Patent Document

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/203,255 filed May 8, 2000 and U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/203,127 filed May 8, 2000. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     This invention relates generally to voice and data communication systems, and more particularly to wireless transmission protocols. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     Bluetooth is a short-range radio standard intended to replace the cables connecting portable and fixed electronic devices. The standard, which operates in the unlicensed Industrial-Scientific-Medical (“ISM”) band at 2.4 GHz, focuses on robustness, low complexity, low power, and low cost. A frequency-agile or frequency “hop” protocol is applied to provide security and limit interference, and a shaped, binary FM modulation is used to minimize transceiver complexity. A symbol rate of 1 Ms/s, is maintained with a slotted channel having a nominal slot length of 0.625 msec. 
     For full duplex transmission, a Time-Division Duplex (“TDD”) scheme is implemented. Under a TDD scheme the same channel is broken into time slots, with specified time slots used for transmitting and others for receiving. Information is exchanged through data packets which typically cover a single slot, but which may be extended to cover up to five slots, depending on the application. Additional features of the Bluetooth standard are described in Jaap Haartsen,  Bluetooth—The Universal Radio Interface for ad hoc, Wireless Connectivity , ERICSSON REVIEW No. 3, (1998). 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , the “Bluetooth” specification is comprised of several different protocol layers including a radio frequency (“RF”) layer  160 , a baseband layer (“BB”)  150 , a link control layer (“LC”)  140 , a link manager layer (“LM”)  130 , a logical link control and adaptation protocol layer (“L2CAP”), and a serial line emulation layer (“RFCOM”). The functionality of each of these layers (as well as additional Bluetooth protocol layers) is described in detail in  Bluetooth Protocol Architecture, Version  1.0 (Aug. 25, 1999) (“ Bluetooth Protocol Architecture ”), which can be found at “http://www.bluetooth.com.” 
     Because Bluetooth is defined as a bidirectional protocol, devices are typically required to have both a receiver and a transmitter in order to comply with the Bluetooth standard (i.e., the Bluetooth protocol assumes bi-directional signaling for all devices in a Bluetooth network, referred to as a “piconet”). However, a number of potential Bluetooth devices (e.g., keyboards, mice, microphones, speakers, ear pieces, . . . , etc) are not bidirectional in nature. The applications these devices support exist only as data sources or as data sinks. For example, wireless input devices such as a wireless keyboards are typically only required to transmit data. Similarly, wireless output devices such as wireless audio ear pieces or wireless video monitors are typically only required to receive data. Accordingly, from an application standpoint, these devices only require unidirectional communication. 
     What is needed is a system and method for providing unidirectional communication between wireless devices when bidirectional communication is unnecessary. What is also needed is a system and method for synchronizing data transmission between wireless devices when unidirectional communication is implemented. What is also needed is a system and method which will work seamlessly with the Bluetooth protocol. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     A transmit-only Bluetooth-compatible apparatus is described comprising: a protocol stack compatible with the Bluetooth protocol standard, the protocol stack including selected portions of the Bluetooth protocol used only for transmitting data; and a transceiver communicatively coupled to the protocol stack and configured to physically transmit the data. 
     Also described is a receive-only Bluetooth-compatible apparatus comprising: a protocol stack compatible with the Bluetooth protocol standard, the protocol stack including selected portions of the Bluetooth protocol used only for receiving data; and a transceiver communicatively coupled to the protocol stack and configured to physically receive the data. 
     Also described is a method comprising: generating a transmit-only Bluetooth protocol stack by removing elements of a standard Bluetooth protocol stack related to receiving data; and configuring the transmit-only Bluetooth protocol stack in a transmit-only wireless device for transmitting data. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       A better understanding of the present invention can be obtained from the following detailed description in conjunction with the following drawings, in which: 
         FIG. 1  illustrates a typical allocation of a Bluetooth protocol stack between a host processing environment and a Bluetooth IC. 
         FIG. 2  illustrates various steps and associated timing required to establish communication between two Bluetooth devices. 
         FIG. 3  illustrates one embodiment of a co-located frequency-agile transmitter. 
         FIG. 4  illustrates timing between synch packets and data packets in one embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 5  illustrates additional timing features implemented in embodiments of the invention. 
         FIG. 6  illustrates a typical Bluetooth-enabled device including both a data source and a data sink. 
         FIG. 7   a  illustrates one embodiment of the invention including a transmit-only Bluetooth device. 
         FIG. 7   b  illustrates one embodiment of the invention including a receive-only Bluetooth device. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     In the following description, for the purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without some of these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form to avoid obscuring the underlying principles of the invention. 
     In a typical configuration, Bluetooth “slave” devices enter standby mode and loose sync with the network clock (i.e., the “master” device&#39;s clock) in order to save power, trading responsiveness for power savings. For example, as illustrated in  FIG. 2 , in order to reestablish a connection, the slave device invokes an “inquiry” procedure  210  to obtain the identity of the other devices within it&#39;s transmission range. Under this procedure, the slave device transmits packets containing an inquiry access code common to all Bluetooth devices over specified inquiry access carriers. As indicated, this procedure takes 5.12 seconds on average and can take as long as 15.36 seconds. 
     When another device (e.g., the master device) receives the inquiry, it transmits a page packet containing it&#39;s identity code and clock to the slave device. As shown, the time required for the slave device to receive each response is 0.64 seconds on average and can take as long as 7.68 seconds. Accordingly, the total average time required to reestablish a communication channel is 5.67 seconds and, in some situations, as long as 23.04 seconds. This is an unacceptable response delay for numerous potential Bluetooth applications (e.g. wireless keyboards, wireless mice, etc). 
     One potential mechanism for solving the foregoing problem with response time is to require the slave device to maintain synchronization with the network clock (i.e., by receiving and transmitting periodically). This requirement, however, consumes excess energy, potentially draining limited battery power without directly servicing the needs of the appliance; or, alternatively, requires that a potentially impracticably large energy reserve be built into the product. 
     Embodiments of the Invention 
     Embodiments of the invention described below provide a more efficient, cost effective solution for configuring Bluetooth devices. These embodiments are capable of remaining active for extended periods of time using limited energy sources while at the same time providing improved response times when establishing network communication channels. 
     As illustrated in  FIG. 3 , one embodiment of the invention is comprised of a proprietary protocol stack  315  (including a transmitter and receiver pair) operating in parallel with the Bluetooth protocol stack  310 . As will be described in detail below, the proprietary protocol stack  315  in one embodiment operates in a mode that does not require continuous synchronization between wireless devices (as does the Bluetooth protocol). Also included in this embodiment are a pair of transceivers  311  and  316 , through which the wireless transmitter/receiver device  300  communicates to one or more other wireless devices  320 – 322 . 
     Each of the protocol stacks  310  and  315  and associated transceivers  311  and  316  may communicate using a frequency-agile protocol in which data packets are transmitted in sequential time slots at different frequencies (portions of the Bluetooth frequency-agile protocol are described above). In one embodiment, each of the transceivers  311 ,  316  operate within overlapping frequency bands but subscribe to different orthogonal signaling algorithms. The transceivers  311 ,  316  and the protocol stacks  310 ,  315  in one embodiment operate independently, sharing components as appropriate within the respective wireless device  300 . 
     In one embodiment, the device  300  may interface with a host processor environment  305  (e.g., a general purpose processor such as a Pentium®-class processor running an operating system such as WindowsNT®) over a host processor interface  304 . The wireless transmitter/receiver device  300  may be configured to communicate with the host processor environment  305  by physically interfacing with various proprietary buses or industry standard buses such as, for example, the Universal Serial Bus (“USB”), a Peripheral Component Interconnect Bus (“PCI”), or an Industry Standard Architecture bus (“ISA”). It should be noted, however, that the underlying principles of the invention are not limited to any particular bus configuration. 
     As illustrated in  FIG. 3 , one embodiment of the invention is capable of communicating with wireless devices which support the standard Bluetooth protocol (e.g., device  322 ) as well as devices that support a proprietary protocol (e.g., devices  320  and  321 ). Other devices (not shown) may be configured to operate with either both the standard Bluetooth protocol  310  and the proprietary protocol  315 , depending on the circumstances. For example, a device may be configured to communicate using the standard Bluetooth protocol when actively communicating with the wireless transmitter/receiver device  300  but may switch to the proprietary protocol when operating in “standby” mode (i.e., not actively communicating). In this embodiment, once the device leaves standby mode, the wireless transmitter/receiver device  300  may coordinate the switch from the proprietary protocol  315  to the Bluetooth protocol  310 . 
     Embodiments of the Proprietary Protocol 
     One embodiment of a proprietary protocol  315  will now be described with respect to  FIG. 4 . According to this embodiment, when a wireless external device such as a wireless keyboard (e.g., device  320  in  FIG. 3 ) or mouse is ready to transmit data (e.g., in response to a user action), it initially transmits a synchronization packet  420 . In one embodiment, the receiving device (e.g., the wireless transmitter/receiver  300  of  FIG. 3 ) periodically allocates a timing window  410  within which it listens for synchronization packets  420  transmitted from other devices. Once it detects the synchronization packet  420 , it then listens for a data packet  422  following the synchronization packet  420  by a specified offset  432 . The data packet  422  contains the underlying data to be processed by the receiving device  300  and/or the host processor. 
     In one embodiment, the receiving device  300  uses the offset  432  between the synchronization packet  420  and the data packet  422  to identify the wireless device which transmitted the data packet. For example, the receiving device may maintain a lookup table in memory which links timing offsets to various device addresses. Thus, referring to  FIG. 4 , the receiving device may identify data packet  422  as originating from a wireless keyboard based on the offset  432  between the packet  422  and the synchronization packet  420  and may similarly distinguish data packet  423  as originating from the wireless mouse based on offset  434 . 
     Alternatively, or in addition, the offsets  432  and  434  may be used to identify the type of data being transmitted by the wireless device. For example, the data packets  422  and  423  may originate from the same wireless device and the offsets  432  and  434 , respectively, may identify a characteristic of the data being transmitted (e.g., data may be defined as low priority, medium priority, high priority, . . . , etc). 
     It will be appreciated that the foregoing embodiments allow multiple devices to communicate with one another over a wireless network with minimum latency and without the need for continually maintaining clock synchronization with one another. For example, a keyboard employing this technology may sit idle for days, out of synch with the transmitter/receiver device  300 . However, as soon as a user selects a key, a synchronization packet  420  is sent to the wireless transmitter/receiver  300  (which listens for the synch packet  420  within the synch packet window  410 ). The transmitter/receiver  300  may then identify the keyboard based on the offset  432  between the synchronization packet  420  and the data packet  422 . 
     In one embodiment, the wireless device transmits synchronization packets  420  to the transmitter/receiver device  300  periodically. While there are no minimum or maximum transmission rates, in one embodiment data bursts from the wireless device may be as frequent as 10 transmissions per second (e.g., 100 ms per key on a keyboard). 
     Frequency Hopping and Time Diversity 
     Many devices operate in the microwave spectrum (i.e., 1 GHz and above) including microwave ovens, communications satellites, Personal Communications Services (“PCS”) cellular systems and wireless LANs. As such, Bluetooth devices which operate within this same frequency range (i.e., 2 GHz), may be particularly susceptible to interference. 
     One embodiment of the invention directed at limiting microwave interference is illustrated in  FIG. 5 . This embodiment defines transmission windows of 8.66 msec based on a typical microwave device duty cycle of 50%. (An oven typically has an active period of approximately 8.66 msec, followed by a quiescent period of approximately 8.66 msec.) Within each 8.33 msec quiescent period there is a transmission window, in which data packets are transmitted twice, thereby improving the likelihood that one of the two packets will make it through to its destination. 
     Thus, as illustrated in  FIG. 5 , packet T x   1  is transmitted twice within the first 8.33 msec window and packet T x   2  is transmitted twice within the second 8.33 msec transmission window. In this particular embodiment, each of the 8.33 msec windows is separated by a window which is a multiple ‘N’ of the transmission window (e.g., 2×8.33 msec, 3×8.33 msec, . . . , etc). The multiple ‘N’ may be based the particular offsets  432 ,  434  configured into the system (i.e., the multiple may represent the difference between the offsets  432 ,  434 ). In addition, to further limit interference, in one embodiment the various data packet transmissions occur at a different hop frequencies f 1 , f 2 , f 3  and f 4 . 
     Transmit Only and Receive-only Devices 
     A typical Bluetooth device  600  is illustrated in  FIG. 6 . The device  600  includes both a data source  610  and a data sink  611  which communicate through the Bluetooth protocol stack  620  (including transmit and receive protocol elements  621  and  622 ). A transceiver unit  630  provides the physical or RF layer functionality for transmitting and receiving data over wireless channels according to the Bluetooth specification. 
     As described above, certain applications require only a unidirectional transmission capability. For example, as illustrated in  FIG. 3 , an input-only device  320  such as a keyboard is inherently a data source (i.e., it is only required to generate data and not receive data). Similarly, an output-only device  321  such as a video monitor or an audio ear-piece are inherently data sinks (i.e., they are only required to receive data). For these applications, the typical Bluetooth implementation shown in  FIG. 6  is inefficient. 
     Referring to  FIG. 7   a , a wireless device  700  according to one embodiment of the invention is comprised of a data source  710  and a protocol stack  720  for supporting the data source  710  (including a data transmission component  721 ). In addition, in one embodiment, the transceiver  730  is configured as a transmit-only transceiver (i.e., it is only capable of transmitting data and not receiving data). Because all unnecessary hardware and software (i.e., hardware and software associated with receiving data) are removed from the embodiment illustrated in  FIG. 7   a , significant cost savings are realized. In addition, because the hardware footprint and memory requirements for the device are significantly reduced, the device can be manufactured using a more compact printed circuit board (“PCB”)/enclosure design. 
     Similarly, referring to  FIG. 7   b , a wireless device  701  according to one embodiment of the invention is comprised of a data sink  711  and a protocol stack  724  for supporting the data sink  711  (including a data receive component  722 ). In contrast to the transmit-only device  700 , the transceiver  731  in the illustrated embodiment is configured as a receive-only transceiver (i.e., it is only capable of receiving data and not transmitting data). Once again, because all unnecessary hardware and software (i.e., hardware and software associated with transmitting data) are removed from the embodiment illustrated in  FIG. 7   b , significant cost savings are realized. Moreover, as with the transmit-only device  300 , the hardware footprint and memory requirements for the receive-only device  301  are significantly reduced. 
     It is important to note that the apparatus and method described herein may be implemented in environments other than a physical integrated circuit (“IC”). For example, the circuitry may be incorporated into a format or machine-readable medium for use within a software tool for designing a semiconductor IC. Examples of such formats and/or media include computer readable media having a VHSIC Hardware Description Language (“VHDL”) description, a Register Transfer Level (“RTL”) netlist, and/or a GDSII description with suitable information corresponding to the described apparatus and method. 
     Throughout the foregoing description, for the purpose of explanation, numerous specific details were set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the invention. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art that the invention may be practiced without some of these specific details. For example, while the embodiments described above focused on the Bluetooth protocol, many of the underlying principles of the invention may practiced using various other types of wireless and terrestrial protocols. Accordingly, the scope and spirit of the invention should be judged in terms of the claims which follow.

Technology Category: 5