Self-associating wireless personal area network
First Claim
1. A wireless Personal Area Network (PAN) element, comprising:
- a primary function subsystem; and
a wireless personal area network (WPAN) association function subsystem coupled to the primary function subsystem, wherein the WPAN association function subsystem includes a range measuring transceiver having radio frequency identifier (RFID) tag components, wherein the range measuring transceiver is addressable by one or more other PAN elements and is adapted to be addressed by the one or more other PAN elements in order to exchange identifiers with at least some of the one or more other PAN elements, and wherein the PAN element is also adapted to determine ranges and relative motions of at least some of the one or more other PAN elements using RFID measurements, and automatically to associate with a WPAN that includes a subset of the one or more other PAN elements that satisfy predetermined association criteria that include range and relative motion.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Methods and apparatus are provided for automatically and autonomously forming a wireless personal area network (WPAN) from an array of intercommunicating personal area network (PAN) devices. The devices comprise first communicators associated with primary functions of the devices and second communicators coupled to the first communicators for determining a subset of the devices meeting predetermined association criteria, from which subset the first communicators form the WPAN. In a preferred embodiment, the second communicators include range measuring transceivers and processors coupled to the transceivers that cooperate to determine range and relative motion of elements within communication range of the first communicators for comparison to range and relative motion association criteria stored in one or more of the devices. Memory is desirably included for storing the association criteria. The subset of devices automatically elects a master device that communicates with the other devices of the subset to form the WPAN.
82 Citations
19 Claims
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1. A wireless Personal Area Network (PAN) element, comprising:
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a primary function subsystem; and a wireless personal area network (WPAN) association function subsystem coupled to the primary function subsystem, wherein the WPAN association function subsystem includes a range measuring transceiver having radio frequency identifier (RFID) tag components, wherein the range measuring transceiver is addressable by one or more other PAN elements and is adapted to be addressed by the one or more other PAN elements in order to exchange identifiers with at least some of the one or more other PAN elements, and wherein the PAN element is also adapted to determine ranges and relative motions of at least some of the one or more other PAN elements using RFID measurements, and automatically to associate with a WPAN that includes a subset of the one or more other PAN elements that satisfy predetermined association criteria that include range and relative motion. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A system of intercommunicating elements adapted to automatically form a Wireless Personal Area Network (WPAN) from all or part of said elements, comprising:
a plurality of the elements, wherein an element of the plurality of elements each include a first communicator associated with primary functions of the element; a second communicator coupled to the first communicator, wherein the second communicator include a range measuring transceiver having radio frequency identifier (RFID) tag components, wherein the range measuring transceiver is addressable by one or more other elements of the plurality of the elements, and is adapted to be addressed by the one or more other elements in order to exchange identifiers with at least some of the one or more other elements, and wherein the element is also adapted to determine ranges and relative motions of at least some of the one or more other elements using RFID measurements, and automatically to associate with the WPAN that includes a subset of the one or more other elements that satisfy predetermined association criteria that include range and relative motion. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A method for forming a Wireless Personal Area Network (WPAN) from among multiple wireless elements, comprising:
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identifying those wireless elements within mutual communication range; determining range and relative motion of the wireless elements using RFID phase difference of arrival measurements; determining a subset of elements meeting predetermined association criteria, which include the range and the relative motion, from among the identified wireless elements; electing a master element from among one or more candidate master elements of the subset of elements that nominate themselves to be the master element; and forming a WPAN from the subset of elements with the master element. - View Dependent Claims (13)
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14. A method for forming a Wireless Personal Area Network (WPAN) from among multiple wireless elements, comprising:
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identifying those wireless elements within mutual communication range; determining a subset of elements meeting predetermined association criteria from among the identified wireless elements by measuring range and relative motion of the identified elements, comparing the measured range and relative motion to range and relative motion association criteria, and selecting as the subset those elements whose range and relative motion meet the association criteria; electing a master element from among one or more candidate master elements of the subset of elements that nominate themselves to be the master element; and forming a WPAN from the subset of elements with the master element. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A wireless Personal Area Network (PAN) element, comprising:
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a primary function subsystem; and a wireless personal area network (WPAN) association function subsystem coupled to the primary function subsystem, wherein the WPAN association function subsystem includes a range measuring transceiver having a WPAN radio, wherein the range measuring transceiver is addressable by one or more other PAN elements and is adapted to be addressed by the one or more other PAN elements in order to exchange identifiers with at least some of the one or more other PAN elements, and wherein the PAN element is also adapted to determine ranges and relative motions of at least some of the one or more other PAN elements using ranging measurements, and automatically to associate with a WPAN that includes a subset of the one or more other PAN elements that satisfy predetermined association criteria that include range and relative motion.
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Specification