Distributed and synchronized bluetooth scan across multiple devices for faster bluetooth discovery

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11425669-B2
Application number	US-202017032635-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 25, 2020
Priority date	Sep 25, 2020
Publication date	Aug 23, 2022
Grant date	Aug 23, 2022

Abstract

Some aspects of this disclosure include apparatuses and methods for implementing a synchronized short range communication protocol scan mechanism across multiple devices. Some aspects relate to an electronic device including a transceiver configured to communicate based on a short range communication protocol and a processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver. The processor receives one or more parameters from a peripheral electronic device and determines, based at least on the one or more parameters, one or more synchronization parameters. The processor further transmits the one or more synchronization parameters to the peripheral electronic device. The one or more synchronization parameters can include at least a scan offset associated with the peripheral electronic device.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An electronic device, comprising:
a transceiver configured to communicate based on a short range communication protocol; and
a processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver and configured to:
receive one or more parameters from a peripheral electronic device;
determine, based at least on the one or more parameters, one or more synchronization parameters; and
transmit the one or more synchronization parameters to the peripheral electronic device, wherein the one or more synchronization parameters comprise at least a scan offset associated with the peripheral electronic device.

2. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the one or more parameters comprise at least one of a usage indicator associated with the peripheral electronic device, a power indicator associated with the peripheral electronic device, a priority indicator associated with the peripheral electronic device, a scan configuration associated with the peripheral electronic device, or a clock drift associated with the peripheral electronic device.

3. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein to determine the one or more synchronization parameters, the processor is configured to:
determine the one or more synchronization parameters based at least on the one or more parameters received from the peripheral electronic device and one or more parameters of the electronic device.

4. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the scan offset associated with the peripheral electronic device comprises a time period measured from a beginning of a scan interval to a beginning of a scan window of the peripheral electronic device.

5. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the one or more synchronization parameters further comprise at least one of a scan interval or a scan window.

6. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
determine whether a condition for re-synchronization has occurred; and
in response to determining that the condition has occurred, determine updated one or more synchronization parameters.

7. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
receive, using the transceiver and during a scan window associated with the electronic device, one or more messages from a second electronic device;
determine information associated with the second electronic device; and
communicate the determined information with the peripheral electronic device.

8. The electronic device of claim 7 , wherein:
the one or more messages from the second electronic device comprise one or more advertising messages, and
the information associated with the second electronic device comprises an offset between the one or more advertising messages.

9. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the electronic device and the peripheral electronic device belong to a group of electronic devices determined based on a policy.

10. A method, comprising:
receiving, by an electronic device, one or more parameters from a peripheral electronic device;
determining, by the electronic device and based at least on the one or more parameters, one or more synchronization parameters; and
transmitting, by the electronic device, the one or more synchronization parameters to the peripheral electronic device,
wherein the one or more synchronization parameters comprise at least a scan offset associated with the peripheral electronic device, and
wherein the electronic device and the peripheral electronic device belong to a group of electronic devices determined based on a policy.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the one or more parameters comprise at least one of a usage indicator associated with the peripheral electronic device, a power indicator associated with the peripheral electronic device, a priority indicator associated with the peripheral electronic device, a scan configuration associated with the peripheral electronic device, or a clock drift associated with the peripheral electronic device.

12. The method of claim 10 , wherein the determining the one or more synchronization parameters comprises determining the one or more synchronization parameters based at least on the one or more parameters received from the peripheral electronic device and one or more parameters of the electronic device.

13. The method of claim 10 , wherein the scan offset associated with the peripheral electronic device comprises a time period measured from a beginning of a scan interval to a beginning of a scan window of the peripheral electronic device.

14. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:
determining whether a condition for re-synchronization has occurred; and
in response to determining that the condition has occurred, determining updated one or more synchronization parameters.

15. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:
receiving, by the electronic device and during a scan window associated with the electronic device, one or more messages from a second electronic device;
determining information associated with the second electronic device; and
communicating the determined information with the peripheral electronic device.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein:
the one or more messages from the second electronic device comprise one or more advertising messages, and
the information associated with the second electronic device comprises an offset between the one or more advertising messages.

17. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by a processor of an electronic device, cause the processor to perform operations, the operations comprising:
receiving one or more parameters from a peripheral electronic device, wherein the one or more parameters comprise at least one of a usage indicator associated with the peripheral electronic device and/or a power indicator associated with the peripheral electronic device;
determining, based at least on the one or more parameters, one or more synchronization parameters; and
transmitting the one or more synchronization parameters to the peripheral electronic device, wherein the one or more synchronization parameters comprise at least a scan offset associated with the peripheral electronic device.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17 , the operations further comprising:
determining whether a condition for re-synchronization has occurred; and
in response to determining that the condition has occurred, determining updated one or more synchronization parameters.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17 , the operations further comprising:
receiving, during a scan window associated with the electronic device, one or more advertising messages from a second electronic device;
determining information associated with the second electronic device; and
communicating the determined information with the peripheral electronic device, wherein the information comprises an offset between the one or more advertising messages.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17 , wherein the electronic device and the peripheral electronic device belong to a group of electronic devices determined based on a policy.

Assignees

• Apple Inc

Inventors

• Ly-Gagnon Yann
• Unkn Arun
• Ganir Chen
• Phan Duy N
• Wasada Langford M

Classifications

• H04W8/005 Primary

  Discovery of network devices, e.g. terminals · 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

• H04W84/18

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

• H04W76/15

  Setup of multiple wireless link connections · CPC title

• H04W56/001 Primary

  Synchronization between nodes · CPC title