Wireless clock system
First Claim
1. A wireless clock system comprising:
- a primary clock device comprising receiver circuitry adapted to receive a long-range wireless reference time signal, a primary controller in electrical communication with the receiver circuitry and adapted to maintain a system time based upon the reference time signal, and transmitter circuitry in electrical communication with the primary controller and adapted to wirelessly broadcast the system time as a short-range spread spectrum signal; and
at least one secondary clock device comprising an adapter in electrical communication with a clock movement adapted to receive a synchronized time code, the adapter including receiver circuitry adapted to receive the system time spread spectrum signal and a microcontroller;
wherein the microcontroller is operable to encode a received short-range spread spectrum signal as a synchronized time code and transmit the synchronized time code to the clock movement, and wherein the clock movement is adapted to achieve system time synchronization after receiving the synchronized time code.
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Abstract
A wireless clock system is disclosed. The system includes a primary clock device and at least one secondary clock device, where the secondary clock device is an analog clock, a digital clock, or a signal device. The primary clock device is adapted to wirelessly receive a reference time signal and wirelessly broadcast a master time signal based upon the reference signal to the secondary clock device. The secondary clock device wirelessly receives the signal and updates its displayed time accordingly. The secondary clock device can include a controller adapted to translate the wirelessly received signal into an alternate format recognized by a secondary clock device movement to synchronize the secondary clock device movement to the nearest second. The secondary clock device can further include an adapter module for compatibility with a wired clock system
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Citations
54 Claims
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1. A wireless clock system comprising:
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a primary clock device comprising receiver circuitry adapted to receive a long-range wireless reference time signal, a primary controller in electrical communication with the receiver circuitry and adapted to maintain a system time based upon the reference time signal, and transmitter circuitry in electrical communication with the primary controller and adapted to wirelessly broadcast the system time as a short-range spread spectrum signal; and
at least one secondary clock device comprising an adapter in electrical communication with a clock movement adapted to receive a synchronized time code, the adapter including receiver circuitry adapted to receive the system time spread spectrum signal and a microcontroller;
wherein the microcontroller is operable to encode a received short-range spread spectrum signal as a synchronized time code and transmit the synchronized time code to the clock movement, and wherein the clock movement is adapted to achieve system time synchronization after receiving the synchronized time code. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A wireless clock system comprising:
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a primary clock device adapted to receive a reference time signal, a primary controller adapted to maintain a system time based upon the reference time signal, and transmitter circuitry in electrical communication with the primary controller and adapted to wirelessly broadcast the system time as a short-range spread spectrum signal; and
at least one secondary clock device comprising an adapter in electrical communication with a clock movement adapted to receive a synchronized time code, the adapter including a microcontroller and receiver circuitry adapted to receive the short-range spread spectrum signal;
wherein the microcontroller is operable to encode a received short-range spread spectrum signal in a synchronized time code and transmit the synchronized time code to the clock movement, and wherein the clock movement is adapted to achieve system time synchronization after receiving the synchronized time code. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method of synchronizing a plurality of time-keeping devices, the method comprising the steps of:
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receiving, at a primary clock device, a long-range wireless reference time signal;
updating a master time maintained by the primary clock device based upon the reference time signal;
wirelessly broadcasting the master time from the primary clock device to the plurality of time-keeping devices as a short-range signal;
receiving, at a controller of a time-keeping device, the broadcast master time;
converting the broadcast master time to a synchronized time code;
transmitting the synchronized time code from the controller to a clock movement of the time-keeping device; and
updating the time-keeping device based upon the synchronized time code, thereby synchronizing the plurality of time-keeping devices with the master time and reference time signal. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A synchronized clock system comprising:
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a primary clock device comprising receiver circuitry adapted to receive a long-range wireless reference time signal, a primary controller in electrical communication with the receiver circuitry and adapted to maintain a system time based upon the reference time signal, and transmitter circuitry in electrical communication with the primary controller and adapted to broadcast a system time signal; and
at least one secondary clock device comprising a secondary controller in electrical communication with a clock movement adapted to receive a synchronized time code, the secondary controller including an adapter module comprising receiver circuitry to receive the system time signal;
wherein the secondary controller is operable to encode a received system time signal as a synchronized time code and transmit the synchronized time code to the clock movement, and wherein the clock movement is adapted to achieve system time synchronization after receiving the synchronized time code. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
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35. A primary clock device comprising:
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a receiver including an antenna and adapted to wirelessly receive a long-range reference time signal;
a microcontroller in electrical communication with the receiver and including an internal time-keeping device to maintain a master time based upon the long-range reference time signal; and
spread spectrum transmitter in electrical communication with the microcontroller and operable to receive the master time from the microcontroller and wirelessly transmit the master time as a short-range spread spectrum signal. - View Dependent Claims (36, 37, 38, 39)
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40. A secondary clock device comprising:
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a spread spectrum receiver adapted to receive a wireless short-range spread spectrum time synchronization signal;
a controller in electrical communication with the receiver to receive the time synchronization signal and determine a time correction; and
an analog clock movement, the analog clock movement comprising an hour, a minute, and a second indicator disposed on a clock display enclosed in a housing, wherein the analog clock movement is adapted to receive a time correction signal from the controller and is operable to update the hour, minute, and second indicators in accordance with the time correction signal. - View Dependent Claims (41, 42, 43)
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44. A secondary clock device comprising:
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an adapter module including a first receiver in electrical communication with a microcontroller, wherein the first receiver is adapted to receive a time synchronization signal; and
an analog clock movement, the analog clock movement comprising an hour, a minute, and a second indicator disposed on a clock display enclosed in a housing, wherein the analog clock movement is in electrical communication with the adapter module to receive a time correction signal calculated by the microcontroller based upon the time synchronization signal, and wherein the analog clock movement is operable to update the hour, minute, and second indicators in accordance with the time correction signal. - View Dependent Claims (45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50)
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51. A clock adapter module comprising:
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a receiver adapted to receive a short-range spread spectrum reference time signal;
a microcontroller in electrical communication with the receiver; and
an analog clock movement interface adapted to couple the clock adapter module a secondary analog clock movement;
wherein the microcontroller is configured to receive the short-range spread spectrum reference time signal from the receiver, convert the short-range spread spectrum reference time signal to a long-range reference time signal format signal, and transmit the long-range reference time signal format signal to the secondary analog clock movement via the analog clock movement interface to synchronize the analog clock movement to a nearest second.
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52. A method of creating a primary-secondary clock system comprising the steps of:
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providing a primary clock, wherein the primary clock comprises a primary receiver including an antenna and adapted to receive a wireless long-range reference time signal, a primary microcontroller in electrical communication with the primary receiver and including an internal time-keeping device to maintain a master time based upon the long-range reference time signal, and spread spectrum transmitter in electrical communication with the primary microcontroller and operable to receive the master time from the primary microcontroller and wirelessly transmit the master time as a short-range spread spectrum signal;
providing a plurality of secondary clocks, wherein each of the plurality of the secondary clocks comprises a first receiver adapted to receive a wireless long-range reference time signal and in electrical communication with a secondary microcontroller, an adapter module including a second receiver in electrical communication with the secondary microcontroller, wherein the second receiver is adapted to receive a short-range spread spectrum signal, and an analog clock movement, the analog clock movement comprising an hour, a minute, and a second indicator disposed on a clock display enclosed in a housing, wherein the analog clock movement is in electrical communication with the secondary microcontroller to receive a time correction signal calculated by the secondary microcontroller;
determining, at the secondary microcontroller, whether the first receiver received a wireless long-range reference time signal;
if a long-range reference time signal was received, calculating the time correction signal based upon the long-range reference time signal and transmitting the time correction signal to the analog clock movement to synchronize the analog clock movement with the long-range reference time signal; and
if a long-range reference time signal was not received, using the adapter module to receive a short-range spread spectrum signal from the primary clock, calculating the time correction signal based upon the short-range spread spectrum signal, and transmitting the time correction signal to the analog clock movement to synchronize the analog clock movement with the short-range spread spectrum signal. - View Dependent Claims (53, 54)
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Specification