Wireless communication for determination of angle of arrival

Abstract

In one aspect, a method of wireless communication by a wireless device includes generating, by the wireless device, a protocol data unit (PDU) header and a corresponding PDU payload of an angle-of-arrival (AOA) packet. The generation of the PDU payload includes inserting a supplementary field and a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) field into the PDU payload. The supplementary field is configured to enable another wireless device to determine an angle of arrival of the AOA packet, and the CRC field corresponds to at least one CRC from the supplementary field. The method also includes transmitting the AOA packet with a single antenna from the wireless device.

Description

1 / 32 “WIRELESS COMMUNICATION FOR DETERMINING THE ANGLE OF ARRIVAL” REFERENCE TO RELATED REQUEST

[01] The present patent application claims the benefit of US provisional application number 62 / 324,778, entitled “WIRELESS COMMUNICATION FOR ANGLE OF ARRIVAL DETERMINATION” filed on April 19, 2016, assigned to the assignee of the present application and expressly incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. FIELD OF REVELATION

[02] Aspects revealed relate to wireless communications. More specifically, exemplary aspects are directed to improvements in the generation and reception of an angle-of-arrival (AoA) packet in a wireless communication system. BACKGROUND

[03] Wireless communication systems, including data communication systems, have been under continuous development for many years. In some applications, there is a desire to determine the directionality of communication transmitted from one wireless device to another.

[04] For example, Bluetooth (BT) Public Indoor Positioning (PIP) (also referred to as HAIP high-precision indoor positioning) is a direction finding technique that relies on a single-antenna wireless device (e.g., a Locator) locating fixed-position wireless devices (e.g., Targets or Tags). BT PIP tags utilize multiple transmit antennas to allow the BT PIP locator to estimate an Angle of Departure (AoD) from Petition 870180142091, dated 10 / 18 / 2018, page 7 / 71 2 / 32 communication transmitted by PIP BT tags.

[05] High-precision feature tracking (HAAT) is another direction finding technique similar to PIP BT, but where a HAAT locator includes multiple antennas to allow the HAAT locator to estimate an Angle of Arrival (AoA) of communication received from a single HAAT tag transmitting antenna.

[06] Angle of arrival (AoA) measurement is a method for determining the direction of propagation of a radio frequency wave incident on an array of antennas. AoA can determine the direction by measuring the Time Difference of Arrival (TDOA) at individual elements of the array, from which these delays can be used to estimate the AoA. In some implementations, TDOA measurement is done by measuring a difference in received phases at each element in the antenna array.

[07] An AoA application may include assisting in determining a geodetic location or geolocation of a wireless device, such as a mobile phone. The goal is to comply with regulations requiring cellular systems to report the location of a mobile phone when making an emergency call (i.e., 911) or to provide a special service to inform the mobile phone holder of their location. One or more base stations (or other wireless devices) may combine measurements obtained from multiple AoA measurements to determine the location of the mobile phone. SUMMARY

[08] Aspects of the present disclosure include a method, a wireless device and a machine-readable medium. Petition 870180142091, dated 10 / 18 / 2018, page 8 / 71 3 / 32 computer for wireless communication.

[09] For example, according to one aspect, a method of wireless communication by a wireless device includes generating, by the wireless device, a protocol data unit (PDU) header and a corresponding PDU payload of an angle of arrival (AoA) packet. The generation of the PDU payload includes inserting a supplementary field and a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) field into the PDU payload. The supplementary field is configured to allow another wireless device to determine an angle of arrival of the AoA packet, and the CRC field corresponds to at least a CRC of the supplementary field. The method also includes transmitting the AoA packet with a single antenna of the wireless device.

[010] According to another aspect, a method of wireless communication by a wireless device includes receiving, on an array of antennas of the wireless device, an angle of arrival (AoA) packet from another wireless device and determining whether a protocol data unit (PDU) payload of the AoA packet includes a supplementary field. If the PDU payload includes the supplementary field, then the method includes processing the AoA packet to determine an angle of arrival of the AoA packet based on the supplementary field included in the PDU payload. The processing of the AoA packet includes performing a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) based on a CRC field included in the PDU payload, where the CRC field corresponding to at least the CRC of the supplementary field.

[011] In another aspect, a device without Petition 870180142091, dated 10 / 18 / 2018, p. 9 / 71 The 4 / 32 wire includes an antenna, a transceiver, memory, and a processor. The processor is coupled to memory to access and execute instructions included in the program code to instruct the wireless device to generate a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) header from an Angle of Arrival (AoA) packet and generate a PDU payload from the AoA packet corresponding to the PDU header. The instructions for generating the PDU payload include instructions to: (i) insert a supplementary field in the PDU payload to allow another wireless device to determine an angle of arrival of the AoA packet, and (ii) insert a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) field in the PDU payload, the CRC field corresponding to at least one CRC of the supplementary field. Instructions for transmitting the AoA packet with the antenna are also included in the program code.

[012] In yet another aspect, a wireless device includes an antenna array, a transceiver, memory, and a processor. The processor is coupled to memory to access and execute instructions included in the program code to instruct the wireless device to receive, at the antenna array, an angle of arrival (AoA) packet from another wireless device and determine if a protocol data unit (PDU) payload of the AoA packet includes a supplementary field. If the PDU payload includes the supplementary field, the instructions instruct the mobile device to process the AoA packet to determine an angle of arrival of the AoA packet based on the supplementary field included in the PDU payload. The instructions to process Petition 870180142091, dated 10 / 18 / 2018, p. 10 / 71 5 / 32 The AoA package includes instructions to perform a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) based on a CRC field included in the PDU payload, the CRC field corresponding to at least a supplemental CRC field.

[013] In another aspect, a non-transient computer-readable medium includes program code stored on it to perform wireless communications by a wireless device. The program code includes instructions to generate a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) header from an Angle of Arrival (AoA) packet and to generate a PDU payload from the AoA packet corresponding to the PDU header. The instructions to generate the PDU payload include instructions to: (i) insert a supplementary field in the PDU payload to allow another wireless device to determine an angle of arrival of the AoA packet, and (ii) insert a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) field in the PDU payload, the CRC field corresponding to at least one CRC from the supplementary field. The program code further includes instructions to transmit the AoA packet with an antenna from the wireless device.

[014] According to another aspect, a non-transient computer-readable medium includes program code stored therein to perform wireless communication by a wireless device. The program code includes instructions to receive, on an array of antennas of the wireless device, an angle-of-arrival (AoA) packet from another wireless device and to determine whether a protocol data unit (PDU) payload of the AoA packet includes a supplementary field. If the PDU payload includes Petition 870180142091, dated 10 / 18 / 2018, page 11 / 71 6 / 32 The supplementary field, instructions additionally included in the program code include processing the AoA packet to determine an AoA packet arrival angle based on the supplementary field included in the PDU payload. The instructions for processing the AoA packet include instructions to perform a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) based on a CRC field included in the PDU payload, the CRC field corresponding to at least one CRC from the supplementary field.

[015] A wireless device is also provided in accordance with another aspect, wherein the wireless device includes means for generating a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) header of an Angle of Arrival (AoA) packet and means for generating a PDU payload of the AoA packet corresponding to the PDU header. The means for generating the PDU payload includes: (i) means for inserting a supplementary field in the PDU payload to enable another wireless device to determine an angle of arrival of the AoA packet, and (ii) means for inserting a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) field in the PDU payload, the CRC field corresponding to at least one CRC of the supplementary field. The wireless device also includes means for transmitting the AoA packet.

[016] According to another aspect, a wireless device includes a means to receive an angle of arrival (AoA) packet from another wireless device, and a means to determine whether a protocol data unit (PDU) payload of the AoA packet includes a supplementary field. If the PDU payload includes the supplementary field, a means that processes the AoA packet determines Petition 870180142091, dated 10 / 18 / 2018, page 12 / 71 7 / 32 An angle of arrival for the AoA packet based on the supplementary field included in the PDU payload. The means to process the AoA packet includes a means to perform cyclic redundancy checking (CRC) based on a CRC field included in the PDU payload, the CRC field corresponding to at least one CRC field from the supplementary field. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[017] The attached drawings are presented to assist in describing aspects of the invention and are provided solely for illustration of the aspects and not as a limitation thereof.

[018] Figure 1 illustrates an example wireless communication system, according to aspects of the disclosure.

[019] Figure 2 illustrates an example structure for an angle-of-arrival (AoA) packet according to a first wireless communication system.

[020] Figure 3 illustrates an example process of transmitting and receiving an AoA packet, according to aspects of disclosure.

[021] Figure 4 illustrates an example structure for a packet according to a second wireless communication system.

[022] Figure 5 illustrates an example structure for a packet according to a third wireless communication system.

[023] Figure 6 illustrates an example structure for a modified AoA package, according to aspects of the disclosure.

[024] Figure 7 illustrates a structure of Petition 870180142091, dated 10 / 18 / 2018, page 13 / 71 8 / 32 example for a modified AoA packet, generated by a wireless device, according to aspects of the revelation.

[025] Figure 8 illustrates the example structure for a modified AoA packet from Figure 7, as received and processed by a wireless device, according to aspects of the disclosure.

[026] Figure 9 illustrates example wireless devices, according to aspects of the disclosure.

[027] Figure 10 illustrates an example process of wireless communication by a wireless device that includes the generation of an AoA packet, according to aspects of the disclosure.

[028] Figure 11 illustrates an example process of wireless communication by a wireless device that includes receiving an AoA packet according to aspects of the disclosure.

[029] Figures 12 and 13 are simplified block diagrams of various sample aspects of wireless devices configured to support wireless communication as taught here. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[030] Several aspects are revealed in the following description and related drawings directed to specific aspects of the invention. Alternative aspects may be conceived without departing from the scope of the invention. Additionally, well-known elements of the invention will not be described in detail or will be omitted so as not to obscure the relevant details of the invention.

[031] The word exemplifier is used here to mean to serve as an example, instance or Petition 870180142091, dated 10 / 18 / 2018, page 14 / 71 9 / 32 illustration.” Any aspect described here as “exemplary” should not necessarily be interpreted as preferred or advantageous in relation to other aspects.

[032] The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing specific aspects only and is not intended to be limiting of aspects of the invention. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an”, and “the” are intended to include plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises”, “comprising”, “includes”, and / or “including”, when used herein, specify the presence of features, wholes, steps, operations, elements, and / or components mentioned, but do not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, wholes, steps, operations, elements, components, and / or groups thereof.

[033] Furthermore, many aspects are described in terms of sequences of actions to be performed, for example, by elements of a computing device. It will be recognized that several actions described herein may be performed by specific circuits (e.g., application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs)), by program code including instructions being accessed and executed by one or more processors, or by a combination of both. Additionally, these sequences of actions described herein may be considered as being fully incorporated into any form of media of Petition 870180142091, dated 10 / 18 / 2018, page 15 / 71 10 / 32 non-transient computer-readable storage having stored therein a corresponding set of computer instructions which, upon execution, would cause an associated processor to execute the functionality described herein. Thus, the various aspects of the invention can be embodied in several different forms, all of which have been considered to be included within the scope of the claimed subject matter.

[034] Figure 1 illustrates a wireless communication system 100, according to aspects of the disclosure. The illustrated example of the wireless communication system 100 includes a first wireless device 102 (i.e., a tag) and a second wireless device 104 (i.e., a locator). The first wireless device 102 is shown as including a Bluetooth transceiver 106 coupled to a single transmit antenna 108. The second wireless device 104 is shown as including antennas 110A-D (collectively referred to as an antenna array) coupled to a radio frequency (RF) switch 111. The RF switch 111 is coupled to a Bluetooth transceiver 114. The second wireless device 104 also includes an angle of arrival (AoA) estimation block 116 coupled to the Bluetooth transceiver 114.

[035] In operation, the first wireless device 102 is configured to transmit an AoA packet 118 with the single transmit antenna 108. In one example, the first wireless device 102 may transmit the AoA packet 118 in response to a request (not shown) received from the second wireless device 104. The AoA packet 118 is then received on the antenna array (i.e., Petition 870180142091, dated 10 / 18 / 2018, page 16 / 71 11 / 32 antennas 110A-D) of the second wireless device 104. Using the RF switch 111 and the Bluetooth transceiver 114, the AoA estimation block 116 can then determine the AoA 112 of the received AoA packet 118. For example, as mentioned above, the AoA estimation block 116 can estimate the AoA 112 by measuring the Time-of-Arrival Difference (TDOA) on individual antennas 110A-D of the array, from which these delays can be used to estimate the AoA 112. In some implementations, the TDOA measurement is done by measuring a difference in received phases between each of the antennas 110A-D. In one aspect, AoA 112 is representative of an angle between the second wireless device 104 and the first wireless device 102 with respect to a known reference 115. In one example, the known reference 115 could be a fixed direction, such as magnetic north, obtained from one or more other sensors, such as a compass (not shown), of the second wireless device 104.

[036] As will be discussed in more detail below, the AoA packet 118 may have a structure that allows the second wireless device 104 to determine the AoA 112 of the received AoA packet 118. For example, the AoA packet 118 may include a supplementary field that includes a bit sequence having the same logical state (e.g., a logical 1). The bit sequence of the supplementary field results in the transmission of a continuous waveform by the first wireless device 102, which can then be used by the second wireless device 104 to measure the phase differences with the antennas 110A-D.

[037] Figure 2 illustrates an example structure for a 200 angle of arrival (AoA) packet. Petition 870180142091, dated 10 / 18 / 2018, p. 17 / 71 12 / 32 agreement with an early wireless communication system. In one example, the AoA 200 packet structure conforms to a post-5.0 version of the Bluetooth Low Energy Link Layer. As shown in Figure 2, the AoA 200 packet includes a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) field 202 followed by a Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) field 204. Also included in the AoA 200 packet is a supplementary field 206 located after the CRC field 204. In one example, the supplementary field 206 includes a sequence of modulated logical 1 bits. Also, when compared with the structure for the AoA 400 and 500 packets, to be discussed below, the PDU header 208 is intended to include an SP field 212 as well as a supplementary information field 214. The SP field 212 may include an indicator bit to indicate the existence of the supplementary field 206.The supplementary information field 214 may include a supplementary time field 216, a field reserved for future use (RFU) 218, and a supplementary type field 220. The supplementary time field 216 may be configured to indicate a length of the supplementary field 206, and the supplementary type field 220 may be configured to indicate AoA or Departure Angle (AoD).

[038] Figure 3 illustrates an example process 300 of transmitting and receiving an AoA packet, according to aspects of disclosure. The encryption block 302, CRC generation block 304, and whitening block 306 correspond to operations performed by a first wireless device, such as first wireless device 102 in Figure 1, while the whitening block 310, CRC verification block 312, and decryption block Petition 870180142091, dated 10 / 18 / 2018, page 18 / 71 13 / 32 314 correspond to operations performed by a second wireless device, such as the second wireless device 104 in Figure 1. The illustrated RF interface example 308 corresponds to both the transmission operations performed by the Bluetooth transceiver 106 of the first wireless device 102, and the reception operations performed by the Bluetooth transceiver 114 of the second wireless device 104. The bits of an AoA packet (e.g., AoA packet 200) are transmitted through the air and modulated, as specified in a Bluetooth standard (e.g., Bluetooth 5.0) using a modem and a radio. The bit stream that is sent to the modem is pre-processed as shown by blocks 302-306. In one example, the PDU payload 210 is optionally encrypted using encryption block 302. CRC generation block 304 adds the CRC field 204. The CRC field 204 can correspond to a CRC of the entire PDU payload 210.The bit stream is then bleached (i.e., randomized) before being transmitted through the RF interface 308. In one example, the entire PDU payload 210 is encrypted and bleached, but the supplementary field 206 is not encrypted or bleached before the transmission of the AoA packet 200. That is, the supplementary field 206 is only modulated by the modem, resulting in a continuous waveform transmitted through the radio.

[039] A reverse process is performed by the second wireless device 104 after receiving the AoA packet 200. For example, the entire PDU payload 210 is bleached through the bleaching block 310, and CRC verification is performed using the CRC field. Petition 870180142091, dated 10 / 18 / 2018, page 19 / 71 14 / 32 204 by CRC verification block 312, and decryption of PDU payload 210 is performed by decryption block 314.

[040] While receiving supplementary field 206 from the AoA packet 200, the second wireless device 104 can switch between antennas 110A-110D and capture in-phase and quadrature (I&Q) samples instead of demodulating the data after the CRC. The I&Q samples can then be used by the AoA estimation block 116 to calculate a phase difference in the received radio signal using different antennas 110A-110D from the antenna array, which in turn is used to estimate the AoA 112.

[041] As shown above, the AoA 200 packet structure provides a dedicated supplementary field 206 that is outside the PDU field 202. The AoA 200 packet structure also provides dedicated supplementary information and SP fields 212 and 214 that are included in the PDU header 208. However, other packet structures, such as those included in Bluetooth 4.0 and 4.1, do not provide supplementary field 206, nor do they provide dedicated supplementary information and SP fields 212 and 214.

[042] For example, Figure 4 illustrates a structure for a 400 packet according to a second wireless communication system. In one example, the 400 packet structure conforms to a version 4.0 of the Bluetooth Low Energy Link Layer. The 400 packet structure is similar to the 200 packet structure in Figure 2. However, the 400 packet structure does not provide the supplementary field 206 nor does it include supplementary information fields or dedicated SPs 212 and 214 in the PDU header. Petition 870180142091, dated 10 / 18 / 2018, page 20 / 71 15 / 32 404. Furthermore, the 402 length field is shorter (i.e., 4 bits, max value 31) compared to the 200 packet length field.

[043] As another example, Figure 5 illustrates a structure for a 500 packet according to a third communication system. In one example, the 500 packet structure conforms to a version 4.1 of the Bluetooth Low Energy Link Layer. The 500 packet structure is similar to the 400 packet structure in Figure 4. The length field 502 is increased to 8 bits, allowing a maximum PDU size of 257. However, the 500 packet structure also does not provide the supplementary field 206 nor does it include supplementary information fields or dedicated SPs 212 and 214 in the PDU header 404.

[044] Many wireless devices employing Bluetooth utilize the packet structure shown above in Figures 4 and 5. That is, many, if not a majority, of existing wireless devices include Bluetooth transceivers that do not support the transmission of the AoA 200 packet which includes the supplementary field 206. Therefore, aspects of the present disclosure include a modified packet structure that can be used to simulate the AoA functionality of the AoA 200 packet. In one example, a modified packet structure is based on the 400 packet structure and / or the 500 packet structure (i.e., Bluetooth version 4.x).

[045] Figure 6 illustrates an example structure for a modified AoA 600 packet, according to aspects of the disclosure. As shown in Figure 6, the AoA 600 packet includes a protocol data unit field. Petition 870180142091, dated 10 / 18 / 2018, page 21 / 71 16 / 32 (PDU) 602. A PDU 604 header and a corresponding PDU 606 payload are included in PDU field 602. The PDU 606 payload is modified to include a supplementary field 618. The supplementary field 618 is similar to the supplementary field 206 discussed above, but instead of being a dedicated field outside the PDU, the modified AoA packet structure 600 incorporates the supplementary field 618 into the PDU 606 payload itself. The supplementary field 618 can include a bit sequence having the same logical state (e.g., logical 1).

[046] In addition, the PDU 606 payload can optionally be further modified to include a supplementary information field 612, an opcode field 614, and a CRC field 616. The supplementary information field 612 is similar to the supplementary information field 214 of packet 200, but instead of being a dedicated field in the PDU header, the modified AoA packet 600 structure incorporates the supplementary information field 612 into the PDU 606 payload itself. The opcode field 614 can indicate whether the AoA packet 600 is a response to a request from another device for the AoA packet 600. For example, the opcode field 614 can indicate LL_SUPPLEMENTAL_REQ or, alternatively, a property opcode. CRC field 616 corresponds to a CRC starting from one end of PDU header 604, through supplementary information field 612 to one end of opcode field 614.Additionally, a second CRC field, 620, is included in the PDU 606 payload, corresponding to one CRC of the entire PDU 606 payload.

[047] It is included in the information field Petition 870180142091, dated 10 / 18 / 2018, page 22 / 71 17 / 32 supplementary 612, a supplementary time field 622, an RFU field 624, and a supplementary type field 626. In one aspect, the supplementary information field 612 is representative of a length of supplementary field 618 included in the PDU payload 606.

[048] In some respects, the PDU 604 header of the AoA 600 packet can be optionally modified. That is, the PDU 604 header can be modified to indicate that the PDU 606 payload includes supplementary field 618. As an example, the PDU 604 header can be modified to include an SP bit in place of the RFU 608 field. The SP bit of the RFU 608 field can indicate that the PDU 606 payload includes supplementary field 618. Additionally, the length field 610 can optionally be extended to more than 5 bits.

[049] Therefore, the modified AoA packet structure 600 can enable a pre-5.1 version Bluetooth transceiver (e.g., Bluetooth 4.x) to transmit an AoA packet 600 that contains the Bluetooth 5.1 version functionality of enabling AoA measurements via supplementary field 618.

[050] Figure 7 illustrates an example structure for the modified AoA packet 600, generated by a wireless device (e.g., first wireless device 102 from Figure 1) according to aspects of the disclosure. The example modified AoA packet 600 is a modified Bluetooth 4.2 packet with an 8-bit length field transmitted as an AoA packet. As shown, the PDU header 604 indicates a length of 33 bytes. The Supplementary Time Field 622 indicates a supplementary field. Petition 870180142091, dated 10 / 18 / 2018, page 23 / 71 18 / 32 of IbOμε of length 618. The total PDU length is 36 bytes including the CRC field 620 at the end. As will be discussed below, encryption and whitewashing can be turned off before the transmission of supplementary field 618. That is, encryption and / or whitewashing can be turned off for the entire PDU payload 606, or encryption and / or whitewashing can be turned off only for supplementary field 618 so that a portion of the PDU payload 606 is encrypted and / or whitewashed while supplementary field 618 remains unencrypted and / or unwhitewashed.

[051] It is recognized that the bleaching and non-bleaching process may be the same process in Bluetooth (e.g., XOR data mix bit sequence). Thus, in one example, supplementary field 618 is bleached when it is inserted into the payload of PDU 606, where a subsequent bleaching of the entire PDU payload 606 is performed before the transmission of AoA packet 600. Thus, the subsequent bleaching of the entire PDU payload 606 will remove the previous bleaching of supplementary field 618 only.

[052] Figure 8 illustrates the example structure for a modified AoA packet from Figure 7, as received and processed by a wireless device (e.g., second wireless device 104 from Figure 1), according to aspects of the disclosure.

[053] In one example, the second wireless device 104 is pre-programmed to disable decryption and / or whiteout at least during reception of supplementary field 618. The PDU length Petition 870180142091, dated 10 / 18 / 2018, page 24 / 71 19 / 32 can be pre-programmed to a predetermined length (e.g., 1 Byte) or the second wireless device 104 can be configured to detect the PDU length from the PDU header 604 (e.g., length field 610), so that only a lower portion (e.g., lower 5 bits) of the length field 610 is used. The Bluetooth transceiver 114 is configured to capture and demodulate the PDU payload 606 up to one end of the first CRC field 616, where the Bluetooth transceiver 114 then switches on I&Q sampling during reception of the supplementary field 618 as with a packet that was transmitted according to packet structure 200 (e.g., as if the AoA packet were transmitted with a Bluetooth 5.1 transmitter).

[054] In one aspect, the Bluetooth transceiver 114 of the second wireless device 104 can be configured to stop before the end of the AoA 600 packet. For example, the Bluetooth transceiver 114 can stop durations of 11 Bytes before the end of the AoA 600 packet because the maximum value (e.g., 20) of the supplementary time field 622 as per Bluetooth 5.1 was used in the AoA 600 packet. That is, by using a larger value for the supplementary time field 622, or by using a smaller value for the length field 610, the transmitted and received versions of the AoA 600 packet can terminate at the same time. In this case, the final CRC field 620 can be omitted from the I / Q sample capture by the Bluetooth transceiver 114.

[055] Figure 9 illustrates example 900A and 900B wireless devices, according to aspects of the disclosure. In some examples, the 900A wireless devices Petition 870180142091, dated 10 / 18 / 2018, page 25 / 71 20 / 32 and 900B can be referred to here as wireless mobile stations. Wireless devices 900A and 900B are possible implementations of the first wireless device 102 and / or second wireless device 104 in Figure 1. The example wireless device 900A is illustrated in Figure 9 as a calling phone, and wireless device 900B is illustrated as a touchscreen device (e.g., a smartphone, a tablet computer, etc.). As shown in Figure 9, an external housing 935A of the wireless device 900A is configured with at least one antenna 905A, display 910A, at least one button 915A (e.g., a PTT button, a power button, a volume control button, etc.), and keypad 920A, among other components not shown in Figure 9 for clarity.An external housing 935B of the wireless device 900B is configured with a touch screen display 905B, peripheral buttons 910B, 915B, 920B and 925B (e.g., a power control button, a vibrate or volume control button, an airplane mode toggle button, etc.), at least one front panel button 930B (e.g., a Home button, etc.) among other components, not shown in Figure 9 for clarity. For example, although not explicitly shown as part of the 900B wireless device, the 900B wireless device may include one or more external antennas and / or one or more integrated antennas that are embedded in the 935B external housing of the 900B wireless device, including but not limited to Bluetooth antennas, WiFi antennas, cellular antennas, satellite positioning system (SPS) antennas (e.g., global positioning system (GPS) antennas), etc. Petition 870180142091, dated 10 / 18 / 2018, page 26 / 71 21 / 32

[056] Although the internal components of wireless devices such as the 900A and 900B wireless devices may be incorporated with different hardware configurations, a basic high-level configuration for internal hardware components is shown as platform 902 in Figure 9. Platform 902 can receive and execute software applications, data, and / or commands transmitted from a radio access network (RAN) that may ultimately come from a core network, the Internet, and / or other remote servers and networks (e.g., an application server, network URLs, etc.). Platform 902 can also independently execute locally stored applications without RAN interaction. Platform 902 may include a transceiver 906 operatively coupled to an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) 908, or other processor, microprocessor, logic circuit, or other data processing device.ASIC 908 or another processor executes an application programming interface (API) layer 910 that interfaces with any programs residing in a memory 912 of the wireless device. The memory 912 may consist of random access or read-only memory (RAM and ROM), EEPROM, flash cards, or any memory common to computer platforms. The platform 902 may also include a local database 914 that may store applications not actively used in memory 912, as well as other data. The local database 914 is typically a flash memory cell, but it may be any secondary storage device as known in the art, such as magnetic media, EEPROM, optical media, tape, etc. Petition 870180142091, dated 10 / 18 / 2018, page 27 / 71 22 / 32 disc soft or hard or similar.

[057] In one aspect, wireless communication by 900A and 900B wireless devices can be enabled by the 906 transceiver based on different technologies such as CDMA, W-CDMA, Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM), GSM, 2G, 3G, 4G, LTE, Bluetooth, or other protocols that can be used in a wireless communication network or a data communication network. Voice and / or data transmission can be transmitted to the electronic devices of a RAN using a variety of networks and configurations. Therefore, the illustrations provided herein are not intended to limit aspects of the invention and are merely to assist in describing aspects of the invention.

[058] Therefore, aspects of the present disclosure may include a wireless device (e.g., wireless devices 900A, 900B, etc.) configured and including the ability to perform the functions as described herein. For example, transceiver 906 may be implemented as Bluetooth transceiver 114 and / or Bluetooth transceiver 106 of Figure 1. Furthermore, memory 912 may be adapted to store program code, where a processor, such as ASIC 908, is coupled to memory 912 to access and execute instructions included in the program code. The instructions included in the program code may be configured to instruct platform 902 to generate and / or receive an AoA packet, such as AoA packet 600 of Figure 6. Additional operations to be performed by platform 902 will be described in further detail with Petition 870180142091, dated 10 / 18 / 2018, page 28 / 71 23 / 32 in relation to process 1000 in figure 10 and process 1100 in figure 11.

[059] As will be recognized by those skilled in the art, the various logic elements can be incorporated into discrete elements, software modules running on a processor, or any combination of software and hardware to achieve the functionality disclosed herein. For example, ASIC 908, memory 912, API 910, and local database 914 can all be used cooperatively to load, store, and execute the various functions disclosed herein, and thus the logic for executing these functions can be distributed across multiple elements. Alternatively, the functionality could be incorporated into a discrete component. Therefore, the features of the wireless devices 900A and 900B in Figure 9 should be considered merely illustrative, and the invention is not limited to the illustrated features or arrangement.

[060] Figure 10 illustrates an example process 1000 of wireless communication by a wireless device that includes generating an AoA packet 600, according to aspects of the disclosure. Process 1000 is an example process capable of being executed by at least the first wireless device 102 of Figure 1. In one example, the Bluetooth transceiver 106 of the first wireless device 102 is a Bluetooth 4.1 transceiver that does not support the generation of an AoA packet according to the AoA packet structure 200 of Figure 2.

[061] Therefore, the Bluetooth 106 transceiver can be configured to generate a modified AoA 600 packet, such as the one described above with Petition 870180142091, dated 10 / 18 / 2018, page 29 / 71 24 / 32 reference to Figure 6. For example, in a process block 1002, Bluetooth transceiver 106 generates a PDU 604 header from an AoA packet 600. In one aspect, the generation of the PDU 604 header includes modifying the PDU 604 header to indicate that the PDU 606 payload includes supplementary field 618. Modifying the PDU 604 header to indicate that the PDU 606 payload includes supplementary field 618 may involve replacing or setting one or more reserved bits of the RFU 608 field with one or more bits (e.g., SP bit).

[062] Next, in a process block 1004, Bluetooth transceiver 106 generates PDU payload 606 from AoA packet 600. The generation of PDU payload 606 from AoA packet 600 includes inserting supplementary field 618 into PDU payload 606 (e.g., process block 1006). As discussed above, supplementary field 618 can include a bit sequence having the same logic state (e.g., logic 1). The generation of PDU payload 606 also includes inserting CRC field 616 into PDU payload 606 (e.g., process block 1007), where CRC field 616 corresponds to at least one CRC from supplementary field 618.

[063] Optionally, process block 1004 may also include inserting one or more additional fields into the PDU payload 606. For example, Bluetooth transceiver 106 may insert a supplementary information field 612 into the PDU payload, where supplementary information field 612 may include supplementary time field 622, RFU field 624, and / or supplementary type field 626. Process block 1004 may also include inserting the opcode field. Petition 870180142091, dated 10 / 18 / 2018, page 30 / 71 25 / 32 614 in the PDU payload 606, where the opcode field 614 indicates whether the AoA packet 600 is a response to a request from another wireless device (e.g., second wireless device 104). In one example, the CRC field 616 corresponds to a CRC from one end of the PDU header 604, through the supplementary information field 612 to one end of the opcode field 614. Finally, process block 1004 may include inserting a second CRC field 620 that corresponds to a CRC of the entire PDU payload 606.

[064] Next, in process block 1008, the first wireless device 102 transmits the AoA packet 600 with the single transmitting antenna 108. As discussed above, the transmission of the AoA packet 600 may include transmitting the AoA packet 600 without encrypting the supplementary field 618. That is, the entire PDU payload 606 may be unencrypted, or alternatively, a portion of the PDU payload 606 may be encrypted without encrypting the supplementary field 618. Similarly, the transmission of the AoA packet 600 may include transmitting the AoA packet 600 without randomizing the supplementary field 618. That is, the entire PDU payload 606 may be unbleached, or alternatively, a portion of the PDU payload 606 may be bleached without bleaching the supplementary field 618.Furthermore, supplementary field 618 may be bleached when inserted into the PDU payload 606 where a subsequent bleaching of the entire PDU payload 606 is performed prior to transmission to remove the previous bleaching of supplementary field 618.

[065] Figure 11 illustrates a process of Petition 870180142091, dated 10 / 18 / 2018, page 31 / 71 Example 1100 of wireless communication by a wireless device includes receiving an AoA 600 packet, according to aspects of the disclosure. Process 1100 is an example process capable of being executed by at least the second wireless device 104 of Figure 1. In one example, the Bluetooth transceiver 114 of the second wireless device 104 is a Bluetooth 5.1 transceiver that supports processing an AoA packet according to the AoA packet structure 200 of Figure 2. However, the Bluetooth transceiver 114 can also be configured to support processing an AoA packet according to the AoA packet structure 600 of Figure 6, which is generated by a Bluetooth transceiver that does not conform to Bluetooth 5.1.

[066] For example, in process block 1102, Bluetooth transceiver 114 receives an AoA 600 packet on an antenna array (e.g., antennas 110A-D) from the first wireless device 102. Then, in process block 1104, the second wireless device 104 determines whether the PDU 606 payload of the AoA 600 packet includes supplemental field 618. In one aspect, the second wireless device 104 can assume that all received AoA 600 packets have supplemental field 618 in the PDU 606 payload. In another example, the second wireless device 104 can be configured to dynamically detect whether the PDU 606 payload includes supplemental field 618. For example, process block 1104 might include determining whether the PDU 604 header indicates whether the PDU 606 payload includes the supplementary field 618, for example, by inspecting (e.g., reading) one or more bits. Petition 870180142091, dated 10 / 18 / 2018, pp. 32 / 71 27 / 32 reserved in RFU field 608. If RFU field 608 indicates that PDU payload 606 includes supplemental field 618, process 1100 can proceed with processing AoA package 600 to determine AoA 112 based on supplemental field 618 included in PDU payload 606 (i.e., process block 1106).

[067] For example, process block 1106 may include reading supplementary information field 612 to determine a supplementary field length (e.g., via supplementary time field 622), and / or may determine an AoA packet type 6000 via supplementary type field 626. Process block 1106 may also include reading an opcode included in opcode field 614 to determine if AoA packet 600 is a response to a request for AoA packet 600. Process block 1106 may also include performing a CRC check based on the CRC included in CRC field 616 (i.e., process block 1108). In addition to the CRC check performed based on CRC field 616, process block 1106 may include performing a second CRC check based on the CRC included in CRC field 620.

[068] As mentioned above, the AoA packet 600 can be transmitted with at least the supplementary field 618 unencrypted. That is, a portion of the PDU payload 606 can be encrypted while the supplementary field 618 is received unencrypted. Thus, the second wireless device 104 can be configured to decrypt the PDU payload 606 without decrypting the supplementary field 618. Similarly, the second wireless device 104 can be configured to decrypt the payload. Petition 870180142091, dated 10 / 18 / 2018, pp. 33 / 71 28 / 32 useful of PDU 606 without whitening the supplementary field 618.

[069] Figure 12 illustrates an example wireless device 1200 represented as a series of interrelated functional modules. A module 1202 for generating a PDU header from an AoA packet 600 may correspond at least in some respects to, for example, Bluetooth transceiver 106 from Figure 1, transceiver 906 from Figure 9 and / or ASIC 908 from Figure 9 as discussed here. A module 1204 for generating a PDU payload from the AoA packet may correspond at least in some respects to, for example, transceiver 106 from Figure 1, transceiver 906 from Figure 9, and / or ASIC 908 from Figure 9, as discussed here. A 1208 module for transmitting the AoA packet with a single antenna may correspond, at least in some respects, to, for example, the 106 transceiver in Figure 1, the 906 transceiver in Figure 9, and / or the 108 antenna in Figure 1, as discussed here.As shown in Figure 12, module 1204 may include a module 1206 to insert a supplementary field in the PDU payload as well as a module 1207 to insert the CRC field in the AoA package's PDU payload. Modules 1206 and 1207 may correspond, at least in some respects, to transceiver 106 in Figure 1, transceiver 906 in Figure 9, and / or ASIC 908 in Figure 9, as discussed herein.

[070] Figure 13 illustrates an example wireless device 1300 represented as a series of interrelated functional modules. A module 1302 for receiving an AoA 600 packet on an antenna array may correspond at least in some respects to, for example, transceiver 114 of Figure 1, transceiver 906 of Figure 9 and / or antennas 110A-D of Figure 1 as discussed herein. A Petition 870180142091, dated 10 / 18 / 2018, pp. 34 / 71 A module 1304 to determine if an AoA packet PDU payload includes a supplementary field may correspond, at least in some respects, to transceiver 114 in Figure 1, transceiver 906 in Figure 9, and / or ASIC 908 in Figure 9, as discussed herein. A module 1306 to process the AoA packet to determine an AoA packet arrival angle based on the supplementary field included in the PDU payload may correspond, at least in some respects, to transceiver 114 in Figure 1, AoA estimation block 116, transceiver 906 in Figure 9, and / or ASIC 908 in Figure 9, as discussed herein. As shown in Figure 13, module 1306 may include a module 1308 to perform a CRC based on the CRC field 616 included in the PDU payload 606.Module 1308 may correspond, at least in some respects, to transceiver 114 in Figure 1, AoA estimation block 116, transceiver 906 in Figure 9, and / or ASIC 908 in Figure 9, as discussed here.

[071] The functionality of the modules in Figures 12-13 can be implemented in various ways consistent with the teachings of the present invention. In some designs, the functionality of these modules can be implemented as one or more electrical components. In some designs, the functionality of these blocks can be implemented as a processing system including one or more processor components. In some designs, the functionality of these modules can be implemented using, for example, at least a portion of one or more integrated circuits (e.g., an ASIC). As discussed herein, an integrated circuit can include a processor, software, Petition 870180142091, dated 10 / 18 / 2018, pp. 35 / 71 30 / 32 other related components or some combination thereof. Thus, the functionality of different modules may be implemented, for example, as different subsets of an integrated circuit, as different subsets of a set of software modules, or a combination thereof. Also, it will be recognized that a given subset (e.g., of an integrated circuit and / or a set of software modules) may provide at least a portion of the functionality for more than one module.

[072] Furthermore, the components and functions represented by Figures 12-13, as well as other components and functions described herein, may be implemented using any suitable means. Such means may also be implemented, at least in part, using corresponding structure as taught herein. For example, the components described above in combination with the “module for” components of Figures 12-13 may also correspond to similarly designated “means for” functionality. Thus, in some respects, one or more such means may be implemented using one or more of the processor components, integrated circuits, or other suitable structure as taught herein.

[073] Furthermore, those skilled in the art will recognize that the various illustrative logic blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described with respect to the aspects disclosed herein can be implemented as electronic hardware or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. To clearly illustrate this hardware exchange and hardware-software combinations, various illustrative components, blocks, Petition 870180142091, dated 10 / 18 / 2018, pp. 36 / 71 31 / 32 modules, circuits, and stages have been described above generally in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends on the specific application and design limitations imposed on the system as a whole. Skilled technicians may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each specific application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as departing from the scope of the present invention.

[074] The methods, sequences, and / or algorithms described with respect to the aspects disclosed herein may be incorporated directly into hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in a combination of both. A software module may reside in RAM, flash memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, a hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage media known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor so that the processor can read information from, and write information to, the storage medium. Alternatively, the storage medium may be integrated into the processor.

[075] Therefore, one aspect of the invention may include a non-transient computer-readable medium incorporating a method for generating and receiving an angle-of-arrival (AoA) packet in a wireless communication system, as taught herein. Therefore, the invention is not limited to illustrated examples and any means for performing the functionality described herein are included in aspects of the invention. Petition 870180142091, dated 10 / 18 / 2018, pp. 37 / 71 32 / 32

[076] Although the above disclosure shows illustrative aspects of the invention, it should be noted that various alterations and modifications may be made to it if it deviates from the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. The functions, steps and / or actions of the method claims according to the aspects of the invention described herein need not be performed in any specific order. Furthermore, although elements of the invention may be described or claimed in the singular, the plural is considered unless limitation to the singular is explicitly mentioned. Petition 870180142091, dated 10 / 18 / 2018, pp. 38 / 71

Claims

1 / 6 CLAIMS 1. Wireless communication method by a wireless device, the method characterized by comprising: generating (1002), by the wireless device, a protocol data unit header, PDU (604), of an angle of arrival packet, AoA (600), wherein the PDU header (604) includes a field reserved for future use, RFU (608); generate (1004), by the wireless device, a PDU payload (606) of the AoA packet (600) corresponding to the PDU header (604), wherein the generation of the PDU payload (606) includes: inserting (1006) a supplementary field (618) into the PDU payload (606) to allow another wireless device to determine an angle of arrival of the AoA packet (600), and inserting (1007) a cyclic redundancy check field, CRC (616), into the PDU payload (606), the CRC field (616) corresponding to at least a CRC of the supplementary field (618);modify the PDU header (604) to replace one or more reserved bits of the RFU field (608) to indicate that the PDU payload (606) includes the supplementary field (618); and transmit (1008) the AoA packet (600) with a single antenna from the wireless device.; 2. Method according to claim 1, characterized by the generation (1002) of the PDU payload (606) of the AoA package (600) further comprising: Petition 870260026412, dated 20 / 03 / 2026, page 5 / 18 2 / 6 inserting a supplementary information field (612) in the PDU payload (606), wherein the supplementary information field (612) includes at least one field selected from the group: a supplementary time field (622) indicating a supplementary field length, a reserved field (624) and a supplementary type field (626).

3. Method according to claim 1, characterized by the generation (1002) of the PDU payload (606) of the AoA packet (600) further comprising: inserting an opcode field (614) in the PDU payload (606), wherein the opcode field (614) indicates whether the AoA packet (600) is a response to a request from the other device for the AoA packet (600).

4. Method according to claim 1, characterized by generating (1002) the PDU payload (606) of the AoA package (600) further comprising generating the PDU payload (606) to include: a supplementary information field (612); an opcode field (614); the CRC field (616), wherein the CRC field (616) corresponds to a CRC from one end of a PDU header (604), through the supplementary information field (612), to one end of the opcode field (614); and the supplementary field (618).

5. Method according to claim 4, characterized by generating (1002) the PDU payload (606) of the AoA package (606) further comprising generating the PDU payload (606) to include: a second CRC field (620) corresponding to Petition 870260026412, dated 03 / 20 / 2026, page 6 / 18 3 / 6 a CRC of the entire PDU payload (606).

6. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises transmitting (1008) the AoA packet (600) without encrypting the supplementary field (618).

7. Method according to claim 1, characterized by further comprising transmitting (1008) the AoA package (600) without whitening the supplementary field (618).

8. Method according to claim 7, characterized by further comprising bleaching at least a portion of the PDU payload (606) without bleaching the supplementary field (618).

9. Wireless communication method by a wireless device, the method characterized by comprising: receiving (1102), on an antenna array of the wireless device, an angle of arrival packet, AoA (600), from another wireless device, wherein the AoA packet (600) includes a protocol data unit payload, PDU (606), and a corresponding PDU header (604), and wherein the PDU header (604) includes a field reserved for future use, RFU (608); determining (1104) whether one or more reserved bits of the RFU field indicate that the PDU payload (606) includes a supplementary field (618); and if so process (1106) the AoA package (600) to determine an arrival angle of the AoA package (600) based on the supplementary field (618) included in the PDU payload (606), wherein the processing of the AoA package (600) Petition 870260026412, dated 03 / 20 / 2026, page.7 / 18 4 / 6 comprises performing (1108) cyclic redundancy check, CRC, based on a CRC field (616) included in the PDU payload (606), the CRC field (616) corresponding to at least a CRC of the supplementary field (618).

10. Method according to claim 9, characterized in that the processing of the AoA package (600) further comprises: reading a supplementary information field included in the PDU payload (606) of the AoA package (600), wherein the supplementary information field (612) includes at least one field selected from the group of a supplementary time field (622) indicating a supplementary field length (618), a reserved field (624) and a supplementary type field (626).

11. Method, according to claim 1 or 9, characterized by the supplementary field (618) comprising a sequence of bits having the same logical state.

12. Method according to claim 11, characterized by further comprising: switching between antennas of the antenna array (110A-D) while receiving the supplementary field (618) from the PDU payload (606); capturing in-phase and quadrature, I&Q, samples of the supplementary field (618); calculating one or more phase differences based on the I&Q samples; and estimating the angle of arrival based on one or more phase differences.

13. Wireless device (1200), characterized Petition 870260026412, dated 03 / 20 / 2026, page 8 / 18 5 / 6 by comprising: means for generating (1202) a protocol data unit header, PDU (604), of an angle of arrival packet, AoA (600), wherein the PDU header (604) includes a field reserved for future use, RFU (608); means for generating (1206) a PDU payload (606) of the AoA packet (600) corresponding to the PDU header (604), wherein the means for generating the PDU payload (606) include: means for inserting (1206) a supplementary field (618) into the PDU payload (606) to allow another wireless device to determine an angle of arrival of the AoA packet (600); and means for inserting (1207) a cyclic redundancy check field, CRC (616), into the PDU payload (606), the CRC field (616) corresponding to at least a CRC of the supplementary field (618);means to modify the PDU header (604) by replacing one or more reserved bits of the RFU field to indicate that the PDU payload (606) includes the supplementary field (618); and means to transmit (1208) the AoA packet (600).

14. Wireless device (1300), characterized by comprising: means for receiving (1302) an angle of arrival packet, AoA (600), from another wireless device, wherein the AoA packet (600) includes a protocol data unit payload, PDU (606), and a corresponding PDU header (604), and wherein the PDU header (604) includes a Petition 870260026412, dated 20 / 03 / 2026, p.9 / 18 6 / 6 field reserved for future use, RFU (608); means for determining (1304) whether one or more reserved bits of the RFU field indicate that the PDU payload (606) includes a supplementary field (618); and if so, means for processing (1306) the AoA packet (600) to determine an arrival angle of the AoA packet (600) based on the supplementary field (618) included in the PDU payload (606), wherein the means for processing the AoA packet (600) comprise means for performing (1308) cyclic redundancy check, CRC, based on a CRC field (616) included in the PDU payload (606), the CRC field (616) corresponding to at least a CRC of the supplementary field (618).

15. Memory characterized by comprising instructions which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform the method as defined in any one of claims 1 to 12. Petition 870260026412, dated 03 / 20 / 2026, p. 10 / 18

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