Apple proposes tiny RF modules for ever-present connectivity

[AppleInsider]

With the exception of the iPhone, Apple's products largely lack technology to provide ubiquitous access to the outside world while on the go. However, a new proposal from the company would attempt to solve this problem, and provide ever-present access to the Internet, through a series of tiny RF modules that can be toted or place just about anywhere.

In a 36-page filing published for the first time Thursday and titled "Personal area network systems and devices and methods for use thereof," the electronics maker outlines a system for allowing products with only short-range communications circuitry, such as iPods and MacBooks, to connect to and leverage those equipped with long-range technology, such as the iPhone or specially designed RF modules.

These special RF modules would be "constructed to be a high efficiency, low cost, devices" that may lack a direct user interface, like the company's AirPort base stations. They'd package short-range circuity -- such as WiFi, Bluetooth and other high frequency systems (2.4 GHz, and 5.6 GHz communication systems) -- for connecting to devices that lack long-range circuitry, in addition to long-range circuitry that those host devices can tap into, such as GSM, GPRS, EDGE, and CDMA.

The tiny RF modules would be "ubiquitous in that they permeate every aspect of a person's life," Apple says. "For example, a user may keep a RF module on his or her person such in a purse, handbag or article of clothing, in a house, a transportation vehicle (e.g., a car), or an office. This way, a user need not worry about having to carry a long-range communications device wherever he or she may go, as a RF module may be kept in locations frequently visited by the user."

In some applications, multiple RF modules may be kept in a single location, such as a house, office building, or city. "When the user moves from one location to another, the host device may determine which RF module to access when requiring use of a long-range communications protocol," the company says.



For power, the RF modules would use a fixed or removable rechargeable battery, such as a lithium-ion battery, disposable alkaline battery, or any other portable power source, including kinetic energy converters. They could also be constructed to receive power from an external source such as a conventional outlet, a car outlet, or an external battery pack.

In addition to serving as connectivity hubs for portable computers and handheld devices, a single or series of RF modules scattered through a specific locations could also form the backbone of a robust VoIP network. For instance, host devices -- such as iPods, car stereo systems or other devices that lack long-range technology -- could tap into the AddressBook on a Mac or iPhone to make telephone calls or conduct text message conversation that would be routed to through the network of RF modules.



The host device may maintain a communication event (e.g., a telephone call) without interruption (e.g., a dropped call) when switching from one RF module to another or to a wireless phone," Apple says.

What's more, the company describes methods that would allow users to abstain from handling a short-range host device altogether by instead tying smaller peripheral -- or accessory -- devices into the communications network.



"Peripheral devices can be portable, handheld, miniature, or wearable devices. The peripheral device can be used to control the operation of the host or hybrid device or may be used to display information relating to a function or feature of the host or hybrid device," the filing says. "For example, a peripheral device may be a fashion accessory such as a watch that may display information (e.g., the name of the currently playing song or name of the person on the call) and also allow a user to control functions (e.g., playback, volume, or telephony features such as end call and accept call) of the host device. Other peripheral devices may provide host control functions but may not have a display, and yet other peripheral devices may provide input (e.g., keyboard) and output (e.g., LCD or printer) functions."



Similarly, the same principles would apply to a personal area network formed in an automobile or in connection with a communications system in an automobile. Apple explains that "host device may be physically connected to an automobile stereo system and may allow a user to access telephony features provided by the host device using the stereo system. For example, a user may browse through contact list information (stored on the host device) using the stereo system and select a user to initiate a call. When the call is initiated, the host device may access the long-range communications protocol of a RF module or wireless phone to conduct the call. The user's voice may be picked by a microphone that may be integrated within the host device, a cable interconnecting the host device and the stereo system, or associated with the car stereo or other communications system of the automobile."

The April 2007 filing is credited to Apple employee Michael Rosenblatt, a program manager at the Cupertino-based company who is a graduate of MIT's Media Lab. He's also responsible for a similar patent revealed this past May, which proposed the idea of short-range Apple Wi-Fi networks that could be deployed in restaurants, concert halls, and zoos, allowing merchants and attraction organizers to interact with patrons through their Apple handheld devices.

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

[bloggerblog]

This is confusing, so where does the RF get its internet signal from? Home? If so how would it broadcast the signal all the way to work?

[Banalltv]

They obviously resisted the urge to refer to it as 'Personal Area Network Technology Systems'.

[dagamer34]

Originally Posted by bloggerblog

This is confusing, so where does the RF get its internet signal from? Home? If so how would it broadcast the signal all the way to work?

RF means any signal propagated through the air. Cell phone signals fall into that range.

[Kasper]

Originally Posted by bloggerblog

This is confusing, so where does the RF get its internet signal from? Home? If so how would it broadcast the signal all the way to work?

The RF module would have GPS, CMDA chips inside, in addition to those that support short-range communications such as WiFi and Bluetooth.

K

[ascii]

Well it would save having to build a long range transmitter in to every little device. Realistically though, I can see the cellphone evolving in to this kind of router. All your little widgets connect to your cellphone through bluetooth to get to the Net. I don't see it being a separate product.

[JeffDM]

It seems that Apple could enable a lot of this simply adding a profile or two in their Bluetooth stack and letting devs use it.

[monstrosity]

Originally Posted by ascii

Well it would save having to build a long range transmitter in to every little device. Realistically though, I can see the cellphone evolving in to this kind of router. All your little widgets connect to your cellphone through bluetooth to get to the Net. I don't see it being a separate product.

i agree

[aaarrrgggh]

This doesn't exactly strike me as innovative; it was the whole concept behind Bluetooth ten years ago: Create a personal-area network with bridge devices to a wide-area network. The only thing slightly different is the ubiquitous nature of the bridge devices, but that is a natural extension of the concept.

But, I have always hoped that Apple would innovate in this realm. Make the cellular network interface devices cheap and minimalist (I'd prefer a 12-key keyboard and one line display so it could have some functionality on its own). This is the easiest way to support new wide-area technologies without needing the telcos to be really on board with it. Get them back in the "bit business" (or byte business if you prefer).

[jpellino]

(*thud*) is the cell phone CEOs hitting the floor from fainting, realizing that if this becomes big, then they are 1 of 2 gates through which all this data will likely pass. The other (high-pitched) sound is the traditional broadband CEOs double-checking their tasers.

[bloggerblog]

Originally Posted by Kasper

The RF module would have GPS, CMDA chips inside, in addition to those that support short-range communications such as WiFi and Bluetooth.

K

Like WiFi RF is also limited by signal strength, I cannot broadcast my iPods music through my RF (AM/FM) car adapter as far as this patent claims unless I have a large RF tower.

What am I missing?

[caliminius]

Originally Posted by Kasper

The RF module would have GPS, CMDA chips inside, in addition to those that support short-range communications such as WiFi and Bluetooth.

K

I think there were actually two different RF modules mentioned: full-featured ones that operate like you said and other ones that would just provide a bridge to the full featured RF modules or other feature-rich devices like iPhones and iPod Touches.

[Virgil-TB2]

Originally Posted by ascii

Well it would save having to build a long range transmitter in to every little device. Realistically though, I can see the cellphone evolving in to this kind of router. All your little widgets connect to your cellphone through bluetooth to get to the Net. I don't see it being a separate product.

I think what they are proposing here is more of a ubiquitous standard for such devices and protocols.

So, of course it would be in the cell phone, but if car manufacturers decided to put one in the car that can only help, if there was one in every bus stop or telephone pole in a city that would be helpful also, etc.

[Mike Peel]

As a radio astronomer who uses frequencies in this range to study the universe, can I go: oh god, no...

It's difficult enough getting people to turn off their mobile phones near radio telescopes, let alone something embedded in their clothes!

[pmjoe]

I'm apparently having a deja vu moment from 10 years ago when the Bluetooth spec was announced and Personal Area Networks were the hot topic.

[robb01]

This is fascinating

_______________

[Tony1]

Originally Posted by Mike Peel

It's difficult enough getting people to turn off their mobile phones near radio telescopes, let alone something embedded in their clothes!

Just what I was thinking. It would be nice in a perfect world though.

[kim kap sol]

Originally Posted by robb01

This is fascinating

Indeed...like bovine sexual intercourse. All of this is EXTREMELY fascinating.

[Olternaut]

Originally Posted by jpellino

(*thud*) is the cell phone CEOs hitting the floor from fainting, realizing that if this becomes big, then they are 1 of 2 gates through which all this data will likely pass. The other (high-pitched) sound is the traditional broadband CEOs double-checking their tasers.

The traditional cell phone companies need to die. They need to reborn as wireless data providers starting with the use of 4G technology. This primitive 2 year contract expensive monthly crap HAS GOT TO END if we are to truly push wireless data into the future.

I'm sure that Apple has a multi year vision of how this is going to...or at least SHOULD play out. I wonder if starting next year we will Apple begin to push this initiative. It is VERY HARD for me to say this but I don't see devices such as the "mactouch" being able to take off without multiple personal area network technology being deployed soon.
Perhaps they can debut a generation 1 mactouch using a monthly data only plan using cell phone companies current 3G technology. With plans of newer generations working off of various 4G technology networks.

[SuperMacGuy]

Ugh. Last thing I want in my life or the entire life of the planet is non-stop always-connected electronic thingies. It's like the Borg. C'mon I really like my privacy and want to be free from EM fields as much as possible. This kind of idea is slightly scary.

[OriginalMacRat]

This exists already.

http://sunspotworld.com/

[Kibitzer]

It's amazing how quickly new concepts get pooh-poohed by those afflicted with visionary myopia. Pay attention, people - this could be another game-changer from the fertile brains at Apple - the likes of iPod and iPhone. This is a Patent Office filing of a notable concept, and Apple filed it for a very good reason - to be there first.

[quinney]

Originally Posted by Banalltv

They obviously resisted the urge to refer to it as 'Personal Area Network Technology Systems'.

Good move. If they don't follow through on the patent, they cannot be accused
of dropping their p.a.n.t.s.

[msimpson]

Kirk & Sulu use it all the time to send love messages...

http://us.st12.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.c..._2022_84070217

[Johnny Mozzarella]

This sounds an awful lot like tethering which at&t is opposed to with the $20 & 30 dollar data plans.

What I think Apple is proposing is that instead of purchasing a cellular phone and wireless contract,
people would purchase a cellular router(s) and a wireless contract.

You carry one of these routers in your pocket, maybe have one at home and one in the office.
Your cellphone doesn't need cellular components anymore.
The iPhone could be as thin as an iPod touch.

What Apple is proposing here is not Bluetooth + 3G tethering.
It sounds more like Bluetooth + 700Mhz tethering.
You may recall the FCC's "open access" requirements that Google fought for.
Verizon purchased the open access C-Block for $4.74 billion.

I think we are seeing signs of Apple's preparations for a post-at&t exclusive iPhone.

[jpellino]

Originally Posted by Olternaut

The traditional cell phone companies need to die. They need to reborn as wireless data providers starting with the use of 4G technology. This primitive 2 year contract expensive monthly crap HAS GOT TO END if we are to truly push wireless data into the future.

I'm sure that Apple has a multi year vision of how this is going to...or at least SHOULD play out. I wonder if starting next year we will Apple begin to push this initiative. It is VERY HARD for me to say this but I don't see devices such as the "mactouch" being able to take off without multiple personal area network technology being deployed soon.
Perhaps they can debut a generation 1 mactouch using a monthly data only plan using cell phone companies current 3G technology. With plans of newer generations working off of various 4G technology networks.

Agreed it has to happen, the question is how will it happen? The cell networks are the last to fall away from the we-can-charge-you-by-the-information-unit paradigm, and as of the iPhone 1.0 model I would have thought they finally "got" it, and were on the way to affordable broadband via cell phones. That was until the iPhone 2.0 model effectively doubled the data cost of having such a novel thingy, and I decided to do without an iPhone and just use a cell phone as a phone. No music, no camera, no nuthin'. It sounds vaguely luddite, but honestly when I'm not near a 4lb iBook, odds are I'm doing something that requires my concentration and not a dozen things that are likely not necessary.

These technologies need to be on the spectrum of usefulness, closer to the useful end (email) and further from the trivial end (texting) in order to be adopted by people who have some pull in getting the model changed (business customers vs. texting teens).

[8CoreWhore]

They're going for home and auto connectivity followed by work connectivity. It's not new, they just want to do it better.

[paxman]

Originally Posted by kim kap sol

Indeed...like bovine sexual intercourse. All of this is EXTREMELY fascinating.

What a sick mind! I think Bovine Sexual Intercourse is probably much more fascinating and certainly much more funnier - as my kids would say.

[paxman]

Originally Posted by 8CoreWhore

They're going for home and auto connectivity followed by work connectivity. It's not new, they just want to do it better.

Exactimo - the innovation is in the implementation.

[paxman]

Originally Posted by Tony1

Just what I was thinking. It would be nice in a perfect world though.

What? Asking them politely to remove their clothes and them doing it?

[Leonard]

Originally Posted by SuperMacGuy

Ugh. Last thing I want in my life or the entire life of the planet is non-stop always-connected electronic thingies. It's like the Borg. C'mon I really like my privacy and want to be free from EM fields as much as possible. This kind of idea is slightly scary.

Is an RF an EM field? You may need an EM field to generate an RF. Realistically, there's nowhere you can be free from EM fields (well. maybe with the exception of a faraday cage or a bunker). There are RFs and EM fields everywhere nowadays.

[vinea]

Originally Posted by Mike Peel

As a radio astronomer who uses frequencies in this range to study the universe, can I go: oh god, no...

It's difficult enough getting people to turn off their mobile phones near radio telescopes, let alone something embedded in their clothes!

By the time it happens Astro-G should be up in the air. Do you speak Japanese?

[MJ Web]

I wrote about presence awareness technology in my last book, "Invasion of Privacy".
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/159...537779-9142025
While RF does offer potential convenience it can also be used to track your whereabouts and habits. I predicted it would be abused by marketers targeting you and trying to sell you what they perceive you'll buy.

[shigzeo]

Originally Posted by Banalltv

They obviously resisted the urge to refer to it as 'Personal Area Network Technology Systems'.

(snickers under breath)

[MsNly]

Originally Posted by MJ Web

I wrote about presence awareness technology in my last book, "Invasion of Privacy".
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/159...537779-9142025

Nice Advertisement

[Tofino]

Originally Posted by MJ Web

I wrote about presence awareness technology in my last book, "Invasion of Privacy".
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/159...537779-9142025
While RF does offer potential convenience it can also be used to track your whereabouts and habits. I predicted it would be abused by marketers targeting you and trying to sell you what they perceive you'll buy.

... and should also be a big hit with the powers to be in the UK! why stop at reading people's email and watching them on the street?

[quinney]

Originally Posted by Banalltv

They obviously resisted the urge to refer to it as 'Personal Area Network Technology Systems'.

What if Microsoft copied this p.a.n.t.s. concept and multiple Zune owners started
exchanging songs over one of these networks? What would that be called?

[MsNly]

Originally Posted by quinney

What if Microsoft copied this p.a.n.t.s. concept and multiple Zune owners started
exchanging songs over one of these networks? What would that be called?

"Hey man can I get in your PANTS?"

"Lets make some music in your PANTS!"

[bloggerblog]

Originally Posted by MJ Web

I wrote about presence awareness technology in my last book, "Invasion of Privacy".
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/159...537779-9142025
While RF does offer potential convenience it can also be used to track your whereabouts and habits. I predicted it would be abused by marketers targeting you and trying to sell you what they perceive you'll buy.

Exactly! A message can pop-up on your iPhone: "Now that you're 200 feet away from a Cirtcuit City, Where Service Is State Of The Art, you might wanna stop by to checkout that 50" Plasma you always wanted... 205 feet... 210 feet... You just received a $50 coupon... 220 feet... 225 feet... C'mon $100 coupon... 230 feet...
How about Macy's it's only 100 feet away... 105 feet... $20 coupon??... $40?

[Banalltv]

Originally Posted by quinney

What if Microsoft copied this p.a.n.t.s. concept and multiple Zune owners started
exchanging songs over one of these networks? What would that be called?

It would be the Zune Inter-Personal for your Personal Area Network Technology Systems.

I bet Ballmer has a high level manager all over these P.a.n.t.s. right now. Yeah.