CN117461337A

CN117461337A - Method and apparatus for performing UWB ranging

Info

Publication number: CN117461337A
Application number: CN202280041268.2A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 河泰荣; 李旼圭; 郑秀研
Original assignee: Samsung Electronics Co Ltd
Current assignee: Samsung Electronics Co Ltd
Priority date: 2021-06-11
Filing date: 2022-06-10
Publication date: 2024-01-26

Abstract

A method for providing two-way Ultra Wideband (UWB) ranging is provided. The method performed by a first Ultra Wideband (UWB) device includes: transmitting an initiation message for initiating UWB ranging; receiving at least one device access message from at least one second UWB device during the contention period; transmitting at least one response message; receiving at least one device reply message corresponding to the at least one reply message from one or more of the at least one second UWB devices; and transmitting a final message based on UWB ranging performed using the device access message, the response message, and the device response message to the one or more second UWB devices.

Description

Method and apparatus for performing UWB ranging

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to Ultra Wideband (UWB) communications. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to methods and apparatus for UWB ranging.

Background

The internet is evolving from human-centric connectivity networks where people create and consume information to internet of things (IoT) where information is exchanged and processed between distributed components such as objects. Internet of everything (IoE) technology is also emerging and is a combination of big data processing technology and IoT technology based on connections to cloud servers. In order to implement IoT, technical elements such as sensing technology, wired/wireless communication and network infrastructure, service interface technology, and security technology are important. Recently, technologies such as sensor networks, machine-to-machine (M2M), and Machine Type Communication (MTC) have been studied for connection between objects.

In an IoT environment, intelligent Internet Technology (IT) services may be provided that collect and analyze data generated from connected objects, creating new value in human life. Through convergence and fusion of existing information technology and various industries, ioT can find its applications in the fields of smart homes, smart buildings, smart cities, smart or networked vehicles, smart grids, healthcare, smart home appliances, advanced medical services, and the like.

Various services can be provided with the development of wireless communication systems, and there is no method for efficiently providing such services in the related art, so that such a method is required. For example, a ranging technique for measuring a distance between electronic devices by using UWB may be employed.

The above information is presented merely as background information to aid in the understanding of the present disclosure. No determination or assertion is made as to whether any of the above is applicable as prior art with respect to the present disclosure.

Disclosure of Invention

[ technical problem ]

Aspects of the present disclosure will solve at least the problems and/or disadvantages described above and provide at least the advantages described below. Accordingly, one aspect of the present invention is to provide an example system architecture (e.g., a gate system), such as an out-of-band (OOB) process (e.g., a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) process), a ranging process, and a transaction processing process, for providing Ultra Wideband (UWB) services to a plurality of users.

Another aspect of the present disclosure is to provide a ranging block structure, a message format, a message flow, and a Medium Access Control (MAC) protocol for supporting multiple access, i.e., contention-based multiple access, of a plurality of unspecified users.

Technical scheme

Additional aspects will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the presented embodiments.

According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a method performed by a first Ultra Wideband (UWB) device is provided. The method comprises the following steps: transmitting an initiation message for initiating UWB ranging; receiving at least one device access message from at least one second UWB device during the contention period; transmitting at least one response message; receiving at least one device reply message corresponding to the at least one reply message from one or more of the at least one second UWB devices; and transmitting a final message based on UWB ranging performed using the device access message, the response message, and the device response message to the one or more second UWB devices. The initiation message may include information about the length of the contention period, information about the state of the ranging slot included in the contention period, and information about the access condition of the ranging slot.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a method performed by a second UWB device is provided. The method comprises the following steps: the method includes receiving an initiation message for initiating UWB ranging from a first UWB device, transmitting a device access message to the first UWB device during a contention period, receiving at least one reply message from the first UWB device, transmitting a device reply message to the first UWB device based on UWB ranging performed using the initiation message, the device access message, and the reply message, and receiving a final message from the first UWB device. The initiation message may include information about the length of the contention period, information about the state of the ranging slot included in the contention period, and information about the access condition of the ranging slot.

Multiple users may be efficiently served by a scheme for providing UWB services according to the present disclosure. By providing two-way ranging according to the present disclosure, efficient UWB services may be provided.

Other aspects, advantages, and salient features of the disclosure will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description, which, taken in conjunction with the annexed drawings, discloses various embodiments of the disclosure.

Drawings

The foregoing and other aspects, features, and advantages of certain embodiments of the disclosure will become more apparent from the following description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates an example structure of an Ultra Wideband (UWB) device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 2 shows an example configuration of a communication system including a UWB device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 3A and 3B illustrate example structures of frames for UWB communications according to various embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 illustrates a method for performing UWB communications by two UWB devices according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIGS. 5A and 5B illustrate a method of performing UWB ranging by two UWB devices according to various embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 illustrates a structure of a ranging block and round for UWB ranging according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 7 illustrates an example structure of a system for providing UWB based gate services according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 8 illustrates an example operational scenario of a gate system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 9 illustrates a smart gate service process of a gate system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 10 illustrates a structure of a ranging block for intelligent gate service according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 11 illustrates a structure of a ranging round according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 12 illustrates a ranging process according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

13A, 13B and 13C illustrate message structures of an Initiation Message (IM) according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

fig. 14A illustrates a message structure of a Device Access Message (DAM) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 14B illustrates a message structure of a DAM according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 14C illustrates a method of performing uplink time difference of arrival (TDoA) using the DAM of fig. 14B, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIGS. 15A and 15B illustrate message structures of Reply Message (RM) messages according to various embodiments of the present disclosure;

fig. 16A and 16B illustrate message structures of a Device Response Message (DRM) according to various embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 17 illustrates a message structure of a Final Message (FM) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 18 is a flowchart illustrating a method of a first UWB device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 19 is a flowchart illustrating a method of a second UWB device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; and

fig. 20 is a view showing the structure of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Throughout the drawings, it should be noted that the same reference numerals are used to describe the same or similar elements, features and structures.

Detailed Description

The following description with reference to the accompanying drawings is provided to assist in a comprehensive understanding of various embodiments of the invention as defined by the claims and their equivalents. The following description includes various specific details to aid in understanding, but these are considered exemplary only. Accordingly, one of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that various changes and modifications of the embodiments described herein can be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the present disclosure. In addition, descriptions of well-known functions and constructions may be omitted for clarity and conciseness.

The terms and words used in the following description and claims are not limited to a bookend meaning, but are used only by the inventors to enable clear and consistent understanding of the present disclosure. Accordingly, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the following descriptions of the embodiments of the present disclosure are provided for illustration only and not for the purpose of limiting the disclosure as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

It is to be understood that the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Thus, for example, reference to "a component surface" includes reference to one or more such surfaces.

For the same reasons, some elements may be exaggerated or schematically shown. The dimensions of each element do not necessarily reflect the actual dimensions of the element. Like reference numerals are used to denote like elements throughout the figures.

The advantages and features of the present disclosure and methods for accomplishing the same may be understood by the following examples described in connection with the accompanying drawings. However, the present disclosure is not limited to the embodiments disclosed herein, and various changes may be made thereto. The embodiments disclosed herein are merely intended to inform one of ordinary skill in the art of the categories of the disclosure. The present disclosure is limited only by the appended claims. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout.

It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations, and combinations of flowcharts, can be implemented by computer program instructions. Because computer program instructions may be provided in a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus, instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions described in conjunction with the blocks of each flowchart. Because computer program instructions may be stored in a computer-usable or computer-readable memory, the computer-usable or computer-readable memory may be directed to a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, the instructions stored in the computer-usable or computer-readable memory may produce an article of manufacture including instruction means that implement the function specified in the flowchart block or blocks. Because computer program instructions may be provided in a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, the instructions which produce a process implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus create means for implementing the functions specified in the block or blocks of each flowchart block or blocks.

Furthermore, each block may represent a module, segment, or portion of code, which comprises one or more executable instructions for implementing the specified logical function(s). Further, it should also be noted that, in some alternative implementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of the order. For example, two blocks shown in succession may be executed substantially concurrently or the blocks may be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality involved.

As used herein, the term "unit" means a software element or a hardware element, such as a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC). The unit plays a role. However, the term "unit" is not limited to meaning software or hardware elements. The "unit" may be configured in a storage medium that may be addressed or may be configured to reproduce one or more processors. Thus, by way of example, a "unit" includes elements such as software elements, object-oriented software elements, class elements, task elements, processes, functions, attributes, procedures, subroutines, segments of program code, drivers, firmware, microcode, circuitry, data, databases, data structures, tables, arrays, and variables. The functionality provided for in the elements or "units" may be combined with additional elements or may be divided into sub-elements or sub-units. Furthermore, the element or "unit" may be implemented as one or more Central Processing Units (CPUs) in a reproduction device or a secure multimedia card. According to an embodiment, a "… … unit" may include one or more processors.

As used herein, the term "terminal" or "device" may also be referred to as a Mobile Station (MS), user Equipment (UE), user Terminal (UT), terminal, wireless terminal, access Terminal (AT), subscriber unit, subscriber Station (SS), wireless device, wireless communication device, wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU), mobile node, or mobile telephone, or may be referred to as other terms. Embodiments of the terminal may include a cellular telephone, a smart phone with wireless communication capabilities, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) with wireless communication capabilities, a wireless modem, a portable computer with wireless communication capabilities, a capture/record/capture/photographic device with wireless communication capabilities, such as a digital camera, a game player with wireless communication capabilities, a music storage and playback home appliance with wireless communication capabilities, an internet home appliance capable of wireless internet access and browsing, or a portable unit or terminal containing a combination of these capabilities. Further, terminals may include, but are not limited to, machine-to-machine (M2M) terminals and Machine Type Communication (MTC) terminals/devices. In this disclosure, a terminal may be referred to as an electronic device or simply a device.

Hereinafter, the working principle of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. Detailed descriptions of known functions or configurations may be skipped when it is determined that the subject matter of the present disclosure is not clear. The terms used herein are defined in consideration of functions in the present disclosure, and may be replaced with other terms according to the intention or practice of a user or operator. Accordingly, these terms should be defined based on the entire disclosure.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Furthermore, although a communication system using UWB is described in connection with the embodiments of the present disclosure, the embodiments of the present disclosure may also be applied to other communication systems having similar technical backgrounds or features, as an example. For example, a communication system in which bluetooth or ZigBee is used may be included. Further, one of ordinary skill in the art can determine to modify embodiments of the present disclosure without significantly departing from the scope of the present disclosure, and such modifications can be applied to other communication systems.

Detailed descriptions of known techniques or functions may be skipped when determined to obscure the subject matter of the present disclosure. The terms used herein are defined in consideration of functions in the present disclosure, and may be replaced with other terms according to the intention or practice of a user or operator. Accordingly, these terms should be defined based on the entire disclosure.

Generally, wireless sensor network technologies are largely classified into Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) technologies and Wireless Personal Area Network (WPAN) technologies according to recognition distances. In this case, the WLAN is an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 based technology that facilitates access to the backbone network within a radius of about 100 meters. WPAN is an IEEE 802.15 based technology including bluetooth, zigBee, and Ultra Wideband (UWB). A wireless network implementing such wireless network technology may include a plurality of electronic devices.

UWB may refer to short-range high-rate wireless communication technologies that use a wide frequency band of several gigahertz (GHz) or more, low spectral density, and short pulse width (e.g., 1nsec to 4 nsec) in the baseband state. UWB may mean the frequency band itself to which UWB communication is applied. UWB can achieve safe and accurate ranging between devices. Thus, UWB facilitates a relative position estimate based on the distance between two devices or an accurate position estimate for a device based on the distance from a fixed device (whose position is known).

The terms used herein are provided for better understanding of the present disclosure, and changes may be made thereto without departing from the technical spirit of the present disclosure.

An "application specific file (ADF)" may be a data structure in an application data structure, which may be application or application specific data, for example.

An "Application Protocol Data Unit (APDU)" may be a command and response used when communicating with an application data structure in a UWB device.

The "application specific data" may be, for example, a file structure having a root level and an application level, including UWB slave information and UWB session data required for a UWB session.

A "controller" may be a ranging device that defines and controls a Ranging Control Message (RCM) (or control message). The controller may define and control the ranging features by sending control messages.

The "slave" may be a ranging device that uses ranging parameters in an RCM (or control message) received from the controller. The slave may utilize ranging features configured via control messages from the controller.

Unlike "static scrambling time stamp sequence (STS)", the "dynamic STS mode" may be an operation mode in which STS is not repeated during a ranging session. In this mode, the STS may be managed by the ranging apparatus, and the ranging session key that generates the STS may be managed by the security component.

An "Applet" may be, for example, an Applet executing on a secure element that includes UWB parameters and service data. In this disclosure, the applet may be a FiRa applet.

The "ranging device" may be a device capable of performing UWB ranging. In the present disclosure, the ranging device may be an Enhanced Ranging Device (ERDEV) or a FiRa device defined in IEEE 802.15.4z. The ranging device may be referred to as a UWB device.

The "UWB-enabled application" may be an application for UWB services. For example, the UWB-enabled application may be an application that uses an architecture Application Programming Interface (API) to configure out-of-band (OOB) connectors for UWB sessions, security services, and/or UWB services. In this disclosure, a "UWB-enabled application" may be abbreviated as an application or UWB application. The UWB-enabled application may be a FiRa-enabled application.

An "architecture" may be a component that provides access to a profile, individual UWB settings, and/or notifications. An "architecture" may be, for example, a collection of logical software components including a profile manager, OOB connectors, security services, and/or UWB services. In the present disclosure, the architecture may be a FiRa architecture.

An "OOB connector" may be a software component for establishing an out-of-band (OOB) connection (e.g., a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) connection) between ranging devices. In the present disclosure, the OOB connector may be a FiRa OOB connector.

The "configuration file" may be a set of UWB and OOB configuration parameters previously defined. In this disclosure, the profile may be a FiRa profile.

The "profile manager" may be a software component that implements the profiles available on the ranging device. In this disclosure, the profile manager may be a FiRa profile manager.

A "service" may be an implementation of a use case that provides a service to an end user.

An "intelligent ranging device" may be a ranging device that may implement an optional architecture Application Programming Interface (API). In the present disclosure, the intelligent distance measuring apparatus may be a FiRa intelligent apparatus.

The "global special file (GDF)" may be a root level of application specific data including data required to establish a USB session.

An "architecture API" may be an API used by UWB-enabled applications to communicate with an architecture.

An "initiator" may be a ranging device that initiates a ranging exchange. The initiator may initiate a ranging exchange by transmitting a first RFRAME (ranging initiation message).

The "Object Identifier (OID)" may be an identifier of the ADF in the application data structure.

"out-of-band (OOB)" may be data communication that does not use UWB as the underlying wireless technology.

The "Ranging Data Set (RDS)" may be the data (e.g., UWB session key, session Identifier (ID), etc.) required to establish a UWB session when confidentiality, authenticity, and integrity need to be protected.

The "responder" may be a ranging device that responds to the initiator in a ranging exchange. The responder may respond to a ranging initiation message received from the initiator.

An "STS" may be an encrypted sequence used to increase the integrity and accuracy of the ranging time-stamp. STS may be generated from the ranging session key.

The "secure channel" may be a data channel that is resistant to hearing and tampering.

A "security component" may be an entity (e.g., a Secure Element (SE) or Trusted Execution Environment (TEE)) having a defined security level that interfaces with a UWB Subsystem (UWBs) to provide RDS to the UWBs, for example, when using a dynamic STS.

The "Secure Element (SE)" may be a tamper-proof secure hardware component that may be used as a secure component in a distance measuring device.

The "safe ranging" may range based on STS generated through a strong encryption operation.

A "security service" may be a software component for interfacing with a secure component, such as a secure element or Trusted Execution Environment (TEE).

A "service applet" may be an applet on a secure element that processes a service-specific transaction.

"service data" may be data defined by a service provider that needs to be transferred between two ranging devices to effectuate a service.

A "service provider" may be an entity that defines and provides the hardware and software necessary to provide a particular service to an end user.

The "static STS mode" is an operation mode in which STS is repeated during a session, and need not be managed by a secure element.

The "Secure UWB Service (SUS) applet" may be an applet on the SE that communicates with the applet to retrieve data needed to facilitate secure UWB sessions with other ranging devices. The SUS applet may transmit corresponding data (information) to the UWBS.

The "UWB service" may be a software component that provides access to the UWBs.

The "UWB session" may be a period from the start of communication by UWB between the controller and the controller until the communication is stopped. UWB sessions may include ranging, data transmission, or both ranging and data transmission.

The "UWB session ID" may be an ID (e.g., a 32 bit integer) that identifies a UWB session shared between the controller and the slave controller.

The "UWB session key" may be a key used to secure UWB sessions. The UWB session key may be used to generate STS. In this disclosure, the UWB session key may be a UWB ranging session key (urs k), and may be abbreviated as a session key.

A "UWB Subsystem (UWBs)" may be a hardware component implementing UWB physical layer (PHY) and Medium Access Control (MAC) specifications. The UWBS may have an interface to the architecture and an interface to the security component to search for RDS.

Time scheduling mode (scheduling mode or time scheduling ranging): time-scheduled ranging may be used for a ranging round in which the controller schedules the slave to send RFRAME/measurement reports in different ranging slots.

Contention-based mode (contention-based ranging): contention-based ranging may be used when the controller is unaware of the MAC address of the slave that will participate in the UWB session. Contention-based ranging allows a controller (also an initiator) to discover and ranging with an unknown UWB device. In this mode, the controller may be an initiator and the slave may be a responder.

Contention-based ranging may be used for the controller to decide and inform the control message of the ranging round for the contention period size. In this mode, each responder may randomly select one ranging slot for transmitting its ranging response message (contention-based access) during the contention period. In the present disclosure, the contention period may be referred to as a Contention Access Period (CAP).

Mixed mode (ultra UWB session (hyss) mode): the hybrid mode may include a ranging round with an interleaved Contention Free Period (CFP) and CAP. Each ranging round may include at least one stage of performing ranging measurements. The hybrid mode (hys mode) ranging round may include a phase in which data transmission and ranging measurements may be performed or only data transmission may be performed.

In some cases, there may be a set of known slaves and unknown slaves. In this case, it is beneficial for the controller to perform a ranging round with the known slave in a time scheduling mode and with the unknown slave in a contention-based mode. The hybrid mode (HYUS mode) allows a combination of time scheduled ranging by CFP and contention based ranging by CAP in the same ranging round, and detailed descriptions of known techniques or functions may be skipped when it is determined that the subject matter of the present disclosure is not clear.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure are described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 1 illustrates an example structure of a UWB device according to embodiments of the present disclosure.

UWB device (electronic device) 100 of fig. 1 may be a ranging device that supports UWB ranging (e.g., UWB security ranging). In an embodiment, the ranging device may be an Enhanced Ranging Device (ERDEV) or a FiRa device as defined in IEEE 802.15.4z.

In the embodiment of fig. 1, UWB device 100 may interact with other UWB devices through UWB sessions.

The UWB device 100 may implement a first interface (interface # 1) that is an interface between the UWB-enabled application 110 and the architecture 120, and that allows the UWB-enabled application 110 on the UWB device 100 to use the UWB capabilities of the UWB device 100 in a predetermined manner. In an embodiment, the first interface may be an architecture API or a proprietary interface, but is not limited thereto.

UWB device 100 may implement a second interface (interface # 2) that is an interface between architecture 120 and UWB Subsystem (UWBs) 130. In an embodiment, the second interface may be a UWB Command Interface (UCI) or a proprietary interface, but is not limited thereto.

Referring to fig. 1, UWB device 100 may include UWB-enabled application 110, architecture 120, and/or UWBs130 including a UWB MAC layer and a UWB physical layer. According to embodiments, some entities may not be included in UWB device 100, or UWB device 100 may further include additional entities (e.g., a security layer).

UWB-enabled application 110 may trigger UWBs130 to establish a UWB session over the first interface. UWB-enabled application 110 may use one of the previously defined profiles (configuration files). For example, UWB-enabled application 110 may use one of the profiles defined in FiRa or custom profiles. UWB-enabled application 110 may use the first interface to process related events such as service discovery, ranging notification, and/or error conditions.

Architecture 120 may provide access to configuration files, individual UWB settings, and/or notifications. Architecture 120 may be a set of software components. As described above, UWB-enabled application 110 may interface with architecture 120 through a first interface, and architecture 120 may interface with UWBs130 through a second interface. Software components of architecture 120 may include, for example, a profile manager, an OOB connector, security services, and/or UWB services.

The profile manager may be used to manage the profiles available on UWB device 100. The profile may be a set of parameters required to establish communication between UWB devices 100. For example, the configuration file may include parameters indicating which OOB secure channel to use, UWB/OOB configuration parameters, parameters indicating whether use of a particular security element is mandatory, and/or parameters related to the file structure of the ADF.

The OOB connector may function to establish an OOB connection between UWB devices. The OOB connector may process an OOB step including a discovery step and a connection step. The OOB step is described below with reference to fig. 4.

The security service may function as an interface with a security component (e.g., SE or TEE).

UWB services may perform the role of managing UWBs 130. UWB services may provide access to the UWBs130 from the profile manager by implementing a second interface.

The UWBS130 may be a hardware component that includes a UWB MAC layer and a UWB physical layer. The UWBS130 may perform UWB session management and may communicate with a UWBS of another UWB device. The UWBS130 may interface with the architecture 120 through a second interface and may obtain RDS from the security component.

Fig. 2 shows an example configuration of a communication system including a UWB device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to fig. 2, a communication system 200 includes a first UWB device 210 and a second UWB device 220. In an embodiment, the first UWB device 210 and the second UWB device 220 may be, for example, the UWB device 100 of fig. 1 or an electronic device comprising the UWB device 100 of fig. 1.

The first UWB device 210 may be a host, for example, may be one or more UWB-enabled applications of the UWB-enabled application layer 211 installed by a user (e.g., a mobile phone). It may be based on, for example, an architecture API. The second UWB device 220 does not provide an architecture API and may implement a particular UWB-enabled application using, for example, a dedicated interface. Unlike what is shown, according to an embodiment, both the first UWB device 210 and the second UWB device 220 may be ranging devices using an architecture API, or both the first UWB device 210 and the second UWB device 220 may be ranging devices using proprietary interfaces.

The first UWB device 210 and the second UWB device 220 may include UWB-enabled application layers 211, 221, architectures 212, 222, oob components 213, 223, security components 214, 224, and/or UWBSs 215, 225. In the present disclosure, the OOB components 213, 223 and/or the security components 214, 224 may be optional components and may not be included in the UWB device according to embodiments.

The architectures 212, 222 may be used to provide access to configuration files, individual UWB settings, and/or notifications. The architecture 212, 222 may be a set of software components and may include, for example, a profile manager, an OOB connector, security services, and/or UWB services. For the description of each component, reference is made to the above description.

OOB components 213, 223 may be hardware components that include a MAC layer and/or a physical layer for OOB communications (e.g., BLE communications). The OOB components 213, 223 may communicate with OOB components of other devices. In an embodiment, the first UWB device 210 and the second UWB device 220 may use the OOB component to create an OOB connection (channel) and exchange parameters for establishing a UWB session over the OOB channel. In this disclosure, the OOB components 213, 223 may be referred to as OOB subsystems.

The UWBS215, 225 may be hardware components including a UWB MAC layer and a UWB physical layer. The UWBS215, 225 may perform UWB session management and may communicate with the UWBS of another UWB device. In an embodiment, the first UWB device 210 and the second UWB device 220 may perform the transaction processing and UWB ranging of the service data through the UWB session established through the UWBs using the exchanged parameters.

The security components 214, 224 may be hardware components that interface with the architectures 212, 222 and/or UWBSs 215, 225 to provide RDS.

In the present disclosure, the UWB-enabled application layer and/or architecture may be implemented by an Application Processor (AP) (or processor). Thus, in this disclosure, it is understood that operations of the UWB-enabled application layer and/or architecture are performed by the AP (or processor).

Fig. 3A and 3B illustrate example structures of frames for UWB communications according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 3A illustrates an example structure of a frame to which the STS packet configuration is not applied, and fig. 3B illustrates an example structure of a frame to which the STS packet configuration is applied. In an embodiment, the frame may be a Ranging Frame (RFRAME) for transmitting ranging data (e.g., ranging initiate/answer/final message, etc.) or a data frame for transmitting other data (e.g., service data, etc.).

Referring to fig. 3A, a frame or PHY Protocol Data Unit (PDU) (PPDU) for transmitting a frame may include a Synchronization Header (SHR), a PHY Header (PHR), and a PHY Payload (PSDU). The PSDU may include a MAC frame. The MAC frame may include a MAC Header (MHR), a MAC payload, and/or a MAC end (MFR). The SYNC header of the PPDU may include a SYNC field and a start of frame Separator (SFD). The SFD field may be a field indicating the end of the SHR and the start of the data field.

Meanwhile, the PHY layer of the UWB device may include a selectable mode to provide reduced air time for high density/low power operation. In this case, the frame may include an encryption sequence (i.e., STS) to increase the integrity and accuracy of the ranging measurement time stamp. STS may be used for safe ranging.

When STS packet setting is applied (supported), the structure of the PPDU (or frame) may be as shown in fig. 3B.

Referring to fig. 3B, in case that an STS Packet (SP) is set to 0 (SP 0), an STS field is not included in a PPDU (SP 0 packet). In the case of SP setting 1 (SP 1), the STS field immediately follows the frame start delimiter (SFD) field and precedes the PHR field (SP 1 packet). In the case of SP set 2 (SP 2), the STS field is located after the PHY payload (SP 2 packet). In the case of SP set 3 (SP 3), the STS field immediately follows the SFD field, and the PPDU does not include PHR and data fields (PHY payloads) (SP 3 packets). In other words, in the case of SP3, the frame (or UWB message) does not include PHR and PHY payloads.

When STS packet settings are supported, SP0, SP1, and SP3 may be settings that must be mandatory supports, and SP2 may be optional supported settings.

Fig. 4 illustrates a method for performing UWB communications by two UWB devices according to embodiments of the present disclosure.

In the embodiment of fig. 4, the first UWB device may act as a controller (or slave) and the second UWB device may act as a slave (or controller), which is a role that is opposite to that of the first UWB device. The first UWB device may function as an initiator (or initiator) and the second UWB device may function as a responder (or initiator), which is the opposite of the first UWB device.

(1) Referring to fig. 4, in operation 4010, the first UWB device and the second UWB device may optionally perform an OOB step (phase) before the UWB step (phase). In this disclosure, the OOB step may be referred to as an OOB connection step.

The OOB step may be a step performed to discover UWB devices through an OOB channel (e.g., BLE channel) and to establish and control UWB sessions.

In an embodiment, the OOB step may include at least one of the following steps.

Discovery of UWB devices and profiles (device and profile discovery)

-establishing OOB connection (channel)

-establishing a secure channel to protect messages and data

Exchanging parameters (e.g., UWB capability parameters (slave capability parameters), UWB configuration parameters, and/or session key related parameters) for establishing the UWB session over the secure channel (parameter exchanging step).

In an embodiment, the parameter exchanging step may include: a step in which the slave transmits a slave CAPABILITY parameter/message (uwb_capability) to the controller, a step in which the controller transmits a UWB CONFIGURATION parameter/message (uwb_configuration) to the slave, and/or a step in which one UWB device transmits a SESSION KEY related parameter/message (session_key_info) for protecting a UWB SESSION to another UWB device.

In an embodiment, the slave (UWB) capability parameter and/or the session key parameter may be included in and transmitted in a slave information message (control_info), which is an OOB message transmitted from the slave to the controller. In an embodiment, the UWB configuration parameters and/or SESSION key parameters may be included in and transmitted in a SESSION DATA message (session_data), which is an OOB message transmitted from the controller to the slave.

The slave performance parameter (uwb_capability) may include at least one parameter that provides information about the device capabilities of the slave. For example, the controller performance parameters may include parameters for supporting a role of a device (initiator or responder), parameters for multi-node support, parameters for supporting STS configuration, parameters for supporting ranging methods, RFRAME feature performance parameters, parameters for supporting angle of arrival (AoA), and/or parameters for supporting scheduling modes.

The UWB CONFIGURATION parameter (UWB CONFIGURATION) may include at least one parameter for configuring the UWB session. For example, UWB configuration parameters may include UWB session ID parameters, ranging method parameters, multi-node configuration parameters, STS configuration parameters, scheduling mode parameters, time of flight (ToF) reporting parameters, aoA-related parameters, parameters indicating the number of slots per ranging round, slot duration parameters, responder slot index parameters, MAC address mode parameters, device MAC address parameters, parameters indicating the number of slaves, and/or Destination (DST) MAC address parameters.

The SESSION KEY related parameters (session_key_info) may include SESSION KEY related parameters for dynamic STS and/or SESSION KEY related parameters for static STS. For example, the session key related parameters for the dynamic STS may include data exchanged to generate the UWB session key or data directly used as the UWB session key. For example, the static STS may include the ID of the vendor (vendor ID), which is the provider of the UWB-enabled application, and any predefined value (static STS IV) selected by the UWB-enabled application for the UWB device. The vendor ID may be used to set the phyVupper64 parameter for the static STS, while the static STS IV may be used to set the vUpper64 parameter.

(2) In operation 4020, the first UWB device and the second UWB device may perform UWB steps. In this disclosure, the UWB step may be referred to as a UWB connection step.

The UWB step may be a step performed through a UWB session to perform UWB ranging and transmit service data.

In an embodiment, the UWB step may include at least one of the following steps.

-initiating UWB session (UWB trigger)

-performing UWB ranging to obtain a distance/position between two UWB devices

-exchanging service data (transactions)

As described above, the OOB step is an optional step and may be omitted in some embodiments. For example, the OOB step may be omitted when discovery of UWB devices and/or establishment and control of UWB sessions are performed over UWB channels (in-band). For example, when in-band discovery is performed, an OOB step of performing OOB discovery may be omitted. In this case, the UWB step may further perform an operation for discovering UWB devices through UWB channels and exchanging parameters for UWB session configuration.

Fig. 5A and 5B illustrate methods for performing UWB ranging by two UWB devices according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 5A illustrates an embodiment in which a first UWB device operates as a controller/initiator and a second UWB device operates as a slave/responder. Fig. 5B illustrates an embodiment in which a first UWB device operates as a controller/responder and a second UWB device operates as a slave/initiator.

Referring to fig. 5A and 5B, in operations 5010a and 5010B, the controller may transmit a control message for UWB ranging to the slave. The ranging control message may be used to carry ranging parameters for controlling and configuring the ranging process. In an embodiment, the control message may include information about the role of the ranging device (e.g., initiator or responder), ranging slot index information, and/or address information about the ranging device.

In operations 5020a and 5020b, the initiator can send a ranging initiation message to the responder to initiate UWB ranging. In an embodiment, the initiator may send the ranging initiation message through an SP1 packet or an SP3 packet. When the ranging initiation message is transmitted through the SP1 packet, the control message may be included in the PHY payload of the ranging initiation message and transmitted. When the ranging initiation message is transmitted through the SP3 packet, the ranging initiation message does not include the PHR and PHY payloads.

In operations 5030a and 5030b, the responder may transmit a ranging response message to the initiator in response to the ranging initiation message. In an embodiment, the responder may transmit a ranging response message through an SP1 packet or an SP3 packet. When the ranging response message is transmitted through the SP1 packet, the first measurement report message may be included in the PHY payload of the ranging response message and transmitted. In an embodiment, the first measurement report message may include AoA measurements, a response time measured by the responder, and/or a list of round trip time measurements for the responder and the responder address. The response time field may indicate a time difference between a reception time of the ranging initiation message and a transmission time of the ranging response message at the responder side. Based on this, one-sided two-way ranging (SS-TWR) may be performed. TOF calculations by SS-TWR follow the scheme defined in IEEE 802.15.4z.

In the case of double-sided two-way ranging (DS-TWR), the initiator may also send a ranging final message to the responder to complete the ranging exchange. When the ranging final message is transmitted through the SP1 packet, the second measurement report message may be included in the PHY payload of the ranging final message and transmitted. In an embodiment, the second measurement report message may comprise a list of AoA measurements, round trip time of the first responder (first round trip time) and/or response time measurements for the responder and the responder address. When the sender of the measurement report message is an initiator, the first round trip time field may indicate a time difference between a ranging initiation message from the initiator and a first ranging response message from the first responder. Alternatively, when the sender of the measurement report message is a responder, the first round trip time field may indicate a time difference between a ranging response message from the responder and a ranging final message from the initiator. Based on this, DS-TWR may be performed. Time of flight (ToF) calculations by DS-TWR follow the scheme defined in IEEE 802.15.4z.

According to an embodiment, the above-described first measurement report message and/or second measurement report message may not be included in the ranging response message and/or ranging final message, but may be transmitted as a separate message. For example, the measurement report message may be transmitted through a data frame after the ranging exchange.

Meanwhile, the initiator and the responder may perform UWB ranging according to a preset scheduling pattern. For example, in a time scheduled ranging mode, the controller may know the IDs of all slaves and may specify an accurate schedule for ranging transmissions. As another example, in the contention-based ranging mode, the controller does not know the number of slaves and the ID, and thus UWB devices contend with each other. In this case, a collision may occur between the responding devices.

Fig. 6 illustrates a structure of a ranging block and round for UWB ranging according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

In this disclosure, a ranging block refers to a period of time for ranging. A ranging round may be a period of time that is sufficient for a group of UWB devices participating in a ranging exchange to complete the duration of one entire ranging round. The ranging slot may be a period sufficient for transmitting at least one Ranging Frame (RFRAME) (e.g., ranging initiate/acknowledge/final message, etc.).

Referring to fig. 6, one ranging block may include at least one ranging round. Each ranging round may include at least one ranging slot.

When the ranging mode is a block-based mode, the average time between adjacent ranging rounds may be constant. Alternatively, when the ranging mode is an interval-based mode, the time between adjacent ranging rounds may be dynamically changed. In other words, the interval-based pattern may employ a temporal structure with adaptive intervals.

The number and duration of time slots included in a ranging round may be changed between ranging rounds. This may be configured by a control message from the controller.

The ranging round may be referred to simply as a round, the ranging block may be referred to simply as a block, and the ranging slot may be referred to simply as a slot.

UWB protocols are applicable to use cases for handling multiple users and providing fast authentication or payment. For example, UWB protocols may be applied to a gate service where a user with a UWB device (e.g., a smart phone) may pass through a UWB-based gate system without interactively processing authentication or payment on the UWB device.

The present disclosure presents example system architectures for providing UWB services to multiple users, example OOB procedures (e.g., BLE procedures), ranging procedures, and transaction procedures (e.g., gate systems).

The present disclosure also proposes a ranging block structure, message format, message flow and MAC protocol for supporting multiple access of multiple unspecified users, i.e. contention-based multiple access.

The following description of the embodiments focuses mainly on the gate service (smart gate service). However, this is just one example. Embodiments of the present disclosure are also applicable to various types of services (e.g., point of sale (PoS) payment services) that require quick authentication or payment processing for multiple users. In this case, an example system architecture for providing a service, an example OOB procedure (e.g., BLE procedure), a ranging procedure, and a transaction processing procedure may be described with reference to fig. 1, 2, 3A, 3B, 4, 5A, 5B, and 6 above.

Fig. 7 illustrates an example structure of a system for providing UWB-based gate service according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

In the present disclosure, the UWB-based gate service may be referred to as a gate service or a Smart Gate Service (SGS), and a system providing the UWB-based gate service may be referred to as a gate system or a smart gate system.

Referring to fig. 7, the gating system may include a mobile device 710, a smart station 720, and/or an SGS operator server 730. In this disclosure, the mobile device 710 may be referred to as a first UWB device and the intelligent station 720 may be referred to as a second UWB device.

Mobile device 710 may include an SGS application 711, an architecture (U-Pass architecture) 712, BLE components (subsystems) 713, SGS applet 714, and/or UWB components (subsystems) 715. In an embodiment, the architecture of the mobile device, SGS application 711, SGS applet 714, BLE component 713, and/or UWB component 715 may be examples of UWB devices architecture, UWB-enabled applications, applets, OOB components, and UWB components, respectively, described above in connection with, for example, fig. 1.

Architecture 712 may support at least one of the following functions.

-estimating a position of the mobile device during a downlink-TDoA (D-TDoA) round

-implementing a procedure for performing UWB ranging and transaction

-providing a set of APIs for applications of the SGS operator (SGS applications) and providing an interface between the architecture and UWB components.

Triggering UWB communication (component) when BLE advertisement is received from the intelligent station.

SGS application 711 may support at least one of the following functions.

-providing anchor and UWB block structure deployment information when requested by the architecture

-providing an AID of an SGS applet and a version of an SGS applet protocol to an architecture

Communication with SGS operator server to initiate service application installation, station specific information retrieval (e.g., anchor map), and token retrieval or update procedures

SGS applet 714 may support at least one of the following functions.

Reside on a secure element (e.g., SE or TEE) capable of communicating over the UWB interface.

-implementing a transaction protocol for gate services

Support APDU command

The BLE component 713 is operable to receive at least one BLE message from the intelligent station when the mobile device enters a service area of the gating system.

UWB component 715 may be used to estimate the location of the mobile device, such as through D-TDoA, and/or may be used to communicate with a particular gate to perform UWB ranging and transactions.

(2) The intelligent station 720 may include at least one BLE anchor, at least one TDoA anchor, and/or at least one gate (gate means).

The BLE anchor 721 may be used to provide general station information about the mobile device and to inform that the mobile device is entering the service area of the gating system.

In embodiments, the BLE anchor may support the broadcast of the role as GAP broadcaster, the role as GATT server, and/or advertising physical channel PDUs.

TDoA anchor 722 may be deployed in the service area of the sluice system.

As an example, the gate system may deploy a desired number of TDoA anchors 722 in a service area (e.g., a wall, ceiling, or structure within a station) to provide gate service.

As an example, TDoA anchor 722 may perform operations for downlink TDoA location and/or uplink TDoA location based on UWB. When the TDoA anchor 722 performs an uplink TDoA location operation, the gating system may identify the location of the mobile device through uplink TDoA location (one-way ranging (OWR)) between the mobile device and the TDoA anchor 722, and the location of the mobile device through DS-TWR between the mobile device and the gating device. In the present disclosure, OWR denotes a scheme of performing ranging through a ranging message transmitted in one direction, unlike TWR (e.g., SS-TWR or DS-TWR) which performs ranging by exchanging ranging messages between two UWB devices. OWR may be used for TDoA localization.

In the present disclosure, the uplink TDoA location method is a method as follows: wherein TDoA anchor 722 (UWB anchor) receives UWB messages (ranging messages) from mobile devices (UWB tags), calculates a time difference (TDoA), and based thereon determines a location of the mobile device and corresponds to one of the OWR schemes. The downlink TDoA location method is a method as follows: wherein the mobile device (UWB tag) receives UWB messages (ranging messages) from TDoA anchors 722 (UWB anchors), calculates a time difference (TDoA), and based thereon determines a location of the mobile device and corresponds to one of the OWR schemes. In the present disclosure, the TDoA anchor 722 performing uplink TDoA positioning may be referred to as a UL-TDoA anchor or a U-TDoA anchor, and the TDoA anchor 722 performing downlink TDoA positioning may be referred to as a DL-TDoA anchor or a D-TDoA anchor.

In an embodiment, at least one TDoA anchor 722 of the sluice system may be used as both a U-TDoA anchor and a D-TDoA anchor. In this case, at least one TDoA anchor 722 may operate as a D-TDoA anchor in a first portion (e.g., a portion of a ranging round allocated for downlink TDoA positioning) and as a U-TDoA anchor in a second portion (e.g., a portion of a ranging round allocated for ranging/trading with gate devices and mobile devices).

In another embodiment, the gate system may include a TDoA anchor 722 serving as a U-TDoA anchor and a TDoA anchor serving as a D-TDoA anchor, respectively.

As an example, multiple U-TDoA anchors may receive messages sent or broadcast from a mobile device. Thus, the difference between the message arrival times (TDoA) of a pair of U-TDoA anchors may be calculated, and the location of the user device may be estimated based on the TDoA results of the pairs. As an example, a plurality of U-TDoA anchors may be synchronized according to a preset synchronization scheme.

The D-TDoA anchor may broadcast UWB messages at a particular time. The UWB message may be used by the mobile device to estimate its location. As an example, a mobile device may receive or listen to messages sent or broadcast by multiple D-TDoA anchors. Thus, the difference between the message arrival times (TDoA) of a pair of D-TDoA anchors may be calculated, and the location of the user device may be estimated based on the TDoA results of several pairs. As an example, a plurality of D-TDoA anchors may be synchronized according to a preset synchronization scheme.

The gate device may comprise at least one UWB component (subsystem) and/or a security authentication module. The UWB components may be examples of UWB subsystems described above in connection with fig. 1, and the like. In an embodiment, the gate device may include at least one anchor, and each anchor may include at least one UWB component.

UWB components may be used to communicate with mobile devices for gate access and gate ranging to identify whether the mobile device is within range to perform a transaction and pass through a gate.

In an embodiment, the UWB component may support at least one of the following features.

-performing DS-TWR

-performing gate connection and gate ranging

-providing an interface to a secure authentication module

The security authentication module may be used to verify whether the mobile device is authenticated to use the gate system.

In an embodiment, the security authentication module may support at least one of the following features.

-providing an interface to UWB components

Communication capability over an ultra wideband interface

-capability for synchronizing with SGS operator server

(3) SGS operator server 723 may manage the entire gate system. To this end, the SGS operator server 723 may communicate with mobile devices and intelligent stations.

Fig. 8 illustrates an example operating scenario of a sluice system in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

The gate system of fig. 8 may be the gate system of fig. 7.

Referring to fig. 8, in operation 1, when a mobile device (or a user carrying the mobile device) enters a BLE region of a gate system, the mobile device may receive a BLE advertisement message (packet) from at least one BLE anchor of a smart station. The at least one BLE anchor may be located in a BLE region.

In operation 2, upon receiving the BLE advertisement message, a prerequisite procedure of the gating system may be performed. In other words, the sluice system may be prepared. In an embodiment, the pre-requisite process may be activated by the UWB component of the mobile device and used to obtain authentication related information and/or UWB related information from the SGS operator server.

When the mobile device enters the location estimation area, the mobile device may estimate its location to determine the nearest gate it is to pass through, operation 3. In an embodiment, the mobile device may receive TDoA messages from at least one TDoA anchor of the intelligent station and estimate its position using a D-TDoA scheme. The application of the mobile device (SGS application) may provide or use the location of the gate.

In operation 4, the mobile device may select the nearest gate. In an embodiment, the mobile device may select the nearest gate based on the position of the mobile device and an estimation of the position of the gate.

In operation 5, the mobile device may perform a process of UWB for ranging with the selected gate. After selecting the nearest gate, the mobile device may engage in contention in a particular slot to perform UWB ranging with the gate. The time slots for participating in the contention (contention period) can be known through the gate by UWB messages. UWB ranging and service protocols (transactions) may be performed with the gate if the mobile device gets an opportunity to transmit. After verifying the proper authentication or payment capability through message exchange and UWB ranging, the user may pass through a gate.

Fig. 9 illustrates a smart gate service process of a gate system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

The gate system of fig. 9 may be the gate system of fig. 7.

Referring to fig. 9, a smart gate service process may be performed between a smart station including at least one gate device and at least one mobile device.

The smart gate service procedure may include a smart gate service initiation phase (phase 1) 9010, a gate discovery and position estimation phase using D-TDoA (phase 2) 9020, a gate access phase of UWB slot reservation (phase 3) 9030, and/or a transaction phase of UWB (phase 4) 9040. If transaction processing (transaction processing phase) according to the smart gate service procedure is completed, then the particular gate may be opened 9050. Thus, a user may enter or exit a particular gate.

In an embodiment, the smart gate service initiation phase 9010 may include operations 1 and 2 of fig. 8, for example.

In an embodiment, the gate discovery and position estimation stage 9020 may include, for example, operation 3 of fig. 8.

In an embodiment, the gate access phase of UWB slot reservation 9030 may include access operations (participation in contention), such as operations 4 and 5 of fig. 8. During the gate access phase of UWB slot reservation 9030, mobile devices may engage in contention to occupy slots for data communications. The gate and the mobile device may exchange data for a service agreement if the mobile device obtains a particular time slot.

In an embodiment, the transaction processing phase by UWB 9040 may include, for example, UWB ranging and service protocol (transaction processing) operations of operation 5 of fig. 8. In an embodiment, the service protocol may require multiple (e.g., ranging blocks) to complete the message exchange process. For example, to complete the message exchange process for each gate, multiple ranging rounds may be required, and since one round for the corresponding gate may be allocated to one block, the service agreement may require multiple blocks to complete the message exchange process.

Fig. 10 illustrates a structure of a ranging block for a smart gate service according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

The ranging block of fig. 10 may be an example of the ranging block of fig. 6.

Referring to fig. 10, the ranging block includes a plurality of ranging rounds. In an embodiment, the ranging block may comprise at least one ranging round for position estimation (positioning) and at least one ranging round for at least one gate. In the present disclosure, the round for position estimation may be referred to as a D-TDoA round, and the round for the gate (the round for communicating with the gate) may be referred to as a gate round.

As an example, in a D-TDoA round, a TDoA anchor (e.g., the TDoA anchor of the intelligent station of fig. 7) may operate as a D-TDoA anchor for DL-TDoA localization. In this case, the TDoA anchor may send or broadcast a message for DL-TDoA location, and the mobile device (e.g., the mobile device of fig. 7) may receive the message and determine its location.

As an example, in a gate round, a TDoA anchor (e.g., the TDoA anchor of the intelligent station of fig. 7) may operate as a U-TDoA anchor for UL-TDoA positioning. In this case, the mobile device (e.g., the mobile device of fig. 7) may send or broadcast a message for UL-TDoA location, and the TDoA anchor may receive the message and determine the location of the mobile device. With this approach, if the TDoA anchor is operated as a U-TDoA anchor in a gate round, the gate system will be able to identify the position of the mobile device.

As an example, a Device Access Message (DAM) sent in a gate round may be used as a message for UL-TDoA location. As an embodiment, the DAM may be transmitted within a DAM period, and the DAM period may include, for example, a plurality of ranging slots corresponding to a maximum number (e.g., n) of mobile devices allowed in a corresponding round.

In a state where the mobile devices are not properly coordinated or scheduled, when the gate system identifies the location of the mobile devices around the gate (gate device) using UL-TDoA location using UWB, collision of messages may affect other communications between the gate and the mobile devices. However, if uplink TDoA location is performed within a DAM period using the DAM of the present disclosure, collision is unlikely, so that such a problem can be solved.

The message structure of the DAM for UL-TDoA location and UL-TDoA location operation using the same is described below with reference to fig. 14B and 14C.

In an embodiment, one gate round may be assigned to each gate. For example, as shown, when the intelligent station includes 12 gates, the ranging block may include 12 gate rounds. In an embodiment, the gate may send an initiation message to initiate its gate round. In the gate round, the gate and the moving device can handle the gate access process (stage) and the gate ranging process (stage).

In an embodiment, the gate round includes a plurality of ranging slots. Multiple ranging slots may be allocated as needed for multiple accesses to the corresponding gate, UWB ranging, and/or transaction, and the number of slots may be nearly fixed. For example, as shown, a period of the origination message IM, a period of the device access message DAM corresponding to the origination message, a period of the reply message RM corresponding to the device access message, a period of the device reply message DRM corresponding to the reply message, and/or a plurality of time slots required for a period of the final message FM may be allocated.

In an embodiment, the IM, RM, and FM may be messages sent by the intelligent station or gate device of the intelligent station, and the DAM and DRM may be messages sent by the mobile device.

Fig. 11 illustrates a structure of a ranging round according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 11 may be an example of a structure of a gate round belonging to the ranging block of fig. 10.

As described above with reference to fig. 6, one ranging round may include at least one ranging slot. In this case, the number of ranging slots included in the ranging round may vary according to the applied environment or setting.

The embodiment of fig. 11 relates to a ranging round structure for supporting contention-based multiple access (or hybrid multiple access). The ranging round structure of fig. 11 may be a structure that facilitates the initiator as well as the responder to perform DS-TWR. In the embodiment of fig. 11, the initiator may be a gate device (or PoS device) and the responder may be a mobile device.

Referring to fig. 11, the ranging round may include: an IM phase/period in which the gate device sends an Initiation Message (IM) to the mobile device; a DAM phase/period in which the mobile device transmits a Device Access Message (DAM) to the gate device during the contention period; a RM phase/period in which the gate device sends a Reply Message (RM) (or Gate Reply Message (GRM)) to the mobile device; a DRM phase/period in which the mobile device transmits a Device Response Message (DRM) for the RM of the gate device to the gate device; and an FM phase/period in which the gate device sends a Final Message (FM) to the mobile device. In an embodiment, the final message may be used to transmit service data (e.g., data for payment). In addition, DAM and/or DRM may also be used to transfer service data as needed.

In this disclosure, the IM phase may be referred to as a startup phase or a ranging startup phase. The DAM phase may be referred to as a contention phase or a contention window phase. The RM phase may be referred to as a GRM phase, an initiator reply phase, or a PoS reply phase. The DRM phase may be referred to as a responder reply phase.

In this disclosure, the period of the IM phase may be referred to as a first period. The period of the DAM phase may be referred to as a second period or a contention period. The period of the RM phase may be referred to as a third period. The period of the GRM phase may be referred to as a fourth period. The period of the FM phase may be referred to as a fifth period.

In the embodiment of fig. 11, the IM phase may include one ranging slot. For example, as shown in fig. 11, the IM phase may include a first ranging slot of a corresponding ranging round.

The DAM phase may include, for example, a plurality of ranging slots corresponding to a maximum number (e.g., n) of mobile devices allowed in a respective round. For example, to support access for up to n mobile devices in a corresponding round, the number of slots in the DAM phase should be set to n. In an embodiment, the maximum number of allowed mobile devices (e.g., n) may be equal to or less than the number of candidate mobile devices participating in the contention or ranging process. In an embodiment, the number of candidate mobile devices may be identified by, for example, an OOB procedure or a D-TDoA procedure performed prior to the ranging procedure. As shown in fig. 11, the ranging slot of the DAM phase may start immediately after the ranging slot of the IM phase.

The RM phase may include a plurality of ranging slots corresponding to the number of anchors (e.g., k) of the gate device. As with the DAM phase, the DRM phase and the FM phase may include a plurality of ranging slots corresponding to the number of mobile devices (e.g., n). In other words, the number of ranging slots in the DAM phase, the number of ranging slots in the DRM phase, and the number of ranging slots in the FM phase may be the same. The total number of ranging slots configured in this way may be 3n+k+1.

However, without being limited thereto, the number of ranging slots in some or all phases may be adjusted as needed according to the embodiment. For example, the IM phase may include a number of time slots corresponding to the number of anchors (e.g., k) of the gate device. In this case, each anchor may send an initiation message in each time slot of the IM phase. For example, the DAM phase, DRM phase, and/or FM phase may include a greater number of ranging slots than the number of candidate mobile devices.

In the embodiment of fig. 11, the number of slots in the contention phase (DAM phase) and the number of slots in the DRM phase/the number of slots in the FM phase are the same. Meanwhile, according to an embodiment, a restriction may be imposed such that only mobile devices that have successfully contended (or accessed) transmit DRM in the DRM phase, and in this case, the number of slots in the DRM phase and the number of slots in the FM phase may be smaller than the number of slots in the DAM phase.

In order to provide services to a plurality of designated subscribers, such as the gate services described above, one gate device (or PoS device) may need to perform DS-TWR based UWB ranging and transaction processing with a plurality of unspecified subscriber's mobile devices. In this case, when the shutter device operates as an initiator, the shutter device cannot recognize information about surrounding mobile devices, and thus may not designate a mobile device for DS-TWR. Therefore, the gate device is difficult in performing multiple access (coordinated access/time scheduled access) to unspecified mobile devices based on scheduling of the gate device for each block (round), and may perform multiple access (random access/contention based access) based on random contention of the mobile devices.

One gate device needs to perform an exchange of several messages with the mobile device, which takes a long time to complete a specific service agreement (transaction) (e.g., a transaction requiring secure processing). In this case, if one block is used for only one gate, the message exchange process can be completed in the block. However, if a plurality of gates share one block as in the embodiments of fig. 10 and 11, a message exchange process between the corresponding gate and the mobile device requires several blocks. In this case, if random access based multiple access is separately performed, the number of blocks required to complete the message exchange process further increases. This makes it difficult to provide services.

The present disclosure thus proposes a novel multiple access (hybrid access) scheme and UWB message structure of the scheme, in which when a mobile device obtains an opportunity to communicate with a corresponding gate through random access in a certain portion of a block (round), the mobile device can continuously communicate with the gate through coordinated access without random access until message exchange is completed.

Fig. 12 illustrates a ranging process according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

The ranging procedure of the embodiment of fig. 12 may be, for example, a ranging procedure (1: n ranging) between one initiator and n responders. In the embodiment of fig. 12, each of the responders may participate in the ranging process through contention-based multiple access (random access) as described above.

In an embodiment, the initiator may be a gate device or a PoS device, and the responder may be a mobile device of the user. In the embodiment of fig. 12, the initiator may be referred to as a gate/PoS device or a first UWB device, and the responder may be referred to as a mobile device or a second UWB device.

The structure of the ranging round used in the embodiment of fig. 12 may be, for example, the ranging round structure of fig. 11.

Meanwhile, the gate/PoS device of the embodiment of fig. 12 may include k anchors (UWB anchors (e.g., TDoA anchors)), for example, to identify the distance, direction, and/or location of the mobile device. In this case, one anchor may be the master anchor that sends IM, first RM, and FM, while the remaining anchors may be child anchors that send their own RM instead of the first RM. In this disclosure, the operation for each anchor may be referred to as an operation for a gate/PoS device.

Referring to fig. 12, in operation 1210, the gate/PoS device may send an IM to the mobile device. For example, a gate/PoS device or a master anchor of a gate/PoS device may broadcast an IM in a time slot of an IM phase. The gate/PoS device may initiate its own ranging round by sending the IM. In an embodiment, the IM may provide information about the time slots of the DAM phase. For example, the IM may provide status information (e.g., occupied or empty) on a time slot for the DAM. Thus, the above hybrid access is possible. Examples of such an IM are described below with reference to fig. 13A to 13C.

At operation 1220, the mobile device may transmit the DAM in a slot of the DAM phase based on information included in the IM. In an embodiment, when certain conditions are met, the mobile device receiving the IM may send the DAM to the gate/PoS device. For example, the mobile device may send the DAM to the gate/PoS device when the distance to the gate/PoS device obtained based on the location estimate is within a preset threshold.

In an embodiment, when 1) a mobile device participates in contention in a previous ranging block to obtain a ranging slot; 2) Determining that the gate/PoS device and the mobile device are located within a specific distance as a result of the DS-TWR performed between the gate/PoS device and the mobile device after contention of the previous ranging block; and 3) upon determining that a message (e.g., payment) remains in the message exchange protocol to be additionally exchanged (the corresponding service protocol is determined to be incomplete), the mobile device may continue the message exchange without contention. In other words, when the above three conditions are satisfied, a corresponding slot is reserved for a specific mobile device, and other mobile devices may not transmit a DAM in the occupied slot. The time slots occupied may be, for example, time slots that have been selected (reserved) by the gate/PoS device in a previous block, or time slots that have not been selected (reserved) by the service agreement that has not been completed.

In an embodiment, mobile devices may participate in contention in an empty slot. The empty time slots may be, for example, time slots that were not selected (reserved) by the gate/PoS device in the previous block, or time slots that have been selected (reserved) by the completed service protocol.

Examples of such DAMs are described below with reference to FIG. 14A or FIG. 14B.

In operation 1230, the gate/PoS device or each anchor of the gate/PoS device may send an RM in response to the DAM. For example, the master anchor of the gate/PoS device may broadcast the first RM in, for example, the first time slot of the RM phase, and the remaining child anchors may broadcast their first RM according to a predetermined order in the remaining time slots of the RM phase. The order of transmission of RMs by the sub-anchors may be determined by the Gate/PoS device.

In an embodiment, the RM may include information about the outcome of the contention in the DAM phase. In an embodiment, the RM may include ranging report information/messages for the DS-TWR. In an embodiment, the ranging report information may include a first round trip time field and/or a response time list field for performing the DS-TWR. In an embodiment, the mobile device may perform DS-TWR based on IM, DAM, and RM to identify the distance to the gate/PoS device.

An example of such RM is described below with reference to fig. 15A and 15B.

In operation 1240, the mobile device may send DRM to the gate/PoS device in response to the RM. For example, based on the information included in the RM and the result of the DS-TWR based UWB ranging, the mobile device may transmit DRM to the GATE/PoS device in the corresponding slot of the DRM phase.

In an embodiment, the DRM may include information for identifying the mobile device (identification information). In an embodiment, the identification information is information used only in a specific session, and may be changed upon service restart.

In an embodiment, the DRM may include ranging report information/messages for the DS-TWR. In an embodiment, the ranging report information may include a first round trip time field and/or a response time list field for performing the DS-TWR. In an embodiment, the gate/PoS device may perform DS-TWR based on DAM, RM, and DRM to identify the distance to the mobile device.

An example of such DRM is described below with reference to fig. 16A and 16B.

In operation 1250, the gate/PoS device may send the FM to the gate/PoS device. In an embodiment, when the gate/PoS device successfully receives DRM from the mobile device, the gate/PoS device may transmit FM to the corresponding mobile device. For example, the gate/PoS device may transmit FM to the gate/PoS device in a corresponding time slot of the FM phase based on information included in DRM and a result of UWB ranging based on the DS-TWR.

In an embodiment, the IM and RM may be broadcast messages, and the DAM, DRM, and FM may be unicast messages sent to a particular destination. In an embodiment, the unicast message may include data for a service agreement (e.g., payment). If the service agreement does not terminate in the corresponding gate round, the remaining processes may be processed in the next gate round (e.g., the gate round of the corresponding gate in the next block). In this case, the mobile device's time slot may be reserved for the next gate round, and the reserved time slot may be marked as an occupied time slot in the IM sent in the next gate round.

In an embodiment, IM, DAM, RM, DRM and FM used in the ranging process of fig. 12 may be RFRAME (SP 1 RFRAME) with the above-described SP1 packet configuration including a payload IE.

Fig. 13A, 13B, and 13C illustrate message structures of an IM according to embodiments of the present disclosure.

In the embodiment of fig. 13A-13C, the IM is an example of the IM of fig. 12 and may be a message sent, for example, by a gate (or PoS) to initiate the ranging process. In an embodiment, the embodiment of fig. 13A-13C may be the content field of the payload IE of the IM. In this disclosure, the IM may be referred to as a Gate Initiation Message (GIM).

(1) Referring to fig. 13a, an im (GIM) may include a message ID field, a service protocol version field, a slot length field, a slot status field, and/or a slot information list field.

The message ID field may include a message ID (e.g., 0x 01) for identifying the GIM message.

The service agreement version field may indicate the applet agreement version of the smart gate transaction used in the gate. In an embodiment, the service agreement version field may be used to exchange service versions that may be used for intelligent gate services. In an embodiment, the service protocol version field may be provided from a higher layer. In an embodiment, the service protocol version field may be the same as the service protocol version field of the gate in the BLE message.

The slot length field may indicate the number of DAM slots (including slots within the DAM phase/period) for multi-user access. In an embodiment, the range of the slot length field cannot exceed 23.

The slot status field may be a bit mask for the slots of the DAM.

The slot status field set to 0b0 may indicate null. In other words, it may indicate that the corresponding slot is an empty slot (ranging slot in an empty state). The empty slots may be, for example, slots that were not gated (reserved) in a previous block (or round), or slots that have completed the service protocol. The empty slots are used for contention-based access (random access) or contention-based ranging.

The slot status field set to 0b1 may indicate occupied. In other words, it may indicate that the corresponding slot is an occupied slot (ranging slot in an occupied state). The occupied time slots may be, for example, time slots that were gated (reserved) in a previous block (or round) and the service protocol has not yet ended (reserved). The occupied time slots are used for time scheduled access (coordinated access) or time scheduled ranging.

In an embodiment, the slot status field may be reserved with, for example, 16 bits. However, the bits actually used may range from LSBs to slot length bits. For example, as shown in fig. 13C, if the slot length is 0b0010 (i.e., 4), the first and second slots are occupied, and the third and fourth slots are empty, the slot status field is set to "0b0000000000001100".

The slot information list field may include information about each slot of the DAM. Each element of the slot information list field may be as shown in fig. 13B.

(2) The elements of the slot information list field may include an access condition field and/or a target mobile device ID field.

The access condition field may indicate the access condition of the slot.

0b0..000 (i.e., 0) indicates that no access condition is applied. In this case, all devices may attempt to connect.

0b0..001 to 0b1111 may be used to indicate the allowable distance between the gate and the device (mobile device) for transmitting the DAM as a response to the GIM.

The allowable distance can be calculated by the following formula.

Allowed distance = (0.05 access condition) meters

The default value may be 0b0001. (however, it may vary depending on the environment of the gate or the accuracy of the D-TDoA system).

In this case, only devices within the allowed distance may send a DAM for the gate.

The target mobile device ID field may indicate the ID of the mobile device occupying the slot. For an empty slot, this field may be set to 0.

In an embodiment, the gate may adaptively adjust the access conditions for transmitting the DAM according to the number of occupied slots. For example, the gate may adaptively adjust each value of the access condition of the empty slot according to the number of empty slots remaining or the number of occupied slots. For example, if only 10% of the time slots are available, the gate may reduce the access conditions (allowed distance) from 30cm to 10cm so that only devices within 10cm may transmit the DAM.

If all slots of the DAM are empty, the gate may set the value of the access condition for all slots to 0.

Fig. 14A illustrates a message structure of a DAM according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

In the embodiment of fig. 14A, the DAM is an example of the DAM of fig. 12, and may be, for example, a message for a mobile device (device) to engage in contention to communicate with a gate (or PoS). In an embodiment, the embodiment of fig. 14A may be the content field of the payload IE of the DAM.

Referring to fig. 14a, the dam may include a message ID field, a service protocol version field, a response time field, a data length field, and/or a data field.

The message ID field may include a message ID (e.g., 0x 02) for identifying the DAM message.

The service protocol version field may indicate the applet protocol version of the mobile device.

The response time field may indicate the response time of the DS-TWR. The response time field may indicate a time difference between a reception time of the GIM and a transmission time of the DAM in the mobile device. The response time field may be used for DS-TWR.

The data length field may indicate the length of the data field, for example in bytes.

The data field may contain additional data about the service agreement.

In an embodiment, since the DS-TWR has not been performed at the time of transmitting the DAM, the device cannot accurately recognize the distance between itself and the gate, and thus cannot transmit information for specifying or recognizing itself to the gate through the DAM. The device then performs the DS-TWR using the GIM, DAM, and GRM, and accurately identifies the distance between the gate and the device. Then, if communication with the gate becomes clear, the device may transmit its identification information and/or data through DRM. The identification information transmitted through DRM is information used only in a specific session, and may be changed when a service is restarted. Therefore, security can be maintained.

Fig. 14B illustrates a message structure of a DAM according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

In the embodiment of fig. 14B, the DAM is an example of the DAM of fig. 12 and may be, for example, a message for a mobile device (device) to participate in contention to communicate with a gate (or PoS) and a message for UL-TDoA location. In other words, the DAM of fig. 14B corresponds to information for contention participation and a message for UL-TDoA location. In an embodiment, the embodiment of fig. 14B may be the content field of the payload IE of the DAM.

Referring to fig. 14b, the dam may include a message ID field, a device ID field, a service protocol version field, a response time field, a data length field, and/or a data field. In other words, the DAM of fig. 14B may further include a device ID field for UL-TDoA location, as compared to the DAM of fig. 14A.

The device ID field may include information for identifying the mobile device (identification information).

In an embodiment, the device ID field may include a MAC address of the mobile device to identify the mobile device.

In another embodiment, the device ID field may include any value for identifying the mobile device. As an example, any value used to identify a mobile device may be any value generated at a particular time (e.g., the time when the DAM was created). For example, any value used to identify the mobile device may be part of the transaction ID generated for the transaction by the secure element (e.g., embedded secure element (eSE)) at the time the DAM is created. In this case, instead of obtaining unique information (e.g., MAC address) about the mobile device through the device ID field, the gate system obtains information for distinguishing the mobile device from other devices through the device ID field. Thus, privacy issues can be addressed when such arbitrary values are used as identification information identifying the mobile device.

The data field may contain additional data about the service agreement.

Fig. 14C illustrates a method of performing uplink TDoA using the DAM of fig. 14B, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to fig. 14C, in operations 1410-1 to 1410-n, each mobile device 1, … … n may send its own DAM in the DAM phase of the gate round. In this case, the DAM message may be the DAM of fig. 14B including the device ID field. In other words, each mobile device may send a DAM that includes its own device ID field.

As an embodiment, the DAM period may include, for example, a plurality of ranging slots corresponding to a maximum number (e.g., n) of mobile devices allowed in a respective round.

Each TDoA anchor (TDoA anchor 1, … … n) may receive (hear) the DAM of each mobile device. As an example, each TDoA anchor may be synchronized according to a preset synchronization scheme.

The particular TDoA anchors or the particular device controlling each TDoA anchor (e.g., the control device of the gating system of fig. 7) may calculate the time difference of arrival between DAM messages for the mobile device of the TDoA anchor pair. Based on this, the location of the mobile device can be estimated. The calculation of the difference in message arrival times and the location calculation (estimation) may follow the TDoA scheme defined in IEEE 802.15.4z.

Fig. 15A and 15B illustrate message structures of RM messages according to embodiments of the present disclosure.

In the embodiment of fig. 15A and 15B, RM is an example of RM of fig. 12 and may be a message such as a gate (or PoS) reply DAM. In an embodiment, the embodiments of fig. 15A and 15B may be the content field of the payload IE of the RM. In this disclosure, an RM may be referred to as a Gate Replay Message (GRM).

(1) Referring to fig. 15a, an rm (GRM) may include a message ID field, a service protocol version field, a slot length field, a slot status field, a first round trip time field, and/or a reply time list field.

The message ID field may include a message ID (e.g., 0x 03) for identifying the GRM message.

The service protocol version field may indicate the version of the service protocol used in the gate.

-slot length field:

a slot length field set to 0x00 may indicate that the GRM is sent from a sub-anchor.

The slot length field set to 0x01 to 0x17 may indicate the number of DAM slots (i.e., N of the acknowledgement schedule field) for multi-user access.

Through the slot length field, the device can identify whether the anchor of the gate transmitting the GRM is a master or a child anchor.

The slot status field may be a bit mask for the slots of the DAM.

The slot status field set to 0b0 may indicate (in the corresponding DAM slot) that the DAM was not successfully received.

The slot status field set to 0b1 may indicate that the DAM was successfully received (in the corresponding DAM slot).

In an embodiment, the device may identify whether the DAM implicitly transmitted through the slot status field of the GRM was successfully received by the gate.

The first round trip time field may indicate a round trip time between the GIM and the first successful DAM. In an embodiment, the first round trip time field may indicate a time difference between a transmission time of the GIM from the gate and a first successful DAM reception time (reception time of the first successfully received DAM).

The response time list field may comprise a response time list of the mobile device. Each element of the reply time list field may be as shown in fig. 15B.

(2) The elements of the response time list field may include a response time field.

The response time field may indicate the response time of the mobile device. In the case of an empty slot, the acknowledgement time field may be set to 0x00 (i.e., 0). For example, if the DAM is not successfully received, the response time field may be set to 0.

In an embodiment, only the anchor (master anchor) that has transmitted the GIM among the anchors of the gate may include a slot status field, a first round trip time field, and/or a reply time list field in the GRM and transmit it. Other sub-anchors may send the GRM without including the slot status field, the first round trip time field, and/or the acknowledgement time list field in the GRM. In this case, the sub-anchor may set the value of the slot length field to 0x00 (i.e., 0).

In an embodiment, the apparatus may perform the DS-TWR by using a first round trip time field and a response time list field included in the GRM. Thus, the distance between the device and the gate (or the main anchor of the gate) can be identified.

Fig. 16A and 16B illustrate message structures of DRM according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

In the embodiment of fig. 16A and 16B, DRM is an example of the DRM of fig. 12 and may be a message transmitted after a device recognizes a distance to a gate (or PoS) by executing a DS-TWR, for example. Accordingly, the DRM may include identification Information (ID) about the device. As described above, the identification information transmitted through DRM is information used only in a specific session, and may be changed when a service is restarted. In an embodiment, the embodiment of fig. 16A and 16B may be the content field of the payload IE for DRM.

(1) Referring to fig. 16a, the drm may include a message ID field, a device ID field, a first round trip time field, a gate anchor field, a response time list field, a data length field, and/or a data field.

The message ID field may include a message ID (e.g., 0x 04) for identifying the DRM message.

The device ID field may indicate the ID of the mobile device. Thus, the device transmitting DRM can be identified.

The first round trip time field may indicate a round trip time between the DAM and the first GRM of the mobile device. In an embodiment, the first round trip time field may indicate a time difference between a time of transmission of the DAM from the mobile device and a time of receipt of the first GRM from the gate (a time of receipt of the first successfully received GRM from the gate).

The gate anchor number field may indicate the number of anchors in the gate (i.e., k of the reply schedule field). In an embodiment, k may not exceed 2.

The response time list field may include a list of response times for each GRM's gate. Each element of the reply time list field may be as shown in fig. 16B.

The data field may contain additional data about the service agreement.

The response time field may indicate the response time of the nth GRM. The response time field may indicate a time difference between a reception time of an nth GRM in the mobile device and a transmission time of DRM.

In an embodiment, the gate (each anchor of the gate) may perform the DS-TWR by using the first round trip time field and the response time list field included in the DRM. Thus, the distance between the device and the gate (or each anchor of the gate) can be identified.

Fig. 17 shows a message structure of an FM according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

In the embodiment of FIG. 17, FM is an example of the FM of FIG. 12 and may be, for example, a message sent as a result gate (or PoS) that performs DS-TWR using DAM, GRM and DRM. In an embodiment, the embodiment of fig. 17 may be a content field of a payload IE for FM. In this disclosure, FM may be referred to as a gate last message (GFM).

Referring to fig. 17, fm (FRM) may include a message ID field, a device ID field, a result field, a data length field, and/or a data field.

The message ID field may include a message ID (e.g., 0x 05) for identifying the GRM message.

The device ID field may indicate the ID of the mobile device.

The result field may indicate the result of UWB ranging. The result field may indicate whether the mobile device is close enough to the gate to perform the service agreement.

The result field set to 0x00 may indicate that the mobile device is within range. In other words, it may indicate that the mobile device identified by the device ID field is within the range.

The result field set to 0x01 may indicate that the mobile device is out of range and will release the occupied time slot in the next round. The next round may be, for example, a round for a corresponding shutter of the next block.

The data field may contain additional data about the service agreement.

In an embodiment, the GFM corresponds to a unicast message sent to a particular device. Thus, the gate may include data for service agreements in the GFM and send it. Since the remaining message (gim. Grm) transmitted by the gate is a broadcast message, the gate can transmit service agreement data only through the unicast message GFM.

Fig. 18 is a flowchart illustrating a method of a first UWB device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

In the embodiment of fig. 18, the first UWB device may be, for example, the initiator of fig. 9 (e.g., a gate device or PoS device), and the second UWB device may be, for example, the responder of fig. 9 (e.g., a user's mobile device). With respect to fig. 18, the repetitive description described above with respect to fig. 1, fig. 2, fig. 3A, fig. 3B, fig. 4, fig. 5A, fig. 5B, fig. 6 to fig. 12, and fig. 13A to fig. 13C is not given.

Referring to fig. 18, in operation 1810, a first UWB device may transmit an Initiation Message (IM) for initiating UWB ranging. The transmission/reception operation of the initiation message may follow, for example, operation 1210 of fig. 12 and fig. 13A to 13C.

In operation 1820, the first UWB device may receive at least one Device Access Message (DAM) from at least one second UWB device during a contention period. The transmission/reception operation of the device access message may follow, for example, operation 1220 of fig. 12, fig. 14A, and fig. 14B.

At operation 1830, the first UWB device may send at least one reply message. The transmission/reception operation of the response message may follow, for example, operation 1230 of fig. 12, fig. 15A, and fig. 15B.

In operation 1840, the first UWB device may receive at least one Device Reply Message (DRM) corresponding to the at least one reply message from one or more of the at least one second UWB devices. The transmission/reception operation of the device response message may follow, for example, operations 1240 of fig. 12, 16A, and 16B.

In operation 1850, the first UWB device may transmit a final message based on UWB ranging performed using the device access message, the reply message, and the device reply message. The transmission/reception operation of the final message may follow, for example, operations 1250 of fig. 12 and fig. 17.

In an embodiment, the information on the state of the ranging slot included in the contention period may indicate whether each ranging slot included in the contention period is an empty state or an occupied state, and the information on the access condition of the ranging slot may indicate the access condition of each ranging slot included in the contention period.

In an embodiment, the information on the access condition of the ranging slot may be set to one of a first value indicating that no access condition is applied to the corresponding ranging slot or a second value indicating an allowable distance between the first UWB device and the second UWB device in response to the initiation of the message transmitting device access message.

In an embodiment, the acknowledgement message may include slot length information. The slot length information may be set to one of a first value indicating that the acknowledgement message is transmitted from the sub-anchor or a second value indicating the number of ranging slots included in the contention period.

In an embodiment, the acknowledgement message may include information indicating whether the device access message was successfully received in a ranging slot included in the contention period.

In an embodiment, the device reply message may include information identifying the second UWB device that sent the device reply message.

In an embodiment, the device reply message may include information indicating the number of anchors of the first UWB device.

Fig. 19 is a flowchart illustrating a method of a second UWB device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to fig. 19, the first UWB device may be, for example, the initiator of fig. 9 (e.g., a gate device or PoS device), and the second UWB device may be, for example, the responder of fig. 9 (e.g., a user's mobile device). With respect to fig. 19, the repetitive description described above with respect to fig. 1, fig. 2, fig. 3A, fig. 3B, fig. 4, fig. 5A, fig. 5B, fig. 6 to fig. 12, and fig. 13A to fig. 13C is not given.

At operation 1910, the second UWB device may receive an initiation message from the first UWB device for initiating UWB ranging. The transmission/reception operation of the initiation message may follow, for example, operation 1210 of fig. 12 and fig. 13A to 13C.

In operation 1920, the second UWB device may transmit a device access message to the first UWB device during the contention period. The transmission/reception operation of the device access message may follow, for example, operation 1220 of fig. 12, fig. 14A, and fig. 14B.

In operation 1930, the second UWB device may receive at least one reply message from the first UWB device. The transmission/reception operation of the response message may follow, for example, operations 1240 of fig. 12, 15A, and 15B.

In operation 1940, the second UWB device may transmit a device reply message to the first UWB device based on UWB ranging performed using the origination message, the device access message, and the reply message. The transmission/reception operation of the device response message may follow, for example, operations 1240 of fig. 12, 16A, and 16B.

In operation 1950, the second UWB device may receive a final message from the first UWB device. The transmission/reception operation of the final message may follow, for example, operations 1250 of fig. 12 and fig. 17.

In the embodiment of fig. 20, the electronic device may correspond to, include, or be an electronic device that may include a portion of a UWB device. For example, the electronic device may be the UWB device of fig. 1, the first UWB device/second UWB device of fig. 2, the mobile device of fig. 7, the gate (gate device) of fig. 7, or the TDoA anchor of fig. 7.

Referring to fig. 20, the electronic device may include a transceiver 2010, a controller 2020, and a storage unit 2030. In this disclosure, a controller may be defined as a circuit or an application specific integrated circuit or at least one processor.

The transceiver 2010 may transmit signals to and receive signals from another entity. The transceiver 2010 may transmit/receive data to/from another device through, for example, UWB communication and/or OOB communication (e.g., BLE).

According to an embodiment, the controller 2020 may control overall operation of the electronic device. For example, the controller 2020 may control the inter-block signal flow to perform operations according to the flowcharts described above. In particular, the controller 2020 may control operations (e.g., operations of applications and/or architectures) of the electronic device described above with reference to fig. 1, 2, 3A, 3B, 4, 5A, 5B, 6-12, 13A-13C, 14A-14C, 15A, 15B, 16A, 16B, and 17-19.

The storage unit 2030 may store at least one of information transmitted/received via the transceiver 2010 and information generated via the controller 2020. For example, the storage unit 2030 may store information and data necessary for the methods described above with reference to fig. 1, 2, 3A, 3B, 4, 5A, 5B, 6 to 12, 13A to 13C, 14A to 14C, 15A, 15B, 16A, 16B, and 17 to 19. In an embodiment, the storage unit may comprise the above-described security component.

While the present disclosure has been shown and described with reference to various embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A method performed by a first ultra-wideband UWB device, the method comprising:

transmitting an initiation message for initiating UWB ranging within a first period of a first ranging round;

receiving at least one device access message from at least one second UWB device during a second period of the first ranging round;

transmitting at least one response message during a third period of the first ranging round;

receiving at least one device reply message corresponding to the at least one reply message from one or more of the at least one second UWB devices during a fourth period of the first ranging round; and

transmitting a final message to the one or more second UWB devices during a fifth period of the first ranging round, the final message being generated based on UWB ranging performed using the device access message, the response message and the device response message,

Wherein the initiation message includes length information about the length of the second period and status information about the status of at least one ranging slot included in the second period.

2. The method according to claim 1,

wherein the status information indicates whether each ranging slot included in the second period is in an empty state or an occupied state,

wherein the ranging slot in the empty state is used for contention-based access and the ranging slot in the occupied state is used for scheduled access.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the initiation message further comprises access condition information indicating an access condition of each ranging slot included in the second period, and

wherein the access condition information is set to one of a first value indicating that no access condition is applied to a corresponding ranging slot or a second value indicating an allowable distance between the first UWB device and the second UWB device for transmitting the device access message in response to the initiation message.

4. The method according to claim 1,

Wherein the reply message includes time slot length information, and

wherein the slot length information is set to one of a first value indicating that the response message is transmitted from a sub-anchor or a second value indicating the number of ranging slots included in the second period.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the reply message includes information indicating whether the device access message was successfully received in a ranging slot included in the second period.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the device reply message includes information identifying the second UWB device that sent the device reply message.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the device reply message includes information indicating a number of anchors associated with the first UWB device.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the final message comprises:

identification information for identifying the second UWB device transmitting the device reply message; and

information about the result of UWB ranging performed by the first UWB device based on the device access message, the response message, and the device response message.

9. A method performed by a second ultra-wideband UWB device, the method comprising:

receiving an initiation message for initiating UWB ranging from a first UWB device during a first period of a first ranging round;

transmitting a device access message to the first UWB device during a second period of the first ranging round;

receiving at least one reply message from the first UWB device during a third period of the first ranging round;

transmitting a device reply message to the first UWB device during a fourth period of the first ranging round, the device reply message generated based on UWB ranging performed using the initiation message, the device access message, and the reply message; and

during a fifth period of the first ranging round, receiving a final message from the first UWB device,

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein the method comprises,

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the initiation message further comprises access condition information indicating an access condition of each ranging slot included in the second period, and

12. The method according to claim 9, wherein the method comprises,

wherein the reply message includes slot length information,

wherein the slot length information is set to one of a first value indicating that the response message is transmitted from a sub-anchor or a second value indicating the number of ranging slots included in the second period, and

wherein the reply message includes information indicating whether the device access message was successfully received in a ranging slot included in the second period.

13. The method of claim 9, wherein the device reply message includes information identifying the second UWB device that sent the device reply message, and wherein the device reply message includes information indicating a number of anchors associated with the first UWB device.

14. A first ultra-wideband UWB device, the first UWB device comprising:

a transceiver; and

a controller operably connected with the transceiver, wherein the controller is configured to:

15. A second ultra-wideband UWB device, the second UWB device comprising:

a transceiver; and