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SonyGranted patentPhones & computersInterest 6/10

Sony patents using phones as game controllers for consoles

Sony describes a system where a smartphone app acts as a bridge between a game console and other mobile devices. The phone connects to the console using a standard protocol to receive game data, then relays that information to other phones using a different, shared protocol. This allows multiple devices to send input commands to the game running on the console.

Why it mattersThis setup could let players use their phones as secondary controllers or for shared game interactions without needing specialized hardware.

In the filing’s own words

A method of communication for a plurality of portable communication devices and a videogame console includes installing an app on a first portable communication device, the app adapted to cause the first portable communication device to carry out the steps of identifying a videogame console associated with a user of the first portable communication device, communicating with the videogame console using a first communication protocol supported by the videogame console to receive information from the videogame console, and communicating with one or more of the other of the plurality of portable communication devices using an second, different communication protocol common to the first portable communication device and the one or more other portable communication devices, to relay information from the videogame console.

What exactly they claim (claim 1)

1. A method of communication for a plurality of portable communication devices and a videogame console, the method comprising: installing a first software application on a first portable communication device, the first software application adapted to cause the first portable communication device to perform operations comprising: identifying the videogame console operating a second software application, wherein the videogame console is associated with a user of the first portable communication device; receiving, from the videogame console using a first communication protocol supported by the videogame console and the first software application installed on the first portable communication device, information of the second software application operating on the videogame console; and receiving, from one or more of the plurality of portable communication devices using a second communication protocol different than the first communication protocol supported by (i) a third software application installed on the plurality of portable communication devices and (ii) the first software application installed on the first portable communication device, data indicating respective inputs to the second software application operating on the videogame console generated using the third software application, different from the second software application operating on the videogame console, operating on the one or more portable communication devices.

Facts

Company
Sony (Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc.)
Official title
Method, device, and system of input for a videogame console
Patent number
US12722075B2
Application number
18159148
Filed
Jan 25, 2023
Granted
Sep 1, 2026
Inventors
2
Claims
20

Classified under

A63F 13/235 Human necessitiesA63F 13/22 Human necessitiesA63F 13/31 Human necessities
Read the full filing (official PDF) ↗ Open in the Patent Tracker

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Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.