Slave bluetooth device switching between active bluetooth connections with different master bluetooth devices

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10149340-B1
Application number	US-201715652391-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Jul 18, 2017
Priority date	Jul 18, 2017
Publication date	Dec 4, 2018
Grant date	Dec 4, 2018

Abstract

A slave Bluetooth device establishes first and second connections with first and second master Bluetooth devices, respectively, that each operate in a master mode. The slave Bluetooth device operates in a slave mode when communicating through any of the first and second connections. The slave Bluetooth device communicates connection parameter update request packets containing timeout values to the first and second master Bluetooth devices. The slave Bluetooth device alternates during non-overlapping time slots between at least: 1) monitoring the first connection for traffic transmitted by the first master Bluetooth device while not monitoring the second connection; and 2) monitoring the second connection for traffic transmitted by the second master Bluetooth device while not monitoring the first connection; and controls a rate at which the alternating is performed based on the first timeout value and the second timeout value.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A slave Bluetooth device comprising:
a Bluetooth transceiver;
at least one processor connected to the Bluetooth transceiver; 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:
establishing a first connection through the Bluetooth transceiver with a first master Bluetooth device that operates in a master mode, wherein the slave Bluetooth device operates in a slave mode when communicating through the first connection;
communicating a first connection parameter update request packet containing a first timeout value through the Bluetooth transceiver and the first connection to the first master Bluetooth device; and
establishing a second connection through the Bluetooth transceiver with a second master Bluetooth device that operates in a master mode, wherein the slave Bluetooth device operates in the slave mode when communicating through the second connection;
communicating a second connection parameter update request packet containing a second timeout value through the Bluetooth transceiver and the second connection to the second master Bluetooth device; and
alternating during non-overlapping time slots between at least: 1) monitoring the first connection for traffic transmitted by the first master Bluetooth device while not monitoring the second connection; and 2) monitoring the second connection for traffic transmitted by the second master Bluetooth device while not monitoring the first connection; and
controlling a rate at which the alternating is performed based on the first timeout value and the second timeout value.

2. The slave Bluetooth device of claim 1 , wherein controlling the rate at which the alternating is performed based on the first timeout value and the second timeout value, comprises:
controlling the Bluetooth transceiver to cease monitoring the first connection and to resume monitoring the second connection, based on expiration of a first time slot during the monitoring of the first connection, the first time slot is defined based on the first timeout value; and
controlling the Bluetooth transceiver to cease monitoring the second connection and to resume monitoring the first connection, based on expiration of a second time slot during the monitoring of the second connection, the second time slot is defined based on the second timeout value.

3. The slave Bluetooth device of claim 1 , wherein:
the first timeout value is the same as the second timeout value.

4. The slave Bluetooth device of claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise:
determining the first timeout value based on a maximum length of time that the slave Bluetooth device is allowed to remain not monitoring the first connection while it monitors at least the second connection; and
determining the second timeout value based on a maximum length of time that the slave Bluetooth device is allowed to remain not monitoring the second connection while it monitors at least the first connection.

5. The slave Bluetooth device of claim 4 , wherein the operations further comprise:
sequentially and separately establishing a further connection through the Bluetooth transceiver with each of a plurality of other master Bluetooth devices that each operates in a master mode, wherein the slave Bluetooth device operates in the slave mode when communicating through any of the further connections;
responsive to each establishment of one of the further connections with one of the other master Bluetooth devices, performing operations to:
determine a further timeout value based on a maximum length of time that the slave Bluetooth device is allowed to remain not monitoring the one of the further connections with the one of the other master Bluetooth devices while it alternates between monitoring other connections that have been established; and
communicate a further connection parameter update request packet containing the further timeout value through the Bluetooth transceiver and the one of the further connections to the one of the other master Bluetooth devices; and

the alternating during the non-overlapping time slots is between each of the first, second, and the further connections.

6. The slave Bluetooth device of claim 5 , further comprising:
a seat video display unit (SVDU), of a vehicle entertainment system, that has electronically integrated therein the slave Bluetooth device and a display device that controls what content is displayed responsive to at least some of the traffic that is received through each of the first, second, and the further connections, wherein the SVDU is configured to be mechanically connected to a seat frame within a vehicle.

7. The slave Bluetooth device of claim 6 , wherein:
the first connection is established with a wireless passenger control unit (WPCU) device having an interface that is operable by a passenger supported by the seat frame connected to the SVDU;
the second connection is established with a passenger mobile computing device that is operable by the passenger supported by the seat frame connected to the SVDU;
one of the further connections is established with passenger wireless headphones; and
another one of the further connections is established with a wireless mouse controller device having an interface that is operable by the passenger supported by the seat frame connected to the SVDU.

8. The slave Bluetooth device of claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise:
determining the first timeout value based on a rate at which traffic is expected to be transmitted through the first connection by the first master Bluetooth device; and
determining the second timeout value based on a rate at which traffic is expected to be transmitted through the second connection by the second master Bluetooth device.

9. The slave Bluetooth device of claim 8 , wherein the operations further comprise:
further determining the first timeout value based on a combination of the rate at which traffic is expected to be transmitted through the first connection by the first master Bluetooth device and the rate at which traffic is expected to be transmitted through the second connection by the second master Bluetooth device; and
further determining the second timeout value based on a combination of the rate at which traffic is expected to be transmitted through the second connection by the second master Bluetooth device and the rate at which traffic is expected to be transmitted through the first connection by the first master Bluetooth device.

10. The slave Bluetooth device of claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise:
generating the first timeout value as a first slave latency value that defines a maximum number of polling requests transmitted by the first master Bluetooth device through the first connection that the slave Bluetooth device can ignore without sending an acknowledgement response to the first master Bluetooth device before triggering the first master Bluetooth device to tear down the first connection; and
generating the second timeout value as a second slave latency value that defines a maximum number of polling requests transmitted by the second master Bluetooth device through the second connection that the slave Bluetooth device can ignore without sending an acknowledgement response to the second master Bluetooth device before triggering the second master Bluetooth device to tear down the second connection.

11. The slave Bluetooth device of claim 10 , wherein:
while monitoring the first connection for traffic transmitted by the first master Bluetooth device, communicating connection polling responses throug

Assignees

• Thales Avionics Inc

Inventors

• Rabii Khosro
• Couleaud Jean-Yves
• Trivedi Pankaj
• Schuberth Pierre
• Lei Terence

Classifications

• B64D11/00153

  Monitors mounted on or in the seat other than the seat back · CPC title

• H04W76/34

  Selective release of ongoing connections · 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

• H04W84/18

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

• B64D11/0015

  Arrangements for entertainment or communications, e.g. radio, television · CPC title