Dongle Adapter Translating USB to AIB for Presence Indicators
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Solution Overview
Problem
Unified communications systems face challenges in integrating presence information and online indicators across multiple devices with different communication protocols, leading to incomplete unity and increased interruptions, as existing solutions are often complex and expensive.
Innovation Solution
A dongle adapter that translates commands between different communication protocols, allowing conventional online indicators to communicate with devices using standard protocols like USB, thereby enabling interoperability with softphones and other devices.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If conventional online indicators communicate using proprietary protocols, then device compatibility is limited, but integration complexity increases when adding protocol translation capabilities
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a gateway device as an intermediary that translates between proprietary protocols used by conventional online indicators and standard protocols used by modern communication systems. This mediator approach enables protocol compatibility without requiring modifications to existing devices, thereby maintaining simplicity while achieving versatility.
Solution Approach 2:
The gateway device is designed to support multiple protocol translations simultaneously, enabling it to work with various proprietary protocols while interfacing with standard communication systems. This multi-functionality approach allows a single device to achieve broad adaptability without proportionally increasing complexity.
2Adaptability or versatility
If multiple communication protocols are supported across devices, then interoperability improves, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Rather than equipping each device with multiple protocol capabilities, the patent introduces a central gateway that handles protocol translation. This concentrates complexity in a single intermediary device while keeping individual online indicators simple, thereby improving interoperability without proportionally increasing overall system complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system architecture segments protocol translation functionality from the online indicators themselves and places it in a separate gateway device. This segmentation allows online indicators to remain simple while the gateway handles the complexity of supporting multiple protocols, achieving interoperability without distributing complexity across all devices.
3Ease of operation
If existing online indicators are modified to support standard protocols, then integration ease improves, but device compatibility with legacy systems worsens
Solution Approach 1:
The gateway acts as a mediator that receives communications from legacy online indicators using proprietary protocols and translates them to standard protocols for modern systems. This approach maintains legacy compatibility while achieving ease of integration with standard systems, without requiring modifications to existing devices.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of modifying legacy devices to speak standard protocols, the patent inverts the approach by having the gateway translate from proprietary protocols to standard protocols. This inversion preserves legacy device integrity while achieving integration ease, allowing existing indicators to continue operating as designed.
Data Source
AI summary
A dongle adapter system is described that is configured to communicate in a first direction using a first communications protocol and to communicate in a second direction using a second communications protocol. Communications in the first direction employ a conventional communications protocol, such as the Universal Serial Bus (“USB”) protocol. Communications in the second direction employs an Auxiliary Interface Bus (“AIB”) protocol; in some embodiments, the employed AIB protocol may be proprietary. A translator associated with the dongle adapter translates communications between the first communications protocol and the second communications protocol. The dongle adapter allows a peripheral device organiclly configured for the second communications protocol to function without modification in computing networks whose communications operate on the first communications protocol.