System and method for dynamic management of ultra-wideband ranging sessions

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12452669-B2
Application number	US-202418408998-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 10, 2024
Priority date	Oct 30, 2023
Publication date	Oct 21, 2025
Grant date	Oct 21, 2025

Abstract

An ultra-wideband (UWB) system of a UWB-enabled device dynamically schedules UWB ranging sessions with multiple asynchronous access control devices. The UWB system creates one ranging session for each access control device and schedules each ranging session with equal priority. During each ranging session, the UWB system receives a ranging message from a corresponding access control device, with the ranging message including a ranging management list (RML) that includes identifiers associated with UWB systems that are within an access control range of the corresponding access control device. The UWB system updates the priority of each ranging session based on presence or absence of the corresponding identifier in the RML of the received ranging message. Further, the UWB system schedules the ranging sessions with the updated priority to dynamically prioritize one access control device, thereby enabling an operation between the UWB system and the corresponding access control device.

First claim

We claim:

1. An ultra-wideband (UWB) system, comprising:
a processing circuit configured to:
create a plurality of ranging sessions for a plurality of access control devices associated with the UWB system, wherein a plurality of UWB anchors, of the plurality of access control devices, are asynchronous, and wherein a plurality of priority values of the plurality of ranging sessions are equal;
schedule the plurality of ranging sessions based on the plurality of priority values;
receive, during each ranging session, a ranging message associated with a corresponding UWB anchor, wherein the ranging message comprises a ranging management list (RML) that includes a plurality of identifiers associated with a plurality of UWB systems that are within an access control range of the corresponding UWB anchor;
update a priority value of each ranging session based on one of a presence and an absence of an identifier associated with the UWB system in the RML of the ranging message received during the corresponding ranging session; and
schedule the plurality of ranging sessions based on the updated priority value to dynamically prioritize one of the plurality of access control devices, wherein based on the dynamic prioritization of one of the plurality of access control devices, an operation between the UWB system and the corresponding access control device is enabled.

2. The UWB system of claim 1 , wherein the processing circuit is further configured to receive, for each access control device of the plurality of access control devices, a wake-up message when the UWB system is within a coverage range of the corresponding access control device, and wherein each ranging session of the plurality of ranging sessions is created based on the receipt of the corresponding wake-up message.

3. The UWB system of claim 1 , wherein the processing circuit is further configured to:
schedule the plurality of ranging sessions, based on the creation thereof, to receive a plurality of ranging initiation messages associated with the plurality of UWB anchors, wherein the plurality of ranging sessions are scheduled in a sequential manner, with each ranging session being scheduled until a corresponding ranging initiation message is received;
identify whether the plurality of ranging initiation messages are overlapping based on the receipt thereof;
determine that the plurality of access control devices are asynchronous based on the identification that the plurality of ranging initiation messages are overlapping; and
assign the plurality of priority values, that are equal, to the plurality of ranging sessions based on the determination that the plurality of access control devices are asynchronous.

4. The UWB system of claim 1 , wherein the update of the priority value of each ranging session corresponds to an increment of the priority value when the identifier associated with the UWB system is present in the RML of the ranging message received during the corresponding ranging session.

5. The UWB system of claim 1 , wherein the update of the priority value of each ranging session corresponds to a decrement of the priority value when the identifier associated with the UWB system is absent in the RML of the ranging message received during the corresponding ranging session.

6. The UWB system of claim 5 , wherein the priority value of each ranging session is further decremented when the identifier associated with the UWB system is present in the RML of at least one ranging message received during at least one preceding ranging session associated with a different UWB anchor.

7. The UWB system of claim 1 , wherein the RML, of the ranging message received during each ranging session, comprises a plurality of slots associated with the plurality of UWB systems such that the plurality of slots are indicative of nearness of the plurality of UWB systems to the corresponding UWB anchor, wherein each slot corresponds to a unique update value, and wherein when the identifier associated with the UWB system is present in one of the plurality of slots, the priority value of the corresponding ranging session is updated by the corresponding unique update value.

8. The UWB system of claim 7 , wherein each slot of the plurality of slots corresponds to a unique frequency channel, wherein during each ranging session, the processing circuit is further configured to transmit a ranging response message to the corresponding UWB anchor in the unique frequency channel of a slot in which the identifier associated with the UWB system is present, and wherein based on the ranging response message received during each ranging session, the identifier associated with the UWB system is included in the RML of the ranging message of a subsequent ranging session.

9. The UWB system of claim 1 , wherein an access control device associated with the ranging session having a highest priority value, of the plurality of priority values, is dynamically prioritized to enable the operation between the UWB system and the corresponding access control device.

10. The UWB system of claim 1 , wherein the dynamic prioritization of one of the plurality of access control devices corresponds to scheduling of a corresponding ranging session a plurality of times in a sequential manner.

11. The UWB system of claim 1 , wherein during each ranging session, the processing circuit is further configured to transmit, in response to the ranging message, a ranging response message to the corresponding UWB anchor, and wherein based on the ranging response message received during each ranging session, the identifier associated with the UWB system is included in the RML of the ranging message of a subsequent ranging session.

12. The UWB system of claim 1 , wherein the operation between the UWB system and an access control device that is dynamically prioritized corresponds to one of a group consisting of an access control operation and a transaction operation.

13. The UWB system of claim 1 ,
wherein when one of the plurality of access control devices is prioritized, the processing circuit schedules the corresponding ranging session a plurality of times in a sequential manner, with a distance between the UWB system and an access control device that is prioritized being determined for each ranging session by the corresponding access control device,
wherein when the UWB system is within an operational range of the access control device, the processing circuit is further configured to (i) receive an authentication request generated by a control circuit of the access control device and (ii) transmit an authentication response based on the authentication request to the control circuit of the access control device, and
wherein the operation between the UWB system and the corresponding access control device is enabled based on the authentication response.

14. The UWB system of claim 1 ,
wherein the plurality of ranging sessions comprises a first ranging session and a second ranging session associated with a first access control device and a second access control device of the plurality of access control devices, respectively,
wherein the first ranging session and the second ranging session have a first priority value and a second priority value, respectively, that are equal,
wherein the processing circuit schedules the first ranging session in a first time block, receives a first ranging message from a first UWB anchor of the first access control device, and increments, when the identifier associated with the UWB system is present in the RML of the first ranging message, the first priority value such that the first priority value is greater than the second

Assignees

• Nxp Bv

Inventors

• Parthasarathi Srivathsa Masthi
• Corbalán Pelegrín Pablo
• Pargunam Yuvaraj
• Stark Michael

Classifications

• H04W72/56

  based on priority criteria · CPC title

• G01S7/003

  Transmission of data between radar, sonar or lidar systems and remote stations · CPC title

• G01S5/0215

  Interference · CPC title

• G01S5/0205

  Details · CPC title

• G01S13/765

  with exchange of information between interrogator and responder · CPC title