Patent ID: 8832345

Claim:
A system configured to communicate to and from a media device, the media device having a first controller, the system comprising: a physical device module configured to run on the first controller; a virtual host module configured to run on the first controller; a docking station comprising: a second controller; an electrical connector configured to couple to the media device; a physical host module configured to run on the second controller; a virtual device module configured to run on the second controller; and one or more accessory devices configured to communicate with the media device using the virtual device module; and one or more installation modules configured to run on the first controller and further configured to install the virtual host module in an operating system of the media device, wherein: the physical host module and the physical device module are configured to establish a physical communications pipe between the media device and the docking station; the virtual host module and the virtual device module are configured to establish a virtual communications pipe between the media device and the docking station using the physical communications pipe; the physical host module and the virtual device module are configured to run on the second controller simultaneously; and the virtual host module and the physical device module are configured to run on the first controller simultaneously.