Patent Description:
True Wireless Stereo (TWS) Bluetooth earbuds (e.g., headphones) works in a topology where the Source (which is the source of audio) is connected to just one earbud (out of a pair of <NUM> earbuds). The one that is connected to Source is called as "Primary". The "Primary" earbud is connected to other earbud called "Secondary". The secondary earbud sniffs the link between the Source and the Primary. The "Primary" earbud (the one connected to Source) has the responsibility to relay lost packets and channel/music to the "Secondary" earbud. TWS earbuds may be considered as earbuds which do not require a cable connection between the two earbuds and likewise no cable connection to a source.

Advanced Audio Distribution Profile (A2DP) standard includes a Bluetooth Stereo profile that defines how high quality stereo audio can be streamed from one device to another over a Bluetooth connection - for example, music streamed from a mobile phone to wireless earbuds. A2DP latency (in TWS) depends on a lot of factor and one of the major factors is the quality/robustness of the links between the Primary & Source and Primary & Secondary.

It is the Primary who does the acknowledging (ACKing)/not acknowledging (NACKing) of the A2DP packets coming from the Source. If the link between the Source & Primary is very noisy, it becomes a challenge to maintain a good A2DP latency under adverse channel conditions.

Accordingly, there is a need for systems, apparatus, and methods that overcome the deficiencies of conventional approaches including the methods, system and apparatus provided hereby. <CIT> discloses audio systems and methods for wirelessly communicating audio information. In one example, a wireless audio system includes a primary wireless headphone and a secondary wireless headphone. The primary wireless headphone is configured to receive, from an audio source, audio information using a short-range wireless communication protocol; transmit, to the audio source, a first message indicative of whether the audio information is successfully received; and transmit a communication parameter associated with the short-range wireless communication protocol used between the audio source and the primary wireless headphone. The secondary wireless headphone is configured to receive, from the primary wireless headphone, the communication parameter; receive, from the audio source, the audio information based on the communication parameter using the short-range wireless communication protocol; and transmit, to the audio source, a second message when the audio information is successfully received. The first message and second message determine whether to re-transmit the audio information. <CIT> provides systems, methods and apparatus for reliable communication between a source device, and two or more sink devices. In one aspect, a sink device closest in proximity to the source device can establish a wireless data transfer with the source device. In another aspect, the sink device having the more favorable radio channel conditions can establish a wireless data transfer with the source device. In some aspects, the sink devices can forward audio data received from the source device over a secondary communication link. The audio data can be forwarded to the other sink device automatically, or upon request from the other sink device. The secondary communication link can be implemented as a magnetic communication link, or as a Bluetooth communication link.

A more complete appreciation of aspects of the disclosure and many of the attendant advantages thereof will be readily obtained as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings which are presented solely for illustration and not limitation of the disclosure, and in which:.

In accordance with common practice, the features depicted by the drawings may not be drawn to scale. Accordingly, the dimensions of the depicted features may be arbitrarily expanded or reduced for clarity. In accordance with common practice, some of the drawings are simplified for clarity. Thus, the drawings may not depict all components of a particular apparatus or method. Further, like reference numerals denote like features throughout the specification and figures.

The exemplary methods, apparatus, and systems disclosed herein mitigate shortcomings of the conventional methods, apparatus, and systems, as well as other previously unidentified needs. In one example, a link between a Phone (i.e., audio source) and a secondary (S) along with a link between a primary (P) and the secondary may be used instead of the link between primary and phone to mitigate the link quality issues of the phone and primary link by using an on demand Secondary to Primary relay of the A2DP packets to reduce the overall A2DP latency. For instance, if the link between the P and Phone is bad and P is getting cyclic redundancy check (CRC) errors, the P can abandon listening to the Phone after a configurable number of attempts (e.g., <NUM> or <NUM> CRC packets) and send a sync packet on the P and S relay piconet to get the A2DP packet from the S (if received). If S has received the A2DP packet, S indicates that in the SYNC packet sent by S to P. The P then polls the S and gets the A2DP packet. In another example, packets are relayed in both directions where a first packet was missed by the shadowing slave (secondary) and a second packet was missed by the connected slave (Primary) by the time the SYNC exchange took place. The Primary relayed the first packet and the secondary relayed the second packet. The Primary may indicate that it wants the Secondary to relay the second packet by setting ARQN (acknowledgement indicates a retransmission is required) = NACK in the first packet.

<FIG> illustrates an exemplary apparatus in accordance with some examples of the disclosure. As shown in <FIG>, an apparatus <NUM> may include a first receiver <NUM> wirelessly coupled to a source <NUM> configured to output packets (e.g., first packet <NUM>), the first receiver <NUM> configured as a primary True Wireless Stereo (TWS) Bluetooth device and a second receiver <NUM> wirelessly coupled to the first receiver <NUM>, the second receiver <NUM> configured as a secondary TWS Bluetooth device. The first receiver <NUM> may be configured to establish a first connection <NUM> with the source <NUM> and a second connection <NUM> with the second receiver <NUM>, receive a first packet <NUM> (e.g., an A2DP packet or an enhanced Synchronous Connection Oriented Link (eSCO) packet) from the source <NUM> on the first connection <NUM>, and determine if the received first packet <NUM> has an error. The second receiver <NUM> may be configured to establish a third connection <NUM> with the source <NUM>. The second receiver <NUM> may be configured to receive the first packet <NUM> from the source <NUM> on the third connection <NUM>.

In some examples, the first receiver <NUM> may also be configured to determine, in response to the determination the first packet <NUM> has the error, if the second receiver <NUM> received the first packet <NUM>. Alternatively, the first receiver <NUM> may also be configured to request the first packet <NUM> from the second receiver <NUM> in response to the determination that the second receiver <NUM> received the first packet <NUM>, determine the first packet <NUM> received from the second receiver <NUM> has no error, and transmit an acknowledgement packet to the source <NUM> in response to determination the first packet <NUM> received from the second receiver <NUM> has no error. Alternatively, the first receiver <NUM> may also be configured to request the first packet <NUM> from the second receiver <NUM> in response to the determination that the second receiver <NUM> received the first packet <NUM>, and the second receiver <NUM> may be further configured to determine the first packet <NUM> received from the source <NUM> by the second receiver <NUM> has no error, and transmit an acknowledgement packet to the source <NUM> in response to determination the first packet <NUM> received from the source <NUM> by the second receiver <NUM> has no error. In addition, the first receiver <NUM> may also be configured to receive a second packet (e.g., first packet <NUM>) from the source <NUM>, and transmit the second packet from the first receiver <NUM> to the second receiver <NUM> in response to a determination the second receiver <NUM> did not receive the second packet. Also, the source <NUM> may be incorporated into a device selected from the group consisting of a music player, a video player, an entertainment unit, a navigation device, a communications device, a mobile device, a mobile phone, a smartphone, a personal digital assistant, a fixed location terminal, a tablet computer, a computer, a wearable device, a laptop computer, a server, and a device in an automotive vehicle.

In some examples, the connections may be True Wireless Stereo type connections between the source <NUM> and the first receiver <NUM> (e.g., configured as a primary connection), the first receiver <NUM> and the second receiver <NUM> (e.g., configured as a secondary connection), and the second receiver <NUM> and the source <NUM> (e.g., sniffing the primary connection). It should be understood that sniffing the primary connection may also include additional functionality such as sending and receiving acknowledgment and non-acknowledgment packets. There may also be a relay connection <NUM> between the first receiver <NUM> and the second receiver <NUM> for selective relaying of packets. This may include a mechanism for exchanging bitmaps of information indicating the status of packets received from the source, sequence number (SEQN) of those packets, information related to AES-CCM payload counters, reference clock values etc. This mechanism may also allow packets missed by the second receiver <NUM> to be identified and relayed (also referred to as a "selective relay").

In some examples herein, the mechanism may allow the relay connection <NUM> to establish a virtual piconet between the first receiver <NUM> and the second receiver <NUM> that functions as the backbone for the selective relay of packets; use the second receiver's <NUM> address (e.g., BD_ADDR) to generate an access code that prevents unwanted synchronizing of packets sent on this piconet; allow the first receiver <NUM> and the second receiver <NUM> to synchronize states before the selective relay takes place; allow the second receiver <NUM> to mark certain packets as "ignore" which means that those packets will not be selectively relayed, such as for marking Link Manger Protocol (LMP) messages which are relayed via a different protocol or marking certain L2CAP Channel IDs; and use a separate packet (e.g., FHS packet) that is not part of the regular ARQN (acknowledgement) scheme to exchange bitmaps of information.

<FIG> illustrates a timing diagram of the operation of an exemplary apparatus in accordance with some examples of the disclosure. In some operations, the apparatus makes use of a better connection quality of the connection between source and second receiver as well as the connection between the first receiver and the second receiver as shown in <FIG> to mitigate quality issues of the connection between the source and first receiver. Thus, examples herein may provide an on demand second receiver to first receiver (e.g., secondary to primary) relay of the packets to reduce the overall latency.

For example, if the connection between the source and first receiver is bad (i.e., the first receiver is getting errors), the first receiver may abandon listening to the source after a configurable number of attempts (e.g., errors in <NUM> or <NUM> CRC packets, consecutively or in a defined transmission window). The first receiver may then send a SYNC packet on the relay connection between the first receiver and the second receiver to get the first packet. If the second receiver has received the first packet, the second receiver may indicate this to the first receiver over the relay connection. This may allow the first receiver to request/poll the second receiver to get the first packet. After which, the first receiver may switch back to the connection between the source and the first receiver for subsequent packets or re-transmitted (same SEQN number) packets from the source (with/without CRC errors), and ACK (by the first receiver over the first connection or the second receiver over the third connection) that the first receiver has the first packet (or optionally ask the second receiver to ACK the first packet as well). It should be understood that the third connection may include additional functionality in addition to sniffing, such as sending and receiving acknowledgment and non-acknowledgment packets and similar TWS or Bluetooth packets or operations.

As shown in <FIG>, an apparatus (e.g., apparatus <NUM>) may provide a method <NUM> for transmitting a first packet <NUM> from a source <NUM> to a first receiver <NUM> and a second receiver <NUM>. As shown, the source <NUM> may transmit a first packet <NUM> to the first receiver <NUM> over a first connection <NUM>. The first receiver <NUM>, however, may determine if the first packet <NUM> has an error, first error packet <NUM>. As shown, the first packet <NUM> may be received by the second receiver <NUM> over the first connection <NUM> without errors (in response to the first error packet <NUM> or not). In response to the first error packet <NUM>, the first receiver <NUM> may send a first NACK packet <NUM> to the source <NUM> over the first connection <NUM>. In response to receiving the first NACK packet <NUM>, the source <NUM> may re-send the first packet <NUM> to the first receiver <NUM> over the first connection <NUM>. The first receiver <NUM> determines if the packet has an error, second error packet <NUM>. In response to the second error packet <NUM>, the first receiver <NUM> may send a second NACK packet <NUM> to the source <NUM> over the first connection <NUM>. In response to receiving the second NACK packet <NUM>, the source <NUM> may re-send the first packet <NUM> to the first receiver <NUM> over the first connection <NUM>. The first receiver <NUM> determines if the packet has an error, third error packet <NUM>. In response to the third error packet <NUM>, the first receiver <NUM> may send a third NACK packet <NUM> to the source <NUM> over the first connection <NUM>. While three attempts are shown in <FIG>, it should be understood that more or less than three transmission attempts may be made before switching connections.

As shown in <FIG>, after the third NACK packet <NUM> is sent, the first receiver <NUM> may switch connections and send a first sync packet <NUM> to the second receiver <NUM> over the second connection <NUM> (or, for example, over the relay connection <NUM>). In response to receiving the first sync packet <NUM>, the second receiver may determine the first packet <NUM> was received without error and indicate so in a second sync packet <NUM> sent to the first receiver <NUM>. In response to the second sync packet <NUM> indicating the second receiver <NUM> has the first packet <NUM>, the first receiver <NUM> may send a request packet <NUM> to the second receiver <NUM> requesting the second receiver <NUM> send the first packet <NUM> to the first receiver <NUM> over the second connection <NUM> (or relay connection <NUM>). After the first receiver <NUM> has the first packet <NUM>, the first receiver <NUM> may switch back to the first connection <NUM> to receive a second packet <NUM> from the source <NUM>. If the first receiver <NUM> determines the second packet has no errors, the first receiver may send an ACK packet <NUM> to the source <NUM>.

In some examples, a second receiver <NUM> may send an acknowledgement packet <NUM> to the first receiver <NUM> in response to sending the first packet <NUM> to the first receiver <NUM>. Subsequently, the first receiver <NUM> or the second receiver <NUM> may send an acknowledgement packet to the source <NUM> to acknowledge the receipt of the first packet <NUM> by the first receiver <NUM>. In this way, the source may be informed the successfully receipt of the currently transmitted packet as soon as possible, regardless of whether the currently transmitted packet is successfully received initially by the first receiver or received by the second receiver, which may cause the source to begin a transmission of a next packet as early as possible. Thus, based on the early acknowledging, the increased latency due to increased waiting time for the acknowledgment of the currently transmitted packet before a next packet transmission may be reduced, wherein the increased waiting time may be consumed by P to request S to relay the currently transmitted packet that is received by P with an error, or ask the source to retransmit the currently transmitted packet several times when the quality of the link between P and the source degrades.

<FIG> illustrates a timing diagram of the operation of another exemplary apparatus in which packets are sent or relayed in both directions. As shown in <FIG>, a first packet <NUM> and a second packet <NUM> may be sent from a source <NUM> to a first receiver <NUM> over a first connection <NUM> and a second receiver <NUM> over the first connection <NUM> or second connection <NUM>. If the second receiver <NUM> did not receive the first packet <NUM> or it was received with errors and a second packet <NUM> was missed or received with error by the first receiver <NUM>, the missed or error containing packets may be resent as from various points and regulated by sync packets.

As shown in <FIG>, a source <NUM> sends a first packet <NUM> to a first receiver <NUM> and a second receiver <NUM> over a first connection <NUM>. If the first receiver <NUM> receives the first packet <NUM>, an ACK packet <NUM> may be sent by the first receiver <NUM> to the source <NUM> indicating the first receiver <NUM> received the first packet <NUM>. In response to the ACK packet <NUM>, the source <NUM> may send a second packet <NUM> to the first receiver <NUM>.

If a second receiver <NUM> did not receive the first packet <NUM> (or received with errors), a NACK packet may be sent to the first receiver <NUM>. In response or as a check, the first receiver <NUM> may send a sync packet <NUM> to the second receiver <NUM> over the second connection <NUM> (or a separate relay connection, e.g., relay connection <NUM>). If the second receiver <NUM> missed the first packet <NUM>, the second receiver <NUM> may send a sync request <NUM> to the first receiver <NUM>. In response to the sync request <NUM>, the first receiver <NUM> may send the first packet <NUM> over the second connection <NUM> to the second receiver <NUM>.

If the first receiver <NUM> did not receive the second packet <NUM> (or received with errors) or as a check, the first receiver <NUM> may send a sync packet <NUM> to the second receiver <NUM> over the second connection <NUM> (or a separate relay connection, e.g., relay connection <NUM>). If the second receiver <NUM> has the second packet <NUM>, the second receiver <NUM> may send the second packet <NUM> over the second connection <NUM> to the first receiver <NUM>. The first receiver <NUM> may indicate a missing packet by, for example, setting ARQN=NACK in Packet <NUM>.

<FIG> illustrates an exemplary partial method in accordance with some examples of the disclosure. As shown in <FIG>, the partial method <NUM> may begin in block <NUM> with establishing a first connection between a source and a first receiver, the first receiver configured as a True Wireless Stereo (TWS) Bluetooth configured device. The partial method <NUM> may continue in block <NUM> with receiving a first packet from the source by the first receiver. The partial method <NUM> may continue in block <NUM> with determining, by the first receiver, the first packet has an error. The partial method <NUM> may continue in block <NUM> with establishing a second connection between the first receiver and a second receiver, the second receiver configured as a TWS Bluetooth configured device. Block <NUM> may also involve using a previously established second connection between the first receiver and the second receiver. The partial method <NUM> may conclude in block <NUM> with establishing a third connection between the second receiver and the source.

Alternatively, the partial method <NUM> may include receiving, by the second receiver, the first packet from the source; determining if the second receiver received the first packet in response to the determination the first packet has the error; requesting, by the first receiver, the first packet from the second receiver in response to the determination that the second receiver received the first packet, determining, by the first receiver, the first packet received from the second receiver has no error, and transmitting, by the first receiver, an acknowledgement packet to the source in response to determination the first packet received from the second receiver has no error; requesting, by the first receiver, the first packet from the second receiver in response to the determination that the second receiver received the first packet, determining, by the second receiver, the first packet received from the source has no error, and transmitting, by the second receiver, an acknowledgement packet to the source in response to determination the first packet received from the source by the second receiver has no error; receiving, by the first receiver, a second packet from the source, and transmitting, by the first receiver, the second packet to the second receiver in response to a determination the second receiver did not receive the second packet; incorporating the source into a device selected from the group consisting of a music player, a video player, an entertainment unit, a navigation device, a communications device, a mobile device, a mobile phone, a smartphone, a personal digital assistant, a fixed location terminal, a tablet computer, a computer, a wearable device, a laptop computer, a server, and a device in an automotive vehicle; and wherein the first packet is an A2DP packet.

In another alternative, the first receiver (e.g., primary earbud) may poll the second receiver (e.g., secondary earbud) after detecting a threshold (configurable and/or dynamic) number of bad packets (e.g., consecutively or in a specified time window) and the second receiver may reply by transmitting either: (a) the last packet the second receiver received from the source (e.g., a handset) (In addition, metadata may be added to the reply to describe the packet TX time, for example); (b) the last packet the second receiver received that it determines is a retransmission from the source, or empty packet if it has not detected a retransmission. Additionally, the second receiver may self-determine that a packet is a retransmission from the source (based on sequence number and back-to-back re-transmission, for example) and autonomously decide to retransmit that packet to the first receiver a known time after the source transmitted the packet. The first receiver may then have the option to listen for that retransmission.

In still other alternatives, an apparatus may include a secondary to primary relay and early acknowledging of a packet. For example, an apparatus may comprise: a first receiver configured as a primary TWS Bluetooth device and a second receiver configured as a secondary TWS Bluetooth device. In this example, the first receiver may be configured to: establish a first connection with a source configured to output packets and a second connection with the second receiver; receive a first packet from the source on the first connection; determine if the received first packet has an error; and receive the first packet from the second receiver on the second connection in response to determining the first packet has the error.

In another example, an apparatus may comprise: a first receiver configured as a primary TWS Bluetooth device and a second receiver configured as a secondary TWS Bluetooth device. In this example, the first receiver may be configured to: establish a first connection with a source configured to output packets and a second connection with the second receiver; receive a first packet from the source on the first connection; determine if the received first packet has an error; and wherein the second receiver is configured to: receive the first packet output from the source; determine if the received first packet by the second receiver has an error; and send an acknowledge packet to the source in response to determining the received first packet by the second receiver has no error. In alternative configurations, the second receiver may be further configured to: send the acknowledge packet to the source via the second connection and the first connection; or establish a third connection with the source configured to output packets and send the acknowledge packet to the source over the third connection. Also, the first receiver may be further configured to: receive the first packet from the second receiver on the second connection in response to determining the first packet received by the first receiver has the error.

<FIG> illustrates an exemplary mobile device in accordance with some examples of the disclosure. Referring now to <FIG>, a block diagram of a mobile device that is configured according to exemplary aspects is depicted and generally designated <NUM>. In some aspects, mobile device <NUM> may be configured as a wireless communication device. As shown, mobile device <NUM> includes processor <NUM>, which may be configured to implement the methods described herein in some aspects. Processor <NUM> is shown to comprise instruction pipeline <NUM>, buffer processing unit (BPU) <NUM>, branch instruction queue (BIQ) <NUM>, and throttler <NUM> as is well known in the art. Other well-known details (e.g., counters, entries, confidence fields, weighted sum, comparator, etc.) of these blocks have been omitted from this view of processor <NUM> for the sake of clarity.

Processor <NUM> may be communicatively coupled to memory <NUM> over a link, which may be a die-to-die or chip-to-chip link. Mobile device <NUM> also include display <NUM> and display controller <NUM>, with display controller <NUM> coupled to processor <NUM> and to display <NUM>.

In some aspects, <FIG> may include coder/decoder (CODEC) <NUM> (e.g., an audio and/or voice CODEC) coupled to processor <NUM>; speaker <NUM> and microphone <NUM> coupled to CODEC <NUM>; and wireless controller <NUM> (which may include a modem) coupled to wireless antenna <NUM> and to processor <NUM>.

In a particular aspect, where one or more of the above-mentioned blocks are present, processor <NUM>, display controller <NUM>, memory <NUM>, CODEC <NUM>, and wireless controller <NUM> can be included in a system-in-package or system-on-chip device <NUM>. Input device <NUM> (e.g., physical or virtual keyboard), power supply <NUM> (e.g., battery), display <NUM>, input device <NUM>, speaker <NUM>, microphone <NUM>, wireless antenna <NUM>, and power supply <NUM> may be external to system-on-chip device <NUM> and may be coupled to a component of system-on-chip device <NUM>, such as an interface or a controller.

It should be noted that although <FIG> depicts a mobile device, processor <NUM> and memory <NUM> may also be integrated into a set top box, a music player, a video player, an entertainment unit, a navigation device, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a fixed location data unit, a computer, a laptop, a tablet, a communications device, a mobile phone, or other similar devices.

<FIG> illustrates various electronic devices that may be integrated with any of the aforementioned integrated device, semiconductor device, integrated circuit, die, interposer, package or package-on-package (PoP) in accordance with some examples of the disclosure. For example, a mobile phone device <NUM>, a laptop computer device <NUM>, and a fixed location terminal device <NUM> may include an integrated device <NUM> as described herein. The integrated device <NUM> may be, for example, any of the integrated circuits, dies, integrated devices, integrated device packages, integrated circuit devices, device packages, integrated circuit (IC) packages, package-on-package devices described herein. The devices <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> illustrated in <FIG> are merely exemplary. Other electronic devices may also feature the integrated device <NUM> including, but not limited to, a group of devices (e.g., electronic devices) that includes mobile devices, hand-held personal communication systems (PCS) units, portable data units such as personal digital assistants, global positioning system (GPS) enabled devices, navigation devices, set top boxes, music players, video players, entertainment units, fixed location data units such as meter reading equipment, communications devices, smartphones, tablet computers, computers, wearable devices, servers, routers, electronic devices implemented in automotive vehicles (e.g., autonomous vehicles), or any other device that stores or retrieves data or computer instructions, or any combination thereof.

It will be appreciated that various aspects disclosed herein can be described as functional equivalents to the structures, materials and/or devices described and/or recognized by those skilled in the art. It should furthermore be noted that methods, systems, and apparatus disclosed in the description or in the claims can be implemented by a device comprising means for performing the respective actions of this method. For example, in one aspect, an apparatus may comprise first means for transceiving (e.g., first receiver) wirelessly coupled to a source configured to output packets, the first means for transceiving configured as a primary True Wireless Stereo (TWS) Bluetooth device; and second means for transceiving (e.g., second receiver) wirelessly coupled to the first means for transceiving, the second means for transceiving configured as a secondary TWS Bluetooth device; wherein the first means for transceiving is configured to establish a first connection with the source and a second connection with the second means for transceiving, receive a first packet from the source on the first connection, and determine if the received first packet has an error; wherein the second means for transceiving is configured to establish a third connection with the source. It will be appreciated that the aforementioned aspects are merely provided as examples and the various aspects claimed are not limited to the specific references and/or illustrations cited as examples.

One or more of the components, processes, features, and/or functions illustrated in <FIG> may be rearranged and/or combined into a single component, process, feature or function or incorporated in several components, processes, or functions. It should also be noted that <FIG> and its corresponding description in the present disclosure is not limited to dies and/or ICs. In some implementations, <FIG> and its corresponding description may be used to manufacture, create, provide, and/or produce integrated devices. In some implementations, a device may include a die, an integrated device, a die package, an integrated circuit (IC), a device package, an integrated circuit (IC) package, a wafer, a semiconductor device, a package on package (PoP) device, and/or an interposer. An active side of a device, such as a die, is the part of the device that contains the active components of the device (e.g. transistors, resistors, capacitors, inductors etc.), which perform the operation or function of the device. The backside of a device is the side of the device opposite the active side. As used herein, a metallization structures may include metal layers, vias, pads, or traces with dielectric between, such as a redistribution layer or RDL).

As used herein, the terms "user equipment" (or "UE"), "user device," "user terminal," "client device," "communication device," "wireless device," "wireless communications device," "handheld device," "mobile device," "mobile terminal," "mobile station," "handset," "access terminal," "subscriber device," "subscriber terminal," "subscriber station," "terminal," and variants thereof may interchangeably refer to any suitable mobile or stationary device that can receive wireless communication and/or navigation signals. These terms include, but are not limited to, a music player, a video player, an entertainment unit, a navigation device, a communications device, a smartphone, a personal digital assistant, a fixed location terminal, a tablet computer, a computer, a wearable device, a laptop computer, a server, an automotive device in an automotive vehicle, and/or other types of portable electronic devices typically carried by a person and/or having communication capabilities (e.g., wireless, cellular, infrared, short-range radio, etc.). These terms are also intended to include devices which communicate with another device that can receive wireless communication and/or navigation signals such as by short-range wireless, infrared, wire line connection, or other connection, regardless of whether satellite signal reception, assistance data reception, and/or position-related processing occurs at the device or at the other device. In addition, these terms are intended to include all devices, including wireless and wire line communication devices, that are able to communicate with a core network via a radio access network (RAN), and through the core network the UEs can be connected with external networks such as the Internet and with other UEs. Of course, other mechanisms of connecting to the core network and/or the Internet are also possible for the UEs, such as over a wired access network, a wireless local area network (WLAN) (e.g., based on IEEE <NUM>, etc.) and so on. UEs can be embodied by any of a number of types of devices including but not limited to printed circuit (PC) cards, compact flash devices, external or internal modems, wireless or wire line phones, smartphones, tablets, tracking devices, asset tags, and so on. A communication link through which UEs can send signals to a RAN is called an uplink channel (e.g., a reverse traffic channel, a reverse control channel, an access channel, etc.). A communication link through which the RAN can send signals to UEs is called a downlink or forward link channel (e.g., a paging channel, a control channel, a broadcast channel, a forward traffic channel, etc.). As used herein the term traffic channel (TCH) can refer to an uplink / reverse or downlink / forward traffic channel.

The wireless communication between electronic devices can be based on different technologies, such as code division multiple access (CDMA), W-CDMA, time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM), Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE), Bluetooth (BT), Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), IEEE <NUM> (WiFi), and IEEE <NUM>. <NUM> (Zigbee/Thread) or other protocols that may be used in a wireless communications network or a data communications network. Bluetooth Low Energy (also known as Bluetooth LE, BLE, and Bluetooth Smart) is a wireless personal area network technology designed and marketed by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group intended to provide considerably reduced power consumption and cost while maintaining a similar communication range. BLE was merged into the main Bluetooth standard in <NUM> with the adoption of the Bluetooth Core Specification Version <NUM> and updated in Bluetooth <NUM>.

" Any details described herein as "exemplary" is not to be construed as advantageous over other examples. Likewise, the term "examples" does not mean that all examples include the discussed feature, advantage or mode of operation. Furthermore, a particular feature and/or structure can be combined with one or more other features and/or structures. Moreover, at least a portion of the apparatus described hereby can be configured to perform at least a portion of a method described hereby.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular examples and is not intended to be limiting of examples of the disclosure. It will be further understood that the terms "comprises," "comprising," "includes," and/or "including," when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, integers, actions, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, actions, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.

It should be noted that the terms "connected," "coupled," or any variant thereof, mean any connection or coupling, either direct or indirect, between elements, and can encompass a presence of an intermediate element between two elements that are "connected" or "coupled" together via the intermediate element.

Any reference herein to an element using a designation such as "first," "second," and so forth does not limit the quantity and/or order of those elements. Rather, these designations are used as a convenient method of distinguishing between two or more elements and/or instances of an element. Also, unless stated otherwise, a set of elements can comprise one or more elements.

Further, those of skill in the art will appreciate that the various illustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm actions described in connection with the examples disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or combinations of both. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and actions have been described above generally in terms of their functionality. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways when falling within the scope of the appended claims.

The methods, sequences and/or algorithms described in connection with the examples disclosed herein may be incorporated directly in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. A software module may reside in RAM memory, flash memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art including non-transitory types of memory or storage mediums.

Although some aspects have been described in connection with a device, it goes without saying that these aspects also constitute a description of the corresponding method, and so a block or a component of a device should also be understood as a corresponding method action or as a feature of a method action. Analogously thereto, aspects described in connection with or as a method action also constitute a description of a corresponding block or detail or feature of a corresponding device. Some or all of the method actions can be performed by a hardware apparatus (or using a hardware apparatus), such as, for example, a microprocessor, a programmable computer or an electronic circuit. In some examples, some or a plurality of the most important method actions can be performed by such an apparatus.

Furthermore, in some examples, an individual action can be subdivided into a plurality of sub-actions or contain a plurality of sub-actions. Such sub-actions can be contained in the disclosure of the individual action and be part of the disclosure of the individual action.

Claim 1:
A method (<NUM>) for communication, the method comprising:
establishing (<NUM>) a first connection between a source and a first receiver, the first receiver configured as a True Wireless Stereo, TWS Bluetooth configured device;
receiving (<NUM>) a first packet from the source by the first receiver;
determining (<NUM>), by the first receiver, the first packet has an error;
establishing (<NUM>) a second connection between the first receiver and a second receiver, the second receiver configured as a TWS Bluetooth configured device; and
establishing (<NUM>) a third connection between the second receiver and the source;
receiving, by the second receiver, the first packet from the source; the method being characterized in:
determining if the second receiver received the first packet in response to the determination the first packet has the error.