Multi-Connectivity Hub for Wireless Protocol Bridging
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Solution Overview
Problem
In a local area, various electronic devices with different wireless communication capabilities, such as NFC, Wi-Fi, infrared, and cellular networks, are unable to communicate with each other due to incompatible types of wireless connectivity, limiting their interconnectivity.
Innovation Solution
A multi-connectivity hub that supports multiple wireless connectivity types like NFC, infrared, ZigBee, Bluetooth, cellular networks, UWB, WiMAX, and Wi-Fi, automatically detects and configures connections between devices with different wireless technologies, acting as a relay to enable data transfer between them.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If devices use single-type wireless connectivity, then device complexity is reduced, but adaptability to different communication protocols deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The hub device is designed with multiple wireless communication interfaces supporting different protocols (NFC, Wi-Fi, infrared, Bluetooth, cellular networks, UWB, WiMAX, ZigBee), enabling a single device to perform multiple communication functions and connect with various types of wireless devices regardless of their specific connectivity type
2Adaptability or versatility
If hub supports multiple wireless connectivity types, then adaptability to different devices is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The hub acts as an intermediary device between wireless devices with different connectivity types, receiving data from one device via its native protocol and relaying it to the destination device through the appropriate protocol, thereby mediating communication between incompatible devices without requiring each device to support all protocols
3Speed
If devices communicate directly, then communication speed is fast, but communication compatibility deteriorates due to protocol incompatibility
Solution Approach 1:
The hub serves as a relay station that receives data packets from source devices, translates or forwards them through appropriate communication channels, and delivers them to destination devices, enabling direct-like communication speed while overcoming protocol incompatibility barriers through centralized mediation
Data Source
AI summary
A hub device detects, using a plurality of different wireless communication interfaces, the presence of a plurality of different wireless devices, wherein, initially, each of the plurality of different wireless devices implements an unknown type of wireless connectivity. The hub device detects a type of wireless connectivity, of a plurality of different types of wireless connectivity, for each of the plurality of different wireless devices whose presence is detected, and causes a connection to be established to the plurality of different wireless devices, via selected ones of the plurality of different wireless communication interfaces, based on the type of wireless connectivity detected for each of the plurality of different wireless devices. The hub device forwards data received from one of the plurality of different wireless devices to another of the plurality of different wireless devices using two different ones of the plurality of different types of wireless connectivity.