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CN-115669007-B - Digital radio communication

CN115669007BCN 115669007 BCN115669007 BCN 115669007BCN-115669007-B

Abstract

A method of operating a digital radio transmitter device (10, 12) according to a predetermined communication protocol defining a transmission timing margin (30) is disclosed. The method comprises transmitting a plurality of first periodic transmissions (31) according to a predetermined communication protocol, the first periodic transmissions having a first period (39) and an inherent timing uncertainty (40) that is less than a transmission timing margin (30), performing a plurality of second periodic actions (55,64) having a second period (39, 72), wherein the first period (39) and the second period (39, 72) are equal to or integer multiples of each other, and adjusting the timing of one or more of the first periodic transmissions (31) by an amount that is greater than the inherent timing uncertainty (40) but less than or equal to a difference (42) between the inherent timing uncertainty (40) and the transmission timing margin (30) so as to temporarily change the first period (39) by an amount that is less than or equal to the transmission timing margin (30), thereby changing the offset (60, 74) between the first transmissions (31) and the second actions (55,64).

Inventors

  • Martin Turville
  • Sergei Kolotkov
  • John Strickwest
  • Rubin Grissom

Assignees

  • 北欧半导体公司

Dates

Publication Date
20260512
Application Date
20210401
Priority Date
20200401

Claims (13)

  1. 1. A method of operating a digital radio transmitter device according to a predetermined communication protocol defining a transmission timing margin, the method comprising: Transmitting a plurality of first periodic transmissions according to the predetermined communication protocol, the first periodic transmissions having a first period and an inherent timing uncertainty less than the transmission timing margin; performing a plurality of second periodic actions having a second period, wherein the first period and the second period are equal to each other or are integer multiples of each other; Adjusting the timing of one or more of the first periodic transmissions by an amount greater than the inherent timing uncertainty but less than or equal to the difference between the inherent timing uncertainty and the transmission timing margin to temporarily change the first period by an amount less than or equal to the transmission timing margin to change the offset between the first periodic transmission and the second periodic action, and The timing of more than one of the first periodic transmissions is adjusted in order to obtain an offset between the first periodic transmission and the second periodic action, the offset being greater than the difference between the inherent timing uncertainty and the transmission timing margin.
  2. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein each first periodic transmission comprises an initial transmission of a periodic connection event, each connection event comprising a designated time slot for transmitting and receiving data packets between the central device and connected peripheral devices according to a predetermined radio communication protocol.
  3. 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the timing of each connection event is determined by the timing of a previous connection event.
  4. 4. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the adjusted more than one first periodic transmissions are consecutive.
  5. 5. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the predetermined communication protocol is bluetooth TM low energy.
  6. 6. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the magnitude of the inherent timing uncertainty that the device is capable of achieving is between 1 μs and 8 μs.
  7. 7. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein each of the first periodic transmissions is triggered by a first subsystem of the device and each of the second periodic actions is triggered by a second subsystem of the device.
  8. 8. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein each of the second periodic actions comprises transmitting or receiving a signal according to another predetermined radio communication protocol.
  9. 9. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein each of the second periodic actions comprises sending or receiving a signal according to a predetermined wired communication protocol.
  10. 10. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions configured to cause a digital radio transmitter device to operate in accordance with the method of any preceding claim.
  11. 11. A digital radio transmitter device configured to operate according to a predetermined communication protocol defining a transmission timing margin, wherein the device is configured to: Transmitting a plurality of first periodic transmissions according to the predetermined communication protocol, the first periodic transmissions having a first period and an inherent timing uncertainty less than the transmission timing margin; performing a plurality of second periodic actions having a second period, wherein the first period and the second period are equal to each other or are integer multiples of each other; Adjusting the timing of one or more of the first periodic transmissions by an amount greater than the inherent timing uncertainty but less than or equal to the difference between the inherent timing uncertainty and the transmission timing margin to temporarily change the first period by an amount less than or equal to the transmission timing margin to change the offset between the first periodic transmission and the second periodic action, and The timing of more than one of the first periodic transmissions is adjusted in order to obtain an offset between the first periodic transmission and the second periodic action, the offset being greater than the difference between the inherent timing uncertainty and the transmission timing margin.
  12. 12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the magnitude of the inherent timing uncertainty that the apparatus is capable of achieving is between 1 μs and 10 μs.
  13. 13. The device of claim 11 or 12, wherein each of the first periodic transmissions is triggered by a first subsystem of the device and each of the second periodic actions is triggered by a second subsystem of the device.

Description

Digital radio communication Technical Field The present invention relates to short-range, ad hoc radio communication networks. Such networks, including for example bluetooth TM, have many uses for transmitting data between and controlling a variety of different devices. Background Under the bluetooth TM protocol, there are periodic connection events that include a specified time slot in which a central device can send and receive data packets to/from a peripheral device. The start time of the connection event is set by the timing of the initial transmission from the central device to the peripheral device and is referred to as the anchor point under the bluetooth TM protocol. The internal clock of the radio transceiver is not perfect and the individual devices arranged to operate under the bluetooth TM protocol will be different, with different oscillator frequencies and clock drift rates. Thus, a device arranged to operate under the bluetooth TM protocol is required to accept tolerances in the timing of anchor points according to the bluetooth TM specification. More specifically, the Bluetooth TM specification specifies that in addition to the inherent timing uncertainty caused by self clock drift, the device must also allow for +/-16 μS variation in connection event timing. Devices arranged to operate under the bluetooth TM specification typically also support communication with other external devices by other means. For example, the devices may be arranged to communicate over wired connections (e.g., ethernet, serial Peripheral Interface (SPI), universal asynchronous receiver/transmitter (UART), etc.) and/or other wireless connections (e.g., wifi, 5G, LTE, etc.). Under these external connection protocols, there may be periodic connection events very similar to those specified in the bluetooth TM protocol, and these external connection events may share the same period as the bluetooth TM periodic connection events. The applicant has recognised that there are situations in which a device is arranged to communicate with a peripheral device via bluetooth TM, whilst communicating with a different external device via a different communication protocol. In these cases, it may be desirable to be able to select an offset between periodic connection events under the bluetooth TM protocol and periodic connection events with different external devices under different communication protocols, for example to introduce a latency from each bluetooth TM connection event to each external connection event to allow time for data received during a bluetooth TM connection event to be transmitted over the external interface in a subsequent connection event. Disclosure of Invention Viewed from a first aspect, the present invention provides a method of operating a digital radio transmitter apparatus according to a predetermined communications protocol defining a transmission timing margin, the method comprising: Transmitting a plurality of first periodic transmissions according to the predetermined communication protocol, the first periodic transmissions having a first period and an inherent timing uncertainty less than the transmission timing margin; performing a plurality of second periodic actions having a second period, wherein the first period and the second period are equal to each other or are integer multiples of each other; Adjusting the timing of one or more of the first periodic transmissions by an amount greater than the inherent timing uncertainty but less than or equal to a difference between the inherent timing uncertainty and the transmission timing margin so as to temporarily change the first period by an amount less than or equal to the transmission timing margin, thereby changing an offset between the first transmission and the second action. The invention extends to a computer readable medium comprising instructions configured to cause a digital radio transmitter apparatus to operate according to the above method. The invention also extends to a digital radio transmitter device configured to operate according to a predetermined communication protocol defining a transmission timing margin, wherein the device is configured to: Transmitting a plurality of first periodic transmissions according to the predetermined communication protocol, the first periodic transmissions having a first period and an inherent timing uncertainty less than the transmission timing margin; performing a plurality of second periodic actions having a second period, wherein the first period and the second period are equal to each other or are integer multiples of each other; Adjusting the timing of one or more of the first periodic transmissions by an amount greater than the inherent timing uncertainty but less than or equal to a difference between the inherent timing uncertainty and the transmission timing margin so as to temporarily change the first period by an amount less than or equal to the transmission timing margin, thereby changi