REDUCED POWER TIME SYNCHRONIZATION IN WIRELESS COMMUNICATION
First Claim
1. A method for wirelessly communicating between a first unit and a second unit, the method comprising:
- identifying a desired communication time at a selected time in the future; and
identifying a time uncertainty that is dependent on the selected time in the future; and
identifying a communication window at or near the desired communication time, the communication window taking into account the time uncertainty.
3 Assignments
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Accused Products
Abstract
Methods, devices, and systems for wireless communication in which one or more devices are scheduled to awake from a low power sleep state at a scheduled time for data transmission. An illustrative embodiment addresses difficulties that may arise as a result of clock errors that can occur when a device enters a sleep mode for a period of time with a scheduled wake-up time. The device that enters sleep mode may be a remote device in a system including a master device that devises a schedule for the remote device to enter and exit sleep and active communication modes. In one embodiment, the active window for a remote device is extended for a period of time related to the period between a reference time and the remote device transmission time. In another embodiment, a master device is adapted to schedule active time periods for remote devices by including an adjustment for time uncertainty caused by clock errors, the adjustment being related to the period between a reference time and the remote device transmission time. The methods may be adaptive to individual remote devices.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method for wirelessly communicating between a first unit and a second unit, the method comprising:
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identifying a desired communication time at a selected time in the future; and
identifying a time uncertainty that is dependent on the selected time in the future; and
identifying a communication window at or near the desired communication time, the communication window taking into account the time uncertainty. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A building monitoring system comprising:
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a master unit having wireless communication functionality; and
a first remote unit having wireless communication functionality;
the master unit scheduled to communicate with the first remote unit during a communication period at or near a desired communication time in the future;
wherein a time uncertainty is generated and associated with the first remote unit, the time uncertainty being related to a duration of time between a reference time and the scheduled communication time. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method of operating a building monitoring system having at least a master device and a remote device both adapted for wireless communication, the method comprising:
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generating a schedule in which the remote device is configured to execute a low power sleep mode during a first time period and an active mode during a second time period, the remote device capable of communicating wirelessly with the master device while in the active mode, the second time period following the first time period;
defining a time uncertainty that is related to the duration of the first time period; and
identifying a communication window that overlaps with the second time period, the communications window having a duration, wherein the duration of the communication window is dependent upon the time uncertainty. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A method of operating a building monitoring system comprising first and second peer devices communicating with a base station, the method comprising:
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generating a schedule in which the first and second peer devices communicate with the base station at first and second times that are exclusive of one another, the first and second times occurring first and second durations after a reference time;
wherein;
the first peer device is active during a first time period prior to the first time;
the second peer device is active during a second time period prior to the second time; and
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if the first duration is longer than the second duration, the first time period is longer than the second time period; and
if the first duration is shorter than the second duration, the second time period is longer than the first time period.
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Specification