Patent Description:
Ranging-based services are mainly based on the interaction of information such as a distance and an angle between devices. The ranging-based services can be applied in fields such as the social field, the consumer field, the smart home field or the modern industrial field. For example, the ranging-based service may be specifically applied in game interaction, music sharing, object/people search, or smart home control.

In order to perform a ranging-based service, the devices need to go through three processes, i.e., device discovery, device ranging, and device communication. However, there is no good way to implement the device discovery process.

<CIT> relates to a terminal and a distance estimation method thereof. The method includes transmitting a discovery message including time information to other terminals and receiving distance information calculated by other terminals. The distance information is calculated based on the time information and the reception time of the discovery message. Or, the distance information is calculated based on the transmission time of the discovery request message, the message processing time and the reception time of the discovery response message.

<CIT> relates to exchanging ranging and location information among peer-to-peer devices. The MAC 222A of user device 105A and the MAC 222B of user device 105B may broadcast and receive respective synchronization beacon frames. The NAN service discovery frame from 105B may be exchanged between user devices 105A and 105B. The user device 105B may be in active mode and solicit services by broadcasting a NAN service discovery frame to solicit services. The MAC 222B may request ranging and/or location data from user device 105A by transmitting a request frame. The MAC 222A may provide the requested ranging and/or location data in a response frame.

<CIT> relates to techniques for efficient ranging in a NAN. A first frame is generated for transmission to the second apparatus during a period that at least one apparatus is scheduled to be awake, ranging information is determined based on a time difference between transmission of the first frame and receipt of a second frame in response to the first frame, and a third frame including the ranging information is generated.

The independent claims solve the problems in the related art, dependent claims provide preferred embodiments.

In order to clearly illustrate the technical solution of the embodiments of the disclosure, a brief description of drawings used in the embodiments is given below. Obviously, the drawings in the following descriptions are only part of the embodiments of the disclosure, and for those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained according to these drawings without inventive works.

The technical solution in the embodiments of the disclosure will be clearly and completely described below in combination with the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the disclosure. Obviously, the embodiments described are only a part of the embodiments of the disclosure, and not all of the embodiments of the disclosure. Based on the embodiments of the disclosure, all the other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without inventive works fall within the scope of protection of the disclosure.

<FIG> is a flowchart of a processing capability request method according to the embodiment of the disclosure. The method described in this embodiment may be performed by a first terminal. The first terminal includes, but is not limited to, a cell phone, a tablet computer, a wearable device, a sensor, and an Internet of Things (IoT) device. The second terminal in the following embodiment may be a second terminal to which the subsequent processing capability sending method is applicable.

The first terminal may perform the ranging-based services, which include, but are not limited to, measuring respective distances to other devices, measuring respective angles relative to other devices, measuring both distances and angles relative to other devices, and measuring locations relative to other devices.

However, to perform the ranging-based services, other devices need to be involved, so that the first terminal needs to firstly discover other nearby devices that are also capable of performing the ranging-based services. Based on the following embodiments, the first terminal can discover other nearby devices that are also capable of performing the ranging-based services, such as the second terminal. During the ranging-based services, the first terminal may be called a discovery device or an announcing device, and the second terminal may be called a discoveree device or a monitoring/listening device.

As shown in <FIG>, the processing capability request method may include the following steps.

At step S101, a first message is broadcasted, in which the first message carries request information, and the request information is configured to request for processing capability information of a second terminal that has received the request information.

In an embodiment, since the first terminal does not know nearby terminals or which nearby terminals support the devices that are capable of performing the ranged-based services, the first message can be sent by broadcasting to ensure that all the nearby terminals can receive the first message.

The first message carries the request information, and the request information is configured to request for the processing capability information of the second terminal that has received the request information. The second terminal does not specifically refer to a certain terminal, but to a terminal near the first terminal that has received the request information.

After receiving the first message, if the second terminal supports the ranging-based services, the second terminal may send a second message to the first terminal based on the request, and the processing capability information of the second terminal is carried in the second message. After receiving the processing capability information of the second terminal, the first terminal may determine a distance between the second terminal and the first terminal based on the processing capability information or determine the distance between the second terminal and the first terminal in a subsequent ranging process.

It should be noted that determining the distance between the second terminal and the first terminal based on the processing capability information is only one example of the ranging-based services performed by the first terminal based on the processing capability information. Other information can also be determined based on the processing capability information, such as, a location relative to the second terminal. This embodiment and other embodiments are described primarily based on the example of determining the distance.

In an embodiment, the processing capability information includes at least one of:
an amount of data processed per unit of time, or a duration required to respond to preset information (which can be called reply time or Rx-Tx timing).

When the processing capability information is the amount of data processed per unit time, the first terminal may calculate a duration required for the second terminal to respond to the preset information based on the amount of data processed per unit time, determine a target time for receiving response information from the second terminal for subsequent communication with the second terminal based on the duration required for responding to the preset information, and determine the distance between the second terminal and the first terminal.

The preset information may be a ranging request and/or a ranging signal sent by the first terminal to the second terminal, and the response information sent by the second terminal to the first terminal in response to the preset information may be an acknowledgement (ACK) message.

For example, after the first terminal determines a duration T0 required for the second terminal to respond to the preset information, the first terminal may determine a first time T1 when the first terminal sends the preset information to the second terminal and a second time T2 when the first terminal receives the response information sent by the second terminal in response to the preset information, and then the difference between T1 and T2 (i.e., T2-T1) is a total duration of the above process in which the first terminal sends the preset information to the second terminal, the second terminal responds to the preset information, and then the first terminal receives the response information. The duration required for the second terminal to respond to the preset information is subtracted from the total duration (i.e., T2-T1-T0), to obtain the duration from the time when the first terminal sends the preset information to the second terminal to the time when the first terminal receives the response information from the second terminal is obtained.

Since a propagation speed of both the preset information and the response information is the speed of light c, (T2-T1-T0)/c is a sum of the distance from the first terminal to the second terminal and the distance from the second terminal to the first terminal, which is twice the distance between the first terminal and the second terminal (i.e., 2d), and then the distance between the first terminal and the second terminal can be calculated according to d=(T2-T1-T0)c/<NUM>.

According to the embodiment of the disclosure, by carrying the request information in the broadcasted first message, the first terminal can not only determine which nearby terminals can perform the ranging-based services, but also enable the second terminal supporting the ranging-based services to send the processing capability information of the second terminal to the first terminal, so that the first terminal can determine, according to the processing capability information, the subsequent ranging method and the duration required for the second terminal to respond to the ranging information, which is beneficial to the subsequent raging process of the first terminal and the second terminal. Moreover, the distance between the first terminal and the second terminal is further determined, to allow the ranging-based services with the second terminal.

In an embodiment, the first terminal may initiate the ranging-based services via a target application, and when the target application initiates the ranging-based services, the first terminal is triggered to broadcast the first message. The request information may be represented as an identifier of the target application, an information element in the first message, or an identifier of the target application and an information element. Upon receipt of the first message, the second terminal may determine that the first terminal needs to perform the ranging-based services based on the identifier of the target application and/or the information element.

Optionally, the preset information includes one of request information of a preset service or a reference signal of a preset service, and the duration required to respond to the preset information includes:
a duration from a time when the second terminal receives the preset information sent by another terminal to a time when the second terminal sends feedback information responded to the preset information to another terminal.

In an embodiment, another terminal includes, but is not limited to the first terminal, and the preset information includes, but is not limited to, the ranging request and/or the ranging signal.

When the duration required to respond to the preset information is a length of time from the time when the second terminal receives the preset information sent by another terminal to the time when the second terminal sends the feedback information in response to the preset information to another terminal, the first terminal can directly determine the T0 required by the second terminal to respond to the preset information after receiving the preset information sent by the first terminal, so that the distance d from the first terminal to the second terminal is calculated based on the T1 when the first terminal sends the preset information to the second terminal and based on the T2 when the first terminal receives the response information sent by the second terminal in response to the preset information and according to d=(T2-T1-T0)c/<NUM> as described in the above-mentioned embodiment.

Optionally, the preset information is a synchronization signal, and the duration required to respond to the preset information includes:
a deviation value of the time when the second terminal receives the synchronization signal sent by another terminal relative to a synchronization raster of the second terminal, and a deviation value of the time when the second terminal sends the synchronization signal to another terminal relative to the synchronization raster of the second terminal.

In an embodiment, another terminal includes, but is not limited to, the first terminal, and the preset information includes, but is not limited to, the synchronization signal.

When the duration required to respond to the preset information includes the deviation value of the time when the second terminal receives the synchronization signal sent by the first terminal relative to the synchronization raster of the second terminal, and the deviation value of the time when the second terminal sends the synchronization signal to the first terminal relative to the synchronization raster of the second terminal, in order to determine the distance between the first terminal and the second terminal, the first terminal also needs to determine the deviation value of the time when the first terminal sends the synchronization signal to the second terminal relative to the synchronization raster of the first terminal, and the deviation value of the time when the first terminal receives the synchronization signal sent by the second terminal relative to the synchronization raster of the first terminal.

For example, the deviation value of the time when the first terminal sends the synchronization signal to the second terminal relative to the synchronization raster (slot n, symbol l) of the first terminal is t1. The deviation value of the time when the second terminal receives the synchronization signal sent by the first terminal relative to the synchronization raster (slot n, symbol l) of the second terminal is t2. The deviation value of the time when the second terminal sends the synchronization signal to the first terminal relative to the synchronization raster (slot m, symbol k) of the second terminal is t3. The deviation value of the time when the first terminal receives the synchronization signal sent by the second terminal relative to the synchronization raster (slot m, symbol k) of the second terminal is t4. In the above examples, m and n can be understood as time slot numbers, and l and k can be understood as the lth symbol and the kth symbol in the time slot.

The synchronization signal is sent by the first terminal to the second terminal, and after receiving the synchronization signal, the second terminal sends the response information to the first terminal. The response information can be a synchronization signal, the duration for the first terminal to receive the response information sent by the second terminal is RD_time= (m-n)*T_slot+(k-l)*T_sym+(t1+t4), and the duration from the time when the second terminal receives the synchronization signal sent by the first terminal to the time when the second terminal sends the synchronization signal to the first terminal is Reply _time= (m-n)*T_slot+(k-l)*T_sym-(t2+t3), in which T_slot represents the duration of the time slot and T_sym represents the duration of the symbol.

The duration of the synchronization signal transmitted back and forth between the first terminal and the second terminal is RD_time - Reply_time = t1+t2+t3+t4, and then the distance between the first terminal and the second terminal is d = (t1+t2+t3+t4)c/<NUM>.

<FIG> is a flowchart of a processing capability request method according to the embodiment of the disclosure. As shown in <FIG>, the method further includes the following steps.

At step S102, a second message sent by the second terminal is received, in which the second message includes the processing capability information of the second terminal.

In an embodiment, if the second terminal is capable of performing the ranging-based services, after the second terminal receives the first message sent by the first terminal, the second terminal may send the processing capability information to the first terminal in response to the request information in the first message, and the processing capability information may be carried in the second message and sent to the first terminal. In addition to the processing capability information, the second message may also carry other information, such as the identifier of the second terminal.

It should be noted that when there is no second terminal near the first terminal, or when there is a second terminal near the first terminal but the second terminal cannot perform the ranging-based services, and then step S <NUM> may not be performed.

Optionally, the processing capability information includes at least one of:.

In an embodiment, the processing capability information may include the identifier, the value, or both the identifier and the value.

The value is configured to indicate the duration required for the second terminal to respond to the preset information, and the identifier is configured to indicate that the second terminal has the capability to determine the duration required to respond to the preset information as the fixed value. That is, when the identifier is included in the processing capability information, the duration required for the second terminal to respond to the preset information is the fixed value each time, and then the first terminal only needs to receive the duration required for the second terminal to respond to the preset information sent by the second terminal once, and all the subsequent response information from the second terminal in response to the preset information sent by the first terminal can be received according to the fixed value.

If the processing capability information includes the value and does not include the identifier, it indicates that the second terminal does not have the capability to determine the duration required to respond to the preset information as the fixed value. Although the value still represents the duration required for the second terminal to respond to the preset information, the representation is relatively rough and the value cannot be applied directly by the first terminal to the subsequent ranging process, and the duration required for the second terminal to respond to the preset information sent by the first terminal can only be determined roughly.

For example, if the processing capability information includes the value and does not include the identifier, the first terminal may determine that the value represents the time interval for sending the ACK message by the second terminal in response to the preset information sent by the first terminal, such as the duration required for the second terminal to send the ACK message to the first terminal after receiving the ranging signal sent by the first terminal, which is not an exact response duration. For example, the processing capability information includes both data and the identifier, and the first terminal may determine that the value represents the duration required for the second terminal to respond to the preset information from the first terminal.

At step S103, in response to the processing capability information including the identifier and the value, it is determined that the second terminal has the capability to determine the duration required to respond to the preset information as the fixed value, in which the fixed value is the value.

At step S104, based on the value, a target time for receiving an ACK message sent by the second terminal in response to the preset information sent by the first terminal is determined.

In an embodiment, where the processing capability information includes the identifier and the value, the first terminal can determine that the second terminal has the capability to determine the duration required to respond to the preset information as the fixed value, and the fixed value is the value. The value in the processing capability information represents the duration required for the second terminal to respond to the preset information from the first terminal. In the subsequent ranging process, the first terminal can determine the target time for receiving the ACK message sent by the second terminal in response to the preset information sent by the first terminal based on the value, and thus the ACK message sent by the second terminal at the target time can be received, and the value can be directly used during the ranging process without the need for the second terminal to send the duration required for the second terminal to respond to the preset information to the first terminal again.

Since the second terminal has the capability to determine the duration required to respond to the preset information as the fixed value, the duration required for the second terminal to respond to the preset information is fixed, and then the second terminal only needs to send the value once to the first terminal to represent the fixed value, and the duration required for the second terminal to respond to the preset information may not be sent to the first terminal subsequently.

It is to be noted that in this embodiment and other embodiments, the ACK message sent by the second terminal in response to the preset information sent by the first terminal may be an ACK message in response to the ranging request and/or the ranging signal sent by the first terminal.

<FIG> is a flowchart of a processing capability request method according to the embodiment of the disclosure. As shown in <FIG>, the processing capacity information includes the value, and the method further includes the following steps.

At step S105, in response to that the processing capability information includes the value and does not include the identifier, it is determined that the second terminal does not have the capability to determine the duration required to respond to the preset information as the fixed value.

At step S106, based on the value, a time interval for receiving an ACK message sent by the second terminal in response to the preset information sent by the first terminal is determined.

In an embodiment, when the processing capability information includes the value and does not include the identifier, the first terminal may determine that the second terminal does not have the capability to determine the duration required to respond to the preset information as the fixed value, and may also determine that the duration required for the second terminal to respond to the preset information as indicated by the value in the processing capability information is relatively rough. The first terminal may not accurately determine the target time in the above embodiment based on the value, but it can determine the time interval for sending the ACK message by the second terminal in response to the preset information sent by the first terminal. For example the time interval is greater than or equal to the duration corresponding to the value, so that the ACK message sent by the second terminal can be received based on the time interval to avoid wasting power by trying to receive the ACK message sent by the second terminal too frequently. In the subsequent ranging process, the second terminal also needs to send the time needed to prepare and respond to the preset information to the first terminal.

In order to enable the first terminal to determine a specific target time, the second terminal sends the duration required for the second terminal to respond to the preset information sent by the first terminal to the first terminal when sending the ACK message. However, since the second terminal does not have the capability to determine the duration required to respond to the preset information as the fixed value, the duration required for the second terminal to respond to the preset information is not fixed, and then the second terminal needs to re-determine the duration required for the second terminal to respond to the preset information each time it receives the preset information from the first terminal, and sends the determined duration required for the second terminal to respond to the preset information to the first terminal.

<FIG> is a flowchart of a processing capability request method according to the embodiment of the disclosure. As shown in <FIG>, the processing capability information includes the identifier, and the method further includes the following steps.

At step S107, in response to that the processing capability information includes the identifier and does not include the value, it is determined that the second terminal has the capability to determine the duration required to respond to the preset information as the fixed value.

In an embodiment, the processing capability information may also include only the identifier, in which case the terminal may determine that the second terminal has the capability to determine the duration required to respond to the preset information as the fixed value, but may fail to send the identifier together with the value to the first terminal for some reasons, such as insufficient communication resources. Subsequently, the second terminal sends the value to the first terminal, and then the first terminal may receive from the second terminal the duration required for the second terminal to respond to the preset information during subsequent communication with the second terminal based on the identifier.

<FIG> is a flowchart of a processing capability sending method according to the embodiment of the disclosure. The method described in this embodiment may be applicable to the second terminal. The second terminal includes, but is not limited to, a cell phone, a tablet computer, a wearable device, a sensor, and an IoT device. The first terminal in the following embodiment may be the first terminal to which the above-described processing capability request method is applicable.

As shown in <FIG>, the processing capability sending method includes the following steps.

At step S201, a first message broadcasted by a first terminal is received, in which the first message carries request information, and the request information is configured to request for processing capability information of a second terminal that has received the request information.

At step S202, the processing capability information is sent to the first terminal.

In an embodiment, the first terminal may send the first message by broadcasting, and after receiving the first message, the second terminal may send a second message to the first terminal if the second terminal supports the ranging-based services, and the processing capability information of the second terminal is carried in the second message. After receiving the processing capability information of the second terminal, the first terminal may determine the distance between the second terminal and the first terminal based on the processing capability information.

According to the embodiment of the disclosure, the second terminal sends the processing capability information to the first terminal based on the request information in the first message, so that the first terminal can not only determine that the second terminal is capable of performing the ranging-based services, but also determine a target time for receiving the response information from the second terminal based on the processing capability information, so that the first terminal can perform subsequent communication with the second terminal, and the distance between the second terminal and the first terminal can be further determined for performing the ranging-based services with the second terminal.

Optionally, the processing capability information includes at least one of:
an amount of data processed per unit of time, or a duration required to respond to preset information.

In an embodiment, the first terminal includes, but is not limited to, the first terminal, and the preset information includes, but is not limited to, the ranging request and/or the ranging signal.

When the duration required to respond to the preset information is the length of time between a time when the second terminal receives the preset information sent by another terminal to a time when the second terminal sends the feedback information in response to the preset information to another terminal, the first terminal may directly determine the T0 required for the second terminal to respond to the preset information after the second terminal receives the preset information sent by the first terminal, so that the distance d between the second terminal and the first terminal can be calculated based on the T1 when the first terminal sends the preset information to the second terminal, and based on the T2 when the first terminal receives the response information sent by the second terminal in response to the preset information, according to d = (T2-T1-T0)c/<NUM> as described in the above embodiments.

The synchronization signal is sent by the first terminal to the second terminal, and after receiving the synchronization signal, the second terminal sends the response information to the first terminal. The response information can be a synchronization signal, the duration for the first terminal to receive the response information sent by the second terminal is RD_time= (m-n)*T_slot+(k-l)*T_sym+(t1+t4), and the duration from the time when the second terminal receives the synchronization signal sent by the first terminal to the time when the second terminal sends the synchronization signal to the first terminal is Reply_time= (m-n)*T_slot+(k-l)*T_sym-(t2+t3), in which T_slot represents the duration of the time slot and T_sym represents the duration of the symbol.

The value is configured to indicate the duration required for the second terminal to respond to the preset information, and the identifier is configured to indicate that the second terminal has the capability to determine the duration required to respond to the preset information as the fixed value. That is, when the identifier is included in the processing capability information, the duration required for the second terminal to respond to the preset information is the fixed value each time, and then the first terminal only needs to receive the duration required for the second terminal to respond to the preset information sent by the second terminal once, and the response information of the second terminal in response to the preset information sent by the first terminal can be received subsequently according to the fixed value.

<FIG> is a flowchart of a processing capability request method according to the embodiment of the disclosure. The method described in this embodiment may be applicable to the third terminal. The third terminal includes, but is not limited to, a cell phone, a tablet computer, a wearable device, a sensor, and an IoT device. The fourth terminal in the following embodiment may be the fourth terminal to which the above-described processing capability sending method is applicable.

The third terminal may perform the ranging-based services, which include, but are not limited to, measuring a distance to another terminal, measuring an angle relative to another terminal, measuring a distance and an angle relative to another terminal, and measuring a location relative to another terminal.

However, to perform the ranging-based services, other devices need to be involved, so that the third terminal needs to firstly discover other nearby devices that are also capable of performing the ranging-based services. Based on the following embodiments, the third terminal can discover other nearby devices that are also capable of performing the ranging-based services by broadcasting its processing capability information, such as the fourth terminal. During the ranging-based services, the third terminal may be called a discoveree device, and the fourth terminal is called a discovery device.

At step S301, a third message is broadcasted, in which the third message carries processing capability information of the third terminal.

In an embodiment, since the third terminal does not know nearby terminals or which nearby terminals supports the devices that are capable of performing the ranged-based services, the third message can be sent by broadcasting to ensure that all the nearby terminals can receive the third message.

The processing capability information of the third terminal can be carried in the third message. After the fourth terminal receives the third message, if the fourth terminal supports the ranging-based services, the duration required for the third terminal to respond to the ranging information can be determined based on the processing capability information of the third terminal in the third message, so that the fourth terminal can carry out the subsequent ranging process with the third terminal and further determine the distance between the third terminal and the fourth terminal to carry out the ranging-based services with the third terminal.

In an embodiment, the third terminal may initiate the ranged-based services via a target application, and when the ranged-based services are initiated by the target application, the third terminal may be triggered to broadcast the third message. The processing capability information in the third message may be represented as the identifier of the target application, an information element in the third message, or the identifier of the target application and the information element. After receiving the third message, the fourth terminal may determine that the third terminal needs to perform the ranged-based services based on the identifier of the target application and/or the information element.

It should be noted that the third terminal and the fourth terminal in the preceding embodiments may be the same terminal, but the fourth terminal is described from the perspective of a discovery device and the third terminal is described from the perspective of a discoveree device.

Optionally, the preset information includes one of request information of a preset service or a reference signal of a preset service, and the duration required to respond to the preset information includes:
a duration from a time when the third terminal receives the preset information sent by another terminal to a time when the third terminal sends feedback information responded to the preset information to another terminal.

In an embodiment, another terminal includes, but is not limited to the fourth terminal, and the preset information includes, but is not limited to, the ranging request and/or the ranging signal.

When the duration required to respond to the preset information is a length of time from the time when the third terminal receives the preset information sent by another terminal to the time when the third terminal sends the feedback information in response to the preset information to another terminal, the fourth terminal can directly determine the T0 required by the third terminal to respond to the preset information after receiving the preset information sent by the fourth terminal, so that the distance d between the fourth terminal and the third terminal is calculated based on the T1 when the fourth terminal sends the preset information to the third terminal and based on the T2 when the fourth terminal receives the response information sent by the third terminal in response to the preset information and according to d=(T2-T1-T0)c/<NUM> as described in the above-mentioned embodiment.

Optionally, the preset information is a synchronization signal, and the duration required to respond to the preset information includes:
a deviation value of the time when the third terminal receives the synchronization signal sent by another terminal relative to a synchronization raster of the third terminal, and a deviation value of the time when the third terminal sends the synchronization signal to another terminal relative to the synchronization raster of the third terminal.

In an embodiment, another terminal includes, but is not limited to the fourth terminal, and the preset information includes, but is not limited to, the synchronization signal.

When the duration required to respond to the preset information includes: the deviation value of the time when the third terminal receives the synchronization signal sent by the fourth terminal relative to the synchronization raster of the third terminal, and the deviation value of the time when the third terminal sends the synchronization signal to the fourth terminal relative to the synchronization raster of the third terminal, in order to determine the distance between the third terminal and the fourth terminal, the fourth terminal also needs to determine the deviation value of the time when the fourth terminal sends the synchronization signal to the third terminal relative to the synchronization raster of the fourth terminal, and the deviation value of the time when the fourth terminal receives the synchronization signal sent by the third terminal relative to the synchronization raster of the fourth terminal.

For example, the deviation value of the time when the fourth terminal sends the synchronization signal to the third terminal relative to the synchronization raster (slot n, symbol l) of the fourth terminal is t1. The deviation value of the time when the third terminal receives the synchronization signal sent by the fourth terminal relative to the synchronization raster (slot n, symbol l) of the third terminal is t2. The deviation value of the time when the third terminal sends the synchronization signal to the fourth terminal relative to the synchronization raster (slot m, symbol k) of the third terminal is t3. The deviation value of the time when the fourth terminal receives the synchronization signal sent by the third terminal relative to the synchronization raster (slot m, symbol k) of the fourth terminal is t4. In the above examples, m and n can be understood as time slot numbers, and l and k can be understood as the lth symbol and the kth symbol in the time slot.

The synchronization signal is sent by the fourth terminal to the third terminal, and after receiving the synchronization signal, the third terminal sends the response information to the fourth terminal. The response information can be a synchronization signal, the duration for the fourth terminal to receive the response information sent by the third terminal is RD_time= (m-n)*T_slot+(k-l)*T_sym+(t1+t4), and the duration from the time when the third terminal receives the synchronization signal sent by the fourth terminal to the time when the fourth terminal sends the synchronization signal to the third terminal is Reply_time= (m-n)*T_slot+(k-l)*T_sym-(t2+t3), in which T_slot represents the duration of the time slot and T_sym represents the duration of the symbol.

The duration of the synchronization signal transmitted back and forth between the fourth terminal and the third terminal is RD_time - Reply_time = t1+t2+t3+t4, and then the distance between the fourth terminal and the third terminal is d = (t1+t2+t3+t4)c/<NUM>.

Optionally, the processing capability information includes the identifier and/or the value. The value is configured to represent the duration required for the third terminal to respond to the preset information, and the identifier is configured to represent that the third terminal has the capability to determine the duration required to respond to the preset message as the fixed value.

In an embodiment, the processing capability information includes at least one of:.

The value is configured to indicate the duration required for the third terminal to respond to the preset information, and the identifier is configured to indicate that the third terminal has the capability to determine the duration required to respond to the preset information as the fixed value. That is, when the identifier is included in the processing capability information, the duration required for the third terminal to respond to the preset information is the fixed value each time, and then the fourth terminal only needs to receive the duration required for the third terminal to respond to the preset information sent by the third terminal once, and all the subsequent response information from the third terminal in response to the preset information sent by the fourth terminal can be received according to the fixed value.

If the processing capability information includes the value and does not include the identifier, it indicates that the third terminal does not have the capability to determine the duration required to respond to the preset information as the fixed value. Although the value still represents the duration required for the third terminal to respond to the preset information, the representation is relatively rough and the value cannot be applied directly by the fourth terminal to the subsequent ranging process, and the duration required for the third terminal to respond to the preset information sent by the fourth terminal can only be determined roughly.

For example, if the processing capability information includes the value and does not include the identifier, the fourth terminal may determine that the value represents the time interval for sending the ACK message by the third terminal in response to the preset information sent by the first terminal, such as the duration required for the third terminal to send the ACK message to the fourth terminal after receiving the ranging signal sent by the fourth terminal which is not an exact response duration. For example, the processing capability information includes both data and the identifier, and the fourth terminal may determine that the value represents the duration required for the third terminal to respond to the preset information from the fourth terminal.

<FIG> is a flowchart of a processing capability receiving method according to the embodiment of the disclosure. The method described in this embodiment may be performed by a fourth terminal. The fourth terminal includes, but is not limited to, a cell phone, a tablet computer, a wearable device, a sensor, and an IoT device. The third terminal in the following embodiment may be a third terminal to which the subsequent processing capability sending method is applicable.

As shown in <FIG>, the processing capability receiving method includes the following steps.

At step S401, a third message broadcasted by a third terminal is received, in which the third message carries processing capability information of the third terminal.

In an embodiment, since the third terminal does not know nearby terminals or which nearby terminals support the devices that are capable of performing the ranged-based services, the third message can be sent by broadcasting to ensure that all the nearby terminals can receive the third message.

It should be noted that the fourth terminal and the second terminal in the preceding embodiments may be the same terminal, but the second terminal is described from the perspective of a discoveree device and the fourth terminal is described from the perspective of a discovery device.

In an embodiment, when the processing capability information is the amount of data processed per unit time, the fourth terminal can calculate the duration required for the third terminal to respond to the preset information based on the amount of data processed per unit time, and then determine the target time for receiving the response information from the third terminal based on the duration required for responding to the preset information for subsequent communication with the third terminal, and further determine the distance between the third terminal and the fourth terminal.

When the duration required to respond to the preset information is a length of time from the time when the third terminal receives the preset information sent by the fourth terminal to the time when the third terminal sends the feedback information in response to the preset information to the fourth terminal, the fourth terminal can directly determine the T0 required by the third terminal to respond to the preset information after receiving the preset information sent by the fourth terminal, so that the distance d between the fourth terminal and the third terminal is calculated based on the T1 when the fourth terminal sends the preset information to the third terminal and based on the T2 when the fourth terminal receives the response information sent by the third terminal in response to the preset information and according to d=(T2-T1-T0)c/<NUM> as described in the above-mentioned embodiment.

<FIG> is a flowchart of a processing capability receiving method according to the embodiment of the disclosure. As shown in <FIG>, the method further includes the following steps.

At step S402, in response to the processing capability information including the identifier and the value, it is determined that the third terminal has the capability to determine the duration required to respond to the preset information as the fixed value, in which the fixed value is the value.

At step S403, based on the value, a target time for receiving an ACK message sent by the third terminal is determined in response to the preset information sent by the fourth terminal.

In an embodiment, where the processing capability information includes the identifier and the value, the fourth terminal can determine that the third terminal has the capability to determine the duration required to respond to the preset information as the fixed value, and the fixed value is the value. The value in the processing capability information represents the duration required for the third terminal to respond to the preset information from the fourth terminal. In the subsequent ranging process, the fourth terminal can determine the target time for receiving the ACK message sent by the third terminal in response to the preset information sent by the fourth terminal based on the value, and thus the ACK message sent by the third terminal at the target time can be received, and the value can be directly used during the ranging process without the need for the second terminal to send the duration required for the first terminal to respond to the preset information to the first terminal again.

Since the third terminal has the capability to determine the duration required to respond to the preset information as the fixed value, the duration required for the third terminal to respond to the preset information is fixed, and then the third terminal only needs to send the value once to the fourth terminal to represent the fixed value, and the duration required for the third terminal to respond to the preset information may not have to be sent to the fourth terminal subsequently.

It is to be noted that in this embodiment and other embodiments, the ACK message sent by the third terminal in response to the preset information sent by the fourth terminal may be an ACK message in response to the ranging request and/or the ranging signal sent by the fourth terminal.

<FIG> is a flowchart of a processing capability receiving method according to the embodiment of the disclosure. As shown in <FIG>, the processing capability information includes the value, and the method further includes the following steps.

At step S404, in response to that the processing capability information includes the value and does not include the identifier, it is determined that the third terminal does not have the capability to determine the duration required to respond to the preset information as the fixed value.

At step S405, based on the value, a time interval for receiving an ACK message sent by the third terminal in response to the preset information sent by the fourth terminal is determined.

In an embodiment, when the processing capability information includes the value and does not include the identifier, the fourth terminal may determine that the second terminal does not have the capability to determine the duration required to respond to the preset information as the fixed value, and may also determine that the duration required for the second terminal to respond to the preset information as indicated by the value in the processing capability information is relatively rough. The fourth terminal may not accurately determine the target time in the above embodiment based on the value, but it can determine the time interval for sending the ACK message by the third terminal in response to the preset information sent by the fourth terminal. For example the time interval is greater than or equal to the duration corresponding to the value, so that the ACK message sent by the third terminal can be received based on the time interval to avoid wasting power by trying to receive the ACK message sent by the third terminal too frequently. In the subsequent ranging process, the second terminal also needs to send the time needed to prepare and respond to the preset information to the first terminal.

In order to enable the fourth terminal to determine a specific target time, the third terminal sends the duration required for the third terminal to respond to the preset information sent by the fourth terminal to the fourth terminal when sending the ACK message. However, since the third terminal does not have the capability to determine the duration required to respond to the preset information as the fixed value, the duration required for the third terminal to respond to the preset information is not fixed, and then the third terminal needs to re-determine the duration required for the third terminal to respond to the preset information each time it receives the preset information from the fourth terminal, and sends the determined duration required for the third terminal to respond to the preset information to the fourth terminal.

<FIG> is a flowchart of a processing capability receiving method according to the embodiment of the disclosure. As shown in <FIG>, the processing capability information includes the identifier, and the method further includes the following steps.

At step S406, in response to that the processing capability information includes the identifier and does not include the value, it is determined that the third terminal has the capability to determine the duration required to respond to the preset information as the fixed value.

In an embodiment, the processing capability information may also include only the identifier, in which case the terminal may determine that the third terminal has the capability to determine the duration required to respond to the preset information as the fixed value, but may fail to send the identifier together with the value to the fourth terminal for some reasons, such as insufficient communication resources. Subsequently, the third terminal sends the value to the fourth terminal, and then the fourth terminal may receive from the third terminal the duration required for the third terminal to respond to the preset information during subsequent communication with the third terminal based on the identifier.

Corresponding to the above embodiments of the processing capability request method, the processing capability sending method, and the processing capability receiving method, the disclosure also provides the embodiments of the processing capability request apparatus, the processing capability sending apparatus, and the processing capability receiving apparatus.

<FIG> is a block diagram of a processing capability request apparatus according to the embodiment of the disclosure. The apparatus described in this embodiment may be applicable to the first terminal. The first terminal includes, but is not limited to, a cell phone, a tablet computer, a wearable device, a sensor, and an IoT device. The second terminal in the following embodiment may be the second terminal to which the subsequent processing capability sending apparatus is applicable.

The first terminal may perform the ranging-based services, which include, but are not limited to, measuring a distance to another terminal, measuring an angle relative to another terminal, measuring a distance and an angle relative to another terminal, and measuring a location relative to another terminal.

As shown in <FIG>, the processing capability request apparatus includes: a broadcasting module <NUM>.

The broadcasting module <NUM> is configured to broadcast a first message, in which the first message carries request information, and the request information is configured to request for processing capability information of a second terminal that has received the request information.

<FIG> is a block diagram of a processing capability request apparatus according to the embodiment of the disclosure. As shown in <FIG>, the processing capability request apparatus includes: a first receiving module <NUM>.

The first receiving module <NUM> is configured to receive a second message sent by the second terminal, in which the second message includes the processing capability information of the second terminal.

<FIG> is a block diagram of a processing capability request apparatus according to the embodiment of the disclosure. As shown in <FIG>, the processing capability information includes the identifier and the value, and the apparatus further includes: a first capability determining module <NUM> and a time determining module <NUM>.

The first capability determining module <NUM> is configured to determine, in response to the processing capability information comprising the identifier and the value, that the second terminal has the capability to determine the duration required to respond to the preset information as the fixed value, in which the fixed value is the value.

The time determining module <NUM> is configured to determine, based on the value, a target time for receiving an ACK message sent by the second terminal in response to the preset information sent by the first terminal.

<FIG> is a block diagram of a processing capability request apparatus according to the embodiment of the disclosure. As shown in <FIG>, the processing capability information includes the value, and the apparatus further includes: a second capability determining module <NUM> and a time interval determining module <NUM>.

The second capability determining module <NUM> is configured to determine, in response to that the processing capability information comprises the value and does not comprise the identifier that the second terminal does not have the capability to determine the duration required to respond to the preset information as the fixed value.

The time interval determining module <NUM> is configured to determine, based on the value, a time interval for receiving an ACK message sent by the second terminal in response to the preset information sent by the first terminal.

<FIG> is a block diagram of a processing capability request apparatus according to the embodiment of the disclosure. As shown in <FIG>, the processing capability information includes the identifier, and the apparatus further includes: a third capability determining module <NUM>.

The third capability determining module <NUM> is configured to, in response to that the processing capability information comprises the identifier and does not comprise the value, determine that the second terminal has the capability to determine the duration required to respond to the preset information as the fixed value.

<FIG> is a block diagram of a processing capability sending apparatus according to the embodiment of the disclosure. The apparatus described in this embodiment may be applicable to the second terminal. The second terminal includes, but is not limited to, a cell phone, a tablet computer, a wearable device, a sensor, and an IoT device. The first terminal in the following embodiment may be the first terminal to which the above-described processing capability request apparatus is applicable.

As shown in <FIG>, the processing capability sending apparatus includes: a broadcast receiving module <NUM> and a processing capability information sending module <NUM>.

The broadcast receiving module <NUM> is configured to receive a first message broadcasted by a first terminal, in which the first message carries request information, and the request information is configured to request for processing capability information of a second terminal that has received the request information.

The processing capability information sending module <NUM> is configured to send the processing capability information to the first terminal.

<FIG> is a block diagram of a processing capability request apparatus according to the embodiment of the disclosure. The apparatus described in this embodiment may be applicable to the third terminal. The third terminal includes, but is not limited to, a cell phone, a tablet computer, a wearable device, a sensor, and an IoT device. The fourth terminal in the following embodiment may be the fourth terminal to which the above-described processing capability sending apparatus is applicable.

However, to perform the ranging-based services, other devices need to be involved, so that the third terminal needs to firstly discover other nearby devices that are also capable of performing the ranging-based services. Based on the following embodiments, the third terminal can discover other nearby devices that are also capable of performing the ranging-based services by broadcasting its processing capability information, such as the fourth terminal. During the ranging-based services, the third terminal may be called a discoveree device, and the fourth terminal can be called a discovery device.

As shown in <FIG>, the processing capability sending apparatus includes: a broadcasting module <NUM>.

The broadcasting module <NUM> is configured to broadcast a third message, in which the third message carries processing capability information of the third terminal.

<FIG> is a block diagram of a processing capability receiving apparatus according to the embodiment of the disclosure. The apparatus described in this embodiment may be applicable to the fourth terminal. The fourth terminal includes, but is not limited to, a cell phone, a tablet computer, a wearable device, a sensor, and an IoT device. The third terminal in the following embodiment may be the third terminal to which the above-described processing capability sending apparatus is applicable.

As shown in <FIG>, the processing capability receiving apparatus includes: a broadcast receiving module <NUM>.

The broadcast receiving module <NUM> is configured to receive a third message broadcasted by a third terminal, in which the third message carries processing capability information of the third terminal.

<FIG> is a block diagram of a processing capability receiving apparatus according to the embodiment of the disclosure. As shown in <FIG>, the processing capability information includes the identifier and the value, and the apparatus includes: a first capability determination module <NUM> and a time determination module <NUM>.

The first capability determination module <NUM> is configured to determine, in response to the processing capability information comprising the identifier and the value, that the third terminal has the capability to determine the duration required to respond to the preset information as the fixed value, in which the fixed value is the value.

The time determination module <NUM> is configured to determine, based on the value, a target time for receiving an ACK message sent by the third terminal in response to the preset information sent by the fourth terminal.

<FIG> is a block diagram of a processing capability receiving apparatus according to the embodiment of the disclosure. As shown in <FIG>, the processing capability information includes the value, and the apparatus includes: a second capability determination module <NUM> and a time interval determination module <NUM>.

The second capability determination module <NUM> is configured to determine, in response to that the processing capability information comprises the value and does not comprise the identifier that the third terminal does not have the capability to determine the duration required to respond to the preset information as the fixed value.

The time interval determination module <NUM> is configured to determine, based on the value, a time interval for receiving an ACK message sent by the third terminal in response to the preset information sent by the fourth terminal.

<FIG> is a block diagram of a processing capability receiving apparatus according to the embodiment of the disclosure. As shown in <FIG>, the processing capability information includes the identifier, and the apparatus includes: a third capability determination module <NUM>.

The third capability determination module <NUM> is configured to, in response to that the processing capability information comprises the identifier and does not comprise the value, determine that the third terminal has the capability to determine the duration required to respond to the preset information as the fixed value.

With respect to the apparatus in the above embodiment, the specific way in which each module performs its operation has been described in detail in the embodiments of the relevant method, and will not be described in detail here.

The apparatus embodiments basically correspond to the method embodiments, the related contents can refer to part of the descriptions of the method embodiments. The above-described apparatus embodiments are merely schematic, the modules described above as separate components may or may not be physically separated, and the components displayed as modules may or may not be physical modules, i.e., the components may be located in one area or may be distributed to multiple network modules. Some or all of these modules can be selected according to practical needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of the disclosure. Those skilled in the art can understand and implement the solution without inventive works.

The embodiment of the disclosure provides an electronic device. The electronic device includes:.

The embodiment of the disclosure provides a computer readable storage medium having computer programs stored thereon is provided. When the programs are executed by a processor, the processing capability request method of any one of the above embodiments, and/or the processing capability sending method of any one of the above embodiments, and/or the processing capability receiving method of any one of the above embodiments is implemented.

<FIG> is a block diagram of a device <NUM> for implementing the processing capability request method, and/or the processing capability sending method, and/or the processing capability receiving method according to the embodiments of the disclosure. For example, the device <NUM> may be a mobile phone, a computer, a digital broadcasting terminal, a message transceiver device, a game console, a tablet device, a medical device, a fitness device and a personal digital assistant.

As illustrated in <FIG>, the device <NUM> may include one or more of the following components: a processing component <NUM>, a memory <NUM>, a power component <NUM>, a multimedia component <NUM>, an audio component <NUM>, an input/output (I/O) interface <NUM>, a sensor component <NUM>, and a communication component <NUM>.

The processing component <NUM> may include one or more processors <NUM> to perform all or part of the steps in the above described method. For example, the processing component <NUM> may include a multimedia module to facilitate the interaction between the multimedia component <NUM> and the processing component <NUM>.

Examples of such data include instructions for any applications or methods operated on the device <NUM>, contact data, phonebook data, messages, pictures, video, etc. The memory <NUM> may be implemented using any type of volatile or non-volatile memory devices, or a combination thereof, such as a Static Random-Access Memory (SRAM), an Electrically-Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory (EEPROM), an Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory (EPROM), a Programmable Read-Only Memory (PROM), a Read Only Memory (ROM), a magnetic memory, a flash memory, a magnetic or optical disk.

In some embodiments, the screen may include a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) and a Touch Panel (TP). In some embodiments, the multimedia component <NUM> includes a front-facing camera and/or a rear-facing camera. When the device <NUM> is in an operating mode, such as a shooting mode or a video mode, the front-facing camera and/or the rear-facing camera can receive external multimedia data. Each front-facing camera and rear-facing camera may be a fixed optical lens system or has focal length and optical zoom capability.

The audio component <NUM> is configured to output and/or input audio signals. For example, the audio component <NUM> includes a microphone (MIC) configured to receive an external audio signal when the device <NUM> is in an operation mode, such as a call mode, a recording mode, and a voice recognition mode. The received audio signal may be further stored in the memory <NUM> or transmitted via the communication component <NUM>. In some embodiments, the audio component <NUM> further includes a speaker to output audio signals.

The sensor component <NUM> may also include a light sensor, such as a Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) or Charge-Coupled Device (CCD) image sensor, for use in imaging applications.

The communication component <NUM> is configured to facilitate communication, wired or wirelessly, between the device <NUM> and other devices. The device <NUM> can access a wireless network based on a communication standard, such as WiFi, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> LTE, <NUM> NR or a combination thereof. In an embodiment, the communication component <NUM> receives a broadcast signal or broadcast associated information from an external broadcast management system via a broadcast channel. In an embodiment, the communication component <NUM> further includes a Near Field Communication (NFC) module to facilitate short-range communication. For example, the NFC module may be implemented based on a RF Identification (RFID) technology, an Infrared Data Association (IrDA) technology, an Ultra-Wide Band (UWB) technology, a Blue Tooth (BT) technology, and other technologies.

In some embodiments, the device <NUM> may be implemented with one or more Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), Digital Signal Processors (DSPs), Digital Signal Processing Devices (DSPDs), Programmable Logic Devices (PLDs), Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), controllers, micro-controllers, microprocessors or other electronic components, for performing the above described method.

In some embodiments, there is also provided a non-transitory computer readable storage medium including executable instructions, such as the memory <NUM>, executable by the processor <NUM> in the device <NUM>, for performing the above method. For example, the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium may be a ROM, a Random Access Memory (RAM), a CD-ROM, a magnetic tape, a floppy disc, and an optical data storage device.

Other embodiments of the disclosure will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the disclosure disclosed here. This application is intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the disclosure following the general principles thereof and including such departures from the disclosure as come within known or customary practice in the art. It is intended that the specification and examples be considered as illustrative only, with a true scope of the disclosure being indicated by the following claims
It will be appreciated that the disclosure is not limited to the exact construction that has been described above and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and that various modifications and changes can be made without departing from the scope thereof. It is intended that the scope of the disclosure only be limited by the appended claims.

Claim 1:
A processing capability information request method, performed by a first terminal, comprising:
broadcasting (S101) a first message, wherein the first message carries request information, and the request information is configured to request for processing capability information of a second terminal that has received the request information;
wherein the processing capability information comprises at least one of: an identifier, configured to indicate that the second terminal has a capability to determine that the duration required to respond to preset information is a fixed value; or a value, configured to indicate the duration required to respond to the preset information for the second terminal;
characterised in that the method further comprises
receiving a second message sent by the second terminal, in which the second message includes the processing capability information of the second terminal;
determining (S103), in response to the processing capability information comprising the identifier and the value, that the second terminal has the capability to determine that the duration required to respond to the preset information is the fixed value, wherein the fixed value is the value; and determining (S104), based on the value, a target time for receiving an acknowledgement message sent by the second terminal in response to the preset information sent by the first terminal; or
determining (S105), in response to that the processing capability information comprises the value but not the identifier, that the second terminal does not have the capability to determine that the duration required to respond to the preset information is the fixed value; and determining (S106), based on the value, a time interval for receiving an acknowledgement message sent by the second terminal in response to the preset information sent by the first terminal.