METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR LOW POWER WIRELESS COMMUNICATION

• US 20160037486A1
• Filed: 10/12/2015
• Published: 02/04/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 03/14/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Everactive, Inc.
• Original Assignee: PsiKick, Inc
• Inventors: Wentzloff, David D., Calhoun, Benton H., Roberts, Nathan E., Patra, Nirmalendu
• Granted Patent: US 10,420,072 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/244 using a network of reference devices, e.g. beaconing
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0229 where the received signal is a wanted signal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/30 Resource management for broadcast services
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

Embodiments include methods and apparatus for wireless network communication between a device that operates a radio in compliance with a wireless communication standard and another device that may not be capable of complying with the wireless communication standard. In an embodiment the non-complaint device is a receiver only. Information is broadcast or advertised or otherwise transmitted by the compliant device according to the protocol and embodiments encode information on top of the protocol for decoding by the receiving device, which does not decode the protocol.

Claims

1. A wireless communication method comprising:

monitoring broadcast transmissions of a central access point in a wireless network comprising the central access point and multiple nodes, wherein the multiple nodes and the central access point are not required to be mutually compliant with a standard wireless communication protocol;

modulating the broadcast transmissions to transmit backchannel information in a backchannel to one or more of the multiple nodes,

the one or more nodes receiving the modulated broadcast information; and

the one or more nodes demodulating the backchannel information such that a real-time backchannel information transfer is maintained alongside primary standard wireless communication protocol information transfers.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the broadcast transmissions of the central access point are beacon transmissions that require no response.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the real-time backchannel information transfer occurs without acknowledgement on the part of a receiving node.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the wireless network comprises any network chosen from a group comprising:

a Zigbee network;

a WiFi network;

IEEE 802.15.4;

IEEE 802.15.4 4G,

6LowPAN;

any cellular standard, including LTE, and GSM;

Bluetooth; and

a nonconnectable advertising network.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

maintaining a main standard wireless communication protocol compliant communication radio in an “

off”

state; and

maintaining an ultra-low power backchannel receiver in an “

on”

state to receive backchannel information.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the modulation of the broadcast transmission is performed by a signal generating module at the central access point.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the modulation of the broadcast transmission is performed by a signal generating module at servers remote from the network.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein modulating the broadcast transmission comprises modulating an advertising packet length of a beacon transmission.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein modulating the broadcast transmission comprises modulating an advertising packet interval.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein modulating the broadcast transmission comprises modulating an advertising length of a beacon transmission.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein modulating the broadcast transmission comprises modulating a rate at which advertising packets are broadcast by the central access point.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising the one or more nodes detecting broadcast transmissions as signals with power above a noise level in the presence of other signals with power above the noise level.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

modulating the broadcast transmission by modulating both an advertising packet length and an advertising duration; and

encoding the advertising packet length and the advertising duration to represent two binary bits per symbol.

14. A wireless network system comprising:

a central access point configurable to transmit broadcast messages according to a standard wireless communication protocol; and

a plurality of ultra-low power (ULP) nodes in communication with the central access point within a wireless network, and wherein the plurality of ULP nodes are configurable to receive transmissions from the central access point that are in a backchannel distinct from a main standard wireless communication protocol channel; and

a signal generating module for modulating backchannel information on the broadcast messages.

15. The wireless network of claim 14, wherein one or more of the ULP nodes is not compliant with the standard wireless communication protocol.

16. The wireless network system of claim 14, wherein the central access point comprises the signal generating module for modulating backchannel information on the broadcast messages.

17. The wireless network system of claim 14, further comprising one or more servers external to the wireless network, wherein the one or more servers comprise the signal generating module for modulating backchannel information on the broadcast messages.

18. The wireless network system of claim 14, further comprising one or more signal analysis modules on one or more of the ULP nodes for demodulating the backchannel information.

19. The wireless network system of claim 14, wherein the signal generating module encodes backchannel information by modulating more or more of:

an advertising packet length;

an advertising packet interval;

an advertising packet frequency; and

an advertising length of transmission.

20. A non-transient computer-readable medium having stored thereon instructions that when executed in a processor cause the performance of a wireless network backchannel communication method, the method comprising:

scanning for coordinators within the wireless network, wherein the wireless network comprises a beacon piconet including ultra-low power (ULP) nodes that are in a sleep mode and unable to receive beacons from a coordinator in a standard wireless protocol;

waking up the one or more of the ULP nodes, comprising,

finding a quiet channel;

selecting a channel;

generating a new piconet ID;

starting a new piconet; and

transmitting one or more beacons to the one or more ULP nodes via the new piconet.

21. The non-transient computer-readable medium of claim 20, wherein the method further comprises setting beacon modulation parameter with which to modulate backchannel information onto the standard wireless protocol.