Electronic devices and methods for performing ranging via UWB

Abstract

An electronic device for performing ranging using an ultra-wideband (UWB) communication method and a method for operating the electronic device are provided. The method for operating the first electronic device includes: sending a connection start message associated with a second communication method to a second electronic device using a first communication method; sending an initial connection message using the second communication method; receiving a ranging start message from the second electronic device; and performing ranging on the second electronic device using the second communication method.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This disclosure relates to an electronic device for performing ranging using an ultra-wideband (UWB) communication method and a method for operating the electronic device. Background Technology

[0002] The internet is evolving from a human-centric network of connections where humans create and consume information to an Internet of Things (IoT) network, where information is exchanged and processed between distributed components such as objects. The Internet of Everything (IoE) technology is also emerging, where big data processing technologies are combined with IoT technologies through cloud servers and other means. Realizing the IoT requires technological elements such as sensing technology, wired / wireless communication and network infrastructure, service interface technology, and security technology. In recent years, technologies for connecting objects have been researched, such as sensor networks, machine-to-machine (M2M), and machine-type communication (MTC).

[0003] In the IoT environment, intelligent Internet of Things (IoT) technology services can be provided to collect and analyze data generated by connected objects to create new value in human life. With the convergence and integration of existing information technology (IT) with various industries, IoT is applicable to fields such as smart homes, smart buildings, smart cities, smart or connected cars, smart grids, healthcare, smart appliances, and advanced medical services.

[0004] With the development of wireless communication systems, various services can be provided, thus requiring an efficient method for delivering these services. For example, for Media Access Control (MAC), ranging techniques that measure the distance between electronic devices via ultra-wideband (UWB) communication can be used. UWB is a wireless communication technology that uses a very wide frequency band of several GHz or higher in the baseband without using a radio carrier. Summary of the Invention

[0005] Technical issues

[0006] When an electronic device performs ranging on another electronic device using ultra-wideband (UWB) communication, the first electronic device should wake up and wait for UWB communication to identify whether the other electronic device is within the UWB ranging range. Therefore, when the other electronic device is outside the UWB communication range, a method is needed to reduce the power consumption of the electronic device while waiting for UWB communication.

[0007] Solution to the problem

[0008] According to an embodiment of this disclosure, the operation method of the first electronic device includes: sending a connection start message related to the second communication method to a second electronic device using a first communication method; sending an initial connection message using the second communication method; receiving a ranging start message from the second electronic device; and performing ranging on the second electronic device using the second communication method. Attached Figure Description

[0009] The above and other aspects, features, and advantages of certain embodiments of the present disclosure will become more apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

[0010] Figure 1 This is a diagram illustrating the typical device-to-device (D2D) communication process;

[0011] Figure 2 It is a diagram illustrating the communication process between multiple electronic devices;

[0012] Figure 3a The communication range of the general Bluetooth communication method and the communication range of the ultra-wideband (UWB) communication method are shown.

[0013] Figure 3b This illustrates a situation where the communication range of the UWB communication method is narrower than that of the Bluetooth communication method.

[0014] Figure 4 The operation method of a UWB ranging system, including the controller and the controlled party, is shown.

[0015] Figure 5 This is a diagram illustrating a method for reducing power waste outside the UWB range by sending an initial connection message by a controlling party according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0016] Figure 6 The operation methods of the controller and the controlled party according to embodiments of the present disclosure are illustrated;

[0017] Figure 7 This is a diagram illustrating a method for changing the transmission interval of an initial connection message according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0018] Figure 8 This is a flowchart of the operation method of the controller according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0019] Figure 9 This is a flowchart of the operation method of the controlled party according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0020] Figure 10 This is a diagram used to illustrate one-sided two-way ranging (SS-TWR) between electronic devices;

[0021] Figure 11This is a diagram used to illustrate dual-sided two-way ranging (DS-TWR) between electronic devices;

[0022] Figure 12 This is a block diagram of the controller according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0023] Figure 13 This is a block diagram of the controlled party according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0024] Figure 14 A detailed block diagram of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown.

[0025] Best practice

[0026] When an electronic device performs ranging on another electronic device using ultra-wideband (UWB) communication, the first electronic device should wake up and wait for UWB communication to identify whether the other electronic device is within the UWB ranging range. Therefore, when the other electronic device is outside the UWB communication range, a method is needed to reduce the power consumption of the electronic device while waiting for UWB communication.

[0027] Other aspects will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practicing the embodiments presented in this disclosure.

[0028] According to embodiments of this disclosure, the operation method of the first electronic device includes: sending a connection start message related to the second communication method to a second electronic device using a first communication method; sending an initial connection message using the second communication method; receiving a ranging start message from the second electronic device; and performing ranging on the second electronic device using the second communication method.

[0029] Sending an initial connection message may include: repeatedly sending the initial connection message at specific intervals using a second communication method until the first electronic device receives a ranging start message from the second electronic device, and after sending the initial connection message but before the first electronic device sends a subsequent initial connection message, the first electronic device may stop waiting to receive messages using the second communication method.

[0030] Sending an initial connection message may include: repeatedly sending the initial connection message at specific intervals using a second communication method; and changing the interval based on the movement of the first electronic device.

[0031] Changing the interval may include: decreasing the interval based on movement of the first electronic device; and increasing the interval based on determining that the first electronic device has not moved within a specific time period.

[0032] Sending an initial connection message may include repeatedly sending the initial connection message using a second communication method until the first electronic device receives a ranging start message from the second electronic device, and the initial connection message may include an index indicating the number of times the initial connection message has been sent.

[0033] The second communication method may include an ultra-wideband (UWB) communication method, the first communication method may be a communication method different from the second communication method, and the initial connection message may include at least one of the following: information about the type of UWB message, UWB ranging session information, or an index indicating the number of times the initial connection message has been sent.

[0034] The connection start message associated with the second communication method may include at least one of a message identifier or a session identifier.

[0035] The ranging start message can be received by using either the first or the second communication method.

[0036] Performing ranging may include: obtaining ranging start timing information from a ranging start message; and sending a ranging control message to a second electronic device at a time point determined based on the ranging start timing information, wherein the ranging control message may include ranging parameters, which may include at least one parameter related to the ranging method, the ranging block structure, or the number of frames used for ranging.

[0037] Performing ranging may include: sending a first ranging frame to a second electronic device; receiving a second ranging frame from the second electronic device; calculating the transmission time of the second ranging frame from the second electronic device to the first electronic device based on the first and second ranging frames; and calculating the distance between the first electronic device and the second electronic device based on the calculated transmission time.

[0038] According to another embodiment of this disclosure, the operation method of the second electronic device includes: receiving a connection start message related to the second communication method from the first electronic device using a first communication method; waiting to receive the message using the second communication method; sending a ranging start message to the first electronic device when the second electronic device receives an initial connection message from the first electronic device using the second communication method; and performing ranging on the first electronic device using the second communication method.

[0039] The operation method may further include: obtaining an index from an initial connection message; comparing the index with a threshold; and determining the operating state of the first electronic device based on the comparison result.

[0040] The operating method may also include: sending information indicating the operating status to a first electronic device.

[0041] The ranging start message can be sent using either the first or the second communication method.

[0042] Sending a ranging start message may include: sending a ranging start message including ranging start timing information to a first electronic device; and stopping waiting to receive a message by using a second communication method within a specific time determined based on the ranging start timing information, and performing ranging may include: receiving a ranging control message from the first electronic device, and obtaining ranging parameters from the ranging control message.

[0043] Performing ranging may include: sending a first ranging frame to a first electronic device; receiving a second ranging frame from the first electronic device; calculating the transmission time of the second ranging frame from the first electronic device to the second electronic device based on the first ranging frame and the second ranging frame; and calculating the distance between the first electronic device and the second electronic device based on the calculated transmission time.

[0044] According to another embodiment of this disclosure, the first electronic device includes: a communicator; a memory; and at least one processor configured to execute a program stored in the memory to control the operation of the first electronic device, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to execute the program stored in the memory to: control the communicator to send a connection start message related to a second communication method to a second electronic device using a first communication method, send an initial connection message using the second communication method, and receive a ranging start message from the second electronic device; and perform ranging on the second electronic device using the second communication method.

[0045] According to another embodiment of this disclosure, the second electronic device includes: a communicator; a memory; and at least one processor configured to execute a program stored in the memory to control the operation of the second electronic device, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to execute the program stored in the memory to: control the communicator to receive a connection start message associated with a second communication method from the first electronic device using a first communication method; wait to receive a message using the second communication method; and send a ranging start message to the first electronic device when the second electronic device receives an initial connection message from the first electronic device via the communicator using the second communication method; and perform ranging on the first electronic device using the second communication method.

[0046] According to another embodiment of this disclosure, at least one non-transitory computer-readable recording medium stores a program for performing at least one of the above methods. Detailed Implementation

[0047] In the following, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, enabling those skilled in the art to readily implement the embodiments of the present disclosure. However, the present disclosure may be embodied in many different forms and is not limited to the embodiments set forth herein. For clarity, portions unrelated to the description of the present disclosure have been omitted from the drawings, and throughout the specification, the same components are indicated by the same reference numerals.

[0048] In this disclosure, widely used and common terms have been selected in consideration of the function of this disclosure; however, various other terms may be selected based on the intent of those skilled in the art, precedent, or new technologies. Therefore, the terms used herein should not be defined based on their names, but rather on their meanings and the entire context of this disclosure.

[0049] Throughout the disclosure, the expression "at least one of a, b, or c" means only a, only b, only c, both a and b, both a and c, both b and c, all of a, b, and c, or variations thereof.

[0050] Examples of terminals may include user equipment (UE), mobile station (MS), cellular phone, smartphone, computer, multimedia system capable of performing communication functions, etc.

[0051] In this disclosure, the controller may also be referred to as a processor.

[0052] In this disclosure, a layer (or layer device) may also be referred to as an entity.

[0053] Terms such as first and second can be used to describe various components, but these components should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one component from another.

[0054] The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing certain embodiments of this disclosure and is not intended to limit the disclosure. As used herein, singular expressions are also intended to include plural forms unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. Throughout the specification, when an element is referred to as “connected” to another element, it should be understood to include that element being “directly connected” to the other element or being “electrically connected” to the other element via another element. It should be understood that when an element is referred to as “comprising” another element, that element may further include other elements unless otherwise stated.

[0055] As used herein, "the" and similar pronouns can be used to indicate both singular and plural forms. When no specific order of operations is given in the description of the method according to this disclosure, the operations may be performed in any appropriate order. This disclosure is not limited to the described order of operations.

[0056] The phrases "in one embodiment" appearing in different parts of the specification do not refer to the same embodiment.

[0057] An embodiment of this disclosure can be represented by functional block configurations and various operations. Some or all of the functional blocks can be implemented by various numbers of hardware and / or software configurations for performing a specific function. For example, the functional blocks of this disclosure can be implemented by one or more microprocessors or by circuit configurations for a specific function. For example, the functional blocks of this disclosure can be implemented using various programming or scripting languages. The functional blocks can be implemented in algorithms executed by one or more processors. In this disclosure, prior art can be used for electronic configuration, signal processing, and / or data processing.

[0058] Furthermore, the lines or components of the connecting elements shown in the accompanying drawings are merely illustrative of functional connections and / or physical or electrical connections. In actual devices, the connections between components can be represented by various replaceable or addable functional connections, physical connections, or electrical connections.

[0059] Generally, based on the detection range, wireless sensor network technologies are mainly divided into Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs) and Wireless Personal Area Networks (WPANs). In this context, WLAN is a technology based on IEEE 802.11, used to connect to a backbone network with a radius of 100 meters (m). WPAN is a technology based on IEEE 802.15, with examples including Bluetooth, ZigBee, and Ultra-Wideband (UWB). Wireless networks implementing this technology can consist of multiple communication electronic devices. In this case, multiple communication electronic devices establish communication using a single channel during activation. That is, multiple communication electronic devices can collect and transmit data packets during activation.

[0060] UWB can refer to a short-range, high-speed wireless communication technology that uses a wide bandwidth of several GHz or higher, low spectral density, and short pulse width (1 to 4 nanoseconds) in baseband mode. UWB can be understood as the frequency band in which UWB communication is applied. The ranging method performed between electronic devices will now be described based on UWB communication methods; however, the UWB communication method is merely an example, and various wireless communication technologies can be used in practice.

[0061] Electronic devices according to embodiments of this disclosure may include fixed user equipment (UE) embodied as a computer device or mobile UE, and may communicate with other devices and / or servers using wireless or wired communication methods. For example, electronic devices may include, but are not limited to, smartphones, mobile terminals, laptop computers, digital broadcasting terminals, personal digital assistants (PDAs), portable multimedia players (PMPs), navigation devices, or tablet PCs, digital televisions, desktop computers, refrigerators, projectors, automobiles, smart cars, printers, etc.

[0062] This disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0063] Figure 1 This is a diagram illustrating a typical device-to-device (D2D) communication process.

[0064] D2D communication refers to the direct communication between geographically adjacent electronic devices without going through infrastructure such as base stations. For example... Figure 1 As shown, electronic devices can communicate in a one-to-one, one-to-many, or many-to-many manner. In D2D communication, unlicensed frequency bands such as Wi-Fi Direct and Bluetooth may be used. Alternatively, licensed frequency bands can be used in D2D communication to improve the frequency utilization efficiency of cellular systems. Although D2D communication is used in a limited way to refer to M2M communication or machine-to-machine communication, in this disclosure, D2D communication is intended to refer not only to communication between electronic devices with communication capabilities, but also to communication between various types of electronic devices with communication capabilities (such as smartphones or personal computers).

[0065] Figure 2 It is a diagram illustrating the communication process between multiple electronic devices.

[0066] The first electronic device 201 and the second electronic device 202 can establish communication through the device discovery process 203, the link generation process 204 and the data communication process 205.

[0067] In the device discovery process 203, each of the first electronic device 201 and the second electronic device 202 can search for other electronic devices capable of establishing D2D communication between neighboring electronic devices. Therefore, each of the first electronic device 201 and the second electronic device 202 can determine whether to create a link for D2D communication. For example, the first electronic device 201 can transmit a discovery signal to the second electronic device 202, enabling the second electronic device 202 to search for the first electronic device 201. Furthermore, the first electronic device 201 can receive the discovery signal transmitted from the second electronic device 202 to identify other electronic devices capable of establishing D2D communication within the D2D communication range.

[0068] In the link generation process 204, each of the first electronic device 201 and the second electronic device 202 can create a link for data transmission with the electronic device that will transmit data among the electronic devices searched in the device discovery process 203. For example, the first electronic device 201 can create a link for data transmission with the second electronic device 202 searched in the device discovery process 203.

[0069] In data communication process 205, each of the first electronic device 201 and the second electronic device 202 can send data to and receive data from a device that has created a link for data transmission in link generation process 204. For example, the first electronic device 201 can send data to and receive data from the second electronic device 202 via the link created in link generation process 204.

[0070] Various embodiments of this disclosure relate to Media Access Control (MAC) based on the aforementioned D2D communication, and require the measurement of the distance between electronic devices used for MAC. In this case, UWB ranging technology can be used to measure the distance between the electronic devices.

[0071] An electronic device according to embodiments of this disclosure can first establish a communication connection using a specific communication method (e.g., Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, etc.), and then exchange parameters required for UWB communication through that communication method. For example, the parameters required for UWB communication may include channel number, preamble index, physical layer (PHY) parameter set, session ID, MAC address, etc. The electronic device can establish a UWB communication environment based on the parameters exchanged with another electronic device, and then perform UWB ranging.

[0072] The example described is an exchange of UWB ranging parameters via Bluetooth communication prior to performing UWB ranging. However, various embodiments of this disclosure are not limited thereto, and various communication methods can be used.

[0073] In one embodiment of this disclosure, the electronic device performing UWB ranging may enable only the Bluetooth communication module and disable the UWB communication module when another electronic device enters the Bluetooth communication range. When the UWB communication module is enabled, the electronic device can begin UWB ranging.

[0074] In one embodiment of this disclosure, for UWB ranging, the electronic device can send a ranging control message (RCM) and a ranging start message, wait to receive a response message for a period of time, and then send a ranging end message. When another electronic device is outside the UWB ranging range, the electronic device cannot receive a response message from that other electronic device. In this case, the electronic device can repeatedly activate the UWB communication module and perform ranging at specific intervals until it receives a response message from the other electronic device. When the other electronic device is within the UWB ranging range, the electronic device can receive a response message from that other electronic device. The electronic device can perform UWB ranging by exchanging messages with other electronic devices.

[0075] Figure 3a The Bluetooth communication range and UWB communication range are shown.

[0076] like Figure 3a As shown, when there are no obstacles between electronic devices, the communication distance using Bluetooth is approximately 100 meters, while the communication distance using UWB can be greater than 100 meters.

[0077] However, compared to Bluetooth communication, UWB communication has relatively lower penetration capabilities. For example, when a smartphone storing a car's digital key is in a user's trouser pocket, the UWB communication distance between the smartphone and the car may be much shorter than the Bluetooth communication distance between the same two devices. Figure 3b As shown, the usable range of UWB communication can be very short, such as 3 meters. In this case, the difference between the Bluetooth communication range and the UWB communication range could be approximately 97 meters. Assuming a smartphone user walks at a speed of 1.4 meters per second, the smartphone and car might remain outside the UWB communication range for approximately 70 seconds.

[0078] Therefore, the electronic device repeatedly activates the UWB module and performs ranging at specific intervals for a considerable period of time until another electronic device enters the UWB communication range after entering the Bluetooth communication range, resulting in power waste.

[0079] Figure 4 The operation method of a UWB ranging system including the controller and the controlled party is shown.

[0080] When ranging is performed between two electronic devices, one of the devices can be a controller and the other a controlled device. In operation S410, the controller 100 can control ranging and define ranging parameters by sending a ranging control message to the controlled device 200. The ranging control message can be a data frame carrying Advanced Ranging Control IE (ARC IE). The controlled device 200 can be a device that uses the ranging parameters received from the ranging control message from the controller 100.

[0081] In operation S420, the controlling party 100 can send a ranging start message to the controlled party 200. The ranging start message can be the first message sent to initiate ranging exchange.

[0082] In operation S430, in response to the ranging start message received from the controller 100, the controlled party 200 can send a ranging response message to the controller 100.

[0083] The device that sends the ranging initiation message can be called an initiator, and the device that responds to the ranging initiation message can be called a responder. Based on the ranging control message sent from the controller 100, one of the controller 100 and the controlled party 200 can be the initiator, and the other can be the responder. Although Figure 4The example shown illustrates a scenario where the controller 100 is an initiator, but embodiments of this disclosure are not limited thereto. The controlled party 200 may be an initiator, and the controller 100 may be a responder.

[0084] The controller 100 according to embodiments of this disclosure can be repeatedly executed. Figure 5 The timing diagram 510 shows the ranging loop for performing UWB ranging. For the ranging loop, the controller 100 can send a ranging control message 511, send a ranging start message, wait to receive a response message from another electronic device, and send a ranging end message 513. The controller can start the next ranging loop by sending a ranging control message 515.

[0085] When the controlled party 200 is outside the UWB communication range, the controlling party 100 cannot receive any response messages from the controlled party 200. However, when the controlled party 200 is outside the UWB communication range, the controlling party 100 repeatedly executes the ranging loop shown in timing diagram 510 and waits to receive response messages, resulting in unnecessary power waste. For example, the ratio of the working cycle of the UWB communication module being woken up to perform ranging to the total cycle of 96 milliseconds (ms) can be calculated as 18 ms / 96 ms = 0.18.

[0086] Therefore, before the actual ranging cycle begins, the controller 100 according to embodiments of this disclosure can send an Initial Connection Message (ICM) to identify whether another electronic device has entered the UWB communication range, thereby reducing the wake-up time of the controller 100's UWB communication module. (See also...) Figure 5 In the timing diagram 520, the controller 100 can send an initial connection message 511 and disable the UWB communication module. For example, the ratio of the working cycle of the UWB communication module being woken up to send the initial connection message 521 to the total cycle of 96 milliseconds can be significantly reduced to 2 milliseconds / 96 milliseconds = 0.02.

[0087] Figure 6 An operational method performed by a controlling party and a controlled party according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown.

[0088] exist Figure 6 In operation S610, the controller 100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure can send a UWB connection start message using an out-of-band communication method of the UWB communication method. For example, the controller 100 can send a connection start message related to UWB communication using a Bluetooth communication method.

[0089] In operation S620, the controlling party 100, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, may send an initial connection message to the controlled party 200. The initial connection message may include session ID information that distinguishes the controlling party 100 from other devices. In operation S620, the controlled party 200 may be located outside the UWB communication range of the controlling party 100, and therefore may not be able to receive the initial connection message sent in operation S620.

[0090] In operation S630, the controlling party 100 can send an initial connection message to the controlled party 200. The controlling party 100 can send the initial connection message periodically or non-periodically before receiving a ranging start message from another electronic device.

[0091] The controller 100 can receive the ranging start message from the controlled party 200 using Bluetooth or UWB communication methods.

[0092] As an example, when the controller 100 is about to receive a ranging start message from the controlled party 200 using Bluetooth communication, the controller 100 can send an initial connection message and disable the UWB module until the next initial connection message is sent.

[0093] As another example, when the controller 100 is about to receive a ranging start message from the controlled party 200 using a UWB communication method, the controller 100 can send an initial connection message, wait for a specific time, and deactivate the UWB module. In response to the initial connection message, the controller 100 can wait for a specific time to prepare to receive the ranging start message using the UWB communication method. For example, after sending the initial connection message, the controller 100's UWB communication module can be in a wake-up state for one time slot. The controller 100 can deactivate the UWB module until it sends the next initial connection message after waiting for the specific time.

[0094] In operation S640, the controlled party 200 according to embodiments of the present disclosure may send a ranging start message in response to the initial connection message received in operation S630. As described above, the controlled party 200 may send the ranging start message via Bluetooth or UWB. The ranging start message may include information related to the timing of the transmission of a ranging control message sent to begin ranging.

[0095] The control party 100, which receives the ranging start message, can obtain information related to the timing of sending the ranging control message from the ranging start message. In operation S650, the control party 100, according to an embodiment of this disclosure, can send the ranging control message at a time determined based on the timing information obtained from the ranging start message. When the ranging start message is received, the control party 100 can stop the transmission of the initial connection message and begin actual ranging.

[0096] For example, in operation S660, when the controller 100 is the initiator of the ranging, the controller 100 can send an RFRAME (start) to the controlled party 200. In operations S670 and S680, in response to the received RFRAME (start), the controlled party 200 can send an RFRAME (response) to the controller 100.

[0097] like Figure 6 As shown in time interval 603, when the controlled party 200 enters the UWB communication range, the controlling party 100, according to embodiments of this disclosure, can enable the UWB communication module for a relatively long time to perform the actual ranging cycle. However, as Figure 6 As shown in time intervals 601 and 602, when the controlled party 200 is outside the UWB communication range, the controlling party 100 according to embodiments of this disclosure can activate the UWB communication module to send an initial connection message only for a short period of time, thereby reducing power waste. (Refer to the above...) Figure 5 The above, Figure 6 The time intervals 601 and 602 can be approximately 2 milliseconds. Figure 6 The time interval 603 can be approximately 18 milliseconds.

[0098] According to embodiments of this disclosure, the controller 100 may repeatedly send initial connection messages to identify whether the controlled party 200 is within UWB communication range. In this case, the transmission interval of the initial connection messages can be adjusted based on the movement of the controller 100.

[0099] As the transmission interval of the initial connection message decreases, the delay time used to determine whether the controlled party 200 is within UWB communication range decreases. Conversely, when the transmission interval of the initial connection message increases, the power consumption of the controlling party 100 can be reduced.

[0100] Therefore, according to embodiments of the present disclosure, the controller 100 can decrease the transmission interval of the initial connection message when movement of the controller 100 is sensed, and increase the transmission interval of the initial connection message when the controller 100 is not moving. The movement of the controller 100 can be sensed by a gyroscope sensor or an accelerometer sensor included in the controller 100. In this case, because the controlled party 200 is always awake to receive the initial connection message from the controller 100, the controlled party 200 can receive the initial connection message even when the transmission interval of the initial connection message is adjusted.

[0101] Figure 7 This is a diagram illustrating a method for changing the transmission interval of an initial connection message according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0102] Figure 7An example is shown where the controller 100 is a smartphone including a digital key for the car, and the controlled party 200 is an electronic device included in the car. Figure 7 In this context, it is assumed that the controller 100 is within the Bluetooth communication range of the controlled party 200, and the controller 100 has already sent a connection start message via Bluetooth.

[0103] When the controller 100 is located Figure 7 When the user of the controller 100 is approaching the car at position 701, the controller 100 can send an initial connection message at short intervals to quickly identify whether the controlled party 200 has entered the UWB communication range.

[0104] When the controller 100 is located Figure 7 When the user of the controller 100 stops walking at position 702, the controller 100 can send an initial connection message at long intervals to reduce power waste.

[0105] When the user of control party 100 moves again to Figure 7 When at position 703, the controller 100 can send an initial connection message at short intervals to quickly identify whether the controlled party 200 has entered the UWB communication range.

[0106] When UWB communication signals experience high attenuation due to obstacles between electronic devices, such as when a user is using a smartphone in their pocket, the UWB communication range can be very narrow. In such cases of high attenuation, it may be necessary to remove the obstacles (e.g., make the user take the smartphone out of their pocket) to perform accurate ranging.

[0107] Therefore, the controller 100 according to embodiments of this disclosure can include an index in the initial connection message to sense high attenuation conditions. The controller 100 according to embodiments of this disclosure can repeatedly send the initial connection message, such that the index included in the initial connection message increases with the number of times the initial connection message is sent. In high attenuation conditions, the UWB communication range is much smaller than the Bluetooth communication range, and the controlled party 200 may receive the initial connection message long after the controller 100 has first sent it. Therefore, in this case, the index of the initial connection message received by the controlled party 200 may be very large.

[0108] Based on the index of the received initial connection message, the controlled party 200 can identify a high attenuation condition. The controlled party 200 can notify the controlling party 100 of the sensing result. The controlling party 100 can receive notification of the high attenuation condition from the controlled party 200 and inform the user of this situation. For example, when the controlling party 100 is a smartphone in the user's pocket, the controlling party 100 can notify the user to take out the smartphone. However, embodiments of this disclosure are not limited to the controlled party 200 notifying the sensing result, and the controlled party 200 can perform appropriate operations based on the result of identifying a high attenuation condition.

[0109] The operation of each of the controller 100 and the controlled party 200 according to embodiments of the present disclosure will now be described in detail. When ranging is performed between two electronic devices, one of the two electronic devices may be the controller and the other may be the controlled party. Therefore, the controller may be referred to as the first electronic device, and the controlled party may be referred to as the second electronic device. However, embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited thereto; the controlled party may be referred to as the first electronic device, and the controller may be referred to as the second electronic device.

[0110] Figure 8 This is a flowchart of the operation method of the control unit 100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0111] In operation S810, the controlling party 100, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, can send a connection start message related to a second communication method to the controlled party 200 via a first communication method.

[0112] For example, the first communication method can be an out-of-band communication method different from the UWB communication method, and the second communication method can be a UWB communication method. For example, the first communication method can be a Bluetooth communication method. The connection start message associated with the second communication method can include at least one of a message identifier or a session identifier.

[0113] Table 1 below illustrates the configuration of the connection start message according to an embodiment of this disclosure.

[0114] [Table 1]

[0115]

[0116] Referring to Table 1, a connection start message may include a UWB message identifier and a UWB session identifier. The UWB message identifier can indicate information about the type of UWB message. For example, a UWB message identifier could be an identifier indicating that the corresponding message is a UWB connection start message. The UWB session identifier could be an identifier for a UWB ranging session.

[0117] In operation S820, the controller 100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may send an initial connection message via a second communication method.

[0118] According to embodiments of this disclosure, the controlling party 100 can repeatedly send an initial connection message at specific intervals using a second communication method until a ranging start message is received from the controlled party 200.

[0119] When the controller 100 repeatedly sends the initial connection message via the UWB communication method, the operation of the controller 100 can vary depending on whether the communication method for receiving the ranging start message from the controlled party 200 is Bluetooth communication or UWB communication.

[0120] For example, when the controller 100 is about to receive a ranging start message from the controlled party 200 via Bluetooth communication, the controller 100 can send an initial connection message and disable the UWB module until the controller 100 sends the next initial connection message. After sending the initial connection message, and before the controller 100 sends the next initial connection message, the controller 100 can stop waiting to receive messages via UWB communication.

[0121] As another example, when the controller 100 is about to receive a ranging start message from the controlled party 200 using a UWB communication method, the controller 100 can send an initial connection message, wait for a specific time, and deactivate the UWB module. The controller 100 can wait for the specific time to prepare to receive the ranging start message in response to the initial connection message. For example, after sending the initial connection message, the controller 100's UWB communication module can be in a wake-up state for one time slot. The controller 100 can deactivate the UWB module until it sends the next initial connection message after waiting for the specific time.

[0122] The controller 100 can repeatedly send the initial connection message at a fixed or variable transmission interval. As an example, the controller 100 can change the interval for sending the initial connection message based on the movement of the controller 100. For instance, when movement of the controller 100 is sensed, the controller 100 can decrease the transmission interval, and when it is determined that the controller 100 has not moved for a certain period of time, the controller 100 can increase the transmission interval.

[0123] According to embodiments of the present disclosure, the controller 100 may send an initial connection message, which includes at least one of information about the type of UWB message, UWB ranging session information, or an index indicating the number of times the initial connection has been sent.

[0124] Table 2 below illustrates the configuration of the initial connection message according to an embodiment of this disclosure.

[0125] [Table 2]

[0126] Fields Size (8 bytes) describe UWB Message ID 1 Indicator of UWB Message Type (ICM) UWB Session ID 4 UWB ranging session indicator ICM Index 2 The index of the ICM. It increments by 1 after each ICM.

[0127] Referring to Table 2, the initial connection message may include a UWB message identifier, a UWB session identifier, and an initial connection message index. The UWB message identifier may indicate information about the type of UWB message. For example, the UWB message identifier may be an identifier indicating that the corresponding message is an initial connection message. The UWB session identifier may be an identifier for a UWB ranging session. The initial connection message index may be incremented by 1 each time an initial connection message is sent. Based on the index included in the received initial connection messages, the controlled party 200 can identify the number of times the initial connection message received from the controlling party 100 has been sent.

[0128] In operation S830, the controller 100 can receive a ranging start message from the controlled party 200.

[0129] The controller 100 can receive a ranging start message from the controlled party 200 using either a first communication method or a second communication method.

[0130] Table 3 below illustrates the configuration of the ranging start message according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0131] [Table 3]

[0132]

[0133]

[0134] Referring to Table 3, a ranging start message may include a UWB message identifier, a UWB session identifier, and ranging start timing information. The UWB message identifier may indicate the type of UWB message. For example, the UWB message identifier may be an identifier indicating that the corresponding message is a ranging start message. The UWB session identifier may be an identifier for a UWB ranging session. The ranging start timing information may include information about the expected time point after the corresponding message to begin ranging. For example, the ranging start timing information may be expressed in milliseconds.

[0135] In operation S840, the controller 100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure can perform ranging on the controlled party 200 through a second communication method.

[0136] According to embodiments of this disclosure, the controller 100 can obtain ranging start timing information from a ranging start message. The controller 100 can initiate actual ranging by sending a ranging control message at a time point determined based on the ranging start timing information. The ranging control message may include ranging parameters. For example, the ranging parameters may include at least one of the following: a ranging method indicating which of the single-sided two-way ranging (SS-TWR) and two-sided two-way ranging (DS-TWR) methods will be used; a ranging block structure; or the number of frames used for ranging.

[0137] According to embodiments of this disclosure, the controlling party 100 can send a first ranging frame to the controlled party 200 and receive a second ranging frame from the controlled party 200. A ranging frame refers to a frame sent or received between devices to perform ranging. For example, a ranging frame may be a frame including ranging markers, which are information used to define a reference time point.

[0138] The controller 100 can calculate the time required to send the second ranging frame from the controlled party 200 to the controller 100 based on the first ranging frame and the second ranging frame. The controller 100 can also calculate the transmission time of the second ranging frame from the controlled party 200 to the controller 100 based on the first and second ranging frames. The controller 100 can perform ranging based on the calculated transmission time to estimate the distance between the controller 100 and the controlled party 200.

[0139] Figure 9 This is a flowchart of the operation method of controlled party 200 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0140] In operation S910, the controlled party 200, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, can receive a connection start message related to a second communication method from the controlling party 100 via a first communication method. For example, the first communication method may be an out-of-band communication method different from the UWB communication method, and the second communication method may be the UWB communication method. For example, the first communication method may be the Bluetooth communication method.

[0141] The connection start message associated with the second communication method may include at least one of a message identifier or a session identifier.

[0142] In one embodiment of this disclosure, the connection start message may include a UWB message identifier and a UWB session identifier. The UWB message identifier may indicate information about the type of UWB message. For example, the UWB message identifier may be an identifier indicating that the corresponding message is a UWB connection start message. The UWB session identifier may be an identifier for a UWB ranging session.

[0143] In operation S920, the controlled party 200 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may wait to receive a message via the second communication method. After receiving the connection start message in operation S910, the controlled party 200 may be awakened until it receives an initial connection message from the controlling party 100 via the second communication method. For example, the UWB communication module of the controlled party 200 may be enabled until it receives the initial connection message from the controlling party 100.

[0144] In operation S930, when the initial connection message is received via the second communication method, the controlled party 200 can send a ranging start message to the controlling party 100.

[0145] According to embodiments of this disclosure, the controlled party 200 can obtain an index from the initial connection message. Reference has been made above. Figure 8 The configuration of the initial connection message has been described, so it will not be described again here. The controlled party 200 can compare the obtained index with a threshold and identify the operating state of the controlling party 100 based on the comparison result. For example, when the obtained index is greater than or equal to the threshold, the controlled party 200 can determine that either the controlling party 100 or the controlled party 200 is in a high-degradation state.

[0146] In one embodiment of this disclosure, when the controlled party 200 determines that the controlling party 100 and the controlled party 200 are in a high attenuation state of the UWB communication signal, the controlled party 200 can perform appropriate operations based on the determined result.

[0147] For example, controlled party 200 can notify the user that controlled party 100 or controlled party 200 is in a high attenuation condition. Controlled party 200 can instruct the user to remove the barrier between controlled party 100 and controlled party 200 (e.g., taking the smartphone out of the user's pocket). Controlled party 200 can notify the user of the high attenuation condition via an output device included in controlled party 200 or via an output device included in controlled party 100. Controlled party 200 can send a determination indicating a high attenuation condition to controlled party 100, allowing controlled party 100 to notify its user of the determination result.

[0148] According to embodiments of this disclosure, the controlled party 200 can send a ranging start message via a first communication method or a second communication method. The controlled party 200 can send a ranging start message including ranging start timing information.

[0149] In one embodiment of this disclosure, the ranging start message may include a UWB message identifier, a UWB session identifier, and ranging start timing information. The UWB message identifier may indicate information about the type of UWB message. For example, the UWB message identifier may be an identifier indicating that the corresponding message is a ranging start message. The UWB session identifier may be an identifier for a UWB ranging session. The ranging start timing information may include information about the expected time point after the corresponding message to begin ranging. For example, the ranging start timing information may be expressed in milliseconds.

[0150] The controlled party 200 can stop waiting to receive messages via the second communication method for a specific time period determined based on the ranging start timing information. The controlled party 200 can also disable the UWB communication module after sending the ranging start message until it receives the ranging control message, thereby reducing power waste.

[0151] In operation S940, the controlled party 200, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, can perform ranging on the controlling party 100 via a second communication method.

[0152] According to embodiments of this disclosure, the controlled party 200 can initiate actual ranging by receiving a ranging control message from the controlling party 100. The ranging control message may include ranging parameters. For example, the ranging parameters may include at least one of the ranging method indicating which of the SS-TWR and DS-TWR methods to use, the ranging block structure, or the number of frames to be used for ranging.

[0153] According to embodiments of this disclosure, the controlled party 200 can send a first ranging frame to the controlling party 100 and receive a second ranging frame from the controlling party 100. A ranging frame refers to a frame sent or received between devices to perform ranging. For example, a ranging frame may be a frame including ranging markers, which are information used to define a reference time point.

[0154] The controlled party 200 can calculate the time required to send the second ranging frame from the controlling party 100 to the controlled party 200 based on the first ranging frame and the second ranging frame. The controlled party 200 can also calculate the transmission time of the second ranging frame from the controlling party 100 to the controlled party 200 based on the first and second ranging frames. The controlled party 200 can then calculate the distance between the controlling party 100 and the controlled party 200 based on the calculated time.

[0155] The following will refer to Figure 10 and Figure 11 This describes the ranging operation performed between the controller 100 and the controlled party 200. Based on a ranging control message sent from the controller 100, one of the controller 100 and the controlled party 200 can be an initiator for sending a ranging start message, while the other can be a responder in response to the ranging start message.

[0156] Therefore, the controller 100 can correspond to Figure 10 and Figure 11 The first electronic device 1010, and the controlled party 200 can correspond to Figure 10 and Figure 11 The second electronic device 1020. However, embodiments of this disclosure are not limited thereto, and the control unit 100 may correspond to... Figure 10 and Figure 11 The second electronic device 1020, and the controlled party 200 can correspond to Figure 10 and Figure 11 The first electronic device 1010.

[0157] Figure 10 This is a diagram used to briefly illustrate the operation of the SS-TWR in an electronic device. Figure 10 In this context, the first electronic device 1010 can be referred to as an initiator device, and the second electronic device 1020 can be referred to as a responder device.

[0158] Reference Figure 10 When the first electronic device 1010 sends a first RFRAME 1001 to the second electronic device 1020, the second electronic device 1020 can measure the time point at which the first RFRAME 1001 is received. The second electronic device 1020 can send a second RFRAME 1002 to the first electronic device 1010 and measure the ranging response time T. reply The first electronic device 1010, which receives the second RFRAME 1002, can measure the time point at which the second RFRAME 1002 is received and measure the ranging cycle time T. round .

[0159] Specifically, the first electronic device 1010 can measure the time difference T between the first RMARKER 1011 included in the first RFRAME 1001 sent to the second electronic device 1020 and the second RMARKER 1012 included in the second RFRAME 1002 received from the second electronic device 1020. round The second electronic device 1020 can measure the time difference T between the first RMARKER 1011 included in the first RMARAME 1001 received from the first electronic device 1010 and the second RMARKER 1012 included in the second RMARAME 1002 transmitted to the first electronic device 1010. reply .

[0160] The second electronic device 1020 sends a time difference T to the first electronic device 1010 in a data frame. reply This allows the first electronic device 1010 to calculate the time of flight (ToF) according to Equation 1 below. The first electronic device 1010 can transmit ToF signals. Multiplied by the speed of light (e.g., 3 × 10⁻⁶) 8 (meters per second) to perform distance measurement between the first electronic device 1010 and the second electronic device 1020.

[0161] [Formula 1]

[0162]

[0163] Figure 11 This is a diagram illustrating DS-TWR between electronic devices. DS-TWR can be performed by transmitting RFRAME three times in a manner similar to that described above for performing SS-TWR.

[0164] Reference Figure 11When the first electronic device 1010 sends the first RFRAME 1031 to the second electronic device 1020, the second electronic device 1020 can measure the time point at which the first RFRAME 1031 is received. The second electronic device 1020 can then send a second RFRAME 1032 to the first electronic device 1010. The second electronic device 1020 can also measure the ranging response time T. reply1 The first electronic device 1010, which receives the second RFRAME 1032, can measure the time point at which the second RFRAME 1032 is received and measure the ranging cycle time T. round1 .

[0165] When the first electronic device 1010, which receives the second RFRAME 1032, sends the third RFRAME 1043 to the second electronic device 1020, the second electronic device 1020 can measure the time point at which the third RFRAME 1043 is received. The first electronic device 1010 can measure the ranging response time T. reply2 The second electronic device 1020, which receives the third RFRAME 1043, can measure the time point at which the third RFRAME 1033 is received and measure the ranging cycle time T. round2 .

[0166] Specifically, the first electronic device 1010 can measure the time difference T between the first RMARKER 1041 included in the first RFRAME 1031 sent to the second electronic device 1020 and the second RMARKER 1042 included in the second RFRAME 1032 received from the second electronic device 1020. round1 The second electronic device 1020 can measure the time difference T between the first RMARKER 1041 included in the first RRFRAME 1031 received from the first electronic device 1010 and the second RMARKER 1042 included in the second RRFRAME 1032 transmitted to the first electronic device 1010. reply1 .

[0167] The second electronic device 1020 can measure the time difference T between the second RMARKER 1042 included in the second RRFRAME 1032 sent to the first electronic device 1010 and the third RMARKER 1033 included in the third RRFRAME 1043 received from the first electronic device 1010. round2 The first electronic device 1010 can measure the time difference T between the second RMARRER 1042 included in the second RFARAME 1032 received from the second electronic device 1020 and the third RMARRER 1033 included in the third RFARAME 1043 transmitted to the second electronic device 1020.reply2 .

[0168] The second electronic device 1020 can receive the time difference T in the data frame from the first electronic device 1010. round1 and T reply2 The second electronic device 1020 can be calculated according to the following formula 2. And Multiplied by the speed of light (e.g., 3 × 10⁻⁶) 8 (meters per second) to measure the distance between the first electronic device 1010 and the second electronic device 1020.

[0169] [Equation 2]

[0170]

[0171] Figure 12 This is a block diagram of a control unit according to embodiments of the present disclosure. The control unit 100 according to various embodiments of the present disclosure can be a fixed UE or a mobile UE. Examples of the control unit 100 may include, but are not limited to, at least one of a smartphone, cellular phone, navigation device, computer, laptop computer, digital broadcast terminal, AI speaker, speaker, personal digital assistant (PDA), portable multimedia player (PMP), or tablet PC. The control unit 100 can communicate with other devices and / or servers via a network using wireless or wired communication methods.

[0172] refer to Figure 12 The controller 100 according to various embodiments of the present disclosure may include a communicator 110, a processor 120, and a memory 130. However, the controller 100 may be implemented to include more than Figure 12 All components shown are further components. For example, such as... Figure 14 As shown, the controller 100 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure may include at least one of a user input device 1100, an output device 1200, a sensing unit 1400, and an audio / video (A / V) input device 1600.

[0173] Despite the control party 100 in Figure 12 While shown as including a single processor, embodiments of this disclosure are not limited thereto, and the controller 100 may include multiple processors. At least some of the operations and functions of the processor 120 described below can be performed by multiple processors. Figure 12 The controller 100 shown can execute the operation method of the controller 100 according to various embodiments of this disclosure, and Figures 1 to 11 The description above applies here. Therefore, details related to the above are omitted here. Figures 1 to 11 The same description of the controller 100.

[0174] The communicator 110 according to embodiments of this disclosure can establish wired or wireless communication with other devices via a network. For this purpose, the communicator 110 may include a communication module that supports at least one of various wired and wireless communication methods. For example, the communication module may be in the form of a chipset, or it may be a sticker / barcode storing information required for communication (e.g., a sticker with an NFC tag).

[0175] Wireless communication may include at least one of, for example, cellular communication, Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Direct, Bluetooth, Ultra-Wideband (UWB), or Near Field Communication (NFC). Wired communication may include at least one of, for example, USB or High Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI).

[0176] In one embodiment of this disclosure, the communicator 110 may include a communication module for short-range communication. For example, the communicator 110 may include a communication module for establishing various short-range communications, such as infrared communication and magnetic secure transmission (MST) communication, as well as the aforementioned UWB, Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Direct, Bluetooth, and NFC.

[0177] According to embodiments of this disclosure, the communicator 110 can communicate with the controlled party 200 using a first communication method or a second communication method. For example, the second communication method may be a UWB communication method, and the first communication method may be a communication method different from the second communication method. For example, the first communication method may be a Bluetooth communication method, but is not limited thereto.

[0178] According to embodiments of the present disclosure, the processor 120 controls the overall operation of the controller 100 and may include at least one processor, such as a CPU or GPU. The processor 120 may control other components included in the controller 100 to perform UWB ranging.

[0179] According to embodiments of the present disclosure, the communicator 110 can send a connection start message related to a second communication method to the controlled party 200 using a first communication method. The communicator 110 can also send an initial connection message to the controlled party 200 using the second communication method. The communicator 110 can receive a ranging start message from the controlled party 200. When ranging begins, the communicator 110 can send at least one ranging frame to or receive at least one ranging frame from the controlled party 200 using the second communication method. According to embodiments of the present disclosure, the processor 120 can perform ranging based on at least one frame sent or received by the communicator 110.

[0180] Figure 4 , Figure 10 and Figure 11The description can be applied to the detailed method of ranging performed by processor 120, and will not be repeated here. Figure 6 and Figure 8 The description can be applied to specific methods of controlling the components of controller 100 to reduce power waste outside the range of UWB communication.

[0181] According to embodiments of the present disclosure, the processor 120 can control the communicator 110 to send a connection start message associated with a second communication method to the controlled party 200 using a first communication method. For example, the connection start message associated with the second communication method may include at least one of a message identifier or a session identifier.

[0182] According to embodiments of the present disclosure, the processor 120 can control the communicator 110 to send an initial connection message to the controlled party 200 using a second communication method. The processor 120 can repeatedly send the initial connection message using the second communication method until a ranging start message is received from the controlled party 200. After sending the initial connection message to the controlled party 200, and before sending subsequent initial connection messages, the processor 120 can disable the UWB module included in the communicator 110, thereby reducing power consumption caused by the UWB module operating in standby mode.

[0183] When the initial connection message is repeatedly sent at specific intervals using the second communication method, the processor 120 can change the interval based on the movement of the controller 100. For example, when movement of the controller 100 is sensed, the controller 100 can decrease the interval, and when it is determined that the controller 100 has not moved for a certain period of time, the controller 100 can increase the interval.

[0184] According to embodiments of this disclosure, the initial connection message may include at least one of information about the type of UWB message, UWB ranging session information, or an index indicating the number of times the initial connection message has been sent. The processor 120 may send the initial connection message via the communicator 110, the initial connection message including an index that increases with the number of times the initial connection message has been sent.

[0185] Next, according to embodiments of the present disclosure, the processor 120 can control the communicator 110 to receive a ranging start message from the controlled party 200. A first communication method or a second communication method can be used to receive the ranging start message. The processor 120 can obtain ranging start timing information from the ranging start message. The processor 120 can control the communicator 110 to send a ranging control message at a time point determined based on the ranging start timing information. The ranging control message may include ranging parameters.

[0186] Figure 13This is a block diagram of a controlled party according to embodiments of the present disclosure. The controlled party 200 according to various embodiments of the present disclosure can be a fixed UE or a mobile UE. Examples of the controlled party 200 may include, but are not limited to, at least one of a smartphone, cellular phone, navigation device, computer, laptop computer, digital broadcast terminal, AI speaker, speaker, personal digital assistant (PDA), portable multimedia player (PMP), or tablet PC. The controlled party 200 can communicate with other devices and / or servers via a network using wireless or wired communication methods.

[0187] refer to Figure 13 The controlled party 200 according to various embodiments of this disclosure may include a communicator 210, a processor 220, and a memory 230. However, the controlled party 200 may be implemented to include more than Figure 13 All components shown are further components. For example, such as... Figure 14 As shown, according to some embodiments of this disclosure, the controlled party 200 may include at least one of a user input device 1100, an output device 1200, a sensing unit 1400, or an audio / video (A / V) input device 1600.

[0188] Despite Figure 13 Controlled party 200 is shown as including a processor, but embodiments of this disclosure are not limited thereto, and controlled party 200 may include multiple processors. At least some of the operations and functions of processor 220 described below can be performed by multiple processors. Figure 13 The controlled party 200 shown can perform operating methods according to various embodiments of this disclosure, and Figures 1 to 11 The description above applies here. Therefore, details related to the above are omitted here. Figures 1 to 11 Description of the same controlled party 200.

[0189] The communicator 210 according to embodiments of this disclosure can establish wired or wireless communication with other devices via a network. For this purpose, the communicator 210 may include a communication module that supports at least one of various wired and wireless communication methods. For example, the communication module may be in the form of a chipset, or it may be a sticker / barcode storing information required for communication (e.g., a sticker with an NFC tag).

[0190] Wireless communication may include at least one of, for example, cellular communication, Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Direct, Bluetooth, Ultra-Wideband (UWB), or Near Field Communication (NFC). Wired communication may include at least one of, for example, USB or High Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI).

[0191] In one embodiment of this disclosure, the communicator 210 may include a communication module for short-range communication. For example, the communicator 210 may include a communication module for establishing various short-range communications, such as infrared communication and magnetic secure transmission (MST) communication, as well as the aforementioned UWB, Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Direct, Bluetooth, and NFC.

[0192] According to embodiments of this disclosure, the communicator 210 can communicate with the controller 100 using a first communication method or a second communication method. For example, the second communication method may be a UWB communication method, and the first communication method may be a communication method different from the second communication method. For example, the first communication method may be a Bluetooth communication method, but is not limited thereto.

[0193] According to embodiments of the present disclosure, processor 120 controls the overall operation of controlled party 200 and may include at least one processor, such as a CPU or GPU. Processor 220 may control other components included in controlled party 200 to perform UWB ranging.

[0194] According to embodiments of the present disclosure, the communicator 210 can receive a connection start message associated with a second communication method from the controller 100 using a first communication method. The communicator 210 can receive an initial connection message from the controller 100 using the second communication method. The communicator 210 can send a ranging start message from the controller 100. When ranging begins, the communicator 210 can send at least one ranging frame to or receive at least one ranging frame from the controller 100 using the second communication method. According to embodiments of the present disclosure, the processor 220 can perform ranging based on at least one frame sent or received by the communicator 210.

[0195] Figure 4 , Figure 10 and Figure 11 The description can be applied to the specific method of ranging performed by processor 220, and will not be repeated here. Figure 6 and Figure 8 The description can be applied to specific methods of controlling the components of the controlled party 200 to reduce power waste outside the range of UWB communication.

[0196] According to embodiments of the present disclosure, the processor 220 can control the communicator 210 to receive a connection start message associated with a second communication method from the controller 100 using a first communication method. For example, the connection start message associated with the second communication method may include at least one of a message identifier or a session identifier.

[0197] Upon receiving a connection start message, the processor 220, according to an embodiment of this disclosure, can enable a communication module supporting a second communication method and wait to receive an initial connection message. The processor 220 can control the communicator 210 to receive the initial connection message from the controller 100 using the second communication method.

[0198] Next, in response to an initial connection message, the processor 220 according to an embodiment of this disclosure can control the communicator 210 to send a ranging start message to the controller 100. The ranging start message can be sent using either a first communication method or a second communication method. The processor 220 can send a ranging start message including ranging start timing information.

[0199] Processor 220 can control communicator 210 to receive ranging control messages at a time determined based on ranging start timing information. After sending the ranging start message, processor 220 can disable the UWB module until the time determined based on the ranging start timing information. Processor 220 can disable the UWB module after sending the ranging start message until the ranging control message is received. Processor 220 can disable the UWB module until the time determined based on the ranging start timing information, thereby reducing the power consumption of the UWB module in standby mode.

[0200] Figure 14 A detailed block diagram of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown.

[0201] Figure 14 The device 1000 shown may include and Figure 12 Controlling party 100 and Figure 13 The controlled party has 200 identical components. For example, Figure 14 The controller 1300 in the components shown can be connected with Figure 12 The processor 120 shown in the figure Figure 13 The processor 320 shown is the same. Figure 14 The communicator 1500 in the component shown can communicate with Figure 12 The communicator 110 shown in the figure Figure 13 The communicator 210 shown is the same. Figure 14 The memory 1700 in the component shown can be connected to Figure 12 The memory 130 shown or Figure 13 The memory 230 shown is the same.

[0202] Figure 14 The device 1000 can perform all the operations and functions of the controlling party 100 or the controlled party 200 described above. Therefore, the components of the device 1000 not described above will be described below.

[0203] Reference Figure 14The device 1000 may include a user input device 1100, an output device 1200, a controller 1300, a sensing unit 1400, a communicator 1500, an A / V input device 1600, and a memory 1700.

[0204] User input device 1100 refers to a device used for user input of data to control device 1000. Examples of user input device 1100 may include, but are not limited to, a keyboard, dome switch, touchpad (touch capacitive touchpad, pressure resistive overlay touchpad, infrared sensor touchpad, surface acoustic wave conduction touchpad, integrated tension measurement touchpad, piezoelectric effect touchpad, etc.), scroll wheel, toggle switch, etc. User input device 1100 can receive user input required to generate dialogue information to be provided to the user.

[0205] The output device 1200 can output audio signals, video signals, or vibration signals, and includes a display 1210, a sound output device 1220, and a vibration motor 1230. According to embodiments of this disclosure, the output device 1200 can notify the user device 1000 that it is in a high attenuation condition. For example, the output device 1200 can prompt the user to remove the device 1000 from their pocket for accurate distance measurement.

[0206] The vibration motor 1230 can output a vibration signal. For example, the vibration motor 1230 can output a vibration signal corresponding to the output of audio data or video data (e.g., call signal reception sound, message reception sound, etc.).

[0207] The sensing unit 1400 can sense the state of the device 1000 or the surrounding conditions of the device 1000 and send the sensed information to the controller 1300.

[0208] The sensing unit 1400 may include, but is not limited to, at least one of the following: a geomagnetic sensor 1410, an acceleration sensor 1420, a temperature / humidity sensor 1430, an infrared sensor 1440, a gyroscope sensor 1450, a position sensor (e.g., GPS) 1460, an atmospheric pressure sensor 1470, a proximity sensor 1480, or an RGB sensor (illuminance sensor) 1490.

[0209] The sensing unit 1400 according to embodiments of the present disclosure can sense movement of the device 1000. When movement of the device 1000 is sensed, the controller 1300 can reduce the transmission interval of the initial connection message, and when no movement of the device 1000 is sensed within a certain time, the controller 1300 can increase the transmission interval of the initial connection message. The functions of these sensors are intuitive and reasonable to those skilled in the art from their names, therefore a detailed description of them is omitted here.

[0210] The communicator 1500 may include components for communicating with other devices. For example, the communicator 1500 may include a short-range wireless communication device 1510, a mobile communication device 1520, and a broadcast receiver 1530.

[0211] The short-range wireless communication device 1510 may include, but is not limited to, Bluetooth communicators, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) communicators, near-field communicators, WLAN (Wi-Fi) communicators, ZigBee communicators, Infrared Data Association (IrDA) communicators, WFD (Wi-Fi Direct) communicators, ultra-wideband (UWB) communicators, Ant+ communicators, etc.

[0212] The mobile communicator 1520 transmits or receives radio signals from at least one of a base station, an external UE, or a server via a mobile communication network. Here, depending on whether a text / multimedia message is being transmitted or received, the radio signals may include voice call signals, video call signals, or various types of data.

[0213] Broadcast receiver 1530 receives broadcast signals and / or broadcast-related information from external sources via a broadcast channel. The broadcast channel may include satellite channels and terrestrial channels. According to embodiments of this disclosure, apparatus 1000 may not include broadcast receiver 1530.

[0214] The A / V input 1600 is configured to input audio or video signals and may include a camera 1610 and a microphone 1620. The camera 1610 can acquire video frames, such as still images or moving pictures, via an image sensor in video call mode or shooting mode. Images captured by the image sensor can be processed by a controller 1300 or a separate image processor (not shown).

[0215] Image frames processed by camera 1610 can be stored in memory 1700 or transmitted externally via communicator 1500. According to embodiments of the UE, two or more cameras 1610 may be provided.

[0216] Microphone 1620 receives external sound signals and converts them into electronic speech data. For example, microphone 1620 can receive sound signals from an external device or a speaker. Microphone 1620 can use various noise removal algorithms to remove noise generated during the reception of external sound signals.

[0217] The memory 1700 can store programs for processing and controlling the controller 1300, and store data input to or output from the device 1000.

[0218] The memory 1700 may include at least one type of storage medium selected from flash memory, hard disk storage, multimedia card micro storage, card-type memory (e.g., SD or XD memory), RAM, SRAM, ROM, EEPROM, PROM, magnetic storage, magnetic disk, and optical disk.

[0219] The program stored in memory 1700 can be divided into multiple modules according to its function, such as user interface (UI) module 1710, touch screen module 1720, notification module 1730, etc.

[0220] UI module 1710 can provide a dedicated UI or graphical user interface (GUI) linked to device 1000 for each application. Touchscreen module 1720 can sense user touch gestures on the touchscreen and transmit information about the touch gestures to controller 1300. Touchscreen module 1720 according to some embodiments of this disclosure can recognize and analyze touch codes. Touchscreen module 1720 can be configured as separate hardware, including a controller.

[0221] The notification module 1730 can generate signals to notify the device 1000 of the occurrence of events. Examples of events occurring in the device 1000 include call signal reception, message reception, key signal input, schedule notification, etc.

[0222] The embodiments of this disclosure described herein can be implemented as software (S / W) programs including instructions stored in a computer-readable storage medium.

[0223] A computer is an apparatus capable of calling instructions stored in a storage medium and operating according to the instructions called according to embodiments of the present disclosure set forth herein, and may include an image transmitting apparatus and an image receiving apparatus according to embodiments of the present disclosure set forth herein.

[0224] Computer-readable storage media may be provided as non-transitory storage media. Here, the term "non-transitory" means that the storage medium does not include signals and is tangible, but does not indicate whether the data is stored semi-permanently or temporarily in the storage medium.

[0225] Electronic devices or methods according to embodiments of the present disclosure can be provided by being included in a computer program product. The computer program product can be traded as a product between a seller and a buyer.

[0226] Computer program products may include a switch program and a computer-readable storage medium storing the switch program. For example, a computer program product may include a product (e.g., a downloadable application) in the form of a switch program distributed electronically by a manufacturer of an electronic device or distributed through an electronic marketplace (e.g., the Google Play Store or the App Store). For the electronic distribution of a computer program product, at least a portion of the switch program may be stored in a storage medium or temporarily generated. In this case, the storage medium may be the storage medium of a manufacturer's server, an electronic marketplace server, or a relay server temporarily storing the switch program.

[0227] The computer program product may include the storage medium of the server or the storage medium of the UE in a system consisting of a server and a UE (e.g., an image transmitting device or an image receiving device). Alternatively, when a third device (e.g., a smartphone) capable of establishing communication with the server or the UE is present, the computer program product may include the storage medium of the third device. Alternatively, the computer program product may include a service program (S / W) sent from the server to the UE or the third device, or from the third device to the UE.

[0228] In this scenario, the server, UE, or third device may execute a computer program product to perform the methods according to embodiments of the present disclosure set forth herein. Alternatively, two or more of the server, UE, and third device may execute the computer program product of the methods according to embodiments of the present disclosure set forth herein in a distributed manner.

[0229] For example, a server (e.g., a cloud server or an artificial intelligence server) can execute a computer program product stored on the server to control a UE connected to it via communication to perform methods according to the disclosed embodiments set forth herein.

[0230] As another example, the third device may execute a computer program to control a UE connected thereto to perform methods according to embodiments of the present disclosure set forth herein. As a specific example, the third device may remotely control an image transmitting device or an image receiving device to transmit or receive packaged images.

[0231] When the third device executes the computer program product, it may download the computer program product from the server and execute the downloaded computer program product. Alternatively, the third device may execute the computer program product provided in a preloaded state to perform a method according to the embodiments of this disclosure set forth herein.

Claims

1. A method of operating a first electronic device, the method comprising: A connection start message related to the second communication method is sent to the second electronic device using the first communication method; A first initial connection message is sent using the second communication method; Based on the time point when the first initial connection message was sent, wait for the ranging start message within a predetermined time. If the ranging start message is not received within the predetermined time, Based on the time point at which the second initial connection message is sent, the communication module used for the second communication method is disabled, and Based on the time point at which the second initial connection message is sent, the second initial connection message is sent using the second communication method; If the ranging start message is received from the second electronic device, ranging is performed on the second electronic device using the second communication method. The first initial connection message includes an index indicating the number of times the initial connection message has been sent, and the second initial connection message includes an index that is 1 greater than the index included in the first initial connection message.

2. The operating method according to claim 1, further comprising: The first initial connection message and the second initial connection message are sent at specific intervals using the second communication method; as well as The specific interval is changed based on the movement of the first electronic device.

3. The operating method according to claim 2, wherein, Changing the specific interval includes: Based on the movement of the first electronic device, the specific interval is reduced; and Based on the determination that the first electronic device did not move within a specific time period, the specific interval is increased.

4. The operating method according to claim 1, wherein, The second communication method includes an ultra-wideband (UWB) communication method, and The first communication method is a communication method different from the second communication method, and The first initial connection message and the second initial connection message also include at least one of the following: information about the type of UWB message or UWB ranging session information.

5. The operating method according to claim 1, wherein, The connection start message associated with the second communication method includes at least one of a message identifier or a session identifier.

6. The operating method according to claim 1, wherein, The ranging start message is received using the second communication method.

7. The operating method according to claim 1, wherein, Performing the ranging includes: Obtain ranging start timing information from the ranging start message; and A ranging control message is sent to the second electronic device at the time point determined based on the ranging start timing information. The ranging control message includes ranging parameters. The ranging parameters include at least one parameter related to the ranging method, the ranging block structure, or the number of frames used for ranging.

8. The operating method according to claim 1, wherein, Performing the ranging includes: Send the first ranging frame to the second electronic device; Receive the second ranging frame from the second electronic device; Based on the first ranging frame and the second ranging frame, calculate the transmission time of the second ranging frame from the second electronic device to the first electronic device; and Based on the calculated transmission time, the distance between the first electronic device and the second electronic device is calculated.

9. A method of operating a second electronic device, the method comprising: Receive a connection start message related to the second communication method from a first electronic device using a first communication method; Waiting to receive the initial connection message using the second communication method; When the second electronic device receives the initial connection message from the first electronic device using the second communication method, it sends a ranging start message to the first electronic device. as well as Distance measurement is performed on the first electronic device using the second communication method. The operating method further includes: An index is obtained from the initial connection message, the index indicating the number of times the initial connection message has been sent by the first electronic device; Compare the index with the threshold; and Based on the comparison results, it is determined whether the first electronic device is in a high attenuation state.

10. The operating method according to claim 9, wherein, Sending the ranging start message includes: Sending the ranging start message, including ranging start timing information, to the first electronic device; and Within a specific time period determined based on the ranging start timing information, the waiting is stopped, and messages are received using the second communication method. Performing the ranging includes: Receive ranging control messages from the first electronic device, and The ranging parameters are obtained from the ranging control message.

11. The operating method according to claim 9, wherein, Performing the ranging includes: Send the first ranging frame to the first electronic device; Receive the second ranging frame from the first electronic device; Based on the first ranging frame and the second ranging frame, calculate the transmission time of the second ranging frame from the first electronic device to the second electronic device; and Based on the calculated transmission time, the distance between the first electronic device and the second electronic device is calculated.

12. A first electronic device, the first electronic device comprising: communicator; Memory; as well as At least one processor, configured to execute a program stored in the memory to control the operation of the first electronic device. The at least one processor is further configured to execute the program stored in the memory to cause the first electronic device to: A connection start message related to the second communication method is sent to the second electronic device using the first communication method. By sending a first initial connection message using the second communication method, Based on the time point when the first initial connection message was sent, wait for the ranging start message within a predetermined time. If the ranging start message is not received within the predetermined time, Based on the time point at which the second initial connection message is sent, the communication module used for the second communication method is disabled, and Based on the time point at which the second initial connection message is sent, the second initial connection message is sent using the second communication method; If a ranging start message is received from the second electronic device, ranging is performed on the second electronic device using the second communication method. The first initial connection message includes an index indicating the number of times the initial connection message has been sent, and the second initial connection message includes an index that is 1 greater than the index included in the first initial connection message.

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