Microsoft patents camera-based data transfer between server displays
Microsoft has been granted a patent for a system that sends data between computer nodes in a datacenter using light patterns. The setup involves displays on the servers showing specific patterns and a camera that captures these patterns to read the data.
In the filing’s own words
A system may include a first node having a first display device configured to display a first spatiotemporal pattern. A system may include a second node having a second display device configured to display a second spatiotemporal pattern. A system may include a camera. A system may include a means for selectively imaging one of the first spatiotemporal pattern and the second spatiotemporal pattern with the camera.
What exactly they claim (claim 1)
1. A datacenter computing system comprising: a first node having a first display device configured to display a first spatiotemporal pattern; a second node having a second display device configured to display a second spatiotemporal pattern; a camera; and a means for selectively imaging one of the first spatiotemporal pattern and the second spatiotemporal pattern with the camera, wherein the means for selectively imaging includes a synchronization controller configured to instruct the camera to capture a frame of the first spatiotemporal pattern during a first exposure duration and readout the frame of the first spatiotemporal pattern during a second display duration of the second spatiotemporal pattern.
Facts
- Company
- Microsoft (Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC)
- Official title
- Methods for transmitting data via free space spatiotemporal patterns in a datacenter
- Patent number
- US12744997B2
- Application number
- 18542430
- Filed
- Dec 15, 2023
- Granted
- Sep 22, 2026
- Inventors
- 6
- Claims
- 25
Classified under
H04N 23/66 Electricity & electronicsG06F 3/1423 Physics & computingG06K 7/10722 Physics & computingG06K 7/1417 Physics & computingH04N 23/695 Electricity & electronicsMore from Microsoft in Networks & wireless
- Microsoft patents system that uses AI to plan network capacity Oct 13, 2026
- Microsoft patents method to spot cloud outages by checking individual user traffic Sep 10, 2026
- Microsoft patents hand gestures to control devices without menus Sep 24, 2026
- Microsoft patents image-based method to detect phone tethering Oct 1, 2026
- Microsoft patents system that auto-fixes cloud slowdowns to meet service promises Sep 1, 2026
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.