Wireless Area Network Enabled Mobile Device Accessory

Abstract

A wearable wireless portable device (“WWPD”) includes cellular/WAN communications circuitry for establishing a direct connection to a telecommunication network and a low-power short range radio for establishing an indirect connection to the telecommunication network via the communications circuitry of the more feature-rich mobile device. The WWPD may be configured to deactivate its cellular/WAN communications circuitry (and other resource such as GPS) to communicate with a more feature-rich mobile device (e.g., a smartphone) via low-power short range communication technologies when it is in close proximity to the mobile device, and activate its cellular/WAN circuitry to provide cellular and/or network connectivity when it is not in close proximity to the mobile device. The WWPD does not require the bulky battery systems, which enables the WWPD to be packaged into a small and lightweight device, such as a wrist watch or pendant and enables longer battery life for the battery of the WWPD.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A first device capable of mobile operation, said first device being operable to communicate information, wirelessly, directly to a wide area network (WAN) or indirectly, via a wireless connection to a second device capable of mobile operation and connected wirelessly to said WAN,
 said first device being further operable to determine whether a low-power short range wireless link can be established to the second device and selectively deactivate duplicate functionality including WAN communication functionality and at least one additional functionality on said first device likewise found on said second device in response to the low-power short range wireless link being established between said first and second devices,   wherein the first device uses one or more resources of the second device to provide the deactivated duplicate functionality on the first device via the established low-power short range wireless link between the first and second devices, and   wherein the first device activates the WAN communication functionality to communicate with the WAN in response to determining that the low-power short range wireless link between the first and second devices cannot be established.   
     
     
         2 . The first device of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one additional functionality comprises position location functionality. 
     
     
         3 . The first device of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one additional functionality is selected from the group consisting of heart rate sensor functionality, blood pressure sensor functionality, gyroscope functionality, accelerometer functionality, pedometer functionality, thermometer functionality, glucometer functionality and a combination thereof. 
     
     
         4 . The first device of  claim 1  which further comprises activating the duplicate functionality on said first device in connection with a low-power short range wireless link not being established between said first device and said second device. 
     
     
         5 . The first device of  claim 1  wherein said low-power short range wireless link is a Wi-Fi link. 
     
     
         6 . The first device of  claim 1  wherein said low-power short range wireless link is a Bluetooth® link. 
     
     
         7 . A method of communicating information between a wearable wireless portable device and a mobile device, comprising:
 determining whether a low-power short range communication link can be established to the mobile device;   establishing a low-power short range communication link to the mobile device in response to determining that the low-power short range communication link can be established;   in response to establishing the low-power short range communication link with a mobile device, deactivating wide area network (WAN) communications circuitry and at least one additional duplicate functionality in the wearable wireless portable device and communicating bi-directionally with a telecommunication network through the mobile device via the low-power short range communication link;   providing the deactivated at least one additional duplicate functionality using one or more resources of the mobile device via the low-power short range communication link; and   activating WAN communications circuitry in the wearable wireless portable device and communicating with the telecommunication network via the activated WAN communications circuitry when a low-power short range communication link cannot be established between the mobile device and the wearable wireless portable device.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the at least one additional duplicate functionality comprises a position location functionality. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein communicating bi-directionally with the telecommunication network via the low-power short range communication link comprises:
 generating in the wearable wireless portable device a control message configured to cause the mobile device to establish a network connection to the telecommunication network;   sending the control message to the mobile device over the low-power short range communication link;   receiving in the wearable wireless portable device a response message indicating that the mobile device has established the network connection to the telecommunication network;   communicating with the mobile device over the low-power short range communication link; and   receiving, in the wearable wireless portable device, content sent from the telecommunication network to the mobile device over the network connection, the content being received in the wearable wireless portable device via the low-power short range communication link.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein:
 sending the control message to the mobile device over the low-power short range communication link comprises sending a control message configured to cause the mobile device to establish the network connection to the telecommunication network; and   transmitting data to the mobile device over the low-power short range communication link and receiving content sent from the telecommunication network to the mobile device over the network connection comprises the wearable wireless portable device accessing the telecommunication network via the network connection of the mobile device by transmitting and receiving data via the low-power short range communication link.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein:
 determining whether the low-power short range communication link can be established to the mobile device comprises determining whether the wearable wireless portable device is within communication range of the mobile device; and   activating WAN communications circuitry in the wearable wireless portable device and communicating with the telecommunication network via the activated WAN communications circuitry when a low-power short range communication link cannot be established between the mobile device and the wearable wireless portable device comprises activating the WAN communications circuitry when the wearable wireless portable device determines that the wearable wireless portable device is not within communication range of the mobile device.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 9 , further comprising controlling one or more features of the mobile device by the wearable wireless portable device over the low-power short range communication link. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 9 , further comprising:
 receiving in the wearable wireless portable device an incoming communication of the mobile device via the low-power short range communication link; and   generating in the wearable wireless portable device a user notification to inform a user of the incoming communication.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein generating the user notification comprises one or more of displaying a message on an electronic display of the wearable wireless portable device, outputting an audible sound from the wearable wireless portable device, and outputting a vibration from the wearable wireless portable device. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 7 , further comprising deactivating a resource in response to establishing the low-power short range communication link to the mobile device. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein deactivating the resource comprises deactivating a global positioning system receiver in response to establishing the low-power short range communication link to the mobile device. 
     
     
         17 . A wearable wireless portable device, comprising:
 wide area network (WAN) communications circuitry;   low-power short range communication circuitry; and   a processor coupled to the WAN communications circuitry and the low-power short range communication circuitry, wherein the processor is configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations comprising:
 determining whether a low-power short range communication link can be established to a mobile device; 
 establishing the low-power short range communication link to the mobile device via the low-power short range communication circuitry in response to determining that the low-power short range communication link can be established; 
 deactivating the wide area network (WAN) communications circuitry and at least one additional duplicate functionality and communicating bi-directionally with a telecommunication network via the low-power short range communication link; 
 providing the deactivated at least one additional duplicate functionality using one or more resources of the mobile device via the low-power short range communication link; and 
 activating the WAN communications circuitry and communicating with the telecommunication network via the activated WAN communications circuitry in response to determining that the low-power short range communication link cannot be established to the mobile device. 
   
     
     
         18 . The wearable wireless portable device of  claim 17 , wherein the processor is configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations such that the at least one additional duplicate functionality comprises position location functionality. 
     
     
         19 . The wearable wireless portable device of  claim 17 , wherein the processor is configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations such that communicating bi-directionally with the telecommunication network via the low-power short range communication link comprises:
 generating a control message configured to cause the mobile device to establish a network connection to the telecommunication network;   sending the control message to the mobile device over the low-power short range communication link;   receiving a response message indicating that the mobile device has established the network connection to the telecommunication network;   transmitting data to the mobile device over the low-power short range communication link; and   receiving content sent from the telecommunication network to the mobile device over the network connection via the low-power short range communication link.   
     
     
         20 . The wearable wireless portable device of  claim 19 , wherein the processor is configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations such that:
 determining whether the low-power short range communication link can be established to the mobile device comprises determining whether the mobile device is within communication range; and   activating the WAN communications circuitry in response to determining that the low-power short range communication link cannot be established comprises activating the WAN communications circuitry in response to determining that the mobile device is not within communication range.   
     
     
         21 . The wearable wireless portable device of  claim 19 , wherein the processor is configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations further comprising controlling one or more features of the mobile device over the low-power short range communication link. 
     
     
         22 . The wearable wireless portable device of  claim 19 , wherein the processor is configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations further comprising:
 receiving an incoming communication for the mobile device via the low-power short range communication link; and   generating in the wearable wireless portable device a user notification to inform a user of the incoming communication.   
     
     
         23 . The wearable wireless portable device of  claim 22 , wherein the processor is configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations such that generating the user notification comprises one of displaying a message on an electronic display of the wearable wireless portable device, outputting an audible sound, and outputting a vibration. 
     
     
         24 . The wearable wireless portable device of  claim 17 , wherein the processor is configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations further comprising deactivating a resource of the wearable wireless portable device in response to establishing the low-power short range communication link to the mobile device. 
     
     
         25 . The wearable wireless portable device of  claim 24 , wherein the processor is configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations such that deactivating the resource of the wearable wireless portable device comprises deactivating a global positioning system receiver in response to establishing the low-power short range communication link to the mobile device. 
     
     
         26 . A communication device capable of mobile operation, comprising:
 a first transceiver suitable for communicating information, wirelessly, directly to a wide area network (WAN);   a second transceiver suitable for communicating information indirectly to the WAN via a wireless connection to a second communication device capable of mobile operation and connected wirelessly to the WAN; and   a processor coupled to the first and second transceivers, wherein the processor is configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations comprising:
 determining whether a low-power short range wireless connection can be established to the second communication device; 
 selectively deactivating duplicate functionality including the first transceiver and at least one additional functionality of the communication device in response to determining that the low-power short range wireless connection has been established to the second communication device; 
 using one or more resources of the second communication device to provide the deactivated duplicate functionality on the first device via the established low-power short range wireless connection; and 
 activating the first transceiver in response to determining that the low-power short range wireless connection cannot be established. 
   
     
     
         27 . The communication device of  claim 26 , wherein the processor is configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations such that selectively deactivating at least one additional functionality of the communication device comprises deactivating a position location functionality of the communication device. 
     
     
         28 . The communication device of  claim 27 , wherein the processor is configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations such that deactivating the position location functionality of the communication device comprises deactivating a global positioning system receiver of the communication device. 
     
     
         29 . The communication device of  claim 26 , wherein the processor is configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations such that selectively deactivating at least one additional functionality of the communication device comprises deactivating one or more of:
 a heart rate sensor;   a blood pressure sensor;   a gyroscope;   an accelerometer;   a pedometer;   a thermometer; and   a glucometer.   
     
     
         30 . The communication device of  claim 26 , wherein the processor is configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations such that selectively deactivating duplicate functionality including the first transceiver and at least one additional functionality of the communication device in response to determining that the low-power short range wireless connection has been established to the second communication device comprises:
 deactivating duplicate functionality in response to determining that a low-power short range communication link has been established to the second communication device.