DEVICE PROXIMITY

• US 20150245231A1
• Filed: 10/02/2014
• Published: 08/27/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 02/25/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm technologies international, ltd. (Qualcomm, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cambridge Silicon Radio Limited (Qualcomm, Inc.)
• Inventors: Jarvis, Murray Robert, Graube, Nicolas Guy Albert, Heydon, Robin, Jones, Nicholas John, Tyson, Hugo Mark, Huntingford, David
• Granted Patent: US 9,842,202 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/44 Program or device authentication
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0833 Tracking
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/14 Relay systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/71 Wireless systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/082 the condition being updates or upgrades of network functionality
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/12 Discovery or management of network topologies
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/14 Network analysis or design
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/065 related to network devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0817 by checking functioning
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0852 Delays
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0882 Utilisation of link capacity
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/10 Active monitoring, e.g. heartbeat, ping or trace-route
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/02 Topology update or discovery
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/115 using a dedicated packet
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/16 in connection oriented networks, e.g. frame relay
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/1584 Full Mesh, e.g. knockout
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0055 Physical resource allocation for ACK/NACK for physical mapping arrangements in ARQ protocols H04L1/1861
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/061 for key exchange, e.g. in peer-to-peer networks cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for key agreement H04L9/0838
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/08 for authentication of entities cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication H04L9/32
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0853 using an additional device, e.g. smartcard, SIM or a different communication terminal cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication involving additional secure or trusted devices H04L9/3234
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/30 : Profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/22 : Parsing or analysis of headers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/0861 : Generation of secret information including derivation or calculation of cryptographic keys or passwords
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/04 : Key management, e.g. using generic bootstrapping architecture [GBA]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/06 : Authentication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/50 : Secure pairing of devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/77 : Graphical identity
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/18 : Network planning tools
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/06 : Testing, supervising or monitoring using simulated traffic
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 : Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/06 : Selective distribution of broadcast services, e.g. multimedia broadcast multicast service [MBMS]; Services to user groups; One-way selective calling services
• 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 40/24 : Connectivity information management, e.g. connectivity discovery or connectivity update
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0251 : using monitoring of local events, e.g. events related to user activity
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/38 : TPC being performed in particular situations
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/12 : Wireless traffic scheduling
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/11 : Allocation or use of connection identifiers
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/14 : Direct-mode setup
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/18 : Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/06 : adapted for operation in multiple networks or having at least two operational modes, e.g. multi-mode terminals
• CPC Class Codes: Y02A 10/40 : Controlling or monitoring, e.g. of flood or hurricane; Forecasting, e.g. risk assessment or mapping
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 : in wireless communication networks

Abstract

A method of determining the proximity of a first device to a second device, the method comprising, at the second device: receiving a first packet having a first payload and a first lifetime value, the first lifetime value being such so as to cause a device receiving the first packet to not retransmit the first payload; and generating, in dependence on the first packet, a second packet having a second payload and a second lifetime value, the second payload being indicative of the proximity of the first device to the second device and the second lifetime value being such as to cause a device receiving the second packet to retransmit the second payload.

Claims

1. A method of determining the proximity of a first device to a second device, the method comprising, at the second device:

receiving a first packet having a first payload and a first lifetime value, the first lifetime value being such so as to cause a device receiving the first packet to not retransmit the first payload; and

generating, in dependence on the first packet, a second packet having a second payload and a second lifetime value, the second payload being indicative of the proximity of the first device to the second device and the second lifetime value being such so as to cause a device receiving the second packet to retransmit the second payload.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the payload of the second packet comprises an identifier for the first device, an identifier for the second device and said indication of the proximity.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the second device is configured to instruct one or more other devices to perform an action in dependence on said proximity indication.

4. The method as claimed in claim 3, the first and second devices being in a network of devices comprising a third device, the method further comprising, at the third device, receiving and analysing the first packet and a packet comprising said instruction and in dependence on said analysis, disregarding the instruction.

5. The method as claimed in claim 4, further comprising, at the third device and on disregarding the instruction, generating and transmitting a third packet comprising a message indicating that the instruction has been disregarded.

6. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the second packet is generated in dependence on the proximity indication being above a predetermined proximity threshold.

7. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the second packet is generated in dependence on said proximity indication being below a predetermined proximity threshold and on not receiving a packet indicating the proximity of the first device to another device for a predetermined duration of time from receiving the first packet.

8. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising, at the second device:

receiving a third packet having a third payload and a third lifetime value in dependence on the first packet, the third payload being indicative of the proximity of the first device to a third device and the third lifetime value being such so as to cause a device receiving the third packet to retransmit the third payload; and

processing the third payload so as to compare the indicated proximity of the first device to the third device with the indicated proximity of the first device with the second device.

9. The method as claimed in claim 8, further comprising:

at the second device, generating and broadcasting a fourth packet in dependence on said comparison, the fourth packet comprising a payload configured to cause another device to perform a first action.

10. The method as claimed in claim 9, further comprising, at the second device, performing a second action in dependence on said comparison.

11. The method as claimed in claim 1, the first and second devices being in a network of devices comprising a third device, the method further comprising, at a third device:

receiving the first packet comprising an identifier for the first device; and

determining whether or not to generate a third packet in dependence on whether or not the third device receives the second packet, the third packet having a third payload and a third lifetime value in dependence on the first packet, the third payload being indicative of the proximity of the first device to the third device and the third lifetime value being such so as to cause a device receiving the third packet to retransmit the third payload.

12. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising, at the second device, measuring a characteristic of the received first packet, said characteristic being at least one of signal strength, signal round-trip time, signal arrival time, signal quality and signal error.

13. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first and second devices are capable of communicating in a mesh network.

14. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first and second devices are capable of operating according to a wireless communications protocol, which defines a broadcast packet type.

15. The method as claimed in claim 14, the method comprising, at the second device:

receiving a first broadcast packet of the broadcast packet type, the broadcast packet comprising the first packet; and

broadcasting a second broadcast packet of the broadcast packet type, the second broadcast packet comprising the second packet.

16. The method as claimed in claim 15, wherein the wireless communication protocol is Bluetooth low energy.

17. A wireless communication device comprising:

a transceiver configured to receive, from a first device, a first packet having a first payload and a first lifetime value, the first lifetime value being such so as to cause a device receiving the first packet to not retransmit the first payload;

a processor configured to process the first packet and generate, in dependence on the first packet, a second packet having a second payload and a second lifetime value, the second payload being indicative of the proximity of the first device to the wireless communication device and the second lifetime value being such so as to cause a device receiving the second packet to retransmit the second payload.

18. A communications system comprising:

a first device being configured to transmit a first packet having a first payload and a first lifetime value, the first lifetime value being such so as to cause a device receiving the first packet to not retransmit the first payload, and

a second device being configured to receive the first packet and generate, in dependence on the first packet, a second packet having a second payload and a second lifetime value, the second payload being indicative of the proximity of the first device to the second device and the second lifetime value being such so as to cause a device receiving the second packet to retransmit the second payload.

19. The communications system according to claim 18, the communications system comprising a plurality of wireless nodes within a predetermined area and forming a mesh network, each node being associated with a region within said area, the second device being one of the plurality of wireless nodes, a particular node of the plurality of wireless nodes being configured to receive the second packet and perform an action in dependence on the second packet and the region associated with the particular node.

20. The communication system according to claim 19, the communications system comprising a management device capable of communicating in the mesh network, the management device configured to generate and transmit a third packet having a payload capable of causing devices associated with a particular region to perform a particular action.