US-12627964-B2 - Method of estimating the number of bluetooth low energy devices in extended neighbor discovery process and apparatus thereof

US12627964B2US 12627964 B2US12627964 B2US 12627964B2US-12627964-B2

Abstract

Provided are a method of estimating of the number of Bluetooth low energy (BLE) in an extended neighbor discovery process and an apparatus thereof, and a method of estimating the number of extended BLE may receive extended advertising data packets and data packets from a plurality of advertising devices, respectively based on a predetermined cycle, acquire a first candidate value, a second candidate value, and a third candidate value for the number of plural advertising devices based on a first measurement value for the number of extended advertising data packets measured, a second measurement value for the number of data packets measured based on the predetermined cycle, and a third measurement value for the number of advertising devices measured based on the predetermined cycle, and acquire information on the number of plural advertising devices based on information on the number of extended advertising data packets, information on the number of data packets, and information on the number of advertising devices related to the first candidate value, information on the number of extended advertising data packets, information on the number of data packets, and information on the number of advertising devices related to the second candidate value, and information on the number of extended advertising data packets, information on the number of data packets, and information on the number of advertising devices related to the third candidate value.

Inventors

Byeong-Hee Roh
Gaoyang SHAN
Junghyun Lim

Assignees

AJOU UNIVERSITY INDUSTRY-ACADEMIC COOPERATION FOUNDATION

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20231228
Priority Date: 20231027

Claims (18)

1 . A method of estimating the number of extended Bluetooth low energy (BLE), the method comprising: receiving extended advertising data packets and data packets from a plurality of advertising devices, respectively based on a predetermined cycle; acquiring a first candidate value, a second candidate value, and a third candidate value for the number of plural advertising devices based on a first measurement value for the number of extended advertising data packets measured, a second measurement value for the number of data packets measured based on the predetermined cycle, and a third measurement value for the number of advertising devices measured based on the predetermined cycle; and acquiring information on the number of plural advertising devices based on information on the number of extended advertising data packets, information on the number of data packets, and information on the number of advertising devices related to the first candidate value, information on the number of extended advertising data packets, information on the number of data packets, and information on the number of advertising devices related to the second candidate value, and information on the number of extended advertising data packets, information on the number of data packets, and information on the number of advertising devices related to the third candidate value.
2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first candidate value is plural in number, and when the first measurement value is the maximum, the plurality of first candidate values are equal.
3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the second candidate value is plural in number, and when the second measurement value is the maximum, the plurality of second candidate values are equal.
4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the third candidate value is plural in number, and when the third measurement value is the maximum, the plurality of third candidate values are equal.
5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the acquiring of the information on the number of plural advertising devices includes acquiring the information on the number of extended advertising data packets, the information on the number of data packets, and the information on the number of advertising devices related to the first candidate value, acquiring the information on the number of extended advertising data packets, the information on the number of data packets, and the information on the number of advertising devices related to the second candidate value, and acquiring the information on the number of extended advertising data packets, the information on the number of data packets, and the information on the number of advertising devices related to the third candidate value.
6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the acquiring of the information on the number of plural advertising devices includes acquiring a first summation value based on the information on the number of extended advertising data packets, the information on the number of data packets, and the information on the number of advertising devices related to the first candidate value, the first measurement value, the second measurement value, and the third measurement value, acquiring a second summation value based on the information on the number of extended advertising data packets, the information on the number of data packets, and the information on the number of advertising devices related to the second candidate value, the first measurement value, the second measurement value, and the third measurement value, acquiring a third summation value based on the information on the number of extended advertising data packets, the information on the number of data packets, and the information on the number of advertising devices related to the third candidate value, the first measurement value, the second measurement value, and the third measurement value, and acquiring information on the number of plural advertising devices based on the first summation value, the second summation value, and the third summation value.
7 . An apparatus of estimating the number of extended Bluetooth low energy (BLE), the apparatus comprising: a processor; and a memory storing one or more commands performed by the processor, wherein the one or more commands include receiving extended advertising data packets and data packets from a plurality of advertising devices, respectively based on a predetermined cycle; acquiring a first candidate value, a second candidate value, and a third candidate value for the number of plural advertising devices based on a first measurement value for the number of extended advertising data packets measured, a second measurement value for the number of data packets measured based on the predetermined cycle, and a third measurement value for the number of advertising devices measured based on the predetermined cycle; and acquiring information on the number of plural advertising devices based on information on the number of extended advertising data packets, information on the number of data packets, and information on the number of advertising devices related to the first candidate value, information on the number of extended advertising data packets, information on the number of data packets, and information on the number of advertising devices related to the second candidate value, and information on the number of extended advertising data packets, information on the number of data packets, and information on the number of advertising devices related to the third candidate value.
8 . The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the first candidate value is plural in number, and when the first measurement value is the maximum, the plurality of first candidate values are equal.
9 . The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the second candidate value is plural in number, and when the second measurement value is the maximum, the plurality of second candidate values are equal.
10 . The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the third candidate value is plural in number, and when the third measurement value is the maximum, the plurality of third candidate values are equal.
11 . The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the acquiring of the information on the number of plural advertising devices includes acquiring the information on the number of extended advertising data packets, the information on the number of data packets, and the information on the number of advertising devices related to the first candidate value, acquiring the information on the number of extended advertising data packets, the information on the number of data packets, and the information on the number of advertising devices related to the second candidate value, and acquiring the information on the number of extended advertising data packets, the information on the number of data packets, and the information on the number of advertising devices related to the third candidate value.
12 . The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the acquiring of the information on the number of plural advertising devices includes acquiring a first summation value based on the information on the number of extended advertising data packets, the information on the number of data packets, and the information on the number of advertising devices related to the first candidate value, the first measurement value, the second measurement value, and the third measurement value, acquiring a second summation value based on the information on the number of extended advertising data packets, the information on the number of data packets, and the information on the number of advertising devices related to the second candidate value, the first measurement value, the second measurement value, and the third measurement value, acquiring a third summation value based on the information on the number of extended advertising data packets, the information on the number of data packets, and the information on the number of advertising devices related to the third candidate value, the first measurement value, the second measurement value, and the third measurement value, and acquiring information on the number of plural advertising devices based on the first summation value, the second summation value, and the third summation value.
13 . A system of estimating the number of extended Bluetooth low energy (BLE), the system comprising: a data package acquisition apparatus acquiring extended advertising data packets and data packets; and an extended BLE number estimation apparatus receiving the extended advertising data packets and the data packets processed by the data packet acquisition apparatus, and estimating the number of plural advertising device, wherein the extended BLE number estimation apparatus receives extended advertising data packets and data packets from a plurality of advertising devices, respectively based on a predetermined cycle, acquires a first candidate value, a second candidate value, and a third candidate value for the number of plural advertising devices based on a first measurement value for the number of extended advertising data packets measured, a second measurement value for the number of data packets measured based on the predetermined cycle, and a third measurement value for the number of advertising devices measured based on the predetermined cycle, and acquires information on the number of plural advertising devices based on information on the number of extended advertising data packets, information on the number of data packets, and information on the number of advertising devices related to the first candidate value, information on the number of extended advertising data packets, information on the number of data packets, and information on the number of advertising devices related to the second candidate value, and information on the number of extended advertising data packets, information on the number of data packets, and information on the number of advertising devices related to the third candidate value.
14 . The system of claim 13 , wherein when the information on the number of plural advertising devices is acquired, information on the number of extended advertising data packets, information on the number of data packets, and information on the number of advertising devices related to the first candidate value are acquired, information on the number of extended advertising data packets, information on the number of data packets, and information on the number of advertising devices related to the second candidate value are acquired, and information on the number of extended advertising data packets, information on the number of data packets, and information on the number of advertising devices related to the third candidate value are acquired.
15 . The system of claim 14 , wherein when the information on the number of plural advertising devices is acquired, a first summation value is acquired based on the information on the number of extended advertising data packets, the information on the number of data packets, and the information on the number of advertising devices related to the first candidate value, the first measurement value, the second measurement value, and the third measurement value, a second summation value is acquired based on the number of extended advertising data packets, the information on the number of data packets, and the information on the number of advertising devices related to the second candidate value, the first measurement value, the second measurement value, and the third measurement value, and a third summation is acquired based on based on the number of extended advertising data packets, the information on the number of data packets, and the information on the number of advertising devices related to the second candidate value, the first measurement value, the second measurement value, and the third measurement value, and the information on the number of plural advertising devices is acquired based on the first summation value, the second summation value, and the third summation value.
16 . The system of claim 13 , wherein the first candidate value is plural in number, and when the first measurement value is the maximum, the plurality of first candidate values are equal.
17 . The system of claim 13 , wherein the second candidate value is plural in number, and when the second measurement value is the maximum, the plurality of second candidate values are equal.
18 . The system of claim 13 , wherein the third candidate value is plural in number, and when the third measurement value is the maximum, the plurality of third candidate values are equal.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This application claims priority from Republic of Korea Patent Application No. 10-2023-0145726, filed on Oct. 27, 2023, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. BACKGROUND Field The present disclosure relates to a method of estimating the number of Bluetooth low energy (BLE) devices accessing a service in order to provide effective means to design and operate BLE application services. Related Art The Bluetooth low energy (BLE) standard defines 40 communication channels. Of these, three basic advertising channels #37, #38, and #39 are used as an advertising event that transmits protocol data units (PUDs). The remaining secondary channels #0 to #36 are used as data channels for data transfer. Advertising devices periodically broadcast the advertising events, and scanners receive the advertising events, so the scanners can recognize the advertising devices. Such a process is called a neighbor discovery process (NDP). In the BLE 4.x standard, the neighbor discovery process is performed by using only the advertising event, and this is called a basic neighbor discovery process (B-NDP). In the B-NDP, as the number of advertising devices increases, the number of advertising packets transmitted by the advertising device increases, so a possibility of collision between advertising packets increases. As a result, a probability that the scanner will recognize the advertising device is reduced, which can cause problems in providing smooth services. From the BLE 5.0 standard, a neighbor discovery process is presented, which uses an extended advertising event which is an extended version of the basic advertising event in order to complement the problems of the basic neighbor discovery process. This is called an extended neighbor discovery process (E-NDP). Advertising devices which use the E-NDP periodically broadcast extended advertising data packets to channels #37, #38, and #39 with respect to the advertising event without designating another device as a specific receiving target. The extended advertising data packet includes a channel number and transmission time information for transmission of the data packet. The scanner can recognize the advertising device by acquiring data by receiving the data packet in a channel and at a cycle designated based on the extended advertising data packet. SUMMARY The present disclosure provides creation of an environment which can increase an advertising device recognition probability of a scanner by reducing an inter-packet collision possibility generated as the number of transmitted extended advertising packets increases due to an increase in number of advertising devices. The present disclosure also provides creation of an environment in which by reducing an inter-packet collision possibility generated as the number of transmitted extended advertising packets increases due to an increase in number of advertising devices, an Internet of things (IoT) application scanner using an extended neighbor discovery process smoothly recognizes the advertising device to provide a service desired by a user. In an aspect, provided is a method of estimating the number of extended BLE, which may include: receiving extended advertising data packets and data packets from a plurality of advertising devices, respectively based on a predetermined cycle; acquiring a first candidate value, a second candidate value, and a third candidate value for the number of plural advertising devices based on a first measurement value for the number of extended advertising data packets measured, a second measurement value for the number of data packets measured based on the predetermined cycle, and a third measurement value for the number of advertising devices measured based on the predetermined cycle; and acquiring information on the number of plural advertising devices based on information on the number of extended advertising data packets, information on the number of data packets, and information on the number of advertising devices related to the first candidate value, information on the number of extended advertising data packets, information on the number of data packets, and information on the number of advertising devices related to the second candidate value, and information on the number of extended advertising data packets, information on the number of data packets, and information on the number of advertising devices related to the third candidate value. In another aspect, provided is an apparatus of estimating the number of extended BLE, which include: a processor; and a memory storing one or more commands performed by the processor, in which the one or more commands may include receiving extended advertising data packets and data packets from a plurality of advertising devices, respectively based on a predetermined cycle; acquiring a first candidate value, a second candidate value, and a third candidate value for the number of plural advertising d