Device and method for control of data transfer in local area network

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9332377-B2
Application number	US-201414318025-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 27, 2014
Priority date	Dec 5, 2013
Publication date	May 3, 2016
Grant date	May 3, 2016

Abstract

The present invention concerns devices and methods for control of data transfer in a personal area network. The data transfer being performed by body coupled communication (BCC) and short-range wireless communication between a first portable electronic communication device ( 10 ) and a second portable electronic communication device ( 20, 30 ). The devices being adapted to be in close proximity to a body of a user and the first portable electronic communication device ( 10 ) is configured to initiate and perform execution of predefined actions by means of the method to cooperate with the second portable electronic communication device ( 20, 30 ) in a system/personal area network.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A first portable electronic communication device for cooperating with a second portable electronic communication device via Body Coupled Communication (BCC) and short-range wireless communication, the two devices configured to be in close proximity to a user's body during use, wherein this first portable electronic communication device comprises:
a BCC antenna in the first portable electronic communication device to conduct body coupled communication with the second portable electronic communication device and to measure capacitance between the antenna and the user; and
a control unit with associated processing circuitry configured for control of BCC and short-range wireless communication with the second portable electronic communication device, the control unit causing the first portable electronic communication device to autonomously initiate and perform execution of predefined actions comprising:
continuously checking, by means of the first portable electronic communication device itself, if a capacitance between the BCC antenna and the user belongs to a predefined capacitance interval indicating that the first portable electronic communication device is in close proximity to the body of the user, the predefined capacitance interval stored in a memory of the first portable electronic device;
triggering the control unit of the first portable electronic communication device to initiate BCC by itself via the BCC antenna with the second portable electronic communication device in response to the checked capacitance belonging to the predefined capacitance interval;
sending, by means of the control unit via the BCC antenna of the first portable electronic communication device itself, a BCC signal over the user's body in response to the checked capacitance belonging to the predefined capacitance interval, the BCC signal comprising short-range wireless communication pairing information to the second portable electronic communication device;
triggering the control unit of the first portable electronic communication device to prepare a short-range wireless communication by itself with the second portable electronic communication device; and
executing the short-range wireless communication between the first and the second portable electronic communication devices if the second portable electronic communication device also is in close proximity to the body of the same user.

2. A first portable electronic communication device according to claim 1 , wherein the control unit of the first portable communication device is configured to control short-range wireless communication signals sent from the second portable electronic communication device and received in the first portable communication device for initiating a short-range wireless communication between the devices.

3. A first portable electronic communication device according to claim 1 ,
wherein the control unit of the first portable electronic communication device is configured to end the execution of the short-range wireless communication with the second portable electronic communication device, by means of the first portable electronic communication device itself, if the checked capacitance of the BCC antenna of the first portable electronic communication device indicates that the first portable device no longer is in close proximity to the body of the user.

4. A first portable electronic communication device according to claim 1 , wherein the control unit is configured to unpair the first portable electronic communication device and the second portable electronic communication device.

5. A first portable electronic communication device according to claim 1 , wherein the first portable electronic communication device is a headphone, headset, visor, goggles or a combination of wearables.

6. A method for control of data transfer in a personal area network, the data transfer performed by Body Coupled Communication (BCC) and short-range wireless communication between a first portable electronic communication device and a second portable electronic communication device, the devices adapted to be in close proximity to a body of a user, the method comprising the first portable electronic communication device autonomously initiating and performing predefined actions comprising:
continuously checking, by means of the first portable electronic communication device itself, if a capacitance between the first portable electronic device and the user belongs to a predefined capacitance interval indicating that the first portable electronic communication device is in close proximity to the body of the user, the predefined capacitance interval stored in a memory of the first portable electronic device;
triggering the first portable electronic communication device to initiate BCC by itself with the second portable electronic communication device in response to the checked capacitance belonging to the predefined capacitance interval;
sending, by means of the first portable electronic communication device itself, a BCC signal over the user's body in response to the checked capacitance belonging to the predefined capacitance interval, the BCC signal comprising short-range wireless communication pairing information to the second portable electronic communication device;
triggering the first portable electronic communication device to prepare a short-range wireless communication by itself with the second portable electronic communication device; and
executing the short-range wireless communication between the first and the second portable electronic communication devices if the second portable electronic communication device also is in close proximity to the body of the same user.

7. A method for control of data transfer according to claim 6 , further initiating and performing execution of a predefined action before the step of executing a short-range wireless communication comprising:
receiving, in the first portable electronic communication device, short-range wireless communication signals sent from the second portable electronic communication device for initiating a short-range wireless communication between the devices.

8. A method for control of data transfer according to claim 6 , further initiating and performing execution of a predefined action after the step of executing a short-range wireless communication comprising:
ending, by means of the first portable electronic communication device itself, the execution of the short-range wireless communication with the second portable electronic communication device if the checked capacitance indicates that the first portable electronic communication device no longer is in close proximity to the body of the user.

9. A method for control of data transfer according to claim 6 , further initiating and performing execution of a predefined action after the step of ending the execution of the short-range wireless communication comprising:
unpairing the first portable electronic communication device and the second portable electronic communication device.

10. A method for control of data transfer according to claim 6 , further initiating and performing execution of a predefined action in the second portable electronic communication device comprising:
continuously checking, by means of the second portable electronic communication device, if any BCC signal are received over the user's body from the first portable electronic communication device.

Assignees

• Sony Corp

Inventors

• Agardh Kare
• Rodzevski Aleksandar
• Astrand Per
• Bengtsson Henrik
• Tarnhed Kristian
• Bolin Thomas

Classifications

• H04B13/005

  Transmission systems in which the medium consists of the human body · CPC title

• H04L9/3215

  using a plurality of channels (network architectures or network communication protocols using different networks H04L63/18) · CPC title

• B60R25/2027

  with data signals passing through the human body · CPC title

• H04L2209/805

  Lightweight hardware, e.g. radio-frequency identification [RFID] or sensor · CPC title

• G06F21/34

  involving the use of external additional devices, e.g. dongles or smart cards · CPC title