Medium access control and channel access for access operations

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10652925-B2
Application number	US-201816140992-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 25, 2018
Priority date	Sep 25, 2018
Publication date	May 12, 2020
Grant date	May 12, 2020

Abstract

Methods and apparatus to support channel access control for keyless vehicle entry systems are disclosed. An initiating central wireless device of a wireless personal area network (WPAN) queries multiple responding peripheral wireless devices to perform ranging for distance and/or angle of arrival data, where the multiple peripheral wireless devices coordinate responses to minimize interference, avoid overlapping transmissions, and reduce time to complete ranging. Ranging frames are divided into multiple ranging time slots, where each ranging time slot can accommodate a full ranging cycle between the central and peripheral wireless devices. The central wireless device determines which ranging time slot to use based on estimates of communication channel interference and on a number of received responses from the peripheral wireless devices. Ranging measurements are provided to a controller of a vehicle that houses the peripheral wireless devices to determine whether to permit vehicle access.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for performing a ranging operation by a central wireless device communicating with a plurality of peripheral wireless devices, the method comprising:
by the central wireless device, during a selected ranging time slot of a first ranging frame comprising a plurality of non-overlapping, indexed time slots:
broadcasting a first ranging measurement message to the plurality of peripheral wireless devices;
listening for ranging measurement responses from the plurality of peripheral wireless devices during sequential non-overlapping segments of the selected ranging time slot; and
responsive to receiving one or more ranging measurement responses from at least one of the plurality of peripheral wireless devices:
broadcasting a second ranging measurement message to the plurality of peripheral wireless devices; and
broadcasting to the plurality of peripheral wireless devices a ranging data message that includes:
measurement data obtained by the central wireless device based at least in part on the received one or more ranging measurement responses, and
an indication of a ranging time slot selected for ranging in a subsequent ranging frame.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
by the central wireless device:
selecting the ranging time slot for ranging in the subsequent ranging frame based at least in part on at least one of (i) an estimate of a signal-to-noise plus interference ratio (SINK), or (ii) a number of ranging measurement responses the central wireless device received during the first ranging frame.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the selecting the ranging time slot for ranging in the subsequent ranging frame further comprises:
using an identical ranging time slot index for the subsequent ranging frame as for the first ranging frame when the number of ranging measurement responses satisfies a first response threshold;
using a neighboring ranging time slot index for the subsequent ranging frame when the number of ranging measurement responses does not satisfy the first response threshold and satisfies a second response threshold; and
using a randomly selected ranging time slot index for the subsequent ranging frame when the number of ranging measurement responses does not satisfy the second response threshold.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first ranging measurement message includes a time stamp value indicating when the first ranging measurement message is broadcast by the central wireless device.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
by the central wireless device, prior to broadcasting the first ranging measurement message:
broadcasting a ranging initiation message to the plurality of peripheral wireless devices, the ranging initiation message comprising an indication of a ranging time slot index for the first ranging frame.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
by the central wireless device, prior to broadcasting the first ranging measurement message:
communicating a cryptographic key to be used, with a random number generator, by the central wireless device and the plurality of peripheral wireless devices to determine a random hopping pattern of ranging time slot indexes for a sequence of ranging frames.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein:
the cryptographic key is broadcast using a Bluetooth Low Energy (BTLE) personal area network wireless communication protocol; and
the ranging measurement messages, the ranging measurement responses, and the ranging data message are communicated using an ultra-wideband (UWB) wireless communication protocol.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
by the central wireless device, when receiving no ranging measurement responses from the plurality of peripheral wireless devices during the selected ranging time slot of the first ranging frame and the selected ranging time slot is not a final ranging time slot of the first ranging frame, reattempting a ranging measurement with the plurality of peripheral wireless devices in a subsequent ranging time slot of the first ranging frame.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the measurement data comprises one or more time stamp values indicating when the central wireless device received the one or more ranging measurement responses.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the indication of the ranging time slot selected for ranging in the subsequent ranging frame comprises a ranging time slot index.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the indication of the ranging time slot selected for ranging in the subsequent ranging frame comprises an indication whether to reuse an identical ranging time slot, to move to an adjacent ranging time slot, or to select a random ranging time slot in the subsequent ranging frame.

12. A method for performing a ranging operation by a peripheral wireless device of a plurality of peripheral wireless devices communicating with a central wireless device, the method comprising:
by the peripheral wireless device, during a selected ranging time slot of a first ranging frame comprising a plurality of non-overlapping, indexed ranging time slots:
listening for a first ranging measurement message from the central wireless device; and
responsive to receiving the first ranging measurement message:
transmitting to the central wireless device, at a segment of the selected ranging time slot of the first ranging frame based at least in part on a time stamp value included in the first ranging measurement message, a ranging measurement response;
listening for a second ranging measurement message and a ranging data message from the central wireless device; and
responsive to receiving the second ranging measurement message and the ranging data message:
extracting, from the ranging data message, measurement data obtained by the central wireless device that is based at least in part on one or more ranging measurement responses received from one or more peripheral wireless devices of the plurality of peripheral wireless devices, and
selecting a ranging time slot for ranging in a subsequent ranging frame.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein selecting the ranging time slot for ranging in the subsequent ranging frame is based at least in part on an indication of a ranging time slot in the subsequent ranging frame, wherein the ranging time slot is selected by the central wireless device for ranging and is included in the ranging data message.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the indication of the ranging time slot selected by the central wireless device comprises one of:
an indication to use an identical ranging time slot index as used for the first ranging frame,
an indication to use a neighboring ranging time slot index, or
an indication to use a randomly selected ranging time slot index.

15. The method of claim 12 , further comprising:
by the peripheral wireless device, after receipt of the first ranging measurement message and responsive to no receipt of the second ranging measurement message or the ranging data message:
selecting the ranging time slot for ranging in the subsequent ranging frame based on a randomly selected ranging time slot index for the subsequent ranging frame.

16. The method of claim 12 , wherein the first ranging measurement message includes a ranging time stamp value indicating when the first ranging measurement message is broadcast by the central wireless device.

17. The method of claim 12 , further comprising:
by the peripheral wireless device, prior to listening for the first ranging measurement message:
receiving a ranging initiation messag

Assignees

• Apple Inc

Inventors

• Naguib Ayman F
• Brumley Robert W

Classifications

• H04W64/006

  with additional information processing, e.g. for direction or speed determination · CPC title

• H04L2209/80

  Wireless · CPC title

• B60R25/24

  using electronic identifiers containing a code not memorised by the user · CPC title

• H04W12/04

  Key management, e.g. using generic bootstrapping architecture [GBA] · CPC title

• H04W84/10

  Small scale networks; Flat hierarchical networks · CPC title