EP-4738895-A1 - ELECTRONIC DEVICE FOR CARRYING OUT SHORT-RANGE WIRELESS COMMUNICATION WITH PLURALITY OF EXTERNAL ELECTRONIC DEVICES, AND OPERATING METHOD OF ELECTRONIC DEVICE

EP4738895A1EP 4738895 A1EP4738895 A1EP 4738895A1EP-4738895-A1

Abstract

An electronic device and a method of operating the electronic device according to an embodiment may include a communication circuit configured to support short-range wireless communication. The electronic device may include memory configured to store one or more computer programs. The electronic device may include at least one processor. The one or more computer programs may include instructions that, when executed individually or collectively by the at least one processor, cause the electronic device to transmit data to a first external electronic device belonging to a first group including the electronic device and the first external electronic device via the short-range wireless communication and/or receive data from a second external electronic device belonging to a second group including the electronic device and the second external electronic device via the short-range wireless communication. The instructions may cause, when executed individually or collectively by the at least one processor, the electronic device to detect activation of a service performed by a third external electronic device and the electronic device. The instructions may cause, when executed individually or collectively by the at least one processor, the electronic device to, based on capability information of the communication circuit and a characteristic of the service, determine whether to join a third group generated by the third external electronic device. The instructions may cause, when executed individually or collectively by the at least one processor, the electronic device to, based on determination to join the third group, join the third group while a state where the electronic device belongs to the first group and the second group is maintained.

Inventors

Jung, Buseop
Lee, Sunkee

Assignees

SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260506
Application Date: 20250905

Claims (14)

An electronic device comprising: a communication circuit configured to support short-range wireless communication; memory configured to store at least one computer program; and at least one processor, wherein the at least one computer program comprise instructions that, when executed individually or collectively by the at least processor, cause the electronic device to: transmit first data to a first external electronic device belonging to a first group including the electronic device and the first external electronic device via the short-range wireless communication and/or receive second data from a second external electronic device belonging to a second group including the electronic device and the second external electronic device via the short-range wireless communication; detect activation of a service performable by a third external electronic device and the electronic device; based on capability information of the communication circuit and characteristics of the service, determine whether to join a third group generated by the third external electronic device; and based on determination to join the third group, join the third group while the electronic device maintains a state in which the electronic device belongs to the first group and the second group.
The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the capability information of the communication circuit comprises information indicating a maximum number of external electronic devices connectable to the electronic device via the short-range wireless communication and/or information indicating whether to be connectable to the electronic device via the short-range wireless communication.
The electronic device of claims 1 to 2, wherein the instructions, when executed individually or collectively by the at least one processors, cause the electronic device to: in case that a number of external electronic devices connected to the electronic device via the short-range wireless communication is less than the maximum number, determine to join the third group; and/or in case that the number of external electronic devices connected to the electronic device via the short-range wireless communication is the maximum number, determine not to join the third group, and transmit information indicating not to join the third group.
The electronic device of claim 3, wherein the instructions, when executed individually or collectively by the at least one processor, cause the electronic device to: in case that a number of external electronic devices connected to the electronic device via the short-range wireless communication is the maximum number of external electronic devices connectable to the electronic device via the short-range wireless communication, refrain from joining the third group; and in case that a connection between another external electronic device belonging to the first group and the electronic device is released, join the third group.
The electronic device of any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the instructions, when executed individually or collectively by the at least one processor, cause the electronic device to: in case that the service is a service through which the third external electronic device transmits data to the electronic device, determine to join the third group; and/or in case that the service is a service through which the third external electronic device receives data from the electronic device, determine not to join the third group.
The electronic device of any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the instructions, when executed individually or collectively by the at least one processor, cause the electronic device to: based on determining not to join the third group, cause the third external electronic device to join the first group.
The electronic device of any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the instructions, when executed individually or collectively by the at least one processor, cause the electronic device to: broadcast, via the short-range wireless communication and/or different short-range wireless communication, information indicating whether the electronic device is in a connectable state and/or information indicating the number of external electronic devices connectable to the electronic device.
The electronic device of any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the electronic device is configured to operate as a group owner (GO) of the first group, operate as a group client (GC) of the second group, and operate as a GC of the third group in a case that the electronic device joins the third group.
The electronic device of any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the instructions, when executed individually or collectively by the at least one processor, cause the electronic device to: detect activation of a service performable by a fourth external electronic device and the electronic device; based on the capability information of the communication circuit and whether the fourth external electronic device performs a service through which the fourth external electronic device transmits data to the electronic device, determine whether to join a fourth group generated by the fourth external electronic device; and based on determining to join the fourth group, join the fourth group while the electronic device maintains a state in which the electronic device belongs to the first group and the second group, and the third group.
A method of operating an electronic device, the method comprising: transmitting, via a communication circuit configured to support short-range wireless communication, first data to a first external electronic device and/or receive second data from a second external electronic device, wherein a first group includes the electronic device and the first external electronic device, and a second group includes the electronic device and the second external electronic device; detecting activation of a service performable by a third external electronic device and the electronic device; and based on capability information of the communication circuit and characteristics of the service, determining whether to join a third group generated by the third external electronic device; and based on determination to join the third group, joining the third group while the electronic device maintains a state in which the electronic device belongs to the first group and the second group.
The method of claim 10, wherein the capability information of the communication circuit comprises information indicating a maximum number of external electronic devices connectable to the electronic device via the short-range wireless communication and/or information indicating whether to be connectable to the electronic device via the short-range wireless communication.
The method of any one of claims 10 and 11, further comprising: in case that a number of external electronic devices connected to the electronic device via the short-range wireless communication is less than the maximum number, determining to join the third group; in case that the number of external electronic devices connected to the electronic device via the short-range wireless communication is the maximum number, determining not to join the third group.
The method of any one of claims 10 to 12, further comprising: broadcasting, via the short-range wireless communication and/or different short-range wireless communication, information indicating whether to be connectable to the electronic device and/or information indicating the number of external electronic devices connectable to the electronic device.
A recording medium storing at least one program comprising instructions that, when executed individually or collectively by at least one processor of an electronic device, cause the electronic device to perform the method of any one of claims 10 to 13.

Description

[Technical Field] The disclosure relates to an electronic device and a method of operating the electronic device, and an electronic device for performing short-range wireless communication with a plurality of external electronic devices. [Background Art] A speed of wireless communication which can be used by electronic devices has been improved. Among recent wireless communication supported by electronic devices, IEEE 802.11 WLAN (or Wi-Fi) is the standard for implementing a highspeed wireless connection between various electronic devices. Initially implemented Wi-Fi supported a maximum of transmission speed of 1 to 9 Mbps, but Wi-Fi 6 technology (or IEEE 802.11 ax) may support a maximum of transmission speed of about 10 Gbps. An electronic device may support various services (for example, a UHD video streaming service, an augmented reality (AR) service, a virtual reality (VR) service, or a mixed reality (MR) service) using relatively large data through wireless communication supporting a high transmission speed and also support various other services. An electronic device may be connected to an external electronic device through short-range wireless communication without passing through an access point (AP) defined in IEEE 802.11. The external electronic device and the electronic device may transmit and/or receive data through a direct connection between devices (device to device (D2D)) without passing through the AP. An electronic device may be connected to a plurality of external electronic devices without passing through an AP and transmit and/or receive data. The electronic device may transmit and/or receive data to and/or from a plurality of external electronic devices through Wi-Fi direct technology without passing through the AP. Wi-Fi direct defines a group including two or more electronic devices for communication between devices and defines a group owner (GO) for controlling a group and a group client (GC) participating in a group to transmit and/or receive data. A manufacturer that produces electronic devices supporting Wi-Fi direct may configure an electronic device for transmitting data to an electronic device included in a group as the GO and configure an electronic device receiving data as the GC. [Disclosure of Invention] [Technical Problem] When an electronic device transmits data to a first external electronic device through Wi-Fi direct, a service or operation using short-range wireless communication may be configured to make the electronic device and the first external electronic device be included in one group. The electronic device transmitting data may operate as a group owner (GP) within the group, and the first external electronic device receiving data may operate as a group client (GC) within the group. The electronic device may receive a data reception request from a second external electronic device while transmitting data to the first external electronic device. The electronic device may join another group in which the second external electronic device operates as the GO. The electronic device may operate as the GC of the other group. When the electronic device supports a dual P2P mode corresponding to a mode in which the electronic device performs D2D communication with two external electronic devices, the electronic device may belong to a maximum of two groups in implementation. When the electronic device receives a data reception request from a third external electronic device, the electronic device may not join a group generated by the third external electronic device. In order to transmit data to the electronic device, the third external electronic device may join another group in which the second external electronic device transmitting data to the electronic device operates as the GO, so as to transmit data to the electronic device. However, after completing data transmission, the second external electronic device transmitting data to the electronic device may dissolve the group and may not transmit data to the electronic device due to the dissolution of the group. The technical subjects pursued in the disclosure are not limited to the above-mentioned technical subjects, and other technical subjects which are not mentioned herein may be clearly understood through the following description by those skilled in the art to which the disclosure pertains. [Solution to Problem] An electronic device according to an embodiment may include a communication circuit configured to support short-range wireless communication. The electronic device may include memory configured to store one or more computer programs. The electronic device may include at least one processor. The one or more computer programs may include instructions that, when executed individually or collectively by the at least one processor, cause the electronic device to transmit data to a first external electronic device belonging to a first group including the electronic device and the first external electronic devic