KR20230000933A - Method and apparatus for providing uwb (ultra wide band) communication - Google Patents

Abstract

According to the present invention, disclosed is a method for operating a UWB channel and an NB channel together. According to various embodiments of the present invention, a method of a second UWB device comprises the following steps of: receiving at least one advertisement message providing information on a UWB channel used by a first UWB device through an NB channel; and performing at least one operation for performing UWB ranging by using the UWB channel based on the advertisement message. Here, the UWB channel may be one of candidate UWB channels allocated for UWB communication and the NB channel may be a sub-channel of one of the candidate UWB channels.

Description

Method and apparatus for UWB communication {METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PROVIDING UWB (ULTRA WIDE BAND) COMMUNICATION}

The present disclosure relates to UWB communication, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for providing a UWB service through a UWB channel and a narrow band (NB) channel.

The Internet is evolving from a human-centered connection network in which humans create and consume information to an IoT (Internet of Things) network in which information is exchanged and processed between distributed components such as objects. IoE (Internet of Everything) technology, which combines IoT technology with big data processing technology through connection with cloud servers, etc., is also emerging. In order to implement IoT, technology elements such as sensing technology, wired/wireless communication and network infrastructure, service interface technology, and security technology are required. Recently, technologies such as a sensor network for connection between objects, machine to machine (M2M), and machine type communication (MTC) are being studied.

In the IoT environment, intelligent IT (Internet Technology) services that create new values in human life by collecting and analyzing data generated from connected objects can be provided. IoT is a smart home, smart building, smart city, smart car or connected car, smart grid, health care, smart home appliances, advanced medical services, etc. can be applied in the field of

As a variety of services can be provided according to the development of wireless communication systems, a method for effectively providing these services is required. For example, a ranging technique for measuring a distance between electronic devices using ultra wide band (UWB) may be used.

The present disclosure proposes a method for collision avoidance and efficient use of UWB devices.

In the present disclosure, a UWB device performs advertising, device discovery, and/or connection setup using in-band instead of out-of-band (OOB). A method for doing this and a structure of a UWB device for this are provided.

The present disclosure provides a method for operating at least one subchannel among channels allocated for UWB as an NB channel for advertising, device discovery, and/or connection setup. do.

The present disclosure provides a method for a UWB device to advertise information about UWB communication used by the device through an NB channel.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, a method of a first UWB device includes at least one advertisement message providing information on a UWB channel used by the first UWB device through a narrow band (NB) channel. and broadcasting, wherein the UWB channel is one of candidate UWB channels allocated for UWB communication, and the NB channel may be a subchannel of one of the candidate UWB channels.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, a method of a second UWB device includes at least one advertisement message providing information on a UWB channel used by the first UWB device through a narrow band (NB) channel. receiving; and performing at least one operation for performing UWB ranging using the UWB channel based on the advertisement message, wherein the UWB channel is one of candidate UWB channels allocated for UWB communication; The NB channel may be a subchannel of one of the candidate UWB channels.

Through the method of the present disclosure, collision avoidance and efficient use of UWB devices can be provided.

1A is an exemplary architecture of a UWB device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
Figure 1b shows a communication system including a UWB device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
2 illustrates a method of performing a NB procedure and a UWB procedure by a UWB device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
3A shows an Advertising operation according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
3B illustrates an Advertising operation and a connection establishment operation according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
4A illustrates a UWB ranging operation according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
4B illustrates a UWB ranging operation according to another embodiment of the present disclosure.
5 illustrates an example of a structure of a ranging block and a round used for UWB ranging according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
6A shows the configuration of a ranging area network according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
6B illustrates a method of allocating an NB Advertisement channel for a UWB channel according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
6C illustrates a method of allocating NB Advertisement channels to a plurality of UWB channels according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
6D illustrates a method of allocating NB Advertisement channels to a plurality of UWB channels according to another embodiment of the present disclosure.
7 illustrates a structure of a channel used in a ranging area network according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
8 illustrates a first method for a UWB device to transmit an NB Advertisement message in an NB channel according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
9 illustrates a second method in which a UWB device transmits an NB Advertisement message in an NB channel according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
10 illustrates a third method in which a UWB device transmits an NB Advertisement message in an NB channel according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
11 illustrates a fourth method in which a UWB device transmits an NB Advertisement message in an NB channel according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
12 illustrates an operation of a UWB device receiving an NB Advertisement message through an NB channel according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
13 illustrates an operation of a UWB device receiving an NB Advertisement message through an NB channel according to another embodiment of the present disclosure.
14 illustrates an operation of a UWB device for NB connection configuration according to another embodiment of the present disclosure.
15 is a flowchart illustrating a method of a first UWB device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
16 is a flowchart illustrating a method of a first UWB device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
17 illustrates a structure of a first UWB device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
18 illustrates a structure of a second UWB device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
19 illustrates a ranging round to which a transmission offset is applied according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
20 shows a slot when a transmission offset is applied to an NB channel according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In describing the embodiments, descriptions of technical contents that are well known in the technical field to which the present disclosure belongs and are not directly related to the present disclosure will be omitted. This is to more clearly convey the gist of the present disclosure without obscuring it by omitting unnecessary description.

For the same reason, in the accompanying drawings, some components are exaggerated, omitted, or schematically illustrated. Also, the size of each component does not entirely reflect the actual size. In each figure, the same reference number is assigned to the same or corresponding component.

Advantages and features of the present disclosure, and methods for achieving them, will become clear with reference to embodiments described below in detail in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. However, the present disclosure is not limited to the embodiments disclosed below, but may be implemented in various different forms, and only the embodiments of the present disclosure make the present disclosure complete and allow common knowledge in the art to which the present disclosure belongs. It is provided to fully inform the possessor of the scope of the disclosure, and the disclosure is only defined by the scope of the claims. Like reference numbers designate like elements throughout the specification.

At this time, it will be understood that each block of the process flow chart diagrams and combinations of the flow chart diagrams can be performed by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be embodied in a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing equipment, so that the instructions executed by the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing equipment are described in the flowchart block(s). It creates means to perform functions. These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer usable or computer readable memory that can be directed to a computer or other programmable data processing equipment to implement functionality in a particular way, such that the computer usable or computer readable memory The instructions stored in may also be capable of producing an article of manufacture containing instruction means that perform the functions described in the flowchart block(s). The computer program instructions can also be loaded on a computer or other programmable data processing equipment, so that a series of operational steps are performed on the computer or other programmable data processing equipment to create a computer-executed process to generate computer or other programmable data processing equipment. Instructions for performing the processing equipment may also provide steps for performing the functions described in the flowchart block(s).

Additionally, each block may represent a module, segment, or portion of code that includes one or more executable instructions for executing specified logical function(s). It should also be noted that in some alternative implementations it is possible for the functions mentioned in the blocks to occur out of order. For example, two blocks shown in succession may in fact be performed substantially concurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be performed in reverse order depending on their function.

At this time, the term '~unit' used in this embodiment means software or hardware components such as FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) or ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), and '~unit' performs certain roles. do. However, '~ part' is not limited to software or hardware. '~bu' may be configured to be in an addressable storage medium and may be configured to reproduce one or more processors. Accordingly, according to some embodiments, '~unit' refers to components such as software components, object-oriented software components, class components, and task components, processes, functions, properties, and programs. procedures, subroutines, segments of program code, drivers, firmware, microcode, circuitry, data, databases, data structures, tables, arrays, and variables. Functions provided within components and '~units' may be combined into smaller numbers of components and '~units' or further separated into additional components and '~units'. In addition, components and '~units' may be implemented to play one or more CPUs in a device or a secure multimedia card. Also, according to some embodiments, '~ unit' may include one or more processors.

As used herein, the term 'terminal' or 'device' refers to a mobile station (MS), a user equipment (UE), a user terminal (UT), a wireless terminal, an access terminal (AT), a terminal, and a subscriber unit. (Subscriber Unit), subscriber station (SS), wireless device, wireless communication device, wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU), mobile node, mobile or other terms. . Various embodiments of the terminal include a cellular phone, a smart phone having a wireless communication function, a personal digital assistant (PDA) having a wireless communication function, a wireless modem, a portable computer having a wireless communication function, and a digital camera having a wireless communication function. devices, gaming devices with wireless communication capabilities, music storage and playback appliances with wireless communication capabilities, Internet appliances capable of wireless Internet access and browsing, as well as portable units or terminals incorporating combinations of such functions. there is. In addition, the terminal may include a machine to machine (M2M) terminal and a machine type communication (MTC) terminal/device, but is not limited thereto. In this specification, the terminal may also be referred to as an electronic device or simply a device.

Hereinafter, the operating principle of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description of the present disclosure, if it is determined that a detailed description of a related known function or configuration may unnecessarily obscure the gist of the present disclosure, the detailed description will be omitted. In addition, terms to be described later are terms defined in consideration of functions in the present disclosure, which may vary according to intentions or customs of users or operators. Therefore, the definition should be made based on the contents throughout this specification.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with accompanying drawings. Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present disclosure is described using a communication system using UWB as an example, but the embodiment of the present disclosure can be applied to other communication systems having similar technical backgrounds or characteristics. For example, a communication system using Bluetooth or ZigBee may be included therein. Therefore, the embodiments of the present disclosure can be applied to other communication systems through some modifications within a range that does not greatly deviate from the scope of the present disclosure as determined by those skilled in the art.

In addition, in describing the present disclosure, if it is determined that a detailed description of a related function or configuration may unnecessarily obscure the gist of the present disclosure, the detailed description will be omitted. In addition, terms to be described later are terms defined in consideration of functions in the present disclosure, which may vary according to intentions or customs of users or operators. Therefore, the definition should be made based on the contents throughout this specification.

In general, wireless sensor network technology is largely classified into a wireless local area network (WLAN) technology and a wireless personal area network (WPAN) technology according to a recognition distance. At this time, the wireless LAN is a technology based on IEEE 802.11, and is a technology capable of accessing a backbone network within a radius of 100 m or less. In addition, the wireless private network is a technology based on IEEE 802.15, and includes Bluetooth, ZigBee, and ultra wide band (UWB). A wireless network in which such a wireless network technology is implemented may include a plurality of electronic devices.

According to the definition of the FCC (Federal Communications Commission), UWB may refer to a wireless communication technology using a bandwidth of 500 MHz or more or a bandwidth corresponding to a center frequency of 20% or more. UWB may mean a band itself to which UWB communication is applied. UWB enables secure and accurate ranging between devices. This allows UWB to estimate a relative position based on the distance between two devices or accurately position a device based on its distance from (known) fixed devices.

Specific terms used in the following description are provided to aid understanding of the present disclosure, and the use of these specific terms may be changed into other forms without departing from the technical spirit of the present disclosure.

"Ranging Device" may be a device capable of performing UWB ranging. In the present disclosure, the ranging device may be, for example, a ranging device (RDEV) or an enhanced ranging device (ERDEV) defined in IEEE 802.15.4/4z. In the present disclosure, a ranging device may be referred to as a UWB device.

"Advertiser" may be a device (eg, ranging device) that transmits (or broadcasts) an Advertisement message through an Advertisement channel.

"Scanner" may be a device (eg, ranging device) that receives an advertisement message by scanning an advertisement channel. In this disclosure, a scanner may also be referred to as an observer.

"Controller" may be a device (eg, ranging device) that defines and controls a Ranging Control Message (RCM) (or control message).

"Controlee" may be a device (eg, ranging device) that uses ranging parameters in the RCM (or control message) received from the controller.

“Initiator” may be a device that initiates a ranging exchange (eg, a Ranging Device).

A “Responder” may be a device (eg, a Ranging Device) that responds to an Initiator in a ranging exchange.

"In-Band" may be data communication using UWB as an underlying radio technology.

"Out-Of-Band (OOB)" may be data communication that does not use UWB as a lower radio technology.

"UWB Session" may be a period from when the Controller and the Controlee start communication through UWB until they stop communication. In a UWB session, a ranging frame (RFRAME) may be transmitted, a data frame may be transmitted, or both ranging frames and data frames may be transmitted.

"UWB Session ID" may be an ID (eg, 32-bit integer) that identifies a UWB session shared between a controller and a controlee.

"UWB Session Key" may be a key used to protect a UWB session. The UWB Session Key may be used to generate a Scrambled Timestamp Sequence (STS). In the present disclosure, the UWB Session Key may be a UWB Ranging Session Key (URSK), and may be abbreviated as a session key.

"UWB Subsystem (UWBS)" may be a hardware component that implements UWB PHY and MAC specifications included in a UWB device. In this disclosure, the UWB PHY and MAC specifications may be, for example, PHY and MAC specifications defined in IEEE 802.15.4/4z. In this disclosure, UWBS may be referred to as a UWB component.

"UWB-enabled Application" may be an application for a service (UWB service). In the present disclosure, "UWB-enabled Application" may be abbreviated as an application or a UWB application.

A "Service" can be an implementation of a use case that provides a service to an end-user. In this disclosure, Service may be referred to as a UWB service.

“Service Data” may be data defined by a Service Provider that needs to be passed between two ranging devices to implement a service.

A “Service Provider” may be an entity that defines and provides hardware and software required to provide specific services to end-users.

“STS” may be a ciphered sequence for increasing the integrity and accuracy of ranging measurement timestamps.

Unlike "Static STS", "Dynamic STS mode" may be an operation mode in which STS is not repeated during a ranging session. In this mode, the STS is managed by the Ranging device, and the Ranging Session Key for generating the STS can be managed by the Secure Component.

"Static STS mode" is an operation mode in which STS is repeated during a session, and does not need to be managed by Secure Component.

A “Secure Channel” may be a data channel that prevents overhearing and tampering.

"Secure Component" is an entity (eg SE (Secure Element) or TEE (Trusted Execution Environment) with a defined security level that interfaces with UWBS for the purpose of providing RDS to UWBS, for example, when dynamic STS is used. can be

"Secure Ranging" may be ranging based on an STS generated through a strong encryption operation.

"UWB channel" may be one of candidate UWB channels allocated for UWB communication. Candidate UWB channels allocated for UWB communication may be channels allocated for UWB communication defined in IEEE 802.15.4/4z. UWB channels may be used for UWB ranging and/or transactions. For example, the UWB channel may be used for transmission and reception of a ranging frame (RFRAME) and/or transmission and reception of a data frame. As an example, one or a plurality of UWB channels may be operated together.

A "narrow band (NB) channel" may be a channel having a narrower bandwidth than a UWB channel. As an embodiment, the NB channel is a subchannel of one of the candidate UWB channels allocated for UWB communication, or uses a specific bandwidth of another available band (eg, a part of an Industrial, Scientific and Medical (ISM) band, etc.) It may be a channel that Candidate UWB channels allocated for UWB communication may be channels allocated for UWB communication defined in IEEE 802.15.4/4z. The NB channel may be used for connection establishment for advertising, device discovery, and/or additional parameter negotiation/authentication. For example, the NB channel may be used for transmission and reception of an Advertisement message, an additional Advertising message, a connection request message, and/or a connection confirmation message. As an example, one or a plurality of NB channels may be operated together. As an example, a NB channel may be used for in-band communication, similar to a UWB channel.

And, in describing the present disclosure, if it is determined that a detailed description of a related known function or configuration may unnecessarily obscure the gist of the present disclosure, the detailed description will be omitted.

Hereinafter, various embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

* This disclosure proposes a method for collision avoidance and efficient use of UWB devices.

In the present disclosure, a UWB device performs advertising, device discovery, and/or connection setup using in-band instead of out-of-band (OOB). A method for doing this and a structure of a UWB device for this are provided. Through this, the entire operation for providing UWB service can be performed through in-band communication. In this case, in addition to the UWB communication module, a complete UWB service can be provided even in a device without an additional OOB communication module such as a BLE communication module.

The present disclosure provides a method for operating at least one subchannel among channels allocated for UWB as an NB channel for advertising, device discovery, and/or connection setup. do. In the present disclosure, a NB channel used for advertising, device discovery, and/or connection establishment may be distinguished from a channel (UWB channel) used for UWB ranging and/or transaction.

The present disclosure provides a method in which a UWB device, which is a controller, transmits information about UWB communication used by the device through a NB channel.

The present disclosure provides a method for setting transmission timing and/or transmission offset to coexist with existing UWB communication by scanning an advertisement channel (NB channel) before a UWB device, which is a controller, starts UWB communication. do.

The present disclosure provides a method for acquiring transmission timing of a controller to participate by scanning an NB channel before a UWB device, which is a controlee, participates in UWB communication.

In the present disclosure, before a UWB device, which is a controlee, participates in UWB communication, it scans an NB channel to acquire transmission timing of a controller to participate in, and then negotiates additional parameters through a Sub Advertisement channel (NB channel) and /or provide a way to perform authentication.

1A is an exemplary architecture of a UWB device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 1A , a UWB device 100a may include at least one PHY layer 110a, a MAC layer (MAC sublayer) 120a, and/or a higher layer 130a.

(1) PHY layer

At least one PHY layer 110a may include a transceiver with a low-level control mechanism. In this disclosure, a transceiver may be referred to as an RF transceiver or a radio transceiver.

In one embodiment, at least one PHY layer 110a may include a first transceiver supporting a UWB channel and a second transceiver supporting an NB channel having a narrower bandwidth than the UWB channel. In this disclosure, the first transceiver may be referred to as a UWB transceiver and the second transceiver may be referred to as a NB transceiver.

In another embodiment, at least one PHY layer 110a may include a transceiver (dual channel transceiver) supporting both a UWB channel and an NB channel.

In one embodiment, PHY layer 110a may support at least one of the following functions.

- Transceiver activation and deactivation function (transceiver on/off function)

- Energy detection function

- Channel selection function

- CCA (Clear Channel Assessment) function

- Synchronization function

- low-level signaling function

- UWB ranging, positioning and localization function

- Spectrum resource management function

- Ability to send/receive packets through physical medium

(2) MAC layer

The MAC layer 120a provides an interface between the upper layer 130a and the PHY layer 120a.

In one embodiment, the MAC layer 120a may provide the following two services.

- MAC data service: service that enables transmission and reception of MAC PDU (protocol data unit) through PHY

- MAC management service: Service interfaced to MAC sublayer management entity (MLME) service access point (SAP) (MLME-SAP)

In one embodiment, the MAC layer 120a may support at least one of the following functions.

- Device discovery and connection setup function

- Channel access function (access function for physical channel (eg, NB channel / UWB channel))

- Synchronization function (e.g. synchronization of NB channel and UWB channel)

- Interference mitigation based on energy detection

- Features related to narrowband signaling

- GTS (guaranteed timeslot) management function

- Frame delivery function

- UWB ranging function

- PHY parameter change notification function

- Security features

(3) Upper layer

The upper layer 130a may include a network layer providing functions such as network configuration and message routing, and/or an application layer providing intended functions of the device.

In one embodiment, the application layer may be a UWB-enabled application layer for providing UWB services.

Figure 1b shows a communication system including a UWB device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 1B , a communication system 10b may include a first UWB device 100b and a second UWB device 200b. The first UWB device 100b and/or the second UWB device 200b of FIG. 1B may be an example of the UWB device 100a of FIG. 1A .

The first UWB device 100b may include a UWB-enabled Application Layer 110b, a framework 120b, a UWB transceiver 130b, and/or a NB transceiver 140b. In addition, the second UWB device 200b may include a UWB-enabled Application Layer 210b, a framework 220b, a UWB transceiver 230b, and/or a NB transceiver 240b.

In FIG. 1B, the UWB transceiver and NB transceiver of each device are shown as separate configurations, but this configuration is divided according to its operation/function. That is, this is not intended to limit the UWB transceiver and the NB transceiver to be implemented in separate physical configurations (eg, separate chipsets). Accordingly, the UWB transceiver and the NB transceiver may be implemented as separate chipsets, or the UWB transceiver and the NB transceiver may be implemented as one integrated chipset.

The UWB-enabled Application Layers 110b and 210b may be upper application layers for UWB services.

The frameworks 120b and 220b may be entities that integrate and manage the UWB transceivers 130b and 230b and the NB transceivers 140b and 240b. In one embodiment, the frameworks (120b, 220b) is a function for controlling UWB / NB communication (eg MAC (Medium Access Control), UWB / NB transceiver synchronization function) and / or the obtained information to the upper application layer ( 110b, 210b) may support a function of communicating.

The UWB transceivers 130b and 230b may support at least one of the candidate UWB channels allocated for UWB communication. That is, the UWB transceivers 130b and 230b may support at least one UWB channel. An example of candidate UWB channels allocated for UWB communication may be shown in Table 1 below.

In one embodiment, at least one of the channels in Table 1 may be allocated as a UWB channel supported by the UWB transceivers 130b and 230b. For example, channel numbers 5 and/or 9 of Table 1 may be allocated as UWB channels.

The UWB transceivers 130b and 230b or at least one UWB channel supported by the UWB transceivers 130b and 230b may be used for UWB ranging and/or transactions. For example, the UWB transceivers 130b and 230b or at least one UWB channel supported by the UWB transceivers 130b and 230b may be used for transmission/reception of a ranging frame (RFRAME) and/or a data frame.

The NB transceivers 140b and 240b may support at least one NB channel having a narrower bandwidth (eg, 50 MHz or less) than a UWB channel. The NB transceivers 140b and 240b or at least one NB channel supported by the NB transceivers 140b and 240b may be used for Advertisement (discovery) and/or narrowband signaling.

In one embodiment, the NB channel may be a subchannel of one of the candidate UWB channels allocated for UWB communication. An example of candidate UWB channels allocated for UWB communication may be shown in Table 1 above.

In another embodiment, the NB channel may be a channel using a specific bandwidth of another available band (eg, a part of an Industrial, Scientific and Medical (ISM) band).

As an example, a NB channel may be used for in-band communication, similar to a UWB channel.

Meanwhile, as in Table 1 above, candidate UWB channels mainly have a bandwidth of 500 MHz or more. Therefore, when this channel is used for Advertisement (discovery) as it is, it is disadvantageous to power spectral density (energy detection), so it is necessary to divide the corresponding channel into a plurality of subchannels for Advertisement (discovery).

For example, at least one of subchannels divided from one of the channels of Table 1 or at least one of channels using a specific bandwidth of an available band (eg, part of an Industrial, Scientific and Medical (ISM) band, etc.) One can be allocated as a channel for Advertisement (Advertisement Channel). In one embodiment, an Advertisement channel may be used to carry Advertisement messages. In the present disclosure, an Advertisement channel may be referred to as a first subchannel, an NB Advertisement channel, or a Discovery channel, and an Advertisement message may be referred to as a first Advertisement message or an NB Advertisement message.

In addition, at least one of the remaining subchannel(s) or channel(s) not allocated as an advertisement channel may be allocated as a channel for connection setup (connection setup channel). In the present disclosure, a channel for connection establishment may be referred to as a second subchannel, a NB connection establishment channel, or a sub advertisement channel. Meanwhile, in the present disclosure, an Advertisement channel and a connection establishment channel may be collectively referred to as an NB channel.

In one embodiment, the Connection Establishment Channel may be used to carry additional Advertisement messages containing additional Advertising information not transmitted over the Advertisement Channel, or for negotiation of additional parameters, or for authentication. In this disclosure, the additional Advertisement message may be referred to as a second Advertisement message or an additional NB Advertisement message.

As described above, the NB channel has a narrower bandwidth than the UWB channel. However, the band of the NB channel may be the same as or different from that of the UWB channel.

For example, a NB channel and a UWB channel may use different bands. For example, a channel number of a candidate UWB channel including subchannel(s) allocated to the NB channel may be different from a channel number of a candidate UWB channel allocated to the UWB channel. That is, one of the candidate UWB channels not allocated as a UWB channel may be allocated for the NB channel.

For another example, the NB channel and the UWB channel may use the same band. For example, the channel number of the candidate UWB channel including the subchannel(s) allocated to the NB channel may be the same as the channel number of the candidate UWB channel allocated to the UWB channel. That is, one subchannel(s) of the candidate UWB channels used as the UWB channel may be allocated for the NB channel.

In one embodiment, the first UWB device 100b and the second UWB device 200b are connected through the UWB transceiver 110b of the first UWB device 100b and the UWB transceiver 210b of the second UWB device 200b. UWB communication (procedure) (in-band communication) may be performed through the established first radio link (UWB channel).

In one embodiment, the first UWB device 100b and the second UWB device 200b transmit through the NB transceiver 110b of the first UWB device 100b and the NB transceiver 210b of the second UWB device 200b. NB communication (procedure) (in-band communication) may be performed through the configured second radio link (NB channel).

Hereinafter, with reference to FIG. 2, a method for a UWB device to perform NB communication (procedure) and UWB communication (procedure) will be described.

2 illustrates a method of performing a NB procedure and a UWB procedure by a UWB device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

The UWB device of FIG. 2 may be, for example, the UWB device of FIG. 1A or 1B.

Referring to FIG. 2 , a UWB device may perform a NB procedure 210 and a UWB procedure 220 . The NB procedure 210 and the UWB procedure 220 may be managed or controlled by the MAC layer (entity) of the UWB device.

(1) NB procedure (step)

In the present disclosure, the NB procedure 210 refers to a procedure performed using at least one NB channel. NB procedure 210 may be performed before UWB procedure 220 .

NB procedure 210 may include at least one of the following operations.

- An operation in which a UWB device transmits and/or receives an NB Advertisement message through at least one NB Advertisement channel (Advertising operation)

-UWB device transmits and/or receives an additional NB Advertisement message, connection request message, and/or connection confirmation message through at least one NB connection establishment channel (connection establishment operation)

(2) UWB procedure (steps)

In the present disclosure, the UWB procedure 220 refers to a procedure performed using at least one UWB channel.

UWB procedure 220 may include at least one of the following operations.

- An operation in which a UWB device performs UWB ranging with another UWB device (UWB ranging operation)

- An operation in which a UWB device exchanges service data with another UWB device (transaction operation)

Hereinafter, embodiments of the NB procedure will be described with reference to FIG. 3 .

3A shows an Advertising operation according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

The Advertising operation of FIG. 3A may be an example of the Advertising operation of the NB procedure 210 of FIG. 2 .

The Advertising operation of FIG. 3A may be an Advertising operation performed through an NB Advertisement channel.

Referring to FIG. 3A , in operation 310a, the Advertiser 301 may transmit an Advertisement message. In one embodiment, the Advertiser 301 may broadcast an NB Advertisement message through at least one NB Advertisement channel. In this case, the scanner 302 may receive an NB Advertisement message by scanning at least one NB Advertisement channel. Through this, the scanner 302 may obtain device discovery and/or advertising information.

In one embodiment, the advertiser 301 may be a UWB device that serves as an advertiser and a controller.

In one embodiment, the NB Advertisement channel may be a channel that the Advertiser 301 and the scanner 302 know in advance. For example, the NB Advertisement channel may be included in information provided when installing a related UWB-enabled application, may be a hard-coded default channel, or may be a channel shared between the Advertiser 301 and the scanner 302 in various other ways. there is. As mentioned above, the NB Advertisement channel can be a subchannel(s) of one of the candidate UWB channels.

In one embodiment, the NB Advertisement message includes information about the starting time of a ranging round, information about channel occupation time (eg, information about channel occupation time expressed as a multiple of time unit (TU)), and the length of a ranging block. It may include at least one of information about , information about the length of a ranging round, or information about the number or number of active rounds. Here, the active round may be a ranging round actually used (or occupied) among the ranging rounds.

In one embodiment, the NB Advertisement message includes information on a session ID (eg, a ranging session) (session ID information) and/or an address of a UWB device transmitting the NB Advertisement message (eg, a MAC address of the UWB device). It may include information about (address information). In one embodiment, the NB Advertisement message may include numbering information for indicating which active round the NB Advertisement message corresponds to among all active rounds within the corresponding ranging block.

In one embodiment, the NB Advertisement message may include information on transmission time (transmission time information) of the corresponding subsequent NB Advertisement message. For example, the NB Advertisement message or transmission time information indicates in which slot the transmission of the corresponding NB Advertisement message starts (transmission slot indication information) and / or information about the length of the slot (slot length information) can include

In one embodiment, the NB Advertisement message may include information about a period of a ranging block through which the NB Advertisement message is transmitted. For example, the information on the NB Advertisement message or the ranging block cycle is the information on how many ranging blocks are skipped (first information) or the number of consecutive ranging blocks in which the NB Advertisement message is not transmitted. information (second information) may be included.

If the advertising information acquired through the operation of FIG. 3A includes all information necessary for performing UWB communication (UWB procedure), the scanner 302 immediately performs the UWB procedure after performing the operation of FIG. 3A described above. can do.

However, depending on the embodiment, the advertising information may include only a part of information necessary to perform the UWB procedure. That is, additional advertising information may be further required to perform UWB communication. Alternatively, additional parameter negotiation or authentication may be further required to perform UWB communication. In this case, an additional advertising operation and/or a connection setting operation may be further performed for additional advertising information acquisition, additional parameter negotiation, and/or authentication. This is explained below with reference to FIG. 3B.

3B illustrates an Advertising operation and a connection establishment operation according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

The advertising operation and connection establishment operation of FIG. 3B may be an example of the advertising operation and connection establishment operation of the NB procedure of FIG. 2 .

The advertising operation of FIG. 3B may be an advertising operation performed through at least one NB advertisement channel, and the connection establishment operation may be a connection establishment operation performed through at least one NB connection establishment channel.

Referring to FIG. 3B , in operation 310b, the Advertiser 301 may transmit an Advertisement message. For example, the Advertiser 301 may broadcast an NB Advertisement message through at least one NB Advertisement channel. In this case, the scanner 302 may receive an NB Advertisement message by scanning at least one NB Advertisement channel. Through this, the scanner 302 may obtain device discovery and/or advertising information.

In one embodiment, the advertiser 301 may be a UWB device that serves as an advertiser and a controller.

As described above, the NB Advertisement channel may be a channel that the Advertiser 301 and the scanner 302 know in advance. Also, the NB Advertisement channel may be one subchannel(s) of candidate UWB channels.

In addition, if additional advertising information is further required, operation 311b below may be further performed. Operation 311b may be an optional operation.

In operation 311b, the Advertiser 301 may transmit an additional Advertisement message. For example, the Advertiser 301 may broadcast an additional NB Advertisement message through the NB connection establishment channel. In this case, the scanner 302 may receive an additional NB Advertisement message by scanning the NB connection establishment channel. In one embodiment, information on the NB connection configuration channel may be included in the Advertisement message of operation 310b.

Through this additional Advertising operation of Operation 311b, the scanner 302 may further obtain additional Advertising information.

In addition, when additional parameter negotiation and/or authentication (connection establishment) is required, operations 320b and 330b below may be further performed. Operations 320b and 330b may be optional operations.

In operation 320b, the scanner 302 may transmit a connection request message to the advertiser. For example, the scanner 302 may transmit a connection request message to an advertiser through an NB connection establishment channel. In one embodiment, the connection request message may include parameter(s) for the controlee's performance and/or information for authentication.

In operation 330b, the advertiser 301 may transmit a connection confirmation message to the scanner in response to the connection request message. For example, the advertiser 301 may transmit a connection confirmation message to a scanner through an NB connection establishment channel. In one embodiment, the connection confirmation message may include parameter (s) for UWB configuration, parameter (s) for a session key for protecting a UWB session, and/or information for authentication.

Through the connection establishment operations of operations 320b and 330b, negotiation and/or authentication of additional parameters may be performed.

Meanwhile, the message exchange operations of operations 320b and 330b may be repeatedly performed as many times as necessary. For example, after performing the message exchange of operations 320b and 330b once, when additional message exchange is required (ie, when message exchange is required for additional parameter negotiation and/or authentication), the corresponding NB connection establishment channel ( Message exchange operations of operations 320b and 330b may be further performed as many times as necessary in the sub advertisement channel.

Compared to the embodiment of FIG. 3(a), the embodiment of FIG. 3(b) can reduce the degree of congestion of the NB Advertisement channel (Discovery channel) and enables efficient management of a plurality of NB channels. Meanwhile, the embodiment of FIG. 3(a) can perform a faster NB procedure than the embodiment of FIG. 3(b), and thus can shorten the time for providing the entire UWB service. Therefore, it is necessary to flexibly set an appropriate NB procedure and NB channel operation method in consideration of the number of UWB devices participating in UWB ranging, the surrounding environment, and the like.

* Hereinafter, embodiments of a UWB ranging operation of a UWB procedure will be described with reference to FIG. 4 .

4A illustrates a UWB ranging operation according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

The UWB ranging operation of FIG. 4A may be an example of the UWB ranging operation of the UWB procedure of FIG. 2 . The UWB ranging operation of FIG. 4A may be performed through a UWB channel.

In the embodiment of FIG. 4A , UWB ranging may be, for example, single-sided two-way ranging (SS-TWR) or double-sided two-way ranging (DS-TWR).

In the embodiment of FIG. 4A , it is assumed that the controller 401 serves as an initiator and the controlee 402 serves as a responder.

Referring to operation 410a, the controller 401 may transmit a control message (ranging control message) for controlling UWB ranging to the controlee 402. For example, the controller 401 may transmit a control message to the controlee 402 through a UWB channel.

In one embodiment, the control message may include information about the role of the UWB device (eg, initiator or responder), ranging slot index information, and/or address information of the UWB device.

Referring to operation 420a, the controller (initiator) 401 may transmit a ranging initiation message for starting a ranging exchange to the controlee (responder) 402. For example, the controller (initiator) 401 may transmit a ranging initiation message to the controlee (responder) 402 through a UWB channel.

Referring to operation 430a, the controlee (responder) 402 may transmit a ranging response message corresponding to the ranging initiation message to the controller (initiator) 401. For example, the controlee (responder) 402 may transmit a ranging response message to the controller (initiator) 403 through a UWB channel.

In one embodiment, the ranging response message may further include first measurement report (Measurement Report) information. The first measurement report information may include, for example, an AoA measurement, a reply time measured by a responder, and/or a list of responder addresses and round-trip time measurements for responders. Here, the reply time may indicate a time difference between the reception time of the ranging initiation message and the transmission time of the ranging response message at the responder side. Based on this, single-sided two-way ranging (SS-TWR) may be performed. Calculation of time-of-flight (ToF) and distance/direction/position through SS-TWR follows the method defined in IEEE 802.15.4z.

Meanwhile, in the case of DS-TWR, the controller (initiator) 401 may further transmit a ranging final message (Ranging response message) to complete ranging to the controlee (responder) 402. For example, the controller (initiator) 401 may further transmit a ranging final message to the controlee (responder) 402 through a UWB channel.

In one embodiment, the ranging final message may further include second measurement report (Measurement Report) information. The second measurement report information may include a list of AoA measurements, first round-trip time for a first responder, and/or responder addresses and reply time measurements for responders. Here, the first round-trip time may indicate a time difference between a ranging response message from a responder and a ranging final message from an initiator. Based on this, single-sided two-way ranging (DS-TWR) can be performed. Calculation of time-of-flight (ToF) and distance/direction/position through DS-TWR follows the method defined in IEEE 802.15.4z.

4B illustrates a UWB ranging operation according to another embodiment of the present disclosure.

The UWB ranging operation of FIG. 4B may be an example of the UWB ranging operation of the UWB procedure of FIG. 2 . The UWB ranging operation of FIG. 4B may be performed through a UWB channel.

In the embodiment of FIG. 4B , UWB ranging may be, for example, single-sided two-way ranging (SS-TWR) or double-sided two-way ranging (DS-TWR).

In the embodiment of FIG. 4B , unlike the embodiment of FIG. 4A , it is assumed that the controller 401 serves as a responder and the controller 402 serves as an initiator.

Referring to operation 410b, the controller 401 may transmit a control message (ranging control message) for controlling UWB ranging to the controlee 402. For example, the controller 401 may transmit a control message to the controlee 402 through a UWB channel.

In one embodiment, the control message may include information about the role of the UWB device (eg, initiator or responder), ranging slot index information, and/or address information of the UWB device.

Referring to operation 420b, the controlee (initiator) 402 may transmit a ranging initiation message to start a ranging exchange to the controller (responder) 401. For example, the controlee (initiator) 402 may transmit a ranging initiation message to the controller (responder) 401 through a UWB channel.

Referring to operation 430b, the controller (responder) 401 may transmit a ranging response message corresponding to the ranging initiation message to the controlee (initiator) 402. For example, the controller (responder) 401 may transmit a ranging response message to the controlee (initiator) 402 through a UWB channel.

In one embodiment, the ranging response message may further include first measurement report (Measurement Report) information. The first measurement report information may include, for example, an AoA measurement, a reply time measured by a responder, and/or a list of responder addresses and round-trip time measurements for responders. Here, the reply time may indicate a time difference between the reception time of the ranging initiation message and the transmission time of the ranging response message at the responder side. Based on this, single-sided two-way ranging (SS-TWR) may be performed. Calculation of time-of-flight (ToF) and distance/direction/position through SS-TWR follows the method defined in IEEE 802.15.4z.

Meanwhile, in the case of DS-TWR, the controlee (initiator) 402 may further transmit a ranging final message (Ranging response message) for completing ranging to the controller (responder) 401. For example, the controlee (initiator) 402 may further transmit a ranging final message to the controller (responder) 401 through a UWB channel.

In one embodiment, the ranging final message may further include second measurement report (Measurement Report) information. The second measurement report information may include a list of AoA measurements, first round-trip time for a first responder, and/or responder addresses and reply time measurements for responders. Here, the first round-trip time may indicate a time difference between a ranging response message from a responder and a ranging final message from an initiator. Based on this, single-sided two-way ranging (DS-TWR) can be performed. Calculation of time-of-flight (ToF) and distance/direction/position through DS-TWR follows the method defined in IEEE 802.15.4z.

5 illustrates an example of a structure of a ranging block and a round used for UWB ranging according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

In the present disclosure, a ranging block refers to a time period for ranging. A ranging round may be a period of sufficient duration to complete one entire range-measurement cycle involving a set of UWB devices participating in ranging exchange. A ranging slot may be a sufficient period for transmission of at least one ranging frame RFRAME (eg, ranging start/response/final message, etc.).

As shown in FIG. 5 , one ranging block may include at least one ranging round, and each ranging round may include at least one ranging slot.

Meanwhile, when the ranging mode is a block-based mode, a mean time between successive ranging rounds may be constant. Alternatively, when the ranging mode is the interval-based mode, the time between successive ranging rounds may be dynamically changed. That is, the interval-based mode may adopt a time structure having an adaptive spacing.

The number and duration of slots included in a ranging round may change between ranging rounds. This can be set through a control message from the controller.

In the present disclosure, a ranging block may be abbreviated as a block, a ranging round may be abbreviated as a round, and a ranging slot may be abbreviated as a slot.

6A shows the configuration of a ranging area network according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

In the present disclosure, a ranging area network (RAN) may be a network including an area in which UWB devices perform UWB ranging. In the present disclosure, a ranging area network may be referred to as a new generation (NG) ranging area network (NRAN), and a UWB device may be referred to as an NG UWB device.

In the embodiment of FIG. 6A , it is assumed that the first UWB device 601 of the NRAN serves as a controller and an advertiser. In the NRAN of the embodiment of FIG. 6A , the first UWB device 601 may perform the NB procedure, and may also perform a UWB session with the second UWB device 602 through the UWB session already established by the first UWB device 601. procedure can be performed. Each procedure is described below.

(1) NB procedure

Referring to FIG. 6A(a) , in operation 610a, the first UWB device 601 may perform a UWB ranging operation with the second UWB device 602 through an already established UWB session. In one embodiment, the first UWB device 601 and the second UWB device 602 may perform a UWB ranging operation through a UWB antenna of each device. A UWB antenna of each device may be connected to a UWB transceiver of each device, and the UWB transceiver may support at least one UWB channel.

In operation 620a, the first UWB device 601 may transmit an Advertisement message, and the third UWB device 603 may receive the Advertisement message. In one embodiment, the first UWB device 601 may broadcast an NB Advertisement message through the NB antenna of the first UWB device 601, and the third UWB device 603 may broadcast a message to the third UWB device 603. It is possible to receive an NB Advertisement message through the NB antenna of . The NB antenna of each device may be coupled to the NB transceiver of each device, and the NB transceiver may support at least one NB channel.

In the embodiment of FIG. 6A (a), the first UWB device 601 maintains an NB transceiver (or NB antenna) in an active state (on) for transmission of an Advertisement message, and performs UWB ranging to perform UWB ranging. Keep the transceiver (or UWB antenna) active (on). In addition, the second UWB device 602 maintains the UWB transceiver (or UWB antenna) in an active state (on) to perform UWB ranging, but since reception of the Advertisement message is unnecessary, the NB transceiver (or NB antenna) ) can be kept in an inactive state (off). In addition, the third UWB device 603 maintains the UWB transceiver (or UWB antenna) in an active state (on) for reception of the Advertisement message, but does not yet perform UWB ranging, so the UWB transceiver (or UWB antenna) ) can be kept in an inactive state (off).

As such, power can be saved by turning on/off the UWB transceiver (or UWB antenna) and/or the NB transceiver (or NB antenna) according to circumstances.

(2) UWB procedure

Referring to FIG. 6A(b) , in operation 610b, the first UWB device 601 may perform a UWB ranging operation with the second UWB device 602 through an already established UWB session. In one embodiment, the first UWB device 601 and the second UWB device 602 may perform a UWB ranging operation through a UWB antenna of each device. As described above, the UWB antenna of each device may be connected to the UWB transceiver of each device, and the UWB transceiver may support at least one UWB channel.

In operation 620b, the first UWB device 601 may perform a UWB ranging operation with the third UWB device 603. In an embodiment, when the third UWB device 603 obtains information necessary for participating in UWB ranging (UWB procedure) with the first UWB device 601 through operation 620a, the third UWB device 603 ) may perform UWB ranging with the first UWB device 601. To this end, the third UWB device 603 may switch the UWB transceiver (or UWB antenna) of the third UWB device 603 into an active state (on). Thereafter, the third UWB device 602 may receive a ranging control message from the first UWB device 601 through the UWB antenna and perform a UWB ranging operation based on the ranging control message. As described above, a UWB antenna may be coupled to a UWB transceiver, and the UWB transceiver may support at least one UWB channel.

Meanwhile, when the third UWB device 603 performs UWB ranging with the first UWB device 601, the third UWB device 603 uses an NB transceiver (or NB transceiver) of the third UWB device 603 to save power. , NB antenna) can be switched to an inactive state (off).

In the embodiment of FIG. 6A (b), the first UWB device 601 maintains an NB transceiver (or NB antenna) in an active state (on) for transmission of an Advertisement message, and performs UWB ranging to perform UWB ranging. Keep the transceiver (or UWB antenna) active (on). In addition, the second UWB device 602 maintains the UWB transceiver (or UWB antenna) in an active state (on) to perform UWB ranging, but since reception of the Advertisement message is unnecessary, the NB transceiver (or NB antenna) ) can be kept in an inactive state (off). In addition, the third UWB device 603 also maintains the UWB transceiver (or UWB antenna) in an active state (on) to perform UWB ranging, but since reception of the Advertisement message is unnecessary, the NB transceiver (or, NB antenna) can be kept in an inactive state (off).

As such, power can be saved by turning on/off the UWB transceiver (or UWB antenna) and/or the NB transceiver (or NB antenna) according to circumstances.

Meanwhile, in the embodiment of FIG. 6A , the embodiments are described on the assumption that the third UWB device 603 serves as a scanner and a controlee, but is not limited thereto. The third UWB device 603 may also serve as a scanner and controller. In this case, the third UWB device 603 may establish its own UWB session and perform UWB ranging without participating in a UWB session controlled by another device.

6B illustrates a method of allocating an NB Advertisement channel for a UWB channel according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

In the embodiment of FIG. 6B , it is assumed that one UWB channel is used.

Referring to FIG. 6B, an NB Advertisement channel 70b may be assigned to a UWB channel 60b to be used.

As an embodiment, the UWB channel 60b may be one of the candidate UWB channels of Table 1 (eg, channel No. 5 or 9), and the NB channel 70b may be one of the candidate UWB channels of Table 1 (eg, channel No. 7). ) may be a subchannel of

As an example, the UWB channel 60b and the NB Advertisement channel 70b may be synchronized. Synchronization of the NB channel and the UWB channel may refer to the following description, for example, the description of the embodiments of FIGS. 7 to 14 below.

As an embodiment, a UWB device serving as an advertiser may transmit an advertisement message (packet) for the UWB channel 60b through an NB Advertisement channel 70b allocated for the UWB channel 60b, and serves as a scanner A UWB device using the UWB device may receive an advertisement message (packet) for the UWB channel 60b through the NB advertisement channel 70b.

As an example, the UWB device (scanner) may scan the NB Advertisement channel 70b based on a predetermined scan interval and scan window.

Meanwhile, depending on embodiments, a plurality of UWB channels may be used. Hereinafter, embodiments of a method of allocating an NB Advertisement channel to a plurality of UWB channels will be described with reference to FIGS. 6C and 6D.

6C illustrates a method of allocating NB Advertisement channels to a plurality of UWB channels according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

In the embodiment of FIG. 6C, it is assumed that two UWB channels (eg, channels 5 and 9) are used, but the embodiment is not limited thereto. For example, a description to be described later may be applied even when three or more UWB channels are used.

In the embodiment of FIG. 6C, separate NB Advertisement channels 70c-1 and 70c-2 may be assigned to each UWB channel 60c-1 and 60c-2 to be used. For example, as shown, a first NB Advertisement channel 70c-1 may be allocated for use of the first UWB channel 60c-1, and for use of the second UWB channel 60c-1. A second NB Advertisement channel 70c-1 may be allocated.

As an embodiment, the first UWB channel 60c-1 may be one of the candidate UWB channels of Table 1 (eg, channel No. 5), and the first NB channel 70c-1 may be one of the candidate UWB channels of Table 1. It may be a sub-channel. Also, the second UWB channel 60c-2 may be one of the candidate UWB channels of Table 1 (eg, channel No. 9), and the second NB channel 70c-2 may be a subchannel of the candidate UWB channel of Table 1. can be As an embodiment, the first NB channel 70c-1 and the second NB channel 70c-2 are different subchannels of the same candidate UWB channel (eg, channel No. 7) of Table 1, or different candidates of Table 1 It may be a subchannel of a UWB channel (eg, channels 7 and 11).

As an example, each of the NB Advertisement channels 70c-1 and 70c-2 may be synchronized with the corresponding UWB channels 60c-1 and 60c-2. For example, the first NB Advertisement channel 70c-1 may be synchronized with the first UWB channel 60c-1, and the second NB Advertisement channel 70c-2 may be synchronized with the second UWB channel 60c-2. can be synchronized with Synchronization of the NB channel and the UWB channel may refer to the following description, for example, the description of the embodiments of FIGS. 7 to 14 below.

As an embodiment, a UWB device serving as an advertiser transmits a first signal for a first UWB channel 60c-1 through a first NB Advertisement channel 70c-1 allocated for the first UWB channel 60c-1. A UWB device capable of transmitting an advertisement message (packet) and serving as a scanner receives a first advertisement message (packet) for the first UWB channel 60c-1 through the first NB advertisement channel 70c-1 can do. In addition, the UWB device performing the advertiser role transmits a second Advertisement message for the second UWB channel 60c-2 through the second NB Advertisement channel 70c-2 allocated for the second UWB channel 60c-2. (packet), and the UWB device serving as a scanner may receive a second Advertisement message (packet) for the second UWB channel 60c-2 through the second NB Advertisement channel 70c-2. there is.

As an example, the UWB device (scanner) may scan the first NB Advertisement channel 70c-1 and the second NB Advertisement 70c-2 based on a predetermined scan interval and scan window. As an example, a UWB device (scanner) may simultaneously or alternately scan the first NB Advertisement channel 70c-1 and the second NB Advertisement 70c-2.

As an example, an advertisement message transmitted through each of the advertisement channels 70c-1 and 70c-2 may include information indicating use of the corresponding UWB channels 60c-1 and 60c-2. For example, the first Advertisement message of the first NB Advertisement channel 70c-1 includes channel number information of the first UWB channel 60c-1 to be used, and the Advertisement message of the second NB Advertisement channel 70c-2. The message may include channel number information of the second UWB channel 60c-2 to be used.

In the case of the embodiment of FIG. 6C, since the UWB device operates an NB Advertisement channel allocated for each UWB channel, it is possible to obtain advertising information for the corresponding UWB channel more quickly than in the embodiment of 6D, which will be described later.

6D illustrates a method of allocating NB Advertisement channels to a plurality of UWB channels according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

In the embodiment of FIG. 6D , it is assumed that two UWB channels (eg, channels 5 and 9) are used, but the embodiment is not limited thereto. For example, a description to be described later may be applied even when three or more UWB channels are used.

In the embodiment of FIG. 6D, unlike the embodiment of FIG. 6D, one NB Advertisement channel 70d-1 may be allocated to a plurality of UWB channels 60d-1 and 60d-2. For example, as shown, a single first NB Advertisement channel 70c-1 may be allocated for use of the first UWB channel 60c-1 and the second UWB channel 60c-1.

As an embodiment, the method of allocating a single NB Advertisement channel to a plurality of UWB channels as shown in FIG. 6D may be applied when a multiple access scheme such as Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum (DSSS) is used.

As an embodiment, the first UWB channel 60c-1 may be one of the candidate UWB channels of Table 1 (eg, channel No. 5), and the second UWB channel 60c-2 may be one of the candidate UWB channels of Table 1. It may be one (eg, channel #9), and the first NB channel 70c-1 may be a subchannel of the candidate UWB channel of Table 1 (eg, channel #7).

As an example, a single Advertisement channel 70d-1 may be synchronized with a plurality of UWB channels 60d-1 and 60d-2. For example, the first NB Advertisement channel 70c-1 may be synchronized with the first UWB channel 60c-1 and the second UWB channel 60c-2. Synchronization of the NB channel and the UWB channel may refer to the following description, for example, the description of the embodiments of FIGS. 7 to 14 below.

As an embodiment, a UWB device serving as an advertiser transmits a first advertisement message (packet) and a second UWB channel (60d-1) for the first UWB channel (60d-1) through the first NB Advertisement channel (70d-1). 2) can transmit a second advertisement message (packet), and the UWB device serving as a scanner receives the first advertisement for the first UWB channel 60d-1 through the first NB Advertisement channel 70d-1. A message (packet) and a second Advertisement message (packet) for the second UWB channel 60d-2 may be received.

As an example, the UWB device (scanner) may scan the first NB Advertisement channel 70d-1 based on a predetermined scan interval and scan window.

As an example, each advertisement message transmitted through a single advertisement channel 70d-1 may include information indicating use of the corresponding UWB channels 60d-1 and 60d-2. For example, the first advertisement message for the first UWB channel 60d-1 includes channel number information of the first UWB channel 60d-1 to be used, and the first advertisement message for the second UWB channel 60d-2. The 2 Advertisement message may include channel number information of the second UWB channel 60d-2 to be used.

In the case of the embodiment of FIG. 6D, since the UWB device does not operate a separate NB Advertisement channel for each UWB channel, but operates only one NB Advertisement channel, resource utilization efficiency can be increased compared to the embodiment of FIG. 6B.

Hereinafter, various embodiments of the present disclosure will be described taking a case in which one UWB channel is used as an example, but the same description can also be applied to a case in which a plurality of UWB channels are used.

7 illustrates a structure of a channel used in a ranging area network according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

The ranging area network of FIG. 7 may correspond to the ranging area network of FIG. 6A.

In the embodiment of FIG. 7 , a ranging block, ranging round, and ranging slot transmitted through a UWB channel are transmitted by a UWB device (eg, the first UWB device 601 of FIG. 6A) serving as an advertiser/controller. It may be a ranging block, ranging round, and ranging slot used in an already established session (eg, a UWB ranging session).

Referring to FIG. 7 , a NB channel and a UWB channel may be used in a ranging area network.

In one embodiment, a NB channel may be used to transmit and/or receive at least one Advertisement message. For example, the NB channel may be used to transmit/receive a first advertisement message 710a and a second advertisement message 710b. As described above, an NB channel for an Advertisement message may be referred to as an NB Advertisement channel.

Also, the NB channel may be used to transmit and/or receive at least one additional Advertisement message, Connection Request message, and/or Connection Confirmation message. As described above, the NB channel for the additional Advertisement message, connection request message, and/or connection confirmation message may be referred to as an NB connection establishment channel.

In one embodiment, a UWB channel may be used to transmit and/or receive at least one ranging message for UWB ranging. At least one ranging message may be transmitted/received through the ranging blocks 720a and 720b.

As described above with reference to FIG. 5 , each ranging block may include at least one ranging round, and each ranging round may include at least one ranging slot. For example, the first ranging block 720a may include M ranging rounds 730a-1, 730a-2, ... 730a-m, and each ranging round includes a plurality of ranging blocks. can include Also, the second ranging block 720b may include M ranging rounds 730b-1, 730b-2, ... 730b-m, and each ranging round includes a plurality of ranging blocks. can do.

In one embodiment, the NB channel (or NB transceiver) and the UWB channel (or UWB transceiver) may be fully synchronized, for example. In this case, 1) mutual discovery between UWB devices is possible using energy detection (ED) on an NB channel through a newly defined PHY layer entity to support the NB channel. 2) In addition, it is possible to check the start point, structure, etc. of a ranging block transmitted through the UWB channel by using the Advertisement message received through the NB channel. In this case, some information about the already established current UWB session may be implicitly signaled. 3) In addition, since the use of the NB channel and the use of the UWB channel can be turned on/off, power can be saved.

In the following embodiments, it is assumed that the NB channel and the UWB channel are fully synchronized, for example, and various embodiments of the present disclosure are described. However, it is not limited thereto. For example, even when partially synchronized or not synchronized, the embodiments of the present disclosure may be partially adjusted and applied according to circumstances.

8 illustrates a first method for a UWB device to transmit an NB Advertisement message in an NB channel according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

In the embodiment of FIG. 8 , the UWB device transmitting the NB Advertisement message may be a UWB device performing the roles of controller and advertiser. For example, the UWB device of FIG. 8 may be the first UWB device 601 of FIG. 6A.

Transmission of the NB Advertisement message in the embodiment of FIG. 8 may be controlled/managed by the MAC layer of the UWB device.

Referring to FIG. 8 , a UWB device may transmit an NB Advertisement message at the start of each ranging block (ie, at each starting point of a ranging block) through an NB channel. For example, the UWB device transmits the first NB Advertisement message 810a at the start of the first ranging block 820a through the NB Advertisement channel and transmits the second ranging block 820b through the NB Advertisement channel. A second NB Advertisement message 810b may be transmitted at the start time. Here, the start time may be the start time of the first slot of the ranging block.

In this way, when the NB Advertisement message is transmitted at the start time of each ranging block, even if the NB Advertisement message does not include information on the start time of the corresponding ranging block, the transmission time (or reception time) of the NB Advertisement message It is possible to check the starting point of the corresponding ranging block through That is, even without explicit signaling, the starting point of the ranging block can be implicitly signaled.

In one embodiment, the transmission time of the NB Advertisement message may be identified based on the transmission timestamp included in the NB Advertisement message.

In one embodiment, the NB Advertisement message may include information on a UWB channel (UWB channel information). For example, the NB Advertisement message may include occupancy information for a UWB channel (UWB channel occupancy information). For example, the UWB channel information or the UWB channel occupancy information includes information about the start time of a ranging round, information about channel occupancy time (eg, information about channel occupancy time expressed as a multiple of time unit (TU)), ranging block It may include at least one of information about the length of , information about the length of a ranging round, or information about the number or number of active rounds. Here, the active round may be a ranging round actually used (or occupied) among the ranging rounds.

In one embodiment, the NB Advertisement message may include configuration information (UWB configuration information) for reception of a message (or packet) (or frame) on a UWB channel. For example, the UWB configuration information may include PHY configuration information and/or STS index information.

As illustrated in FIG. 8 , the first NB Advertisement message 810a transmitted at the start of the first ranging block 820a includes information on the length of the ranging block set to L and ranging set to 4. Information on the number of rounds and information on the number of active rounds set to '1, 2' may be included. Through this, the start point of the first ranging block 820a can be signaled implicitly, the length of the first ranging block 820a, the number of ranging rounds included in the first ranging block 820a, and The number of active rounds can be explicitly signaled. Accordingly, the UWB device receiving the 1st NB Advertisement message 810a can check the start time and total length (L) of the 1st ranging block 820a, and the 4 lanes in the 1st ranging block 820a Ging rounds are included, among which you can see that the first and second rounds are active. The UWB device may perform UWB ranging based on the identified information.

9 illustrates a second method in which a UWB device transmits an NB Advertisement message in an NB channel according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

In the embodiment of FIG. 9 , the UWB device that transmits the NB Advertisement message may be a UWB device that serves as a controller and an advertiser. For example, the UWB device of FIG. 9 may be the first UWB device 601 of FIG. 6A.

Transmission of the NB Advertisement message in the embodiment of FIG. 9 may be controlled/managed by the MAC layer of the UWB device.

Referring to FIG. 9 , the UWB device may transmit an NB Advertisement message at the start of each active round (ie, at each active round start) through the NB channel. For example, the UWB device sends an NB Advertisement message 910a-1 at the start of the active round 930a-1 and active round 930a-2 of the first ranging block 920a through the NB Advertisement channel. 1) and the NB Advertisement message 910a-2 are transmitted, and the starting time of the active round 930b-1 and the active round 930b-2 of the first ranging block 920b through the NB Advertisement channel NB Advertisement message 910b-1 and NB Advertisement message 910b-2 may be transmitted respectively. Here, the start time may be the start time of the first slot of the corresponding active round.

In this way, when the NB Advertisement message is transmitted at the start of each active round, even if the NB Advertisement message does not include information on the number and start of the active round, the number of times the NB Advertisement message is transmitted and the transmission time (or reception time) Time) allows you to check the number of active rounds and the start time. That is, even without explicit signaling, the number of active rounds and start time can be implicitly signaled. In addition, the length of the ranging round may be estimated through the interval (transmission interval) of the NB Advertisement message.

Accordingly, when the method of FIG. 9 is followed, at least one of information included in the NB Advertisement message of the embodiment of FIG. 8 may be excluded from the NB Advertisement message. For example, the NB Advertisement message of FIG. 9 may not include at least one of the length of a corresponding ranging block, the length of a ranging round, or information (number/number) of active rounds. Through this, congestion of the NB Advertisemen channel can be reduced.

In one embodiment, the transmission time of the NB Advertisement message may be identified based on the transmission timestamp included in the NB Advertisement message.

Meanwhile, for example, when one ranging block is used by a plurality of controllers, active rounds included in the corresponding ranging block may be used by different controllers. Therefore, it needs to be signaled whether active rounds belong to the same session or are used by the same controller.

In one embodiment, the NB Advertisement message may include information for identifying whether active rounds included in the same block belong to the same session or are used by the same controller. For example, the NB Advertisement message includes information on the session ID (session ID information) of the session (eg, ranging session) to which the corresponding active round belongs and/or the address of the UWB device transmitting the NB Advertisement message associated with the corresponding active round. (eg, source MAC address) information (address information) may be included.

This session ID information or address information determines whether active round(s) within the same ranging block belong to the same session (or are used by the same controller) or belong to different sessions (or are used by the same controller). It can be used to distinguish whether it is used by For example, active rounds corresponding to NB Advertisement messages including the same session ID (or address) in the same ranging block may be active rounds belonging to the same session.

In one embodiment, the NB Advertisement message may include numbering information for indicating which active round the NB Advertisement message corresponds to among all active rounds within the corresponding ranging block. For example, as shown, when the numbering information is set to (1,2), the numbering information may indicate that the corresponding NB Advertisement message corresponds to the first active round among all two active rounds within the corresponding ranging block. Alternatively, when the numbering information is set to (2,2), the numbering information may indicate that the corresponding NB Advertisement message corresponds to the second active round among two active rounds within the corresponding ranging block.

As illustrated in FIG. 9, the NB Advertisement message 910a-1 transmitted at the start of the active round 930a-1 includes session ID information set to 'Session ID = xx' and numbering information set to (1, 2) , and the NB Advertisement message 910a-2 transmitted at the start of the active round 930a-2 includes session ID information set to 'Session ID = xx' and numbering information set to (2, 2). . At this time, the session ID of the NB Advertisement message 910a-1 and the session ID of the NB Advertisement message 910a-2 are the same.

The UWB device (receiving UWB device) that has received the NB Advertisement message 910a-1 and NB Advertisement message 910a-2 receives an active round (corresponding to the NB Advertisement message 910a-1) through the included information. 930a-1) and the NB Advertisement message 910a-2 correspond to the active round belonging to the same session, and the active round 930a-1 is the first of the two active rounds. It is an active round, and it can be identified that the active round (930a-2) is the second active round among two active rounds.

In addition, the receiving UWB device can check the interval between the active round 930a-1 and the active round 930a-2 through the interval between the NB Advertisement message 910a-1 and the NB Advertisement message 910a-2, Through this, the length of the active round can be estimated. The UWB device may perform UWB ranging based on the identified information.

Meanwhile, when there is no active round in the corresponding ranging block, as shown in FIG. 8, the UWB device may transmit an NB Advertisement message at the start time of the corresponding ranging block.

10 illustrates a third method in which a UWB device transmits an NB Advertisement message in an NB channel according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

In the embodiment of FIG. 10 , the UWB device transmitting the NB Advertisement message may be a UWB device performing the roles of controller and advertiser. For example, the UWB device of FIG. 10 may be the first UWB device 601 of FIG. 6A.

Transmission of the NB Advertisement message in the embodiment of FIG. 10 may be controlled/managed by the MAC layer of the UWB device.

Referring to FIG. 10, a UWB device may transmit an NB Advertisement message in one selected slot among slots in each ranging block or each active round through an NB channel. This selected slot may not be the starting slot. For example, the UWB device transmits the NB Advertisement message 1010b-1 in the third slot of the active round 1030b-1 of the second ranging block 1020b through the NB Advertisement channel, and transmits the NB Advertisement message 1010b-1 through the NB Advertisement channel. The NB Advertisement message 1010b-2 may be transmitted in the k-th slot of the active round 1030b-2 of the second ranging block 1020b.

When a plurality of UWB devices transmit Advertisement messages, infinite collisions may occur between NB Advertisement messages transmitted at the same point in time (eg, the start point of each ranging block or the start point of each active round). Therefore, as in the embodiment of FIG. 10, when the transmission time of the NB Advertisement message is randomly selected and used instead of always using the same fixed time point, collision between these NB Advertisement messages can be avoided.

However, in order to inform the transmission time of the NB Advertisement message, the NB Advertisement message is information on the transmission time of the current (own) NB Advertisement message and / or the transmission time of the corresponding NB Advertisement message transmitted after the current NB Advertisement message may contain information about

In one embodiment, the NB Advertisement message includes information (transmission slot indication information) indicating in which slot the transmission of the current NB Advertisement message or the corresponding NB Advertisement message starts (slot unit shift) and / or the length of the slot information (slot length information) may be included.

For example, the NB Advertisement message 1010a-1 transmitted in the first active round 1030a-1 of the first ranging block 1020a is transmitted in the first active round 1030b-1030b of the second ranging block 1020b. 1) may include transmission slot indication information for the NB Advertisement message 1010b-1 transmitted (eg, information indicating that transmission of the corresponding NB Advertisement message starts in the 3rd slot) and/or slot length information. Alternatively, the NB Advertisement message 1010a-2 transmitted in the second active round 1030a-2 of the first ranging block 1020a is transmitted in the second active round 1030b-2 of the second ranging block 1020b. It may include transmission slot indication information for the NB Advertisement message 1010b-2 transmitted from (eg, information indicating that transmission of the corresponding NB Advertisement message starts in the k-th slot) and/or slot length information. Through this, the transmission timing of the NB Advertisement message transmitted in the following ranging block can be confirmed.

For another example, the NB Advertisement message 1010a-1 transmitted in the first active round 1030a-1 of the first ranging block 1020a is transmission slot indication information for the current NB Advertisement message 1010a-1 (eg, information indicating that transmission of the current (own) NB Advertisement message starts in the 1st slot) and/or slot length information. Alternatively, the NB Advertisement message 1010a-2 transmitted in the second active round 1030a-2 of the first ranging block 1020a indicates a transmission slot for the current (own) NB Advertisement message 1010a-2 Information (eg, information indicating that transmission of the current (own) NB Advertisement message starts in the first slot) and/or slot length information. Through this, the transmission time of its own NB Advertisement message can be confirmed.

As another example, the NB Advertisement message 1010a-1 transmitted in the first active round 1030a-1 of the first ranging block 1020a indicates a transmission slot for the current NB Advertisement message 1010a-1 Information (e.g., information indicating that transmission of the current (own) NB Advertisement message starts in the 1st slot) and/or slot length information, and the first active round 1030b-1 of the second ranging block 1020b It may include transmission slot indication information for the NB Advertisement message 1010b-1 transmitted in (eg, information indicating that transmission of the corresponding NB Advertisement message starts in the 3rd slot) and/or slot length information. Alternatively, the NB Advertisement message 1010a-2 transmitted in the second active round 1030a-2 of the first ranging block 1020a indicates a transmission slot for the current (own) NB Advertisement message 1010a-2 Information (e.g., information indicating that transmission of the current (own) NB Advertisement message starts in the first slot) and/or slot length information, and the second active round (1030b-) of the second ranging block 1020b 2) transmission slot indication information for the NB Advertisement message 1010b-2 (e.g., information indicating that transmission of the corresponding NB Advertisement message starts in the k-th slot) and/or slot length information. Can be included there is. Through this, the transmission time of the own NB Advertisement message and the transmission time of another NB Advertisement message transmitted in the following ranging block can be confirmed.

11 illustrates a fourth method in which a UWB device transmits an NB Advertisement message in an NB channel according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

In the embodiment of FIG. 11, the UWB device transmitting the NB Advertisement message may be a UWB device performing the roles of controller and advertiser. For example, the UWB device of FIG. 11 may be the first UWB device 601 of FIG. 6A.

Transmission of the NB Advertisement message in the embodiment of FIG. 11 may be controlled/managed by the MAC layer of the UWB device.

Referring to FIG. 11, a UWB device may transmit an NB Advertisement message through an NB channel once in several ranging blocks instead of transmitting an NB Advertisement message in every ranging block. For example, the UWB device transmits the NB Advertisement message 1110a in the first ranging block 1120a through the NB Advertisement channel and does not transmit the NB Advertisement message in the second ranging block 1120b. The ranging block 1120c may transmit the NB Advertisement message 1110c. In this way, the NB Advertisement message may be transmitted once every two ranging blocks. As such, transmission power consumption can be reduced by transmitting the NB Advertisement message once per preset period instead of transmitting the NB Advertisement message for every ranging block.

Meanwhile, the period of the ranging block through which the NB Advertisement message is transmitted can be set in various ways according to embodiments. In one embodiment, the NB Advertisement message may include information about a period of a ranging block through which the NB Advertisement message is transmitted. For example, the information on the NB Advertisement message or the ranging block cycle is the information on how many ranging blocks are skipped (first information) or the number of consecutive ranging blocks in which the NB Advertisement message is not transmitted. information (second information) may be included. Based on this information, the UWB device receiving the NB Advertisement message can identify how many ranging blocks have been skipped without transmitting the NB Advertisement message.

For example, in the illustrated embodiment, the NB Advertisement message may include first information or second information set to 1. In this case, the UWB device receiving the corresponding NB Advertisement message can confirm that one ranging block has been skipped without transmitting the NB Advertisement message.

Meanwhile, transmission of the NB Advertisement message in the ranging block in which the NB Advertisement message is transmitted may be performed using, for example, one of the methods of FIG. 8, FIG. 9 or FIG. 11 or a combination thereof. For example, the NB Advertisement message may be transmitted at the start of a ranging block according to the method of FIG. 8, or the NB Advertisement message may be transmitted at the start of an active round according to the method of FIG. According to method 10, the NB Advertisement message may be transmitted in any selected slot of the ranging block or active round, or the NB Advertisement message may be transmitted according to a combination thereof.

12 illustrates an operation of a UWB device receiving an NB Advertisement message through an NB channel according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

In the embodiment of FIG. 12 , the UWB device receiving the NB Advertisement message may be a UWB device that serves as a controller and a scanner. For example, the UWB device of FIG. 12 may be the third UWB device 603 of FIG. 6A.

Reception and processing of the NB Advertisement message in the embodiment of FIG. 12 may be controlled/managed by the MAC layer of the UWB device.

In the embodiment of FIG. 12, as in the embodiment of FIG. 8, the first NB Advertisement message 1210a corresponds to the NB Advertisement message transmitted at the start of the first ranging block 1220a, and the second NB Advertisement It is assumed that the message 1210b corresponds to the NB Advertisement message transmitted at the start of the first ranging block 1220b. However, the embodiment is not limited thereto. For example, the first NB Advertisement message 1210a and the second NB Advertisement message 1210b may be NB Advertisement messages transmitted according to one of the transmission methods of FIGS. 8 to 11 or a combination thereof.

Referring to FIG. 12, a UWB device may receive an NB Advertisement message by scanning an NB channel. For example, the UWB device may scan the NB Advertisement channel and receive the first NB Advertisement message 1210a and the second NB Advertisement message 1210b transmitted at the start of each ranging block. As shown, the first NB Advertisement message 1210a may include, for example, block length information set to L, ranging number information set to 4, and active round number information set to '1, 2'.

Through this, the UWB device determines that the start time of the first ranging block 1220a corresponding to the 1st NB Advertisement message 1210a corresponds to the transmission time of the 1st NB Advertisement message 1210a, and the first ranging block ( 1220a) corresponds to length L, the total number of ranging rounds included in the first ranging block 1220a corresponds to 4, and the number of active rounds included in the ranging block 1220a corresponds to 1 and 1. 2 can be identified. Through this, the UWB device can grasp the surrounding UWB usage environment.

After identifying the UWB usage environment, the UWB device, as a controller, can determine UWB settings such as ranging block length, start point, and transmission offset for its own UWB session, and start its own UWB session based on this. there is.

In one embodiment, the transmission offset may be appropriately adjusted according to the duration of the ranging slot and/or the duration of the UWB message (eg, RFRAME). Collision avoidance is possible through the setting of such a transmission offset.

Also, when the UWB device activates the UWB transceiver for UWB communication, it may deactivate the NB transceiver for receiving NB Advertisements. Through this, power saving is possible.

13 illustrates an operation of a UWB device receiving an NB Advertisement message through an NB channel according to another embodiment of the present disclosure.

In the embodiment of FIG. 13, the UWB device receiving the NB Advertisement message may be a UWB device that serves as a controlee and a scanner. For example, the UWB device of FIG. 13 may be the third UWB device 603 of FIG. 6A.

Reception and processing of the NB Advertisement message in the embodiment of FIG. 13 may be controlled/managed by the MAC layer of the UWB device.

In the embodiment of FIG. 13, as in the embodiment of FIG. 8, the first NB Advertisement message 1310a corresponds to the NB Advertisement message transmitted at the start of the first ranging block 1320a, and the second NB Advertisement It is assumed that the message 1310b corresponds to the NB Advertisement message transmitted at the start of the first ranging block 1320b. However, the embodiment is not limited thereto. For example, the first NB Advertisement message 1310a and the second NB Advertisement message 1310b may be NB Advertisement messages transmitted according to one of the transmission methods of FIGS. 8 to 11 or a combination thereof.

Referring to FIG. 13, a UWB device may receive an NB Advertisement message by scanning an NB channel. For example, the UWB device may scan the NB Advertisement channel and receive the first NB Advertisement message 1310a and the second NB Advertisement message 1310b transmitted at the start of each ranging block. As shown, the first NB Advertisement message 1310a may include, for example, block length information set to L, ranging number information set to 4, and active round number information set to '1, 2'.

Through this, the UWB device determines that the start time of the first ranging block 1320a corresponding to the 1st NB Advertisement message 1310a corresponds to the transmission time of the 1st NB Advertisement message 1310a, and the first ranging block ( 1320a) corresponds to length L, the total number of ranging rounds included in the first ranging block 1320a corresponds to 4, and the number of active rounds included in the ranging block 1320a corresponds to 1 and 1. 2 can be identified. Through this, the UWB device can grasp the surrounding UWB usage environment.

After grasping the UWB usage environment, the UWB device, as a controlee, can participate in the corresponding UWB session if there is a UWB session to participate. For example, a UWB device determines a UWB session to participate in based on information included in an NB Advertisement message, receives a control message through a UWB channel of the corresponding UWB session, and performs UWB ranging based on the control message. can do. For another example, the UWB device may perform additional parameter exchange and/or a connection setup operation for authentication through an NB connection setup channel, and then perform UWB ranging through a UWB channel.

In addition, when the UWB device activates the UWB transceiver for UWB communication, it may deactivate the NB transceiver for receiving NB Advertisements. Through this, power saving is possible.

14 illustrates an operation of a UWB device for NB connection configuration according to another embodiment of the present disclosure.

In the embodiment of FIG. 14, the UWB device (first UWB device) transmitting the NB Advertisement message may be a UWB device performing the role of controller and advertiser, and the UWB device (second UWB device) receiving the NB Advertisement message may be It may be a UWB device that serves as a controlee and scanner. For example, the first UWB device of FIG. 14 may be the first UWB device 601 of FIG. 6A , and the second UWB device may be the third UWB device 603 of FIG. 6A .

Transmission/reception of NB Advertisement messages, transmission/reception of additional NB Advertisement messages, transmission/reception of connection request messages/connection response messages, and processing thereof in the embodiment of FIG. 14 can be controlled/managed by the MAC layer of the UWB device. there is.

In the embodiment of FIG. 14, as in the embodiment of FIG. 9, it is assumed that the NB Advertisement message is transmitted at the start of an active round. However, the embodiment is not limited thereto. For example, the NB Advertisement message may be an NB Advertisement message transmitted according to one or a combination of transmission methods of FIGS. 8 to 11 .

Referring to FIG. 14 , the first UWB device may transmit an NB Advertisement message at the start time of each active round (ie, every active round start time) through the NB channel. For example, the first UWB device transmits the NB at the start of the active round 1430a-1 and active round 1430a-2 of the first ranging block 1420a through the NB Advertisement channel NB1. The advertisement message 1410a-1 and the NB Advertisement message 1410a-2 are transmitted, and the start time and active round of the active round 1430b-1 of the second ranging block 1420b through the NB Advertisement channel NB1 At the start time of (1430b-2), an NB Advertisement message (1410b-1) and an NB Advertisement message (1410b-2) may be transmitted, respectively.

On the other hand, if the information provided in the NB Advertisement message is not sufficient to perform UWB communication, the first UWB device allocates a separate NB channel (connection establishment channel) to transfer additional information or establish a connection, and information about this may be delivered to the second UWB device through an NB Advertisement message.

In one embodiment, the NB Advertisement message may include information on a corresponding connection establishment channel (connection establishment channel information). For example, the NB Advertisement message 1410a-1 and the NB Advertisement message 1410b-1 include connection configuration channel information (eg, subchannel number) set to NB2, and the NB Advertisement message 1410a-2 and NB The Advertisement message 1410b-2 may include connection configuration channel information (eg, subchannel number) set to NB3.

In one embodiment, the first UWB device may transmit an additional NB Advertisement message including additional advertising information through a corresponding connection establishment channel. For example, the first UWB device may broadcast additional NB Advertisement messages 1411a-1 and 1411b-1 including additional advertising information on a connection establishment channel corresponding to NB2, and the first UWB device may broadcast additional advertising messages. Additional NB Advertisement messages 1412a-1 and 1412b-1 including information may be broadcast on a connection establishment channel corresponding to NB3. In one embodiment, the additional NB Advertisement message may include detailed structure information about the ranging block of the corresponding UWB session. Detailed structure information may include, for example, the length of a ranging block, the number/length of ranging rounds, and/or the number/length of ranging slots.

A second UWB device wishing to participate in a specific ranging block/round in a UWB channel may transmit a connection request message for this purpose. In one embodiment, the second UWB device may transmit a connection request message to the first UWB device through a corresponding connection establishment channel. For example, the second UWB device may transmit the connection request message 1411a-2 to the first UWB device on a connection establishment channel corresponding to NB2, and the second UWB device may transmit the connection request message 1412a-2 to the NB3 may be transmitted to the first UWB device on a connection establishment channel corresponding to .

In one embodiment, the first UWB device may transmit a connection confirmation message corresponding to the connection request message to the second UWB device through a corresponding connection establishment channel. For example, the first UWB device may transmit the connection confirmation message 1411a-3 to the second UWB device on a connection establishment channel corresponding to NB2, and the first UWB device may transmit the connection confirmation message 1412a-3 to the NB3 It can be transmitted to the second UWB device on a connection establishment channel corresponding to . In one embodiment, the connection confirmation message may include slot assignment information.

Meanwhile, the above-described exchange operation of the connection request message and the connection confirmation message may be repeatedly performed as many times as necessary. For example, if additional message exchange is required after one message exchange is performed (ie, message exchange is required for additional parameter negotiation and/or authentication), in the corresponding NB connection establishment channel (sub advertisement channel) Message exchange operations may be further performed as many times as necessary.

In this way, when an operation for delivery of an additional NB Advertisement message and/or connection establishment is performed through an NB channel (connection establishment channel) separate from the advertisement channel (Discovery channel), the congestion of the Discovery channel is reduced, and multiple NBs Channels can be operated efficiently.

Meanwhile, when a message exchange procedure through a connection establishment channel is completed, the corresponding connection establishment channel may exist in a sleep state. In this case, the UWB device (or the NB transceiver of the UWB device) may not scan the corresponding channel until, for example, the corresponding connection establishment channel of the next ranging block is activated, as shown.

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

In the embodiment of FIG. 15 , the first UWB device may be the UWB device of FIG. 1A or the first UWB device of FIG. 1B , and the second UWB device may be the UWB device of FIG. 1A or the second UWB device of FIG. 1B .

In the embodiment of FIG. 15 , the first UWB device may serve as a controller/advertiser, and the second UWB device may serve as a controller/scanner or controlee/scanner.

Referring to FIG. 15 , the first UWB device may broadcast at least one advertisement message providing information on the UWB channel used by the first UWB device through the NB channel (1510). In an embodiment, the UWB channel may be one of candidate UWB channels allocated for UWB communication, and the NB channel may be a subchannel of one of the candidate UWB channels.

In an embodiment, the broadcasting of the advertisement message may include broadcasting the advertisement message through the NB channel at a start point of each ranging block used in the UWB channel. In one embodiment, the advertisement message includes information about the length of the ranging block, information about the length of a ranging round included in the ranging block, information about a start time of the ranging round, active (active ) information on the number or number of rounds, or information on channel occupancy time of the UWB channel. This embodiment may refer to the description of the embodiment of FIG. 8 . In one embodiment, each ranging block corresponds to a ranging block used in a UWB ranging session established by the first UWB device.

In an embodiment, the broadcasting of the advertisement message may include broadcasting the advertisement message through the NB channel at the start time of each active round used in the UWB channel. In one embodiment, the advertisement message may be used to indicate information for identifying whether active rounds included in the same ranging block belong to the same session or indicating which number of active rounds the active round belongs to among all active rounds in the corresponding ranging block. It may include at least one of information for This embodiment may refer to the description of the embodiment of FIG. 9 . In one embodiment, each active round corresponds to an active round used in a UWB ranging session established by the first UWB device.

In an embodiment, the broadcasting of the advertisement message may include broadcasting the advertisement message in a selected slot of each ranging block or each active round used in the UWB channel through the NB channel. can In one embodiment, the advertisement message may include at least one of information indicating at what slot the transmission of the advertisement message starts or information about the length of the slot. This embodiment may refer to the description of the embodiment of FIG. 10 .

In an embodiment, the broadcasting of the advertisement message may include broadcasting the advertisement message through the NB channel at predetermined intervals in ranging blocks used in the UWB channel. In one embodiment, the advertisement message may include information about a period of a ranging block through which the advertisement message is transmitted. This embodiment may refer to the description of the embodiment of FIG. 11 .

In one embodiment, the method further includes broadcasting an additional advertisement message including additional information through a second NB channel different from the NB channel; Receiving a connection request message for connection establishment from a second UWB device through the second NB channel; and transmitting a connection confirmation message corresponding to the connection request message to the second UWB device through the second NB channel. In one embodiment, the advertisement message may include information about the second NB channel. This embodiment may refer to the description of the embodiment of FIG. 14 .

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

In the embodiment of FIG. 16 , the first UWB device may be the UWB device of FIG. 1A or the first UWB device of FIG. 1B , and the second UWB device may be the UWB device of FIG. 1A or the second UWB device of FIG. 1B .

In the embodiment of FIG. 16 , the first UWB device may serve as a controller/advertiser, and the second UWB device may serve as a controller/scanner or controlee/scanner.

Referring to FIG. 16 , the second UWB device may receive at least one advertisement message providing information on the UWB channel used by the first UWB device through the NB channel (1610).

The second UWB device may perform at least one operation for performing UWB ranging using the UWB channel based on the advertisement message (1620).

In an embodiment, the UWB channel may be one of candidate UWB channels allocated for UWB communication, and the NB channel may be a subchannel of one of the candidate UWB channels.

In an embodiment, the advertisement message may be broadcast by the first UWB device through the NB channel at the start of each ranging block used in the UWB channel. In one embodiment, the advertisement message includes information about the length of the ranging block, information about the length of a ranging round included in the ranging block, information about a start time of the ranging round, active (active ) information on the number or number of rounds, or information on channel occupancy time of the UWB channel. This embodiment may refer to the description of the embodiment of FIG. 8 . In one embodiment, each ranging block corresponds to a ranging block used in a UWB ranging session established by the first UWB device.

In one embodiment, the advertisement message may be broadcast by the first UWB device through the NB channel at the start of each active round used in the UWB channel. In one embodiment, the advertising message may include information for identifying whether active rounds included in the same ranging block belong to the same session, or indicating which number of active rounds the active round belongs to among all active rounds in the corresponding ranging block. It may include at least one of information for This embodiment may refer to the description of the embodiment of FIG. 9 . In one embodiment, each active round corresponds to an active round used in a UWB ranging session established by the first UWB device.

In an embodiment, the advertisement message may be broadcast by the first UWB device in a selected slot of each ranging block or each active round used in the UWB channel through the NB channel. In one embodiment, the advertisement message may include at least one of information indicating at what slot the transmission of the advertisement message starts or information about the length of the slot. This embodiment may refer to the description of the embodiment of FIG. 10 .

In one embodiment, the advertisement message may be broadcast by the first UWB device through the NB channel at intervals preset in ranging blocks used in the UWB channel. In one embodiment, the advertisement message may include information about a period of a ranging block through which the advertisement message is transmitted. This embodiment may refer to the description of the embodiment of FIG. 11 .

In one embodiment, the method includes receiving an additional advertisement message including additional information through a second NB channel different from the NB channel; transmitting a connection request message for connection establishment to the first UWB device through the second NB channel; and receiving a connection confirmation message corresponding to the connection request message from the first UWB device through the second NB channel, wherein the advertisement message includes information on the second NB channel. can include This embodiment may refer to the description of the embodiment of FIG. 14 .

In an embodiment, the performing of at least one operation for performing the UWB ranging may include: performing an operation for participating in a first UWB ranging session controlled by the first UWB device; or performing an operation for establishing a second UWB ranging session controlled by the second UWB device, wherein the first UWB ranging session and the second UWB ranging session use the UWB channel. can This embodiment may refer to the description of the embodiment of FIGS. 12 and 13 .

17 illustrates a structure of a first UWB device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

In the embodiment of FIG. 17 , the first UWB device may correspond to the UWB device of FIG. 1 , include the UWB device, or may be an electronic device including a part of the UWB device.

In the embodiment of FIG. 17 , the first UWB device may be a UWB device that serves as a controller/advertiser.

Referring to FIG. 17 , the first UWB device may include a transceiver 1710, a controller 1720, and a storage 1730. In the present disclosure, the controller may be defined as a circuit or an application-specific integrated circuit or at least one processor.

The transceiver 1710 may transmit and receive signals with other entities. The transceiver 1710 may transmit/receive data with other devices using, for example, at least one NB channel and/or at least one UWB channel.

In one embodiment, the transceiver 1710 may include a first transceiver supporting a NB channel and a second transceiver supporting a UWB channel. In another embodiment, the transceiver 1720 may include a transceiver supporting both the NB channel and the UWB channel.

The controller 1720 may control overall operations of an electronic device according to an embodiment proposed in the present disclosure. For example, the control unit 1720 may control signal flow between blocks to perform an operation according to the flowchart described above. Specifically, the controller 1720 may control the operation of the first UWB device (eg, the operation of the MAC entity of the first UWB device) described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 16 .

For example, the controller 1720 may broadcast at least one advertisement message providing information on the UWB channel used by the first UWB device through the NB channel.

The storage unit 1730 may store at least one of information transmitted and received through the transmission and reception unit 1710 and information generated through the control unit 1720 . For example, the storage unit 1730 may store information and data (eg, advertising information) necessary for the method described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 16 .

18 illustrates a structure of a second UWB device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

In the embodiment of FIG. 18 , the second UWB device may correspond to the UWB device of FIG. 1 , include the UWB device, or may be an electronic device including a part of the UWB device.

In the embodiment of FIG. 18 , the second UWB device may be a UWB device that serves as a controller/scanner or controlee/scanner.

Referring to FIG. 18 , the first UWB device may include a transceiver 1810, a controller 1820, and a storage 1830. In the present disclosure, the controller may be defined as a circuit or an application-specific integrated circuit or at least one processor.

The transceiver 1810 may transmit and receive signals with other entities. The transceiver 1810 may transmit/receive data with other devices using, for example, an NB channel and/or a UWB channel.

In one embodiment, the transceiver 1810 may include a first transceiver supporting a NB channel and a second transceiver supporting a UWB channel. In another embodiment, the transceiver 1820 may include a transceiver supporting at least one NB channel and at least one UWB channel together.

The controller 1820 may control overall operations of an electronic device according to an embodiment proposed in the present disclosure. For example, the control unit 1820 may control signal flow between blocks to perform an operation according to the flowchart described above. Specifically, the controller 1820 may control the operation of the second UWB device (eg, the operation of the MAC entity of the first UWB device) described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 16 .

For example, the controller 1820 may receive at least one advertisement message providing information on a UWB channel used by the first UWB device through the NB channel.

For example, the controller 1820 may perform at least one operation for performing UWB ranging using the UWB channel based on the advertisement message.

The storage unit 1830 may store at least one of information transmitted/received through the transmission/reception unit 1810 and information generated through the control unit 1820. For example, the storage unit 1830 may store information and data (eg, advertising information) necessary for the method described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 16 .

* Embodiments described below may be applied together with the above-described embodiments with reference to FIGS. 1 to 18 , in addition to the above-described embodiments, or in place of some of the above-described embodiments.

<Multiple NB channel operation and channel hopping (channel hoping) embodiment>

As described above, one NB channel or a plurality of NB channels may be operated/supported together.

On the other hand, when only one NB channel is operated (single NB channel operation case), in some cases, a situation in which smooth communication cannot be achieved may occur. For example, when a plurality of devices simultaneously use a single NB channel, smooth communication may not be performed on the corresponding NB channel due to collisions between signals of the plurality of devices. For another example, since the wireless communication environment of the corresponding single NB channel is not good, smooth communication in the corresponding NB channel may not be performed.

Therefore, when necessary, a plurality of NB channels need to operate together. When a plurality of NB channels are operated, a channel hopping technique for communicating while hopping (or moving) channels may be used for smoother communication.

When a plurality of NB channels are operated and a channel hopping technique is used/applied, the UWB device selects a channel based on a preset hopping setting (eg, hopping sequence, hopping period, number of channels used for channel hopping) A hopping operation can be performed. For example, when a plurality of NB channels are operated and a channel hopping technique is used, the UWB device may transmit an advertisement message/discovery message while hopping through a plurality of mirroring channels according to a preset hopping configuration.

As such, when a plurality of NB channels are operated and a channel hopping technique is used, even if a corresponding NB channel is simultaneously used by a plurality of devices, since a signal (message) is transmitted in an arbitrary channel according to the channel hopping operation, the signal The occurrence of collision between the two devices is prevented, and smooth communication is possible. In addition, in this case, even if the wireless communication environment of a specific channel is not good, since the signal (message) is transmitted while hopping/moving through a plurality of channels according to the channel hopping operation, smooth communication is possible through another channel having a good wireless communication environment. it becomes possible

<Example of transmission offset for NB channel>

To avoid collisions between messages/frames within slots (ranging slots), transmission offsets may be used. An example of a ranging round to which a transmission offset is applied may be shown in FIG. 19 .

19 illustrates a ranging round to which a transmission offset is applied according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

19(a) shows a ranging round with a transmission offset of 0, FIG. 19(b) shows a ranging round with a transmission offset of S ₁ , and FIG. 19(c) shows a ranging round with a transmission offset of S ₂ , and FIG. 19(d) shows a ranging round with a transmission offset of S ₃ .

The embodiment of FIG. 19 may be, for example, an embodiment in which a transmission offset is applied when exchanging ranging messages in a UWB channel, but is not limited thereto and may also be applied when transmitting messages in, for example, an NB channel. A description of the transmission offset may refer to the description of IEEE 802.15.4z.

In the embodiment of FIG. 19, the starting time point (reference time point) of the transmission offset may be the starting time point of the ranging slot.

As an embodiment, the controller may determine a transmission offset and may transmit information about the transmission offset to the controlee. For example, the controller determines the transmission offset for the next ranging round (eg, the ranging round of the next ranging block), and transfers information about the transmission offset to the current ranging round (eg, the ranging round of the current ranging block). round) or another message (eg, ranging final message) to the controlee. In this case, the corresponding transmission offset may be applied in the next ranging round.

As an example, in the case of message/packet transmission within the same ranging round, the same transmission offset may be applied. That is, packets in each ranging slot within a corresponding ranging round may be transmitted with the same transmission offset applied thereto.

Meanwhile, even when a message/packet is transmitted in the NB channel, a transmission offset needs to be used if necessary to avoid collision between multiple devices. When transmitting a message in the NB channel, an example of a slot to which a transmission offset is applied may be shown in FIG. 20 .

20 shows a slot when a transmission offset is applied to an NB channel according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

<First Embodiment>

The first embodiment may be an embodiment in which a UWB device transmitting a message through an NB channel determines a transmission offset without considering whether another terminal (eg, another UWB device) transmits a message in a corresponding slot of a corresponding NB channel. .

20(a) may be an example of a slot to which a transmission offset determined according to the first embodiment is applied.

Referring to FIG. 20(a), the UWB device may determine an arbitrary delay period (x). As an example, the UWB device may determine an arbitrary delay period (x) based on a specific time randomly selected within a preset time range. As an example, the time range used to determine the arbitrary delay period (x) may be the same time range preset for UWB devices transmitting messages through the NB channel.

The UWB device may determine an arbitrary delay period (x) as a transmission offset. As such, in the embodiment of FIG. 20 (a), since the starting time (reference time point) of a random delay period (x) corresponds to the starting time point of a corresponding slot, the random delay period (x) can be determined as a transmission offset. .

As an embodiment, the UWB device transmits information about a transmission offset (or an arbitrary delay period (x)) to a message transmitted in a corresponding slot (eg, a random delay period (x) or a ranging slot in which a transmission offset is determined) ( For example, it may be included in an advertisement message/discovery message) and transmitted.

As an example, the same transmission offset may be applied in the associated slot(s). For example, the next slot(s) of the current slot (eg, the slot in which the advertisement message/discovery message including information on the transmission offset (or, a random delay period (x)) is transmitted) (eg, the current slot In the slot(s) in which the following advertisement message/discovery message is transmitted, the same transmission offset may be applied.

<Second Embodiment>

The second embodiment may be an embodiment in which a UWB device transmitting a message through an NB channel determines a transmission offset in consideration of whether another terminal (eg, another UWB device) transmits a message in a corresponding slot of a corresponding NB channel.

20(b) may be an example of a ranging slot to which a transmission offset determined according to the second embodiment is applied.

Referring to FIG. 20( b ), the UWB device can identify/determine whether a message has been transmitted from another UWB device during a predetermined specific period (y) from the start of the corresponding slot. As an example, the specific period (y) used to identify/determine whether another UWB device transmits a message may be the same period preset for UWB devices transmitting messages through an NB channel.

If a message is not transmitted from another UWB device during a preset specific period (y), the UWB device may determine an arbitrary delay period (x). As an example, the UWB device may determine an arbitrary delay period (x) based on a specific time randomly selected within a preset time range. As an example, the time range used to determine the arbitrary delay period (x) may be the same time range preset for UWB devices transmitting messages through the NB channel.

The UWB device may determine, as a transmission offset, a period obtained by adding a predetermined specific period (y) and an arbitrary delay period (x).

As an embodiment, the UWB device transmits information about a transmission offset (or an arbitrary delay period (x)) to a corresponding transmission offset in a corresponding slot (eg, a slot in which an arbitrary delay period (x) or transmission offset is determined) It can be sent as part of a message. For example, the UWB device may include information about a transmission offset (or an arbitrary delay period (x)) in an advertisement message/discovery message transmitted in a corresponding slot through an NB channel.

As an example, the same transmission offset may be applied in the associated slot(s). For example, the next slot(s) of the current slot (eg, the slot in which the advertisement message/discovery message including information on the transmission offset (or, a random delay period (x)) is transmitted) (eg, the current slot In the slot(s) in which the following advertisement message/discovery message is transmitted, the same transmission offset may be applied.

21(c) may be another example of a ranging slot to which a transmission offset determined according to the second embodiment is applied.

Referring to FIG. 21(c), the UWB device may identify/determine whether a message has been transmitted from another UWB device during a predetermined specific period (y) from the start of the corresponding slot. As an example, the specific period (y) used to identify/determine whether another UWB device transmits a message may be the same period preset for UWB devices transmitting messages through an NB channel.

If a message is transmitted from another UWB device during a preset specific period (y) (first period), the UWB device sends a message from the time when the transmission of the corresponding message is completed for a preset specific period (y') (second period), It is possible to identify/determine again whether a message has been transmitted from another UWB device. As an embodiment, as shown, the first period (y) and the second period (y') may be the same period, but are not limited thereto. For example, depending on embodiments, the second period y' may be shorter than the first period y.

If a message is not transmitted from another UWB device during a preset specific period (y'), the UWB device may determine an arbitrary delay period (x). As an example, the UWB device may determine an arbitrary delay period (x) based on a specific time randomly selected within a preset time range. As an example, the time range used to determine the arbitrary delay period (x) may be the same time range preset for UWB devices transmitting messages through the NB channel.

The UWB device includes a preset specific period (y) (first period), a preset specific period (y') (second period), and transmission-related time information (e.g., transmission of a UWB message transmitted from other UWB device(s)). The transmission offset may be determined based on a starting time point, a transmission end time point, and/or a transmission period) and/or an arbitrary delay period (x). For example, the UWB device includes a preset specific period (y) (first period), a period from after the preset specific period (y) to the end of transmission of messages transmitted from other UWB device(s), and a preset specific period (y). The sum of the period (y') (second period) and the arbitrary delay period (x) may be determined as the transmission offset. For another example, the UWB device may include a period from the start of the corresponding slot to the start of transmission of the UWB message transmitted from the other UWB device(s), a transmission period of the UWB message transmitted from the other UWB device(s), a preset A period obtained by adding a specific period (y') (second period) and an arbitrary delay period (x) may be determined as a transmission offset.

As an embodiment, the UWB device transmits information about a transmission offset (or an arbitrary delay period (x)) to a corresponding transmission offset in a corresponding slot (eg, a slot in which an arbitrary delay period (x) or transmission offset is determined) It can be sent as part of a message. For example, the UWB device may include information about a transmission offset (or an arbitrary delay period (x)) in an advertisement message/discovery message transmitted in a corresponding slot through an NB channel.

As an example, the same transmission offset may be applied in the associated slot(s). For example, the next slot(s) of the current slot (eg, the slot in which the advertisement message/discovery message including information on the transmission offset (or, a random delay period (x)) is transmitted) (eg, the current slot In the slot(s) in which the following advertisement message/discovery message is transmitted, the same transmission offset may be applied.

In the specific embodiments of the present disclosure described above, components included in the present disclosure are expressed in singular or plural numbers according to the specific embodiments presented. However, the singular or plural expressions are selected appropriately for the presented situation for convenience of explanation, and the present disclosure is not limited to singular or plural components, and even components expressed in plural are composed of the singular number or singular. Even the expressed components may be composed of a plurality.

Meanwhile, in the detailed description of the present disclosure, specific embodiments have been described, but various modifications are possible without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, the scope of the present disclosure should not be limited to the described embodiments and should not be defined by the scope of the claims described below as well as those equivalent to the scope of these claims.

Claims (17)

In the method of the first UWB device,
broadcasting at least one advertisement message providing information on a UWB channel used by the first UWB device through a narrow band (NB) channel;
The UWB channel is one of candidate UWB channels allocated for UWB communication;
wherein the NB channel is a subchannel of one of the candidate UWB channels.
According to claim 1,
Broadcasting the advertisement message,
broadcasting the advertisement message through the NB channel at a start point of each ranging block used in the UWB channel;
The advertising message is
Information on the length of the ranging block, information on the length of a ranging round included in the ranging block, information on the start time of the ranging round, information on the number or number of active rounds, or information about the channel occupation time of the UWB channel.
According to claim 1,
Broadcasting the advertisement message,
broadcasting the advertisement message through the NB channel at a start time of each active round used in the UWB channel;
The advertising message is
A method including at least one of information for identifying whether active rounds included in the same ranging block belong to the same session or information for indicating which number of active rounds the active round belongs to among all active rounds in the corresponding ranging block. .
According to claim 1,
Broadcasting the advertisement message,
broadcasting the advertisement message through the NB channel in a selected slot of each ranging block or each active round used in the UWB channel;
The advertising message is
The method of claim 1 , wherein the advertisement message includes at least one of information indicating in which slot transmission starts or information about the length of the slot.
According to claim 1,
Broadcasting the advertisement message,
broadcasting the advertisement message through the NB channel at predetermined intervals in ranging blocks used in the UWB channel;
The advertising message is
and information about a period of a ranging block through which the advertisement message is transmitted.
According to claim 1,
broadcasting an additional advertisement message including additional information through a second NB channel different from the NB channel;
Receiving a connection request message for connection establishment from a second UWB device through the second NB channel; and
Transmitting a connection confirmation message corresponding to the connection request message to the second UWB device through the second NB channel;
Wherein the advertisement message includes information about the second NB channel.
In the method of the second UWB device,
receiving at least one advertisement message providing information on a UWB channel used by the first UWB device through a narrow band (NB) channel; and
performing at least one operation for performing UWB ranging using the UWB channel based on the advertisement message;
The UWB channel is one of candidate UWB channels allocated for UWB communication;
wherein the NB channel is a subchannel of one of the candidate UWB channels.
According to claim 7,
The advertisement message is broadcasted by the first UWB device at a start point of each ranging block used in the UWB channel through the NB channel;
The advertising message is
Information on the length of the ranging block, information on the length of a ranging round included in the ranging block, information on the start time of the ranging round, information on the number or number of active rounds, or information about the channel occupation time of the UWB channel.
According to claim 7,
The advertisement message is broadcasted by the first UWB device through the NB channel at the start time of each active round used in the UWB channel;
The advertising message is
A method including at least one of information for identifying whether active rounds included in the same ranging block belong to the same session or information for indicating which number of active rounds the active round belongs to among all active rounds in the corresponding ranging block. .
According to claim 7,
the advertisement message is broadcast by the first UWB device through the NB channel in a selected slot of each ranging block or each active round used in the UWB channel;
The advertising message is
The method of claim 1 , wherein the advertisement message includes at least one of information indicating in which slot transmission starts or information about the length of the slot.
According to claim 7,
The advertisement message is broadcast by the first UWB device through the NB channel at predetermined intervals in ranging blocks used in the UWB channel;
The advertising message is
and information about a period of a ranging block through which the advertisement message is transmitted.
According to claim 7,
receiving an additional advertisement message including additional information through a second NB channel different from the NB channel;
transmitting a connection request message for connection establishment to the first UWB device through the second NB channel; and
Receiving a connection confirmation message corresponding to the connection request message from the first UWB device through the second NB channel;
Wherein the advertisement message includes information about the second NB channel.
According to claim 7,
The step of performing at least one operation for performing the UWB ranging is:
performing an operation for participating in a first UWB ranging session controlled by the first UWB device; or
Performing an operation for establishing a second UWB ranging session controlled by the second UWB device;
wherein the first UWB ranging session and the second UWB ranging session use the UWB channel.
In the first UWB device,
at least one transceiver; and
and a control unit connected to the at least one transceiver, wherein the control unit:
configured to broadcast at least one advertisement message providing information on a UWB channel used by the first UWB device through a narrow band (NB) channel;
The UWB channel is one of candidate UWB channels allocated for UWB communication;
The NB channel is a subchannel of one of the candidate UWB channels.
According to claim 14,
The at least one transceiver,
a first transceiver supporting the NB channel; and
A first UWB device comprising a second transceiver supporting the UWB channel.
In the second UWB device,
at least one transceiver; and
and a control unit coupled to the at least one transceiver, wherein the control unit:
Receiving at least one advertisement message providing information on a UWB channel used by the first UWB device through a narrow band (NB) channel;
configured to perform at least one operation for performing UWB ranging using the UWB channel based on the advertisement message;
The UWB channel is one of candidate UWB channels allocated for UWB communication;
The NB channel is a subchannel of one of the candidate UWB channels.
According to claim 16,
The at least one transceiver,
a first transceiver supporting the NB channel; and
A second UWB device comprising a second transceiver supporting the UWB channel.

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