Patent Application
20170199501
Technical Field
This disclosure relates generally to wireless communications and relates in particular to devices supporting two wireless protocols which are not permitted to operation simultaneously, either by protocol definition or by functional limitation of hardware.
Background
There are devices that support two wireless protocols which, by their own definitions, are not permitted to operate simultaneously, either by protocol definition or by functional limitation of hardware. A very common and important example of such a configuration is where a phone may be connected wirelessly to a smartwatch, as shown in
In the scenario shown in
BT is used for voice applications, such as voice commands and phone calls, and BLE is used by many phones for data notifications generated by apps such as emails, messages, and news. Both protocols are essential for a smartwatch that supports voice as well as notification functions, even though they cannot be in connected states simultaneously. To require manual settings by the users to switch mode every time would be extremely inconvenient.
It is a challenge to designers of communication devices to achieve methods by which a device such as e.g. the smartwatch can provide the appearance of simultaneous connections to the user, in that there is seamless transitions between the modes of operations between the two protocols and that all functions are made available to the user without explicit mode-switching by the user.
A principal object of the present disclosure is to provide appearance of simultaneous connections to devices that support two wireless protocols which are not permitted to operate simultaneously, either by protocol definition or by functional limitation of hardware.
A further object of the present disclosure is to provide seamless transitions between modes of operations between the two protocols and that all functions are made available to the user without explicit mode-switching by the user.
A further object of the present disclosure is to enable seamless switching between BT and BLE modes with no user intervention, and minimizing perceived time latency for switching by carrying out other operations during the time of switching.
A further object of the present disclosure is to achieve a Dual-ID BT and BLE device to support truly simultaneous voice and data connections between device and Bluetooth master.
A further object of the present disclosure is to achieve an efficient implementation of the Dual-ID device with reduced increase in complexity compared to typical dual-mode Bluetooth device.
In accordance to the objects of the disclosure a method to provide appearance of simultaneous connections between two devices each supporting two different wireless communication protocols which are not permitted to operate simultaneously has been achieved. The method disclosed comprises, firstly, the steps of: (1) connecting both devices using a first wireless communication protocol, (2) receiving by a first of both devices an external wireless event or a user action-triggered mode switch, and (3) sending, in case of an external wireless event, a notification of said external wireless event to a user of the first device and go to step (4), else, in case of a user action-triggered mode switch go to step (4). Furthermore the method comprises the steps of: (4) disconnecting the first device from using the first wireless protocol, (5) connecting the first device to the second device using the second wireless protocol, (6) checking, in case of the external wireless event, for a correspondent user action and, if it so, executing correspondent user action and go to step (9), else, after waiting for a defined time span without correspondent user action, go to step (9), and (7) sending, in case of a user action-triggered mode switch, messages from the first device to the second device using the second wireless protocol according to the user action. Moreover the method comprises the steps of: (8) sending messages from the second device to the first device using the second wireless protocol according to the user action, (9) checking, if a new user action or a new external wireless event have occurred, and, if it so, go to step (3) else go to step (10), (10) disconnecting both devices from using the second wireless protocol, and (11) connecting both devices using the first wireless communication protocol.
In accordance to the objects of the disclosure a system to provide appearance of simultaneous connections between two devices each supporting two different wireless communication protocols which are not permitted to operate simultaneously has been achieved. The system disclosed comprises: a first of the two devices utilizing dual separate communication protocol addresses for the two wireless communication protocols in time-multiplexed connection with a second of both devices, wherein the first device is configured to support both wireless protocols as a dual mode device, wherein the first device is configured to operate as two logical independent devices with independent addresses although it is a single physical device, and the second of the two devices configured as dual wireless protocol master.
In the accompanying drawings forming a material part of this description, there is shown:
The preferred embodiments of the present disclosure present methods and systems to provide appearance of simultaneous connections to devices that support two wireless communication protocols which are not permitted to operate simultaneously. The simultaneous operation is not permitted either by protocol definition, as in the case of BT and BLE, wherein the two devices are not permitted to operate simultaneously under some states for each device, or are not permitted due to functional limitation of the hardware for each device.
The methods are explained using, as a non-limiting example, a smartwatch supporting Bluetooth Classic (BT) and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) communication protocols. Both protocols are not permitted to simultaneous operation due to protocol definition.
It has to be understood that the methods and systems disclosed are applicable to any devices supporting any two wireless communication protocols, which are not permitted to operate simultaneously either by protocol definition, as in the case of BT and BLE, that the two devices are not permitted to operate simultaneously under some states for each device, or are not permitted due to functional limitation of the hardware for each device
1. Automatic Mode-Switching:
The device, e.g. a smartwatch stays in BLE mode normally for low power operations, and switches mode automatically upon a user action or external event to perform operations supported only in BT mode, and upon completion of those functions, switches back automatically to BLE mode.
Step 30 of the method illustrated by
It should be noted that at the press of the button, the BLE transceiver inside the Watch initiates the termination of the BLE connection between the Watch and the Phone by sending the required messages and follow the BLE protocol for connection termination. Upon completion of the termination process, the BT transceiver inside the Watch (which can be physically the same component as the BLE transceiver) initiates a BT connection to the phone by sending the required messages and following the BT protocol for connection setup. The action is complete when the BT connection is set up and the Watch communicates to the Phone via the BT protocol.
It should be also noted that steps 32 and 33 are performed upon the user action of step 31 and no additional user action is required for connecting the device to the phone via the classic BT protocol. Step 34 describes sending classic BT messages from the smartwatch to the phone corresponding to a user action. Step 35 illustrates receiving Bluetooth messages from the phone to the smartwatch corresponding to user action. Step 36 describes a waiting loop waiting for more actions. In case more user actions are to be performed the process flow goes back to step 34 in order to execute the desired action in steps 34 and 35.
After a Time-Out, i.e. a time span without a user action, the device automatically falls back to a BLE connection mode in order to save power.
Identical steps of the flowcharts of
The first step 30 of the flowchart of
Steps 42, 32, 33 and 36 including the time out span of step 36 define the time available to the user to respond to the alert.
It should be noted that the flowcharts of
2. Dual-ID (communication protocol addresses) device utilizing separate addresses (IDs)
The Dual-ID device utilizes separate IDs (i.e. Bluetooth addresses) for the two different modes in time-multiplexed connections: in case of using Bluetooth, the device (smartwatch) contains both BT and BLE as a dual mode device, but furthermore it operates as logically two independent devices with individual ID's being Bluetooth Addresses (BD_ADDR) although physically it is a single device. In this case the phone, being a dual- mode BT and BLE master, may connect to the smartwatch simultaneously in BT and BLE modes as logically two independent devices.
Key advantages of the Dual-ID device disclosed utilizing separate Ids for two different modes are:
It has to be noted that the methods and systems applying BT classic and BLE protocols shown above are non-limiting examples only. The systems and methods can be applied to any other dual protocol applications.
While the disclosure has been particularly shown and described with reference to the preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure.
What is claimed is:
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 14559302 | Dec 2014 | US |
| Child | 15469790 | US |
