Short Range Wireless Communications

• US 20120009875A1
• Filed: 07/06/2011
• Published: 01/12/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 07/09/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Polar Electro Oy
• Original Assignee: Polar Electro Oy
• Inventors: Miettinen, Jari, Kemppainen, Juhani
• Granted Patent: US 8,594,573 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/41.2
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0006 ECG or EEG signals
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/02438 with portable devices, e.g. worn by the patient
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/7285 for synchronising or triggering a physiological measurement or image acquisition with a physiological event or waveform, e.g. an ECG signal A61B6/5205, A61B6/541, A61B8/5207, A61B8/543 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 5/24 Inductive coupling

Abstract

This document presents a wireless communication scheme utilizing a combination of two wireless communication schemes: a short range communication scheme and a radio communication scheme having a longer wireless transmission range than the wireless transmission range of the short range communication scheme. A short range signal is used to indicate a radio resource to be used for transmitting a radio signal, and the radio signal is then communicated in the radio resource indicated by the short range signal.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising:

a transmission control circuitry configured to control a short-range transmitter; and

a radio transmitter operationally connectable to the transmission control circuitry, the radio transmitter having a longer wireless transmission range than a wireless transmission range of the short-range transmitter, wherein the transmission control circuitry is configured to cause the short-range transmitter to transmit a short-range signal indicating to a receiver apparatus receiving the short-range signal a radio resource used for transmission of a radio signal, and to cause the radio transmitter to transmit the radio signal in the radio resource indicated with the short-range signal.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the radio resource indicated with the short-range signal is a transmission timing of the radio signal, wherein the transmission control circuitry is arranged to cause the transmission of the radio signal at the transmission timing indicated in the short-range signal.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein a transmission timing of the short-range signal indicates the transmission timing of the radio signal.

4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein there is fixed time interval between the transmission timing of the short-range signal and the transmission timing of the radio signal.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the short-range signal is a measurement signal carrying information on a measurement, and wherein the apparatus further comprises a measurement processing circuitry configured to execute measurement signal processing at irregular time intervals, wherein the execution of the measurement causes the measurement processing circuitry to generate measurement data which triggers said transmission of the short-range signal, thereby causing irregular transmission timings for said short-range signals.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the measurement signal is a heart-rate signal and wherein the transmitter apparatus is a heart-rate transmitter.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the radio signal carries an identification code that identifies the radio transmitter and that is used for initiating a pairing protocol for a radio connection, and wherein the transmission control circuitry is configured to control the radio transmitter to initiate the pairing protocol with a radio receiver apparatus after transmitting the identification code.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the short-range transmitter is an induction-based transmitter and the short range signal is a magnetic signal.

9. A method, comprising:

causing, in a wireless communication apparatus, communication of a short-range signal indicating a radio resource used for transmission of a radio signal, wherein the radio signal has a longer wireless communication range than a wireless communication range of the short-range signal, and

causing, in the wireless communication apparatus, communication of the radio signal in the radio resource indicated with the short-range signal.

10. A computer program product embodied on a non-transitory distribution medium readable by a computer and comprising program instructions which, when executed by the computer, perform a computer process comprising:

causing, in a wireless communication apparatus, communication of a short-range signal indicating a radio resource used for transmission of a radio signal, wherein the radio signal has a longer wireless communication range than a wireless communication range of the short-range signal, and

causing, in the wireless communication apparatus, communication of the radio signal in the radio resource indicated with the short-range signal.

11. An apparatus comprising:

a reception control circuitry configured to control a short-range receiver and a radio receiver both operationally connectable to the reception control circuitry, wherein the reception control circuitry is configured to detect reception of a short-range signal in the short-range receiver, to determine from the received short-range signal a radio resource of a radio signal, and to cause the radio receiver to receive the radio signal in the radio resource determined from the short-range signal and to decode data carried by received radio signal.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the radio resource indicated with the short-range signal is a reception timing of the radio signal, and the reception control circuitry is arranged to synchronize the radio reception circuitry to receive the radio signal at the reception timing determined from the received short-range signal.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the reception timing of the short-range signal indicates the reception timing of the radio signal.

14. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the short-range signal is a measurement signal carrying information on a measurement, and the reception control circuitry is arranged to receive short range signals at irregular time intervals.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the measurement signal is a heart-rate signal and the receiver apparatus is an exercise apparatus configured to process the measurement signal and to provide information on an exercise on the basis of the processed measurement signal.

16. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the radio signal carries an identification code that identifies a radio transmitter that transmitted the radio signal, and the reception control circuitry is arranged to identify the radio transmitter from the identification code received in the radio signal associated with the radio resource indicated by the received short range signal and to configure the radio receiver to execute a pairing protocol for a radio connection with said radio transmitter.

17. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the short-range receiver is an induction-based receiver and the short range signal is a magnetic signal.

18. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the reception control circuitry is arranged to compare a reception timing of a radio signal received through the radio receiver with a reception timing of the short-range signal and to decode the radio signal, if the reception timing of the radio signal relative to the reception timing of the short-range signal matches with a predetermined timing relation.