METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PEER-2-PEER WI-FI RANGING USING NEAR FIELD COMMUNICATION

• US 20140254575A1
• Filed: 03/05/2013
• Published: 09/11/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 03/05/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: VENKATRAMAN, Sai Pradeep, Gao, Weihua, Sridhara, Vinay, Firouzabadi, Sina
• Granted Patent: US 9,198,119 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/338
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/16 Discovering, processing access restriction or access information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/005 Discovery of network devices, e.g. terminals

Abstract

According to some aspects, a method includes communicating a request from a first device to a second device using near field communication (NFC). The request includes a preferred mode of wireless local area network (Wi-Fi) operation and state information of the first device. The method further includes receiving a reply at the first device, sent from the second device, including acceptance of the preferred mode of Wi-Fi operation. The method further includes communicating wireless information to establish the Wi-Fi communication link from the first device to the second device.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

communicating, from a first device to a second device using near field communication (NFC), a request comprising a preferred mode of wireless local area network (Wi-Fi) operation and first device state information;

receiving, at the first device from the second device, a reply comprising acceptance of the preferred mode of Wi-Fi operation;

communicating, from the first device to the second device, wireless information to establish a Wi-Fi communication link.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

communicating, from the first device to the second device, at least one of a round trip time (RTT) information and a received signal strength indicator (RSSI) information; and

calculating a distance from the first device to the second device based on the RTT information and the RSSI information.

3. The method of claim 2 further comprising:

initiating, from a first application on the first device, the request; and

updating a state of the first application using the distance from the first device to the second device.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the reply further comprises second device state information.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the Wi-Fi communication link is a Wi-Fi direct communication link or an ad-hoc Wi-Fi communication link.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the Wi-Fi communication link is a soft access point communication link wherein the second device functions as an access point.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the first device state information comprises a media access control (MAC) address or a transmission power.

8. An apparatus comprising:

a processor;

a transceiver coupled to the processor, the transceiver being configured to;

communicate, from a first device to a second device using near field communication (NFC), a request comprising a preferred mode of wireless local area network (Wi-Fi) operation and first device state information;

receive, at the first device from the second device, a reply comprising acceptance of the preferred mode of Wi-Fi operation;

communicate, from the first device to the second device, wireless information to establish a Wi-Fi communication link.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein:

the transceiver is further configured to communicate, from the first device to the second device, at least one of a round trip time (RTT) information and a received signal strength indicator (RSSI) information; and

the processor is configured to calculate a distance from the first device to the second device based on the RTT information and the RSSI information.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the processor is further configured to:

initiate, from a first application on the first device, the request; and

update a state of the first application using the distance from the first device to the second device.

11. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the reply further comprises second device state information.

12. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the Wi-Fi communication link is a Wi-Fi direct communication link or an ad-hoc Wi-Fi communication link.

13. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the Wi-Fi communication link is a soft access point communication link wherein the second device functions as an access point.

14. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the first device state information comprises a media access control (MAC) address or a transmission power.

15. An apparatus comprising:

means for communicating, from a first device to a second device using near field communication (NFC), a request comprising a preferred mode of wireless local area network (Wi-Fi) operation and first device state information;

means for receiving, at the first device from the second device, a reply comprising acceptance of the preferred mode of Wi-Fi operation;

means for communicating, from the first device to the second device, wireless information to establish a Wi-Fi communication link.

16. The apparatus of claim 15 further comprising:

means for communicating, from the first device to the second device, at least one of a round trip time (RTT) information and a received signal strength indicator (RSSI) information; and

means for calculating a distance from the first device to the second device based on the RTT information and the RSSI information.

17. The apparatus of claim 16 further comprising:

means for initiating, from a first application on the first device, the request; and

means for updating a state of the first application using the distance from the first device to the second device.

18. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein the reply further comprises second device state information.

19. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein the Wi-Fi communication link is a Wi-Fi direct communication link or an ad-hoc Wi-Fi communication link.

20. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein the Wi-Fi communication link is a soft access point communication link wherein the second device functions as an access point.

21. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein the first device state information comprises a media access control (MAC) address or a transmission power.

22. A computer program product residing on a processor-readable medium and comprising processor-readable instructions configured to cause a processor to:

communicate, from a first device to a second device using near field communication (NFC), a request comprising a preferred mode of wireless local area network (Wi-Fi) operation and first device state information;

receive, at the first device from the second device, a reply comprising acceptance of the preferred mode of Wi-Fi operation;

communicate, from the first device to the second device, wireless information to establish a Wi-Fi communication link.

23. The computer program product of claim 22, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to:

communicate, from the first device to the second device, at least one of a round trip time (RTT) information and a received signal strength indicator (RSSI) information; and

calculate a distance from the first device to the second device based on the RTT information and the RSSI information.

24. The computer program product of claim 23, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to:

initiate, from a first application on the first device, the request; and

update a state of the first application using the distance from the first device to the second device.

25. The computer program product of claim 22 wherein the reply further comprises second device state information.

26. The computer program product of claim 22 wherein the Wi-Fi communication link is a Wi-Fi direct communication link or an ad-hoc Wi-Fi communication link.

27. The computer program product of claim 22 wherein the Wi-Fi communication link is a soft access point communication link wherein the second device functions as an access point.

28. The computer program product of claim 22 wherein the first device state information comprises a media access control (MAC) address or a transmission power.