Management of synchronisation with a beacon

• US 10,444,318 B2
• Filed: 06/06/2017
• Issued: 10/15/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 06/10/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: The Swatch Group Research And Development Ltd (The Swatch Group AG)
• Original Assignee: The Swatch Group Research And Development Ltd (The Swatch Group AG)
• Inventors: Randjelovic, Zoran
• Primary Examiner(s): Nawaz, Asad M
• Assistant Examiner(s): Ali, Syed
• Application Number:
  US15/615,075
• Publication Number:
  US 20170356977A1
• Time in Patent Office: 861 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 1/022 Means for monitoring or calibrating
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 1/20 using a comparison of transit time of synchronised signals transmitted from non-directional antennas or antenna systems spaced apart, i.e. path-difference systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/2687 Inter base stations synchronisation
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0216 using a pre-established activity schedule, e.g. traffic indication frame
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 56/001 Synchronization between nodes
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/18 Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

The present invention relates to a communication assembly comprising a first terminal provided with a first communication module arranged to communicate with a plurality of beacons, each comprising a communication circuit to enable data to be sent and/or received with a particular periodicity Said assembly additionally comprises a second terminal having a second communication module, wherein said second terminal is arranged to scan its environment by means of said second communication module in order to detect the presence of beacons within range and to retrieve for each beacon detected the particular periodicity and a time offset corresponding to the period between a reference point and the start of the transmission of the message and send them to the first terminal.

Claims

1. A communication assembly comprising:

a first terminal provided with a first communication module to communicate with a plurality of beacons, each of the plurality of beacons comprising a communication circuit to send and/or receive data with a particular periodicity; and

a second terminal having a second communication module, wherein said second terminal detects the presence of the plurality of beacons within range of said second terminal,

wherein said second terminal retrieves, for each of the plurality of the detected beacons, the particular periodicity and a time offset, and said second terminal sends the particular periodicity and the time offset of the plurality of the detected beacons to said first terminal,

wherein the time offset corresponds to a period between a reference point and a start of a transmission of a message from each of the plurality of the detected beacons,

wherein said first terminal is configured to select at least one of the plurality of the detected beacons and activate said first communication module synchronously with the selected beacon based on the particular periodicity and the time offset of the selected beacon received from said second terminal, to receive the message from the selected beacon,

wherein the second terminal having the second communication module retrieves the particular periodicity and the time offset by measurement of the transmission of the message by each of the plurality of the detected beacons over a predefined scan time, and

wherein the particular periodicity and time offset are determined while the selected beacon is monitored.

2. The communication assembly according to claim 1, wherein said first terminal is a watch, and wherein said second terminal is one of a computer, electronic tablet, mobile telephone or a gateway device to collect beacon data.

3. The communication assembly according to claim 1, wherein said first terminal includes display devices to display data sent by said second terminal and control devices to select a desired beacon from those detected by said second terminal.

4. A method for operating a communication assembly comprising a first terminal provided with a first communication module to communicate with a plurality of beacons, each of the plurality of beacons comprising a communication circuit to send and/or receive data with a particular periodicity, and a second terminal comprising a second communication module, said method comprising:

detecting, by the second terminal, the plurality of beacons within range of the second terminal;

retrieving, by the second terminal, periodicity information and time offset information regarding a time offset for each of the plurality of the detected beacons;

sending, from the second terminal to the first terminal, said periodicity information and said time offset information regarding the time offset for each of the plurality of the detected beacons; and

in the first terminal, selecting the at least one of the plurality of the detected beacons received from said second terminal and then activating the first communication module of the first terminal synchronously with the particular periodicity of the selected beacon to monitor the selected beacon;

wherein the second terminal having the second communication module retrieves the particular periodicity and the time offset by measurement of the transmission of the message by each of the plurality of the detected beacons over a predefined scan time, and

wherein the retrieving of the periodicity information and time offset information is determined during the monitoring of the selected beacon.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the retrieving of the periodicity information and time offset information is via a sent request.

6. The method according to claim 4, wherein the selecting of the at least one beacon is based on existing selection parameters in the first or the second terminal.

7. The method according to claim 4, wherein the selecting of the at least one beacon includes presenting a list of the plurality of the detected beacons on the first terminal and selecting the at least one beacon by a user via the control devices of the first terminal from the list.

8. The method according to claim 4, wherein the selecting of the at least one beacon comprises selection of at least two beacons, and wherein said method further comprises managing of the plurality of beacons by determining a monitoring order of the plurality of beacons based on the time offset and periodicity durations of each of the selected beacons.

9. The method according to claim 4, wherein said first terminal is a watch, and wherein said second terminal is one of a computer, electronic tablet, mobile telephone or a gateway device to collect beacon data.