Beacon Synchronization via Intermediary Scanning
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Solution Overview
Problem
The continuous and maximum sensitivity operation of receiver modules in portable electronic devices to detect Bluetooth tags significantly increases power consumption, which is critical for devices like smartwatches with limited battery autonomy.
Innovation Solution
A method involving a second terminal that scans and identifies nearby tags, collects their periodicity and offset times, and relays this information to a first terminal, allowing it to synchronize and receive messages only during necessary intervals, thereby optimizing power consumption.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the receiver module operates continuously at maximum sensitivity to detect beacons, then the detection capability and message reception reliability are improved, but the power consumption increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
A second terminal performs preliminary scanning and identification of beacons, collecting their periodicity and offset time information before the first terminal needs to receive messages. This preliminary action allows the first terminal to skip continuous scanning and only activate its receiver at predetermined intervals when messages are expected, significantly reducing power consumption while maintaining reliable message reception.
Solution Approach 2:
The second terminal acts as an intermediary that performs the initial beacon detection and information collection work. It scans for beacons, identifies their transmission characteristics, and relays this information to the first terminal. This intermediary approach allows the first terminal to avoid continuous high-power operation while still achieving reliable message reception through the pre-acquired synchronization information.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the receiver module is activated continuously to detect any active beacon, then the beacon detection capability is improved, but the battery autonomy deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The second terminal performs preliminary beacon detection and collects information about active beacons, their periodicity, and offset times. This preliminary action enables the first terminal to know in advance when and where to look for messages, allowing it to keep its receiver off most of the time and only activate it at specific predetermined intervals, thus preserving battery autonomy while maintaining detection capability.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of continuous operation, the receiver module in the first terminal is activated periodically at predetermined intervals based on the beacon's transmission periodicity and offset time information received from the second terminal. This periodic activation pattern maintains the ability to detect active beacons while dramatically reducing overall power consumption and extending battery autonomy.
3Use of energy by moving object
If the first terminal synchronizes with the beacon using pre-acquired periodicity and offset information, then the power consumption is reduced, but the synchronization complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The second terminal serves as an intermediary that handles the complex tasks of beacon scanning, periodicity measurement, and offset time calculation. It performs these complex synchronization operations and then relays the results to the first terminal. This distributes the complexity: the second terminal handles the difficult measurement and calculation tasks, while the first terminal only needs to implement simple periodic activation based on the provided information, thus reducing overall system complexity while enabling power-efficient synchronization.
Data Source
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AI summary
The present invention relates to a communication set comprising a first terminal (100) equipped with a first communication module arranged to communicate with a multitude of beacons (300) each comprising a communication circuit enabling the sending of data (Mi) with a particular periodicity (Pi), characterized in that said set further comprises a second terminal (200) comprising a second communication module, said second terminal being arranged to, by means of said second communication module, scan its environment in order to detect the presence of beacons within range and to retrieve, for each beacon detected, the particular periodicity and a time offset corresponding to the time between a reference point and the start of the sending of the message (Mi) and send them to the first terminal.