Ultrasonic bridge for wireless communication

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10914710-B2
Application number	US-201815944699-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 3, 2018
Priority date	Apr 3, 2017
Publication date	Feb 9, 2021
Grant date	Feb 9, 2021

Abstract

There is provided an ultrasonic bridge for ultrasonic-based wireless communication. For example, there is provided an ultrasonic bridge that includes a microphone configured to transduce an ultrasound into an analog voltage. The ultrasonic bridge further includes hardware configured to convert the analog voltage to digital information. The ultrasonic further includes a transceiver configured to send the digital information wirelessly to a remote device via one of an RF link and a light-based link.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An ultrasonic bridge comprising:
a processor;
a digital-to-analog converter configured to receive a digital command from the processor and output a first ultrasonic tone to an external device;
a microphone configured to transduce a second ultrasonic tone from the external device into an analog voltage;
hardware configured to convert the analog voltage to a digital word unique to a level of the analog voltage; and
a transceiver configured to send the digital word wirelessly to a remote device via one of an RF link and a light-based link for controlling the remote device via the external device.

2. The ultrasonic bridge of claim 1 , wherein the RF link is one of Bluetooth, ZigBee, and Wi-fi.

3. The ultrasonic bridge of claim 1 , wherein the light-based link is an infrared (IR) link.

4. The ultrasonic bridge of claim 1 , wherein the external device is a smart phone device.

5. The ultrasonic bridge of claim 1 , wherein the remote device is a lighting system.

6. The ultrasonic bridge of claim 1 , wherein the remote device is one of a smart TV and a speaker system.

7. The ultrasonic bridge of claim 1 , wherein the transceiver is further configured to receive device information from the remote device wirelessly.

8. The ultrasonic bridge of claim 7 , wherein the device information is received via one of the RF link and the light-based link.

9. The ultrasonic bridge of claim 8 , wherein the ultrasonic bridge is further configured to output the device information as an acoustic signal.

10. An ultrasonic bridge comprising:
hardware configured to output an ultrasonic tone including an instruction for a first remote device;
hardware configured to convert an analog voltage corresponding to the ultrasonic tone into a digital word unique to a level of the analog voltage; and
hardware configured to receive device information wirelessly from a second remote device via one of an RF link and a light-based link;
wherein the ultrasonic tone corresponds to the device information for controlling the second remote device via the first remote device.

11. The ultrasonic bridge of claim 10 , further comprising an digital-to-analog converter configured to output a drive voltage for a speaker to produce the ultrasonic tone.

12. The ultrasonic bridge of claim 10 , further comprising a transceiver configured to receive the device information via the RF link.

13. The ultrasonic bridge of claim 10 , further comprising a light-based transceiver link.

14. The ultrasonic bridge of claim 10 , further comprising a processor and a memory.

15. The ultrasonic bridge of claim 10 , wherein the first remote device is a smart phone.

16. The ultrasonic bridge of claim 10 , wherein the first remote device is a tablet personal computer.

17. The ultrasonic bridge of claim 10 , wherein the first remote device is a first lighting system and the second remote device is a lighting system.

18. The ultrasonic bridge of claim 10 , wherein the second remote device is a lighting system and the first remote device is a smart phone.

19. The ultrasonic bridge of claim 10 , wherein the ultrasonic bridge is configured to provide connectivity between a smart phone and a plurality of devices.

20. The ultrasonic bridge of claim 19 , wherein the plurality of devices are connected to an RF network or accessible via an infrared transceiver link.

Assignees

• Ge Lighting Solutions Llc
• Savant Tech Llc

Inventors

• Clynne Thomas
• Dureiko Rick Dean

Classifications

• G08C17/02 Primary

  using a radio link · CPC title

• H04B11/00

  Transmission systems employing ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic waves · CPC title

• G01N29/11 Primary

  by measuring attenuation of acoustic waves · CPC title

• G08C23/02

  using infrasonic, sonic or ultrasonic waves · CPC title

• H04M2250/12

  including a sensor for measuring a physical value, e.g. temperature or motion · CPC title