Electronic device and method for improving data reception performance

Abstract

An electronic device according to various embodiments of the present document may comprise a communication circuit, a memory, and at least one processor. The memory may store instructions that can be executed by the at least one processor and, when executed, instruct the electronic device to: receive data packets transmitted from a first external device by using the communication circuit; identify, on the basis of a timestamp included in each of the data packets, at least one unreceived data packet not received through the communication circuit from among the data packets transmitted from the first external device; request the at least one unreceived data packet from a second external device; and receive, from the second external device, at least one data packet corresponding to the request. Various other embodiments are possible.

Description

Method for improving electronic device and data reception performance

[0001] This document relates to an electronic device, and, for example, to a method for improving data reception performance when the electronic device receives data from an external device via wireless communication.

[0002] As wireless communication and computer processing technologies advance, various types of portable electronic devices are being used. For example, smartphones provide wireless communication and various applications in addition to their unique calling functions, smartwatches worn on the wrist provide functions such as smartphone notifications and biometric signal measurement in addition to their watch functions, smart rings worn on the finger provide functions such as biometric signal measurement, and earbuds can provide functions such as outputting audio transmitted from a smartphone and picking up the user's voice.

[0003] Each electronic device possessed by a user can provide short-range wireless communication (NFC) capabilities for the exchange of acquired data. Examples of NDC technologies include Ultra Wide Band (UWB), Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi Direct, and various other standard and non-standard technologies may also be utilized. If a user possesses multiple electronic devices, data transmitted from one device to another via NDC can be received by other devices as well, depending on the characteristics of the wireless communication.

[0004] In situations where a user carries multiple electronic devices, short-range wireless communication between each device may be affected by the human body. For example, UWB communication between two devices can show a significant difference in data reception performance, such as a tenfold difference between the line of sight (LoS) range and the non-LoS range. When short-range wireless communication between two devices is not smooth, such as due to the influence of the human body, it may be difficult for the receiving device to receive missing data packets from the transmitting device through a retransmission mechanism, or there may be a problem with low data throughput.

[0005] An electronic device according to various embodiments of this disclosure (or specification, invention) may include a communication circuit, a memory, and at least one processor.

[0006] According to one embodiment, the memory may be executed by at least one processor, and at the time of execution, the electronic device may store instructions for receiving data packets transmitted from a first external device using the communication circuit, identifying at least one unreceived data packet among the data packets transmitted from the first external device that has not been received through the communication circuit based on a time stamp included in each of the data packets, requesting the at least one unreceived data packet from a second external device, and receiving at least one data packet corresponding to the request from the second external device.

[0007] A method performed by an electronic device according to various embodiments of the present document may include: receiving data packets transmitted from a first external device; identifying at least one unreceived data packet among the data packets transmitted from the first external device that has not been received, based on a time stamp included in each of the data packets; requesting the at least one unreceived data packet from a second external device; and receiving at least one data packet corresponding to the request from the second external device.

[0008] An electronic device according to various embodiments of the present document may include a communication circuit, a memory, and at least one processor.

[0009] According to one embodiment, the memory may be executed by at least one processor, and at the time of execution, the electronic device may store instructions for receiving data packets transmitted from a first external device to a second external device using the communication circuit, extracting a time stamp included in each of the data packets to generate a time stamp list, transmitting the generated time stamp list to the second external device, receiving a transmission request for an unreceived data packet from the second external device, and transmitting at least one data packet to the second external device in response to the transmission request.

[0010] According to various embodiments of the present document, in a situation where a specific electronic device receives data from a first external device via short-range wireless communication such as UWB, the data reception performance of the electronic device can be improved by requesting and receiving the missed data packets from a second external device. An electronic device and a method for improving data reception performance can be provided.

[0011] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an electronic device in a network environment according to various embodiments.

[0012] FIG. 2 illustrates a short-range wireless communication environment including a plurality of electronic devices according to one embodiment.

[0013] Figure 3 is a graph showing the characteristics of a UWB signal and a narrowband signal according to one embodiment.

[0014] Figure 4 shows the configuration of a UWB data packet according to one embodiment.

[0015] FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a first electronic device according to one embodiment.

[0016] FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a third electronic device that transmits a missing data packet from a first electronic device according to one embodiment.

[0017] FIG. 7 illustrates a method in which a second external device according to one embodiment receives data transmitted from a first external device to an electronic device.

[0018] FIG. 8 illustrates a method in which an electronic device according to one embodiment receives a received missing data packet from a second external device.

[0019] FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of each device for providing a received missing data packet in an electronic device according to one embodiment.

[0020] FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of each device for providing a received missing data packet in an electronic device according to one embodiment.

[0021] FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of each device for providing a received missing data packet in an electronic device according to one embodiment.

[0022] FIG. 12 is a flowchart of a method for improving data reception performance of an electronic device according to one embodiment.

[0023] Hereinafter, embodiments of this document are described in detail with reference to the drawings so that those skilled in the art can easily implement them. However, this document may be implemented in various different forms and is not limited to the embodiments described herein. In relation to the description of the drawings, identical or similar reference numerals may be used for identical or similar components. Additionally, in the drawings and related descriptions, descriptions of well-known functions and configurations may be omitted for clarity and brevity.

[0024] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an electronic device (101) in a network environment (100) according to various embodiments.

[0025] Referring to FIG. 1, in a network environment (100), an electronic device (101) may communicate with an electronic device (102) through a first network (198) (e.g., a short-range wireless communication network) or with at least one of an electronic device (104) or a server (108) through a second network (199) (e.g., a long-range wireless communication network). According to one embodiment, the electronic device (101) may communicate with the electronic device (104) through a server (108). According to one embodiment, the electronic device (101) may include a processor (120), memory (130), input module (150), sound output module (155), display module (160), audio module (170), sensor module (176), interface (177), connection terminal (178), haptic module (179), camera module (180), power management module (188), battery (189), communication module (190), subscriber identification module (196), or antenna module (197). In some embodiments, at least one of these components (e.g., connection terminal (178)) may be omitted from the electronic device (101), or one or more other components may be added. In some embodiments, some of these components (e.g., sensor module (176), camera module (180), or antenna module (197)) may be integrated into a single component (e.g., display module (160)).

[0026] The processor (120) can control at least one other component (e.g., a hardware or software component) of the electronic device (101) connected to the processor (120) by executing software (e.g., a program (140)), and can perform various data processing or operations. According to one embodiment, as at least part of the data processing or operations, the processor (120) can store commands or data received from other components (e.g., a sensor module (176) or a communication module (190)) in volatile memory (132), process the commands or data stored in volatile memory (132), and store the resulting data in non-volatile memory (134). According to one embodiment, the processor (120) may include a main processor (121) (e.g., a central processing unit or an application processor) or an auxiliary processor (123) that can operate independently or together with it (e.g., a graphics processing unit, a neural processing unit (NPU), an image signal processor, a sensor hub processor, or a communication processor). For example, if the electronic device (101) includes a main processor (121) and an auxiliary processor (123), the auxiliary processor (123) may be configured to use lower power than the main processor (121) or to be specialized for a designated function. The auxiliary processor (123) may be implemented separately from the main processor (121) or as part thereof.

[0027] The auxiliary processor (123) may control at least some of the functions or states associated with at least one component of the electronic device (101) (e.g., display module (160), sensor module (176), or communication module (190)) on behalf of the main processor (121) while the main processor (121) is in an inactive (e.g., sleep) state, or together with the main processor (121) while the main processor (121) is in an active (e.g., application execution) state. According to one embodiment, the auxiliary processor (123) (e.g., image signal processor or communication processor) may be implemented as part of another functionally related component (e.g., camera module (180) or communication module (190)). According to one embodiment, the auxiliary processor (123) (e.g., neural network processing unit) may include a hardware structure specialized for processing an artificial intelligence model. The artificial intelligence model may be generated through machine learning. Such learning may be performed, for example, on the electronic device (101) itself where the artificial intelligence model is executed, or through a separate server (e.g., server (108)). The learning algorithm may include, for example, supervised learning, unsupervised learning, semi-supervised learning, or reinforcement learning, but is not limited to the examples described above. The artificial intelligence model may include a plurality of artificial neural network layers.An artificial neural network may be a deep neural network (DNN), a convolutional neural network (CNN), a recurrent neural network (RNN), a restricted Boltzmann machine (RBM), a deep belief network (DBN), a bidirectional recurrent deep neural network (BRDNN), a deep Q-network, or a combination of two or more of the above, but is not limited to the examples described above. In addition to the hardware structure, the artificial intelligence model may include a software structure, either additionally or substantially.

[0028] The memory (130) can store various data used by at least one component of the electronic device (101) (e.g., processor (120) or sensor module (176)). The data may include, for example, input data or output data for software (e.g., program (140)) and related commands. The memory (130) may include volatile memory (132) or non-volatile memory (134).

[0029] The program (140) may be stored as software in memory (130) and may include, for example, an operating system (142), middleware (144), or an application (146).

[0030] The input module (150) can receive commands or data to be used for a component of the electronic device (101) (e.g., processor (120)) from outside the electronic device (101) (e.g., user). The input module (150) may include, for example, a microphone, a mouse, a keyboard, a key (e.g., a button), or a digital pen (e.g., a stylus pen).

[0031] The sound output module (155) can output a sound signal to the outside of the electronic device (101). The sound output module (155) may include, for example, a speaker or a receiver. The speaker may be used for general purposes, such as multimedia playback or recording playback. The receiver may be used to receive incoming calls. According to one embodiment, the receiver may be implemented separately from the speaker or as part thereof.

[0032] The display module (160) can visually provide information to an external (e.g., user) of the electronic device (101). The display module (160) may include, for example, a display, a holographic device, or a projector and a control circuit for controlling said device. According to one embodiment, the display module (160) may include a touch sensor configured to detect a touch, or a pressure sensor configured to measure the intensity of the force generated by said touch.

[0033] The audio module (170) can convert sound into an electrical signal or, conversely, convert an electrical signal into sound. According to one embodiment, the audio module (170) can acquire sound through the input module (150) or output sound through the sound output module (155) or an external electronic device (e.g., electronic device (102)) (e.g., speaker or headphones) connected directly or wirelessly to the electronic device (101).

[0034] The sensor module (176) can detect the operating state of the electronic device (101) (e.g., power or temperature) or the external environmental state (e.g., user state) and generate an electrical signal or data value corresponding to the detected state. According to one embodiment, the sensor module (176) may include, for example, a gesture sensor, a gyroscope sensor, a barometric pressure sensor, a magnetic sensor, an accelerometer sensor, a grip sensor, a proximity sensor, a color sensor, an IR (infrared) sensor, a biosensor, a temperature sensor, a humidity sensor, or an illuminance sensor.

[0035] The interface (177) may support one or more specified protocols that can be used for the electronic device (101) to be connected directly or wirelessly to an external electronic device (e.g., electronic device (102)). According to one embodiment, the interface (177) may include, for example, a high definition multimedia interface (HDMI), a universal serial bus (USB) interface, an SD card interface, or an audio interface.

[0036] The connection terminal (178) may include a connector through which the electronic device (101) can be physically connected to an external electronic device (e.g., electronic device (102)). According to one embodiment, the connection terminal (178) may include, for example, an HDMI connector, a USB connector, an SD card connector, or an audio connector (e.g., a headphone connector).

[0037] The haptic module (179) can convert an electrical signal into a mechanical stimulus (e.g., vibration or movement) or an electrical stimulus that can be perceived by the user through tactile or kinesthetic senses. According to one embodiment, the haptic module (179) may include, for example, a motor, a piezoelectric element, or an electric stimulation device.

[0038] The camera module (180) can capture still images and video. According to one embodiment, the camera module (180) may include one or more lenses, image sensors, image signal processors, or flashes.

[0039] The power management module (188) can manage power supplied to the electronic device (101). According to one embodiment, the power management module (188) can be implemented, for example, as at least part of a power management integrated circuit (PMIC).

[0040] The battery (189) can supply power to at least one component of the electronic device (101). According to one embodiment, the battery (189) may include, for example, a non-rechargeable primary battery, a rechargeable secondary battery, or a fuel cell.

[0041] The communication module (190) can support the establishment of a direct (e.g., wired) communication channel or a wireless communication channel between an electronic device (101) and an external electronic device (e.g., electronic device (102), electronic device (104), or server (108)), and the performance of communication through the established communication channel. The communication module (190) may include one or more communication processors that operate independently of the processor (120) (e.g., application processor) and support direct (e.g., wired) communication or wireless communication. According to one embodiment, the communication module (190) may include a wireless communication module (192) (e.g., cellular communication module, short-range wireless communication module, or GNSS (global navigation satellite system) communication module) or a wired communication module (194) (e.g., LAN (local area network) communication module, or power line communication module). The corresponding communication module among these communication modules can communicate with an external electronic device (104) through a first network (198) (e.g., a short-range communication network such as Bluetooth, WiFi (wireless fidelity) direct, or IrDA (infrared data association)) or a second network (199) (e.g., a legacy cellular network, a 5G network, a next-generation communication network, the Internet, or a computer network (e.g., a LAN or WAN)). These various types of communication modules may be integrated into a single component (e.g., a single chip) or implemented as multiple separate components (e.g., multiple chips). The wireless communication module (192) can identify or authenticate the electronic device (101) within a communication network such as the first network (198) or the second network (199) using subscriber information (e.g., International Mobile Subscriber Identifier (IMSI)) stored in the subscriber identification module (196).

[0042] The wireless communication module (192) can support 5G networks and next-generation communication technologies following 4G networks, for example, new radio access technology. NR access technology can support high-speed transmission of high-capacity data (enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB)), minimization of terminal power and connection of multiple terminals (massive machine type communications (mMTC)), or high reliability and low latency (ultra-reliable and low-latency communications (URLLC)). The wireless communication module (192) can support a high-frequency band (e.g., mmWave band) to achieve a high data transmission rate, for example. The wireless communication module (192) can support various technologies for securing performance in the high-frequency band, such as beamforming, massive MIMO (multiple-input and multiple-output), full-dimensional MIMO (FD-MIMO), array antenna, analog beam-forming, or large-scale antenna. The wireless communication module (192) can support various requirements specified in the electronic device (101), external electronic device (e.g., electronic device (104)), or network system (e.g., second network (199)). According to one embodiment, the wireless communication module (192) may support a Peak data rate (e.g., 20 Gbps or more) for eMBB realization, loss coverage (e.g., 164 dB or less) for mMTC realization, or U-plane latency (e.g., downlink (DL) and uplink (UL) each 0.5 ms or less, or round trip 1 ms or less) for URLLC realization.

[0043] An antenna module (197) can transmit a signal or power to or from an external source (e.g., an external electronic device). According to one embodiment, the antenna module (197) may include an antenna comprising a radiator made of a conductor or a conductive pattern formed on a substrate (e.g., a PCB). According to one embodiment, the antenna module (197) may include a plurality of antennas (e.g., an array antenna). In this case, at least one antenna suitable for a communication method used in a communication network, such as a first network (198) or a second network (199), may be selected from the plurality of antennas, for example, by a communication module (190). A signal or power may be transmitted or received between the communication module (190) and an external electronic device through the selected at least one antenna. According to some embodiments, in addition to the radiator, other components (e.g., a radio frequency integrated circuit (RFIC)) may be additionally formed as part of the antenna module (197).

[0044] According to various embodiments, the antenna module (197) may form a mmWave antenna module. According to one embodiment, the mmWave antenna module may include a printed circuit board, an RFIC disposed on or adjacent to a first surface (e.g., bottom surface) of the printed circuit board and capable of supporting a specified high frequency band (e.g., mmWave band), and a plurality of antennas (e.g., array antennas) disposed on or adjacent to a second surface (e.g., top surface or side surface) of the printed circuit board and capable of transmitting or receiving a signal of the specified high frequency band.

[0045] At least some of the above components can be connected to each other via a communication method between peripheral devices (e.g., bus, GPIO (general purpose input and output), SPI (serial peripheral interface), or MIPI (mobile industry processor interface)) and exchange signals (e.g., commands or data) with each other.

[0046] According to one embodiment, commands or data may be transmitted or received between an electronic device (101) and an external electronic device (104) through a server (108) connected to a second network (199). Each of the external electronic devices (102, or 104) may be the same or a different type of device as the electronic device (101). According to one embodiment, all or part of the operations performed on the electronic device (101) may be performed on one or more of the external electronic devices (102, 104, or 108). For example, if the electronic device (101) needs to perform a function or service automatically or in response to a request from a user or another device, the electronic device (101) may request one or more external electronic devices to perform at least part of the function or service instead of performing the function or service itself or additionally. One or more external electronic devices that receive the above request may execute at least part of the requested function or service, or additional function or service related to the request, and transmit the result of the execution to the electronic device (101). The electronic device (101) may provide the result as is or additionally processed as at least part of the response to the request. For this purpose, for example, cloud computing, distributed computing, mobile edge computing (MEC), or client-server computing technology may be used. The electronic device (101) may provide ultra-low latency services using, for example, distributed computing or mobile edge computing. In one embodiment, the external electronic device (104) may include an Internet of Things (IoT) device. The server (108) may be an intelligent server using machine learning and / or neural networks. According to one embodiment, the external electronic device (104) or the server (108) may be included within a second network (199).The electronic device (101) can be applied to intelligent services (e.g., smart home, smart city, smart car, or healthcare) based on 5G communication technology and IoT-related technology.

[0047] FIG. 2 illustrates a short-range wireless communication environment including a plurality of electronic devices according to one embodiment.

[0048] Referring to FIG. 2, a first electronic device (200), a second electronic device (300), a third electronic device (400), and a fourth electronic device (500) may be located in a short-range wireless communication environment. For example, a user may carry four electronic devices (200, 300, 400, 500) within a close distance where short-range wireless communication is possible.

[0049] In FIG. 2, the first electronic device (200) is shown as an earbud, the second electronic device (300) as a smartphone, the third electronic device (400) as a smart watch, and the fourth electronic device (500) as a smart ring, but is not limited thereto. For example, at least one type of the first electronic device (200) to the fourth electronic device (500) may differ from the illustrated example (e.g., charging cradle, AR glasses, smart band, portable speaker, portable game console, smart pen), and / or the role of at least one of the first electronic device (200) to the fourth electronic device (500) may differ from the description below. Additionally, the earbuds consist of a set of two earbuds that can be worn on the user's left and right ears, and the left earbud and the right earbud may each function as different electronic devices.

[0050] According to one embodiment, the first to fourth electronic devices (200, 300, 400, 500) may support the same short-range wireless communication method. For example, the short-range wireless communication may be Ultra Wide Band (UWB), but is not limited thereto. The characteristics of the UWB signal and the configuration of the UWB data packet will be explained in more detail through FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, respectively. In this document, the short-range wireless communication method between each electronic device will be described as UWB, but various embodiments of this document can be implemented even if Bluetooth, Wi-Fi Direct, or various other standard / non-standard technologies are used.

[0051] According to one embodiment, the first electronic device (200) can receive data packets transmitted from the second electronic device (300). For example, if the first electronic device (200) is earbuds and the second electronic device (300) is a smartphone, the first electronic device (200) can receive data packets of audio signals from the second electronic device (300) via short-range wireless communication. The first electronic device (200) can sequentially store the received data packets in a buffer memory and then output audio after undergoing a predetermined processing process.

[0052] According to one embodiment, during the transmission and reception of data packets, at least some of the data packets transmitted from the second electronic device (300) may not be received by the first electronic device (200). For example, the first electronic device (200) may not receive some of the data packets due to propagation loss, interference, multipath effects, etc. In this document, data packets that are not received by the receiving device in this manner will be referred to as unreceived data packets, missing data packets, or lost data packets.

[0053] According to one embodiment, the first electronic device (200) may request the second electronic device (300) to retransmit at least one unreceived data packet (or missing data packet, lost data packet) among the data packets transmitted from the second electronic device (300) that have not been received. The first electronic device (200) may receive the unreceived data packet from the first electronic device (200) according to a retransmission mechanism based on an automatic repeat request (ARQ) method.

[0054] According to one embodiment, data packets transmitted by the second electronic device (300) to the first electronic device (200) may be received by the third electronic device (400) and / or the fourth electronic device (500). If the third electronic device (400) and / or the fourth electronic device (500) supports UWB used for transmitting and receiving data packets between the second electronic device (300) and the first electronic device (200) and is located within the transmission range of the UWB signal, the third electronic device (400) and / or the fourth electronic device (500) may receive the UWB signal transmitted by the second electronic device (300) to obtain the data packets.

[0055] In some situations, the reception performance of the UWB signal transmitted from the second electronic device (300) may be better in the third electronic device (400) and / or the fourth electronic device (500) than in the first electronic device (200). For example, if a user puts the second electronic device (300) (e.g., a smartphone) in a pants pocket, wears the first electronic device (200) (e.g., earbuds) in their ear, and wears the third electronic device (400) (e.g., a smartwatch) on their arm, the reception performance of the UWB signal transmitted from the second electronic device (300) may be better in the third electronic device (400) depending on the radio environment, distance, the location and / or directionality of the antenna, and / or power factor, etc.

[0056] Hereinafter, various embodiments are described in which the first electronic device (200) can improve the reception performance of data packets by requesting and obtaining unreceived data packets among the data packets received from the second electronic device (300) from another electronic device (e.g., third electronic device (400), fourth electronic device (500)) through FIGS. 3 to 12.

[0057] In the following, as in FIG. 2, the device receiving the data packet will be referred to as the first electronic device (200), the device transmitting the data packet will be referred to as the second electronic device (300), and the device transmitting a data packet corresponding to the unreceived data packet to the first electronic device (200) at the request of the first electronic device (200) will be referred to as the third electronic device (400), but depending on the case, they may be referred to as the electronic device, the first external device, and the second external device, respectively.

[0058] Figure 3 is a graph showing the characteristics of a UWB signal and a narrowband signal according to one embodiment.

[0059] According to one embodiment, electronic devices in a short-range wireless communication environment (e.g., the first electronic device, the second electronic device, the third electronic device, and the fourth electronic device of FIG. 2) can transmit and receive data packets using an ultra-wide band (UWB).

[0060] UWB is a technology that adheres to the international standard of IEEE 802.15.4 and communicates using a wide bandwidth. Rather than increasing communication or transmission speeds compared to other existing wireless communications, UWB has primarily been used as a positioning technology utilizing its wide bandwidth. When using UWB, more accurate location measurement is possible than with other existing wireless communication technologies by utilizing the wide bandwidth. For example, UWB utilizes a bandwidth of 500 MHz to have a resolution of approximately 2 ns on the time axis, which corresponds to about 60 seconds when converted using the speed of light; considering a 10% error for the PLL (phase-locked loop), it can achieve an accuracy of within approximately 5-6 cm in an ideal environment.

[0061] Existing IEEE standard-based UWB communication had a problem of low communication security, making it vulnerable to attacks by hackers. Compared to the existing IEEE 802.15.4a standard, the IEEE 802.15.4z standard added a security field called STS (scrambled timestamp sequence), which can compensate for the weak security of the existing standard. Accordingly, UWB communication is being developed in various fields such as automotive communication (e.g., CCC (Car Connectivity Consortium) standards), trackers, LBS (location-based services), payments, and door locks.

[0062] Since UWB signals use a wide bandwidth of 500 MHz or more, the pulse width is shorter than the path delay, which can be advantageous for distinguishing between direct signals and reflected signals.

[0063] In contrast to UWB, narrow band signals (e.g., Bluetooth, Wi-Fi) are difficult to distinguish in the time axis, so the overlap between the direct signal and the reflected signal at the receiving end may be large. Referring to the graph (620) in FIG. 3(b), the amplitude of the direct signal (622) and the amplitude of the reflected signal (624) are distributed over a wide time interval, and as the time interval in which each signal is detected is greater than the difference in reception time between the direct signal (622) and the reflected signal (624), the amplitude of the composite signal (626) formed by combining the direct signal (622) and the reflected signal (624) may be measured to be higher than a threshold value. This increases the likelihood of multipath interference and the likelihood of errors occurring during signal interpretation.

[0064] Referring to the graph (610) in FIG. 3(a), since the UWB signal has high temporal resolution due to its wide bandwidth, the direct signal (612) and the reflected signal (614) received at the receiving end may not overlap substantially. Accordingly, when using UWB communication, the direct signal (612) and the reflected signal (614) can be easily distinguished, and interference between signals arriving via multiple paths may be relatively low.

[0065] UWB can ensure accurate timing because it uses time stamps even when affected by ambient noise. Additionally, UWB has short latency, which is advantageous for use in audio streaming, and because it has a low average power density (e.g., about -41.3 dBm / MHz), current consumption during ranging (e.g., 12mW or less per 100ms) can also be low.

[0066] Figure 4 shows the configuration of a UWB data packet according to one embodiment.

[0067] According to one embodiment, a UWB data packet may include a timestamp. Electronic devices in a short-range wireless communication environment (e.g., the first electronic device, the second electronic device, the third electronic device, and the fourth electronic device of FIG. 2) may generate a UWB data packet with a data packet configuration such as (a), (b), (c), or (d) of FIG. 4.

[0068] Referring to FIG. 4(a), packet configuration 0 (660) may include a sync field (661), an SFD (start frame delimiter) field (662), a PHR field (663), and a PHY payload field (664).

[0069] According to one embodiment, the synchronization field (661) may be configured as a repetitive signal pattern as an initialization field that enables time and frequency synchronization between the transmitting and receiving devices of a UWB data packet.

[0070] According to one embodiment, the SFD field (662) may include a unique pattern different from the synchronization field (662) as a unique signal indicating the start of a data frame after the synchronization field (661). A receiving device for a UWB signal can determine the location to start reading frame data through the SFD field (661).

[0071] According to one embodiment, the PHR (PHY header) field (663) may include essential metadata for transmitting data at the physical layer. For example, the metadata may include information such as packet length, data rate, and / or transmission mode.

[0072] According to one embodiment, the PHY payload field (664) may contain actual data to be transmitted. For example, the payload (664) of the UWB data packet may contain various data, such as location information of the transmitting device, audio data, and sensor data, divided into packet units.

[0073] According to one embodiment, a timestamp may be included after the SFD field (662) in a UWB data packet. For example, the UWB data packet may include a timestamp (669) called a remarker in the first signal after the SFD field (662), and the receiving device can distinguish the UWB data packet through the remarker.

[0074] Table 1 below is an example of data extracted from a UWB data packet by a receiving device.

[0075] SNRFirst / SNRMain / FirstIndex / MainIndex for RX12C 33 2FD2 40D2SNR First : 0x2C -> 44SNR Main : 0x33 -> 51First index : 0xD22F -> 840.734975Main index : 0xD240 -> 841SNRFirst / SNRMain / FirstIndex / MainIndex for RX22C 33 56D2 80D2SNR First : 0x2C -> 44SNR Main : 0x33 -> 51First index : 0xD256 -> 841.34375Main index : 0xD280 -> 842SNRFirst / SNRMain / FirstIndex / MainIndex for RX32F 34 60D2 80D2SNR First : 0x2F -> 47SNR Main: 0x34 -> 52First index: 0xD260 -> 841.5Main index: 0xD280 -> 842

[0076] In Table 1 above, the numbers defined in the first index and main index may represent the timestamp (669) of each UWB data packet. Referring to FIG. 4(b), packet configuration 1 (670) may include a synchronization field (671), an SFD field (672), a scrambled timestamp sequence (STS) field (673), a PHR field (674), and a PHY payload field (675). Here, the STS field (673) may scramble the timestamp data to enhance security and serve for synchronization and time measurement. The STS field (673) may include a sequence generated based on a preset encryption key in an embedded secure element (eSE) within the electronic device.

[0077] In packet configuration 1 (670) of Fig. 4 (b), the time stamp (679) may also be included after the SFD field (672).

[0078] Referring to FIG. 4(c), packet configuration 2 (680) may include a synchronization field (681), an SFD field (682), a PHR field (683), a PHY payload field (684), and an STS field (685).

[0079] In packet configuration 2 (680) of Fig. 4 (c), the time stamp (689) may also be included after the SFD field (682).

[0080] Referring to FIG. 4 (d), packet configuration 3 (690) may include a synchronization field (691), an SFD field (692), and an STS field (693).

[0081] In packet configuration 3 (690) of Fig. 4 (d), the time stamp (699) may also be included after the SFD field (692).

[0082] According to one embodiment, a transmitting device (e.g., the second electronic device (300) of FIG. 2) may generate a UWB data packet by selecting any one of the data packet configurations of FIG. 4 (a), (b), (c), or (d) and transmit it to a receiving device. A receiving device (e.g., the first electronic device (200), the third electronic device (400), and the fourth electronic device (500) of FIG. 2) may extract and verify the timestamp (669, 679, 689, 699) inserted after the SFD field in the received UWB data packet.

[0083] FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a first electronic device according to one embodiment.

[0084] Referring to FIG. 5, the first electronic device (200) may include a communication circuit (230), a memory (220), and a processor (210). Various embodiments of this document may be implemented even if some of the configurations shown in FIG. 5 are omitted or substituted. The first electronic device (200) may further include at least some of the configurations and / or functions of the electronic device (101) of FIG. 1. At least some of each configuration of the first electronic device (200) may be operatively, functionally, and / or electrically connected to one another.

[0085] According to one embodiment, the first electronic device (200) may be configured as an earbud (e.g., the earbuds (200) of FIG. 2). When the first electronic device (200) is configured as an earbud, the first electronic device (200) may further include at least one of the following components: an audio output unit (not shown), a microphone (not shown), at least one sensor (not shown), and / or a battery (not shown). The type of the first electronic device (200) is not limited to an earbud. For example, the first electronic device (200) may be implemented as a smartphone (e.g., the second electronic device (300) of FIG. 2), a smart watch (e.g., the third electronic device (400) of FIG. 2), or a smart ring (e.g., the fourth electronic device (500) of FIG. 2).

[0086] In the following, the configuration and function of the first electronic device (200) are described in a situation where a specific device operates as the first electronic device (200) in a short-range wireless communication environment. However, depending on the usage scenario, the specific device may operate as the first electronic device (200) and then subsequently operate as the second electronic device or the third electronic device, and the specific device that was operating as the second electronic device or the third electronic device may subsequently operate as the first electronic device (200).

[0087] According to one embodiment, the communication circuit (230) may include various configurations to support wireless communication with an external device (e.g., the second electronic device (300), the third electronic device (400), and the fourth electronic device (500) of FIG. 2). The communication circuit (230) may support at least one short-range wireless communication method. For example, the short-range wireless communication may be ultra-wide band (UWB), but is not limited thereto, and various embodiments of this document may be implemented even if Bluetooth, Wi-Fi Direct, or various other standard / non-standard technologies are used. The communication circuit (230) may include at least some of the configurations and / or functions of the communication module of FIG. 1.

[0088] According to one embodiment, the memory (220) may include volatile memory and non-volatile memory, and may store various data temporarily or permanently. The memory (220) may include at least some of the configuration and / or functions of the memory (130) of FIG. 1 and may store the program (140) of FIG. 1. The memory (220) may store various instructions that can be executed by the processor (210). Such instructions may include control commands such as arithmetic and logical operations, data movement, and input / output that can be recognized by the processor (210).

[0089] According to one embodiment, the memory (220) may include a buffer area for temporarily storing received data packets. The buffer area may be allocated with a fixed address value or may be dynamically allocated.

[0090] According to one embodiment, the processor (210) may be configured to perform operations or data processing regarding the control and / or communication of each component of the first electronic device (200), and may be composed of one or more processors. The processor (210) may include at least some of the configuration and / or functions of the processor (120) of FIG. 1. Although there are no limitations on the operations and data processing functions that the processor (210) can implement on the first electronic device (200), this document will describe in detail various embodiments for improving the reception performance of data packets by receiving unreceived data packets among data packets transmitted from the first external device from the second external device. The operations of the processor (210) described below may be performed by loading instructions stored in the memory (220).

[0091] According to one embodiment, the processor (210) may include a communication processor that handles wireless communication-related tasks such as supporting and processing wireless communication protocols, modulating and demodulating signals, managing schedules, and / or authentication. At least some of the operations of the processor (210) described below may be performed by the communication processor.

[0092] In this document, the description that the processor (210) can perform a certain operation (or function, task, or operation) may be interpreted substantially as meaning that an instruction (or command, computer program) causing the first electronic device (200) (or processor (210)) to perform said operation is stored in memory (220) (e.g., non-volatile memory, storage). Additionally, the description that the processor (210) can perform a certain operation may be interpreted substantially as meaning that at least one processor, without a fixed number, can perform said operation individually or collectively.

[0093] According to one embodiment, the processor (210) can establish a short-range wireless communication connection (e.g., UWB communication connection) with a first external device using a communication circuit (230). For example, the processor (210) can establish a short-range wireless communication connection with the first external device through processes such as discovery, device authentication, security key exchange, and / or link establishment. The processor (210) can also establish a short-range wireless communication connection with another external device, including a second external device.

[0094] According to one embodiment, the processor (210) may receive data packets from a first external device. For example, the first external device may generate data generated through an application in units of data packets and transmit them to the first electronic device (200) via a UWB signal. The data packet transmitted by the first external device includes data (e.g., audio data) that the first external device intends to transmit to the first electronic device (200), and the destination may be designated as the first electronic device (200).

[0095] According to one embodiment, the data packet may include at least one of a synchronization field, a start frame delimiter (SFD) field, a scrambled timestamp sequence (STS) field, a PHR field, and a PHY payload field. An example of a data packet configuration has been described through FIG. 4.

[0096] According to one embodiment, the data packet may include a time stamp. For example, the data packet may include a time stamp named "remarker" in the first signal after the start frame delimiter (SFD) field, and the receiving device may distinguish the UWB data packet through the remarker. According to one embodiment, the time stamp may include time information regarding the timing of the signal transmission (or reception) of the data packet.

[0097] According to one embodiment, data packets of audio signals transmitted from the first external device may also be received by the second external device (e.g., the third electronic device (400) of FIG. 2). For example, in the case of earbuds where the first electronic device (200) and the second external device are configured as a set, the first electronic device (200) may operate as a master and the second external device may operate as a slave. In this case, the first electronic device (200) receives audio signals through a communication link with the first external device, and the second external device may receive audio signals transmitted from the first external device to the first electronic device (200) via a sniffing method. Additionally, data packets of audio signals transmitted from the first external device may also be received by other surrounding external devices (e.g., the fourth electronic device (500) of FIG. 2). External devices receiving data packets support a short-range wireless communication method between the first electronic device (200) and the first external device, and can establish a connection with the first external device in advance.

[0098] According to one embodiment, the processor (210) can process data packets received sequentially from the first electronic device (200) by sorting (or recombining) them based on a time stamp. For example, if a first data packet is received as a reflected signal and a subsequent second data packet is received as a direct signal before the first data packet, the processor (210) can process the second data packet by recognizing it as a data packet transmitted before the first data packet based on the time stamp. The processor (210) may not process the data packets until a predetermined number of data packets are received and stored in the buffer area of ​​the memory (220).

[0099] According to one embodiment, the processor (210) can identify at least one unreceived data packet among the data packets transmitted from the first electronic device (200) that has not been received through the communication circuit (230). The unreceived data packet may be referred to as a missing data packet or a lost data packet. Since UWB used for short-range wireless communication between the first electronic device (200) and the first external device uses ultra-high frequency, it is heavily affected by obstacles such as the human body, so reception performance may deteriorate in non-LoS situations.

[0100] According to one embodiment, the processor (210) can identify at least one unreceived data packet among the data packets transmitted from the first electronic device (200) that was not received through the communication circuit (230), based on the timestamps of the data packets received from the first electronic device (200) through the communication circuit (230). The processor (210) can identify the unreceived data packet based on a list of timestamps received from a second external device (or another external device) or transmission schedule information of the data packet obtained from the first external device.

[0101] According to one embodiment, the processor (210) can receive a time stamp list containing time stamps of data packets transmitted from a first external device to a second external device through a communication circuit (230).

[0102] According to one embodiment, the second external device may generate a time stamp list and transmit it to the first electronic device (200). The time stamp list may include time stamps of a fixed number (e.g., 10) of data packets received from the first external device. That is, the second external device may generate a time stamp list in fixed units for data packets transmitted from the first external device and received sequentially, and transmit it to the first electronic device (200).

[0103] According to one embodiment, the second external device may receive data packets transmitted from the first external device to the first electronic device (200), temporarily store them in a buffer area of ​​memory (220), and generate a time stamp list by extracting the time stamp of each data packet. The second external device may transmit the time stamp list to the first electronic device (200) in the same manner as the short-range wireless communication between the first electronic device (200) and the first external device (e.g., UWB).

[0104] According to one embodiment, the processor (210) can identify at least one unreceived data packet based on a comparison of the timestamps of data packets received from a first external device and the timestamps included in a timestamp list received from a second external device. If there is a timestamp among the timestamps included in the timestamp list that is not included in the timestamps extracted by the first electronic device (200) from the data packets received from the first external device, the data packet corresponding to that timestamp may have been transmitted by the first external device but not received by the first electronic device (200), and may have been received by the second external device. Accordingly, the processor (210) can determine the data packet of at least one timestamp among the timestamps included in the timestamp list that is not included in the timestamps extracted by the first electronic device (200) from the data packets received from the first external device as an unreceived data packet.

[0105] According to another embodiment, the processor (210) can identify at least one unreceived data packet based on transmission schedule information of a data packet obtained from a first external device and timestamps of data packets received from the first external device. For example, the transmission schedule information may include information related to the transmission period of the data packet, and the processor (210) can predict the timestamps (or transmission period, transmission time) of data packets to be transmitted from the first external device based on the transmission schedule information. The processor (210) can determine that a data packet with a timestamp that is not actually received among the predicted timestamps is unreceived.

[0106] According to one embodiment, the processor (210) may transmit a request for transmission of at least one unreceived data packet to a second external device. The second external device may, in response to the request of the first electronic device (200), find a data packet corresponding to a time stamp included in the request among the data packets stored in the buffer area of ​​the memory (220) and transmit it to the first electronic device (200).

[0107] According to one embodiment, the processor (210) can receive at least one data packet corresponding to the request from the second external device. That is, the processor (210) can receive at least some of the unreceived data packets that were not transmitted from the first external device from the second external device.

[0108] According to one embodiment, the processor (210) may process data packets received from a first external device and at least one data packet received from a second external device and / or a third external device by sorting (or recombining) them according to a time stamp. According to one embodiment, the processor (210) may not process data packets stored in a buffer area of ​​memory (220) until it receives an unreceived data packet from the second external device. Accordingly, the processor (210) may process data that is substantially identical to the original data transmitted from the first external device.

[0109] According to one embodiment, if the processor (210) does not receive all unreceived data packets from the second external device, it may request another external device (e.g., a third external device) to transmit the unreceived data packets.

[0110] According to one embodiment, the processor (210) may request the transmission of data packets to the second external device when the electric field strength of the signal transmitted from the first external device is a weak electric field. The processor (210) may determine whether the electric field strength is a strong electric field or a weak electric field situation by measuring the electric field strength based on communication parameters such as the RSSI (received signal strength indicator) or SNR (signal to noise ration) of the received signal from the first external device and comparing it with a reference value.

[0111] According to one embodiment, the processor (210) may request the first external device to retransmit at least one unreceived data packet when the electric field strength of a signal received from the first external device is greater than or equal to a reference value in a strong electric field situation. The processor (210) may receive the unreceived data packet from the first external device according to a retransmission mechanism based on an ARQ (automatic repeat request) method.

[0112] According to one embodiment, the processor (210) may request the transmission of at least one unreceived data packet from the second external device when the electric field strength of the signal received from the first external device is below a reference value in a weak electric field situation.

[0113] According to one embodiment, the processor (210) may request and receive the transmission of a time stamp list from the second external device and request and receive the transmission of unreceived data packets based on the status information of the second external device. For example, in order for the second external device to provide unreceived data packets to the first electronic device (200), operations may be required to receive data packets transmitted from the first external device in real time, store them in a buffer area of ​​the memory (220), and generate and transmit a time stamp list. Since such operations may cause problems such as battery drainage of the second external device, they may be performed only when the state of the second external device satisfies a predetermined condition.

[0114] According to one embodiment, the processor (210) may request the second external device to transmit a time stamp list and an unreceived data packet if the second external device is a wearable device (e.g., a smart watch) and is worn by a user.

[0115] According to one embodiment, the processor (210) may request the transmission of a time stamp list and an unreceived data packet to the second external device when the communication sensitivity between the first electronic device (200) and the second external device is higher than the communication sensitivity between the first electronic device (200) and the first external device.

[0116] According to one embodiment, the processor (210) receives battery information of the second external device, and if the remaining battery capacity of the second external device is greater than or equal to a reference value, it may request the second external device to transmit a time stamp list and an unreceived data packet.

[0117] According to one embodiment, if the state of the second external device as described above does not satisfy the determined condition, the processor (210) may not request the transmission of the time stamp list and the unreceived data packet from the second external device, but may request the retransmission of the unreceived data packet from the first external device.

[0118] Instructions for performing the operation of the first electronic device (200) (or processor (210)) described above may be stored in a computer-readable recording medium. The recording medium may be tangible and non-transitory. The recording medium may store one or more computer programs containing said instructions.

[0119] FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a third electronic device that transmits a missing data packet from a first electronic device according to one embodiment.

[0120] Referring to FIG. 6, the third electronic device (400) may include a communication circuit (430), a memory (420), and a processor (410). Various embodiments of this document may be implemented even if some of the configurations shown in FIG. 6 are omitted or substituted. The third electronic device (400) may further include at least some of the configurations and / or functions of the electronic device (101) of FIG. 1. At least some of each configuration of the third electronic device (400) may be operatively, functionally, and / or electrically connected to one another.

[0121] According to one embodiment, the third electronic device (400) may be a device that receives a data packet transmitted from the second electronic device (e.g., the second electronic device (300) of FIG. 2) to the first electronic device (e.g., the first electronic device (200) of FIG. 2, the first electronic device (200) of FIG. 5) as a destination and transmits it to the first electronic device. For example, the third electronic device (400) may be implemented as a device such as earbuds, a smart watch, a smart ring, a charging cradle, or AR glasses that operate as a slave, but is not limited thereto.

[0122] In the following, the configuration and function of the third electronic device (400) are described in a situation where a specific device operates as a third electronic device (400) in a short-range wireless communication environment. However, depending on the usage scenario, the specific device may operate as a third electronic device (400) and then subsequently operate as a first electronic device or a second electronic device, and the specific device that was operating as a first electronic device or a second electronic device may subsequently operate as a third electronic device (400).

[0123] According to one embodiment, the communication circuit (430) may include various configurations to support wireless communication with an external device (e.g., the first electronic device (200), the second electronic device (300), and the fourth electronic device (500) of FIG. 2). The communication circuit (430) may support at least one short-range wireless communication method. For example, the short-range wireless communication may be UWB (ultra wide band), but is not limited thereto, and various embodiments of this document may be implemented even if Bluetooth, Wi-Fi Direct, or various other standard / non-standard technologies are used. The communication circuit (430) may include at least some of the configurations and / or functions of the communication module (190) of FIG. 1.

[0124] According to one embodiment, the memory (420) may include volatile memory and non-volatile memory, and may store various data temporarily or permanently. The memory (420) may include at least some of the configuration and / or functions of the memory (130) of FIG. 1 and may store the program (140) of FIG. 1. The memory (420) may store various instructions that can be executed by the processor (410). Such instructions may include control commands such as arithmetic and logical operations, data movement, and input / output that can be recognized by the processor (410).

[0125] According to one embodiment, the processor (410) may be configured to perform operations or data processing regarding the control and / or communication of each component of the third electronic device (400) and may be composed of one or more processors. The processor (410) may include at least some of the configuration and / or functions of the processor (120) of FIG. 1. Although there are no limitations on the operations and data processing functions that the processor (410) can implement on the third electronic device (400), this document will describe in detail various embodiments of receiving data packets transmitted from the second electronic device to the first electronic device, generating a time stamp list and transmitting it to the first electronic device, and transmitting data packets at the request of the first electronic device. The operations of the processor (410) described below may be performed by loading instructions stored in memory (420).

[0126] According to one embodiment, the processor (410) may include a communication processor that handles wireless communication-related tasks such as supporting and processing wireless communication protocols, modulating and demodulating signals, managing schedules, and / or authentication. At least some of the operations of the processor (410) described below may be performed by the communication processor.

[0127] In this document, the description that the processor (410) can perform any operation (or function, task, or operation) may be interpreted substantially as meaning that an instruction (or command, computer program) causing the third electronic device (400) (or processor (410)) to perform said operation is stored in memory (420) (e.g., non-volatile memory, storage). Additionally, the description that the processor (410) can perform any operation may be interpreted substantially as meaning that at least one processor, without a fixed number, can perform said operation individually or collectively.

[0128] According to one embodiment, the processor (410) can establish a short-range wireless communication connection (e.g., UWB communication connection) with the first electronic device and the second electronic device using a communication circuit (430). For example, the processor (410) can establish a short-range wireless communication connection with the first electronic device through processes such as discovery, device authentication, security key exchange, and / or link establishment.

[0129] According to one embodiment, the processor (410) may receive data packets from the second electronic device. Here, the data packets may be data packets transmitted from the second electronic device to the first electronic device as a destination. According to one embodiment, the third electronic device (400) may receive an audio signal transmitted from the second electronic device to the first electronic device in a sniffing manner.

[0130] According to one embodiment, the processor (410) can store the received data packets in a buffer area of ​​memory (420).

[0131] According to one embodiment, the processor (410) can extract time stamps from received data packets. For example, the processor (410) can extract a time stamp inserted after the start frame delimiter (SFD) field in the data packet.

[0132] According to one embodiment, the processor (410) may generate a time stamp list containing extracted time stamps and transmit it to the first electronic device. The time stamp list may include time stamps of a fixed number (e.g., 10) of data packets received from the second electronic device. That is, the processor (410) may generate a time stamp list in fixed units for the data packets received sequentially and transmit it to the first electronic device.

[0133] According to one embodiment, the processor (410) can transmit a time stamp list to the first electronic device through the communication circuit (430) in the same manner as short-range wireless communication between the first electronic device and the second electronic device (e.g., UWB).

[0134] According to one embodiment, the processor (410) can confirm a transmission request for an unreceived data packet received from a first electronic device through a communication circuit (430). The transmission request may include a timestamp of at least one data packet.

[0135] According to one embodiment, a first electronic device (e.g., the processor (210) of the first electronic device in FIG. 5) can identify at least one unreceived data packet based on a comparison of the time stamps of data packets received from the second electronic device and the time stamps included in the time stamp list received from the third electronic device (400). If there is a time stamp among the time stamps included in the time stamp list that is not included in the time stamps extracted by the first electronic device from the data packets received from the second electronic device, the data packet corresponding to that time stamp may have been transmitted by the second electronic device but not received by the first electronic device, and may have been received by the third electronic device (400). The first electronic device may request the third electronic device (400) to transmit the unreceived data packet identified in this way.

[0136] According to one embodiment, the processor (410) may, in response to a transmission request received from a first electronic device, find a data packet corresponding to a time stamp included in the request among the data packets stored in the buffer area of ​​the memory (420) and transmit it to the first electronic device.

[0137] According to one embodiment, the processor (410) can delete the time stamp list and data packets stored in the buffer area of ​​the memory (420) after transmitting the data packets.

[0138] Instructions for performing the operation of the aforementioned third electronic device (400) (or processor (410)) may be stored in a computer-readable recording medium. The recording medium may be tangible and non-transitory. The recording medium may store one or more computer programs containing said instructions.

[0139] FIG. 7 illustrates a method in which a second external device according to one embodiment receives data transmitted from a first external device to an electronic device.

[0140] In FIG. 7, the electronic device (200) (e.g., the first electronic device (200) of FIG. 2, the first electronic device (200) of FIG. 5) is one earbud (e.g., left earbud) of the two earbuds that make up a set, the second external device (400) (e.g., the third electronic device (400) of FIG. 6) is the remaining earbud (e.g., right earbud), and the first external device (300) may be a smartphone that transmits an audio signal to the earbuds (e.g., the second electronic device (300) of FIG. 2). The types of the electronic device (200), the first external device (300), and / or the second external device (400) are not limited thereto.

[0141] According to one embodiment, an electronic device (200) (e.g., the first electronic device (200) of FIG. 2, the first electronic device (200) of FIG. 5) may receive a data packet from a first external device (300) (e.g., the second electronic device (300) of FIG. 2) using short-range wireless communication. Here, the data packet may be an audio data packet transmitted in real time during an audio streaming situation, but is not limited thereto. The short-range wireless communication between the first external device (300) and the electronic device (200) may be ultra-wide band (UWB), but is not limited thereto.

[0142] According to one embodiment, the first external device (300) can transmit an audio signal generated by an executed application to the electronic device (200) in units of data packets. For example, the first external device (300) can generate a signal of the L channel and a signal of the R channel, respectively, and transmit them to the electronic device (200) in units of data packets. The electronic device (200) can output the audio of the L channel by decoding the data packet of the signal of the L channel among the received signals.

[0143] According to one embodiment, the first external device (300) and the electronic device (200) may exchange link information for the transmission and reception of data packets. For example, the link information may be information related to a communication link between the first external device (300) and the electronic device (200), and may include, but is not limited to, channel information, signal strength, connection status, synchronization information, and / or encryption and security information.

[0144] According to one embodiment, data packets of audio signals transmitted from the first external device (300) can also be received by the second external device (400). For example, the second external device (400) can receive data packets of audio signals transmitted from the first external device (300) by sniffing. The electronic device (200) and the second external device (400) may be a set of earbuds, where the electronic device (200) operates as a master and the second external device (400) operates as a slave. In this case, the electronic device (200) receives audio signals through a communication link with the first external device (300), and the second external device (400) can receive audio signals transmitted from the first external device (300) to the electronic device (200) by sniffing. The second external device (400) can decode and output the signal of the R channel among the audio signals obtained from the electronic device (200) by sniffing.

[0145] According to one embodiment, the electronic device (200) may provide sniffing information so that the second external device (400) can receive an audio signal transmitted from the first external device (300). Here, the sniffing information may include at least some of the link information related to the communication link between the first external device (300) and the electronic device (200).

[0146] In this way, when the first external device (300) and the electronic device (200) transmit data packets of audio signals through direct communication, smooth data transmission may not occur due to an object that interferes with communication, such as a human body. Consequently, the electronic device (200) may not receive complete data, resulting in the omission of data packets, and the user may experience performance degradation such as muting or noise in the audio signal.

[0147] According to one embodiment, if the electronic device (200) detects that at least some of the data packets transmitted by the first external device (300) have been missed in reception, it may request the first external device (300) to retransmit the unreceived data packet (or missing data packet, lost data packet). However, since this retransmission process uses the same communication path as the initial transmission, continuous missed reception of data packets may occur, and consequently, as the electronic device (200) skips and processes the unreceived packets, audio interruption may occur.

[0148] FIG. 8 illustrates a method in which an electronic device according to one embodiment receives a received missing data packet from a second external device.

[0149] In FIG. 8, the electronic device (200) (e.g., the first electronic device (200) of FIG. 2, the first electronic device (200) of FIG. 5) is one earbud (e.g., left earbud) of the two earbuds that make up a set, the second external device (400) (e.g., the third electronic device (400) of FIG. 6) is the remaining earbud (e.g., right earbud), and the first external device (300) may be a smartphone that transmits an audio signal to the earbuds (e.g., the second electronic device (300) of FIG. 2). The types of the electronic device (200), the first external device (300), and / or the second external device (400) are not limited thereto.

[0150] According to one embodiment, the electronic device (200), the first external device (300), and the second external device (400) can transmit and receive data packets according to a defined short-range wireless communication method. The short-range wireless communication method may be UWB (ultra wide band), but is not limited thereto. The electronic device (200) and the second external device (400) are a set of earbuds, wherein the electronic device (200) operates as a master and the second external device (400) operates as a slave.

[0151] According to one embodiment, the first external device (300) can transmit audio signals generated by an executed application to the electronic device (200) in units of data packets. For example, the first external device (300) can generate signals of the L channel and the R channel, respectively, and transmit them to the electronic device (200) in units of data packets. The electronic device (200) can output audio of the L channel by decoding the data packet of the L channel signal among the received signals. The data packet transmitted by the first external device (300) may be referred to as the original data packet.

[0152] According to one embodiment, the original data packet transmitted by the first external device (300) may include audio data and a time stamp. According to one embodiment, the time stamp may include time information regarding the timing of the signal transmission (or reception) of the data packet. The audio data may be inserted into the payload of the data packet. The electronic device (200) may process the sequentially received data packets by sorting (or recombining) them based on the time stamp.

[0153] According to one embodiment, the electronic device (200) can extract a remarker inserted after the SFD field in a UWB data packet received from a first external device (300) to verify the timestamp of the UWB data packet.

[0154] According to one embodiment, the electronic device (200) can temporarily store data packets received sequentially in memory and process them in units of a fixed number (e.g., 10). For example, the electronic device (200) can temporarily store data packets based on a time stamp in a buffer area of ​​memory, and when a fixed number of data packets are stored in the buffer area, process the data packets in the order they were received first to output an audio signal of the L channel.

[0155] According to one embodiment, data packets of an audio signal transmitted from a first external device (300) can also be received by a second external device (400). For example, the second external device (400) can receive data packets of an audio signal transmitted from the first external device (300) by sniffing.

[0156] According to one embodiment, the second external device (400) may temporarily store the received data packets in a buffer area of ​​memory. The second external device (400) may generate a time stamp list by extracting the time stamps of the data packets. The time stamp list includes the time stamps of a fixed number (e.g., 10) of data packets, and the actual data (e.g., payload) of the data packets may be stored in a separate area.

[0157] According to one embodiment, the second external device (400) can transmit the generated time stamp list to the electronic device (200). For example, the second external device (400) can transmit the time stamp list by being connected via a short-range wireless communication method (e.g., UWB) that is the same as the short-range wireless communication method between the first external device (300) and the second external device (400) and the short-range wireless communication method between the first external device (300) and the electronic device (200).

[0158] According to one embodiment, the electronic device (200) can compare the time stamps extracted from data packets received from the first external device (300) with the time stamps included in the time stamp list received from the second external device (400). According to one embodiment, the electronic device (200) can identify at least one unreceived data packet among the data packets transmitted from the first external device (300) that has not been received, based on the comparison. For example, if there is a time stamp among the time stamps included in the time stamp list that is not included in the time stamps extracted by the electronic device (200) from the data packets received from the first external device (300), the data packet corresponding to that time stamp may have been actually transmitted from the first external device (300) but not received by the electronic device (200), and may have been received by the second external device (400). Accordingly, the electronic device (200) can determine that at least one data packet of a time stamp that is not included in the time stamps extracted by the electronic device (200) from the data packets received from the first external device (300) among the time stamps included in the time stamp list is an unreceived data packet (or missing data packet, lost data packet).

[0159] According to one embodiment, the electronic device (200) may transmit a request for transmission of at least one unreceived data packet to the second external device (400). The second external device (400) may temporarily store the data packets in a buffer area of ​​memory when the timestamp list is generated.

[0160] According to one embodiment, the second external device (400) can transmit at least one data packet requested for transmission to the electronic device (200) in response to a request from the electronic device (200).

[0161] According to one embodiment, the electronic device (200) can process data packets received from a first external device (300) and at least one data packet received from a second external device (400) by sorting (or recombining) them according to a time stamp.

[0162] According to one embodiment, the second external device (400) can transmit data packets in response to a request from the electronic device (200), or delete data packets and timestamps temporarily stored in a buffer area of ​​memory when no request for data transmission is received from the electronic device (200).

[0163] Accordingly, in a situation where short-range wireless communication between the electronic device (200) and the first external device (300) is not smooth, the performance degradation caused by the omission of data packets can be improved.

[0164] FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of each device for providing a received missing data packet in an electronic device according to one embodiment.

[0165] In FIG. 9, the first external device (300) is a device that transmits data packets to the electronic device (200) as a destination, and the second external device (400) and the third external device (500) are not destinations for the data packets but may be devices that support a short-range wireless communication method between the electronic device (200) and the first external device (300) and receive data packets transmitted from the first external device (300). According to one embodiment, the electronic device (200), the first external device (300), and the second external device (400) may transmit and receive data packets according to a predetermined short-range wireless communication method. The short-range wireless communication method may be UWB (ultra wide band), but is not limited thereto.

[0166] According to one embodiment, in operation 910, the first external device (300) may transmit the original data packet to a predetermined short-range wireless communication method (e.g., UWB). The original data packet contains data (e.g., audio data) that the first external device (300) intends to transmit to the electronic device (200), and the destination may be designated as the electronic device (200). The original data packet may include data and a timestamp.

[0167] According to one embodiment, the original data packet transmitted from the first external device (300) may also be received by the second external device (400) and / or the third external device (500). According to one embodiment, the second external device (400) and / or the third external device (500) may be connected to each other through a communication link with the first external device (300).

[0168] According to one embodiment, in operation 915, the second external device (400) may generate a time stamp list and transmit it to the electronic device (200). The time stamp list may include time stamps of a fixed number (e.g., 10) of data packets received from the first external device (300). That is, the second external device (400) may generate a time stamp list in fixed units for the data packets received sequentially and transmit it to the electronic device (200).

[0169] According to one embodiment, in operation 920, the third external device (500) can generate a time stamp list and transmit it to the electronic device (200).

[0170] According to one embodiment, in operation 930, the electronic device (200) can compare the time stamps extracted from data packets received from the first external device (300) with the time stamps included in the time stamp list received from the second external device (400) and / or the third external device (500). Based on the comparison, the electronic device (200) can identify at least one unreceived data packet among the data packets transmitted from the first external device (300) that has not been received.

[0171] According to one embodiment, in operation 935, the electronic device (200) may transmit a request for an unreceived data packet to the second external device (400). The electronic device (200) may request the second external device (400) to transmit at least one data packet that was not received by the electronic device (200) as a result of checking operation 930, but was received by the second external device (400) as a result of checking the time stamp list of the second external device (400). If, as a result of checking operation 930, there are no time stamps in the time stamp list received from the second external device (400) that are not included in the time stamps extracted from the data packets received from the first external device (300), operations 935 and 945 may be omitted.

[0172] According to one embodiment, in operation 940, the electronic device (200) may transmit a request for an unreceived data packet to the third external device (500). The electronic device (200) may request the third external device (500) to transmit at least one data packet that was not received by the electronic device (200) as a result of checking operation 930, but was received by the third external device (500) as a result of checking the time stamp list of the third external device (500). If, as a result of checking operation 930, there is no time stamp in the time stamp list received from the third external device (500) that is not included in the time stamps extracted from the data packets received from the first external device (300), operations 940 and 950 may be omitted.

[0173] According to one embodiment, in operation 945, the second external device (400) can transmit at least one data packet requested from the electronic device (200) to the electronic device (200). The second external device (400) can find a data packet corresponding to the timestamp of the received request in the buffer area of ​​memory and transmit it to the electronic device (200). After transmitting the data packet, the second external device (400) can delete the timestamp list and data packets stored in the buffer area of ​​memory.

[0174] According to one embodiment, in operation 950, the third external device (500) can transmit at least one data packet requested from the electronic device (200) to the electronic device (200). The third external device (500) can find a data packet corresponding to the timestamp of the received request in the buffer area of ​​memory and transmit it to the electronic device (200). After transmitting the data packet, the third external device (500) can delete the timestamp list and data packets stored in the buffer area of ​​memory.

[0175] According to one embodiment, if the electronic device (200) obtains all unreceived data packets from the second external device (400) through operations 935 and 945, operations 940 and 950 may not be performed.

[0176] According to one embodiment, the electronic device (200) can process data packets received from a first external device (300) and at least one data packet received from a second external device (400) and / or a third external device (500) by aligning (or recombining) them according to a time stamp. Accordingly, the electronic device (200) can process data that is substantially identical to the original data transmitted from the first external device (300).

[0177] FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of each device for providing a received missing data packet in an electronic device according to one embodiment.

[0178] FIG. 10 illustrates an embodiment in which a request for retransmission of an unreceived data packet is made to a first external device (300) or a request for transmission is made to a second external device (400) and / or a third external device (500) depending on the electric field strength of an electronic device (200).

[0179] According to one embodiment, the electronic device (200) may request the first external device (300) to retransmit at least one unreceived data packet when the electric field strength of the signal received from the first external device (300) is greater than or equal to a reference value, and may request the second external device (400) and / or the third external device (500) to transmit at least one unreceived data packet when the electric field strength of the signal received from the first external device (300) is less than the reference value.

[0180] According to one embodiment, in operation 1010, the first external device (300) may transmit the original data packet via a defined short-range wireless communication method (e.g., UWB). The original data packet contains data (e.g., audio data) that the first external device (300) intends to transmit to the electronic device (200), and the destination may be designated as the electronic device (200). The original data packet may include data and a timestamp.

[0181] According to one embodiment, the original data packet transmitted from the first external device (300) may also be received by the second external device (400) and / or the third external device (500). According to one embodiment, the second external device (400) and / or the third external device (500) may be connected to each other through a communication link with the first external device (300).

[0182] According to one embodiment, in operation 1020, the electronic device (200) can check the electric field strength and determine the current electric field strength to be a strong electric field. For example, the electronic device (200) can measure the electric field strength based on communication parameters such as the RSSI (received signal strength indicator) or SNR (signal to noise ration) of the received signal from the first external device (300), and determine that it is a strong electric field situation if it is higher than a reference value.

[0183] According to one embodiment, in operation 1025, if a strong electric field condition is confirmed, the electronic device (200) may request the first external device (300) to retransmit an unreceived data packet. According to one embodiment, the electronic device (200) may receive transmission schedule information for data packets from the first external device (300), and may determine at least one unreceived data packet among the data packets transmitted from the first external device (300) that has not been received based on the transmission schedule information. The electronic device (200) may receive the unreceived data packet from the first external device (300) according to a retransmission mechanism based on an automatic repeat request (ARQ) method.

[0184] According to one embodiment, in operation 1030, the first external device (300) can transmit at least one unreceived data packet to the electronic device (200) in response to a retransmission request from the electronic device (200).

[0185] According to one embodiment, in operation 1045, the electronic device (200) can check the electric field strength and determine the current electric field strength to be a weak electric field. For example, the electronic device (200) can measure the electric field strength based on communication parameters such as RSSI or SNR of a received signal from a first external device (300) and determine the situation as a weak electric field if it is lower than a reference value.

[0186] According to one embodiment, in operation 1050, the electronic device (200) may transmit to the first external device (300) that it is in a weak electric field condition and may not request the first external device (300) to retransmit the unreceived data. In a weak electric field condition, the electronic device (200) may request the second external device (400) and / or the third external device (500) to transmit the unreceived data packet.

[0187] According to one embodiment, in operation 1055, when the electric field is weak, the electronic device (200) may request the transmission of a time stamp list to the second external device (400). Additionally, in operation 1060, the electronic device (200) may request the transmission of a time stamp list to the third external device (500).

[0188] According to one embodiment, in operation 1065, the second external device (400) may generate a time stamp list and transmit it to the electronic device (200). The time stamp list may include time stamps of a predetermined number (e.g., 10) of data packets received from the first external device (300). That is, the second external device (400) may generate a time stamp list in units of a predetermined number for the sequentially received data packets and transmit it to the electronic device (200).

[0189] According to one embodiment, in operation 1070, the third external device (500) can generate a time stamp list and transmit it to the electronic device (200).

[0190] According to one embodiment, in operation 1075, the electronic device (200) can compare the timestamps extracted from data packets received from the first external device (300) with the timestamps included in the timestamp list received from the second external device (400) and / or the third external device (500). Based on the comparison, the electronic device (200) can identify at least one unreceived data packet among the data packets transmitted from the first external device (300) that has not been received.

[0191] According to one embodiment, in operation 1080, the electronic device (200) may transmit a request for an unreceived data packet to the second external device (400). The electronic device (200) may request the second external device (400) to transmit at least one data packet that was not received by the electronic device (200) as a result of checking operation 1075, but was received by the second external device (400) as a result of checking the time stamp list of the second external device (400). If, as a result of checking operation 1075, there is no time stamp in the time stamp list received from the second external device (400) that is not included in the time stamps extracted from the data packets received from the first external device (300), operations 1080 and 1090 may be omitted.

[0192] According to one embodiment, in operation 1085, the electronic device (200) may transmit a request for an unreceived data packet to the third external device (500). The electronic device (200) may request the third external device (500) to transmit at least one data packet that was not received by the electronic device (200) as a result of checking operation 930, but was received by the third external device (500) as a result of checking the time stamp list of the third external device (500). If, as a result of checking operation 1075, there are no time stamps in the time stamp list received from the third external device (500) that are not included in the time stamps extracted from the data packets received from the first external device (300), operations 1085 and 1095 may be omitted.

[0193] According to one embodiment, in operation 1090, the second external device (400) can transmit at least one data packet requested from the electronic device (200) to the electronic device (200). The second external device (400) can find a data packet corresponding to the timestamp of the received request in the buffer area of ​​memory and transmit it to the electronic device (200). After transmitting the data packet, the second external device (400) can delete the timestamp list and data packets stored in the buffer area of ​​memory.

[0194] According to one embodiment, in operation 1095, the third external device (500) can transmit at least one data packet requested from the electronic device (200) to the electronic device (200). The third external device (500) can find a data packet corresponding to the timestamp of the received request in the buffer area of ​​memory and transmit it to the electronic device (200). After transmitting the data packet, the third external device (500) can delete the timestamp list and data packets stored in the buffer area of ​​memory.

[0195] According to one embodiment, if the electronic device (200) obtains all unreceived data packets from the second external device (400) through operations 1080 and 1090, operations 1085 and 1095 may not be performed.

[0196] According to one embodiment, the electronic device (200) can process data packets received from a first external device (300) and at least one data packet received from a second external device (400) and / or a third external device (500) by aligning (or recombining) them according to a time stamp. Accordingly, the electronic device (200) can process data that is substantially identical to the original data transmitted from the first external device (300).

[0197] FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of each device for providing a received missing data packet in an electronic device according to one embodiment.

[0198] FIG. 11 illustrates an embodiment in which a comparison of received data packets of an electronic device (200) and a time stamp list is performed in a first external device (300).

[0199] According to one embodiment, in operation 1110, the first external device (300) may transmit the original data packet via a defined short-range wireless communication method (e.g., UWB). The original data packet contains data (e.g., audio data) that the first external device (300) intends to transmit to the electronic device (200), and the destination may be designated as the electronic device (200). The original data packet may include data and a timestamp.

[0200] According to one embodiment, in operation 1115, the electronic device (200) may generate a time stamp list and transmit it to the electronic device (200). The time stamp list may include time stamps of a predetermined number (e.g., 10) of data packets received from the first external device (300).

[0201] According to one embodiment, in operation 1120, the second external device (400) can generate a time stamp list and transmit it to the electronic device (200).

[0202] According to one embodiment, in operation 1125, the third external device (500) can generate a time stamp list and transmit it to the electronic device (200).

[0203] According to one embodiment, in operation 1130, the first external device (300) can compare time stamp lists received from the electronic device (200), the second external device (400), and the third external device (500), respectively, to identify at least one data packet not received from the electronic device (200). For example, the first external device (300) can determine as the data packet of at least one time stamp that is not included in the time stamp list generated by the electronic device (200) among the time stamps of the time stamp list generated by the second external device (400) or the time stamp list generated by the third external device (500) as the data packet not received by the electronic device (200).

[0204] According to one embodiment, in operation 1135, the first external device (300) may request the second external device (400) to transmit the unreceived data packet to the electronic device (200).

[0205] According to one embodiment, in operation 1140, the first external device (300) may request the third external device (500) to transmit the unreceived data packet to the electronic device (200).

[0206] According to one embodiment, in operation 1145, the second external device (400) can transmit at least one data packet requested from the electronic device (200) to the electronic device (200). After transmitting the data packet, the second external device (400) can delete the time stamp list and data packets stored in the buffer area of ​​memory.

[0207] According to one embodiment, in operation 1150, the third external device (500) can transmit at least one data packet requested from the electronic device (200) to the electronic device (200). After transmitting the data packet, the third external device (500) can delete the time stamp list and data packets stored in the buffer area of ​​memory.

[0208] According to one embodiment, the electronic device (200) can process data packets received from a first external device (300) and at least one data packet received from a second external device (400) and / or a third external device (500) by aligning (or recombining) them according to a time stamp. Accordingly, the electronic device (200) can process data that is substantially identical to the original data transmitted from the first external device (300).

[0209] FIG. 12 is a flowchart of a method for improving data reception performance of an electronic device according to one embodiment.

[0210] The illustrated method can be performed by the first electronic device (200) of FIG. 5, and the description of the technical features previously described may be omitted below.

[0211] According to one embodiment, in operation 1210, an electronic device (e.g., the first electronic device (200) of FIG. 5) can receive data packets transmitted from a first external device (e.g., the second electronic device (300) of FIG. 2). The electronic device can establish a short-range wireless communication connection (e.g., UWB) with the first external device and receive data packets transmitted sequentially through the established short-range wireless communication connection.

[0212] According to one embodiment, in operation 1220, the electronic device can identify at least one unreceived data packet among the data packets transmitted from the first external device that has not been received, based on a time stamp included in each of the data packets.

[0213] According to one embodiment, the electronic device may receive a timestamp list containing timestamps of data packets transmitted from the first external device from a second external device (e.g., the third electronic device (400) of FIG. 6). According to one embodiment, the second external device may generate a timestamp list and transmit it to the first electronic device. The timestamp list may include timestamps of a fixed number (e.g., 10) of data packets received from the first external device.

[0214] According to one embodiment, the first electronic device can identify at least one unreceived data packet based on a comparison between the time stamps of data packets received from the first external device and the time stamps included in the time stamp list received from the second external device. If there is a time stamp among the time stamps included in the time stamp list that is not included in the time stamps extracted by the electronic device from the data packets received from the first external device, the data packet corresponding to that time stamp may have been actually transmitted by the first external device but not received by the electronic device, and may have been received by the second external device. Accordingly, the electronic device can determine as unreceived data packets at least one time stamp among the time stamps included in the time stamp list that is not included in the time stamps extracted by the electronic device from the data packets received from the first external device.

[0215] According to another embodiment, the electronic device can identify at least one unreceived data packet based on transmission schedule information of a data packet obtained from a first external device and timestamps of data packets received from the first external device. For example, the transmission schedule information may include information related to the transmission period of the data packet, and the electronic device can predict the timestamps of the data packets based on the transmission schedule information. The electronic device can determine that a data packet with a timestamp that is not actually received among the predicted timestamps is unreceived.

[0216] According to one embodiment, in operation 1230, the electronic device may request at least one unreceived data packet from the second external device. For example, the electronic device may transmit a data packet transmission request to the second external device, including timestamps of the unreceived data packet identified in operation 1220.

[0217] According to one embodiment, in operation 1240, the electronic device can receive at least one data packet from a second external device.

[0218] According to one embodiment, the electronic device can process data packets received from a first external device and at least one data packet received from a second external device by aligning (or recombining) them according to a timestamp. According to one embodiment, the electronic device may not process data packets stored in a buffer area of ​​memory until it receives an unreceived data packet from the second external device. Accordingly, the electronic device can process data that is substantially identical to the original data transmitted by the first external device.

[0219] According to one embodiment, instructions for performing each operation constituting the method may be stored on a tangible and non-transitory computer-readable recording medium.

[0220] An electronic device according to various embodiments of the present document may include a communication circuit, a memory, and at least one processor.

[0221] According to one embodiment, the memory may be executed by at least one processor, and at the time of execution, the electronic device may store instructions for receiving data packets transmitted from a first external device using the communication circuit, identifying at least one unreceived data packet among the data packets transmitted from the first external device that has not been received through the communication circuit based on a time stamp included in each of the data packets, requesting the at least one unreceived data packet from a second external device, and receiving at least one data packet corresponding to the request from the second external device.

[0222] According to one embodiment, the memory may store instructions for the electronic device to receive a timestamp list including timestamps of data packets transmitted from the first external device from the second external device, and to identify the at least one unreceived data packet based on a comparison of the timestamps of data packets received from the first external device and the timestamps included in the timestamp list received from the second external device.

[0223] According to one embodiment, the memory may store instructions that cause the electronic device to determine as the unreceived data packet at least one time stamp among the time stamps included in the time stamp list that is not included in the time stamps of the data packets received from the first external device.

[0224] According to one embodiment, the memory may store instructions that cause the electronic device to identify the at least one unreceived data packet based on transmission schedule information of a data packet obtained from the first external device and timestamps of data packets received from the first external device.

[0225] According to one embodiment, the memory may store instructions that cause the electronic device to process at least one data packet corresponding to data packets received from the first external device and the unreceived data packet received from the second external device by aligning them according to time stamps.

[0226] According to one embodiment, the memory may store instructions for the electronic device to request the first external device to retransmit the at least one unreceived data packet when the electric field strength of the signal received from the first external device is greater than or equal to a reference value, and to request the second external device to transmit the at least one unreceived data packet when the electric field strength of the signal received from the first external device is less than a reference value.

[0227] According to one embodiment, the memory may store instructions for the electronic device to receive information related to the remaining battery level of the second external device from the second external device through the communication circuit, and to request the second external device of at least one unreceived data packet when the remaining battery level of the second external device is higher than a reference value.

[0228] According to one embodiment, the memory may store instructions that cause the electronic device to receive the data packets from the first external device using a determined short-range wireless communication method through the communication circuit, and to receive the time stamp list from the second external device using the determined short-range wireless communication method through the communication circuit.

[0229] According to one embodiment, the defined short-range wireless communication method may be UWB (ultra wide band).

[0230] A method performed by an electronic device according to various embodiments of the present document may include: receiving data packets transmitted from a first external device; identifying at least one unreceived data packet among the data packets transmitted from the first external device that has not been received, based on a time stamp included in each of the data packets; requesting the at least one unreceived data packet from a second external device; and receiving at least one data packet corresponding to the request from the second external device.

[0231] According to one embodiment, the operation of confirming the at least one unreceived data packet may include the operation of receiving a time stamp list including time stamps of data packets transmitted from the first external device from the second external device, and the operation of confirming the at least one unreceived data packet based on a comparison of the time stamps of data packets received from the first external device and the time stamps included in the time stamp list received from the second external device.

[0232] According to one embodiment, the operation of identifying at least one unreceived data packet may include the operation of determining as the unreceived data packet at least one time stamp that is not included among the time stamps of data packets received from the first external device among the time stamps included in the time stamp list.

[0233] According to one embodiment, the operation of checking the at least one unreceived data packet may include the operation of checking the at least one unreceived data packet based on transmission schedule information of a data packet obtained from the first external device and time stamps of data packets received from the first external device.

[0234] According to one embodiment, the method may further include the operation of aligning and processing at least one data packet corresponding to data packets received from the first external device and the unreceived data packet received from the second external device according to time stamps.

[0235] According to one embodiment, the method may include an operation of requesting the first external device to retransmit the at least one unreceived data packet when the electric field strength of the signal received from the first external device is greater than or equal to a reference value, and an operation of requesting the second external device to transmit the at least one unreceived data packet when the electric field strength of the signal received from the first external device is less than a reference value.

[0236] According to one embodiment, the operation of receiving data packets transmitted from a first external device may include the operation of receiving the data packets from the first external device using a predetermined short-range wireless communication method.

[0237] According to one embodiment, the method may include receiving information related to the remaining battery level of the second external device from the second external device, and requesting the at least one unreceived data packet from the second external device when the remaining battery level of the second external device is higher than a reference value.

[0238] According to one embodiment, the operation of receiving the time stamp list may include the operation of receiving the time stamp list from the second external device using the predetermined short-range wireless communication method.

[0239] According to one embodiment, the defined short-range wireless communication method may be UWB (ultra wide band).

[0240] An electronic device according to various embodiments of the present document may include a communication circuit, a memory, and at least one processor.

[0241] According to one embodiment, the memory may be executed by at least one processor, and at the time of execution, the electronic device may store instructions for receiving data packets transmitted from a first external device to a second external device using the communication circuit, extracting a time stamp included in each of the data packets to generate a time stamp list, transmitting the generated time stamp list to the second external device, receiving a transmission request for an unreceived data packet from the second external device, and transmitting at least one data packet to the second external device in response to the transmission request.

[0242] The electronic device according to the various embodiments disclosed in this document may be of various forms. The electronic device may include, for example, a portable communication device (e.g., a smartphone), a computer device, a portable multimedia device, a portable medical device, a camera, a wearable device, or a consumer electronics device. The electronic device according to the embodiments of this document is not limited to the devices described above.

[0243] The various embodiments of this document and the terms used therein are not intended to limit the technical features described in this document to specific embodiments, and should be understood to include various modifications, equivalents, or substitutions of said embodiments. In connection with the description of the drawings, similar reference numerals may be used for similar or related components. The singular form of a noun corresponding to an item may include one or more of said items unless the relevant context clearly indicates otherwise. In this document, phrases such as "A or B," "at least one of A and B," "at least one of A or B," "A, B or C," "at least one of A, B and C," and "at least one of A, B, or C" may each include any one of the items listed together in the corresponding phrase, or all possible combinations thereof. Terms such as "first," "second," or "first" or "second" may be used simply to distinguish said components from other said components and do not limit said components in any other aspect (e.g., importance or order). Where any (e.g., 1st) component is referred to as “coupled” or “connected” to another (e.g., 2nd) component, with or without the terms “functionally” or “communicationly,” it means that said any component may be connected to said other component directly (e.g., via a wire), wirelessly, or through a third component.

[0244] The term “module” as used in the various embodiments of this document may include a unit implemented in hardware, software, or firmware, and may be used interchangeably with terms such as logic, logic block, component, or circuit, for example. A module may be a component formed integrally, or a minimum unit of said component or a part thereof that performs one or more functions. For example, according to one embodiment, a module may be implemented in the form of an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC).

[0245] Various embodiments of the present document may be implemented as software (e.g., program (140)) comprising one or more instructions stored in a storage medium (e.g., internal memory (136) or external memory (138)) readable by a machine (e.g., electronic device (101)). For example, a processor (e.g., processor (120)) of the machine (e.g., electronic device (101)) may call at least one of the one or more instructions stored in the storage medium and execute it. This enables the machine to be operated to perform at least one function according to the at least one called instruction. The one or more instructions may include code generated by a compiler or code that can be executed by an interpreter. The storage medium readable by the machine may be provided in the form of a non-transitory storage medium. Here, 'non-temporary' simply means that the storage medium is a tangible device and does not contain a signal (e.g., electromagnetic waves), and the term does not distinguish between cases where data is stored semi-permanently and cases where it is stored temporarily.

[0246] According to one embodiment, the method according to the various embodiments disclosed herein may be provided by being included in a computer program product. The computer program product may be traded between a seller and a buyer as a product. The computer program product may be distributed in the form of a device-readable storage medium (e.g., compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM)) or an application store (e.g., Play Store). TM It can be distributed online (e.g., downloaded or uploaded) through ) or directly between two user devices (e.g., smartphones). In the case of online distribution, at least a portion of the computer program product may be temporarily stored or temporarily created on a device-readable storage medium, such as the memory of a manufacturer's server, an application store's server, or a relay server.

[0247] According to various embodiments, each component (e.g., module or program) of the components described above may include a singular or multiple entities, and some of the multiple entities may be separated and placed in other components. According to various embodiments, one or more of the components or operations of the aforementioned components may be omitted, or one or more other components or operations may be added. Generally or additionally, multiple components (e.g., module or program) may be integrated into a single component. In this case, the integrated component may perform one or more functions of each of the multiple components in the same or similar manner as those performed by the corresponding component among the multiple components prior to integration. According to various embodiments, operations performed by the module, program, or other components may be executed sequentially, in parallel, iteratively, or heuristically, or one or more of the operations may be executed in a different order, omitted, or one or more other operations may be added.

Claims

1. In an electronic device, Communication circuit; Memory; and It includes at least one processor, The above memory can be executed by at least one processor, and at the time of execution, the electronic device, Using the above communication circuit, data packets transmitted from a first external device are received, and Based on the time stamp included in each of the above data packets, at least one unreceived data packet among the data packets transmitted from the first external device that was not received through the communication circuit is identified, and Requesting the above at least one unreceived data packet to a second external device, and An electronic device storing instructions for receiving at least one data packet corresponding to the request from the second external device.

2. In Paragraph 1, The above memory is, the electronic device, Receiving a timestamp list including timestamps of data packets transmitted from the first external device from the second external device, and An electronic device storing instructions for identifying at least one unreceived data packet based on a comparison of the timestamps of data packets received from the first external device and the timestamps included in a list of timestamps received from the second external device.

3. In Paragraph 2, The above memory is, the electronic device, An electronic device storing instructions for determining as the unreceived data packet at least one time stamp among the time stamps included in the time stamp list above that is not included in the time stamps of the data packets received from the first external device.

4. In Paragraph 1, The above memory is, the electronic device, An electronic device that stores instructions for identifying at least one unreceived data packet based on transmission schedule information of a data packet obtained from the first external device and timestamps of data packets received from the first external device.

5. In any one of paragraphs 1 through 4, The above memory is, the electronic device, An electronic device storing instructions for processing at least one data packet corresponding to data packets received from the first external device and the unreceived data packet received from the second external device by aligning them according to time stamps.

6. In any one of paragraphs 1 through 5, The above memory is, the electronic device, If the electric field strength of a signal received from the first external device is greater than or equal to a reference value, the first external device is requested to retransmit at least one unreceived data packet, and An electronic device storing instructions to request the second external device to transmit at least one unreceived data packet when the electric field strength of a signal received from the first external device is less than a reference value.

7. In any one of paragraphs 1 through 6, The above memory is, the electronic device, Information related to the remaining battery capacity of the second external device is received from the second external device through the communication circuit above, and An electronic device storing instructions to request at least one unreceived data packet from the second external device when the remaining battery capacity of the second external device is higher than a reference value.

8. In any one of paragraphs 1 through 7, The above memory is, the electronic device, Receiving the data packets from the first external device using a short-range wireless communication method determined through the communication circuit above, and An electronic device that stores instructions for receiving the time stamp list from the second external device using the specified short-range wireless communication method through the communication circuit.

9. In Paragraph 8, The above-determined short-range wireless communication method is an electronic device that is UWB (ultra wide band).

10. In a method performed by an electronic device, The operation of receiving data packets transmitted from a first external device; An operation to identify at least one unreceived data packet among the data packets transmitted from the first external device that has not been received, based on a time stamp included in each of the above data packets; The operation of requesting at least one unreceived data packet from a second external device; and A method comprising the operation of receiving at least one data packet corresponding to the request from the second external device.

11. In Paragraph 10, The operation of checking at least one unreceived data packet mentioned above is, The operation of receiving a time stamp list including time stamps of data packets transmitted from the first external device from the second external device; and A method comprising the operation of identifying at least one unreceived data packet based on a comparison of the timestamps of data packets received from the first external device and the timestamps included in a list of timestamps received from the second external device.

12. In Paragraph 11, The operation of checking at least one unreceived data packet mentioned above is, A method comprising the operation of determining as the unreceived data packet at least one time stamp among the time stamps included in the time stamp list above that is not included in the time stamps of the data packets received from the first external device.

13. In Paragraph 10, The operation of checking at least one unreceived data packet mentioned above is, A method comprising the operation of identifying at least one unreceived data packet based on transmission schedule information of a data packet obtained from the first external device and time stamps of data packets received from the first external device.

14. In any one of Paragraphs 10 through 13, A method further comprising the operation of aligning and processing at least one data packet corresponding to the data packets received from the first external device and the unreceived data packets received from the second external device according to time stamps.

15. In electronic devices, Communication circuit; Memory; and It includes at least one processor, The above memory can be executed by at least one processor, and at the time of execution, the electronic device, Using the above communication circuit, data packets transmitted from a first external device to a second external device are received, and Extract the timestamps included in each of the above data packets to generate a timestamp list, and The generated time stamp list is transmitted to the second external device, and Receive a transmission request for an unreceived data packet from the second external device, and An electronic device that stores instructions for transmitting at least one data packet to the second external device in response to the transmission request.

Images