HK1248051B - Management of synchronisation with a beacon - Google Patents

Description

Managing synchronization with beacons

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a communication component comprising a first terminal (watch) having a first communication module, wherein the first communication module is arranged to communicate with a plurality of beacons, each beacon comprising a transmitter for sending information, wherein each transmitter is configured to send data according to a specific cycle within a specific time interval.

Background Art

The development of connected devices has led to the development of environments in which they can be used. These environments include, for example, the proposal to transmit information via beacons. These beacons include transmitters that use Bluetooth-type protocols to transmit data. This data can, for example, be linked to sensors to provide temperature or location information, or simply be used to transmit advertising-related information.

These beacons (which are powered by batteries or energy recovery elements such as solar cells, or by the mains supply network) are therefore information or data transmitters that operate as follows. This involves a transmitter circuit with an antenna connected to a control circuit that allows the data to be transmitted via a radio frequency link. Each beacon is configured to transmit one or more messages containing the information to be transmitted. For example, the messages are broadcast regularly on three advertising frequencies using the Bluetooth standard. It will then be understood that the messages are broadcast at constant intervals. Because each beacon has its own transmission interval, the beacons usually rotate with each other in a random manner.

To retrieve this data, a portable device such as a phone or computer continuously activates its receiver module to scan frequencies to detect different transmitter beacons and select at least one of them. The receiver module of the portable device can then target one or more available frequencies of the selected beacon and receive messages sent by said beacon for specific functions.

However, this reception configuration poses a problem with power consumption. Indeed, power consumption is an important criterion for portable electronic devices, as they carry batteries, which require limited autonomy. The continuous activation of the receiver module (typically at maximum sensitivity to detect each active beacon as early as possible and receive its messages) has an impact on the autonomy of the portable electronic device. This power consumption criterion is even more critical for portable electronic devices such as wristwatches or other devices worn on the wrist, as these have greater power consumption constraints.

Summary of the Invention

The present invention therefore seeks to remedy the drawbacks of the prior art by providing a method that optimizes the power consumption used to synchronize portable devices with beacons where autonomy is critical.

To this end, the present invention relates to a communication component comprising a first terminal provided with a first communication module, the first communication module being arranged to communicate with a plurality of beacons, each beacon comprising a communication circuit enabling the sending and/or receiving of data at a specific period, characterised in that the component further comprises a second terminal provided with a second communication module, wherein the second terminal is arranged to scan its environment with the aid of the second communication module to detect the presence of beacons within range, and to retrieve, for each beacon detected, the specific period and a time offset corresponding to the period between a reference point and the start of sending the message and to send the specific period and the time offset to the first terminal, and characterised in that the first terminal is arranged to select at least one detected beacon and to activate the first communication module synchronously with the selected beacon using the specific period of the selected beacon and the time offset of the selected beacon in order to retrieve information from the beacon.

The invention has the following advantages: by default, the power consumption of the main terminal is limited by monitoring only the secondary terminals at fixed short intervals and using the secondary terminals, whose power consumption is less critical. The secondary terminals are used in the preliminary steps of detecting the beacons and the frequency and time interval parameters of each beacon, wherein the main terminal only needs to select a beacon from the beacons provided by the secondary terminals and synchronize with it.

In an advantageous embodiment, said first terminal is a watch and said second terminal is selected from the list consisting of: a computer, an electronic tablet, a mobile phone, or any other similar gateway available in public places (stations, airports, shopping centers, etc.) and offering a catalog of services of this type.

In another advantageous embodiment, the first terminal further comprises a display device for displaying data transmitted by the second terminal and a control device for selecting a desired beacon from among the beacons detected by the second terminal.

The present invention further relates to a method for operating a communication assembly, the communication assembly comprising a first terminal and a second terminal, the first terminal being provided with a first communication module, the first communication module being arranged to communicate with a plurality of beacons, each beacon comprising a communication circuit enabling the transmission and/or reception of data in a specific cycle, and the second terminal comprising a second communication module, characterised in that the method comprises the following steps:

- setting up the second terminal and activating the second communication module;

- scanning the environment using said second communication module of said second terminal in order to detect beacons within range and retrieving, for each beacon, periodicity information and information relating to a time offset relative to a defined moment, truly identifying the type of beacon and its function (advertising, temperature, ...);

- transmitting, for each beacon, said period information and said information relating to the time offset relative to a defined moment, truly identifying the beacon and its function; and

- In said first terminal, selecting at least one beacon and then configuring and activating said first communication module of said first terminal in order to synchronize said first communication module with the period of the selected beacon and to monitor said beacon.

In a first advantageous embodiment, the step of information retrieval is performed by calculation during monitoring.

In a second advantageous embodiment, the step of information retrieval is performed by sending a request.

In a third advantageous embodiment, the step of selecting said beacon is performed automatically based on existing parameters in said first or said second terminal.

In a fourth advantageous embodiment, the step of selecting said beacon is performed by displaying a list of detected beacons on said display device of said first terminal and by enabling a user to select it via said control device of said first terminal.

In a fifth advantageous embodiment, said selection step allows the selection of at least two beacons and, between said selection and the appropriate activation of said first communication module, said method further comprises a management step of determining the monitoring order of said beacons by performing a calculation based on the offsets and cycle durations of said selected beacons.

In another advantageous embodiment, said first terminal is a watch and said second terminal is chosen from a list consisting of: a computer, an electronic tablet, a mobile phone, or any other similar gateway available in public places (stations, airports, shopping malls, etc.) and offering a catalogue of services of this type.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The objects, advantages and characteristics of the device according to the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of at least one embodiment of the invention, given as non-limiting example only, as illustrated by the accompanying drawings, in which:

1 and 2 schematically illustrate a communication assembly according to the present invention;

3 to 5 schematically show flow charts of a communication module according to the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG1 shows an assembly 1 according to the present invention. This assembly comprises a plurality of beacons 300. Each beacon 300 is configured in the form of a housing 302, in which electronic equipment is arranged. The electronic equipment is fed by a power supply unit 304. The power supply unit 304 can be a battery or storage battery or an autonomous unit such as a solar cell. The advantage of such an autonomous unit is that it is energy independent. An alternative is to directly supply power from the power grid (if available).

The electronic device has a computing unit or microcontroller 306 connected to a memory unit 308. This memory unit 308 is used to store data and can be a non-volatile memory using flash technology (NOR, NAND).

The electronics also have a clock circuit 310 that is used to time the beacon 300 and serve as a precise time base for recording and transmitting data.

The electronic device also has a communication circuit 312 including at least one antenna 314 for external communication. This communication circuit 312 further allows data to be sent (and/or received) to, for example, a dedicated device 100, such as a mobile phone, tablet, computer or watch.

To communicate, each beacon 300 is configured to transmit a message Mi, i.e., data. This message Mi is transmitted according to a first protocol, such as Bluetooth, NFC, Wi-Fi, ZigBee, or another protocol. This message Mi is broadcast at one or more specific frequencies Fi and a specific period Pi, such that the message Mi is repeated.

Assembly 1 also includes at least one first terminal 100. This first terminal is preferably a watch, wristband, or piece of jewelry. It includes a housing 101 to which a wristband 102 is attached. This housing includes an electronics module 103, which is powered by a power supply unit and includes at least a control unit (e.g., a microcontroller) connected to a storage device; a display device 104 for displaying information; and a first communication module 105 capable of sending and receiving data. The first communication module 105 is configured to communicate with the communication circuit 312 of the beacon 300.

The invention proposes synchronizing a first terminal 100 with at least one beacon 300 so as to enable said first terminal 100 to receive data Mi from this beacon 300 .

To this end, the present invention wisely proposes the use of a second terminal 200. This second terminal 200 is an electronic device such as a phone, a computer, or a tablet computer, or any other device such as a gateway that is available in public places (bus stations, airports, shopping malls, etc.) and provides a directory of services of this type. This second terminal comprises a housing 201 in which a second electronic module 210 is arranged. This second electronic module 210 is connected to a display device 202 and is powered by a power supply 204. This second electronic module 210 comprises a computing unit 211, which is connected to a storage device 212, a control device 213, a sensor 214, and a second communication module 215. This second communication module 215 can use a communication protocol such as Bluetooth, GSM, Wi-Fi, or ZigBee.

The second terminal 200 is used as an intermediate device for performing a detection operation and listing a beacon list nearby. To this end, the second terminal 200 is used so that its second communication module 215 is set in operation and uses at least one communication protocol that allows the second communication module 215 to communicate with the first terminal 100 and the beacon 300.

The operation of the second communication module 215 of the second terminal 200 is as follows. The first step includes using the second communication module to perform a scan. The scan is performed using a common protocol between the second terminal 200 and a plurality of beacons 300. The scan can identify beacons 300 that are within range.

After having detected these beacons 300, the second step comprises collecting information. For this reason, the second terminal 200 switches to receiving mode, so that for each beacon 300, its identifier is retrieved and some of its attributes (beacon type, available information type, available protocol ...) may be retrieved. This monitoring window of the second terminal 200 also enables to retrieve the transmission information for each beacon. In fact, each beacon 300 has its specific period Pi. These information items are retrieved by the second terminal 200. In order to obtain this period information, the second terminal 200 can analyze the transmission of each beacon, so that these data or then send the request for retrieving this information. The analysis of each beacon 300 includes monitoring each beacon at a predefined time interval, so that it is possible to measure the specific period Pi, obtain the duration of some other information (if available) and message M.

After having retrieved for each beacon 300 at least the period information and the information on the time offset relative to a defined moment, the second terminal 200 compiles this information in order to form a list or catalogue that it sends via the second communication module 215 to the first terminal 100, which monitors at regular and optimized intervals whether messages from a terminal 200, which is usually very close to the terminal 100, arrive.

The first terminal 100 is then able to select at least one beacon 300. To this end, a beacon on the list can be selected manually or automatically. For manual selection, the list is displayed on the first terminal's display device, allowing the user to view the various surrounding beacons and select one using a control device. For automatic selection, the selection can be based on criteria such as favorites, desired information type, available protocols, or frequency of selection.

After selecting a beacon, the first terminal can switch to monitoring mode to retrieve the message sent by the beacon. Smartly, the first terminal uses the beacon-related data provided by the second terminal to optimize power consumption and monitors only when necessary and for the time required to obtain the complete message Mi. In fact, the period information Pi allows the first terminal to activate the monitoring mode (i.e., receiving mode) of the first communication module only as needed. To this end, another information item is provided by the second terminal 200, and this other information is a time shift duration Di or offset. This time shift duration Di corresponds to the period between the defined reference time point and the start of the message transmission by the beacon. Figure 3 shows a time diagram of the data transmission of the beacon 300. Obviously, the beacon transmits the message M periodically. However, having a period Pi is not sufficient to achieve synchronization between the first terminal 100 and the beacon 300. To this end, it is necessary to have a time shift duration Di that allows the remaining time from a defined/given moment t0 before the next message M is transmitted to be known.

Thus, when the first terminal 100 switches to data reception mode, it will use a time shift duration Di, starting from the instant t1 and relative to a given/defined instant t0, as shown in FIG4 . Thus, the first terminal 100 will be able to activate its first communication module 105 with reception mode on, with precise time intervals during which the beacon transmits the message M. This synchronization configuration advantageously allows limiting the operating time of the first communication module and, therefore, the power consumption.

In one variant, it is conceivable that the first terminal 100 is capable of receiving messages from several beacons 300. In this case, the first terminal 100 retrieves the information for each beacon 300 that has already been retrieved by the second terminal 200. This information is compiled to define the monitoring and reception sequence. In practice, each beacon has its own period Pi and its own time-shift duration Di relative to a given/defined moment. In this manner, it is necessary to perform a management step by performing calculations to determine which beacon should be monitored first. These calculations are performed based on the time-shift duration and period.

Therefore, the example of FIG5 is shown, which shows a time diagram for different beacons B1, B2, and B3. Beacon B1 transmits message M1 with a period P1, beacon B2 transmits message M2 with a period P2, and beacon B3 transmits message M3 with a period P3. Clearly, in FIG5 , the periods P1, P2, and P3 differ from one another, and the sizes of messages M1, M2, and M3 are different. Therefore, it is necessary to manage these beacons so as to be able to monitor their messages in order to limit the power required to retrieve all messages. In the configuration shown in FIG5 , it is clear that from time t0, the messages of the different beacons can be monitored in the following order: message M1, then message M2, then message M3. A variant of the monitoring order could be message M3, then message M1, then message M2.

In the event of a collision (ie simultaneous broadcasting of messages Mi), the electronic module 103 of the first terminal 100 is able to skip the monitoring of these messages Mi.

It will be understood that various modifications and/or improvements and/or combinations obvious to a person skilled in the art can be applied to the different embodiments of the invention described above without departing from the framework of the invention as defined by the accompanying claims.

Claims (10)

1. A communication component comprising a first terminal (100) having a first communication module arranged to communicate with a plurality of beacons (300), each beacon (300) including communication circuitry capable of transmitting and/or receiving data (Mi) at specific periods (Pi). The component is characterized in that it further includes a second terminal (200) having a second communication module, wherein the second terminal is arranged to scan the environment of the second terminal and detect the presence of beacons within range by means of the second communication module, so as to obtain, for each detected beacon, the specific period and the time offset corresponding to the time period between the reference point and the start of transmitting the data (Mi), and transmit the specific period and the time offset to the first terminal. The first terminal is characterized in that it is configured to select at least one detected beacon and activate the first communication module synchronously with the selected beacon using a specific period of the selected beacon and a time offset of the selected beacon, so as to acquire at least one information item from the beacon. 2. The communication component according to claim 1, wherein the first terminal is a watch, and wherein the second terminal is selected from a list including: a computer, a tablet computer, a mobile phone, or any other device including a gateway providing this type of service. 3. The communication component according to claim 1, wherein the first terminal further comprises: a display device for displaying data sent by the second terminal; and a control device for selecting a desired beacon from the beacons detected by the second terminal. 4. A method for operating a communication component, the communication component comprising a first terminal (100) and a second terminal (200), the first terminal (100) having a first communication module arranged to communicate with a plurality of beacons (300), each beacon (300) including communication circuitry capable of transmitting and/or receiving data (Mi) at a specific period (Pi), the second terminal (200) including a second communication module, characterized in that the method comprises the following steps: - Configure the second terminal and activate the second communication module; - The second communication module of the second terminal is used to scan the environment to detect beacons within range, and for each beacon, information related to a specific period and the time offset corresponding to the time period between the reference point and the start of data transmission (Mi) is obtained; - For each beacon, information related to the specific period and the time offset is sent to the first terminal; and - In the first terminal, at least one beacon is selected and then the first communication module of the first terminal is configured and activated to synchronize the first communication module with the selected beacon periodically and monitor the beacon. 5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that data acquisition is performed during monitoring. 6. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that the information acquisition step is performed by sending a request. 7. The method according to claim 4, wherein the step of selecting the beacon is automatically performed based on existing parameters in the first terminal or the second terminal. 8. The method according to claim 4, wherein the step of selecting the beacon is performed by displaying a list of detected beacons on a display device of the first terminal and by allowing the user to select the beacon via a control device of the first terminal. 9. The method of claim 4, wherein the step of selecting the beacon allows the selection of at least two beacons, and wherein, between the selection and activation of the first communication module, the method further includes a management step that determines the monitoring order of the beacons by performing a calculation based on a specific period and offset time of the selected beacon. 10. The method according to claim 4, wherein the first terminal is a watch, and wherein the second terminal is selected from a list including: a computer, a tablet computer, a mobile phone, or any other device such as a gateway that provides this type of service.