Bluetooth electronic system with automatic role judgment

Abstract

An electronic system with automatic role determination includes a first device and a second device. The first device is capable of acting as both a central device and a peripheral device, and is configured to initiate an automatic pairing mode and continuously transmit broadcast packets. The second device is also capable of acting as both a central device and a peripheral device, and is configured to initiate an automatic pairing mode and continuously transmit broadcast packets. In the automatic pairing mode, the first device receives broadcast packets from the second device and executes an automatic role determination procedure based on the broadcast packets from both devices to identify a central device. The central device then initiates and executes a pairing connection operation.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] This invention relates to an electronic system, and more particularly to an electronic system with automatic role determination. [Previous Technology]

[0002] With the development of wireless communication technology, most electronic products support Bluetooth transmission. Among them, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) technology has been widely used in various products. During the pairing process, BLE devices can be divided into central devices and peripheral devices. The central device can pair and connect with peripheral devices to communicate. However, in existing applications, each device must be pre-set to either the central device role or the peripheral device role for pairing. However, once the device roles are pre-set, peripheral devices cannot pair and connect with each other. Central devices also cannot pair and connect with each other. This limits the expandability of electronic devices and reduces their ease of use. Therefore, existing technology needs improvement. [Summary of the Invention]

[0003] In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides an electronic system with automatic role determination to solve the above problems.

[0004] The present invention provides an electronic system with automatic role determination, comprising: a first device for activating an automatic pairing mode and transmitting a broadcast packet of the first device; and a second device for activating the automatic pairing mode and transmitting a broadcast packet of the second device; wherein the first device receives a broadcast packet of the second device in the automatic pairing mode, and performs an automatic role determination procedure based on the broadcast packet of the first device and the broadcast packet of the second device, so as to determine a central device from the first device and the second device, and the central device initiates and executes a pairing connection operation.

Implementation Method

[0006] Certain terms are used in the specification and subsequent claims to refer to specific elements. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that manufacturers may use different names to refer to the same element. This specification and subsequent claims do not distinguish elements by differences in name, but by differences in function. The terms "comprising" or "including" used throughout this specification and subsequent claims are open-ended and should be interpreted as "including but not limited to".

[0007] One embodiment of the present invention includes an electronic system comprising a plurality of electronic devices (hereinafter referred to as devices). The devices may have wireless communication capabilities. The number of devices in the electronic system may be determined according to actual needs. The devices may support Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) protocol, Bluetooth protocol, or other wireless communication protocols to establish wireless connections for transmitting and receiving data. The devices of the present invention may simultaneously possess the capability to act as a central device (i.e., a central role) and as a peripheral device (i.e., a peripheral role). If it has the capability to act as a central device, the device may perform the central device role to initiate and establish a pairing connection when establishing communication between devices. If it has the capability to act as a peripheral device, the device may perform the peripheral device role to cooperate with the central device to achieve a pairing connection when establishing communication between devices. The devices of the present invention may simultaneously possess the capabilities of both a central device and a peripheral device. The devices of the present invention may not require pre-setting device roles and may establish pairing connections through the automatic role determination procedure of the present invention. The device in the embodiments of the present invention may be a wearable device, a smartphone, a smartwatch, a smart bracelet, a smart positioning tag, an earphone, a mobile communication device, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, an embedded system product, a television, or a desktop computer, but is not limited thereto.

[0008] This embodiment of the invention can be applied to the process of pairing and connecting devices. Through this embodiment, devices whose roles have not yet been predefined can automatically determine their roles and establish pairing connections. Please refer to Figure 1, which is a schematic diagram of process 10 of one of the connection methods with automatic role determination according to an embodiment of the invention. Process 10 includes the following steps:

[0009] Step S100: Start.

[0010] Step S102: The first device starts an automatic pairing mode.

[0011] Step S104: Receive the broadcast packet from the second device.

[0012] Step S106: Execute an automatic role determination procedure based on the broadcast packets of the first device and the broadcast packets of the second device to determine the central device from the first device and the second device.

[0013] Step S108: The central device initiates and executes the pairing connection operation.

[0014] Step S110: End.

[0015] According to process 10, in step S102, the devices in the electronic system of this embodiment can respectively activate an automatic pairing mode with automatic role determination and transmit a broadcast packet. For ease of explanation, the following description uses a first device and a second device as examples. The first device and the second device can be one of the plurality of devices in the electronic system of this invention. The first device can simultaneously have the capability to act as a central device and as a peripheral device. Furthermore, the second device can simultaneously have the capability to act as a central device and as a peripheral device. The first device has not been pre-configured as a central device or a peripheral device, and the second device has not been pre-configured as a central device or a peripheral device. The first device and the second device can respectively activate the automatic pairing mode with automatic role determination based on the user's operation.

[0016] For example, please refer to Figures 2 and 3. Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of the operation of pairing connection for automatic role determination in an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of the operational state relationship between devices during pairing connection in an embodiment of the present invention. Taking pairing connection between BLE devices as an example, device A and device B each support the BLE communication protocol. Both device A and device B have the ability to act as a central device and as a peripheral device. As shown in Figure 2, at time T1, device A starts and enters the BLE automatic pairing mode based on a user's operation (e.g., pressing a specific button for 3 seconds). At time T3, device B starts and enters the BLE automatic pairing mode based on another user's operation (e.g., pressing a specific button for 3 seconds). For example, as shown in Figure 3, in operation state 300, device A starts the BLE automatic pairing mode and is in the BLE automatic pairing mode. Furthermore, device B also starts the BLE automatic pairing mode and is in the BLE automatic pairing mode.

[0017] In automatic pairing mode, each device can periodically transmit corresponding broadcast packets. In one embodiment, the broadcast packet may include proprietary information. The proprietary information may include a unique value that is not the same as that of other devices, such as at least one of a Media Access Control Address (MAC Address), a product serial number, and a random number, but is not limited thereto. For example, the proprietary information may be encapsulated in a manufacturer-specific data field of the broadcast packet. The manufacturer-specific data field may be defined by the manufacturer or the user. For example, the manufacturer-specific data field may be a manufacturer-specific data field with a common data type of 0xFF in the advertising data structure (AD structure) of the Bluetooth Low Energy broadcast packet, but is not limited thereto. As shown in Figure 2, at time T2, device A transmits a corresponding broadcast packet AD1 in BLE automatic pairing mode. Broadcast packet AD1 includes proprietary information related to device A. At time T4, device B transmits a corresponding broadcast packet AD2 in BLE automatic pairing mode. Broadcast packet AD2 includes proprietary information related to device B.

[0018] In one embodiment, the broadcast packet includes identification information, which can be used to indicate whether the device has the capability to execute an automatic role determination procedure. For example, the identification information can be used to indicate whether the device has the capability to execute the automatic role determination procedure of step S106. For example, the identification information can be encapsulated and added to a manufacturer-specific data field of the broadcast packet. As shown in Figure 2, at time T2, device A has the capability to execute the automatic role determination procedure and encapsulates the corresponding identification information into the broadcast packet AD1 of device A, and device A transmits the broadcast packet AD1. Device A periodically transmits the broadcast packet AD1. At time T4, device B has the capability to execute the automatic role determination procedure and encapsulates the corresponding identification information into the broadcast packet AD2 of device B, and device B transmits the broadcast packet AD2 at time T4. Device B periodically transmits the broadcast packet AD2.

[0019] In step S104, each device can receive broadcast packets transmitted by other devices and parse the packet content for subsequent automatic role determination. For example, as shown in Figure 2, at time T5, device A can receive broadcast packet AD2 from device B. Device B can receive broadcast packet AD1 from device A.

[0020] In step S106, the first device can execute an automatic role determination procedure based on the broadcast packets of the first device and the second device to determine a central device from the first device and the second device. That is, the first device can execute an automatic role determination procedure to select one of the first device and the second device as the central device. Further, when the second device is determined to be the central device, the first device can determine that the first device is a peripheral device. When the first device is determined to be the central device, the first device can determine that the second device is a peripheral device. As shown in Figure 2, at time T6, device A can execute an automatic role determination procedure based on broadcast packets AD1 and AD2 to determine the BLE central device and the BLE peripheral device. At time T7, after executing the automatic role determination procedure, device A determines that device A is the BLE central device and device B is the BLE peripheral device.

[0021] In one embodiment, the first device has the capability to execute an automatic role determination procedure. The first device can parse the broadcast packets of the second device to obtain the identification information in the broadcast packets and determine whether the second device has the capability to execute the automatic role determination procedure. The identification information in the broadcast packets of the second device indicates that the second device has the capability to execute the automatic role determination procedure, which means that both the first device and the second device have the capability to execute the automatic role determination procedure. When the automatic pairing mode is started, both devices will execute the automatic role determination procedure. In this case, since the automatic role determination procedure is executed based on the broadcast packets of the first device and the second device, the automatic role determination procedure executed by either the first device or the second device will have the same device role determination result. As shown in Figure 2, at time T6, device A can execute the automatic role determination procedure based on broadcast packets AD1 and AD2 to determine the BLE central device and the BLE peripheral device. Device B can also execute the automatic role determination procedure based on broadcast packets AD1 and AD2 to determine the BLE central device and the BLE peripheral device. For example, as shown in Figure 3, in operation state 302, both device A and device B have the ability to execute an automatic role determination program.

[0022] Further, the first device can execute an automatic role determination procedure based on the specific information in the broadcast packets of the first device and the second device to determine the central device from the first device and the second device. For example, the first device can obtain specific information related to the first device from a manufacturer-specific data field in the broadcast packets of the first device. The first device can parse the broadcast packets of the second device to obtain specific information related to the second device from a manufacturer-specific data field in the broadcast packets of the second device. When executing the automatic role determination procedure, the first device can compare the specific information in the broadcast packets of the first device with the specific information in the broadcast packets of the second device to generate a comparison result, and determine the central device and the peripheral device based on the comparison result.

[0023] In one embodiment, the exclusive information in the broadcast packet of the first device includes a unique value VA that is different from other devices. The exclusive information in the broadcast packet of the second device includes a unique value VB that is different from other devices. When executing the automatic role determination procedure, the first device can obtain the unique value VA of the first device and the unique value VB of the second device from the broadcast packets of the first device and the second device, respectively. The first device can compare the unique value VA of the first device and the unique value VB of the second device to generate a comparison result, and determine the central device and the peripheral device based on the comparison result. When the comparison result shows that the unique value VA of the first device is greater than the unique value VB of the second device, the first device determines that the first device is the central device and the second device is the peripheral device. When the comparison result shows that the unique value VB of the second device is greater than the unique value VA of the first device, the first device determines that the second device is the central device and the first device is the peripheral device. For example, as shown in Figures 2 and 3, at time T7, device A compares the unique value VA of device A with the unique value VB of device B. The comparison results show that the unique value VA of device A is greater than the unique value VB of device B. Therefore, device A is determined to be the BLE central device, and device B is determined to be the BLE peripheral device.

[0024] The unique value that is different from other devices described in the above embodiments may be a Media Access Control Address (MAC Address), a product serial number, or a random number generated by the device when the automatic role determination program is started, but is not limited thereto.

[0025] In one embodiment, the specific information may include a packet processing period. The specific information for the broadcast packets of the first device includes a packet processing period of the first device, which may be the time from the start time of the automatic pairing mode initiated by the first device to the time when the broadcast packet is transmitted. The specific information for the broadcast packets of the second device includes a packet processing period of the second device, which may be the time from the start time of the automatic pairing mode initiated by the second device to the time when the broadcast packet is transmitted. When executing the automatic role determination procedure, the first device may obtain its respective packet processing period from the broadcast packets of the first device and the broadcast packets of the second device. The first device may compare the packet processing period of the first device with the packet processing period of the second device to generate a comparison result, and determine the central device and the peripheral device based on the comparison result. If the comparison result shows that the duration of the packet processing period of the first device is greater than the duration of the packet processing period of the second device, the first device determines that the first device is the central device and the second device is the peripheral device. The comparison results show that the duration of the packet processing of the second device is longer than that of the packet processing of the first device. The first device determines that the second device is the central device and the first device is the peripheral device.

[0026] For example, as shown in Figure 5, devices A and B periodically (e.g., every 1 second) transmit corresponding broadcast packets. The mode activation times of devices A and B are 10:00:00 and 10:00:03, respectively. Between time TA6 (10:00:06) and time TA7 (10:00:07), device A receives a broadcast packet transmitted by device B at time TB3 (10:00:06). In this case, the packet processing period of device A is from the mode activation time of device A to time TA6 (from 10:00:00 to 10:00:06, a period of 6 seconds). The packet processing period of device B is from the mode activation time of device B to time TA6 (from 10:00:03 to 10:00:06, a period of 3 seconds). The packet processing period of device A (6 seconds) is greater than the packet processing period of device B (3 seconds), therefore device A can be identified as the BLE central device. In this case, when the device periodically transmits the corresponding broadcast packets, the device with the earlier mode start time will be identified as the central device in the automatic role determination program. In this way, the user can set the device role by the order of power-on time without complicated operation.

[0027] In one embodiment, in steps S102 and S104, the first device and the second device can operate in a sending state (sending broadcast packets) or a receiving state (receiving broadcast packets) in a random time-division manner. In the sending state, the first device and the second device are pre-defined as peripheral devices and send broadcast packets. In the receiving state, the first device can receive broadcast packets from the second device. In the receiving state, the second device can receive broadcast packets from the first device. In step S106, when executing the automatic role determination procedure, after receiving the broadcast packet from the second device, the first device immediately determines that the first device is the central device and the second device is the peripheral device. After receiving the broadcast packet from the first device, the second device immediately determines that the second device is the central device and the first device is the peripheral device. Since the broadcast packets are received in a random time-division manner, one of the first device and the second device will definitely receive the broadcast packet first and determine whether it is the central device or the peripheral device to initiate subsequent pairing connections. For example, as shown in Figure 6, at time T, devices A and B enter BLE automatic pairing mode and execute an automatic role determination procedure. Device B is in receiving mode and receives the broadcast packet from device A. In this case, device B immediately determines that device B is the central device and device A is the peripheral device, in order to proceed with subsequent pairing and connection operations.

[0028] In step S108, the device identified as the central device between the first and second devices can initiate and execute a pairing connection operation. After the device role is determined in the aforementioned automatic role determination step, the device identified as the central device can initiate the establishment of a connection between the two. After the device role is determined in step S106, each device switches to its respective device role state. In one embodiment, if the first device is determined to be the central device role and the second device is determined to be the peripheral device role, the first device switches to the central device state to execute the central device role, and the second device switches to the peripheral device state to execute the peripheral device role. The first device, acting as the central device role, can actively initiate a connection to the second device, acting as the peripheral device role. For example, as shown in Figures 2 and 4, at time T8, device A switches to the central device role to execute the pairing connection operation, and device B switches to the peripheral device role to execute the pairing connection operation. At time T9, device A and device B successfully pair and connect. For example, as shown in Figures 3 and 4, in operation state 306, device A performs the role of a BLE central device, and device B performs the role of a BLE peripheral device. Device A (BLE central device role) initiates and executes the pairing connection operation to establish a connection with device B. In other words, the device of this embodiment can simultaneously possess the capabilities of a central device and a peripheral device. This embodiment can automatically establish a pairing connection by exchanging broadcast packets for an automatic role determination process without needing to be pre-set as a central device or a peripheral device.

[0029] On the other hand, in step S106, when executing the automatic role determination procedure, the first device can determine whether the second device has the capability to execute the automatic role determination procedure. If it is determined that the second device does not have the capability to execute the automatic role determination procedure, the first device can determine the second device as a central device. In one embodiment, it is assumed that the first device has the capability to execute the automatic role determination procedure. The second device is an existing device that can only support Bluetooth central device roles, does not send broadcast packets, and does not have the capability to execute the automatic role determination procedure. When executing the automatic role determination procedure in step S106, if the first device fails to receive broadcast packets from the second device but continuously receives pairing connection requests from the second device, it can determine that the second device is a central device that does not have the capability to execute the automatic role determination procedure, and determines that the first device is a peripheral device. In this way, the embodiments of the present invention can be compatible with existing devices that can only support central device roles and thus achieve automatic pairing connection.

[0030] For example, as shown in Figure 7, if device A has the capability to execute an automatic role determination procedure, and device D currently only supports the central device role and lacks the capability to execute an automatic role determination procedure, then in operation state 500, device A initiates the BLE automatic pairing mode, while device D remains in a state that only supports the central device role. In operation state 502, device A determines that device D lacks the capability to execute an automatic role determination procedure. Since it has been determined that device D lacks the capability to execute an automatic role determination procedure, in operation state 504, device A determines that device D acts as the central device and device A acts as a peripheral device. In operation state 506, device D executes the BLE central device role, and device A executes the BLE peripheral device role. Device D initiates and executes a pairing connection operation to establish a connection with device A.

[0031] Please continue referring to Figure 4. In step S108, after device A initiates and executes the pairing connection operation based on the BLE central device role to establish a connection with device B, device A is in the BLE central device role and stops executing the automatic role determination procedure. When device C, which has automatic role determination capability, initiates the BLE automatic pairing mode and determines that device A does not have the capability to execute the automatic role determination procedure, device C switches to the peripheral device role, enabling device A to initiate and execute the pairing connection based on the BLE central device role to establish a connection with device C. Therefore, this embodiment of the invention is applicable to application environments with multiple devices having automatic role determination capabilities.

[0032] In addition, users can also operate through the user interface or physical objects to generate a forced role setting, so that the device can switch to the corresponding device role according to the forced role setting. For example, the user can generate a corresponding forced role setting by pressing the user interface of the device to instruct the first device to forcibly switch to the central device and stop the automatic role determination process. When performing pairing connection, the second device can determine, according to the automatic role determination, that the first device is a central device without the ability to execute the automatic role determination process, and that the second device is a peripheral device.

[0033] In summary, the device of the present invention can simultaneously possess the capabilities of a central device and a peripheral device. The present invention can establish a pairing connection by executing an automatic role determination procedure without pre-setting device roles. Furthermore, the present invention is compatible with existing devices that only support the central device role. Therefore, the present invention can achieve free pairing and effectively improve the expandability and ease of use of the device. The above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and all equivalent changes and modifications made within the scope of the claims of the present invention should be considered within the scope of the present invention. [Simplified Explanation of the Diagram]

[0005] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a process according to one embodiment of the present invention. Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of the pairing and connection operation of automatic role determination according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of the operating state of the electronic device during pairing and connection according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of the pairing and connection relationship between electronic devices according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of the packet processing of the electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of the random time-sharing operation of the electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of the operating state of the electronic device during pairing and connection according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Claims

1. A Bluetooth electronic system with automatic role determination, comprising: A first device, capable of acting as both a central device and a peripheral device, is configured to initiate an automatic pairing mode and continuously transmit a broadcast packet from the first device. And a second device, capable of acting as both a central device and a peripheral device, configured to activate the automatic pairing mode and continuously transmit a broadcast packet from the second device; wherein the first device receives the broadcast packet from the second device in the automatic pairing mode, and performs an automatic role determination procedure based on the broadcast packet from the first device and the broadcast packet from the second device, to determine a central device from the first device and the second device, and the central device initiates and performs a pairing connection operation; wherein, when performing the automatic role determination procedure, the first device compares a specific piece of information in the broadcast packet from the first device with a specific piece of information in the broadcast packet from the second device to generate a comparison result, and determines the central device from the first device and the second device based on the comparison result.

2. The Bluetooth electronic system as described in claim 1, wherein the first device obtains the proprietary information of the broadcast packet of the second device from a manufacturer-specific data field in the broadcast packet of the second device.

3. The Bluetooth electronic system as described in claim 1, wherein the exclusive information of the broadcast packet of the first device includes a value of the first device that is different from that of other devices, and the exclusive information of the broadcast packet of the second device includes a value of the second device that is different from that of other devices, wherein when executing the automatic role determination procedure, the first device compares the value of the first device that is different from that of other devices with the value of the second device that is different from that of other devices, and based on the determination that the value of the first device that is different from that of other devices is greater than the value of the second device that is different from that of other devices, the first device determines that the first device is the central device and determines that the second device is a peripheral device, and based on the determination that the value of the second device that is different from that of other devices is greater than the value of the first device that is different from that of other devices, the first device determines that the second device is the central device and determines that the first device is the peripheral device.

4. The Bluetooth electronic system as described in claim 3, wherein the value that is not the same as that of other devices may be a Media Access Control Address (MAC Address), a product serial number, or a random number generated by the device when the automatic role determination procedure is initiated.

5. The Bluetooth electronic system as described in claim 1, wherein the dedicated information of the broadcast packet of the first device includes a packet processing period of the first device, and the dedicated information of the broadcast packet of the second device includes a packet processing period of the second device, wherein when executing the automatic role determination procedure, the first device compares the packet processing period of the first device with the packet processing period of the second device, wherein based on the determination that the duration of the packet processing period of the first device is greater than the duration of the packet processing period of the second device, the first device determines that the first device is the central device and determines that the second device is a peripheral device, and based on the determination that the duration of the packet processing period of the second device is greater than the duration of the packet processing period of the first device, the first device determines that the second device is the central device and determines that the first device is the peripheral device.

6. The Bluetooth electronic system as described in claim 1, wherein the first device receives the broadcast packet from the second device in a random time-division manner, and when executing the automatic role determination procedure, upon receiving the broadcast packet from the second device, the first device determines that the first device is the central device and determines that the second device is a peripheral device.

7. The Bluetooth electronic system as described in claim 1, wherein the first device fails to receive the broadcast packet of the second device and continues to receive the pairing connection request of the second device, determines that the second device does not have the capability to execute the automatic role determination procedure as the central device, and determines that the first device is the peripheral device.

8. The Bluetooth electronic system as described in claim 1, wherein the first device can be forcibly set as the central device and stop the automatic role determination program via a user interface, and the second device determines, based on the automatic role determination program, that the first device is the central device without the ability to execute the automatic role determination program, and determines that the second device is the peripheral device.

Images