BT integrated circuit, BT transmitter and BT receiver

Abstract

To realize a BT mesh structure of a Bluetooth (registered trademark, hereinafter referred to as BT) mesh network without using a master node that functions as a master but not as a slave.SOLUTION: A system includes BT data transmission means that forms a BT mesh structure of a BT mesh network by non-wirelessly connecting a Bluetooth (registered trademark, hereinafter referred to as BT) master, BT slaves and other means, without using a data transfer unit that requires other means for data transfer between the master and slaves, and without using a master of a master node that functions as a master but not as a slave.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a BT mesh network. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, scatternet methods are known. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2003-516095 discloses a system and method for scheduling inter-piconet communications in a scatternet, in which a first network node transmits a capacity allocation message to a second network node, the message including a parameter representing a capacity requested by the second terminal and a representation of the available capacity at the first terminal, and the second terminal executes a matching function to determine whether there is mutually acceptable available capacity that can be allocated to a communication session with the first terminal. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2003-516095 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, the conventional technology had a problem in that it was not possible to realize the BT mesh structure of a Bluetooth (registered trademark, hereinafter referred to as BT) mesh network without using a master node that functions as a master but not as a slave. Furthermore, there was a problem in that it was not possible to realize one-to-one unrelayed BT data communication between nodes having the function of forming a BT mesh structure of a BT mesh network without using a master node that functions as a master but not as a slave. Furthermore, there was a problem in that the BT mesh structure of the BT mesh network could not be realized without using a data transfer unit that non-wirelessly connects the master, slaves and other means and requires other means for data transfer between the master and slaves.

[0005] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a system and method that can realize the BT mesh structure of a BT mesh network without using a master node that functions as a master but not as a slave. Furthermore, the present invention provides a system and method capable of realizing one-to-one unrepeatered BT data communication between nodes having the function of forming a BT mesh structure of a BT mesh network without using a master node that functions as a master but not as a slave. Furthermore, the present invention provides a system and method that can realize the BT mesh structure of a BT mesh network by non-wirelessly connecting the master, slaves and other means, without using a data transfer unit that requires other means for data transfer between the master and slaves. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In order to solve the above problems, the system of the present invention is a system including a BT data transmission means for forming a BT mesh structure of a BT mesh network that connects a Bluetooth (registered trademark, hereinafter referred to as BT) master, the BT slave, and other means in a non-wireless manner, does not use a data transfer unit that requires the other means for data transfer between the master and the slave, and does not use a master node that functions as the master but does not function as the slave. The BT mesh structure is a system including the BT data transmission means, and is formed by a BT mesh structure that is formed by a BT mesh network that is not a master node and functions as a slave but does not use a data transfer unit that requires the other means for data transfer between the master and the slave. The system is formed including a first node which is not a slave node and is not functioning as a master; a second node which is not the master node and is not the slave node, and which has a receiving means and a BT data transmitting means for receiving BT transmission data transmitted by the first node without relaying, and a third node which has the receiving means and the BT data transmitting means, wherein the second node has a first communication means and the BT data transmitting means for performing one-to-one unrepeated BT data communication with the second node, and is further characterized by having a second communication means for performing one-to-one unrepeated BT data communication with a fourth node which is not the master node and is not the slave node. Effect of the Invention

[0007] According to the present invention, the system and method are shown in an embodiment in FIG. 1 in which a mesh structure between piconets in a scatternet is realized by a BT unit 1 functioning as a master M and a slave S and a BT unit 3 functioning only as a slave S, and the BT mesh structure of a BT mesh network can be realized without utilizing a master node that functions as a master but not as a slave. Furthermore, it is possible to realize one-to-one unrelayed BT data communication between nodes having the function of forming a BT mesh structure of a BT mesh network without using a master node that functions as a master but not as a slave. Furthermore, the scatternet's piconet network structure is formed by connecting the master M, slave S, and information processing unit via ports, and the information processing unit is used for data transfer between the master M and slave S. is not necessary An embodiment is described in which the switch unit Sw is used to realize the BT mesh structure of the BT mesh network. The master, slave, and other means are non-wirelessly connected, and the other means are used for data transfer between the master and the slave. requires This can be achieved without using a data transfer unit. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a scatternet configuration according to an embodiment; DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0009] An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below.

[0010] 1 is an example of a configuration diagram of a scatternet according to an embodiment. For example, the scatternet includes a BT (Bluetooth: registered trademark) master M that constructs a piconet (within the dotted line in FIG. 1), at least one or more BT slaves S that participate in the piconet, an information processing unit (not shown) that transmits and receives BT packets, and a BT unit 1 having a switch unit Sw that receives BT packets and transfers them to other ports, each port of which is connected to the master M, the slave S, and the information processing unit, a BT unit 2 that is a peripheral device connected to the BT unit 1 that transmits and receives BT packets via the slave S, and a slave S, and the slave S. A piconet is composed of a BT unit 3 which is a terminal of a scatternet that transmits and receives BT packets via a master S, and there are multiple BT units 1, at least one or more slaves S can participate in one piconet, and a scatternet in which piconets are connected in a mesh structure is constructed by the slave S of a BT unit 1 participating in a piconet constructed by the master M of another BT unit 1 and communicating within the piconet, and the slave S of the BT units 2 and 3 participating in one of the piconets and communicating within the piconet, and multiple BT units 1 to 3 coexist within the piconet. Also, a BT unit 3 composed of three slaves S and one switch unit Sw may be provided.

[0011] Devices such as the BT units 1 to 3 include a computer section having a CPU, ROM, RAM, etc. The master M and slave S of the BT unit 1 share a wireless transmission / reception section.

[0012] The switch unit Sw constitutes an L3 switch, and is equipped with an FDB (Forwarding Database) that performs all the route management for two or three piconets, and transfers BT packets received from each port to other ports by checking the respective FDBs, etc. Also, it constitutes a relay point for two or three piconets, and checks each BT packet received from the piconet against the FDB, etc. to determine the BT units 1 and 3 to which the packets are to be transferred, and designates the BT units 1 and 3 as the transfer destinations of the BT packets and transfers them to the ports on the BT units 1 and 3 side, and the master M or slave S that receives the transferred BT packets transmits the BT packets to the BT units 1 and 3.

[0013] The BT unit 1 uses its own identification information, etc. as piconet identification information, and broadcasts a beacon including the piconet identification information and the piconet identification information of the piconet in which its own slave S has joined from its master M to other BT units 1, etc., and selects a piconet in which its own slave S should join based on the beacon received from the other BT units 1, and causes the slave S to join there, thereby controlling the ring of three BT units 1 including itself to be linked with the other rings.

[0014] Specifically, in the case of BT unit 1a, based on the received beacon, one slave S selects and joins a piconet built by BT unit 1b that satisfies the condition that the ring of three BT units 1 including itself forms a link with other rings, forming a ring of three BT units 1a, 1b, and 1c including itself, and based on the received beacon, the other slave S selects and joins a piconet built by BT unit 1d that satisfies the condition that three BT units 1 including itself form a link, forming a link of three BT units 1a, 1b, and 1d including itself. Here, if a BT unit 1 cannot find a suitable piconet in which three BT units 1 including itself form a link, it will find an arbitrary piconet built by another BT unit 1 to which it is not connected and join it.

[0015] In the above embodiment, the scatternet may be characterized by comprising a means for notifying other BT units 1 of identification information of the piconet that the BT unit 1 has established and other piconets in which the BT unit 1 has participated, and a means for acquiring identification information from the other BT units 1 and participating in the other piconet so that the ring of three BT units 1 including the BT unit 1 is linked to the other rings. Also, the BT units 1 to 3 may be configured to comprise a communication integrated circuit equipped with a master M, a switch unit Sw, a slave S, etc., and the master M, the switch unit Sw, the slave S, etc. are controlled by the communication integrated circuit to realize the BT units 1 to 3. Also, in order to prevent the proliferation of piconets within the same area, each BT unit 1 may function as a BT unit 3 according to the number of piconets within the same area.

[0016] In the above description, various control programs including the communication control program are stored in advance in the ROM, but the control programs may be recorded in a storage medium readable by the computer unit. In this configuration, the computer unit reads the programs from the storage medium and executes processing according to the read programs, thereby obtaining the same effects and advantages as the devices in the above embodiments.

[0017] Here, the storage medium refers to semiconductor storage media such as RAM and ROM, magnetic storage type storage media such as FD and HDD, optically readable storage media such as CD, DVD, BD, and magnetic storage type / optically readable storage media such as MO, and may be any storage medium that can be read by a computer unit, regardless of the reading method, be it electronic, magnetic, optical, etc.

[0018] It is also possible to configure the control program to be downloaded, installed, and executed via a network system such as the Internet or a LAN. [Explanation of symbols]

[0019] 1~3: BT unit, M: Master, S: Slave, Sw: Switch

Claims

1. A BT integrated circuit capable of functioning as a BT master having a data transmission means for transmitting BT transmission data without relaying to more than two external devices functioning as a Bluetooth (registered trademark, hereinafter referred to as BT) slave, without utilizing an inter-device connection between a device functioning as a BT master but not functioning as a BT slave and a device functioning as a BT slave, and without utilizing an inter-device connection between a device functioning as a BT master and a device functioning as a BT slave but not functioning as a BT master.

2. A BT integrated circuit characterized in that it can function as any one of more than two BT slaves, and is provided with a data receiving means for receiving BT transmission data sent by an external device functioning as a Bluetooth (registered trademark, hereinafter referred to as BT) master without relaying the data, without using an inter-device connection between a device functioning as a BT master but not functioning as a BT slave and a device functioning as a BT slave, and without using an inter-device connection between a device functioning as a BT master and a device functioning as a BT slave but not functioning as a BT master.

3. A BT transmitter comprising the BT integrated circuit according to claim 1.

4. A BT receiver comprising the BT integrated circuit according to claim 2.

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