Patent Abstract:
The present invention discloses a method for pairing a computer and wireless electronic devices including searching at least one wireless electronic device adjacent to a computer; recording a media access control (MAC) address of the wireless electronic device; pairing the computer and the wireless electronic device; and generating a pairing complete message. The present invention saves time of selecting the wireless electronic device from a candidate list and also provides a convenient and easy pairing method.

Full Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention generally relates to a pairing method, and more particularly to a method of pairing a computer and at least one wireless electronic device. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     With the wireless transmission technology, such as Bluetooth, infrared, etc., grows into maturity, various wireless electronic devices are gradually instead of the wired devices to form the common computer peripheral devices, such as a wireless mouse, a wireless keyboard or a wireless communication device. 
     At the first time for a wireless electronic device communicating with a computer, the wireless electronic device needs to be paired with the computer, so as to successfully transmit the data to the computer. A conventional method of pairing a computer  10  installed a Microsoft® Windows® series operating system (OS) and a wireless mouse  21  is illustrated below. 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 ,  FIG. 1  illustrates a schematic view of a conventional method of pairing a computer and at least a wireless electronic device. A power source of a wireless mouse  21  is activated first and a pairing button (not shown) is pressed to let the wireless mouse  21  generate and transmit a pairing request message. After that, a wireless transmitting function of the computer  10  is enabled, so as to add a wireless electronic device  20  by a build-in utility of the Microsoft® Windows® OS as described from the step S 10  to the step S 12 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 2 ,  FIG. 2  illustrates a flow chart of a conventional method of pairing a computer and a wireless electronic device. As illustrated in step S 10 , the computer  10  starts to search at least one wireless electronic device  20  adjacent to the computer  10 . Next, the step S 11  is processed to display a searching list  111  on a monitor  11  of the computer  10  as illustrated in  FIG. 3 ,  FIG. 3  illustrates schematic view of a searching list of a conventional method of pairing a computer and at least a wireless electronic device. 
     The searching list  111  displays all of the searched wireless electronic devices  20 , and each of the wireless electronic devices  20  has a corresponding icon, for example, the wireless mouse  21  corresponds to a mouse icon  210 , the wireless keyboard corresponds to a keyboard icon  220 , the wireless communication device  23  corresponds to a cell phone icon  230 , etc., and thus it is easy to be recognized for selection. When the icon of the wireless electronic device  20  is selected from the searching list  111 , for example, when the mouse icon  210  representing the wireless mouse  21  is selected, the step S 12  as illustrated in  FIG. 2  is processed, and thus starting to pair the computer  10  and the wireless mouse  21 . 
     However, when there are a plurality of wireless electronic devices adjacent to the computer, the correct wireless electronic device usually needs to be selected from a long searching list. Hence, it may waste a lot of time for selection and come out with several wireless electronic devices belong to the same type, such as a plurality of wireless mice, at the same time as well and thus result in difficult selection therefrom. Therefore, it is quite difficult to use and inconvenient. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is directed to a method of pairing a computer and at least a wireless electronic device with advantages of time-saving and convenience operation. 
     In a preferred embodiment, the present invention provides a method of pairing a computer and a wireless electronic device for establishing a connection therebetween and comprising the following steps: 
     searching at least one wireless electronic device adjacent to the computer; 
     recording a media access control (MAC) address of the wireless electronic device; 
     pairing the computer and the wireless electronic device; and 
     generating a pairing complete message. 
     In a preferred embodiment, the step of generating the pairing complete message is displaying the pairing complete message on a monitor of the computer. 
     In a preferred embodiment, the step of generating the pairing complete message comprises displaying the pairing complete message on a monitor of the computer and transmitting a pairing notice signal to the wireless electronic device. 
     In a preferred embodiment, the wireless electronic device generates a light signal, a sound signal or a vibration signal after receiving the pairing notice signal. 
     In a preferred embodiment, the step of searching the wireless electronic device adjacent to the computer comprises: 
     receiving a pairing request message of the wireless electronic device; and 
     transmitting a request response message according to the pairing request message. 
     In a preferred embodiment, the step of pairing the computer and the wireless electronic device comprises:
         generating an initialization code;   verifying the computer to generate a first pairing data;   verifying the wireless electronic device to generate a second pairing data; and   transmitting the first pairing data to the wireless electronic device and receiving the second pairing data.       

     In a preferred embodiment, the wireless electronic device is a wireless input device, a wireless audio output device or a wireless communication device. 
     In a preferred embodiment, the present invention provides a method of pairing a computer and a plurality of wireless electronic devices for establishing connections therebetween and comprising the following steps:
         searching the plurality of wireless electronic devices adjacent to the computer, wherein each of the plurality of wireless electronic devices has a media access control (MAC) address;   receiving and recording the MAC addresses of the plurality of wireless electronic devices;   pairing the computer and a first wireless electronic device of the plurality of wireless electronic devices;   generating a pairing complete message; and   determining to pair the computer and the a second wireless electronic device of the plurality of wireless electronic devices if receiving a re-pairing request message.       

     In a preferred embodiment, the step of generating the pairing complete message is displaying the pairing complete message on a monitor of the computer. 
     In a preferred embodiment, the step of generating the pairing complete message comprises displaying the pairing complete message on a monitor of the computer and transmitting a pairing notice signal to the first wireless electronic device. 
     In a preferred embodiment, the first wireless electronic device generates a light signal, a sound signal or a vibration signal after receiving the pairing notice signal. 
     In a preferred embodiment, the step of searching the plurality of wireless electronic devices adjacent to the computer comprises:
         receiving a pairing request message of each of the plurality of wireless electronic devices; and   transmitting a request response message according to each of the pairing request messages.       

     In a preferred embodiment, the step of pairing the computer and the first wireless electronic device comprises:
         generating an initialization code;   verifying the computer to generate a first pairing data;   verifying the first wireless electronic device to generate a second pairing data; and   transmitting the first pairing data to the first wireless electronic device and receiving the second pairing data.       

    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  illustrates a schematic view of a conventional method of pairing a computer and at least a wireless electronic device. 
         FIG. 2  illustrates a flow chart of a conventional method of pairing a computer and a wireless electronic device. 
         FIG. 3  illustrates schematic view of a searching list of a conventional method of pairing a computer and at least a wireless electronic device. 
         FIG. 4  illustrates a schematic view of a method of pairing a computer and a wireless electronic device according to a first embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 5  illustrates a flow chart of a method of pairing a computer and a wireless electronic device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 6  illustrates a flow chart of the step S 20  of a method of pairing a computer and a wireless electronic device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 7  illustrates a flow chart of the step S 22  of a method of pairing a computer and a wireless electronic device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 8  illustrates a schematic view of a method of pairing a computer and wireless electronic devices according to a second embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 9  illustrates a flow chart of a method of pairing a computer and wireless electronic devices according to the second embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 10  illustrates a flow chart of the step S 30  of a method of pairing a computer and wireless electronic devices according to the second embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 11  illustrates a flow chart of the step S 32  of a method of pairing a computer and wireless electronic devices according to the second embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Reference will now be made in detail to specific embodiments of the present invention. Examples of these embodiments are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. While the invention will be described in conjunction with these specific embodiments, it will be understood that it is not intended to limit the invention to these embodiments. In fact, it is intended to cover alternatives, modifications, and equivalents as may be included within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a through understanding of the present invention. The present invention may be practiced without some or all of these specific details. In other instances, well-known process operations are not described in detail in order not to obscure the present invention. 
     Referring to  FIG. 4 ,  FIG. 4  illustrates a schematic view of a method of pairing a computer and a wireless electronic device according to a first embodiment of the present invention. A computer  30 , a monitor  31  and a wireless electronic device are presented in  FIG. 4 . In the present invention, the wireless electronic device may be a wireless input device (such as a wireless mouse, a wireless keyboard, etc.), a wireless audio output device (such as a wireless earphone, a wireless headset, etc.), or a wireless communication device (such as a cell phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA)), etc. In the present embodiment, the wireless electronic device is illustrated as a wireless mouse  40 . 
     First, a power source of the wireless mouse  40  is activated and a pairing button (not shown) of the wireless mouse  40  is pressed to let the wireless mouse  40  generate and transmit a pairing request message to computer  30 . The pairing request message contains a media access control (MAC) address of the wireless mouse  40 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 5 ,  FIG. 5  illustrates a flow chart of a method of pairing a computer and a wireless electronic device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In the step S 20 , the computer  30  starts to search at least one wireless electronic device adjacent to the computer  30 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 6  for the searching process,  FIG. 6  illustrates a flow chart of the step S 20  of a method of pairing a computer and a wireless electronic device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In the step S 201 , the computer  30  receives the pairing request message transmitted by the wireless mouse  40 , and processes the step S 202  in a predetermined period to determine whether the computer  30  receives at least one pairing request message or not. If yes, then process the step S 203  to transmit a request response message to the wireless mouse  40  according to the pairing request message and go to the step S 21 . If not, then the searching process is failure. The wireless mouse  40  switches into a pairing mode when the wireless mouse  40  receives the request response message. 
     In the step S 21 , the computer  30  obtains and records the MAC address of the wireless mouse  40  by the pairing request message in the step S 20 . Since each of the wireless electronic devices has a set of unique MAC address, the computer  30  may recognize different wireless electronic devices by the MAC address records when the number of the wireless electronic device is a plural. 
     In the step S 22 , the computer  30  is pairing with the wireless mouse  40 , and the pairing process is similar to the conventional pairing process and simply described in the following description. Referring to  FIG. 7 ,  FIG. 7  illustrates a flow chart of the step S 22  of a method of pairing a computer and a wireless electronic device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. 
     In the step S 220 , the wireless mouse  40  is switched into the pairing mode to generate and transmit a set of random number. 
     In the step S 221 , the wireless mouse  40  generates an initialization code by using the random number generated by itself and the request response message in the step S 20  to provide an encrypted environment for verification. 
     In the step S 222 , the computer  30  switches into the pairing mode and receives the set of random number. 
     In the step S 223 , the computer  30  generates an initialization code by using the random number from the wireless mouse  40  and the request response message in the step S 20  to provide an encrypted environment for verification. 
     In the step S 224 , a verification of the computer  30  is processed. The computer  30  generates a set of verification random number and transmits the verification random number to the wireless mouse  40 . The wireless mouse  40  computes the verification random number by using a verification function to generate a response number, and then compiles the response number to the computer  30  to generate a first pairing data. If the response number and the number computed by the computer  30  are the same, then the first pairing data is success, however, if they are different, then the first pairing data is failure. 
     In the step S 225 , an inverse verification of the wireless mouse  40  is processed. The wireless mouse  40  generates a set of inverse verification random number and transmits the inverse verification random number to the computer  30 . The computer  30  computes the inverse verification random number by using an inverse verification function to generate another response number, and then compiles the other response number to the wireless mouse  40  to generate a second pairing data. If the other response number and the number computed by the wireless mouse  40  are the same, then the second pairing data is success, however, if they are different, then the second pairing data is failure. 
     After the first pairing data and the second pairing data are generated, the step S 226  is processed to interchange the first pairing data and the second pairing data. After the computer  30  transmits the first pairing data to the wireless mouse  40  and receives the second pairing data from the wireless mouse  40 , the step S 227  is processed to determine whether the first pairing data and the second pairing date are both success or not. If yes, then the computer  30  and the wireless mouse  40  are success in pairing and then the step S 23  is processed. If not, then they are failure to be paired. 
     Referring to  FIG. 5  again, in the step S 23 , the computer  30  generates a pairing complete message  32 , which is displayed on the monitor  31  of the computer  30  for notifying users that the computer  30  and the wireless mouse  40  are success in pairing. Moreover, the computer  30  may further transmits a pairing notice signal to the wireless mouse  40  to let the wireless mouse  40  generate a light signal, a sound signal or a vibration signal, so as to notify users where is the paired wireless electronic device  40 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 8 ,  FIG. 8  illustrates a schematic view of a method of pairing a computer and wireless electronic devices according to a second embodiment of the present invention. A computer  50 , a monitor  51  and two wireless mice  61 ,  62  are presented in  FIG. 8 . First, a power source of the wireless mouse  61  is activated and a pairing button (not shown) of the wireless mouse  61  is pressed to let the wireless mouse  61  generate and transmit a pairing request message, wherein the pairing request message contains a media access control (MAC) address of the wireless mouse  61 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 9 ,  FIG. 9  illustrates a flow chart of a method of pairing a computer and wireless electronic devices according to the second embodiment of the present invention. In the step S 30 , the computer  50  starts to search wireless electronic devices adjacent to the computer  50 , wherein the wireless electronic devices in the present embodiment comprise the wireless mouse  61  and the wireless mouse  62 . The wireless mouse  61  and the wireless mouse  62  have different MAC addresses. 
     Referring to  FIG. 10  for the searching process,  FIG. 10  illustrates a flow chart of the step S 30  of a method of pairing a computer and wireless electronic devices according to the second embodiment of the present invention. In the step S 301 , the computer  50  with wireless transmission function receives the pairing request messages transmitted by the wireless mouse  61  and the wireless mouse  62 , and processes the step S 302  in a predetermined period to determine whether the computer  50  receives at least one pairing request message or not. If yes, then process the step S 303  to transmit request response messages to the wireless mouse  61  and the wireless mouse  62  according to the pairing request messages and go to the step S 31 . If not, then the searching process is failure. The wireless mouse  61  and the wireless mouse  62  switch into a pairing mode when the wireless mouse  61  and the wireless mouse  62  receive the request response messages. 
     In the step S 31 , the computer  50  obtains and records the MAC addresses of the wireless mouse  61  and the wireless mouse  62  by the pairing request messages in the step S 30 . Since the wireless mouse  61  and the wireless mouse  62  have different MAC addresses, the computer  50  may recognize the wireless mouse  61  and the wireless mouse  62  by the MAC address records. 
     In the step S 32 , the computer  50  is pairing with one of the wireless mouse  61  and the wireless mouse  62 . For example, the computer  50  is pairing with the wireless mouse  61 , wherein the pairing process is similar to the conventional pairing process and simply described in the following description. Referring to  FIG. 11 ,  FIG. 11  illustrates a flow chart of the step S 32  of a method of pairing a computer and wireless electronic devices according to the second embodiment of the present invention. 
     In the step S 320 , the wireless mouse  61  is switched into the pairing mode to generate and transmit a set of random number. 
     In the step S 321 , the wireless mouse  61  generates an initialization code by using the random number generated by itself and the request response message in the step S 30  to provide an encrypted environment for verification. 
     In the step S 322 , the computer  50  switches into the pairing mode and receives the set of random number generated by the wireless mouse  61 . 
     In the step S 323 , the computer  50  generates an initialization code by using the random number from the wireless mouse  61  and the request response message in the step S 30  to provide an encrypted environment for verification. 
     In the step S 324 , a verification of the computer  50  is processed. The computer  50  generates a set of verification random number and transmits the verification random number to the wireless mouse  61 . The wireless mouse  61  computes the verification random number by using a verification function to generate a response number, and then compiles the response number to the computer  50  to generate a first pairing data. If the response number and the number computed by the computer  50  are the same, then the first pairing data is success, however, if they are different, then the first pairing data is failure. 
     In the step S 325 , an inverse verification of the wireless mouse  61  is processed. The wireless mouse  61  generates a set of inverse verification random number and transmits the inverse verification random number to the computer  50 . The computer  50  computes the inverse verification random number by using an inverse verification function to generate another response number, and then compiles the other response number to the wireless mouse  61  to generate a second pairing data. If the other response number and the number computed by the wireless mouse  61  are the same, then the second pairing data is success, however, if they are different, then the second pairing data is failure. 
     After the first pairing data and the second pairing data are generated, the step S 326  is processed to interchange the first pairing data and the second pairing data. After the computer  50  transmits the first pairing data to the wireless mouse  61  and receives the second pairing data from the wireless mouse  61 , the step S 327  is processed to determine whether the first pairing data and the second pairing date are both success or not. If yes, then the computer  50  and the wireless mouse  61  are success in pairing and then the step S 33  is processed. If not, then they are failure to pair. 
     In the step S 33 , the computer  50  generates a pairing complete message  52 , which is displayed on the monitor  51  of the computer  50  for notifying users that the computer  50  and the wireless mouse  61  are success in pairing. Moreover, the computer  50  may further transmits a pairing notice signal to the wireless mouse  61  to let the wireless mouse  61  generate a light signal, a sound signal or a vibration signal, so as to notify users where is the paired wireless mouse  61 . 
     Further, the pairing complete message  52  further comprises a pairing confirming message, which is displayed as “Is the paired wireless electronic device is correct?”, and thus users may confirm whether the wireless mouse  61  is the correct pairing subject or not; if yes, then a re-pairing request message will not be generated; however, if not, then a re-pairing request message is generated. 
     In the step S 34 , the computer  50  determines whether a re-pairing request message is received or not. If the wireless mouse  61  is the wireless electronic device desired to be paired, then users may click a button  53  marked as “Yes and complete.” to complete the pairing process, and then the wireless mouse  61  may be normally operated on the computer  50 . If the wireless mouse  61  is not the wireless electronic device desired to be paired, then users may click a button  54  marked as “No and re-pairing.” to transmit a re-pairing request message to the computer  50  and go to the step S 35 . In the step S 35 , the computer  50  confirms the MAC address records, excludes the MAC address record of the wireless mouse  61 , and then reads the MAC address record of the wireless mouse  62 . Thereafter, the step S 32  is processed to pair the computer  50  and the second wireless electronic device  62 . 
     According to the description of the above-mentioned preferred embodiments, it is obvious that the method of pairing a computer and at least one wireless electronic device of the present invention uses the step of recording the MAC address(s) of the wireless electronic device(s) to replace the step of selecting a correct wireless electronic device from a searching list in the conventional method. Therefore, the present invention may not only save lots of time for selection, but also provide a simple pairing method to avoid difficult selection from several wireless electronic devices belong to the same type that comes out at the same time that result in quite difficult to use and inconvenient. 
     Although specific embodiments of the present invention have been described, it will be understood by those of skill in the art that there are other embodiments that are equivalent to the described embodiments. Accordingly, it is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited by the specific illustrated embodiments, but only by the scope of the appended claims.

Technology Classification (CPC): 7