Wireless docking station

Abstract

A wireless communication system for enabling a wireless connection between a computing device and a plurality of peripheral devices is provided. The system comprises a first wireless transceiver connected to a host bridge, wherein the host bridge is coupled to a central processing unit of the computing device; and a wireless docketing apparatus that communicates with the host bridge over a wireless interconnect bus, wherein the wireless docketing apparatus is coupled to a plurality of peripheral devices, thereby enabling the wireless connection between the computing device and the plurality of peripheral devices.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A wireless communication system for enabling a wireless connection between a computing device and a plurality of peripheral devices, comprising:
 a first wireless transceiver connected to a host bridge, wherein the host bridge is coupled to a central processing unit of the computing device; and   a wireless docketing apparatus that communicates with the host bridge over a wireless interconnect bus, wherein the wireless docketing apparatus is coupled to a plurality of peripheral devices, thereby enabling the wireless connection between the computing device and the plurality of peripheral devices.   
     
     
         2 . The wireless communication system of  claim 1 , wherein the wireless docketing apparatus includes a second wireless transceiver for communicating with the first wireless transceiver over a wireless medium;
 a switch coupled to the wireless transceiver and to a plurality of input/output (I/O) controllers for sharing a connection point to the host bridge with the plurality of peripheral devices; and   a plurality of I/O controllers for communicating with one or more of the plurality of the peripheral devices.   
     
     
         3 . The wireless communication system of  claim 2 , wherein each of the plurality of I/O controllers communicates with a respective peripheral device using a standard peripheral connection respective of the peripheral device. 
     
     
         4 . The wireless communication system of  claim 3 , wherein the wireless interconnect bus is at least a wireless peripheral component interconnect express (PCIe) bus. 
     
     
         5 . The wireless communication system of  claim 3 , wherein the standard peripheral connection between a peripheral device and an I/O controller comprises at least one of: a PCIe connection, a USB connection, a parallel connection, a RS232 serial connection, a PS/2-style mouse connection, a keyboard connection, an audio like connection, a serial advanced technology attachment (SATA) connection, a video graphics array (VGA) connection, a digital visual interface (DVI) connection, and a high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI) like connection. 
     
     
         6 . The wireless communication system of  claim 3 , wherein each of the first and the second wireless transceivers controls and manages access to the wireless interconnect bus. 
     
     
         7 . The wireless communication system of  claim 1 , wherein each of the first and the second wireless transceivers operates in a full duplex mode. 
     
     
         8 . The wireless docking communication system of  claim 1 , wherein each of the first and the second wireless transceivers operates in a half-full duplex mode. 
     
     
         9 . The wireless docking communication system of  claim 1 , wherein the second wireless transceiver is further configured to establish a link between the wireless docking apparatus and the computing device over the wireless peripheral component interconnect express bus for wirelessly transferring data between the plurality of peripheral devices and the host bridge. 
     
     
         10 . The wireless docking communication system of  claim 7 , wherein each of the first and the second wireless transceivers is a wireless data modem. 
     
     
         11 . The wireless docking communication system of  claim 8 , wherein the wireless data modem is at least one of: an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) modem, a single-carrier modem, and a multi-carrier modem. 
     
     
         12 . The wireless docking communication system of  claim 1 , wherein the first wireless transceiver implements at least a layered protocol of the wireless interconnect bus. 
     
     
         13 . The wireless docking communication system of  claim 1 , wherein the first wireless transceiver is further configured to synchronize between the wireless docking apparatus and the computing device. 
     
     
         14 . The wireless docking communication system of  claim 11 , wherein the first wireless transceiver is further configured to:
 send an association key by the wireless docking apparatus, wherein the association key includes a unique identification (ID) number;   send a challenge connection key to the wireless docking apparatus in response to a challenge connection key received from the wireless docking apparatus; and   establish a connection with the wireless docking apparatus upon reception of a session key by the wireless docking apparatus.   
     
     
         15 . The wireless docking communication system of  claim 14 , wherein the first wireless transceiver is further configured to:
 periodically send the association key upon receiving a beacon transmitted by the second wireless transceiver.   
     
     
         16 . The wireless docking communication system of  claim 15 , wherein the challenge connection key, the association key and the session key are pre-determined using a pairing process. 
     
     
         17 . The wireless docking communication system of  claim 15 , wherein the challenge connection key, the association key and the session key are pre-determined and encrypted. 
     
     
         18 . The wireless docking communication system of  claim 1 , wherein the computing device comprises at least one of: a laptop computer, a tablet computer, a smart phone, a notebook computer, a media player, a mobile phone, and a personal digital assistant (PDA). 
     
     
         19 . The wireless docking communication system of  claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of peripheral devices is at least one of: a monitor, a keyboard, a pointing device, a mouse, a storage device, a speaker, a microphone, a modem, a CD player, and a DVD player.