KR20020088081A - Connectionless broadcast signalling - Google Patents

Abstract

The communication system includes a beacon and at least one portable device for receiving data from the beacon. Beacons broadcast messages using a first protocol (such as Bluetooth) that provides a series of inquiry messages that hop frequencies. Additional data is broadcast using spread spectrum transmission techniques. These two modes allow spread spectrum transmission techniques to be used to establish communications asynchronously in a short time, so that data can be transmitted to the receiver as soon as possible.

Frequency hopping techniques may require longer call set-up procedures, but provide a more appropriate communication protocol for bidirectional transmission of larger amounts of data.

Description

CONNECTIONLESS BROADCAST SIGNALLING}

There has been a tremendous increase in the number of mobile phone network subscribers in recent years, and through advances in technology and additional functionality, cellular telephones have evolved into personal trusted devices. The result is that the mobile information society is developing, with personalized and localized services becoming more and more important. Such " context-aware " (CA) mobile telephones are used with low power, short-range base stations in places such as shopping malls to provide location-specific information. Such information may include local map information about nearby shops, restaurants, and the like. The user's CA terminal may be equipped to filter the received information according to pre-stored user preferences, and the user only cares if a data item of particular interest is received.

It should be appreciated that an important requirement for CA devices is that the user needs to take actions such as staying close to the beacon while establishing contact between the portable device and the beacon, or need to explicitly start an interaction. Collect data from beacons quickly and efficiently Another requirement is that portable devices should remain relatively simple as long as they get data from the beacons.

Applicant discloses an international patent application jointly assigned to the Applicant, dated August 15, 2000, in which data is broadcast (but not yet disclosed) to the CA terminal before a connection is made according to the Bluetooth protocol. In PCT / EP 01/06948). The system exploits the Bluetooth inquiry phase with the extra space obtained to expand the very short ID packets transmitted during this mode and thereby carry a small amount of information. This information may be Bluetooth system related data or unidirectional application data. This structure has the advantage of being backward-compatible with legacy bluetooth devices that cannot understand this extra field.

Some applications may use this feature, such as wireless local area network (WLAN) access. The extra field may provide location information that may allow CA mobile phones to quickly determine their own location.

To help two Bluetooth transceivers detect each other, the lookup procedure is limited to a special hopping sequence uniquely known by all Bluetooth transceivers and a set of 32 channels specifically selected from 79 available channels. . Since the broadcast data field is added to the ID packet, this follows the same pattern. This creates a potential conflict with the FCC specification for the 2.4 GHz ISM band, which generally means that information transmission should be spread over the entire ISM band.

In order to smear out interference to other band users, there are two major spread spectrum radio systems that occupy a wider bandwidth compared to the data rate being communicated. Frequency hopping radio systems and direct sequence systems are known. In addition to the hybrid of the two, ie direct sequence spreading of the data stream, systems are also known in which carriers periodically hop from one frequency to another. This is all clearly allowed in the FCC specification for the ISM band at 2.4 GHz.

The present invention relates to a service which is provided exclusively to a user of electronic equipment, in particular to a user of a mobile communication device such as a cellular telephone and a suitably equipped PDA (personal portable terminal). The present invention further relates to means for delivering such services and portable devices for receiving such services.

1 illustrates a system of the invention wherein two different types of portable devices are within the scope of a beacon device.

2 is a schematic block diagram of a beacon and a portable device implementing the present invention.

3 is a schematic diagram of a series of devices in a linked beacon infrastructure.

4 is a diagram illustrating the transmission of a train of inquiry access codes centered on a given frequency.

5 illustrates the alternation between trains of inquiry messages for the duration of an inquiry broadcast.

6 illustrates insertion of a packet of broadcast data into an existing transmission slot.

7 illustrates a first embodiment for transmitting beacon clock data in a sequence of inquiry message trains.

8 illustrates an alternative configuration to the configuration of FIG. 7 for transmitting beacon clock data.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a communication system comprising at least one beacon device capable of transmitting a wireless message and at least one portable device capable of receiving such a message transmission, wherein the beacon is a message of the inquiry message. And broadcast a message using a first protocol providing a series, wherein another inquiry message in the series is provided on a different carrier frequency, where the beacon is configured to broadcast additional data using spread spectrum transmission techniques.

The use of two different modes of operation allows one mode (spread spectrum transmission technique) to be used for one data type that is most suitable and the other mode (frequency hopping technique). To be used for other data types. For example, spread spectrum transmission techniques can be used to allow an unsynchronized receiver to establish communication in a short time, so that data can be transmitted to the receiver as soon as possible. Frequency hopping techniques may require longer call set-up procedures, but provide a more suitable communication protocol for bidirectional transmission of larger amounts of data.

In one embodiment, the spread spectrum transmission technique comprises a single channel direct spread spectrum sequence transmission system. Since the system can be independent of the first protocol, the provision of additional data does not affect the protocol used for sending the inquiry message.

In another, preferred, embodiment, additional data may be incorporated into the structure of the data transmitted using the first protocol. For example, the inquiry message may each be in the form of a plurality of predetermined data fields and the beacon may be arranged to add to each inquiry message before transmitting the additional data field for additional data.

The use of spread spectrum configuration for additional data, integrated into the inquiry message of the first protocol system, spreads the signal, increasing robustness at the source of interference, and this use meets regulatory requirements.

By adding additional fields (as appropriate to the end of each inquiry message), a data broadcast can be carried on top of the existing inquiry process, thereby avoiding the usual delay while this process is performed prior to data transmission. . Furthermore, by placing an additional field at the end of the inquiry message sent according to the first protocol (preferably substantially not Bluetooth), such a protocol-compliant device not intended to receive a beacon signal may operate in accordance with the first protocol. You can simply ignore the extra data without damaging it.

The additional data is preferably spread using sequences. For example, the additional data may include data at 91 kb / s spread at a rate of 1 Mb / s with an 11 bit code.

Regardless of how the additional data is transmitted (whether in or separate from the lookup message), the additional data may cause the portable device and the beacon device to begin exchanging data wirelessly using the first protocol. Therefore, the additional data can be used to improve the efficiency of the call set-up procedure of the first protocol system. For example, portable devices and beacon devices may begin exchanging data wirelessly without further use of inquiry messages.

The system may be compatible for portable devices of the first type and the second type. The first type of portable device is configured to receive the sent inquiry message and the stock price data, while the second type of portable device is configured to receive the sent inquiry message without receiving the additional data. As such, the second type of device may be a conventional device that communicates using the first protocol.

If the first protocol is Bluetooth (or similar frequency hopping configuration), the beacon may be configured to broadcast a series of inquiry messages on a predetermined clocked sequence of frequencies while the clock information for the beacon is carried by additional data. Can be. As will be described in more detail later with respect to embodiments of the present invention, this may improve the query performance of the Bluetooth system.

The beacons indicate the presence of additional data fields in the data fields of the inquiry message (as appropriate in currently unused or unassigned fields) so that a device configured for receiving beacon data can be triggered to read from the additional data fields. (indication) can be configured to include.

Further provided is a mobile communication device for use in a system of the present invention in accordance with the present invention, which device can receive additional data broadcast using a near field inquiry message and a spread spectrum transmission technique in accordance with a first communication protocol. A receiver, the device further comprising means for reading additional data and providing it to the user.

Further in accordance with the present invention, there is provided a beacon device for use in a communication system that can transmit a message wirelessly, comprising a beacon device and at least one portable device capable of receiving such a message transmission, wherein the beacon device Is configured to broadcast additional data using a series of inquiry messages and spread spectrum transmission techniques configured according to the first protocol.

Furthermore, in accordance with the present invention, a method of communicating between a beacon device and a portable communication device is provided, which method comprises:

Transmitting a series of inquiry messages constructed according to a first protocol, wherein another inquiry message of the series is provided on different carrier frequencies;

Broadcasting additional data using a spread spectrum transmission technique;

Here the portable device receives additional data and determines whether to communicate with the beacon device using the first protocol from this additional data.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described by way of example only and with reference to the appended drawings.

In the following description, we particularly consider a CA application that uses the Bluetooth protocol for communicating messages from a beacon to a portable device (whether a telephone, PDA or the like). As will be appreciated, the overall inventive concept of including a broadcast channel as part of an inquiry procedure is not limited to Bluetooth devices and is applicable to other communication configurations, in particular frequency hopping systems.

Referring to FIG. 1, the communication system includes at least two devices 10 and 12 capable of wirelessly exchanging and networking data according to a first mode of operation (FH) such as frequency hopping. The first mode of operation is in accordance with the first protocol. One of the devices 10 is a portable device and the other 12 is a beacon device. The beacon device 12 also broadcasts data wirelessly, for example in accordance with a second mode of operation (DSSS) using direct sequence spread spectrum. The communication between the beacon 12 and the portable device 10 may use a Bluetooth messaging protocol with a long call set-up procedure (so-called "lookup step"). The portable device 10 may be a conventional Bluetooth device. The DSSS communication link is set up to allow a specially adapted portable device to receive a limited amount of data without completing this inquiry step.

The third device 14 is adapted in accordance with the present invention and is thus configured to receive DSSS data broadcasts, thereby eliminating the need to complete an inquiry step to join the Bluetooth network of the other device or to join the Bluetooth network. Data can be acquired as a precursor.

Applicants chose DSSS because it eliminates the requirement for long hopping sequences (under regulation and for system robustness) to allow for faster detection of signals by unsynchronized receivers. This reduces the latency required to receive a message.

If message transmission in accordance with the Bluetooth protocol is supported, the Bluetooth system uses it to transmit a fixed message, which can be discussed as representing itself as a spreading sequence.

As an example, data information is spread over a sequence and transmitted over a channel in this DSSS mode. This provides a means to broadcast information to devices that want to join the network without having to go through the time consuming processing of searching for a long hopping sequence of the FH transmission system.

The DSSS mode may be a single channel or a limited number of channels specifically allocated for this purpose that the transmitter hops. The latter provides significant robustness to interference, even if there is no excessive synchronization involved in a complete hopping system.

The two modes of operation may occur in an interlaced manner, using the same radio operating with pure frequency hopping for some data communication tasks and using DSSS for other data communication tasks. If the net data rate to be transmitted using the DSSS mode is reduced by the amount corresponding to the length of the spreading code imposed, then the overall bearer data rate over the air is a two mode, which simplifies the radio design. Can be maintained at the same speed for. Although this reduces the data rate that can be supported, it also improves robustness to noise and interference.

Alternatively, the two functions of the system, namely, the provision and / or acquisition of broadcasts and the traffic-carrying, for each information that will be communicated by each of the appropriately collaborated, are in different modes (DSSS and May be implemented in other radios using pure frequency hopping).

Various possible implementations of the invention have been briefly outlined above. One preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described in more detail, where the first protocol communication is Bluetooth messaging and additional data is integrated into the structure of the Bluetooth data format.

2 is a schematic block diagram of a CA mobile phone 14 being used with one or more low power, near base station or beacons 12, 13. As mentioned previously and discussed in more detail later, this configuration allows the beacon to download location information to the mobile device while providing location-specific information such as local maps, information about nearby stores, restaurants, and the like. Can be used in places such as shopping malls to provide. An information key is a small data object that provides a reference to a complete source of information, which is in the form of a number of predetermined fields, one of which will contain a short piece of descriptive text provided to the user. The other field may be some form of pointer or address, such as, for example, a URL or phone number. Another additional field can control how data is presented to the user and how the address can be used. Beacons will generally broadcast a number of these keys periodically, with each key typically associated with a different service.

Issues regarding beacon structure and configuration include beacon ranges that will depend on output power (typically ranging from 1 mW to 100 mW), level of local interference, and receiver sensitivity.

The user's CA phone 14 includes an aerial 16 coupled with the transceiver stage 18 for receiving and sending messages. Outgoing messages originate from user input to the telephone, either audio input via microphone 20 and A / D converter 22 or other data input through keypad or other input means 24. do. This input is processed by the signal and data processing stage 26 into a message data format and converted by the encoder 28 into a transmission format before being supplied to the transceiver 18.

Messages received via the aerial 16 and the transceiver 18 are passed through the decoding stage 30. This stage operates according to the Bluetooth protocol and thereby causes the inquiry message and the page message to be read. In addition, in accordance with the present invention, the decoding stage also allows additional data in the DSSS format to be decoded. For example, this may require that a selected portion of the input data stream be combined with a spreading code to recover the initial data stream. The decoded data is supplied to the filtering and signal processing stage 32. If the data carried by the message is for presentation on the phone's display screen 34, the data will be sent to the display driver 36 after buffering 38, optionally with the driver formatting the display image. As will be appreciated, the display 34 may be a relatively simple low-resolution device, and the conversion of the received data into display data is a subset of the processing stage 32 functionality, without the requirement for a dedicated display driver stage. Can be performed as

If the message is carrying data from one or the other beacons 12, 13, the phone has the ability to filter the received information according to the pre-stored user preferences 40, comparing the stored preference data and the message. The user is alerted only if the subject matter indicator in e indicates that a data item of particular interest has been received (ie, the information will only be kept in buffer 38 and / or on screen 34). Will be provided to.

For conventional audio messages, audio data is output by the filter and processing stage 32 to the earphones or speakers 46 via the D / A converter 42 and the amplifier 44. Receipt of such a message from telephone network 48 is indicated by arrow 50: Telephone network 48 may be wide area network (WAN) server 52 and (which may be the Internet) from telephone 14. ) Over WAN 54 also provides a link to one or more remote service providers 56 that provide a source of data for phone 14.

The communication between the CA terminal {telephone 14} and the CA base station {beacon 12} takes two forms: 'push' and 'pull'. In the 'push' mode, the information is broadcast by beacons 12 and 13 to all portable terminals in the form of a short 'key' indicated at 60. The key will take various forms depending on the application, but will generally include a concise description of the information being transmitted and a pointer to more complete information, such as a URL identifying one of the service providers 56.

The key is 'unconsciously', ie without direct intervention by the user, automatically filtered according to the user's preset preferences by the comparator function received by the terminal 14 and applied to the filtering and processing stage 32. do. Suitably, the processing stage is operable to apply the comparator function to multiple simultaneous or overlapping copies to process in parallel a relatively large number of keys that may be received. Some keys will be discarded, some keys will be retained for further study, and other keys can cause the user to be alerted immediately. By way of example, a store may offer a special offer to a passing terminal scheme in the sense that the user who is interested and therefore has set his filter 32 accordingly will be noticed by his terminal. You can choose to push your details.

Sometimes, a user will want to get more than the information contained in a key. Here, the 'pull' mode allows the user to establish a connection with the server 56 (which does not necessarily need to be specifically configured for CA use), and actively requests information to descend into the terminal 10. Therefore, this mode is typically interactive.

Although the base station or beacons will typically be independent of each other (in a mall setup, each store provides and maintains its own beacon regardless of any beacons provided by neighboring stores), but the beacons are their broadcast messages It may be networked in whole or in part with at least some co-ordination of.

3 is a schematic diagram of such a system 100 of linked beacons that implements the present invention and provides an implementation of an infrastructure, such as for use in department stores, shopping malls, theme parks, and the like. System 100 includes a plurality of beacons 102, 104, 106, 108 distributed over a series of locations. Each beacon 102-108 broadcasts one or more short range lookup signals in a time-slot format, as described in more detail below. Beacons 102-108 are controlled by a beacon infrastructure server (BIS) 110, with one or more terminals 112, 114, 116, 118 being connected to server 110. Terminals 112-118 are added to the service provider, i.e., the user of beacon 102-108, in a piggyback manner on an inquiry facilitation signal transmitted by beacon 102-108. Authorize or edit the assigned service slot in the form of data. The service provider may rent one beacon or one beacon service slot from the infrastructure provider. To this end, the server 110 provides a simple HTML template for filling by the user through one of the terminals 112-118. If the template has been populated with, for example, a description of the service and other information about the data carried via the beacon broadcast, the template is sent to the server 110, preferably for example a secure HTTP (S-HTTP) or secure sockets layer. (SSL)} is returned via a secure link. SSL creates a secure link between the client and server where any amount of data can be sent securely. S-HTTP is designed to send private messages securely. The server 110 then generates an appropriate additional data package for adding to the relevant inquiry signal of the beacons 102-108 based on the information submitted in the template. As will be readily appreciated by those skilled in the art, the system 100 may further include an application server 120 to help perform various functions.

Referring back to FIG. 2, the predominant supporting technology for the radio link required for at least the 'push' mode of the above-described CA system is Bluetooth, since this Bluetooth will be a component of many mobile phones. . One problem can be found in analyzing the Bluetooth protocol for CA broadcast or 'push' mode use. In an ideal case, the terminal 14 would detect the fixed beacons 12 and 13 and would obtain basic information from the fixed beacons without the terminal 14 having to transmit at all. However, this type of broadcast operation is not supported by the current Bluetooth specification.

In part, the incompatibility comes from the frequency hopping characteristics of the Bluetooth Beacon system, which allows the terminal to synchronize to the beacon at both time and frequency in order to allow broadcast messages (or, in fact, any message) to be received. It must be. The portable device 14 must vent its clock to the beacon clock and infer from which beacon identity which of several hopping sequences are being used.

In order to make this inference, conventionally, a portable device needed to participate in a piconet as a slave managed by a beacon as a piconet master. Two sets of procedures are used, "lookup" and "page". The query allows the would-be slave to detect the base station and to request to join the piconet. The page allows the base station to invite the selected slave to join the net. The analysis of this procedure can take tens of seconds to join the piconet and then to be in a location to receive information from the master, which is much longer for the CA application, where the user can complete the participation. You can move out of range of the beacon before it is.

The difficulty of receiving broadcast data from the beacons can be caused at least in part by the frequency-hopping characteristics of Bluetooth and similar systems. The Bluetooth inquiry procedure has been specifically proposed to solve the problem of gathering the master and the slave: Applicant believes that one possible implementation of the present invention is a broadcast channel encoded using DSSS technology on an inquiry message issued by the master. It was recognized that can be achieved by piggy-backing. Only the CA terminal needs to read the broadcast channel message and only the CA base station or beacon needs to send this message. In conclusion, in the air interface, the mechanism is fully compatible with conventional (non-CA) Bluetooth systems, such as the portable device 10 shown in FIG.

To illustrate how this preferred implementation of the invention is implemented, we first consider how the inquiry procedure itself works, with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5. When the Bluetooth unit wants to detect another Bluetooth device, it enters the so-called lookup substate. In this mode, it issues an inquiry message comprising a general inquiry access code (GIAC) or a plurality of optional dedicated inquiry access codes (DIAC). This message transmission is repeated at several levels; First, it is transmitted on 16 of the 32 frequencies constituting the inquiry hopping sequence. The message is sent twice on two frequencies in even-numbered timeslots and is accompanied by odd-numbered timeslots used to listen for responses on two corresponding inquiry response hopping frequencies. Therefore, sixteen frequencies and their response counterparts may be covered in sixteen timeslots, or 10 ms. 4 illustrates a transmission sequence for sixteen frequencies centered on f {k}, where f {k} represents an inquiry hopping sequence.

The next step is to repeat at least N _inquiry transmission sequences. At a minimum, it should be set to N _inquiry = 256 repetitions of the entire sequence constituting the train of transmission, referred to as inquiry transmission train A. Next, the inquiry transmission train A is swapped with the inquiry transmission train B which forms a transmission sequence for the remaining 16 frequencies. Again, train B consists of 256 iterations of the transmission sequence. In total, the inquiry transmission cycles between train A and train B transmissions. As shown in FIG. 4, the specification states that such a switch between trains must occur at least three times to ensure the collection of all responses in an error-free environment. This means that inquiry broadcasts can take at least 10.24 seconds.

One way to reduce this time is to make the exchange between inquiry sending trains faster, without having to wait for 2.56 seconds to go through 256 iterations of 10ms to cover 16 timeslots. will be. Provided that no message will be detected in the rest of the current train, this can be suitably achieved by setting the system to switch if no inquiry message is detected after 50 ms.

The portable device wishing to be found by the beacon enters the inquiry scan substate. Here it hears a message containing the GIAC or DIAC of interest. This also works in a periodic manner. It listens on a single hopping frequency during the lookup scan period, which should be long enough to cover the 16 lookup frequencies used by the lookup. The interval between the start of consecutive scans should be less than 1.28 seconds. The selected frequency comes from the 32 lists that make up the inquiry hopping sequence.

Upon hearing an inquiry containing the appropriate IAC, the portable device enters the so-called inquiry response substate and displays a number of inquiry response messages in a beacon. The beacon will then invite to join the piconet to page the portable device.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the additional data is provided by changing to the Bluetooth inquiry mode. Additional data to be transmitted (at a rate of 1 Mb / s / 11 = 91 kb / s) is first added to the inquiry message after passing an exclusive OR with an 11-bit Barker code sequence operating at 1 Mb / s. This performs the necessary spreading of the raw data to form a bearer data rate of 1 Mb / s.

At the receiver, the 1 Mb / s data stream is recovered in the normal way, and the data added at the end of the inquiry message passes through the corresponding 11-bit sequence to recover the initial 91 kb / s broadcast data stream. This is done at the decoder 30 (Figure 2). The additional data is provided in an extra field added to the inquiry message presented by the base station, which may carry a user-defined payload. 6 shows an inquiry message structure, where a user-defined payload (CA DATA) is added after an inquiry message "ID packet".

In the CA scenario, this CA DATA payload is used to carry broadcast information, i.e. keys, to the CA terminal during the inquiry procedure. It will be appreciated that by adding a field to the end of the inquiry message, a non-CA receiver can ignore it without modification. In addition, using CA-specific DIAC, a CA receiver can be alerted to the presence of extra information fields.

By spreading the CA DATA payload, the resistance to narrowband interference is improved. This improves system robustness and also allows regulatory approval to be obtained.

The presence of an extra data field means that the guard space conventionally allowed at the end of the Bluetooth inquiry packet (shown in FIG. 6) is reduced. In other respects, however, since the current frequency synthesizer can switch at a speed that does not require expansion into the extra protective space, this space is provided for giving frequency synthesizer time to change to a new hop frequency. Will not be. The standard inquiry packet is an ID packet of 68 bits in length. Since it is transmitted in half-slot, the allocated guard space is (625/2-68) = 244.5 ms {625 ms slot duration, 1 Mbit / s signaling rate}. State-of-the-art synthesizers can switch in much less time with the number of routines considered lower than 200 microseconds (or even 100 microseconds) by experts in this field.

One possible use of some protected space is an allocation of 136 bits as a suitable size for this new additional data field, although of course it will be readily understood that other field sizes are possible. Smaller numbers of bits, such as 100, will allow more switching time if necessary.

The CA handset can quickly receive broadcast data without having to be performed through a long procedure to join the piconet. In addition, since the handset does not need to transmit any information at all, there is a resultant power saving that is particularly important in dense environments where many CA base stations may exist. Nevertheless, if the handset is in talk mode and you want to join the piconet to get more information, you can use the default inquiry procedure as you normally would. There is no loss of functionality through the support of additional data fields.

In a typical embodiment, four of the 136 bits will be lost as trailer bits for the ID field; This is the result read by the correlator. Among the remaining 132 bits, Applicants' preferred allocation is that 88 bits are used as data and 44 bits are used as 2/3 FEC (forward error correction) checksums. As such, each inquiry burst contains 11 bytes of additional data. After reconstruction using an 11 bit code, one byte of additional data is obtained. As an alternative to FEC, Barker sequence coding is used that does not require additional FEC bits.

As the most common scenario, by the second group of A and B trains, the portable device has discovered a base station, understood that this is a CA beacon, and is waiting for broadcast data. As will be apparent, the portable device will be able to read at least twice (A and B) 256 data bursts, giving two batches of 256 bytes, ie a total of 512 bytes.

At this stage, the portable device does not know the phase of the beacon clock because this information is not transmitted. To assist the handheld device, the clock information may be transferred to at least some trains in the first A and B groups, as shown in FIG. 7, with some auxiliary information indicating when the next switch occurs between A and B. Is sent. This clock information is transmitted instead of CA broadcast data, and therefore means are provided for identifying two data channels. The use of a separate DIAC is one possible way.

If the portable device knows the timing of the beacon, the portable device also knows how to hop, which gives it the ability to track all transmissions of the train. Since there are 16 transmissions in a frame, the resulting CA channel can then carry 8 kbytes of information with 16 times more capacity.

Since the terminal wakes up every 1.28 seconds or less, it will generally obtain the required clock information by the midpoint in the first A or B period. As illustrated in Figure 8, switching from clock to data in this intermediate indication provides a number of useful advantages. First, some data may be received in less than 5 seconds from the start of the inquiry procedure. Secondly, even if the key appears relatively late in the cycle, the terminal can still respond to important keys by automatically presenting an inquiry response message to the base station (if this is the proper action for the terminal to take). It should be noted that no increase in capacity is taken.

In the foregoing, the portable device will receive all additional data field packets on one of the 32 inquiry channels, thereby using only 1/32 of the available bandwidth. As will be appreciated, if the uncertainty as to when the portable terminal (beacon slave) will receive the first inquiry packet can be overcome, then the predetermined characteristic of the hopping sequence can be accommodated and thus the full bandwidth can be used. In order to synchronize with the master inquiry hopping sequence from the point at which the slave received the first packet, the slave needs to know both the master clock offset and the position of the first received packet in the master hopping sequence. An alternative way to synchronize slave hopping is to send clocking data to all broadcast fields. This will not be explained in detail.

The additional data obtained quickly can be used by the portable device to identify beacons in range. This information can then be used to allow communication to be established more quickly using the first protocol system between the portable device and the beacon. In the case of Bluetooth as the first protocol, the lookup procedure can be ignored and therefore additional DSSS data can be used to reduce call set-up time for establishing a two-way Bluetooth link. For this purpose, the decoder 30 (Fig. 2) makes the Bluetooth set-up procedure short cut. Therefore, the inquiry step of the Bluetooth processing can be effectively completed using additional data. Since Bluetooth processing typically cycles through the inquiry and dialogue phases, there may be a delay in waiting for the next inquiry phase. The present invention avoids the need to wait because the same data can be sent immediately over different protocols and the Bluetooth conversation step can proceed later.

In the example described above, the additional data is incorporated into the structure of the Bluetooth inquiry message. In a second embodiment of the present invention, the combination of the two systems-the frequency hopping system (such as Bluetooth) is combined with other protocol single channel DSSS systems (otherwise known as "ZigBe"-such as "Lite"). Combined-is provided, the broadcast and registration / synchronization information is communicated via the light system and the traffic channel is established using the Bluetooth system as desired, both of which periodically switch between operating modes. By doing so, it can be performed by a single device if desired.

Again, the DSSS data can be used to improve the efficiency of the call set-up procedure of the frequency hopping system.

By reading this disclosure, other changes will become apparent to those skilled in the art. Such modifications may include fixed and portable communication systems and other characteristics already known for the design, manufacture, and use of systems and components for integration herein and that may be used instead of or in addition to those already described herein. have.

As mentioned above, the present invention is applicable to a service provided non-exclusively to users of electronic equipment, in particular to users of mobile communication devices such as mobile phones and suitably equipped PDAs (personal portable terminals).

Claims (22)

A communication system comprising at least one beacon device capable of wireless message transmission and at least one portable device capable of receiving such message transmission, wherein the beacon provides a series of inquiry messages. Wherein the other inquiry message of the series is provided on a different carrier frequency, wherein the beacon is configured to broadcast additional data using spread spectrum transmission techniques. . The communication system of claim 1, wherein the inquiry message is in the form of a plurality of predetermined data fields, respectively, and the beacon is configured to add to each inquiry message prior to transmitting the additional data field for the additional data. 3. The communication system of claim 2, wherein the beacon is configured to add the additional data field to the end of each inquiry message. 4. A communication system as claimed in claim 2 or 3, wherein the beacon is configured to include an indication in one of the predetermined data fields, the indication indicating the presence of the additional data field. The communication system according to any of claims 2 to 4, wherein the additional data field carries at least 64 bits of data. The communication system according to any one of claims 2 to 5, wherein the additional data is spread using a sequence. 7. The communication system of claim 6, wherein the additional data comprises data spread at 91 kb / s at a rate of 1 Mb / s with an 11 bit code. 2. The communication system of claim 1, wherein the spread spectrum transmission technique comprises a single channel direct spread spectrum sequence transmission system. 9. A communication system as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the additional data causes the portable device and the beacon device to begin exchanging data wirelessly using the first protocol. 10. The communication system of claim 9, wherein the additional data causes the portable device and the beacon device to begin exchanging the data wirelessly using the first protocol without using the inquiry message. The system of claim 1, wherein the system comprises at least one portable device of a first type and at least one portable device of a second type, wherein the portable device of the first type comprises: And wherein the second type of portable device is configured to receive the transmitted inquiry message but not the additional data, while receiving the sent inquiry message and the additional data. 12. A communication system as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the first protocol comprises Bluetooth messaging. 13. The communication system of claim 12, wherein the beacon is configured to broadcast a series of inquiry messages on a predetermined clocked consecutive frequency, wherein clock information for the beacon is included in the additional data. A mobile communication device for use in the system of any of claims 1 to 13, wherein the mobile communication device is capable of receiving additional data that is broadcast using a near field inquiry message and spread spectrum transmission technology in accordance with a first communication protocol. And means for reading the additional data and providing the additional data to a user. The mobile communication device of claim 14, wherein the receiver is configured to receive a message according to a Bluetooth protocol. A beacon device capable of wireless message transmission, the beacon device for use in a communication system comprising a beacon device and at least one portable device capable of receiving such a message transmission, wherein the inquiry is arranged in accordance with the first protocol. Beacon device, configured to broadcast a series of messages and to broadcast additional data using spread spectrum transmission techniques. 17. The beacon of claim 16, wherein the beacon is configured to add to each inquiry message prior to transmitting an additional data field for the additional data, and further comprising means for spreading the additional data within the additional data field. device. 18. The beacon device of claim 17, configured to include an indication in the inquiry message, the indication indicating the presence of the additional data field. 19. The beacon device of any one of claims 16-18, wherein the first protocol comprises Bluetooth messaging. A communication method between a beacon device and a portable communication device, Transmitting the series of inquiry messages arranged according to the first protocol, wherein the other inquiry messages in the series of inquiry messages are provided on different carrier frequencies, and Broadcasting additional data using a spread spectrum transmission technique; Wherein the portable device receives the additional data and determines therefrom whether or not it is communicating with the beacon device using the first protocol. 21. The method of claim 20, wherein the additional data causes the portable device to establish communication with the beacon device without using the inquiry message. 22. The method of claim 20 or 21, wherein the first protocol comprises Bluetooth messaging.