WIRELESS COMMUNICATION DEVICE AND METHOD FOR POWER-EFFICIENT DATA TRANSFER

• US 20140315491A1
• Filed: 12/28/2011
• Published: 10/23/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 12/28/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Original Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Inventors: Preiszler, Eitan, Raskin, Rafi, Shahar, Itzik
• Granted Patent: US 9,392,545 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/41.2
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0235 where the received signal is a power saving command
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/14 Direct-mode setup
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/15 Setup of multiple wireless link connections
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/20 Manipulation of established connections
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

Some embodiments herein include at least one of systems, methods, and devices for power-efficient data transfer between two communicating devices. The two devices establish two wireless links between each other; the first link using a low-power/low-throughput protocol and utilized to maintain a second link, the second link using a high-power/high-throughput protocol. When first device data is available for transmission, the first device instructs the second device via the first link to switch to the second link for data reception. The first device then transmits data to the second device via the second link. When the transmission is complete, both devices switch back to using the first link to maintain their connection to each other. In some embodiments, the first device may be a Human Interface device and the second device may be a Bluetooth controller of a computing device.

Claims

1. A method performed by a first communication device, the method comprising:

establishing two wireless links with a second communication device, a first link conducted according to a first protocol and utilized to maintain a second link, the second link conducted according to a second protocol to transport content data;

placing the second link in an inactive state via the first link;

when content data is available for sending, sending a command via the first link to the second communication device to activate the second communication link;

activating the second link upon receipt of an acknowledgement of the command, the activating including placing the second link in an active state and placing the first link in an inactive state; and

transmitting the content data to the second communication device using the second link.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the method is performed by a Human Interface Device.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the second communication device is a Bluetooth controller of a computing device.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the first protocol is a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) protocol; and

the second protocol is a Bluetooth Basic Rate/Enhanced Data Rate (BR/EDR) protocol.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein activating the second link includes switching an antenna of a device to operate in accordance with the second protocol.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

deactivating the second link upon completion of the data transfer and passage of a timeout period, the deactivating including reverting back to the first link, returning the second link to the inactive state, and maintaining the second link in the inactive state via the first link.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising maintaining the connection between the first device and the second device by synchronizing a clock of the first device with a clock of the second device over the first link.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises configuring the first link to have a lower duty cycle than the second link.

9. A method performed by a first communication device, the method comprising:

establishing two wireless links with a second communication device, a first link conducted according to the Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) protocol and utilized to maintain a second link, the second link conducted according to the Bluetooth Basic Rate/Enhanced Data Rate (BR/EDR) protocol to transport content data;

placing the second link in an inactive state via the first link;

when content data is available for sending, sending a command via the first link to the second communication device to activate the second communication link;

activating the second link upon receipt of an acknowledgement of the command, the activating including placing the second link in an active state and placing and maintaining the first link in an inactive state; and

transmitting the content data to the second communication device using the second link.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising maintaining the connection between the first device and the second device by synchronizing a clock of the first device with a clock of the second device over the BLE link.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the method further comprises configuring the BLE link to have a lower duty cycle than the BR/EDR link.

12. A wireless communication device, the device configured to:

establish two wireless links with a second communication device, a first link conducted according to a first protocol and utilized to maintain a second link, the second link conducted according to a second protocol to transport content data;

place the second link in an inactive state via the first link;

when content data is available for sending, send a command via the first link to the second communication device to activate the second communication link;

activate the second link upon receipt of an acknowledgement of the command, the activating including placing the second link in an active state and placing the first link in an inactive state; and

transmit the content data to the second communication device using the second link.

13. The wireless communication device of claim 12, wherein the device is a Human Interface Device.

14. The wireless communication device of claim 12, wherein the second communication device is a Bluetooth controller of a computing device.

15. The wireless communication device of claim 12, wherein the first protocol is a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) protocol;

and

the second protocol is a Bluetooth Basic Rate/Enhanced Data Rate (BR/EDR) protocol.

16. The wireless communication device of claim 12, wherein activating the second link includes switching an antenna of the device from operating in accordance with the first protocol to operating in accordance with the second protocol.

17. The wireless communication device of claim 12, further configured to:

deactivate the second link upon completion of the data transfer and passage of a timeout period, the deactivating including reverting back to the first link, returning the second link to the inactive state, and maintaining the second link in the inactive state via the first link.

18. The wireless communication device of claim 12, further configured to:

maintain the connection between the first device and the second device by synchronizing a clock of the first device with a clock of the second device over the first link.

19. The wireless communication device of claim 12, further configured to:

configure the first link to have a lower duty cycle than the second link.

20. The wireless communication device of claim 12, wherein the first link is configured in accordance with a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) protocol and utilized to maintain a second link, the second link is configured in accordance with a Bluetooth Basic Rate/Enhanced Data Rate (BR/EDR) protocol to transport content data.