Inflight entertainment system that selects among passenger electronic devices for connection based on power measurements

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10136293-B1
Application number	US-201715718054-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Sep 28, 2017
Priority date	Sep 28, 2017
Publication date	Nov 20, 2018
Grant date	Nov 20, 2018

Abstract

An inflight entertainment system for use in an aircraft displays commands to a passenger to move a passenger electronic device (PED) between locations defined relative a seatback display device and the passenger's seat. The system measures received signal strength indications (RSSIs) from discoverable PEDs over time while the PED is moved between the locations, and selects one of the PEDs that satisfies a defined rule for an amount of change that is observed over time in the measured RSSIs for that PED. The system then establishes a connection through a Bluetooth transceiver with a Bluetooth transceiver of the selected PED.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A vehicle entertainment system for use in a vehicle, the vehicle entertainment system comprising:
a display device;
a Bluetooth transceiver;
at least one processor connected to the Bluetooth transceiver and the display device; and
at least one memory connected to the at least one processor and storing program code that is executed by the at least one processor to perform operations comprising:
displaying a first message on the display device instructing a passenger to move a passenger electronic device (PED) to a first location;
generating a list of Bluetooth identifiers of PEDs that are discovered through the Bluetooth transceiver;
for each of the Bluetooth identifiers in the list,
generating a first received signal strength indication from measurement of at least one radio signal received from the PED having the Bluetooth identifier, and
updating a candidate PEDs data structure to comprise a paired association between the Bluetooth identifier and the first received signal strength indication measured for the at least one radio signal received from the PED having the Bluetooth identifier;

following the updating of the candidate PEDs data structure, displaying a second message on the display device instructing the passenger to move the PED to a second location that is spaced apart from the first location;
for each of the Bluetooth identifiers in the list that is still discoverable through the Bluetooth transceiver,
generating a second received signal strength indication from measurement of at least one radio signal received from the PED having the Bluetooth identifier, and
updating the candidate PEDs data structure to further associate the Bluetooth identifier to the second received signal strength indication measured for the at least one radio signal received from the Bluetooth device having the Bluetooth identifier.

2. The vehicle entertainment system of claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise:
generating the first and second received signal strength indications from signal strengths measurements of only Bluetooth Inquiry Messages that are received from the PEDs.

3. The vehicle entertainment system of claim 1 , wherein:
the one of the Bluetooth identifiers is selected based on the amount of change satisfying a defined relationship between a far-range received signal strength and a near-range received signal strength that are expected to be received from the one of the Bluetooth identifiers that is moved between the first and second locations by the passenger responsive to the displayed first and second messages.

4. The vehicle entertainment system of claim 3 , wherein the operations further comprise:
responsive to initiation of a calibration operational mode,
determining a near-range threshold value based on a mathematical combination of measurements of radio signals sequentially received over time from a test PED located at one of the first and second locations;
determining a far-range threshold value based on a mathematical combination of measurements of radio signals sequentially received over time from the test PED located at the other one of the first and second locations; and
generating the defined relationship based on the near-range threshold value and the far-range threshold value.

5. The vehicle entertainment system of claim 3 , wherein:
the first message displayed on the display device instructs the passenger to move the PED adjacent to a location defined on one of: 1) a vehicle seat of the passenger; and 2) the display device;
the second message displayed on the display device instructs the passenger to move the PED adjacent to another location defined on the other one of: 1) the vehicle seat of the passenger; and 2) the display device.

6. The vehicle entertainment system of claim 1 , wherein the operation for selecting one of the Bluetooth identifiers that satisfies the defined rule, comprises:
for each of at least some of the Bluetooth identifiers in the candidate PEDs data structure,
generating a normalized received signal strength indication based on dividing the second received signal strength indication by the first received signal strength indication; and
determining whether the normalized received signal strength indication satisfies the defined rule.

7. The vehicle entertainment system of claim 6 , wherein the operation for determining whether the normalized received signal strength indication satisfies the defined rule, comprises:
comparing a threshold value to the normalized received signal strengths generated for each of the at least some of the Bluetooth identifiers in the candidate PEDs data structure; and
selecting the one of the Bluetooth identifiers from among the at least some of the Bluetooth identifiers in the candidate PEDs data structure, based on the one of the Bluetooth identifiers having the closest normalized received signal strength to the threshold value.

8. The vehicle entertainment system of claim 1 , wherein:
the one of the Bluetooth identifiers is selected based on the amount of change satisfying a defined relationship between drop-off in received signal strength that is expected to be received from the one of the Bluetooth identifiers that is moved by the passenger from one of the first and second locations that is aligned with a strongest gain direction of an antenna directional gain pattern of a Bluetooth antenna used by the Bluetooth transceiver to another one of the first and second locations that is laterally offset to a side of the strongest gain direction of the antenna directional gain pattern, responsive to the displayed first and second messages.

9. The vehicle entertainment system of claim 8 , wherein the operations further comprise:
responsive to initiation of a calibration operational mode,
determining a near-field threshold value based on a mathematical combination of measurements of radio signals sequentially received over time from a test PED located at the one of the first and second locations aligned with the strongest gain direction of the antenna directional gain pattern;
determining a far-field threshold value based on a mathematical combination of measurements of radio signals sequentially received over time from the test PED located at the other one of the first and second locations laterally offset to the side of the strongest gain direction of the antenna directional gain pattern; and
generating the defined relationship based on the near-range threshold value and the far-range threshold value.

10. The vehicle entertainment system of claim 8 , wherein:
the first message displayed on the display device instructs the passenger to move the PED adjacent to one of: 1) a location that is displayed on the display device or printed on a housing of the display device, that is aligned with the strongest gain direction of the antenna directional gain pattern; and 2) another location that is displayed on the display device or printed on the housing of the display device, that is laterally offset to the side of the strongest gain direction of the antenna directional gain pattern; and
the second message displayed on the display device instructs the passenger to move the PED sideways to be adjacent to the other one of the locations that is displayed on the display device or printed on the housing of the display device.

11. The vehicle entertainment system of claim 8 , wherein the operations further comprise:
during the operations to measure the first and second received signal strength indications from radio signals received from the PEDs, controlling a variable gain circuit of the Bluetooth antenna to maintain an increased relative difference between gai

Assignees

• Thales Avionics Inc

Inventors

• Rabii Khosro
• Couleaud Jean-Yves
• Schuberth Pierre
• Trivedi Pankaj
• Jackson Thomas

Classifications

• H04W8/005

  Discovery of network devices, e.g. terminals · CPC title

• G08B5/221

  Local indication of seats occupied in a facility, e.g. in a theatre · CPC title

• H04W76/11

  Allocation or use of connection identifiers · CPC title

• H04W84/18

  Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks · CPC title

• H04W4/80 Primary

  Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication · CPC title