Device linking

US8469816B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• Microsoft Corporation · US

Inventors

• Min Liu · Shanghai, CN
• Anthony V. Discolo · Redmond, US
• Edmund Hon-Sum Lui · Bellevue, US
• Kean Ee Lim · Issaquah, US
• Ryan B. Elgram · Bothell, US
• Donald F. Box · Bellevue, US
• Martin J. Gudgin · Sammamish, US
• Zhangwei Xu · Redmond, US
• Todd R. Manion · Seattle, US
• Grant Gardner · Seattle, US
• Jeremy L. Dewey · Redmond, US
• Shiraz J. Cupala · Seattle, US
• Curt A. Steeb · Redmond, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Nov 8, 2011
• Grant date: Jun 25, 2013
• Expiry date: Nov 8, 2031

Classification

• Technology area (CPC H): Electricity
• CPC primary: H04L67/30
• WIPO field: Furniture, games
• WIPO sector: Other fields

Abstract

Device linking is described. In one or more implementations, data is maintained at a network service that describes characteristics of a plurality of devices that are associated with a user account of the network service. A communication is formed to be received by one of the plurality of devices that includes a portion of the data that pertains to another one of the plurality of devices and that is suitable by the receiving device to discover the other one of the plurality of devices to initiate a local network connection between the devices.