Address management for Bluetooth devices

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11115811-B2
Application number	US-201916375460-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 4, 2019
Priority date	Apr 4, 2019
Publication date	Sep 7, 2021
Grant date	Sep 7, 2021

Abstract

Two devices (e.g., two wireless Bluetooth earbuds) may exchange device address information (e.g., Bluetooth address information) and may identify a primary address. When either of the devices connect to a source device (e.g., a phone), the primary address may be used by the connecting device such that the pair of devices appear as a single device (e.g., a Bluetooth-pairable device) to the source device, regardless of the device connecting to the source device as the primary device. The primary device may then send identity information (e.g., that has been exchanged with the secondary device) to the source device, such that the source device may connect to either of the two devices. Further, once a primary device connects to the source device, the primary device may transmit, to the secondary device, connection information such that the secondary device may connect to the source device and operate in the primary role.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for wireless communication at a first device, comprising:
exchanging Bluetooth device address information with a second device based at least in part on a low energy connection between the first device and the second device;
determining, amongst the first device and the second device, a role of the first device based at least in part on exchanging the Bluetooth device address information and a quality condition of the first device relative to a quality condition of the second device, wherein the role of the first device comprises a secondary role for communication with a source device in accordance with a first instance of the quality condition of the first device relative to a first instance of the quality condition of the second device;
identifying a primary address associated with the second device based at least in part on the exchanged Bluetooth device address information and the role of the first device comprising the secondary role;
receiving source device connection information from the second device; and
pairing the first device with the source device based at least in part on the primary address of the secondary device and the source device connection information received from the second device.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining, amongst the first device and the second device, a second role of the first device subsequent to the pairing of the first device with the source device; and
pairing the first device with the source device based at least in part on the primary address and the second role of the first device, the role of the first device different than the second role of the first device.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining an activity level of the first device, an activity level of the second device, or both, wherein the activity level comprises a call status of the source device, and wherein the role of the first device is determined based at least in part on the activity level of the first device, the activity level of the second device, or both.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining a link status between the first device and the source device, a link status between the second device and the source device, or both, wherein the role of the first device is determined based at least in part on the link status between the first device and the source device, the link status between the second device and the source device, or both.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
identifying a user input selection of the first device, a user input selection of the second device, or both, wherein the role of the first device is determined based at least in part on the user input selection of the first device, the user input selection of the second device, or both.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining a battery status of the first device, a battery status of the second device, or both, wherein the role of the first device is determined based at least in part on the battery status of the first device, the battery status of the second device, or both.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining a previous role of the first device, a previous role of the second device, or both, wherein the role of the first device is determined based at least in part on the previous role of the first device, the previous role of the second device, or both.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
identifying a range between the first device and the source device, a range between the second device and the source device, or both, wherein the role of the first device is determined based at least in part on the range between the first device and the source device, the range between the second device and the source device, or both.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the role of the first device comprises a primary role and the primary address is identified based at least in part on a Bluetooth address of the second device.

10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:
transmitting, to the source device, identity information based at least in part on the primary address, wherein the identity information comprises the primary address.

11. The method of claim 9 , wherein the source device connection information comprises
a Bluetooth address of the source device, a link key to be used on a connection with the source device, an identity resolving key of the source device, a device root key of the first device, a long term key to be used on a connection with the source device, information to generate the long term key to be used on the connection with the source device, or any combination thereof.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the role of the first device comprises the secondary role and the primary address is identified based at least in part on a Bluetooth address of the second device.

13. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining, amongst the first device and the second device, a second role of the first device based at least in part on a status of the first device, wherein the second role of the first device comprises pairing the first device with a third device; and
pairing the first device with the third device based at least in part on the primary address and the second role of the first device.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the quality condition of the first device or the quality condition of the second device, or both, comprise a threshold decibel value, or a signal quality, or a signal strength, or a microphone quality, or a battery level, or a relative distance to the source device, or any combination thereof.

15. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
switching roles with the second device based at least in part on a second instance of the quality condition of the first device relative to a second instance of the quality condition of the second device, wherein the switching roles comprises the second device switching to the secondary role for communication with the source device and the first device switching to a primary role for communication with a source device; and
using, while in the primary role, the primary address of the secondary device and the source device connection information received from the second device to communicate with the source device.

16. An apparatus for wireless communication at a first device, comprising:
a processor,
memory in electronic communication with the processor; and
instructions stored in the memory and executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
exchange Bluetooth device address information with a second device based at least in part on a low energy connection between the first device and the second device;
determine, amongst the first device and the second device, a role of the first device based at least in part on exchanging the Bluetooth device address information and a quality condition of the first device relative to a quality condition of the second device, wherein the role of the first device comprises a secondary role for communication with a source device in accordance with a first instance of the quality condition of the first device relative to a first instance of the quality condition of the second device;
identify a primary address associated with the second device based at least in part on the exchanged Bluetooth device address information and the role of the first device comprising the secondary role;
receive source device connection information from the second device; and
pair the first device with the source device based at least in

Assignees

• Qualcomm Inc

Inventors

• Batra Mayank
• Heydon Robin
• Shekhar Ravi
• Sridhara Srivathsa
• Srivastava Dishant
• Singer Steven
• Jones Nicholas
• Campbell Benjamin
• Cardoe Richard
• Richardson Laurence

Classifications

• H04L2101/681

  using addresses for wireless personal area networks or wireless sensor networks, e.g. Zigbee addresses · CPC title

• H04W8/24

  Transfer of terminal data · CPC title

• H04W4/80

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

• H04W8/005 Primary

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

• H04W76/14

  Direct-mode setup · CPC title