Position based WPAN (Wireless Personal Area Network) management
First Claim
1. A Wireless Personal Area Network (WPAN), the WPAN comprising:
- a piconet coordinator (PNC); and
a plurality of user piconet devices (DEVs); and
wherein;
the PNC transmits a respective Ultra Wide Band (UWB) pulse to each DEV within the plurality of DEVs;
after receiving its respective UWB pulse, each DEV within the plurality of DEVs transmits at least one additional respective UWB pulse back to the PNC;
the PNC performs ranging of relative position of each DEV within the plurality of DEVs using the time duration of round trip time of the respective transmitted UWB pulse and the at least one additional respective received UWB pulse thereby determining distance between the PNC and each DEV within the plurality of DEVs;
based on the ranging of relative position each DEV of the plurality of DEVs, the PNC groups the plurality of DEVs into at least two groups and identifies a corresponding profile for each group thereby forming a plurality of profiles; and
the profile of each group governs the communication between the DEVs of that group and the PNC.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Position based WPAN (Wireless Personal Area Network) management. Based on either the relative position or the specific location of devices within a WPAN, communication between the various devices is managed by grouping the devices into two or more groups. In addition, the communication between theses various devices may be governed by profiles assigned to the groups (or even the actual individual devices) that are assigned based on their locations within the WPAN. The relative locations of the devices may be made using ranging that is performed by transmitting UWB (Ultra Wide Band) pulses between the various devices within the WPAN. Alternatively, each device may include GPS (Global Positioning System) functionality and information corresponding to the specific locations of the devices may be communicated between the devices, and that information may be used to group devices user and/or assign profiles to govern the communication to and from the devices.
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Citations
58 Claims
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1. A Wireless Personal Area Network (WPAN), the WPAN comprising:
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a piconet coordinator (PNC); and a plurality of user piconet devices (DEVs); and
wherein;the PNC transmits a respective Ultra Wide Band (UWB) pulse to each DEV within the plurality of DEVs; after receiving its respective UWB pulse, each DEV within the plurality of DEVs transmits at least one additional respective UWB pulse back to the PNC; the PNC performs ranging of relative position of each DEV within the plurality of DEVs using the time duration of round trip time of the respective transmitted UWB pulse and the at least one additional respective received UWB pulse thereby determining distance between the PNC and each DEV within the plurality of DEVs; based on the ranging of relative position each DEV of the plurality of DEVs, the PNC groups the plurality of DEVs into at least two groups and identifies a corresponding profile for each group thereby forming a plurality of profiles; and the profile of each group governs the communication between the DEVs of that group and the PNC. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A Wireless Personal Area Network (WPAN), the WPAN comprising:
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a piconet coordinator (PNC) that includes Global Positioning System (GPS) functionality that is operable to determine a specific location of the PNC within the WPAN; and a plurality of user piconet devices (DEVs); and
wherein;each DEV of the plurality of DEVs includes GPS functionality that is operable to determine a specific location of that DEV within the WPAN; each DEV of the plurality of DEVs communicates information corresponding to its specific location to the PNC; based on the specific locations of each DEV of the plurality of DEVs with respect to the PNC, the PNC groups the plurality of DEVs into at least two groups and identifies a corresponding profile for each group; and the profile of each group governs the communication between the DEVs of that group and the PNC. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. A Wireless Personal Area Network (WPAN), the WPAN comprising:
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a first piconet coordinator (PNC); a second PNC; and a plurality of user piconet devices (DEVs); and
wherein;the first PNC and the second PNC transmit Ultra Wide Band (UWB) pulses to each DEV within the plurality of DEVs; after receiving its respective UWB pulse, each DEV within the plurality of DEVs transmits a first at least one additional respective UWB pulse back to the first PNC and a second at least one additional respective UWB pulse back to the second PNC; both the first PNC and the second PNC perform ranging of relative position of each DEV within the plurality of DEVs using the time duration of round trip time of the respective transmitted UWB pulse and the first or second at least one additional respective received UWB pulse thereby determining distances between the first PNC and the second PNC and each DEV within the plurality of DEVs; based on the ranging of relative position of each DEV of the plurality of DEVs, the first PNC and the second PNC operate cooperatively to group the plurality of DEVs into at least two groups and also operate cooperatively to identify a corresponding profile for each group thereby forming a plurality of profiles; and the profile of each group governs the communication between the DEVs of that group and either the first PNC or the second PNC. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38)
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39. A Wireless Personal Area Network (WPAN) management method, the method comprising:
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determining distances between a piconet coordinator (PNC) and each user piconet device (DEV) of a plurality of DEVs within a WPAN; based on the distances between the PNC and each DEV of the plurality of DEVs, grouping the plurality of DEVs into at least two groups of DEVs; assigning a corresponding profile for each group of DEVs that governs the communication between the DEVs of that group of DEVs and the PNC such that each DEV of the plurality of DEVs has a respective profile assignment; for each group of DEVs, supporting communication between the DEVs of that group of DEVs and the PNC; monitoring relative positions of each DEV of the plurality of DEVs with respect to the PNC; and based on a change in position of at least one DEV of the plurality of DEVs with respect to the PNC, modifying the profile assignment that corresponds to the at least one DEV whose position has changed. - View Dependent Claims (40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49)
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50. A Wireless Personal Area Network (WPAN) management method, the method comprising:
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determining locations of a piconet coordinator (PNC) and each user piconet device (DEV) of a plurality of DEVs within a WPAN using Global Positioning System (GPS); wherein the PNC includes GPS functionality; wherein each DEV of a plurality of DEVs includes GPS functionality; communicating information corresponding to the locations of each DEV of a plurality of DEVs to the PNC; based on the locations of each DEV of a plurality of DEVs with respect to the PNC, grouping the plurality of DEVs into at least two groups; assigning a corresponding profile for each group that governs the communication between the DEVs of that group and the PNC; and for each group, supporting communication between the DEVs of that group and the PNC. - View Dependent Claims (51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58)
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Specification