ELECTRONIC DEVICE INPUT/OUTPUT SYSTEM AND METHOD

Abstract

A system and method for coupling a peripheral to a device such as a smart phone. In a most general embodiment, the invention includes a first circuit for converting data signals output by the peripheral to analog signals; a connector for coupling the circuit to an input port of the device; and a second circuit disposed within the device for converting analog signals to data signals. In the illustrative embodiment, the first circuit is a frequency shift key generator and the second circuit is a frequency shift key detector. A host controller is coupled to the peripheral and a microcontroller coupled to the host controller. A serial port is coupled between the microcontroller and the host controller. A communication controller is coupled between the serial port and the frequency shift key generator. In a more specific embodiment, the device further includes a frequency shift key to binary data converter and a scan code to character set mapper and an arrangement for receiving and processing signals wirelessly via an infrared receiver.

Claims

1.-20. (canceled)

21. A system, comprising: a hardware component that allows data exchange between a first device and a second device, the hardware component including: a first mechanism that receives data from the first device; a communication controller that buffers the data received from the first device; a first circuit that converts the data to audio; a connector that couples the hardware component to an audio input port of the second device, wherein: the connector, when inserted into the audio input port of the second device, bridges a pin of the audio input port; and the audio is output via the connector to the audio input port of the second device; a software application executing on the second device, the software application configured to at least: receive the audio and convert the audio into binary data; and cause a display of information corresponding to the binary data, store, in a memory of the second device, the binary data, or cause a transmission of the binary data to a cloud service for decoding.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein the first mechanism includes a host controller that couples the first device to the hardware component.

23. The system of claim 21, wherein the first mechanism includes a serial port that couples the first device to the hardware component.

24. The system of claim 21, wherein the first circuit includes a frequency shift key generator.

25. The system of claim 21, wherein the hardware component further includes: a wireless receiver that wirelessly receives data from the first device.

26. The system of claim 25, wherein the wireless receiver is at least one of a radio receiver, an infrared receiver, an optical receiver, or a Bluetooth receiver.

27. The system of claim 21, wherein the first device is a credit card reader.

28. A method for connecting a first device to a cloud service, comprising: receiving, at a hardware component connected to the first device, data from the first device; converting, with the hardware component, the data into audio; and outputting the audio from a connector of the hardware component, wherein the connector enables communication between the hardware component and an audio input of a second device; decoding, at the second device, the audio into binary data; and causing, at the second device, transmission of at least a portion of the binary data to the cloud service.

29. The method of claim 28, wherein the first device is at least one of a keyboard, a peripheral device, a mouse, a bar code scanner, a portable media player, a portable audio device, a portable video device, a credit card reader, a digital storage device, an ambient audio transmitter, an amplifier, a mixer, a boom box, a DJ system, a performance system, a television, a movie projection system, a surround sound system, an in-vehicle audio system, a satellite transmission system, an HD transmission system, a terrestrial radio transmission system, a mixing board, a computer, a solid-state audio player, a CD player, a DVD player, a Blu-ray Disc player, or a digital media playback system.

30. The method of claim 28, wherein the connector is a wireless transmitter that enables wireless communication between the hardware component and the second device.

31. The method of claim 28, further comprising: temporarily storing the data in a memory of the hardware component prior to the data being converted into audio.

32. The method of claim 28, further comprising: adjusting a bit rate of the data, based at least in part on a capability of the second device.

33. The method of claim 28 wherein converting data to audio includes modulating the data.

34. An apparatus, comprising: a first mechanism that receives data provided by a first device; a communication controller that buffers the data received from the first device; a second mechanism that at least: adjusts a bit rate of the data; and converts the data to audio; and a connector that enables transfer of the audio from the apparatus to a second device.

35. The apparatus of claim 34, wherein: the connector, when inserted into an audio input port of the second device, bridges a pin of the audio input port; and the audio is output via the connector to the audio input port of the second device.

36. The apparatus of claim 34 wherein: the connector is a wireless transmitter; and the audio is output wirelessly by the connector and received by the second device.

37. The apparatus of claim 36, wherein the apparatus is coupled to the first device.

38. The apparatus of claim 34, further comprising: a USB host controller that connects the apparatus to the first device.

39. The apparatus of claim 34, further comprising: a wireless receiver that receives data provided by the first device.

40. The apparatus of claim 34, wherein the second device is at least one of: a smartphone, a mobile cellular phone, a personal computer, a tablet PC, a portable media player, a mobile Internet device, an ultra mobile PC, a personal navigation device, a computing accessory, a wearable computer, a laptop, a handheld, a personal digital assistant, a system-on-a-chip device, a portable video recorder, or portable audio recorder.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0022] FIG. 1 is a diagram of one embodiment of an apparatus for connecting a keyboard to a smart phone device through the microphone port of the smart phone device in accordance with the present teachings.

[0023] FIG. 2 is a diagram of one embodiment of the software running on the smart phone that processes the data sent to it by an apparatus such as the one in FIG. 1.

[0024] FIG. 3 is a flowchart of one embodiment of a system for connecting a keyboard to a mobile device.

[0025] FIG. 4 shows an illustrative implementation of the microcontroller of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0026] Illustrative embodiments and exemplary applications will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings to disclose the advantageous teachings of the present invention.

[0027] While the present invention is described herein with reference to illustrative embodiments for particular applications, it should be understood that the invention is not limited thereto. Those having ordinary skill in the art and access to the teachings provided herein will recognize additional modifications, applications and embodiments within the scope thereof, and additional fields in which the present invention would be of significant utility.

[0028] Some portions of the detailed descriptions that follow are presented in terms of algorithms and symbolic representations of operations on data bits within a device memory. These algorithmic descriptions and representations are the means used by those skilled in the data processing arts to most effectively convey the substance of their work to others skilled in the art. An algorithm is here, and generally, conceived to be a self-consistent sequence of steps leading to a desired result. The steps are those requiring physical manipulations of physical quantities. Usually, though not necessarily, these quantities take the form of electrical or magnetic signals capable of being stored, transferred, combined, compared and otherwise manipulated. It has proved convenient at times, principally for reasons of common usage, to refer to these signals as bits, values, elements, symbols, characters, terms, numbers or the like.

[0029] It should be born in mind, however, that all of these and similar terms are to be associated with the appropriate physical quantities and are merely convenient labels applied to these quantities. Unless specifically stated otherwise as apparent from the following discussion, it is appreciated that throughout the description, discussions utilizing terms such as processing, computing, calculating, determining, selecting, displaying, sending, receiving, updating, modifying, assigning, requesting, notifying, communicating. interfacing or the like, refer to the actions and processes of a mobile device or similar electronic device having processing circuitry and components that manipulate and transform data represented as physical (electronic) quantities within the system's registers and memories into other data similarly represented as physical quantities within the device system memories, registers or other such information storage, transmission or display devices.

[0030] The present invention also relates to an apparatus for performing the operations herein. This apparatus may be specially constructed for the required purposes or it may comprise a general-purpose device selectively activated or reconfigured by a program stored in the device. Such a program may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, such as, but not limited to, any type of diskincluding floppy disks, optical disks, CD-ROMs and magneto-optical disks-read-only memories (ROMs), random access memories (RAMs), EPROMs, EEPROMs, magnetic or optical cards or any type of media suitable for storing electronic instructions, each of which may be coupled to a computer system bus.

[0031] The algorithms and displays presented herein can be implemented as a particular electronic device, component, computer or other apparatus. However, various general-purpose systems may also be used with the programs in accordance with the teachings herein, or it may prove convenient to construct more specialized apparatus to perform the required method steps. The required structure for a variety of these systems will become apparent from the description below. In addition, the present invention is not described with reference to any particular programming language. It will be appreciated that a variety of programming languages may be used to implement the teachings of the invention as described herein.

[0032] A machine or computer readable medium includes any mechanism for storing information in a form readable by a computer or similar machine. For example, a computer-readable medium includes read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), magnetic-disk storage media, optical storage media, flash memory devices or other types of machine-accessible storage media.

[0033] In accordance with the present teachings, a technique for serial communication is implemented that utilizes the audio input and output facilities of a device. Modulating audio to achieve binary communication is called modulation-demodulation, and devices that implement this technique are called modems. The first audio modems were implemented in the 1950s, and by the early 1960s, 300-bit-per-second (bps) communication was being achieved over phone lines. One modulation scheme used, called V.21, used binary frequency-shift keying (BFSK, or binary FSK). In this technique, two tones (pitches) were played alternately, one representing a binary 1 and one representing a binary 0. In the late 1970s, early personal computers used similar forms of modulation to store and retrieve programs on cassette tape. For instance, the Apple II computer loaded programs at about 180 bytes per second from cassettes by using alternating tones to represent binary digits.

[0034] In the 1990s, digital signal processor chips were incorporated into personal computers, allowing them to implement the more complex, higher-bit-rate modem protocols that run at 28.8 kbps and 56 kbps, in software. As computer CPUs have increased in speed, they have gained the ability to implement various modulation schemes in software alone without additional DSP hardware.

[0035] Recently, there have been a number of uses of computer audio input and output ports for digital communication. For long-distance radio communication, many of the shortwave modulation schemes have been implemented as software for sound cards on PCs. Sound cards have been used to implement bidirectional communication over several kilometers of copper wire in open-source projects like AuDSL.

[0036] For short-distance, line-of-sight applications, the open-source LiRC software project includes support for infrared reception through the microphone port of a PC sound card. Similarly, a product developed by Griffin Technologies several years ago allowed Windows Mobile-based PDAs to transmit infrared codes to control televisions using the audio output facility of the PDA. Similar techniques have been demonstrated for the iPhone device, performing infrared transmission using the audio output facility. Very recently, on 28 Dec. 2008, tellart.com released a video demonstrating the ability to input a single changing value between 0 and 255 by having the iPhone measure the audio amplitude (volume) of a sound looped through a potentiometer, for the purpose of connecting the iPhone to physical sensor peripherals. However, this technique, though effective for real-time measurement of time-varying quantities, is ineffective for uni-directional or bidirectional data transfer.

[0037] FIG. 1 is a diagram of one embodiment of an apparatus for connecting a keyboard to a smartphone device through the microphone port of the smartphone device in accordance with the present teachings. As shown in FIG. 1, a conventional keyboard 001 is connected to a USB host controller 002 that connects to the serial port 003 of a microcontroller 004 programmed to buffer data from the serial port 003. Signals from the keyboard 001 are stored temporarily in a communication controller 005. The communication controller 005 may be implemented in software executed by a microprocessor (not separately shown) within the microcontroller 004.

[0038] In the illustrative embodiment, the signals from the keyboard are modulated as frequency-shift-keyed (FSK) audio signals by FSK Generator 006. In accordance with the present teachings, the audio output of the FSK generator 006 is fed to an audio input or microphone port 007 of a mobile device 008, where it is interpreted by a software application 009.

[0039] One skilled in the art would understand that any number of additional devices with different functions, without limitationincluding computer mice, credit card readers, human interface devices, game controllers and printers-could also be connected to the USB host controller 002.

[0040] FIG. 2 is a diagram relating to FIG. 1 and illustrating the functions of the software application 009 stored in the flash memory of portable device 008. The software performs the functions of detecting frequency-shift-keyed data (101) and converting this to binary data, assembling full bytes of this data to be compared to a scan code table (102) to determine what key was pressed or, for non-keyboard input, what symbol was sent. The software then (103) displays the results or saves them to memory or fixed storage, as appropriate to the application.

[0041] FIG. 3 is a logic flow diagram for an embodiment of the invention showing the data flow as keyboard data is entered into a mobile device. The user presses a key on the keyboard, which, in the illustrative embodiment, emits a multi-byte scan code. The USB controller receives this data and sends it to the microcontroller 004. The microcontroller 004 buffers the data and adjusts bit rate as necessary for the device to which it is being sent. In the illustrative application, the data is slowed to fit the 1200-baud FSK rate available to the application software running on the smartphone.

[0042] The microcontroller 004 converts the data to FSK audio and plays it into the microphone port of the mobile device. Application software running on the mobile device decodes the FSK audio into binary digits, assembles the binary digits into byte sequences and interprets sequences as keyboard scan codes, which are then either stored in fixed or temporary memory or displayed, as appropriate.

[0043] In the illustrative embodiment, the microcontroller 004 of FIG. 1 is implemented with a hybrid analog/digital chip manufactured by Cypress 401 (PSoC: CY8C29466-24PXI) which converts bidirectional serial data to a form that can be received by a mobile device via the analog input and output port (e.g., a headphone/microphone jack) of the mobile device 008. It also implements an infrared and wired input capability for connecting an infrared or direct-wired infrared keyboard 001.

[0044] Although there are a number of ways to get data into and out of most smartphones and other devicese.g., the Apple dock connector, Bluetooth, the camera and screen, and Wi-Finone of these are well suited for simple, low-speed bidirectional communication with inexpensive components. In addition, several of these inputs are simply inaccessible to independent developers, as in the Apple iPhone SDK. The audio port, however, is accessible from the iPhone SDKboth for playing audio and for recording it. Hence, in accordance with the present teachings, a device design is taught that interfaces with one's device (e.g., iPhone) via the microphone/audio jack and sends bidirectional 1,200-baud serial data.

[0045] Whereas the present invention is illustrated herein with respect to the iPhone mobile phone, it should be understood that the present invention is not limited to any particular device.

[0046] Wired External Device Connections

[0047] For a wired implementation, to provide the microcontroller 004 of FIG. 1, we start with a specialized microcontroller such as the Cypress PSoC (Programmable System on a Chip) 401 (PSoC: CY8C29466-24PXI). FIG. 4 shows an illustrative implementation of the microcontroller 004 of FIG. 1. It allows for access to a UART (serial port) on one side and talks to one's device using binary audio FSK, a similar technique used on some of the first modems (300 baud).

[0048] Frequency-shift keying uses alternating analog signals to send information: for example, in binary FSK, a tone of 8,000 hertz might signify a digital 1, and 4,000 hertz a digital 0. Two frequencies are chosen for this project for the following reasons: [0049] 1. Sound must be easily played and recorded through the device audio circuitry. [0050] 2. The use of harmonic frequencies (8,000 hertz=2*4.000 hertz) facilitates the use of a simple method to decode the signals.

[0051] To build the circuit, the following electronic components are recommended for the illustrative implementation: [0052] Cypress PSoC CY8C29466-24PX1 [0053] Cypress PSoC MiniProg USB programmer CY3217 [0054] Breadboard (a solder less breadboard will work) [0055] Three 1 k resistors [0056] One 220 k resistor [0057] One 0.1 F ceramic capacitor [0058] One 0.2 F capacitor (or two 0.1 F capacitors in parallel) [0059] A pair of device headphones [0060] 5-9V power source (such as a 9V battery) [0061] LM7805 voltage regulator (unless using a steady 5V power source) [0062] 5-pin male 0.100 K.K. header [0063] A 5V UART such as the FTDI TTL-232R cable

[0064] In the illustrative embodiment, the USB host controller 002 of FIG. 1, is implemented with a Vinculum VNCIL USB Host Controller supplied by FTDI (http://www.vinculum.com). As will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art, the same basic circuit may be used for both the wired and wireless implementations disclosed herein, with appropriate firmware.

[0065] FSK generators and detectors are known in the art. For example, to build the FSK generator 006 and detector 101, the following papers may be used: [0066] 1. FSK Generator 006Cypress Application Note AN2098 describes how to transform digital bits into an FSK audio signal: http://www.psocdeveloper.com/docs/appnotes/an-mode/detail/an-pointer/an2098/an-file/122.html. [0067] 2. FSK Detector 101Cypress Application Note AN2336 describes how to decode an FSK audio signal into digital bits: http://www.psocdeveloper.com/docs/appnotes/an-mode/detail/an-pointer/an2336/an-file/124.html.

[0068] The circuit 006 takes serial data from the computer and converts it to frequency-shift-keyed data. It takes a carrier signal, such as a sine wave, and modulates it, in the illustrative embodiment, toggling it between 4,000 Hz and 8,000 Hz.

[0069] Illustrative FSK specifications are: [0070] 1200 baud 8-N-1 [0071] Binary 1: 8 kHz [0072] Binary 0: 4 kHz

[0073] In the illustrative embodiment, the baud rate to the device is approximately 1266 (to provide a small buffer such that a 1200 baud device connected to the FSK circuit does not jam.) The 1200 baud should be sufficient, inasmuch as the chip will should not send anything at a faster rate than 1200 baud.

[0074] The bytes are sent as little-endian ASCII (LSB/MSB). For example, U is sent as the following 9 bits:

[0075] Bit 0: 4 kHz start bit

[0076] Bit 1: 8 kHz

[0077] Bit 2: 4 kHz

[0078] Bit 3: 8 kHz

[0079] Bit 4: 4 kHz

[0080] Bit 5: 8 kHz

[0081] Bit 6: 4 kHz

[0082] Bit 7: 8 kHz

[0083] Bit 8: 4 kHz

[0084] Standby is at 8 kHzif the chip is not sending data, it emits a constant 8 kHz tone.

[0085] The wired implementation uses the audio port, a method of communicating with a device or second-generation iPod touch. The circuit is capable of communicating with a device with a microphone input, not just the device that is used as an example. The internal microphone of an iPhone mobile device typically has a resistance of about 1K (1 kilo-ohms). This resistance is used by the device to detect whether a microphone is plugged in. When conventional headphones are plugged in, the sleeve on the plug bridges both the microphone and ground pins of the internal jack. Thus, when the iPhone senses zero ohms, it detects that only headphones are connected. If it senses 1K, it detects that a microphone is present.

[0086] Using a modified version of the iPhone modem Cypress firmware from the bidirectional serial implementation described above, one can attach an external portable keyboard to one's iPhone mobile device.

[0087] Illustrative keyboards 001 that may be used include: a MicroInnovations IrDA Palm keyboard, which has an unusual binary protocol (scan codes) due to its unusual keyboard layout, and a Targus keyboard, whose scan codes match a standard PC keyboard. Both were designed in the PDA (e.g., PalmPilot, iPAQ) era, and use a form of infrared called IrDA to send key presses to a device.

[0088] Wireless External Device Connections

[0089] The circuit discussed above can detect signals through ambient audio as-is. Adding an IrDA receiver to the circuit and placing the unmodified infrared keyboard in close line-of-sight proximity to the infrared receiver achieves the same functionality.

[0090] In operation, the IrDA signal from the keyboard provides a short to the audio input via a 5 k pull-up resistor. Thus, the standby voltage is 5 volts (in the illustrative embodiment) and the value goes to 0 volts when shorted for brief 5 microsecond pulses as the keyboard shorts the line. A series of pulses (or lack thereof) indicates what data is being transmitted. In the illustrative embodiment, the pulses are sent at 9,600 baud. Therefore, to read the data sent by the keyboard, the system has to do the following: [0091] 1. Using a DigInv block on the Cypress chip, use an interrupt to call a software function in the code each time a negative pulse (zero) arrives. [0092] 2. Wait for a first pulse. This is the start bit, which signifies the start of a byte. The function will start a timer that goes for 3/2's of a 9600 baud period (150 microseconds). [0093] 3. If subsequent pulses arrive during the timer period, the software function notes them. If no pulse occurs, the function is not called. [0094] 4. When the timer is up, then the system checks to see if the interrupt function was called. If not, that would mean the last bit was a logic 1 (no pulse). If it was called, then the bit was logic 0. Next, reset the timer for a single 9600 baud period (100 microseconds). [0095] 5. Repeat step (4) seven more times. [0096] 6. On the last bit (the eighth), write the byte to the FSK systemwhich is identical to what was done above. Also turn off the timer, and have the interrupt function wait for another start bit. [0097] 7. At this point, one will be in the middle of a stop bit, which is always logic 1, (no pulse), signifying the end of the byte.

[0098] Because this keyboard sends data at 9600 baud, the circuit buffers data to some extent, although one cannot typically type faster than 1200 baud. This is because some key presses generate two or three bytes: these are scan codes, not ASCII characters. Because scan codes vary from keyboard to keyboard, it is best to determine what the scan codes are, either by specification or by simply pressing keys. Note that both the press and release of a key generate a scan code, as do modifier keys like SHIFT. A single character typed can generate 2-6 bytes of data. With stop bits, the total could be up to 54 bits for a single key press. A 120-word-per-minute typist can type 10 characters per second. Yet even with overhead, 540 bits per second fits into the 1200 baud bandwidth budget.

[0099] It is also worth noting that, in accordance with the illustrative embodiment, the keyboard only uses the microphone input. Thus, by using a simple Y splitter and ensuring the software does not open the audio output, one can listen to audio while typing in accordance with the present teachings. Inasmuch as kits with the keyboard preassembled are straightforward to produce, a library that adds keyboard support can be integrated into any iPhone application by one of ordinary skill in the art. Thus, a programmer of ordinary skill could create terminal programs, note-taking programs and even full-screen text editors with arrow controls. Given that some old serial mice originally ran at 1,200 baud, an improved circuit can be produced with both mouse and keyboard support. Thus, the present invention allows an iPhone mobile device to operate as a desktop personal computer with a keyboard by plugging the iPhone into a computer screen for display.

[0100] For the illustrative implementation, a simple circuit is wired that takes infrared pulses and converts them to sound. Code is provided to recognize the signals from the IR (infrared) remote that comes bundled with most Macintosh computers. These steps are well within the level of skill of a person of ordinary skill in the art. See, for example, iPhone Hacks: Pushing the iPhone and iPod touch Beyond Their Limits, written by Damien Stolarz et al. and published by O'Reilly Media, first edition (Apr. 16, 2009), ISBN-10: 0596516649, ISBN-13: 978-0596516642, the teachings of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference.

[0101] The present invention has been illustrated by way of example, and not by way of limitation, with the Apple iPhone mobile device. However, the present teachings are not limited thereto. Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the present teachings can be utilized with other devices without departing from the scope thereof. That is, it should be understood that the present teachings can be applied without limitation to any device with audio input capability, such as smartphones, mobile cellular phones, personal computers, tablet PCs, portable media players (PMPs) with audio input, portable and mobile Internet devices (MIDs), ultra mobile PCs (UMPCs), personal navigation devices (PNDs), computing accessories, wearable computers, laptops, handhelds, personal digital assistants (PDAs), system-on-a-chip devices, portable video recorders, portable audio recorders, or any other computing device with an audio input port or microphone.

[0102] It is further understood that this invention applies as well to any device that only has audio output capability but is used to communicate uni-directionally to a device with audio input capability as described in the invention. Such devices could include, without limitation, keyboards with audio output, peripheral devices with audio output, mice, bar code scanners, portable media players, portable audio devices, portable video devices, credit card readers, digital storage devices, ambient audio transmitters such as public address (PA) systems, amplifiers, mixers, boom boxes, DJ systems, performance systems, flat-screen televisions, movie projection systems, surround sound systems, in-vehicle audio systems, satellite. HD or terrestrial radio transmission systems, mixing boards, computers, solid-state audio players. CD players, DVD and Blu-ray Disc players, digital media playback systems, or other fixed or portable electronic devices.

[0103] In another embodiment, the audio can be transmitted wirelesslye.g., via RF or Bluetoothand the same approaches can be used to modulate and transmit data. For instance, a Bluetooth hands-free headset can be disassembled, the microphone and speaker wires of this Bluetooth hands-free headset can be connected to the audio input and output of our exemplary FSK circuit, and the FSK circuit can be connected to an external device, such as a keyboard or bidirectional communications device. If the headset is paired (in Bluetooth terminology, connected) to the mobile phone, and the software on the mobile phone is configured to receive and send audio through the Bluetooth hands-free headset, the data will transfer over the air. The Bluetooth headset should be selected to use higher audio quality modes (such as A2DP if available), and the frequencies and speed of transmission can be lowered to decrease the error rate, since Bluetooth adds its own layers of modulation and digital compression to the audio signal. This allows the keyboard or other device to be connected and communicate wirelessly to the mobile device over Bluetooth.

[0104] Similarly, any one-way or bidirectional radio frequency-based (non-Bluetooth) analog audio transmitter can be used in the same way as Bluetooth. The sending portion of the transmitter can be connected to the FSK circuit and then to the keyboard, and the receiver to the input of the mobile device. This allows the keyboard to be wirelessly connected to the mobile device via RF.

[0105] The teachings provided herein could be used in a variety of ways, for example: [0106] a. A software vendor could provide a data-transfer software library or application which runs on a mobile device for the purpose of achieving data transfer over the audio input or output jacks. [0107] b. An accessory maker, who does not create or sell the software, could use the inventive technique to send data to or from their attached device. For instance, a GPS receiver could play out its location data as an FSK or other modulated data stream, and not implement the audio receiver. [0108] c. A mobile device manufacturer could create a phone or mobile device that can receive modulated data streams via audio. The hardware manufacturer might include firmware, software or hardware integrated into the device to implement reception of FSK or other modulated signals (there are many kinds of modulation) to send data to a device. [0109] d. A vendor could produce an end-to-end tools solution that provides the external hardware that connects to the device, the software that runs on the device, and firmware to run on the external hardware. [0110] e. A cloud service could decode the signals. That is, the phone could be relatively dumb, and a device could be used to communicate to the cloud through a mobile phone. A software vendor could implement a solution, whereby users transmit data from an accessory, through the audio input of their phone. The data would then be uploaded without significant change to a server, where it would be decoded.

[0111] It should also be noted that the present teachings enable device-to-device as well as device-to-peripheral connection. That is, the peripheral could be another mobile device within the scope and meaning of the present teachings.

[0112] Thus, a method, a system and an apparatus for connecting peripheral devices to mobile devices and for interconnecting mobile devices have been described. It is to be understood that the above description is intended to be illustrative and not restrictive. Many other embodiments will be apparent to those of skill in the art upon reading and understanding the above description. The scope of the invention should, therefore, be determined with reference to the appended claims, along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.

[0113] It is therefore intended that the appended claims cover any and all such applications, modifications and embodiments within the scope of the present invention.