Radio communication system, radio communication device, and radio communication method

• US 8,010,047 B2
• Filed: 08/22/2005
• Issued: 08/30/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 08/27/2004
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Terashima, Toru
• Primary Examiner(s): Wendell; Andrew
• Application Number:
  US11/208,795
• Publication Number:
  US 20060046655A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,199 Days
• Field of Search: 455/39, 455/41.1, 455/41.2, 455/41.3, 381/124
• US Class Current: 455/41.2
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/40 Circuits
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2420/07 Applications of wireless loudspeakers or wireless microphones

Abstract

A radio communication system for transmitting voice or music data includes a data supplying source device for supplying the voice or music data, the data supplying source device having a reflector for transmitting a reflected wave signal obtained by modulating a received radio wave based on the data to be transmitted; and a data supply destination device for receiving the voice or music data, the data supply destination device having a reflected wave reader for transmitting an unmodulated carrier and for reading a reflected wave signal resulting from modulation of the unmodulated carrier. The voice or music data is transmitted by reflected wave transmission between the data supplying source device and the data supply destination device.

Claims

1. A radio communication system for transmitting voice or music data, comprising:

a data supplying source device for supplying the voice or music data, the data supplying source device having a reflector for transmitting a reflected wave signal obtained by modulating a received radio wave based on the data to be transmitted; and

a data supply destination device for receiving the voice or music data, the data supply destination device having a reflected wave reader for transmitting an unmodulated carrier and for reading a reflected wave signal resulting from modulation of the unmodulated carrier;

wherein the voice or music data is transmitted in packets to be reproduced on said data supply destination device by reflected wave transmission between the data supplying source device and the data supply destination device; and

wherein when a data type indicator in the data packet indicates that the data type is voice or music the data supply destination device begins a process of decoding a part of the voice or music data packet without waiting for the voice or music data packet to be operated on by a process of a communication protocol that is at a higher protocol level than the decoding process,

wherein when the data type indicator in the data packet indicates that the data type is a content that the data supply destination device is not ready for decoding, the data supply destination device discards the data packet including the content that the data supply destination device is not ready for decoding without waiting transfer to a process of the communication protocol that is at a higher protocol level than the decoding process, and

wherein when the data type indicator in the data packet indicates that the data type is command a notification thereof is made to a higher protocol level than the decoding process.

2. The radio communication system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the data supplying source device includes:

means for capturing external voice or music data and for storing the captured voice or music data;

means for reproducing the stored voice or music data; and

means for transmitting the stored voice or music data as the reflected wave signal using the reflector.

3. The radio communication system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the data supplying source device includes a built-in storage area, the data supplying source device storing voice or music data captured externally in one of the built-in storage area and a detachable type storage area.

4. The radio communication system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the data supply destination device includes means for decoding and reproducing the voice or music data received as the reflected wave signal from the data supplying source device.

5. The radio communication system as claimed in claim 4, wherein the data supply destination device further includes means for receiving a remote controller signal, and reflected wave transmission is performed between the data supply destination device and the data supplying source device according to the remote controller signal.

6. The radio communication system as claimed in claim 5, wherein

in response to a received remote controller signal to reproduce voice or music data, the data supply destination device obtains the corresponding voice or music data from the data supplying source device by reflected wave transmission, and reproduces and outputs the voice or music data;

and

in response to a received remote controller signal to stop reproduction of the voice or music data, the data supply destination device ends the reflected wave transmission of the corresponding voice or music data, and stops the reproduction of the voice or music data.

7. The radio communication system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the voice or music data remains stored on said data supplying source device while said voice or music data is reproduced on said data supply destination device.

8. The radio communication system as claimed in claim 1, wherein without intervention of the higher protocol level, the data packets are supplied to the data supply destination device to decode the data, and then contents of the data packets are reproduced and output to an output device.

9. The output device of claim 8, wherein the output device is a speaker or display.

10. The radio communication system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the voice or music data remains stored on said data supplying source device while the voice or music data is managed on the data supply destination device.

11. The radio communication system as claimed in claim 1, wherein interaction between a user and the data supplying source device or the data supply destination device is substantially indistinguishable to the user.

12. The radio communication system as claimed in claim 1, wherein decoding is determined based on a description in a header part of the voice or music data packet.

13. The radio communication system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the reflected wave signal is an asymmetric signal in which the speed of the upward signal from the reflector to the reflected wave reader is greater than the speed of downward signal from the reflected wave reader to the reflector.

14. The radio communication system as claimed in claim 1, wherein at the data supply destination device the voice or music data transmitted by the data supplying source device by the reflected wave are demodulated and decoded, an audio reproduction process is performed, and the voice or music is output.

15. The radio communication system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the data supply destination device receives the voice or music data from the reflector, the audio receiving and reproducing device then temporarily stores the voice or music data in a main storage area or a nonvolatile storage device, and transfers the data to a decoder.

16. The radio communication system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the voice or music data from the data supplying source device is a stream and wherein the data supply destination device receives the stream from the reflector, the audio receiving and reproducing device then temporarily stores the voice or music data in a main storage or a nonvolatile storage device, the main storage or nonvolatile storage device further retains a software programming interacting with the voice or music data, and transfers the voice or music data to a decoder.

17. The radio communication system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the reflector further includes an antenna for reflecting an incident continuous radio wave, a circuit for generating the data to be transmitted, and an impedance changing circuit for changing the impedance of the antenna to correspond to the data to be transmitted.

18. The radio communication system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the antenna further includes a switch used to modulate the reflected wave by changing the antenna load impedance.

19. The radio communication system as claimed in claim 18, wherein voice or music data can be transmitted a single one-way direction or in a dual-way direction.

20. The radio communication system as claimed in claim 19, wherein changing the load impedance consumes less than 11 μ

W of power, dual-way direction of voice or music data transmission consumes less than 11 mW of power, and one-way voice or music transmission consumes less than 11 μ

W of power.

21. The radio communication system as claimed in claim 1, wherein a plurality of reflected wave signals can transmitted.

22. The radio communication system as claimed in claim 21, wherein the plurality of reflected wave signals can be transmitted by a plurality of reflected paths having different phases from each others and switching the reflected path based on voice or music data transmission is possible based on phase modulation.

23. The radio communication system as claimed in claim 22, wherein the phase modulation can include BPSK, QPSK, or 8PSK modulation.

24. A radio communication device for supplying voice or music data by reflected wave transmission, said radio communication device comprising:

storing means for capturing external voice or music data and for storing the captured voice or music data;

reproducing means for reproducing the stored voice or music data;

a reflector for transmitting a reflected wave signal obtained by modulating a received radio wave based on the data to be transmitted in packets; and

communication controlling means for controlling an operation of transmitting the reflected wave signal using the reflector;

wherein the voice or music data stored by the storing means is transmitted in packets as the reflected wave signal using the reflector; and

wherein when a data type indicator in the data packet indicates that the data type is voice or music the reproducing means begins a process of decoding a part of the voice or music data packet without waiting for a process on the voice or music data packet to be operated on by a process of a communication protocol that is at a higher protocol level than the decoding process,

wherein when the data type indicator in the data packet indicates that the data type is a content that the data supply destination device is not ready for decoding, the data supply destination device discards the data packet including the content that the data supply destination device is not ready for decoding without waiting transfer to a process of the communication protocol that is at a higher protocol level than the decoding process, and

wherein when the data type indicator in the data packet indicates that the data type is command a notification thereof is made to a higher protocol level than the decoding process.

25. The radio communication device as claimed in claim 24, further comprising:

a built-in storage area;

wherein the storing means stores the captured voice or music data in one of the built-in storage area and a detachable type storage area.

26. A radio communication method for supplying voice or music data by reflected wave transmission, said radio communication method comprising:

capturing external voice or music data and storing the captured voice or music data;

reproducing the stored voice or music data; and

transmitting in packets a reflected wave signal obtained by modulating a received radio wave based on the stored voice or music data; and

when a data type indicator in the data packet indicates that the data type is voice or music, decoding a part of the voice or music data packet without waiting for the voice or music data packet to be operated on by a process of a communication protocol that is at a higher protocol level than the decoding process,

when the data type indicator in the data packet indicates that the data type is a content that the data supply destination device is not ready for decoding, the data supply destination device discards the data packet including the content that the data supply destination device is not ready for decoding not decodable without waiting transfer to a process of the communication protocol that is at a higher protocol level than the decoding process, and

when the data type indicator in the data packet indicates that the data type is command, notifying a higher protocol level than the decoding process.