Patent Publication Number: US-2011058538-A1

Title: Hand-held electronic device and communication method applicable thereto

Description:
This application claims the benefit of Taiwan application Serial No. 98130587, filed Sep. 10, 2009, the subject matter of which is incorporated herein by reference. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The invention relates in general to a hand-held electronic device or a mobile electronic device and a communication method applicable thereto, and more particularly to a hand-held electronic device or a mobile electronic device with broadband sharing function and a communication method applicable thereto. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     The mobile communication industry is booming globally, and convenient mobile communication networks have become available to the consumers via for example hand-held electronic devices or mobile electronic devices. The mobile electronic device or the hand-held electronic device is hereinafter collectively called the hand-held electronic device. Furthermore, if the mobile broadband Internet service provided by the telecommunications industry is also available, the consumers can have Internet access anywhere and anytime via the hand-held electronic devices. Also, the computers can be connected to the Internet via the hand-held electronic devices. Examples of the hand-held electronic device include mobile phones, personal digital assistance (PDA) and so on. 
     Conventional hand-held electronic devices can only enable one computer to be connected to the Internet at one time, and cannot enable multiple computers to be connected to the Internet at the same time. Therefore, it is still not popular for the households or the workplaces, which normally have more than one computer, to replace the existing cable broadband Internet access by the mobile broadband Internet access of hand-held electronic device. In consequence, the consumers cannot use more convenient Internet access at lower cost. 
     Therefore, how to provide Internet access to multiple computers by a hand-held electronic device so as to reduce the cost of Internet access and increase the convenience in anywhere and anytime Internet access has become a prominent task for the industries. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Embodiments of the invention include a hand-held electronic device or a mobile electronic device and a communication method applicable thereto. The mobile electronic device or the hand-held electronic device is herein collectively called the hand-held electronic device. The hand-held electronic device can be connected to one or more first external devices via an ad-hoc network protocol. As a result, the first external device can make use of the mobile broadband Internet access function of the hand-held electronic device to connect to the Internet. Thus, the first external devices can be connected to the Internet at the same time, hence providing the convenience of allowing multiple users of the first external devices to access Internet at the same time, and providing e.g. a benefit of reducing the fees for Internet access that are to be paid by each of the multiple users, as only one hand-held electronic device is needed to achieve the multiple-user Internet access. In addition, the hand-held electronic device may also connect with a second external device via an I/O interface to allow the second external device to be connected to the Internet as well. 
     A first example of the present invention is a hand-held electronic device. The hand-held electronic device includes a microprocessor and a modem unit. The microprocessor is used for connecting to at least one first external device via an ad-hoc network protocol. The modem unit is used for connecting to a base station to enable the first external device to communicate with the base station via the hand-held electronic device. 
     A second example of the present invention is a communication method applicable to a hand-held electronic device. The communication method includes the following steps. The hand-held electronic device is connected to at least one first external device via an ad-hoc network protocol. Then, the hand-held electronic device is connected to a base station. The first external device is enabled to communicate with the base station via the hand-held electronic device. 
     It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the disclosed embodiments, as claimed. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  shows a block diagram of a hand-held electronic device according to an embodiment of the invention; 
         FIG. 2  shows a flowchart illustrating a communication method applicable to the hand-held electronic device of  FIG. 1  according to an embodiment of the invention; and 
         FIG. 3  shows a more detailed flowchart illustrating a communication method applicable to the hand-held electronic device of  FIG. 1  according to an embodiment of the invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION 
     A hand-held electronic device or a mobile electronic device, such as a mobile phone, a PDA, or a smart phone, is disclosed as an embodiment of the invention. It&#39;s noted again that the mobile electronic device or the hand-held electronic device is herein collectively called the hand-held electronic device. The hand-held electronic device includes a microprocessor and a modem unit (a modulator-demodulator device). The user could achieve mobile broadband Internet access with the hand-held electronic device, so as to provide Internet access function to a second external device connected to an input/output (I/O) interface of the hand-held electronic device, or to provide Internet access function to at least one first external device connected to the hand-held electronic device via an ad-hoc network protocol. 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , a block diagram of a hand-held electronic device according to an embodiment of the invention is shown. The hand-held electronic device  100  includes a microprocessor  30  and a modem unit  70 . The hand-held electronic device  100  may further include a setting unit  10  and an I/O interface  90 . The microprocessor  30  is used for connecting to at least one first external device  20  via an ad-hoc network protocol. In an embodiment, the hand-held electronic device  100  communicates with the first external device  20  by for example the Bluetooth technology or the infrared data association (IrDA) technology. The setting unit  10  is used to set the microprocessor  30  to be connected to at least one first external device  20  via an ad-hoc network protocol. Or the setting unit  10  is used to set the microprocessor  30  to be connected to a second external device  40  through the I/O interface  90 . The I/O interface  90  is, for example, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) interface. 
     Thus, multiple first external devices  20  can be connected to the hand-held electronic device  100  via the ad-hoc network protocol, so that the hand-held electronic device  100  can communicate with the first external devices  20  by wireless signal transmission. Also, the first external devices  20  may be mutually connected via for example an ad-hoc network protocol. 
     For example, one of the first external devices  20  may connect with another first external device  20  by Bluetooth technology or Infrared Data Association (IrDA) technology, so the first external device  20  may be not required to be connected to the hand-held electronic device  100  through IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) 802.11 standards. 
     The first external devices  20  can make use of the mobile broadband Internet access function of the hand-held electronic device  100  to connect to the Internet. Examples of the first external device  20  include a computer, a PDA and a mobile phone. 
     The modem unit  70  is used for connecting to a base station  95  to enable at least one first external device  20  to communicate with the base station  95  via the hand-held electronic device  100 . The modem unit  70  may support the Point-to-Point protocol (PPP) and the base station  95  may support 3rd-Generation mobile communication (3 G) technologies and/or 3.5 G mobile communication technologies. 
     When the hand-held electronic device  100  is used to connect to multiple first external devices  20 , the hand-held electronic device  100  would consume more power accordingly. Meanwhile, the hand-held electronic device  100  may further include a power supply device  85  connected to the I/O interface  90  for providing the hand-held electronic device  100  with power needed to ensure proper operation of the hand-held electronic device  100  under higher power consumption. 
     As indicated in  FIG. 1 , when the modem unit  70  receives a signal, the microprocessor  30  may receive and transmit the received signal to the first external device  20  by wireless transmission which may support the ad-hoc network protocol. When many users would like to be individually connected to the Internet via the respective first external devices  20  at the same time, only the hand-held electronic device  100  is required to connect to the Internet through for example the mobile broadband Internet access function of the hand-held electronic device  100 , thereby the respective first external devices  20  being able to access the Internet through the hand-held electronic device  100  and the ad-hoc network protocol. Thus, the users can not only share in paying the fees for Internet access to reduce the cost as only one hand-held electronic device is required, but also can have the convenience of mobile accessing the Internet at anytime. 
     Referring to  FIG. 1  again, the microprocessor  30  is used to be connected to the second external device  40  via the I/O interface  90 . The second external device  40  can communicate with the base station  95  via the hand-held electronic device  100 . When the modem unit  70  receives a signal, the microprocessor  30  may receive and further transmit the received signal to the second external device  40  through the I/O interface  90 . Here, the second external device  40  may support for example the Universal Serial Bus (USB) standard. Examples of the second external device  40  include a computer, a mobile phone and a PDA. 
     Referring to  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2 ,  FIG. 2  shows a flowchart illustrating a communication method applicable to the hand-held electronic device of  FIG. 1  according to an embodiment of the invention. In step S 110 , the hand-held electronic device  100  is connected to at least one first external device  20  via an ad-hoc network protocol, or connected to a second external device  40 . Then in step S 120 , the hand-held electronic device  100  is connected to a base station  95  by for example a modem unit  70 . Then in step S 130 , the first external device  20  or the second external device  40  is enabled, by for example the modem unit  70 , to communicate with the base station  95  via the hand-held electronic device  100 . A more detailed flowchart is further disclosed below. 
     Referring to  FIG. 3 , a detailed flowchart illustrating a communication method applicable to the hand-held electronic device of  FIG. 1  according to an embodiment of the invention is shown. In step S 302 , the setting by the setting unit  10  is judged, wherein the setting is that the hand-held electronic device  100  is set to connect to at least one first external device  20  via for example the ad-hoc network protocol or that the hand-held electronic device  100  is set to connect to the second external device  40  through for example the I/O interface  90 . In an embodiment, the hand-held electronic device  100  is set to connect to the first external device  20  or the second external device  40  through a microprocessor  30  of the hand-held electronic device  100 . If the hand-held electronic device  100  is set to connect to at least one first external device  20  via the ad-hoc network protocol, then step S 304  is performed. If the hand-held electronic device  100  is set to connect to the second external device  40  through the I/O interface  90 , then step S 312  is performed. 
     In step S 304 , the hand-held electronic device  100  is connected to the base station  95  by for example the modem unit  70 . 
     In step S 306 , the first external device  20  is enabled, by for example the modem unit  70 , to communicate with the base station  95  via the hand-held electronic device  100 . 
     In step S 308 , it&#39;s determined by for example the microprocessor  30  that whether the hand-held electronic device  100  receives a signal. If yes, then step S 310  is performed; and if not, then step S 308  is repeated. 
     In step S 310 , the hand-held electronic device  100  transmits the received signal to the first external device  20  by wireless transmission, wherein the signal may be received by for example the modem unit  70  of the hand-held electronic device  100 . 
     In step S 312 , the hand-held electronic device  100  is connected to the base station  95  by for example the modem unit  70 . 
     In step S 314 , the hand-held electronic device  100  is connected to the second external device  40  through for example the I/O interface  90 . 
     In step S 316 , it is judged by for example the microprocessor  30  that whether the hand-held electronic device  100  receives a signal. If yes, then step S 318  is performed; and if not, then step S 318  is repeated. 
     In step S 318 , the hand-held electronic device  100  transmits the received signal to the second external device  40  through for example the I/O interface  90 , wherein the signal is received by for example the modem unit  70  of the hand-held electronic device  100 . 
     The hand-held electronic device and the communication method applicable thereto according to the embodiments of the invention enable multiple first external devices to connect to the Internet at the same time. 
     The hand-held electronic device is connected to the Internet first. Then, the first external devices, supporting the ad-hoc network protocol, are connected to Internet access at the same time via the hand-held electronic device by for example wireless transmission (such as the ad-hoc network protocol). Thus, the embodiments of the invention provide the convenience of allowing multiple users of the first external devices to access Internet at the same time, and provide e.g. a benefit of reducing the fees for Internet access that are to be paid by each of the multiple users, as only one hand-held electronic device is needed to achieve the multiple-user Internet access. Embodiments of the present invention have the potential for replacing conventional cabled broadband and are very competitive in the market. 
     It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes could be made to the disclosed embodiments described above without departing from the broad inventive concept thereof. It is understood, therefore, that the disclosed embodiments are not limited to the particular examples disclosed, but is intended to cover modifications within the spirit and scope of the disclosed embodiments as defined by the claims that follow.