Abstract:
A method and system for improving a level of service between wireless devices. Handheld devices implementing the Bluetooth specification typically have relatively limited transmission ranges. As a result, and since they are typically portable, such devices easily experience abrupt communication interruptions, either between themselves and other handheld devices, or between themselves and fixed devices. The effective range of the devices can be extended by providing additional error-correcting coding. Although this modification also results in an extended transmission time, users are provided with an increased transmission range, and are given warning that service may soon be interrupted. Users may then, if they wish, take such steps as finishing their communication or moving into their devices&#39; normal transmission range. Additionally, the handheld devices may use the extra transmission time and range to search for a forwarding path to a recipient device, thus minimizing or preventing any service interruption.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to wireless devices, and more particularly to methods for improving transmission services between such devices. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     As the number and type of electronic devices have proliferated, so have the number and type of connectors and protocols for communicating between the electronic devices. For example, televisions, personal computers (and associated peripheral devices), personal digital assistants (PDAs) and mobile telephones all typically require different methods for communicating with other electronic devices. As a result, a given electronic device must either embrace multiple communication techniques (e.g., a personal computer may support different protocols for different peripheral devices, and may have one or more serial, parallel and infrared I/O ports), or do without the ability to communicate with a particular device. Moreover, even if an electronic device has the ability to support a plurality of communication techniques, the corresponding increase in associated processing power and the number of cables/connectors to provide such support can prove cumbersome or prohibitive. 
     The Bluetooth standard protocol was developed with the above in mind, and provides a single protocol for wireless communications between a plurality of different types of electronic devices. As such, this protocol overcomes many or all of the problems described above. Bluetooth is described in more detail in, for example,  Specification of the Bluetooth System,  v0.8, Jan. 22, 1999 (and in subsequent revisions thereof), which is hereby incorporated herein by reference and may hereinafter be referred to as the “Bluetooth specification.” 
     In addition to overcoming the above-discussed problems, Bluetooth also permits the grouping of physically proximate wireless devices into local networks known as “piconets.” Such piconets may operate in a “peer-to-peer” manner (each communicating directly with one another), or may utilize a “master-slave” relationship, in which one device serves as a central point for the network, through which each of the other network devices communicate. 
     The Bluetooth specification provides for devices in different power classes. For example, low power (class 3) devices have a maximum power output of 1 mW, representing a typical transmission range of 10 meters, while high power (class 1) devices may produce up to 100 mW output, for an approximate transmission range of 100 meters. The protocol for communication between all devices is uniform, so that class 1 and class 3 devices may exchange data, assuming they are in range of one another. 
     For cost and power consumption (battery life) considerations, most handheld/portable devices implementing Bluetooth are class 3 devices. This means that even if one of these devices is plugged into a wall outlet to save battery power, its transmission range typically will not extend beyond approximately 10 meters. In contrast, most fixed devices implementing Bluetooth are conventionally class 1 devices. 
     Given the portability of such a handheld device, it may easily be moved beyond its effective transmission range for communicating with other devices. For example, the handheld device may be moved to a position where it can still detect transmissions from a fixed device, but the fixed device will not be able to detect the handheld device&#39;s replies. Similarly, one handheld device may be moved out of its effective transmission/reception range with respect to a second handheld device. Such movements can result in abrupt transmission interruptions (or stoppages) between the devices. Moreover, to the extent that a handheld device is part of a piconet, the device may experience such interruptions/stoppages despite the fact that another device within the piconet (or possibly even outside of the piconet) is within range and capable of forwarding transmissions to and from the device. 
     Although the transmission range of the device could be extended by increasing its power (or some other common method), such alterations would be problematic for reasons such as cost, battery limitations and increased interference between devices. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to a system and method for effectively increasing the transmission range of a device implementing a short-range wireless communication protocol, such as the Bluetooth specification, without significantly increasing the device&#39;s cost, power, or interference with other devices. The present invention avoids abrupt interruptions and/or stoppages of communication experienced by the device, and allows for soft hand-off between devices when feasible. In so doing, the present invention contemplates a wireless device for communicating with other devices, either in a one-to-one transmission, or in the context of a system or piconet of communication devices. Such a wireless communications device might include a receiver operable to receive digitally-encoded data, a transmitter operable to transmit digitally-encoded data over a transmission range, and an error-correcting coding mechanism that alters a level of error-correcting coding of transmitted signals when necessary to increase the effective transmission range of the wireless communications device. 
     Devices utilizing the present invention operate normally as long as they are in range of one another. When one device detects that it is moving out of range of a second device (or vice versa), it begins applying additional error-correcting coding to sent messages. This additional coding allows for a reduction in the bit error rate of the messages, thus increasing the message&#39;s signal-to-noise ratio and allowing the message to be decoded at a greater distance from the sending device. A secondary result is that the effective transmission rate of the message is lowered. 
     The sending device also reserves an access code portion at the beginning of each message burst to notify the other device that the attached message burst is being sent at a lower effective transmission rate than is normal for the Bluetooth specification. This permits the receiving device additional time to perform more robust decoding of the message. Of course, as a consequence, the user will experience some delay in receiving such messages. However, the user will at least be aware that a maximum transmission range is near, and the additional time can be used to complete a message, to move back within a standard transmission range, or to perform a soft-handoff of the receiving device (to thereby continue receiving the message via an intermediary device). 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The present invention is described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings, like reference numbers indicate identical or functionally similar elements. Additionally, the left-most digit(s) of a reference number identifies the drawing in which the reference number first appears. 
         FIG. 1A  demonstrates two wireless devices that are within transmission range of one another. 
         FIG. 1B  demonstrates two wireless devices that would not ordinarily be within transmission range of one another, but are within an extended transmission range according to one embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  demonstrates a block diagram of a wireless communications device according to one embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 3A  demonstrates a conventional Bluetooth transmission packet. 
         FIG. 3B  demonstrates an exemplary transmission format used by one embodiment of the invention to increase a device&#39;s effective transmission range. 
         FIG. 4  demonstrates a methodology for a soft hand-off between multiple wireless devices as a first one of the wireless devices moves out of range of a second wireless device. 
         FIG. 5  is a flow chart describing the process for a soft hand-off demonstrated in  FIG. 4 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     While the present invention is described below with respect to various explanatory embodiments, various features of the present invention may be extended to other applications as would be apparent. In particular, it should be understood that this invention is not limited to networks compliant with the Bluetooth specification, and could be similarly implemented using other types of wireless networks. 
       FIG. 1A  demonstrates wireless devices  110  and  120 . Device  110  is a class 3 Bluetooth device having an effective transmission range of up to 10 meters, as demonstrated by solid arrow  130 . Device  120  represents either a class 1 Bluetooth device (having a transmission range of up to 100 meters) or a second class 3 Bluetooth device. 
     Regardless of whether device  120  is class 1 or class 3, device  110  would not normally be capable of transmitting data to device  120  if device  120  is located at an effective transmission range greater than range  130 , represented by dashed arrow  140  of  FIG. 1B  (of course, as referred to above, if device  120  is a class 1 device, it would remain capable of transmitting to device  110 ). However, the present invention allows device  110  to continue to transmit to device  120  over an increased effective transmission range  140 . 
       FIG. 2  demonstrates a block diagram of wireless communications device  110  just discussed. In  FIG. 2 , device  110  includes a transmitter  210  and receiver  220 , which transmit and receive data via antenna  230 . Operating in conjunction with transmitter  210  and receiver  220  is error-correcting coding mechanism  240 , which is operable to increase a level of error-correcting coding applied to data sent by transmitter  210 , such that transmission range  130  in  FIG. 1  is effectively increased to transmission range  140 . The theory underlying the operation of error-correcting coding mechanism  240  is discussed in more detail below. 
     Bluetooth is a standard for digital transmission, and, as with most digital transmissions, it relies on error-correcting coding to transmit and receive signals at a certain speed and level of reliability. Error-correcting coding (ECC) essentially deals with the situation where a “1” is mistaken for a “0” (or vice-versa) in a digital transmission. Such errors can occur, due to, for example, electronic noise, component defect, etc. ECC uses various coding techniques to identify and correct these errors. 
     ECC relies on the inclusion of redundant information (bits) in a signal, which contains information about the data that can be used to correct the above-mentioned difficulties. In general, the more ECC bits that are included with the data in a given transmission, the more errors can be tolerated in that transmission. However, ECC requires processing beyond what would otherwise be required; therefore, a message transmitted using ECC will either require more processing power and/or additional transmission time. 
     As a given signal transmits over a certain distance, its bit error rate also increases. Hence, based on the above, the present invention seeks to increase an effective transmission range of a device by increasing a level of error-correcting coding applied to a signal that is transmitted by that device. In other words, since the effect of increased distance is a lower signal-to-noise ratio that manifests as an increased bit error rate, additional coding allows the same signal to be correctly decoded at a greater range. 
     Bluetooth typically utilizes an access code at the start of each message burst. Such an access code can serve multiple purposes. For example, a channel access code usually provides identification of devices in a piconet, including which member is the master (which could be either the device itself, or the destination device if the transmitting device is a slave). A device access code may identify special procedures or functions of a device; e.g., paging, etc. An inquiry access code is generally used to determine which (if any) additional Bluetooth devices are in range. 
     Inquiry access codes can generally be divided into two types: general and dedicated. General inquiry access codes are used to determine whether any Bluetooth device is within transmission range. Dedicated inquiry access codes (DIACs) are used to determine whether any Bluetooth device sharing a common characteristic is within transmission range. For example, a DIAC can be used to discover all Bluetooth devices within range that are dedicated to a particular piconet. According to the Bluetooth specification, DIACs are specially chosen to tolerate a higher bit error rate than a body of a message, such that they can be detected beyond a range at which a Bluetooth transmission would normally be corrupted. This is so that they can achieve their function of being detected by a receiver even before a clock synchronization is achieved between the transmitting and receiving devices. 
       FIG. 3A  demonstrates a conventional transmission format, which is used by the invention except as discussed below. In  FIG. 3A , 72 bits within section  310  of the transmission format are reserved for one or more of the access codes discussed above. The 54 bits in the section  320  are used as a header for identifying the type of device/content, etc., as is conventional, and the remaining 2745 bits in section  330  are used for the payload of the transmission. 
     According to one embodiment of the present invention, a device  110  that desires to transmit first attempts to communicate in the normal fashion; i.e., transmitter  210  sends out a burst having the above format. If receiver  220  of device  110  is able to hear a recipient device, but the other device does not respond (or if receiver  220  receives nothing in response), error-correcting coding mechanism  240  then tries re-coding the message into a low-rate packet or packets which are transmitted by transmitter  210  under a specially reserved DIAC. That is, the entire packet, including the original access code and header, are re-coded and prefixed with the reserved DIAC. 
     On the receiving side, when a device equipped with this invention hears one of the reserved DIACs, it begins decoding the remainder of the burst (note that, as discussed above, DIACs are more robust than a typical Bluetooth data packet, and may thus be received by the receiving device even at a distance where the first, initially-sent data packet is unrecoverable). The first subsequent part of the burst will be the original access code. The receiving device looks at the original access code to determine if it should continue processing the burst or discard it. Since each bit of the balance of the burst is extended, it may be oversampled and a majority vote used to decide on the bit value. As is typical, error checks can detect and discard damaged bursts. 
       FIG. 3B  demonstrates a transmission format used to implement this embodiment of the invention. In  FIG. 3B , access code  310 , header portion  320  and payload portion  330  remain the same. However, DIAC  340  is now appended as a burst preamble that serves as a warning that the burst to follow is at a lower effective rate than normal Bluetooth bursts. The remainder of the burst after the DIAC can then be transmitted with the same modulation as usual, but with each bit time extended by a factor determined by the choice of DIAC. Thus, in  FIG. 3B , although the length of the DIAC is 72 as is standard for a DIAC, the remaining portions are multiplied by the exemplary 2×extension factor. As mentioned above, this bit time extension allows for increased ECC, which in turn increases the signal-to-noise ratio of the signal and allows reception of the signal at a distance beyond the nominal maximum range of the transmitting device. 
     For example, a DIAC might be reserved to signify a 2×extension of the bit time, reducing the effective data rate to one half. Another DIAC might call for a 3×extension, or an extension of only 50% (1.5×). The receiver, based on the DIAC preamble, can then take advantage of the extended bit times to perform a more robust decode of the payload of the burst. Of course, as alluded to above, such a process requires additional time, increasing the time necessary to receive the payload portion  330  in proportion to the selected bit time extension. If the bit extension causes the packet to exceed the maximum length (in time) of the Bluetooth packet, it will be necessary to insert additional packets or change the packet type to use more slots. Nevertheless, despite the increased time required to decode the payload, the present invention is advantageous in that it provides a user with additional transmission range and time, thereby allowing the user the opportunity to, for example, end the transmission or move back to within a standard transmission range. 
     Since the modified DIAC is compliant with the Bluetooth specification, devices which are not equipped with the present invention will simply ignore the DIACs which are used, the same as any burst not addressed to it. Even if an unequipped device were to attempt to decode the entire burst, error checks will fail due to the extended bit times (which will appear to the receiver  220  as bit replications). 
     Thus, the present invention is not mandatory for any device implementing the Bluetooth specification. However, if a class 1 device and a class 3 device both implement this extension, then communication at a reduced data rate can be provided without interfering with simultaneous communication with standard devices. 
     The present invention can be used in a variety of advantageous ways. For example, the invention will obviously allow messaging at a range beyond that of a normal Bluetooth device. In addition, if a device is moving from the normal transmission range through the extended transmission range of the present invention, a user can be warned that loss of service is imminent. For example, the user&#39;s device may exhibit an indicator light whenever the user/device is located within the extended transmission range. The fact that a device is moving out of range can be detected by, for example, measuring a received signal strength indicator (RSSI) from the device. Alternatively, or additionally, a transmitting device may detect an increased bit error rate as a means for determining impending loss of reception. Other methods for determining a position of a mobile Bluetooth device, especially in the context of a plurality of stationary access points overseeing Bluetooth transmissions to and from mobile nodes, are known and/or currently under development. Regardless of how position information is determined, the user may use the information to decide to remain within transmission range. If the user does not remain within transmission range, at least he or she will not generally experience an abrupt stoppage of service without warning. However, even if the user does experience an abrupt loss of transmission, the present invention may advantageously be used to at least attempt recovery of the transmission. 
     Also, if the device in question is part of a network, stoppage may be avoided entirely, by providing a “soft handoff” for the device that is moving out of range. In the prior art, a portable device that is exchanging information with another device (a fixed device or a second portable device) may sometimes move out of range of the fixed device. Prior art methods provide for the finding by the fixed device of an intermediary device within the same network, by which the two original devices may continue to share data. That is, the intermediary device forwards the data between the two original devices. However, it frequently happens in the prior art that the connection between the two original devices is temporarily lost (and/or abruptly interrupted) during the time that the fixed device searches for an intermediary. The present invention is capable of solving this problem and related problems. 
     For example, as shown in  FIG. 4 , if a device  110  is communicating with device  120 , at some point it may notice a drop in signal strength indicating that device  110  is moving out of range to a new location. As just discussed, if the device  110  is participating in an extended network that supports data forwarding, device  120  may begin searching for another device (e.g., device  410 ) that can forward data to device  110 . However, as was also just discussed, by the time it finds one, direct communication may already have been lost, and/or the dropout may occur abruptly. 
     In these cases, device  120  may attempt to notify device  110  via a low rate burst according to the present invention, so that communication can be continued without interruption or resumed quickly. That is, devices  110  and  120  can continue to communicate via link  140 , as discussed with connection to  FIGS. 1 and 2  above, until such time as device  120  locates device  310 . At that point, messages between devices  110  and  120  may be forwarded using device  410 , via links  420  and  430 . In this way, a user may experience an easy, transparent and continuous hand-off. It should be noted here that the just-described hand-off process, as with various other processes of the present invention, could also be controlled by a user, either as a default or override process. For example, a user may wish to manually control hand-off when the automatic process is repeatedly bouncing the user to forwarding devices that are not appreciably different from one another in transmission quality. 
     The process just discussed is described in more detail, for a particular embodiment of the invention, with respect to the flowchart  500  shown in  FIG. 5 . In step  505  of the flowchart, device  110  sends a standard Bluetooth poll for subsequent data transmission(s) to device  120 . In step  510 , device  110  determines whether a response is received from device  120  with acceptable signal strength. If such a response is received, standard Bluetooth transmissions are continued in step  515 . Otherwise, device  110  sends out in step  520  a special-purpose DIAC, as discussed above, to alert device  120  that subsequent data will receive a particular level of increased error-correcting coding. 
     If device  110  then receives a response in step  525 , it may increase ECC in step  535  to maintain transmission, while simultaneously searching for a forwarding device (as discussed with respect to  FIG. 4 ). If an unacceptable response is received in step  525 , device  110  may nevertheless continue searching for a forwarding device in step  530  (and may propose gradually-increasing levels of increased ECC to device  120  in step  520  until an appropriate response is received in step  525 ). Although not demonstrated in  FIG. 5 , it is possible that device  110  may either move back into standard transmission range with device  120  (in which case normal transmissions may resume), or may move completely out of range of device  120  via any available forwarding device (in which case transmissions must cease). Once an acceptable forwarding device  410  is found in step  540 , device  110  can continue normal transmissions via that device. Of course, if no forwarding device is located, searching continues in step  545 , until transmissions end after a predetermined time, or until device  110  moves back to within normal operating range of device  120 . 
     In conclusion, the above description has provided various explanatory embodiments to explain a methodology for extending an effective transmission range of a wireless device. The methodology may be implemented in a number of settings; for example, at the outset of a connection between two devices if necessary to establish the connection, at an ending of a connection when the connection has actually been lost, or at a fading of the connection (as detected by a decrease in RSSI or increase in bit error rate) when the connection may be imminently lost. The methodology may also be implemented between different types of devices; e.g., between a class one and a mobile class two device or between two class two devices. Thus, by virtue of the present invention, transmissions can be made more reliable, and abrupt stoppages or interruptions of transmissions can be avoided. 
     While this invention has been described in various explanatory embodiments, other embodiments and variations can be effected by a person of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope of the invention. For example, the invention additionally contemplates applying different error correcting coding techniques instead of merely extending bits in the context of standard Bluetooth error correction.