Patent Description:
With the growth in the living standard, a single user may own multiple electronic devices, such as smartphones, tablets, laptops, speakers, smart televisions, etc. In order to provide users with a good user experience, devices produced by major device manufacturers usually support an interconnection function, such that the multiple devices owned by the same user can work together.

In the related art, data is usually shared between various devices through applications (also called application program, APP). The user needs to open the control panel and find operation access entrances of the APP sharing function before triggering the sharing operation of a specific APP. With this method, the operation access entrance is deep, leading to cumbersome operations caused by for sharing data.

<CIT> discloses a file sharing method, apparatus, and system, an interactive smart device, a source end device, and a storage medium. The method includes: receiving a dragging operation of dragging an icon to be dragged in a first current display interface to a first slaring trigger area, the first sharing trigger area being associated with a second current display interface, and the first current display interface and the second current display interface being any two current display interfaces displayed; and sharing a file to be shared corresponding to the icon to be dragged in a sharing device to a device to be shared by means of the dragging operation, the sharing device being the source end device of the first current display interface, and the device to be shared being the source end device of the second current display interface.

<CIT> discloses a file sharing method, apparatus, and system, an interactive smart device, a source end device, and a storage medium. The method includes: receiving a dragging operation of dragging a current display interface to a first sharing trigger area, the first sharing trigger area being associated with a second source end device, and a first source end device and the second source end device being any two source end devices establishing communicational connection to a current execution device; and sharing a file to be shared corresponding to the current display interface to the second source end device by means of the dragging operation.

<CIT> discloses an NFC method for terminal equipment. The terminal equipment is provided with a pairing area. The NFC method includes the following steps of starting the NFC function; searching for surrounding paring equipment with NFC labels; obtaining the name and signal intensity of the pairing equipment; sorting the names of the pairing equipment from the high signal intensity to the low signal intensity; generating and displaying an equipment list; when it is detected that a current interface includes the pairing area and the equipment list and a first trigger signal is received, detecting the name of the equipment, corresponding to the trigger position of the first trigger signal, in the equipment list, and moving an icon corresponding to the name to the pairing area; sending a pairing instruction to the triggered pairing equipment automatically, and when the triggered pairing equipment is the same as the current terminal equipment in preset password, building NFC connection.

<CIT> discloses a method and system for facilitating a collaboration session among a plurality of conferees, each conferee using a distinct interface device that includes a distinct display screen, the interface devices including at least a first interface device including a first display screen used by a first conferee, the method comprising the steps of presenting a first session interface on the first display screen, presenting a second session interface on the second display screen, and during a conference content sharing session while content is being shared among conferees in at least the first and second sharing windows, identifying other display screens that may be used to present shared content, presenting screen selection options for other display screens via the first session interface, receiving a selection via the first session interface of at least one of the presented screen selection options and in response to the received selection, associating the display screen that is associated with the selected screen selection option with the first and second session interfaces for accessing session content during the on-going session.

The invention provides a method for sharing data according to independent claim <NUM>, an apparatus for sharing data according to independent claim <NUM>, and a computer-readable storage medium according to independent claim <NUM>. Further aspects of the invention are defined by the dependent claims.

With the method for sharing data according to embodiments of the invention, the triggering area corresponding to each data source and the association area corresponding to each associated device are displayed on the data sharing interface, such that the user can perform the pairing operation on the triggering areas and the association areas to select a data source and an associated device such that the data from the data source is shared to the associated device. In detail, after detecting the pairing operation between the triggering area and the association area, the terminal can determine the data source corresponding to the triggering area as the target data source, and the associated device corresponding to the association area as the target associated device. On this basis, the terminal can acquire data from the target data source and transmit the acquired data to the target associated device, such that the target associated device can output the received data.

It is understandable that the invention shares the data between different devices in a unit of data sources, breaking the status quo that APPs are allowed to be shared in the related art. In addition, the invention provides an independent data sharing interface including the triggering areas corresponding to the data sources and the association areas corresponding to the associated devices, such that the data to be shared and the associated device can be selected by performing the pairing operation between the triggering areas and the association areas. Therefore, the problem that complicated operations are needed for sharing data in the related art since the APP selection and the device selection are performed through the control panel of the terminal can be solved.

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments consistent with the invention and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the invention.

Embodiments will be described in detail herein, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. When the following description refers to the drawings, the same numerals in different drawings refer to the same or similar elements unless otherwise indicated. The implementations described in the illustrative examples below are not intended to represent all implementations consistent with this invention. Rather, they are merely examples of apparatus and methods consistent with some aspects of the invention as recited in the appended claims.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments and is not intended to limit the invention. As used in this description and the appended claims, the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. It will also be understood that the term "and/or" as used herein refers to and includes any and all possible combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

It is understandable that although the terms "first," "second," "third," etc. may be used in this disclosure to describe various pieces of information, such information should not be limited by these terms. These terms are used to distinguish the same type of information from each other. For example, the first information may also be referred to as the second information, and similarly, the second information may also be referred to as the first information, without departing from the scope of the disclosure. Depending on the context, the word "if" as used herein can be interpreted as "at the time of" or "when" or "in response to determining.

In the related art, the applications (also called application programs, APP) installed in the terminal can be shared, such that the user can obtain a good use experience through the collaborative work between different devices.

In detail, the user can access a control panel of a terminal through a setting icon of the terminal, find and trigger an operation access entrance of the function for sharing APPs after multiple selection operations, to open the APP sharing interface. After opening the APP sharing interface, the user can select a specific APP and instruct the terminal to share the selected APP.

It can be seen that in the related art, the data is shared with another device in a form of APPs, and the operation access entrance of the function of sharing APPs is deep, resulting in a long operation path and cumbersome operations for sharing the APPs. In addition, since APPs are allowed to be shared, the generated data cannot be shared at other granularities, and data sharing is limited.

In view of this, the invention proposes a method for sharing data, which can share data of a terminal with another device by taking the data source as a unit, without the need of performing the data sharing operation through a control panel as described in the related art. Therefore, a problem of cumbersome operations when sharing the data of the terminal is solved.

<FIG> is a flowchart illustrating a method for sharing data in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. The method is applied to a terminal. As illustrated in <FIG>, the method includes the following.

In block <NUM>, a data sharing interface is displayed. The data sharing interface contains triggering areas respectively corresponding to data sources and association areas respectively corresponding to associated devices. That is, the triggering areas correspond to the data sources one by one. The association areas correspond to the associated devices one by one.

It can be seen from the above that the problem, existing in the related art, that the operations needed for sharing data are complicated is caused by the fact that the operation access entrance of the function of sharing Apps is deep, such that multiple selection operations are needed before the function of sharing APPs is activated.

In view of this, the invention no longer sets the operation access entrance of the sharing function on the control panel, but displays the data sharing interface that contains the "triggering areas respectively corresponding to the data sources and the association areas respectively corresponding to the associated devices" to allow the user to share the data from a corresponding data source to another associated device by pairing the triggering areas and the association areas.

It is understandable that, with the method according to the invention, the data obtained from a certain data source can be shared by performing the pairing operation, which solves the problem of cumbersome operations caused by sharing data through the control panel of the terminal in the related art. In addition, the invention uses the data source as a unit to share the data generated by the terminal, breaking the status quo that the data can be shared through APPs in the related art.

In the invention, an operation access entrance for providing the data sharing function can be displayed by the terminal, and the user can access the data sharing interface by triggering the operation access entrance. On the data sharing interface, the triggering areas respectively corresponding to the data sources can be presented in various forms. For example, the triggering area of each data source can be presented in the form of a widget, in the form of a label, or in the form of an icon. Similarly, the association area corresponding to each associated device can be presented in various forms. For example, the association areas can be presented in the form of widgets, in the form of labels, or in the form of icons. Certainly, the above examples are illustrative, and the specific form in which the triggering areas and the association areas are presented on the data sharing interface can be determined by a person skilled in the art according to the actual situation, which is not limited in the invention.

In the invention, when displaying the association areas respectively corresponding to the associated devices on the data sharing interface, type labels of the associated devices may be added in the association areas. The type label is configured to represent the device type of the corresponding associated device. For example, the type label can be configured to indicate that a device is a display type device, an audio type device, or a printing type device. Thus, the type label added in the association area of the associated device, like smart television (TV) and display, can be the display type device, the type label added in the association area of the associated device, like Bluetooth speaker and ordinary speaker, can be the audio type device, and the type label added in the association area of the associated device, like printer and copier, can be printing type device. Certainly, the above examples are illustrative, and what type label to be added and how to add the type label in each association area can be determined by those skilled in the art according to the actual requirements, and are not limited in the invention.

In the invention, different pairing modes can be set according to the actual requirements.

For example, the pairing operation can be a "moving operation that moves the triggering area to the association area". In detail, when detecting that a triggering area is moved, for example by the user, to an association area, the terminal can determine a pairing operation between the triggering area and the association area has been detected. Alternatively, the pairing operation can be a "moving operation that moves the association area to the triggering area", and the specific detection method is similar to the foregoing case, which is not repeated here.

In the invention, the user can long press the triggering area to make the triggering area move along with a triggering trajectory, such that the user can move the triggering area to the association area. In the process of moving the triggering area, operations such as transparency and zooming can be performed on the triggering area to prompt the user that the triggering area is being moved. Certainly, moving the association area is similar to the foregoing case, which is not repeated here.

Alternatively, the pairing operation can be a "sliding operation from the triggering area to the association area". In detail, when detecting the sliding operation from a triggering area to an association area, the terminal may determine that the pairing operation between the triggering area and the association area has been detected. Alternatively, the pairing operation can be a "sliding operation from the association area to the triggering area", and the specific detection method is similar to the foregoing case, which is not repeated here.

In some examples, the sliding trajectory can be restricted. For example, sliding trajectories corresponding to the pairing operation may be defined in advance. When the sliding trajectory of the user from a triggering area to an association area matches one of the pre-defined sliding trajectories, it is determined that the pairing operation between the triggering area and the association area has been detected. In addition, the sliding trajectories can be defined similarly for the case of sliding from the association area to the triggering area, which is not repeated here.

In some examples, a preset duration may be set. Within the preset duration, in response to detecting two continuous triggering operations of clicking on a triggering area and an association area by the user respectively, it is determined that the pairing operation between the triggering area and the association area has been detected. In actual operation, after detecting that a triggering area is triggered, the terminal starts timing to determine whether there is a triggering operation performed on an association area within the preset duration. Certainly, the above example is illustrative, and the determination can be made by those skilled in the art according to the actual situations, which is not limited in the invention.

In the invention, before displaying the associated devices on the data sharing interface, the associated devices of the terminal may be determined. In the invention, different device can be determined as the associated device of the terminal depending on the actual requirement.

In an example, the terminal may determine connected devices that have been connected with the terminal as the associated devices. For example, the terminal can establish data transmission channels between the terminal and other devices through the network, the local area network, or short-range communication technologies, such as Bluetooth and NFC (Near Field Communication), such that other devices can be determined as the connected devices that have been connected with the terminal.

As another example, the terminal may determine to-be-connected devices that are able to establish connections with the terminal as the associated devices of the terminal. In detail, the terminal may determine a to-be-connected device that is able to establish the data transmission channel with the terminal based on the network or the short-range transmission function carried by the terminal, as an associated device of the terminal. For example, when the terminal determines the to-be-connected devices through the Bluetooth technology, the terminal can enable the Bluetooth function to search for nearby devices that have the Bluetooth pairing function enabled, and determine the searched devices as the associated devices.

Certainly, in actual operation, both the connected devices and the to-be-connected devices can be determined as the associated devices of the terminal. How to determine the associated devices of the terminal can be determined by those skilled in the art according to the actual situation, which is not limited in the invention.

It is to be noted that when the user selects an association area of a to-be-connected device through the pairing operation, that is, when the determined target associated device is a to-be-connected device, a data transmission channel needs to be established between the to-be-connected device and the terminal first, for data sharing. In detail, the terminal can establish the data transmission channel between the terminal and the to-be-connected device based on the network where the terminal is located or the near-field communication function, such that after the to-be-connected device is connected with the terminal the data transmission is performed.

At block <NUM>, in response to the pairing operation between the triggering area and the association area, data is obtained from a target data source corresponding to the triggering area and is transmitted to a target associated device corresponding to the association area, such that the target associated device outputs received data.

In the invention, after detecting the pairing operation between the triggering area and the association area, the data source corresponding to the triggering area can be determined as the target data source, and the associated device corresponding to the association area can be determined as the target associated device. On this basis, the data can be acquired from the determined target data source, and the acquired data can be sent to the determined target associated device, such that the target associated device can output the received data.

In the invention, the data sources can be classified based on various dimensions. When the dimensions used for classifying the data sources are different, there are also certain differences in the granularity of data sharing.

In some examples, the data sources may be classified based on functional modules included in the terminal. In detail, the terminal may include an audio module, a display module, a vibration module, and the like. When one of the above-mentioned modules is determined as the target data source, the data for realizing the corresponding function can be transmitted to the target associated device, such that the target associated device can realize the same function based on the received data.

When the target data source determined by the user based on the pairing operation is the audio module, the terminal can acquire audio data for implementing the audio playback function from the audio module, and transmit the acquired audio data to the target associated device determined based on the pairing operation. On this basis, the target associated device can output a sound signal according to the received audio data.

When the target data source determined by the user based on the pairing operation is the display module, the terminal can acquire screen display data for implementing the screen display function from the display module and transmit the acquired screen display data to the target associated device determined based on the pairing operation. On this basis, the target associated device can generate a mirror image of the screen of the terminal according to the received screen display data, and display the generated mirror image.

Alternatively, like the related art, the APPs installed in the terminal can be used as the data source in the invention. In this case, when the user determines an APP as the target data source based on the pairing operation, the terminal can acquire interface drawing data of the APP interface from the APP and transmit the acquired interface drawing data to the target associated device determined based on the pairing operation. On this basis, the target associated device can draw the APP interface of the APP based on the received interface drawing data, and display the drawn APP interface.

The APP sharing for the APP is realized by transmitting the interface drawing data of the APP interface, such that compared with the APP sharing method in the related art, the APP can be shared without the need of installing the same APP on both the terminal and the target associated device. The problem, existing in the related art, such as extra storage space occupied due to the need to install the same APP on different devices can be solved.

In the process of APP sharing, in the invention, the data can be transferred between different associated devices, such that the associated devices can be quickly switched and changed for APP sharing when the terminal is moved.

In some examples, the terminal may set a preset distance for determining whether to transfer the data. The present distance is obtained based on the data transmission module of the terminal. For example, when the terminal uses the Bluetooth module, since the data transmission distance of the Bluetooth module ranges from <NUM> meters to <NUM> meters, the preset distance can be set as <NUM> meters. The terminal can use another data transmission module, such as the short-range transmission module and the preset distance can be set accordingly, which is not described herein. In detail, the terminal can monitor its own location information to determine whether there is a movement. When it is detected that the terminal moves, the distance between the terminal and another associated device other than the target associated device can be monitored to determine whether to transfer the data. When it is detected that the distance between the terminal and another associated device is less than the preset distance, the data obtained from the target data source can be transmitted to the other associated device, such that the other associated device can output the received data.

In the invention, there may be a premise of transferring the data, e.g., "there is a device of the same type as the target device among the associated devices of the terminal". Under this premise, a device of the same type as the target device can be determined as an alternative target associated device, such that when corresponding conditions are met, the data obtained from the target data source is transmitted to the alternative target associated device. In detail, when the terminal moves, the distance between the terminal and the alternative target associated device can be monitored. When it is detected that the distance between the terminal and the alternative target associated device is less than the preset distance, the data obtained from the target data source can be transmitted to the alternative target associated device, such that the data can be output by the alternative target associated device.

For example, the user intends to transmit the video playback data of a smartphone to a smart TV in the living room, and when the user walks into the bedroom from the living room with the smartphone in hand, it is detected that the distance between the smartphone and another smart TV in the bedroom is less than the preset distance. In this case, the video playback data of the smartphone is transmitted to the smart TV in the bedroom.

When there are devices of the same type as the target device among the associated devices of the terminal, the terminal may directly compare respective distances between the terminal and the devices of the same type to determine whether to transfer the data. Similar to the above-mentioned case, the devices of the same type may be referred to as the alternative target associated device. In detail, when the terminal moves, the distance between the terminal and the target device and the distance between the terminal and each alternative target associated device can be monitored. When the distance between the terminal and the target associated device is smaller than the distance between the terminal and an alternative target associated device, the data obtained from the target data source can be transmitted to the alternative target associated device, such that the received data can be output by the alternative target associated device.

It is to be noted that no matter which mode is used to transfer the data, the terminal can either stop transmitting the data to the target associated device after transferring the data obtained from the target data source to the other associated device other than the target associated device; or transmit the data obtained from the target data source to both the target associated device and the other associated device.

In the invention, in addition to sharing data, the associated devices can be controlled through the terminal. In detail, the user can trigger an association area on the data sharing interface to open a control interface of the corresponding associated device. The control interface may include several operation controls of the associated device. When an operation control is triggered, the terminal can generate a control instruction corresponding to the operation control, and send the control instruction to the corresponding associated device to instruct the associated device to perform the operation corresponding to the operation control.

For example, when the user triggers the association area of the Bluetooth speaker, the control interface of the Bluetooth speaker can be displayed. The control interface can include a volume up control, a volume down control, a pause control, etc. When the user triggers the volume down control, the terminal can generate a control instruction for instructing the Bluetooth speaker to reduce the volume, and send the control instruction to the Bluetooth speaker through the data transmission channel established based on the Bluetooth technology to instruct the Bluetooth speaker to reduce the volume.

It is to be noted that the terminal and the associated devices of the terminal mentioned herein can be any type of electronic device. For example, the terminal and its associated device can be mobile terminals, such as smartphone and tablet computer, or fixed terminals, such as smart TV and personal computer. The terminal and its associated devices may be the same type or different types of electronic device. The specific type of the terminal and its associated devices can be determined by those skilled in the art according to actual requirements, which is not limited in the invention.

With the above technical solutions according to the invention, the triggering area corresponding to each data source and the association area corresponding to each associated device are displayed on the data sharing interface, such that the user can perform the pairing operation on the triggering areas and the association areas to select a data source and an associated device such that the data from the data source is shared to the associated device. In detail, after detecting the pairing operation between the triggering area and the association area, the terminal can determine the data source corresponding to the triggering area as the target data source, and the associated device corresponding to the association area as the target associated device. On this basis, the terminal can acquire data from the target data source and transmit the acquired data to the target associated device, such that the target associated device can output the received data.

It is understandable that the invention provides an independent data sharing interface including the triggering areas corresponding to the data sources and the association areas corresponding to the associated devices, such that the data to be shared and the associated device can be selected by performing the pairing operation between the triggering areas and the association areas. Therefore, the problem of complicated operations caused when sharing data in the related art since the APP selection and the device selection are performed through the control panel of the terminal can be solved.

In addition, the related art allows sharing of APPs, which limits the granularity of data sharing. For example, in the process of sharing a video type APP in the related art, all video-related data such as video audio data and picture data are transmitted to the same device, and the audio data and the image data cannot be transmitted separately. Furthermore, in sharing the video type APP, the data is allowed to be shared to devices with the screen display function, such as smart TV, PC, etc., and is not allowed to be shared to devices without the screens display function, such as a Bluetooth speaker. In practical uses, it is possible that the user wants to listen to the audio data of the video and does not want to watch the image data of the video. In this case, the audio data of the video type APP needs to be transmitted to the Bluetooth speaker and the image data of the video type APP does not need to be transmitted. However, in the related art, not only the audio data and the image data cannot be separately shared, but also the video type APP cannot be shared with the audio playback device, such as the Bluetooth speaker. That is, the APP sharing method in the related art not only cannot share data in units other than APP, but also limits the types of device to which various types of APPs are shared. Compared with the related art, in the invention, the data is shared in a unit of data sources, breaking the status quo that APPs are allowed to be shared in the related art. For example, in sharing the audio part of a video, in the invention, the audio data of the video type APP can be obtained from an audio module of the terminal and shared to the Bluetooth speaker for playback. In this way, a problem existing in the related art that the data can be shared in the unit of APPs is solved and the types of devices to which the data is to be shared is not limited by the type of APP.

Hereinafter, the technical solution of the invention will be introduced by taking the sharing of audio data of a smartphone to a Bluetooth speaker as an example.

<FIG> is a schematic diagram illustrating an interaction process of a method for sharing data in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. As illustrated in <FIG>, the method includes the following.

At block <NUM>, the smartphone displays a data sharing interface.

An operation access entrance of the data sharing interface can be set on the smartphone, such that the user can enter the data sharing interface by triggering the operation access entrance.

For example, the operation access entrance of the data sharing interface is illustrated in <FIG>. The data sharing interface opened by triggering the operation access entrance is illustrated as <FIG>.

On the data sharing interface illustrated as <FIG>, several widgets corresponding to different data sources may be included, for example, the audio widget, the mirror image widget, etc. It is understandable that, although in <FIG> the widgets respectively correspond to different functional modules and the data sources corresponding to the widgets are corresponding functional modules, in practical uses, more widgets can be displayed, such as widgets corresponding to different APPs.

The data sharing interface illustrated in <FIG> may also include device icons corresponding to associated devices, for example, a smart TV icon, a Bluetooth speaker icon, a tablet computer icon, etc..

It is to be noted that, in addition to establishing the data transmission channel between the devices owned by the user, the user can log in to each device with the same system account, such that each device becomes an associated device of each other. For example, the smartphone, the Bluetooth speaker, the smart TV, and the tablet computer illustrated in <FIG> can all be logged in with the same system account such that they become each other's associated devices.

At block <NUM>, the smartphone detects that the audio widget on the data sharing interface is moved to a position of a speaker icon of the Bluetooth speaker.

The user can long press the audio widget to drag the audio widget to the position of the speaker icon of the Bluetooth speaker as shown in <FIG>, to instruct the smartphone to transmit the audio data obtained from the audio module corresponding to the audio widget to the Bluetooth speaker such that the Bluetooth speaker outputs the received audio data.

Certainly, the case "outputting the audio data of the smartphone through the Bluetooth speaker" is an example. In actual operation, the user can share other data to other devices by moving other widgets to the positions of icons of other devices. For example, the mirror image widget illustrated in <FIG> can be moved to the position of the icon of the smart TV, such that the smart TV displays the mirror image of the screen of the smartphone.

At block <NUM>, the smartphone acquires the audio data from the audio module corresponding to the audio widget.

After determining that the audio widget is moved to the position of the icon of the Bluetooth speaker, the audio data that is being played can be obtained from the audio module, and the audio data can be transmitted to the Bluetooth speaker.

At block <NUM>, the smartphone transmits the acquired audio data to the Bluetooth speaker.

At block <NUM>, the Bluetooth speaker outputs a sound signal according to the audio data.

After acquiring the audio data, the Bluetooth speaker can convert the audio data into the sound signal through an audio output module.

At block <NUM>, the smartphone detects there is a triggering operation on the speaker icon.

The smartphone can control the Bluetooth speaker. In detail, the user can open the control interface illustrated as <FIG> by clicking on the speaker icon, and control the Bluetooth speaker through several controls displayed on the control interface.

At block <NUM>, the smartphone displays the control interface of the Bluetooth speaker.

For the Bluetooth speaker, as illustrated in <FIG>, the control interface of the Bluetooth speaker can include a previous song control, a next song control, a playback/pause control, a volume adjusting control, etc..

At block <NUM>, the smartphone detects that a pause control on the control interface is triggered.

The user can trigger the pause control during the audio playback to instruct the Bluetooth speaker to stop playing. In detail, after detecting that the pause control is triggered, the smartphone can generate a pause instruction for instructing the Bluetooth speaker to stop playing, and send the pause instruction to the Bluetooth speaker through the data transmission channel established based on the Bluetooth technology.

At block <NUM>, the smartphone generates the pause instruction based on the pause control, and sends the pause instruction to the Bluetooth speaker.

At block <NUM>, the Bluetooth speaker receives the pause instruction and stops outputting the audio data.

After the Bluetooth speaker receives the pause instruction, the Bluetooth can stop outputting the audio data.

In the invention, each data source in the smartphone can be displayed in the form of a widget, and each associated device of the smartphone is displayed in the form of a device icon. On this basis, the user can share the data from a data source to another device by moving the widget to the position of the device icon.

It is understandable that the operation method of moving the widget to the position of the device icon is not only convenient, but also conforms to the people's operating habits, such that the user can clearly know from the execution process of the moving operation that the operation is an operation for sharing the data.

In addition, the user can remotely control the device by triggering the device icon, opening the control interface of the device and triggering the control controls on the control interface.

<FIG> is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus for sharing data in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. As illustrated in <FIG>, the apparatus includes a displaying unit <NUM> and a responding unit <NUM>.

The displaying unit <NUM> is configured to display a data sharing interface. The data sharing interface contains triggering areas respectively corresponding to data sources and association areas respectively corresponding to associated devices.

The responding unit <NUM> is configured to, in response to a pairing operation between a triggering area and an association area, obtain data from a target data source corresponding to the triggering area, and transmit the data to a target associated device corresponding to the association area, to output the received data by the target associated device.

Alternatively, the displaying unit <NUM> is further configured to display an operation access entrance for providing a data sharing function.

When the operation access entrance is triggered, the data sharing interface is displayed.

Alternatively, the pairing operation includes one of a moving operation for moving the triggering area to the association area, a moving operation for moving the association area to the triggering area, a sliding operation for sliding from the triggering area to the association area, a sliding operation for sliding from the association area to the triggering area, and continuous triggering operations of clicking on the triggering area and the association area respectively within a preset duration.

Alternatively, the responding unit <NUM> is further configured to, in response to determining that the target data source is an audio module of the terminal, acquire audio data from the audio module, and transmit the audio data to a target associated device corresponding to the association area, such that the target associated device outputs a sound signal based on the audio data.

Alternatively, the responding unit <NUM> is further configured to, in response to determining that the target data source is a display module of the terminal, acquire screen display data of the terminal from the display module, and transmit the screen display data to a target associated device corresponding to the association area, such that the target associated device draws a mirror image of a screen of the terminal based on the screen display data, and displays the mirror image.

Alternatively, the responding unit <NUM> is further configured to, in response to determining that the target data source is an APP installed in the terminal, acquire interface drawing data of an APP interface from the APP, and transmit the interface drawing data to the target associated device corresponding to the association area, such that the target associated device draws the APP interface of the APP based on the interface drawing data, and displays the APP interface.

Alternatively, the responding unit <NUM> is further configured to, in response to detecting that the terminal moves, monitor a distance between the terminal and another associated devices other than the target associated device; in response to detecting that the distance between the terminal and another associated device is less than a preset distance, transmit the data obtained from the target data source to the other associated device, such that the other associated device outputs the data.

Alternatively, in response to determining that there is an alternative target associated device of the same type as the target associated device among the associated devices, the responding unit <NUM> is further configured to monitor a distance between the terminal and the alternative target associated device; and in response to detecting that the distance between the terminal and the alternative target associated device is less than a preset distance, transmit the data obtained from the target data source the alternative target associated device.

Alternatively, in response to determining that there is an alternative target associated device of the same type as the target associated device among the associated devices, the responding unit <NUM> is further configured to monitor a distance between the terminal and the target associated device and a distance between the terminal and the alternative target associated device when the terminal moves; and in response to determining that the distance between the terminal and the target associated device is smaller than the distance between the terminal and the alternative target associated device, transmit the data obtained from the target data source to the alternative target associated device, such that the data is output by the alternative target associated device.

Alternatively, the displaying unit <NUM> is further configured to add type labels to the association areas displayed on the data sharing interface based on a device type of each associated device.

The type label is one of a display type device, an audio type device, or a printing type device.

Alternatively, the responding unit <NUM> is further configured to: in response to a triggering operation on an association area, display a control interface of the associated device corresponding to the association area; and when an operation control on the control interface is triggered, transmit an operation instruction corresponding to the operation control to the associated device corresponding to the association area, to instruct the associated device to perform operations corresponding to the operation control.

As illustrated in <FIG> is a block diagram illustrating another apparatus for sharing data in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. On the basis of the foregoing embodiment illustrated in <FIG>, the method further includes: a determining unit <NUM>, and an establishing unit <NUM>.

The determining unit <NUM> is configured to determine a connected device that has established a data transmission channel with the terminal, and determine the connected device as at least a part of the associated devices; and/or, determine a to-be-connected device that is able to establish a data transmission channel with the terminal based on the network where the terminal is located or a built-in short-range communication function, and determine the to-be-connected device as at least a part of the associated devices.

The establishing unit <NUM> is further configured to establish the data transmission channel between the terminal and the target associated device based on the network where the terminal is located or a built-in short-range communication function in response to determining that the target associated device corresponding to the triggering area is a to-be-connected device.

For the apparatus embodiments, since they basically correspond to the method embodiments, reference may be made to the partial descriptions of the method embodiments for related parts. The device embodiments described above are illustrative. The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separated, and the components shown as units may or may not be physical units. That is, they may be located in one place, or they can be distributed over multiple network elements. Some or all of the modules can be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of the invention. Those of ordinary skill in the art can understand and implement it without creative effort.

Correspondingly, the invention also provides an apparatus for sharing data, including a processor; and a memory for storing instructions executable by the processor. The processor is configured to implement the method for sharing data according to any one of the foregoing embodiments. For example, the method may include: displaying a data sharing interface. The data sharing interface includes triggering areas respectively corresponding to data sources and association areas respectively corresponding to associated devices. The method further includes in response to a pairing operation between a triggering area and an association area, acquiring data from a target data source corresponding to the triggering area, and transmitting the acquired data to a target associated device corresponding to the association area such that the target associated device outputs the received data.

Correspondingly, the invention also provides an electronic device including a memory and one or more programs. The one or more programs are stored in the memory and are executed by one or more processors such that instructions for implementing the method for sharing data as described in any of the foregoing embodiments included in the one or more programs are executed by the one or more processors. For example, the method may include: displaying a data sharing interface. The data sharing interface includes triggering areas respectively corresponding to data sources and association areas respectively corresponding to associated devices. The method further includes, in response to a pairing operation between a triggering area and an association area, acquiring data from a target data source corresponding to the triggering area, and transmitting the acquired data to a target associated device corresponding to the association area such that the target associated device outputs the received data.

<FIG> is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus <NUM> in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. For example, the apparatus <NUM> can be a mobile phone, a computer, a digital broadcast terminal, a messaging device, a game console, a tablet device, a medical device, a fitness device, a personal digital assistant, and the like.

As illustrated in <FIG>, the apparatus <NUM> may include one or more of the following components: a processing component <NUM>, a memory <NUM>, a power supply component <NUM>, a multimedia component <NUM>, an audio component <NUM>, an input/output (I/O) interface <NUM>, a sensor assembly <NUM>, and a communication component <NUM>.

The processing component <NUM> generally controls the overall operation of the apparatus <NUM>, such as operations associated with display, phone calls, data communications, camera operations, and recording operations. The processing component <NUM> may include one or more processors <NUM> to execute instructions to perform all or some of the steps of the method described above. Additionally, processing component <NUM> may include one or more modules to facilitate interaction between processing component <NUM> and other components. For example, processing component <NUM> may include a multimedia module to facilitate interaction between multimedia component <NUM> and processing component <NUM>.

The memory <NUM> is configured to store various types of data to support operations at the apparatus <NUM>. Examples of such data include instructions for any use or method operating on the apparatus <NUM>, contact data, phonebook data, messages, pictures, videos, and the like. The memory <NUM> may be implemented by any type of volatile or nonvolatile storage device or their combination, such as static random access memory (SRAM), electrically erasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM), erasable Programmable Read Only Memory (EPROM), Programmable Read Only Memory (PROM), Read Only Memory (ROM), Magnetic Memory, Flash Memory, Magnetic Disk or Optical Disk.

The power supply component <NUM> provides power to various components of the apparatus <NUM>. The power supply components <NUM> may include a power management system, one or more power supplies, and other components associated with generating, managing, and distributing power to the apparatus <NUM>.

The multimedia component <NUM> includes a screen that provides an output interface between the apparatus <NUM> and the user. If the screen includes a touch panel, the screen may be implemented as a touch screen to receive input signals from a user. The touch panel includes one or more touch sensors to sense touch, swipe, and gestures on the touch panel. The touch sensor may not only sense the boundaries of a touch or swipe action, but also detect the duration and pressure associated with the touch or swipe action. In some embodiments, the multimedia component <NUM> includes a front-facing camera and/or a rear-facing camera. When the apparatus <NUM> is in an operation mode, such as a shooting mode or a video mode, the front camera and/or the rear camera may receive external multimedia data. Each of the front and rear cameras can be a fixed optical lens system or have focal length and optical zoom capability.

The audio component <NUM> is configured to output and/or input audio signals. For example, the audio component <NUM> includes a microphone (MIC) that is configured to receive external audio signals when the apparatus <NUM> is in operating modes, such as a call mode, a recording mode, and a voice recognition mode. The received audio signal may be further stored in the memory <NUM> or transmitted via the communication component <NUM>. In some embodiments, the audio component <NUM> also includes a speaker for outputting audio signals.

The I/O interface <NUM> provides an interface between the processing component <NUM> and a peripheral interface module, which may be a keyboard, a click wheel, a button, or the like. These buttons may include, but are not limited to: a home button, volume buttons, a start button, and a lock button.

The sensor assembly <NUM> includes one or more sensors for providing status assessment of various aspects of the apparatus <NUM>. For example, the sensor assembly <NUM> can detect the open/closed state of the apparatus <NUM>, the relative positioning of components, such as the display and keypad of the apparatus <NUM>, and the sensor assembly <NUM> can also detect a change in the position of the apparatus <NUM> or a component of the apparatus <NUM>, the presence or absence of a user contact with the apparatus <NUM>, the orientation or an acceleration/deceleration of the apparatus <NUM> and a temperature change of the apparatus <NUM>. The sensor assembly <NUM> may include a proximity sensor configured to detect the presence of nearby objects in the absence of any physical contact. The sensor assembly <NUM> may also include a light sensor, such as a CMOS or CCD image sensor, for use in imaging. In some embodiments, the sensor assembly <NUM> may also include an acceleration sensor, a gyroscope sensor, a magnetic sensor, a pressure sensor, or a temperature sensor.

The communication component <NUM> is configured to facilitate wired or wireless communication between the apparatus <NUM> and other devices. The apparatus <NUM> may access a wireless network based on a communication standard, such as WiFi, <NUM> or <NUM>, <NUM> LTE, <NUM> NR (New Radio), or their combination. In one embodiment, the communication component <NUM> receives broadcast signals or broadcast related information from an external broadcast management system via a broadcast channel. In an embodiment, the communication component <NUM> also includes a near field communication (NFC) module to facilitate short-range communication. For example, the NFC module can be implemented based on radio frequency identification (RFID) technology, infrared data association (IrDA) technology, ultra-wideband (UWB) technology, Bluetooth (BT) technology and other technologies.

In an embodiment, the apparatus <NUM> may be implemented by one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), digital signal processors (DSPs), digital signal processing devices (DSPDs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), a controller, a microcontroller, a microprocessor or another electronic component implementation for performing the above method.

In an embodiment, there is also provided a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium including instructions, such as a memory <NUM> including instructions, executable by the processor <NUM> of the apparatus <NUM> to perform the method described above. For example, the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium may be ROM, random access memory (RAM), CD-ROM, magnetic tape, floppy disk, optical data storage device, and the like.

Other embodiments of the invention will readily occur to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the specification and practice of the invention disclosed herein. This invention is intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of this invention that follow the general principles of this invention and include common general knowledge or techniques in the technical field not disclosed by this disclosure. The specification and examples are to be regarded as examples, with the true scope of the invention being indicated by the following claims.

Claim 1:
A method for sharing data, performed by a terminal, the method comprising:
displaying (<NUM>; <NUM>) a data sharing interface, wherein the data sharing interface contains triggering areas respectively corresponding to data sources and association areas respectively corresponding to associated devices; and
in response to a pairing operation between a widget of a triggering area and an icon of an association area, obtaining (<NUM>) data from a target data source corresponding to the triggering area and transmitting the data to a target associated device corresponding to the association area, such that the data is output by the target associated device,
wherein the method is characterized in that
obtaining (<NUM>) data from the target data source corresponding to the triggering area and transmitting the data to the target associated device corresponding to the association area comprises:
in response to determining that the target data source is an audio module of the terminal, obtaining audio data from the audio module and transmitting the audio data to the target associated device corresponding to the association area, such that the target associated device outputs a sound signal based on the audio data;
in response to determining that the target data source is a display module of the terminal, obtaining screen displaying data from the display module and transmitting the screen displaying data to the target associated device corresponding to the association area, such that the target associated device generates a mirror image of a screen of the terminal based on the screen displaying data and displays the mirror image; or
in response to determining that the target data source is an application installed on the terminal, obtaining interface drawing data of an application interface from the application and transmitting the interface drawing data to the target associated device corresponding to the association area, such that the target associated device draws the application interface of the application based on the interface drawing data, and displays the application interface.