a Bluetooth bandwidth of the first device that has transmitted the connection request, as described in operation 620 .

[0194] The electronic device 100 may compare the remaining bandwidth of the electronic device 100 with the Bluetooth bandwidth of the first device, and when the remaining bandwidth of the electronic device 100 is equal to or greater than the Bluetooth bandwidth of the first device, determine that a connection to the first device for Bluetooth communication is possible, and when the remaining bandwidth of the electronic device 100 is less than the Bluetooth bandwidth of the first device, determine that a connection to the first device for Bluetooth communication is impossible.

[0195] When it is determined that the Bluetooth connection to the first device is possible, the electronic device 100 may proceed to operation 1080 to perform an operation of the Bluetooth connection to the first device.

[0196] When it is determined that the Bluetooth connection to the first device is not possible, the electronic device 100 may proceed to operation 1050 .

[0197] In operation 1050 , the electronic device 100 may provide a user interface based on the order of connection time points of one or more Bluetooth devices that have been Bluetooth-connected to select at least one Bluetooth device whose release of Bluetooth connection is possible.

[0198] The electronic device 100 may store information about one or more Bluetooth devices that have been connected via Bluetooth. The information about one or more Bluetooth devices that have been connected via Bluetooth may include information about a connection time point between the electronic device 100 and the Bluetooth device.

[0199] Fig.11 An example of a list of Bluetooth devices connected to an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown.

[0200] refer to Fig.11 The list 1100 of Bluetooth devices may include identification information of one or more Bluetooth devices that remain connected to the electronic device 100 and information about a connection time point of each Bluetooth device. Fig.11 , the connection time point of the Bluetooth device is shown as 42 hours ago for the Bluetooth sound bar, 20 hours ago for the Bluetooth microphone, 14 hours ago for the game controller 1, 3 hours ago for the game controller 2, and 2 hours ago for the game controller 3. Although the connection time point is shown as indicating how many hours ago the connection was established from now, it is not limited thereto. The connection time point of each Bluetooth device can be represented by information about the time when the Bluetooth device is actually connected.

[0201] The electronic device 1100 can be referred to as Fig.11The list 1100 of Bluetooth devices shown in FIG. 1100 provides a user interface based on the order of the connection time points of one or more Bluetooth devices that have been connected to Bluetooth to select at least one Bluetooth device whose Bluetooth connection can be released. In other words, the electronic device 100 can recommend to the user at least one Bluetooth device whose Bluetooth connection can be released in the order of having an earlier connection time point in the Bluetooth device list 1100.

[0202] Fig.12 is an example of a user interface for selecting at least one Bluetooth device whose Bluetooth connection can be released according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0203] refer to Fig.12 , the electronic device 100 may recommend a list of Bluetooth devices stored in the electronic device 100 in the order of having an earlier connection time point (e.g., Fig.11 One or more Bluetooth devices in the Bluetooth device list 1100 shown in FIG. 1100 are selected as devices that can be used for Bluetooth disconnection. Fig.12 , the user interface 1200 provided by the electronic device 100 may include information about the connection time points of one or more Bluetooth devices, i.e., the Bluetooth sound bar, the Bluetooth microphone, the game controller 1, and the game controller 2, in order of having an earlier connection time point, accompanied by a message such as <Connection to an additional Bluetooth device is not possible. Do you want to release the Bluetooth connection of the earliest device? >.

[0204] The user can select one or more Bluetooth devices whose Bluetooth connections are to be released to correspond to the user interface 1200 output on the electronic device 100. For example, the user can select the Bluetooth sound bar that is the earliest connected device in the user interface 1200 as the Bluetooth device to be disconnected.

[0205] Back to Fig.10 , in operation 1060, the electronic device 100 may receive, through the user interface, an input for selecting one or more Bluetooth devices whose Bluetooth connections are to be released.

[0206] In operation 1070, the electronic device 100 may perform an operation of disconnecting the selected Bluetooth device. For example, when the Bluetooth device selected through the user interface is Bluetooth #1, the electronic device 100 may perform an operation of releasing the Bluetooth connection to Bluetooth #1.

[0207] In operation 1080 , the electronic device 100 may perform an operation of connecting to the first device 200 .

[0208] As described above, the electronic device 100 can recommend the user to select the earliest device in use by providing information about Bluetooth devices based on the usage history and displaying the selection item of the earliest device in use among them. The user can select the earliest device in use as recommended by the electronic device 100, or can move the selection item to select the device desired by the user.

[0209] The electronic device 100 may provide device information based on the usage history, and obtain bandwidth by releasing the connection to the selected device when the user selects the device. The electronic device 100 may perform an operation of connecting the Bluetooth device to be newly connected using the obtained bandwidth.

[0210] The electronic device 100 can obtain bandwidth in advance by periodically disconnecting the earliest device in use. For example, the electronic device 100 can periodically check the time point when the Bluetooth-connected device starts to be used based on the usage time of 5 days, and perform an operation to release the Bluetooth connection to the device that started to be used 5 days ago or more. By performing such an operation in advance, the bandwidth for the device to be newly connected can be obtained.

[0211] The electronic device 100 can recommend a Bluetooth device for Bluetooth disconnection based on the correlation between the Bluetooth devices that have been connected and the application running in the electronic device 100. This will be combined with Figures 13 to 15 Give a description.

[0212] Fig.13 is an example of a flowchart of a method of recommending a Bluetooth device for Bluetooth disconnection among already connected Bluetooth devices based on correlation with an application running in an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0213] refer to Fig.13 In operation 1310 , the electronic device 100 may remain in a state of being connected to one or more Bluetooth devices. In operation 1320 , the electronic device 100 may receive a Bluetooth connection request from the first device 200 .

[0214] In operation 1330 , the electronic device 100 may determine usage of a Bluetooth bandwidth of the first device 200 .

[0215] In operation 1340 , the electronic device 100 may determine whether a Bluetooth connection to the first device 200 is possible.

[0216] The remaining bandwidth of the electronic device 100 may refer to a bandwidth obtained by excluding a bandwidth for connecting to an already connected Bluetooth device from the maximum Bluetooth bandwidth of the electronic device 100 .

[0217] The electronic device 100 may compare the remaining bandwidth of the electronic device 100 with the Bluetooth bandwidth of the first device, and when the remaining bandwidth of the electronic device 100 is equal to or greater than the Bluetooth bandwidth of the first device, determine that a connection for Bluetooth communication of the first device is possible, and when the remaining bandwidth of the electronic device 100 is less than the Bluetooth bandwidth of the first device, determine that a connection for Bluetooth communication of the first device is impossible.

[0218] When it is determined that the Bluetooth connection to the first device is possible, the electronic device 100 may proceed to operation 1380 to perform an operation of the Bluetooth connection to the first device.

[0219] When it is determined that the Bluetooth connection to the first device is not possible, the electronic device 100 may proceed to operation 1350 .

[0220] In operation 1350 , the electronic device 100 may provide a user interface based on the correlation between the one or more Bluetooth devices that have been Bluetooth-connected and the application to select at least one Bluetooth device whose release of the Bluetooth connection is possible.

[0221] It may be desirable for the electronic device 100 to maintain a Bluetooth device having a high correlation with an application currently running in the electronic device 100 in a connected state (if possible), and to disconnect a Bluetooth device having a low correlation with an application currently running in the electronic device 100. A Bluetooth device having a high correlation with a running application may refer to a Bluetooth device that is likely to be used with the running application. A Bluetooth device having a low correlation with a running application may refer to a Bluetooth device that is unlikely to be used with the running application. For example, when the application running in the electronic device 100 is a game application, it may be desirable for the electronic device 100 to maintain a Bluetooth device (e.g., a game controller) that can be used with the game application in a connected state (if possible), and to disconnect a Bluetooth device (e.g., a sound bar) that is unlikely to be used with the game application. For example, when the application running in the electronic device 100 is a video application, it may be desirable for the electronic device 100 to maintain a Bluetooth device (e.g., a sound bar) that can be used with the video application in a connected state if possible, and to disconnect a Bluetooth device (e.g., a Bluetooth microphone) that is unlikely to be used with the video application.

[0222] The electronic device 100 may store information about one or more Bluetooth devices that have been connected via Bluetooth. The information about one or more Bluetooth devices that have been connected via Bluetooth may include information about the correlation between the Bluetooth devices and the application.

[0223] Fig.14 An example of a list of Bluetooth devices connected to an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown.

[0224] refer to Fig.14 The list of Bluetooth devices may include a list of Bluetooth-connected devices 1410 including information about relevance to a gaming application and a list of Bluetooth-connected devices 1420 including information about relevance to a video application.

[0225] The list 1410 of Bluetooth-connected devices including information on relevance to the game application may include identification information of one or more Bluetooth devices remaining in a state of being connected to the electronic device 100 and information on relevance of each Bluetooth device to the game application. Fig.14 , the relevance of each Bluetooth device to the game application is shown as 50% for the Bluetooth sound bar, 80% for the Bluetooth microphone, 100% for game controller 1, 100% for game controller 2, and 100% for game controller 3. The value representing the relevance of each Bluetooth device to the game application can be determined or updated according to the policy of the electronic device 100.

[0226] The list 1420 of Bluetooth-connected devices including information on relevance to the video application may include identification information of one or more Bluetooth devices remaining in a state of being connected to the electronic device 100 and information on relevance of each Bluetooth device to the video application. Fig.14 , the relevance of each Bluetooth device to the video application is shown as 100% for the Bluetooth sound bar, 20% for the Bluetooth microphone, 0% for game controller 1, 0% for game controller 2, and 0% for game controller 3. The value representing the relevance of each Bluetooth device to the video application may be determined or updated according to a policy of the electronic device 100.

[0227] The electronic device 100 can be referred to as Fig.14 In the Bluetooth device list 1410 or 142 shown in FIG, a user interface is provided based on the correlation between the one or more Bluetooth devices that have been connected to the Bluetooth and the application to select at least one Bluetooth device whose Bluetooth connection can be released. In other words, the electronic device 100 can recommend to the user at least one Bluetooth device whose Bluetooth connection can be released in the Bluetooth device list 1410 or 1420 in the order of lower correlation with the application.

[0228] Fig.15 is an example of a user interface for selecting at least one Bluetooth device whose release of a Bluetooth connection is possible according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0229] refer to Fig.15, the electronic device 100 can identify the application running in the electronic device 100 and obtain a Bluetooth device list corresponding to the identified application. For example, when the application running in the electronic device 100 is a game application, the electronic device 100 can use the Bluetooth device list 1410 with game-related information, and when the running application is a video application, the electronic device 100 can use the Bluetooth device list 1420 with video application-related information. For example, one or more Bluetooth devices can be in the following example: Fig.14 In the Bluetooth device list 1410 or 1420 shown in FIG. 1 , the devices selected as the devices for Bluetooth disconnection are recommended in the order of having lower relevance to the application. For example, it is assumed that the application currently running in the electronic device 100 is a game application. Fig.15 , the user interface 1500 provided by the electronic device 100 may include a numerical value of game relevance of one or more Bluetooth devices (i.e., a Bluetooth sound bar, a Bluetooth microphone, game controller 1, and game controller 2) having low relevance to the game application, and a message such as <Additional connections to Bluetooth devices are not possible. Do you want to release the Bluetooth connection of the device having low relevance to the game application? >.

[0230] The user can select one or more Bluetooth devices whose Bluetooth connections are to be released to correspond to the user interface 1500 output on the electronic device 100. For example, the user can select the Bluetooth sound bar with the lowest correlation with the game application in the user interface 1500 as the Bluetooth device to be disconnected.

[0231] Back to Fig.13 , in operation 1360, the electronic device 100 may receive an input through the user interface to select one or more Bluetooth devices whose Bluetooth connections are to be released.

[0232] In operation 1370, the electronic device 100 performs an operation of disconnecting the selected Bluetooth device. For example, when the Bluetooth device selected through the user interface is Bluetooth #1, the electronic device 100 may perform an operation of releasing the Bluetooth connection to Bluetooth #1.

[0233] In operation 1380 , the electronic device 100 may perform an operation of connecting to the first device 200 .

[0234] Thus, when a user attempts a Bluetooth connection, the user may receive a recommendation to disconnect a low-relevance Bluetooth device based on the type of application currently running. When a gaming application is running, a gaming controller is highly relevant, and when a multimedia playback application is running, a speaker or sound bar is highly relevant, so a device with low relevance is recommended for the user to disconnect the device first.

[0235] The electronic device 100 may pre-store information about the level of relevance of the associated device to each application. When the application is running, the information about the relevance of the associated device to the application may be used to recommend to the user a device whose Bluetooth connection will be released. The electronic device 100 may provide device information based on application relevance, and obtain bandwidth for a Bluetooth device that has sent a new Bluetooth connection request by releasing the connection to the device when the user selects the device.

[0236] The electronic device 100 can recommend a Bluetooth device for Bluetooth disconnection among the already connected Bluetooth devices based on whether a Universal Serial Bus (USB) connection is supported. Figures 16 to 18 Give a description.

[0237] Fig.16 is an example of a flowchart of a method for recommending a Bluetooth device for Bluetooth disconnection among already connected Bluetooth devices based on whether USB connection is supported according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0238] refer to Fig.16 In operation 1610 , the electronic device 100 may remain in a state of being connected to one or more Bluetooth devices. In operation 1620 , the electronic device 100 may receive a Bluetooth connection request from the first device 200 .

[0239] In operation 1630 , the electronic device 100 may identify usage of a Bluetooth bandwidth of the first device 200 .

[0240] In operation 1640 , the electronic device 100 may determine whether a Bluetooth connection to the first device 200 is possible.

[0241] The remaining bandwidth of the electronic device 100 may refer to a bandwidth obtained by excluding a bandwidth for connecting to an already connected Bluetooth device from the maximum Bluetooth bandwidth of the electronic device 100 .

[0242] The electronic device 100 may compare the remaining bandwidth of the electronic device 100 with the Bluetooth bandwidth of the first device, and when the remaining bandwidth of the electronic device 100 is equal to or greater than the Bluetooth bandwidth of the first device, determine that a connection for Bluetooth communication of the first device is possible, and when the remaining bandwidth of the electronic device 100 is less than the Bluetooth bandwidth of the first device, determine that a connection for Bluetooth communication of the first device is impossible.

[0243] When it is determined that the Bluetooth connection to the first device is possible, the electronic device 100 may proceed to operation 1680 to perform an operation of the Bluetooth connection to the first device.

[0244] When it is determined that the Bluetooth connection to the first device is impossible, the electronic device 100 may proceed to operation 1650 .

[0245] In operation 1650 , the electronic device 100 may provide a user interface to select at least one Bluetooth device whose release of Bluetooth connection is possible based on whether one or more Bluetooth devices that have been Bluetooth-connected support USB connection.

[0246] When there is a device that has been connected to the electronic device 100 and also supports USB connection, the electronic device 100 may recommend a Bluetooth device that can support USB connection as a device to be Bluetooth disconnected.

[0247] The electronic device 100 may store information about one or more Bluetooth devices that have been connected via Bluetooth. The information about one or more Bluetooth devices that have been connected via Bluetooth may include information about whether each Bluetooth device supports USB connection.

[0248] Fig.17 An example of a list of Bluetooth devices connected to an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown.

[0249] refer to Fig.17 The list 1700 of Bluetooth devices may include identification information of one or more Bluetooth devices that remain connected to the electronic device 100 and information on whether each Bluetooth device supports USB connection. Fig.17 , whether each Bluetooth device supports USB connection is shown as “not supported” for Bluetooth sound bar, “supported” for Bluetooth microphone, “not supported” for game controller 1, “supported” for game controller 2, and “not supported” for game controller 3.

[0250] The electronic device 100 can be referred to as Fig.17 In the Bluetooth device list 1700 shown in FIG, a user interface is provided based on whether one or more Bluetooth devices that have been connected by Bluetooth support USB connection to select at least one Bluetooth device whose Bluetooth connection release is possible. In other words, the electronic device 100 can recommend to the user at least one Bluetooth device whose Bluetooth connection release is possible based on whether the device supports UBS connection in the Bluetooth device list 1700.

[0251] Fig.18 is an example of a user interface for selecting at least one Bluetooth device whose release of a Bluetooth connection is possible according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0252] refer to Fig.18 , the electronic device 100 may recommend, for example, Fig.17 One or more Bluetooth devices in the Bluetooth device list 1700 are shown as devices that can be selected for Bluetooth disconnection. Fig.18, the user interface 1800 provided by the electronic device 100 may display information about whether each Bluetooth device supports USB connection, and a message such as <Additional connection to the Bluetooth device is not possible. There is a device that can make a USB connection. Do you want to release the Bluetooth connection to the device? >.

[0253] The user can select one or more Bluetooth devices to be Bluetooth disconnected to correspond to the user interface 1800 output on the electronic device 100. For example, the user can select one of the Bluetooth devices indicated as supporting USB connection as the device for Bluetooth disconnection in the user interface 1800.

[0254] Back to Fig.16 , in operation 1660, the electronic device 100 may receive an input through the user interface to select one or more Bluetooth devices whose Bluetooth connections are to be released.

[0255] In operation 1670, the electronic device 100 performs an operation of disconnecting the selected Bluetooth device. For example, when the Bluetooth device selected through the user interface is Bluetooth #1, the electronic device 100 may perform an operation of releasing the Bluetooth connection to Bluetooth #1.

[0256] In operation 1680 , the electronic device 100 may perform an operation of connecting to the first device 200 .

[0257] As described above, the electronic device 100 can recommend the user to select a device that supports USB connection by providing information about Bluetooth devices and whether they support USB connection and displaying selection items for devices that support USB connection. When the user selects a Bluetooth microphone as one of the devices that support USB connection, the TV can release the Bluetooth connection to the Bluetooth microphone and establish a USB connection to the Bluetooth microphone. The bandwidth recovered by releasing the Bluetooth connection to the Bluetooth microphone can be allocated to the Bluetooth bandwidth of the device currently attempting a Bluetooth connection to the TV.

[0258] The electronic device 100 can recommend a Bluetooth device for Bluetooth disconnection among the already connected Bluetooth devices based on the Bluetooth bandwidth of the device requesting a new Bluetooth connection. Figures 19 to 21 Give a description.

[0259] Fig.19 is an example of a flowchart of a method for recommending a Bluetooth device for Bluetooth disconnection among already connected Bluetooth devices based on the Bluetooth bandwidth of a first device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0260] refer to Fig.19In operation 1910 , the electronic device 100 may remain in a state of being connected to one or more Bluetooth devices. In operation 1920 , the electronic device 100 may receive a Bluetooth connection request from the first device 200 .

[0261] In operation 1930 , the electronic device 100 may identify usage of a Bluetooth bandwidth of the first device 200 .

[0262] In operation 1940 , the electronic device 100 may determine whether a Bluetooth connection to the first device 200 is possible.

[0263] The remaining bandwidth of the electronic device 100 may refer to a bandwidth obtained by excluding a bandwidth for connecting to an already connected Bluetooth device from the maximum Bluetooth bandwidth of the electronic device 100 .

[0264] The electronic device 100 may compare the remaining bandwidth of the electronic device 100 with the Bluetooth bandwidth of the first device, and when the remaining bandwidth of the electronic device 100 is equal to or greater than the Bluetooth bandwidth of the first device, determine that a connection for Bluetooth communication of the first device is possible, and when the remaining bandwidth of the electronic device 100 is less than the Bluetooth bandwidth of the first device, determine that a connection for Bluetooth communication of the first device is impossible.

[0265] When it is determined that the Bluetooth connection to the first device is possible, the electronic device 100 may proceed to operation 1980 to perform an operation of the Bluetooth connection to the first device.

[0266] When it is determined that the Bluetooth connection to the first device is impossible, the electronic device 100 may proceed to operation 1950 .

[0267] In operation 1950 , the electronic device 100 may provide a user interface based on the Bluetooth bandwidth of the first device to select at least one Bluetooth device of which release of the Bluetooth connection is possible among one or more Bluetooth devices that have been Bluetooth-connected.

[0268] The electronic device 100 may recommend a Bluetooth device using a bandwidth corresponding to the Bluetooth bandwidth of the first device requesting the Bluetooth connection (eg, a Bluetooth device using the most similar bandwidth) as a device whose Bluetooth connection is to be released.

[0269] The electronic device 100 may store information about one or more Bluetooth devices that have been Bluetooth-connected. The information about one or more Bluetooth devices that have been Bluetooth-connected may include information about a bandwidth used by each Bluetooth device.

[0270] Fig. 20 An example of a list of Bluetooth devices connected to an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown.

[0271] refer to Fig. 20 The list 2000 of Bluetooth devices may include identification information of one or more Bluetooth devices that remain connected to the electronic device 100 and information about the use of bandwidth of each Bluetooth device. Fig. 20 , the bandwidth usage of each Bluetooth device is shown as 25 for the Bluetooth sound bar, 15 for the Bluetooth microphone, 40 for game controller 1, 30 for game controller 2, and 50 for game controller 3.

[0272] The electronic device 100 can be referred to as Fig. 20 In the Bluetooth device list 2000 shown in FIG, a user interface is provided to select at least one Bluetooth device whose Bluetooth connection is to be released based on the bandwidth used by one or more Bluetooth devices that have been connected to Bluetooth. In other words, the electronic device 100 can recommend to the user at least one Bluetooth device whose Bluetooth connection is to be released based on the bandwidth usage of the first device in the Bluetooth device list 2000.

[0273] Fig.21 is an example of a user interface for selecting at least one Bluetooth device for which release of a Bluetooth connection is possible according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0274] refer to Fig.21 , the electronic device 100 may recommend based on bandwidth usage, for example Fig. 20 One or more Bluetooth devices in the Bluetooth device list 2000 shown in the figure can be selected as devices for Bluetooth disconnection. For example, when the Bluetooth bandwidth usage of the first device requesting Bluetooth connection is 30, as shown in FIG. Fig.21 The user interface 2100 provided by the electronic device 100 shown may display information about the bandwidth usage of each Bluetooth device, and a message such as <Additional connections to Bluetooth devices are not possible. New connections are possible after the selected device is disconnected. Do you want to release the Bluetooth connection to the device? >. In this case, a selection may be provided to game controller 1 and game controller 2 that have the most similar Bluetooth bandwidth usage to that of the first device. The user may move the selection.

[0275] The user may select one or more Bluetooth devices to be Bluetooth disconnected to correspond to the user interface 2100 output on the electronic device 100. For example, the user may select one of the Bluetooth devices displayed in the user interface 2100 as a device whose Bluetooth connection is to be released.

[0276] Back to Fig.19 , in operation 1960, the electronic device 100 may receive an input through the user interface to select one or more Bluetooth devices whose Bluetooth connections are to be released.

[0277] In operation 1970, the electronic device 100 may perform an operation of disconnecting the selected Bluetooth device. For example, when the Bluetooth device selected through the user interface is Bluetooth #1, the electronic device 100 may perform an operation of releasing the Bluetooth connection to Bluetooth #1.

[0278] In operation 1980 , the electronic device 100 may perform an operation of connecting to the first device 200 .

[0279] In this way, the electronic device 100 can recommend the user to select a device with similar bandwidth by providing information about the bandwidth usage of each device and displaying the selection items of the device with the bandwidth most similar to the bandwidth of the device currently trying to connect. The user can select the game controller 2, which is the device with the bandwidth most similar to the device for connection, and therefore, the TV can obtain the bandwidth for the first device requesting the Bluetooth connection by releasing the Bluetooth connection to the game controller 2.

[0280] When it is difficult to establish a Bluetooth connection due to lack of Bluetooth bandwidth after receiving information from a user, the electronic device 100 can store information about the priority of devices whose Bluetooth connections are to be released among the already connected Bluetooth devices, and when disconnection is required, the Bluetooth connection can be released according to the user-defined information.

[0281] As described above, the release of the connection to the existing device is recommended by predicting the usage of the bandwidth of the device sending the connection request, and the Bluetooth connection to the new device can be allowed by obtaining the required bandwidth.

[0282] The method of operating an electronic device can be implemented with program instructions, which can be executed by various computing devices and recorded in a computer-readable medium. In addition, a computer-readable recording medium having one or more programs recorded thereon can be provided, and the one or more programs include instructions for executing the method of operating an electronic device.

[0283] Computer-readable media may include program instructions, data files, data structures, etc., either alone or in combination. The program instructions recorded on the computer-readable medium may be specially designed and configured, or may be known to a person of ordinary skill in the field of computer software. Examples of computer-readable recording media include magnetic media (including hard disks, magnetic tapes, and floppy disks), optical media (including CD-ROMs and DVDs), magneto-optical media (including optical-magnetic floppy disks), and hardware devices designed to store and execute programming commands in read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), and / or flash memory. Examples of program instructions include not only machine language codes, but also high-level language codes that can be executed by various computing devices using interpreters.

[0284] The machine-readable storage medium may be provided in the form of a non-transitory storage medium. The term "non-transitory storage medium" may mean a tangible device that does not include signals (e.g., electromagnetic waves), and may not distinguish between semi-permanent and temporary storage of data in a storage medium. For example, a non-transitory storage medium may include a buffer that temporarily stores data.

[0285] The method of operating an electronic device may be provided in a computer program product. The computer program product may be a commercial product that can be traded between a seller and a buyer. The computer program product may be distributed in the form of a storage medium (e.g., CD-ROM), through an application store (e.g., Play Store™), directly between two user devices (e.g., smart phones), or online (e.g., download or upload). In the case of online distribution, at least a portion of the computer program product (e.g., a downloadable app) may be at least temporarily stored or arbitrarily generated in a storage medium that may be readable by a device such as a manufacturer's server, an application store's server, or a relay server.

[0286] Specifically, a computer program product including a recording medium having a program stored thereon for executing the method of operating an electronic device may be implemented.

[0287] Several disclosed embodiments have been described, but it should be understood that various modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the disclosed embodiments. Therefore, it will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that the disclosed embodiments are not limited to the described embodiments, but may encompass not only the appended claims but also equivalents.

Claims

1. An electronic device, comprising: communicator; a memory configured to store one or more instructions; and a processor configured to execute one or more instructions stored in the memory to: receiving a request for a wireless connection from a first device, identifying wireless bandwidth usage of the first device, determining whether a wireless connection to the first device is possible based on a remaining wireless bandwidth of the electronic device and a usage of the wireless bandwidth of the first device, In response to determining that wireless connection to the first device is impossible based on the remaining wireless bandwidth of the electronic device and the usage of the wireless bandwidth of the first device, providing a user interface to a display to allow a user to select at least one other wireless device among the one or more other wireless devices that have been wirelessly connected to the electronic device through the other-device wireless connection, whose other-device wireless connection is to be released, releasing the other device wireless connection to at least one other wireless device selected according to input through the user interface, and In response to releasing the other device wireless connection, establishing a wireless connection to the first device.

2. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein: The processor is also configured to execute the one or more instructions to identify the use of the wireless bandwidth of the first device, the one or more instructions including instructions for identifying based on at least one of manufacturer information of the first device, information about wireless functions requested by the first device, or information about the wireless bandwidth requested by the first device.

3. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein: The processor is further configured to execute the one or more instructions to calculate a remaining wireless bandwidth of the electronic device by excluding bandwidth used by one or more other wireless devices that are already wirelessly connected to the electronic device from an available bandwidth of the electronic device.

4. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein: The processor is further configured to execute the one or more instructions to: determining that wireless connection to the first device is possible when the remaining wireless bandwidth of the electronic device is greater than or equal to the usage of the wireless bandwidth of the first device, and When the remaining wireless bandwidth of the electronic device is less than the usage of the wireless bandwidth of the first device, it is determined that wireless connection to the first device is impossible.

5. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein: The processor is also configured to execute the one or more instructions to recommend, through the user interface, the release of the other device wireless connection to at least one recommended device among the one or more other wireless devices that have been wirelessly connected to the electronic device based on the order of duration of the other device wireless connection of each wireless device among the one or more other wireless devices that have been wirelessly connected to the electronic device.

6. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein: The processor is further configured to execute the one or more instructions to periodically release the other device wireless connection to any other wireless device among the one or more other wireless devices based on a duration of the other device wireless connection of any other wireless device among the one or more other devices being longer than a predetermined threshold.

7. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein: The processor is also configured to execute the one or more instructions to recommend, through the user interface, the release of the other device wireless connection to at least one of the one or more other wireless devices based on the degree of relevance of the one or more other wireless devices to the application running in the electronic device.

8. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein: The processor is also configured to execute the one or more instructions to recommend, through the user interface, a release of an other device wireless connection to at least one of the one or more other wireless devices based on an order in which the other wireless devices have usage corresponding to usage of the wireless bandwidth of the first device.

9. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein: The processor is further configured to execute the one or more instructions to recommend, through the user interface, release of an other device wireless connection to at least one recommended device among the one or more other wireless devices that supports a USB connection to the electronic device.

10. An operating method of an electronic device, the operating method comprising: receiving a request for a wireless connection from a first device; identifying usage of wireless bandwidth by the first device; determining whether a wireless connection to the first device is possible based on the remaining wireless bandwidth of the electronic device and the usage of the wireless bandwidth of the first device; In response to determining that wireless connection to the first device is impossible based on the remaining wireless bandwidth of the electronic device and the usage of the wireless bandwidth of the first device, providing a user interface to a display to allow a user to select at least one other wireless device of the one or more other wireless devices that have been wirelessly connected to the electronic device through the other-device wireless connection, whose other-device wireless connection is to be released; releasing an other device wireless connection to at least one other device selected according to an input through the user interface; and In response to releasing the other device wireless connection, establishing a wireless connection to the first device.

11. The operating method according to claim 10, wherein: Identifying the use of the wireless bandwidth of the first device includes identifying based on at least one of manufacturer information of the first device, information about a wireless function requested by the first device, or information about a wireless bandwidth requested by the first device.

12. The operating method according to claim 10, further comprising: The remaining wireless bandwidth of the electronic device is calculated by excluding, from the available bandwidth of the electronic device, a bandwidth used by one or more other wireless devices that have been wirelessly connected to the electronic device.

13. The operating method according to claim 10, further comprising: determining that a wireless connection to the first device is possible when a remaining wireless bandwidth of the electronic device is equal to or greater than a usage of a wireless bandwidth of the first device; and When the remaining wireless bandwidth of the electronic device is less than the usage of the wireless bandwidth of the first device, it is determined that wireless connection to the first device is impossible.

14. The electronic device according to claim 1, in, The request for wireless connection is a request for Bluetooth connection, The usage of the wireless bandwidth of the first device is the usage of the Bluetooth bandwidth of the first device. wherein the wireless connection to the first device is a Bluetooth connection to the first device, The remaining wireless bandwidth of the electronic device is the remaining Bluetooth bandwidth of the electronic device. wherein at least one of the one or more other wireless devices is at least one of the one or more other Bluetooth devices, and The other device wireless connection is a Bluetooth connection of the other device. 15 . A computer-readable recording medium storing a program for executing the operating method according to claim 10 .