Beacon system to improve wireless audio communication between headset communication devices
First Claim
1. A headset communication device, comprising:
- a computer-readable storage medium;
at least one processor coupled to the computer-readable storage medium and configured to;
transmit, via a dedicated virtual communication channel of a wireless communication protocol, local beacon data to one or more remote headset communication devices within a work environment, each headset communication device associated with a respective worker within the work environment and being configured to communicate using the wireless communication protocol to enable wireless voice conferencing between the workers without use of a base station;
discover a remote headset communication device included in the one or more remote headset communication devices by receiving, via the dedicated virtual communication channel of the wireless communication protocol, remote beacon data that is transmitted by the remote headset communication device and that is different from the local beacon data;
responsive to discovering the remote headset communication device, automatically synchronize, based on the remote beacon data, the headset communication device with the remote headset communication device; and
after synchronizing the headset communication device with the remote headset communication device, transmit, via one or more additional virtual communication channels of the wireless communication protocol, local audio communication data to the one or more remote headset communication devices;
wherein the headset communication device is further configured to;
determine a beacon interval that defines an amount of time between the local beacon data that is transmitted by the headset communication device; and
periodically transmit, via the dedicated virtual communication channel, and based on the beacon interval, the local beacon data to the one or more remote headset communication devices; and
wherein the beacon interval includes a plurality of frames, and wherein the at least one processor is configured to periodically transmit the local beacon data to the one or more remote headset communication devices based on the beacon interval at least by being configured to;
determine an offset to a beginning of each occurrence of the beacon interval, wherein the offset comprises one or more of the plurality of frames; and
periodically transmit, via the dedicated virtual communication channel, the local beacon data to the one or more remote headset communication devices at the offset to the beginning of each occurrence of the beacon interval.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A headset communication device includes at least one processor configured to transmit, via a dedicated virtual communication channel of a wireless communication protocol, local beacon data to one or more remote headset communication devices within a work environment, to discover a remote headset communication device included in the one or more remote headset communication devices by receiving, via the dedicated virtual communication channel of the wireless communication protocol, remote beacon data that is transmitted by the remote headset communication device, to automatically synchronize, based on the remote beacon data, the headset communication device with the remote headset communication device, and, to transmit, via one or more additional virtual communication channels of the wireless communication protocol, local audio communication data to the one or more remote headset communication devices.
24 Citations
19 Claims
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1. A headset communication device, comprising:
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a computer-readable storage medium; at least one processor coupled to the computer-readable storage medium and configured to; transmit, via a dedicated virtual communication channel of a wireless communication protocol, local beacon data to one or more remote headset communication devices within a work environment, each headset communication device associated with a respective worker within the work environment and being configured to communicate using the wireless communication protocol to enable wireless voice conferencing between the workers without use of a base station; discover a remote headset communication device included in the one or more remote headset communication devices by receiving, via the dedicated virtual communication channel of the wireless communication protocol, remote beacon data that is transmitted by the remote headset communication device and that is different from the local beacon data; responsive to discovering the remote headset communication device, automatically synchronize, based on the remote beacon data, the headset communication device with the remote headset communication device; and after synchronizing the headset communication device with the remote headset communication device, transmit, via one or more additional virtual communication channels of the wireless communication protocol, local audio communication data to the one or more remote headset communication devices; wherein the headset communication device is further configured to; determine a beacon interval that defines an amount of time between the local beacon data that is transmitted by the headset communication device; and periodically transmit, via the dedicated virtual communication channel, and based on the beacon interval, the local beacon data to the one or more remote headset communication devices; and wherein the beacon interval includes a plurality of frames, and wherein the at least one processor is configured to periodically transmit the local beacon data to the one or more remote headset communication devices based on the beacon interval at least by being configured to; determine an offset to a beginning of each occurrence of the beacon interval, wherein the offset comprises one or more of the plurality of frames; and periodically transmit, via the dedicated virtual communication channel, the local beacon data to the one or more remote headset communication devices at the offset to the beginning of each occurrence of the beacon interval. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14)
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13. A headset communication device, comprising:
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a computer-readable storage medium; and at least one processor coupled to the computer-readable storage medium and configured to; transmit, via a dedicated virtual communication channel of a wireless communication protocol, local beacon data to one or more remote headset communication devices within a work environment, each headset communication device associated with a respective worker within the work environment and being configured to communicate using the wireless communication protocol to enable wireless voice conferencing between the workers without use of a base station; discover a remote headset communication device included in the one or more remote headset communication devices by receiving, via the dedicated virtual communication channel of the wireless communication protocol, remote beacon data that is transmitted by the remote headset communication device and that is different from the local beacon data; responsive to discovering the remote headset communication device, automatically synchronize, based on the remote beacon data, the headset communication device with the remote headset communication device; and after synchronizing the headset communication device with the remote headset communication device, transmit, via one or more additional virtual communication channels of the wireless communication protocol, local audio communication data to the one or more remote headset communication devices; wherein the remote beacon data comprises first remote beacon data, and wherein the at least one processor is further configured to; after transmitting the local audio communication data to the one or more remote headset communication devices, determine whether the headset communication device has received second remote beacon data from the remote headset communication device via the dedicated virtual communication channel; and responsive to determining that the headset communication device has not received second remote beacon data from the remote headset communication device via the dedicated virtual communication channel, refrain from transmitting additional local audio communication data to the one or more remote headset communication devices via the one or more additional virtual communication channels.
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15. A headset communication device, comprising:
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a computer-readable storage medium; and at least one processor coupled to the computer-readable storage medium and configured to; transmit, via a dedicated virtual communication channel of a wireless communication protocol, local beacon data to one or more remote headset communication devices within a work environment, each headset communication device associated with a respective worker within the work environment and being configured to communicate using the wireless communication protocol to enable wireless voice conferencing between the workers without use of a base station; discover a remote headset communication device included in the one or more remote headset communication devices by receiving, via the dedicated virtual communication channel of the wireless communication protocol, remote beacon data that is transmitted by the remote headset communication device and that is different from the local beacon data; responsive to discovering the remote headset communication device, automatically synchronize, based on the remote beacon data, the headset communication device with the remote headset communication device; after synchronizing the headset communication device with the remote headset communication device, transmit, via one or more additional virtual communication channels of the wireless communication protocol local audio communication data to the one or more remote headset communication devices; wherein the remote beacon data includes a serial number of the remote headset communication device, and wherein the at least one processor is configured to synchronize the headset communication device with the remote headset communication device responsive to determining that the serial number of the remote headset communication device is lower than a serial number of the headset communication device.
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16. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed, cause at least one processor of a headset communication device to:
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transmit, via a dedicated virtual communication channel of a wireless communication protocol, local beacon data to one or more remote headset communication devices within a work environment, each headset communication device associated with a respective worker within the work environment and being configured to communicate using the wireless communication protocol to enable wireless voice conferencing between the workers without use of a base station; discover a remote headset communication device included in the one or more remote headset communication devices by receiving, via the dedicated virtual communication channel of the wireless communication protocol, remote beacon data that is transmitted by the remote headset communication device and that is different from the local beacon data; responsive to discovering the remote headset communication device, automatically synchronize, based on the remote beacon data, the headset communication device with the remote headset communication device; after synchronizing the headset communication device with the remote headset communication device, transmit, via one or more additional virtual communication channels of the wireless communication protocol, local audio communication data to the one or more remote headset communication devices; wherein the instructions further cause the at least one processor of the headset communication device to;
determine a beacon interval that defines an amount of time between the local beacon data that is transmitted by the headset communication device; and
periodically transmit, via the dedicated virtual communication channel, and based on the beacon interval, the local beacon data to the one or more remote headset communication devices; andwherein the beacon interval includes a plurality of frames, and wherein the instructions that cause the at least one processor of the headset communication device to periodically; transmit the local beacon data to the one or more remote headset communication devices based on the beacon interval further cause the at least one processor of the headset communication device to; determine an offset to a beginning of each occurrence of the beacon interval, wherein the offset comprises one or more of the plurality of frames; and periodically transmit, via the dedicated virtual communication channel, the local beacon data to the one or more remote headset communication devices at the offset to the beginning of each occurrence of the beacon interval. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19)
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Specification