Low-power activation of accessory in sleep state

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11337151-B2
Application number	US-202016949023-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 9, 2020
Priority date	Sep 27, 2018
Publication date	May 17, 2022
Grant date	May 17, 2022

Abstract

A first device is configured to establish a connection over a short-range communication link with a second device. The first device may transition to a sleep state, terminate (i) a paging operation and a page scanning operation associated with a paging protocol and (ii) an advertisement scanning operation associated with an advertisement protocol and perform an advertisement broadcast operation associated with the advertisement protocol, the advertisement broadcast operation generating an advertisement to be broadcast at a first interval, wherein the first interval is greater than a second interval for performing advertisement broadcast operations in an active state.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method, comprising:
at a wireless device configured to communicate, using a radio, over a short-range communication link with a source device:
while in a lower power state, transmitting low-energy advertisements at a first rate and suspending a scanning activity by the radio;
receiving, while in the lower power state, a scan request from the source device;
determining that the source device comprises a known device; and
activating, responsive to the determining, the scanning activity by the radio.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein suspending the scanning activity by the radio further comprises:
suspending, while in the lower power state, performance of all periodic scans.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the scanning activity comprises performing one or more page scans.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein transmitting low-energy advertisements comprises transmitting one or more BLUETOOTH LOW ENERGY (BLE) advertisements in accordance with a predetermined interval.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein one or more of the BLE advertisements comprise an indication that the wireless device is in the lower power state.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
performing, responsive to activating the scanning activity, BLUETOOTH page scans at a first interval that exceeds a second interval used subsequent to establishing a connection; and
transmitting low-energy advertisements at a second rate that is lower than the first rate associated with the lower power state.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
establishing, based at least in part on activating the scanning activity, the short-range communication link with the source device.

8. A wireless device, comprising:
a radio configured to communicate over a short-range communication link with a source device; and
a processor communicatively coupled to the radio and configured to perform operations comprising:
while the wireless device is in a lower power state, transmitting low-energy advertisements at a first rate and suspending a scanning activity by the radio;
receiving, while in the lower power state, a scan request from the source device;
determining that the source device comprises a known device; and
activating, responsive to the determining, the scanning activity by the radio.

9. The wireless device of claim 8 , wherein suspending the scanning activity by the radio further comprises:
suspending, while in the lower power state, performance of all periodic scans.

10. The wireless device of claim 8 , wherein the scanning activity comprises performing one or more page scans.

11. The wireless device of claim 8 , wherein transmitting low-energy advertisements comprises transmitting one or more BLUETOOTH LOW ENERGY (BLE) advertisements in accordance with a predetermined interval.

12. The wireless device of claim 11 , wherein one or more of the BLE advertisements comprise an indication that the wireless device is in the lower power state.

13. The wireless device of claim 8 , wherein the operations further comprise:
performing, responsive to activating the scanning activity, BLUETOOTH page scans at a first interval that exceeds a second interval used subsequent to establishing a connection; and
transmitting low-energy advertisements at a second rate that is lower than the first rate associated with the lower power state.

14. The wireless device of claim 8 , wherein the operations further comprise:
establishing, based at least in part on activating the scanning activity, the short-range communication link with the source device.

15. A processor of a wireless device configured to perform operations comprising:
while the wireless device is in a lower power state, transmitting low-energy advertisements at a first rate and suspending a scanning activity by a radio of the wireless device;
receiving, while in the lower power state, a scan request from a source device;
determining that the source device comprises a known device; and
activating, responsive to the determining, the scanning activity by the radio.

16. The processor of claim 15 , wherein suspending the scanning activity by the radio further comprises:
suspending, while in the lower power state, performance of all periodic scans.

17. The processor of claim 15 , wherein the scanning activity comprises performing one or more page scans.

18. The processor of claim 15 , wherein transmitting low-energy advertisements comprises transmitting one or more BLUETOOTH LOW ENERGY (BLE) advertisements in accordance with a predetermined interval, wherein one or more of the BLE advertisements comprise an indication that the wireless device is in the lower power state.

19. The processor of claim 15 , wherein the operations further comprise:
performing, responsive to activating the scanning activity, BLUETOOTH page scans at a first interval that exceeds a second interval used subsequent to establishing a connection; and
transmitting low-energy advertisements at a second rate that is lower than the first rate associated with the lower power state.

20. The processor of claim 15 , wherein the operations further comprise:
establishing, based at least in part on activating the scanning activity, the short-range communication link with the source device.

Assignees

• Apple Inc

Inventors

• Shaw David
• Cotte Ariane
• Paycher Alon
• Watson Robert
• Burns Gregory
• CHANDRAMOHAN Chandrahas Aralaguppe
• Hariharan Sriram
• Shavit Jonathan
• Eini Adir

Classifications

• Y02D30/70

  in wireless communication 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

• H04W76/14

  Direct-mode setup · CPC title

• H04W52/0254

  detecting a user operation or a tactile contact or a motion of the device · CPC title

• H04W52/0229 Primary

  where the received signal is a wanted signal · CPC title