TWI774637B - Auxiliary bluetooth circuit of multi-member bluetooth device capable of dynamically switching operation mode - Google Patents

Abstract

An auxiliary Bluetooth circuit for use in a multi-member Bluetooth device is disclosed including: a second Bluetooth communication circuit, a second packet parsing circuit, and a second control circuit for operably controlling the operations of the auxiliary Bluetooth circuit under a sniffing mode and a relay mode. In a period during which the auxiliary Bluetooth circuit operates at the sniffing mode, the main Bluetooth circuit receives packets transmitted from the remote Bluetooth device, while the second control circuit utilizes the second Bluetooth communication circuit to sniff packets issued from the remote Bluetooth device. In a situation of that a data throughput of packets sniffed from the remote Bluetooth device by the auxiliary Bluetooth circuit is lower than a predetermined threshold, the auxiliary Bluetooth circuit switches from the sniffing mode to the relay mode. In a period during which the auxiliary Bluetooth circuit operates at the relay mode, the second control circuit does not utilize the second Bluetooth communication circuit to sniff packets issued from the remote Bluetooth device, the main Bluetooth circuit forwards packets received from the remote Bluetooth device to the auxiliary Bluetooth circuit, while the second control circuit utilizes the second Bluetooth communication circuit to receive packets forwarded from the main Bluetooth circuit.

Description

Secondary Bluetooth circuit in a multi-member Bluetooth device that can dynamically switch operating modes

The present invention relates to bluetooth technology, in particular to a secondary bluetooth circuit in a multi-member bluetooth device capable of dynamically switching operation modes.

The multi-member Bluetooth device refers to a Bluetooth device composed of a plurality of Bluetooth circuits used in conjunction with each other, for example, a pair of Bluetooth headsets, a group of Bluetooth speakers, and the like. When the multi-member Bluetooth device connects with another Bluetooth device (hereinafter referred to as the remote Bluetooth device), the remote Bluetooth device treats the multi-member Bluetooth device as a single Bluetooth device. When a traditional multi-member Bluetooth device operates, one of the member circuits is set as the main Bluetooth circuit, which is responsible for bidirectional data transmission with the remote Bluetooth device, and the other member circuits are set as the secondary Bluetooth circuit.

However, the wireless signal environment of Bluetooth communication will change over time, or be affected by the user's posture and usage habits. If the matching operation between the main Bluetooth circuit or the secondary Bluetooth circuit cannot be dynamically adjusted according to the current Bluetooth communication environment, it is easy to reduce the overall operation performance of the multi-member Bluetooth device or reduce the standby time.

In view of this, how to reduce the impact of changes in the Bluetooth wireless signal environment on the overall performance of the multi-member Bluetooth device is a problem to be solved.

This specification provides an embodiment of a master Bluetooth circuit in a multi-member Bluetooth device. The multi-member Bluetooth device is used for data transmission with a remote Bluetooth device, and includes the main Bluetooth circuit and a pair of Bluetooth circuits that can selectively operate in a sniffing mode or a receiving mode. The main Bluetooth circuit includes : a first Bluetooth communication circuit; a first packet parsing circuit configured to analyze packets received by the first Bluetooth communication circuit; and a first control circuit coupled to the first Bluetooth communication circuit and the first packet Analysis circuit; wherein, during the period when the pair of bluetooth circuit operates in the sniffing mode, the first control circuit uses the first bluetooth communication circuit to receive packets from the remote bluetooth device, and the pair of bluetooth circuit sniffs Detecting packets sent by the remote Bluetooth device; when a data throughput of the packets sniffed by the secondary Bluetooth circuit is lower than a predetermined threshold, the secondary Bluetooth circuit will switch from the sniffing mode to the indirect receiving communication mode; and during the period when the secondary bluetooth circuit operates in the indirect receiving communication mode, the secondary bluetooth circuit will not sniff the packets sent by the remote bluetooth device, and the first control circuit will use the first bluetooth communication circuit to receive packets The packets transmitted from the remote Bluetooth device are forwarded to the secondary Bluetooth circuit by using the first Bluetooth communication circuit.

One of the advantages of the above embodiment is that the multi-member Bluetooth device dynamically adjusts the operation mode of the secondary Bluetooth circuit according to the data throughput of the packets sniffed by the secondary Bluetooth circuit to adapt to the current Bluetooth communication environment.

Another advantage of the above-mentioned embodiment is that the sub-Bluetooth circuit or the main Bluetooth circuit can be prevented from operating in an unsatisfactory manner, thereby improving the overall operation performance and/or prolonging the standby time of the multi-member Bluetooth device.

Another advantage of the above embodiment is that the service life of the main Bluetooth circuit or the secondary Bluetooth circuit can be prolonged, and/or the use comfort of the secondary Bluetooth circuit or the primary Bluetooth circuit can be improved.

Other advantages of the present invention will be explained in more detail in conjunction with the following description and drawings.

The embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the relevant drawings. In the drawings, the same reference numbers refer to the same or similar elements or method flows.

FIG. 1 is a simplified functional block diagram of a multi-member Bluetooth device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The multi-member Bluetooth device 100 is used for data transmission with a remote Bluetooth device 102 and includes a plurality of member circuits. For convenience of description, only three member circuits are shown in the embodiment of FIG. 1 , namely the first Bluetooth circuit 110 , the second Bluetooth circuit 120 , and the third Bluetooth circuit 130 .

In this embodiment, all the member circuits in the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 have similar main circuit structures, but different additional circuit elements can be set in different member circuits, and the circuit structure of all member circuits is not limited to Exactly the same. For example, as shown in FIG. 1 , the first Bluetooth circuit 110 includes a first Bluetooth communication circuit 111 , a first packet parsing circuit 113 , a first clock synchronization circuit 115 , and a first control circuit 117 . Similarly, the second Bluetooth circuit 120 includes a second Bluetooth communication circuit 121 , a second packet parsing circuit 123 , a second clock synchronization circuit 125 , and a second control circuit 127 .

The main circuit elements inside the third Bluetooth circuit 130 are also similar to the aforementioned first Bluetooth circuit 110 or the second Bluetooth circuit 120 , but for the sake of brevity, the internal circuit elements of the third Bluetooth circuit 130 are not shown in FIG. 1 . .

In the first Bluetooth circuit 110, the first Bluetooth communication circuit 111 can be used for data communication with other Bluetooth devices. The first packet parsing circuit 113 can be configured to parse the Bluetooth packet received by the first Bluetooth communication circuit 111 . The first clock synchronization circuit 115 is coupled to the first packet analysis circuit 113 and can be used to adjust the clock signal used by the first Bluetooth circuit 110 to synchronize the piconet used between the first Bluetooth circuit 110 and other Bluetooth devices Clock (piconet clock).

The first control circuit 117 is coupled to the first Bluetooth communication circuit 111 , the first packet analysis circuit 113 , and the first clock synchronization circuit 115 , and is configured to control the operation of the aforementioned circuits. During operation, the first control circuit 117 can directly communicate with the remote Bluetooth device 102 through the first Bluetooth communication circuit 111 in the form of Bluetooth wireless transmission, and communicate with other member circuits through the first Bluetooth communication circuit 111 . The first control circuit 117 also uses the first packet parsing circuit 113 to parse the packets received by the first Bluetooth communication circuit 111 to obtain relevant data or instructions.

In the second Bluetooth circuit 120, the second Bluetooth communication circuit 121 can be used for data communication with other Bluetooth devices. The second packet parsing circuit 123 can be used for parsing the Bluetooth packets received by the second Bluetooth communication circuit 121 . The second clock synchronization circuit 125 is coupled to the second packet analysis circuit 123 and can be used to adjust the clock signal used by the second Bluetooth circuit 120 to synchronize the piconet used between the second Bluetooth circuit 120 and other Bluetooth devices clock.

The second control circuit 127 is coupled to the second Bluetooth communication circuit 121 , the second packet analysis circuit 123 , and the second clock synchronization circuit 125 , and is configured to control the operation of the aforementioned circuits. During operation, the second control circuit 127 can communicate data with other Bluetooth devices through the second Bluetooth communication circuit 121 in a Bluetooth wireless transmission manner, and communicate with other member circuits through the second Bluetooth communication circuit 121 . The second control circuit 127 also utilizes the second packet parsing circuit 123 to parse the packets received by the second Bluetooth communication circuit 121 to obtain relevant data or instructions.

In practice, the aforementioned first Bluetooth communication circuit 111 and the second Bluetooth communication circuit 121 can be implemented by suitable wireless communication circuits capable of supporting various versions of the Bluetooth communication protocol. The aforementioned first packet parsing circuit 113 and the second packet parsing circuit 123 can be implemented by various packet demodulation circuits, digital arithmetic circuits, microprocessors, or application specific integrated circuits (ASICs). accomplish. The aforementioned first clock synchronization circuit 115 and the second clock synchronization circuit 125 can be implemented by various suitable circuits capable of comparing and adjusting the clock frequency and/or the clock phase. The aforementioned first control circuit 117 and second control circuit 127 can be implemented by various microprocessors or digital signal processing circuits with appropriate computing capabilities.

In some embodiments, the first clock synchronization circuit 115 or the second clock synchronization circuit 125 may also be integrated into the first control circuit 117 or the second control circuit 127 . In addition, the aforementioned first packet parsing circuit 113 and the second packet parsing circuit 123 can also be integrated into the aforementioned first Bluetooth communication circuit 111 and the second Bluetooth communication circuit 121, respectively.

In other words, the aforementioned first Bluetooth communication circuit 111 and the first packet parsing circuit 113 may be implemented by different circuits, or may be implemented by the same circuit. Likewise, the aforementioned second Bluetooth communication circuit 121 and the second packet parsing circuit 123 may be implemented by different circuits, or may be implemented by the same circuit.

In application, different functional blocks in the aforementioned first Bluetooth circuit 110 can also be integrated into a single circuit chip. For example, all functional blocks in the first Bluetooth circuit 110 can be integrated into a single Bluetooth controller IC. Likewise, all functional blocks in the second Bluetooth circuit 120 can also be integrated into another single Bluetooth control chip.

As can be seen from the foregoing description, different member circuits in the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 can communicate with each other through their respective Bluetooth communication circuits to form various types of data networks or data links. When the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 communicates with the remote Bluetooth device 102, the remote Bluetooth device 102 treats the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 as a single Bluetooth device, and multiple member circuits of the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 are in the same During the time, one member circuit will be selected to play the role of the main Bluetooth circuit to handle the main work of receiving packets sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102, while the other member circuits will play the role of auxiliary Bluetooth circuits. character of.

The main Bluetooth circuit can use various known mechanisms to receive packets from the remote Bluetooth device 102 , while the secondary Bluetooth circuit can use an appropriate mechanism to obtain packets from the remote Bluetooth device 102 during the operation of the main Bluetooth circuit.

For example, during the process of the primary Bluetooth circuit receiving the packets sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102 , the secondary Bluetooth circuit can operate in a sniffing mode to actively sniff the packets sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102 . Alternatively, the secondary Bluetooth circuit may operate in a relay mode, and only passively receive the packets forwarded by the primary Bluetooth circuit after receiving the packets sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102, without actively sniffing the remote A packet sent by the Bluetooth device 102 . The respective operation modes of the main Bluetooth circuit and the secondary Bluetooth circuit in the above two situations will be described in detail in the following paragraphs.

Please note that the terms "main Bluetooth circuit" and "secondary Bluetooth circuit" referred to in the description and the scope of the patent application are only for the convenience of distinguishing different member circuits in different ways of receiving packets sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102. It does not indicate whether the main Bluetooth circuit has a certain degree of control authority over other operational aspects of the secondary Bluetooth circuit.

In addition, during the operation of the multi-member Bluetooth device 100, the roles of the primary Bluetooth circuit and the secondary Bluetooth circuit can also be dynamically switched. For example, the master Bluetooth circuit may intermittently evaluate its own operating parameters such as computing load, remaining power, temperature, and/or operating environment, and transfer the role of the master Bluetooth circuit to Other secondary Bluetooth circuits.

For another example, the main Bluetooth circuit may intermittently compare the gaps between its own aforementioned operating parameters and the operating parameters of other sub-Bluetooth circuits, and the gap between the operating parameters of the main Bluetooth circuit and the operating parameters of the sub-Bluetooth circuit exceeds a predetermined value. When the level is reached, the role of the main Bluetooth circuit is handed over to other secondary Bluetooth circuits.

For another example, the main Bluetooth circuit can also intermittently compare its own Bluetooth packet loss rate with the Bluetooth packet loss rate of other secondary Bluetooth circuits, and when the Bluetooth packet loss rate of other secondary Bluetooth circuits is relatively low, the main Bluetooth The role of the Bluetooth circuit is handed over to other secondary Bluetooth circuits.

In practice, the main Bluetooth circuit can also take the aforementioned various evaluation conditions into consideration together to determine whether to hand over the role of the main Bluetooth circuit to other secondary Bluetooth circuits.

Alternatively, the secondary Bluetooth circuit can also use various methods to determine whether the primary Bluetooth circuit is disabled or missing, and when it is determined that the primary Bluetooth circuit is disabled or missing, the secondary Bluetooth circuit replaces the old primary Bluetooth circuit, and actively continues to play the role of the primary Bluetooth circuit. The role of the bluetooth circuit.

As is known to all, in the process of data communication between the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 and the remote Bluetooth device 102, the wireless signal environment of the Bluetooth communication may change over time due to various factors, and may also be affected by the user's posture, usage habits, etc. influence changes. In the case where the roles of the main Bluetooth circuit and the secondary Bluetooth circuit are not exchanged, if the matching operation between the main Bluetooth circuit and the secondary Bluetooth circuit cannot be dynamically adjusted according to the current Bluetooth communication environment, it is easy to reduce the multi-member Bluetooth device 100. The overall operating performance of the device may also reduce the standby time of the main Bluetooth circuit or the secondary Bluetooth circuit. In some cases, it may also increase the heat generation and temperature of the secondary Bluetooth circuit or the main Bluetooth circuit, thereby shortening the service life of the secondary Bluetooth circuit or the primary Bluetooth circuit, or reducing the use comfort of the secondary Bluetooth circuit or the primary Bluetooth circuit ( It may cause discomfort to the user due to heat generation or high temperature).

The operation of the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 will be further described below with reference to FIGS. 2 to 3 . 2 to 3 are simplified flowcharts of the operation method of the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 in a first embodiment of the present invention.

In the flowcharts of FIGS. 2 to 3 , the process in the column to which a specific device belongs represents the process performed by the specific device. For example, the part marked in the "Main Bluetooth Circuit" field is the process performed by the member circuit that acts as the main Bluetooth circuit; The flow performed by the circuit, the aforementioned logic is also applicable to other subsequent flow charts.

As shown in FIG. 2 , the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 will first perform a process 202 to obtain Bluetooth connection parameters required for receiving packets sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102 . In practice, the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 can use any member circuit to first connect with the remote Bluetooth device 102 to obtain relevant Bluetooth connection parameters, and then use the member circuit to transmit the obtained Bluetooth connection parameters to other member circuits. .

For example, in one embodiment, the first control circuit 117 of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 can control the first Bluetooth communication circuit 111 to establish a Bluetooth connection with the remote Bluetooth device 102 in the process 202, and connect the first Bluetooth circuit 110 to the Bluetooth connection. The Bluetooth connection parameters between the remote Bluetooth devices 102 are transmitted to other member circuits such as the second Bluetooth circuit 120 through the first Bluetooth communication circuit 111, so that other member circuits can then use the Bluetooth connection parameters to receive the remote Bluetooth device. 102 packets sent out.

For another example, in another embodiment, the second control circuit 127 of the second Bluetooth circuit 120 can control the second Bluetooth communication circuit 121 to establish a Bluetooth connection with the remote Bluetooth device 102 in the process 202, and connect the second Bluetooth circuit The Bluetooth connection parameters between 120 and the remote Bluetooth device 102 are transmitted to other member circuits through the second Bluetooth communication circuit 121, so that other member circuits can then use the Bluetooth connection parameters to receive packets sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102 . On the other hand, the second control circuit 127 can also transmit the device identification data of the second Bluetooth circuit 120 and the Bluetooth connection parameters between the second Bluetooth circuit 120 and the remote Bluetooth device 102 through the second Bluetooth in the process 202 . The communication circuit 121 transmits the data to the first Bluetooth circuit 110 so that the first Bluetooth circuit 110 can perform bidirectional packet transmission with the remote Bluetooth device 102 in the subsequent process. Afterwards, the second Bluetooth circuit 120 is changed to only receive the packets sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102 in one direction, and will not transmit the packets to the remote Bluetooth device 102 , so as to avoid the problem of packet conflict in the remote Bluetooth device 102 .

For the convenience of description, it is assumed that the member circuit currently selected to process the main work of receiving packets sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102 in the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 is the first Bluetooth circuit 110, and other member circuits (for example, The aforementioned second Bluetooth circuit 120 and the third Bluetooth circuit 130) play the role of secondary Bluetooth circuits.

In the process 204 , the first Bluetooth circuit 110 can notify other member circuits (eg, the aforementioned second Bluetooth circuit 120 and third Bluetooth circuit 130 ) of the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 through the first Bluetooth communication circuit 111 . The first Bluetooth circuit 110 plays the role of the master Bluetooth circuit, and instructs other member circuits to play the role of the secondary Bluetooth circuit, and operates in the sniffing mode. That is, the first bluetooth circuit 110 will be responsible for processing the main work of receiving the packets sent by the remote bluetooth device 102, and other member circuits can only sniff the packets sent by the remote bluetooth device 102, but are not allowed to transmit commands and data. , or other related packets to the remote Bluetooth device 102 .

Next, when the secondary Bluetooth circuit operates in the sniffing mode, the first Bluetooth circuit 110 will perform the process 206 .

In the process 206 , the first control circuit 117 of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 uses the first Bluetooth communication circuit 111 to receive packets from the remote Bluetooth device 102 , but the first control circuit 117 does not pass the first Bluetooth communication circuit 111 The packets transmitted from the remote Bluetooth device 102 are forwarded to other secondary Bluetooth circuits.

During operation, the first control circuit 117 can use the Bluetooth connection parameters obtained in the process 202 to perform packet transmission with the remote Bluetooth device 102 through the first Bluetooth communication circuit 111 to receive various data from the remote Bluetooth device 102 . packets, or send various packets to the remote Bluetooth device 102 . As can be seen from the operation description of the aforementioned process 202, the Bluetooth connection parameters used when the first Bluetooth circuit 110 and the remote Bluetooth device 102 perform packet transmission may be obtained by the first Bluetooth circuit 110 itself, or may be other member circuits. (eg, from the second Bluetooth circuit 120).

Each time the first Bluetooth communication circuit 111 receives a packet from the remote Bluetooth device 102 , the first control circuit 117 of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 can transmit a corresponding acknowledgement message through the first Bluetooth communication circuit 111 to the remote Bluetooth device 102 . If the remote Bluetooth device 102 does not receive the corresponding acknowledgment information of the specific packet, it will retransmit the specific packet to the first Bluetooth communication circuit 111 . In practice, various suitable packet handshake mechanisms can be used between the first Bluetooth circuit 110 and the remote Bluetooth device 102 to reduce or avoid the occurrence of missing packets.

On the other hand, when the main Bluetooth circuit receives the packets sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102 , the other member circuits that play the role of the secondary Bluetooth circuit will perform the process 208 and continue to operate in the sniffing mode to sniff the packets sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102 . package. For example, in the process 208 , the second control circuit 127 of the second Bluetooth circuit 120 can use the second Bluetooth communication circuit 121 to sniff the packets sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102 according to the Bluetooth connection parameters obtained in the process 202 . In one embodiment, the second Bluetooth communication circuit 121 can sniff all Bluetooth packets sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102 . In another embodiment, the second Bluetooth communication circuit 121 only sniffs the Bluetooth packets to be transmitted by the remote Bluetooth device 102 to the first Bluetooth circuit 110 , but does not sniff the Bluetooth packets to be transmitted by the remote Bluetooth device 102 to the multi-member Bluetooth Bluetooth packets of devices other than device 100. It can be seen from the description of the aforementioned process 202 that the Bluetooth connection parameters used by the second Bluetooth communication circuit 121 to sniff the packets sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102 may be obtained by the second Bluetooth circuit 120 itself, or may be obtained by other members. circuit (eg, the first Bluetooth circuit 110 ).

The secondary Bluetooth circuit may perform the process 210 each time after sniffing the packet sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102 . In the process 210 , the secondary Bluetooth circuit transmits a notification message corresponding to the sniffed packet to the primary Bluetooth circuit, but does not transmit any confirmation message to the remote Bluetooth device 102 . For example, every time the second Bluetooth circuit 120 sniffs a packet sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102 , the second control circuit 127 may perform the process 210 to transmit a corresponding notification message to the first Bluetooth circuit through the second Bluetooth communication circuit 121 The first Bluetooth communication circuit 111 of 110 , but the second control circuit 127 does not transmit any confirmation information to the remote Bluetooth device 102 through the second Bluetooth communication circuit 121 .

In practice, the secondary Bluetooth circuit can also be changed to perform the aforementioned process 210 only when the primary Bluetooth circuit inquires whether the secondary Bluetooth circuit has sniffed a specific packet sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102 .

In other words, during the period when the secondary Bluetooth circuit is operating in the sniffing mode, although the primary Bluetooth circuit and the other secondary Bluetooth circuits both receive the packets sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102 in this embodiment, only the primary Bluetooth circuit receives the packets. The confirmation information is sent to the remote Bluetooth device 102, and other secondary Bluetooth circuits will not transmit the confirmation information to the remote Bluetooth device 102, so as to avoid misjudgment caused by the remote Bluetooth device 102. Since the remote Bluetooth device 102 does not know that the second Bluetooth circuit 120 is sniffing the packets sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102, and the second Bluetooth circuit 120 does not transmit the corresponding confirmation information to the remote Bluetooth device 102, the second Bluetooth circuit Between 120 and the remote Bluetooth device 102, no packet handshake procedure is performed for the packets sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102.

In this embodiment, the purpose of transmitting the aforementioned notification information to the first Bluetooth circuit 110 by the second Bluetooth circuit 120 is not to perform a packet handshake procedure with the first Bluetooth circuit 110 , but to allow the first Bluetooth circuit 110 to Check whether the second Bluetooth circuit 120 misses any packets sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102 .

In addition, the purpose of transmitting the aforementioned notification information to the first Bluetooth circuit 110 by the second Bluetooth circuit 120 is not for the first Bluetooth circuit 110 to determine whether to transmit the aforementioned confirmation information to the remote Bluetooth device 102 accordingly. The first control circuit 117 in this embodiment does not check whether the first Bluetooth communication circuit 111 has received the aforementioned notification information from the second Bluetooth circuit 120 before transmitting the aforementioned confirmation information to the remote Bluetooth device 102 . Therefore, the timing for the first Bluetooth communication circuit 111 to transmit the confirmation information to the remote Bluetooth device 102 has nothing to do with whether the first Bluetooth communication circuit 111 has received the aforementioned notification information from the second Bluetooth circuit 120 .

In practice, the aforementioned notification information transmitted by the second Bluetooth circuit 120 to the first Bluetooth circuit 110 can be implemented in various suitable data formats. For example, when the second Bluetooth circuit 120 receives a specific Bluetooth packet from the remote Bluetooth device 102, the second control circuit 127 can retrieve the corresponding packet sequence number from the specific Bluetooth packet, and combine the packet sequence number with the available Bluetooth packet. The device code or device identification data for identifying the second Bluetooth circuit 120 is combined or encoded together into notification information corresponding to the specific Bluetooth packet. For another example, the second control circuit 127 can extract appropriate packet identification data from the specific Bluetooth packet, and combine or encode the packet identification data together with the device code or device identification data for identifying the second Bluetooth circuit 120 into notification information corresponding to the specific Bluetooth packet.

As can be seen from the foregoing description, in the process of sending a plurality of Bluetooth packets successively by the remote Bluetooth device 102, each sub-Bluetooth circuit will repeat the aforementioned process 208 and process 210 under normal circumstances, and then transmit a plurality of notification messages to the first Bluetooth circuit. A Bluetooth circuit 110 . For example, the second Bluetooth circuit 120 repeats the process 208 and the process 210 to transmit a plurality of notification messages corresponding to the plurality of Bluetooth packets sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102 to the first Bluetooth circuit 110 .

In actual operation, each sub-Bluetooth circuit may occasionally miss some packets sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102, and the packets and the number of packets missed by different sub-Bluetooth circuits may also be different. Therefore, the main Bluetooth circuit can perform the process 212 intermittently or periodically to determine whether the individual secondary Bluetooth circuit misses receiving the packets sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102 according to the plurality of notification messages sent from the individual secondary Bluetooth circuit.

For example, in the process 212 , the first control circuit 117 of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 can check whether the second Bluetooth circuit 120 misses the transmission from the remote Bluetooth device 102 according to the plurality of notification information transmitted from the second Bluetooth circuit 120 . partial packets. The first packet parsing circuit 113 can parse out a plurality of packet sequence numbers or a plurality of packet identification data from a plurality of notification messages transmitted from the second Bluetooth circuit 120 . The first control circuit 117 can check whether the packet sequence numbers or the packet identification data are continuous, so as to check whether the second Bluetooth circuit 120 misses some packets sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102 . If the aforementioned packet sequence numbers or packet identification data are discontinuous, the first control circuit 117 may determine that the second Bluetooth circuit 120 has missed receiving packets corresponding to the missing packet sequence numbers or packet identification data. According to the missing packet sequence number or packet identification data, the first control circuit 117 may further define which packets the second Bluetooth circuit 120 has missed.

As mentioned above, a packet handshake mechanism is adopted between the first Bluetooth circuit 110 and the remote Bluetooth device 102 , so the first Bluetooth circuit 110 should be able to successfully obtain all the packets sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102 under normal circumstances.

If the first control circuit 117 detects that a certain pair of bluetooth circuits has missed some packets sent by the remote bluetooth device 102 , the process 214 will be executed, and the packets missed by the pair of bluetooth circuits will be transmitted through the first bluetooth communication circuit 111 . to the pair of bluetooth circuits.

For example, when the first control circuit 117 detects that the second Bluetooth circuit 120 has missed receiving a specific packet sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102 , the first control circuit 117 may perform the process 214 to send the first Bluetooth communication circuit 111 to the first control circuit 111 . The packets missed by the two Bluetooth circuits 120 are transmitted to the second Bluetooth circuit 120 .

In this case, the second Bluetooth circuit 120 will perform the process 216 to receive the packets transmitted from the first Bluetooth circuit 110 through the second Bluetooth communication circuit 121 . In other words, when the second Bluetooth circuit 120 is operating in the sniffing mode, the second control circuit 127 can use the second Bluetooth communication circuit 121 to receive packets from the first Bluetooth circuit 110 , so as to obtain information about the remote Bluetooth device 102 . A packet sent out but missed by the second Bluetooth communication circuit 121 .

By repeating the above-mentioned operations, the second Bluetooth circuit 120 can make up all the missing packets with the assistance of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 . Likewise, the first Bluetooth circuit 110 can assist other secondary Bluetooth circuits to fill in the missing packets by using the aforementioned method.

During the period when the secondary Bluetooth circuit operates in the sniffing mode, if the secondary Bluetooth circuit needs to transmit commands, data, or related packets to the remote Bluetooth device 102, it must forward the commands, data, or related packets to the remote Bluetooth device 102 through the primary Bluetooth circuit. The terminal Bluetooth device 102 . For example, if the second Bluetooth circuit 120 needs to transmit commands, data, or related packets to the remote Bluetooth device 102, the above-mentioned commands, data, or related packets must be transmitted through the second Bluetooth communication circuit 121 to the device that plays the role of the main Bluetooth circuit. The first Bluetooth circuit 110 is then forwarded by the first Bluetooth circuit 110 to the remote Bluetooth device 102 , so as to avoid the problem of packet conflict in the remote Bluetooth device 102 .

In other words, while the secondary Bluetooth circuit is operating in the sniffing mode, all member circuits of the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 will receive packets sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102, but only the primary Bluetooth circuit is allowed to transmit commands, data, or other related packets to Remote Bluetooth device 102 .

It can be seen from the foregoing description that a packet handshake mechanism is used between the first Bluetooth circuit 110 and the remote Bluetooth device 102 to avoid the occurrence of missing packets, and the first Bluetooth communication circuit 111 transmits the confirmation information to the timing sequence of the remote Bluetooth device 102 , regardless of whether the first Bluetooth circuit 110 has received the aforementioned notification information from the second Bluetooth circuit 120 .

Therefore, other secondary Bluetooth circuits transmit corresponding notification information to the first Bluetooth circuit 110 when receiving the packets sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102, and will not interfere or delay the communication between the first Bluetooth circuit 110 and the remote Bluetooth device 102. The packet handshake process between the two will not cause additional operational burden to the first Bluetooth circuit 110 to perform the aforementioned packet handshake process.

On the other hand, since other secondary Bluetooth circuits in the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 (eg, the aforementioned second Bluetooth circuit 120 and third Bluetooth circuit 130 ) will sniff the packets sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102, each secondary Bluetooth circuit Under normal circumstances, the circuit will receive most of the packets sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102 . Therefore, the first Bluetooth circuit 110, which is the main Bluetooth circuit, only needs to transmit the packets missed by the individual secondary Bluetooth circuits to the corresponding secondary Bluetooth circuit, and does not need to transmit all the packets sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102 to each Secondary Bluetooth circuit.

Therefore, the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 uses the method of FIG. 2 to interact with the remote Bluetooth device 102, which can greatly reduce the packet forwarding burden of the main Bluetooth circuit (the first Bluetooth circuit 110 in this example), thereby saving the main Bluetooth circuit power consumption. In this way, the working time and standby time of the main Bluetooth circuit can be effectively prolonged.

In addition, the data transmission bandwidth requirement between the main Bluetooth circuit and other member circuits can be greatly reduced, so the hardware design of the main Bluetooth circuit and other member circuits can be simplified, and/or the circuit complexity and circuit cost can be reduced .

During operation, various suitable existing data synchronization mechanisms can also be used between the main Bluetooth circuit and other secondary Bluetooth circuits to ensure that different member circuits can synchronously play the audio data or video data transmitted from the remote Bluetooth device 102 . Avoid inconsistent playback timing of different member circuits.

It can be seen from the above description that although the roles of the main Bluetooth circuit and the secondary Bluetooth circuit do not change during the period when the secondary Bluetooth circuit operates in the sniffing mode, the wireless signal environment of the Bluetooth communication may change over time due to various factors. It may be affected by the user's posture and usage habits. If the matching operation between the main Bluetooth circuit and the secondary Bluetooth circuit cannot be dynamically adjusted according to the current Bluetooth communication environment, the overall operation performance of the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 may be easily reduced, and the performance of the primary Bluetooth circuit or the secondary Bluetooth circuit may also be reduced. Standby time. In some cases, the service life of the secondary Bluetooth circuit or the primary Bluetooth circuit may also be shortened, or the usage comfort of the secondary Bluetooth circuit or the primary Bluetooth circuit may be reduced.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3 , when the secondary Bluetooth circuit operates in the sniffing mode, the process 302 is also intermittently performed to calculate the throughput of the packets sniffed by itself. For example, in the process 302, the second control circuit 127 of the second Bluetooth circuit 120 can calculate the data volume of the packets sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102 sniffed by the second Bluetooth communication circuit 121 to generate a corresponding data throughput .

Next, the second control circuit 127 may perform the process 304 to compare the data throughput sniffed by the second Bluetooth communication circuit 121 with a predetermined threshold.

If the data throughput sniffed by the second Bluetooth communication circuit 121 is higher than the predetermined threshold, it means that the amount of packets sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102 is within the normal range, and the wireless signal environment for the second Bluetooth circuit 120 to perform Bluetooth communication is sufficient at that time. ideal. In this case, the second Bluetooth circuit 120 can continue to operate in the sniffing mode, and repeat the operations of the aforementioned process 208 to process 304 .

On the contrary, if the data throughput sniffed by the second Bluetooth communication circuit 121 is lower than the predetermined threshold, it means that the wireless signal environment for the Bluetooth communication performed by the second Bluetooth circuit 120 at that time is not very ideal, or the signal sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102 is not ideal. The amount of packets is very small, even in sleep mode. In this case, the second Bluetooth circuit 120 may perform the process 306 .

In the process 306 , the second control circuit 127 generates a first mode switching request, and transmits the first mode switching request to the main Bluetooth circuit through the second Bluetooth communication circuit 121 . The aforementioned first mode switching request is used to request the master Bluetooth circuit to allow the second Bluetooth circuit 120 to switch from the sniffing mode to the indirect receiving mode. In practice, various suitable data formats can be used to implement the first mode switching request.

In the process 308 , the first Bluetooth circuit 110 uses the first Bluetooth communication circuit 111 to receive the first mode switching request from the second Bluetooth circuit 120 .

In the process 310, the first control circuit 117 of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 determines whether to allow the second Bluetooth circuit 120 to switch the operation mode. In this embodiment, after receiving the aforementioned first mode switching request, the first control circuit 117 can determine whether to allow the second Bluetooth circuit 120 to switch the operation mode according to a predetermined rule, and perform corresponding follow-up operations according to the judgment result. Process flow. If the first control circuit 117 determines that the second Bluetooth circuit 120 is not allowed to switch the operation mode after judgment, the process 312 will be executed. On the contrary, if the first control circuit 117 decides to allow the second Bluetooth circuit 120 to switch the operation mode after judgment, the process 316 will be executed.

Since the first Bluetooth circuit 110 allows the secondary Bluetooth circuit to switch the operation mode, the second Bluetooth circuit 120 can switch from the sniffing mode to the indirect receiving mode, and then the first Bluetooth circuit 110 needs to send the remote Bluetooth device 102 The packet is forwarded to the second Bluetooth circuit 120 . As a result, the computing load, power consumption, heat generation, and data bandwidth requirements between the first Bluetooth circuit 110 and the second Bluetooth circuit 120 will be increased.

Therefore, after receiving the aforementioned first mode switching request, the first control circuit 117 can evaluate factors such as the computing load, remaining power, temperature, and/or available data bandwidth of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 at that time, and evaluate the results Only when the predetermined conditions are met, the second Bluetooth circuit 120 is allowed to switch the operation mode. For example, the first control circuit 117 can be used when the computing load of the main Bluetooth circuit is lower than a predetermined level, the remaining power is higher than a predetermined threshold, the temperature is lower than a predetermined temperature, and/or the available data bandwidth exceeds a predetermined value. Then, the second Bluetooth circuit 120 is allowed to switch the operation mode.

In the process 312 , the first control circuit 117 generates a rejection message indicating that the first Bluetooth circuit 110 does not allow the second Bluetooth circuit 120 to switch the operation mode, and transmits the rejection message to the second Bluetooth circuit through the first Bluetooth communication circuit 111 120.

In the process 314 , the second Bluetooth circuit 120 uses the second Bluetooth communication circuit 121 to receive the rejection information from the first Bluetooth circuit 110 . In this case, the second control circuit 127 will control the second Bluetooth circuit 120 to continue to operate in the sniffing mode according to the indication of the rejection information, and repeat the operations of the aforementioned process 208 to process 304 .

In the process 316, the first control circuit 117 of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 generates a first mode switching instruction for instructing the second Bluetooth circuit 120 to switch from the sniffing mode to the indirect receiving mode, and communicates via the first Bluetooth The circuit 111 transmits the first mode switching instruction to the second Bluetooth circuit 120 .

In the process 318 , the second Bluetooth communication circuit 121 will receive the first mode switching instruction from the first Bluetooth circuit 110 , and the second control circuit 127 will change the mode switching instruction of the second Bluetooth circuit 120 according to the first mode switching instruction. The operating mode is switched from sniffing mode to indirect receiving mode.

Next, the first Bluetooth circuit 110 will perform the process 320 , and the second Bluetooth circuit 120 will perform the process 322 .

In the process 320 , the first control circuit 117 of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 uses the first Bluetooth communication circuit 111 to receive packets from the remote Bluetooth device 102 and forwards the received packets through the first Bluetooth communication circuit 111 to the second Bluetooth circuit 120 .

In the process 322 , the second control circuit 127 controls the second Bluetooth circuit 120 to operate in the indirect receiving mode, and utilizes the second Bluetooth communication circuit 121 to receive the packets transmitted from the first Bluetooth circuit 110 . However, when the second Bluetooth circuit 120 operates in the indirect receiving mode, the second control circuit 127 will not use the second Bluetooth communication circuit 121 to sniff the packets sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102 . In other words, when the second Bluetooth circuit 120 operates in the indirect receiving mode, the second Bluetooth circuit 120 indirectly acquires the packets sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102 through the first Bluetooth circuit 110 .

Please note that the aforementioned first control circuit 117 performs the determination procedure of the process 310 first, and then performs the process 316 after determining that the first Bluetooth circuit 110 meets the predetermined condition. In practice, after receiving the aforementioned first mode switching request, the first control circuit 117 may skip the determination procedure of the aforementioned process 310 and directly perform the process 316 .

As can be seen from the foregoing description, the second Bluetooth circuit 120 , which plays the role of the secondary Bluetooth circuit, will intermittently compare the data throughput it sniffs with a predetermined threshold during the operation in the sniffing mode to evaluate its own Bluetooth Whether the wireless signal environment has deteriorated, or whether the amount of packets sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102 has been significantly reduced. As long as the data throughput sniffed by the second Bluetooth circuit 120 is higher than the aforementioned predetermined threshold (that is, the amount of packets sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102 is within the normal range, and the Bluetooth wireless signal environment of the second Bluetooth circuit 120 is still sufficient Ideally), the first Bluetooth circuit 110 playing the role of the master Bluetooth circuit will not instruct the second Bluetooth circuit 120 to switch to the indirect receiving mode. In this case, the first Bluetooth circuit 110 only needs to transmit the packets missed by the second Bluetooth circuit 120 to the second Bluetooth circuit 120, and does not need to forward all the packets sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102 to the second Bluetooth circuit 120. Therefore, the operation burden, power consumption, and heat generation of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 can be reduced, the working time and standby time of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 can be prolonged, and the distance between the first Bluetooth circuit 110 and the second Bluetooth circuit 120 can be reduced. data transmission bandwidth requirements.

Only when the data throughput sniffed by the second Bluetooth circuit 120 is lower than the aforementioned predetermined threshold, that is, the Bluetooth wireless signal environment of the second Bluetooth circuit 120 becomes unsatisfactory, and the remote Bluetooth device 102 sends the The first Bluetooth circuit 110 instructs the second Bluetooth circuit 120 to switch the operation mode from the sniffing mode to the indirect receiving mode only when the amount of packets is small or in the sleep mode. In this case, the first Bluetooth circuit 110 will forward all the packets sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102 to the second Bluetooth circuit 120, and the second Bluetooth circuit 120 will stop sniffing the packets sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102, so it can The operation burden, power consumption, and heat generation of the second Bluetooth circuit 120 are reduced. In this way, the working time and standby time of the second Bluetooth circuit 120 can also be prolonged, the service life of the second Bluetooth circuit 120 can be prolonged, and/or the use comfort of the second Bluetooth circuit 120 can be improved. The foregoing method can even allow the second Bluetooth circuit 120 to enter a power saving mode, a sleep mode, or a sleep mode, so as to further reduce the power consumption of the second Bluetooth circuit 120 .

Similarly, the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 can dynamically switch the operation mode of the third Bluetooth circuit 130 according to the data throughput sniffed by the third Bluetooth circuit 130 according to the aforementioned method.

Therefore, using the operation modes of FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 described above, the main Bluetooth circuit in the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 can dynamically switch the operation mode of the secondary Bluetooth circuit from the sniffing mode to the indirect receiving mode, and adaptively change the main Bluetooth circuit The matching operation between the circuit and the secondary Bluetooth circuit can realize load balancing, power consumption balancing, or heat balancing and other management mechanisms among the multiple Bluetooth circuits of the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 , so that the performance of the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 can be improved. Overall performance, prolong the life of the Bluetooth circuit, or improve the user experience.

Please refer to FIG. 4 , which is a simplified partial flowchart of the operation method of the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 according to a second embodiment of the present invention. The operation flow described in FIG. 4 can be matched with the operation flow described in the aforementioned FIG. 2 .

In the embodiment of FIG. 4 , when the secondary Bluetooth circuit operates in the sniffing mode, the process 302 is also intermittently performed to calculate the data throughput of the packets sniffed by itself. However, the secondary Bluetooth circuit in this embodiment will not perform the aforementioned process 304 after performing the process 302, but will perform the process 404 in FIG. 4 to transmit the data throughput of the packets sniffed by itself to the primary Bluetooth circuit.

For example, after the second Bluetooth circuit 120 calculates the aforementioned data throughput in the process 302, the process 404 is performed. At this time, the second control circuit 127 transmits the data throughput to the first Bluetooth circuit 110 through the second Bluetooth communication circuit 121 .

In the process 406 , the first Bluetooth circuit 110 uses the first Bluetooth communication circuit 111 to receive the data throughput from the second Bluetooth circuit 120 .

Next, the first control circuit 117 will perform the process 408 to compare the data throughput sniffed by the second Bluetooth circuit 120 with a predetermined threshold.

If the data throughput sniffed by the second bluetooth circuit 120 is higher than the predetermined threshold, it means that the amount of packets sent by the remote bluetooth device 102 is within the normal range, and the wireless signal environment for the second bluetooth circuit 120 to perform bluetooth communication at that time is ideal enough . In this case, the first Bluetooth circuit 110 will repeat the operations of the aforementioned process 406 and the process 408 without adjusting the operation mode of the second Bluetooth circuit 120 .

On the other hand, if the data throughput sniffed by the second Bluetooth circuit 120 is lower than the predetermined threshold, it means that the wireless signal environment of the second Bluetooth circuit 120 for Bluetooth communication at that time is not ideal, or the packets sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102 are not ideal. Very little, or even in sleep mode. In this case, the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 can perform the same operations as the aforementioned processes 316 to 322 in FIG. 3 .

Similar to the above-mentioned embodiment of FIG. 3 , only when the data throughput sniffed by the second bluetooth circuit 120 is lower than the above-mentioned predetermined threshold, that is, the bluetooth wireless signal environment of the second bluetooth circuit 120 becomes unstable. Ideally, when the amount of packets sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102 is small or in the sleep mode, the first Bluetooth circuit 110 instructs the second Bluetooth circuit 120 to switch the operation mode from the sniffing mode to the indirect receiving mode. In this case, the first Bluetooth circuit 110 will forward all the packets sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102 to the second Bluetooth circuit 120, and the second Bluetooth circuit 120 will stop sniffing the packets sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102, so it can The operation burden, power consumption, and heat generation of the second Bluetooth circuit 120 are reduced. In this way, the working time and standby time of the second Bluetooth circuit 120 can also be prolonged, the service life of the second Bluetooth circuit 120 can be prolonged, and/or the use comfort of the second Bluetooth circuit 120 can be improved. The foregoing method can even allow the second Bluetooth circuit 120 to enter a power saving mode, a sleep mode, or a sleep mode, so as to further reduce the power consumption of the second Bluetooth circuit 120 .

Similarly, the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 can dynamically switch the operation mode of the third Bluetooth circuit 130 according to the data throughput sniffed by the third Bluetooth circuit 130 according to the aforementioned method.

Therefore, using the above-mentioned operation modes of FIG. 2 and FIG. 4 , the main Bluetooth circuit in the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 can dynamically switch the operation mode of the secondary Bluetooth circuit from the sniffing mode to the indirect receiving mode, and adaptively change the main Bluetooth circuit The matching operation between the circuit and the secondary Bluetooth circuit can realize load balancing, power consumption balancing, or heat balancing and other management mechanisms among the multiple Bluetooth circuits of the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 , so that the performance of the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 can be improved. Overall performance, prolong the life of the Bluetooth circuit, or improve the user experience.

Please refer to FIG. 5 , which is a simplified partial flowchart of the operation method of the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 according to a third embodiment of the present invention. The operation flow described in FIG. 5 can be matched with the operation flow described in the aforementioned FIG. 2 .

In the embodiment of FIG. 5 , when the secondary Bluetooth circuit operates in the sniffing mode, the primary Bluetooth circuit intermittently performs the process 502 to calculate the data throughput of the packets sniffed by the secondary Bluetooth circuit.

For example, in the process 502, the first control circuit 117 of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 can calculate the sniffing frequency of the second Bluetooth circuit 120 according to the frequency of transmitting the missing packets to the second Bluetooth communication circuit 121 through the first Bluetooth communication circuit 111. Discovered data throughput.

In general, the lower the frequency that the first control circuit 117 transmits the missing packets to the second Bluetooth communication circuit 121 through the first Bluetooth communication circuit 111, the lower the frequency, which means that the second Bluetooth circuit 120 sniffs the packets sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102. The smoother the operation is, the higher the data throughput sniffed by the second Bluetooth circuit 120 will be. On the contrary, the higher the frequency that the first control circuit 117 transmits the missing packets to the second Bluetooth communication circuit 121 through the first Bluetooth communication circuit 111, the less the operation of the second Bluetooth circuit 120 to sniff the packets sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102 is. It goes well, so the data throughput sniffed by the second Bluetooth circuit 120 will also be lower. Therefore, the first control circuit 117 can indirectly calculate the data throughput sniffed by the second Bluetooth circuit 120 according to the frequency of transmitting the missing packets to the second Bluetooth communication circuit 121 through the first Bluetooth communication circuit 111 .

Next, the first control circuit 117 may perform the process 408 to compare the data throughput calculated above with a predetermined threshold.

If the data throughput calculated by the first Bluetooth circuit 110 is higher than the predetermined threshold, it means that the amount of packets sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102 is within a normal range, and the wireless signal environment for the second Bluetooth circuit 120 to perform Bluetooth communication is ideal enough. In this case, the first Bluetooth circuit 110 repeats the operations of the aforementioned processes 502 and 408 without adjusting the operation mode of the second Bluetooth circuit 120 .

On the contrary, if the data throughput calculated by the first Bluetooth circuit 110 is lower than the predetermined threshold, it means that the wireless signal environment of the second Bluetooth circuit 120 for Bluetooth communication at that time is not ideal, or the amount of packets sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102 Rarely, or even in sleep mode. In this case, the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 can perform the same operations as the aforementioned processes 316 to 322 in FIG. 3 .

Only when the data throughput calculated by the first Bluetooth circuit 110 is lower than the aforementioned predetermined threshold, that is, the Bluetooth wireless signal environment of the second Bluetooth circuit 120 becomes unsatisfactory, the packets sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102 The first Bluetooth circuit 110 instructs the second Bluetooth circuit 120 to switch the operation mode from the sniffing mode to the indirect receiving mode only when the amount of power is small or in the sleep mode. In this case, the first Bluetooth circuit 110 will forward all the packets sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102 to the second Bluetooth circuit 120, and the second Bluetooth circuit 120 will stop sniffing the packets sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102, so it can The operation burden, power consumption, and heat generation of the second Bluetooth circuit 120 are reduced. In this way, the working time and standby time of the second Bluetooth circuit 120 can also be prolonged, the service life of the second Bluetooth circuit 120 can be prolonged, and/or the use comfort of the second Bluetooth circuit 120 can be improved. The foregoing method can even allow the second Bluetooth circuit 120 to enter a power saving mode, a sleep mode, or a sleep mode, so as to further reduce the power consumption of the second Bluetooth circuit 120 .

Similarly, the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 can dynamically switch the operation mode of the third Bluetooth circuit 130 according to the data throughput sniffed by the third Bluetooth circuit 130 according to the aforementioned method.

Therefore, using the operation modes of FIG. 2 and FIG. 5 described above, the main Bluetooth circuit in the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 can dynamically switch the operation mode of the secondary Bluetooth circuit from the sniffing mode to the indirect receiving mode, and adaptively change the main Bluetooth circuit The matching operation between the circuit and the secondary Bluetooth circuit can realize load balancing, power consumption balancing, or heat balancing and other management mechanisms among the multiple Bluetooth circuits of the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 , so that the performance of the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 can be improved. Overall performance, prolong the life of the Bluetooth circuit, or improve the user experience.

Please refer to FIG. 6 , which is a simplified partial flowchart of the operation method of the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention. The operation flow described in FIG. 6 can be matched with the operation flow described in the aforementioned FIG. 2 .

In the embodiment of FIG. 6 , when the secondary Bluetooth circuit operates in the sniffing mode, the primary Bluetooth circuit also performs the process 502 intermittently to calculate the data throughput of the packets sniffed by the secondary Bluetooth circuit. However, after the main Bluetooth circuit in this embodiment performs the process 502, it will not perform the aforementioned process 408, but will perform the process 604 in FIG. 6, and transmit the calculated data throughput of the packet to the secondary Bluetooth circuit for processing further judgment.

For example, after the first Bluetooth circuit 110 calculates the data throughput sniffed by the second Bluetooth circuit 120 in the process 502, the process 604 is performed. At this time, the first control circuit 117 transmits the calculated data throughput to the second Bluetooth circuit 120 through the first Bluetooth communication circuit 111 .

In the process 606 , the second Bluetooth circuit 120 uses the second Bluetooth communication circuit 121 to receive the data throughput from the first Bluetooth circuit 110 .

Next, the second control circuit 127 performs the aforementioned process 304 to compare the data throughput calculated by the first Bluetooth circuit 110 with a predetermined threshold.

If the data throughput calculated by the first Bluetooth circuit 110 is higher than the predetermined threshold, it means that the amount of packets sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102 is within a normal range, and the wireless signal environment for the second Bluetooth circuit 120 to perform Bluetooth communication is ideal enough. In this case, the second Bluetooth circuit 120 repeats the operations of the aforementioned process 208 and process 210 .

On the contrary, if the data throughput calculated by the first Bluetooth circuit 110 is lower than the predetermined threshold, it means that the wireless signal environment of the second Bluetooth circuit 120 for Bluetooth communication at that time is not ideal, or the amount of packets sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102 Rarely, or even in sleep mode. In this case, the second Bluetooth circuit 120 can perform the aforementioned process 306 to generate a first mode switching request, and transmit the aforementioned first mode switching request to the main Bluetooth circuit through the second Bluetooth communication circuit 121 .

Next, the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 may perform the same operations as the aforementioned process 308 to process 322 in FIG. 3 .

Similar to the aforementioned embodiment of FIG. 5 , only when the data throughput calculated by the first Bluetooth circuit 110 is lower than the aforementioned predetermined threshold, that is, the Bluetooth wireless signal environment of the second Bluetooth circuit 120 becomes unsatisfactory The first Bluetooth circuit 110 instructs the second Bluetooth circuit 120 to switch the operation mode from the sniffing mode to the indirect receiving mode only when the amount of packets sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102 is small or in the sleep mode. In this case, the first Bluetooth circuit 110 will forward all the packets sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102 to the second Bluetooth circuit 120, and the second Bluetooth circuit 120 will stop sniffing the packets sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102, so it can The operation burden, power consumption, and heat generation of the second Bluetooth circuit 120 are reduced. In this way, the working time and standby time of the second Bluetooth circuit 120 can also be prolonged, the service life of the second Bluetooth circuit 120 can be prolonged, and/or the use comfort of the second Bluetooth circuit 120 can be improved. The foregoing method can even allow the second Bluetooth circuit 120 to enter a power saving mode, a sleep mode, or a sleep mode, so as to further reduce the power consumption of the second Bluetooth circuit 120 .

Similarly, the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 can dynamically switch the operation mode of the third Bluetooth circuit 130 according to the data throughput sniffed by the third Bluetooth circuit 130 according to the aforementioned method.

Therefore, using the operation modes of FIG. 2 and FIG. 6 described above, the main Bluetooth circuit in the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 can dynamically switch the operation mode of the secondary Bluetooth circuit from the sniffing mode to the indirect receiving mode, and adaptively change the main Bluetooth circuit The matching operation between the circuit and the secondary Bluetooth circuit can realize load balancing, power consumption balancing, or heat balancing and other management mechanisms among the multiple Bluetooth circuits of the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 , so that the performance of the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 can be improved. Overall performance, prolong the life of the Bluetooth circuit, or improve the user experience.

In the aforementioned embodiments of FIGS. 2 to 6 , the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 evaluates the secondary Bluetooth circuit according to the data throughput calculated by the secondary Bluetooth circuit or the primary Bluetooth circuit while the secondary Bluetooth circuit is operating in the sniffing mode. Whether the Bluetooth wireless signal environment is degraded, or whether the amount of packets sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102 is significantly reduced, and according to the evaluation results, it is decided whether to switch the operation mode of the secondary Bluetooth circuit from the sniffing mode to the indirect receiving mode. . However, this is only a partial example, rather than limiting the actual implementation of the present invention. In practice, the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 can also dynamically determine whether to switch the operation mode of the secondary Bluetooth circuit according to changes in the current Bluetooth wireless signal environment when the secondary Bluetooth circuit operates in the indirect receiving mode.

For example, FIG. 7 to FIG. 8 are simplified flowcharts of the operation method of the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 in a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 7 , the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 may first perform the aforementioned process 202 to obtain the Bluetooth connection parameters required for receiving packets sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102 . The foregoing descriptions about the operation of the process 202 in FIG. 2 and the variation of the embodiment are also applicable to the embodiment of FIG. 7 .

For convenience of description, the following also assumes that the first Bluetooth circuit 110 is the member circuit currently selected to process the main work of receiving packets sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102 in the multi-member Bluetooth device 100, and other member circuits (for example, The aforementioned second Bluetooth circuit 120 and the third Bluetooth circuit 130) play the role of secondary Bluetooth circuits.

In the process 704 , the first Bluetooth circuit 110 can notify other member circuits (eg, the aforementioned second Bluetooth circuit 120 and third Bluetooth circuit 130 ) of the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 through the first Bluetooth communication circuit 111 . The first Bluetooth circuit 110 plays the role of the main Bluetooth circuit, and instructs other member circuits to play the role of the secondary Bluetooth circuit, and operates in the indirect receiving mode. That is, the first Bluetooth circuit 110 will be responsible for the main work of receiving the packets sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102, and other member circuits only need to receive the packets forwarded by the first Bluetooth circuit 110 without sniffing the remote The packets sent by the Bluetooth device 102 do not allow other member circuits to transmit commands, data, or other related packets to the remote Bluetooth device 102 .

Next, the first Bluetooth circuit 110 will perform the process 706 while the secondary Bluetooth circuit is operating in the indirect receiving mode.

In the process 706 , the first control circuit 117 of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 will use the first Bluetooth communication circuit 111 to receive the packets from the remote Bluetooth device 102 , and the first control circuit 117 will also use the first Bluetooth communication circuit 111 to receive packets from the remote Bluetooth device 102 . The packets transmitted from the remote Bluetooth device 102 are forwarded to other secondary Bluetooth circuits. For example, the first control circuit 117 can forward the packets transmitted from the remote Bluetooth device 102 to the second Bluetooth circuit 120 through the first Bluetooth communication circuit 111 .

During operation, the first control circuit 117 can use the Bluetooth connection parameters obtained in the process 202 to perform packet transmission with the remote Bluetooth device 102 through the first Bluetooth communication circuit 111 to receive various data from the remote Bluetooth device 102 . packets, or send various packets to the remote Bluetooth device 102 . As can be seen from the operation description of the aforementioned process 202, the Bluetooth connection parameters used when the first Bluetooth circuit 110 and the remote Bluetooth device 102 perform packet transmission may be obtained by the first Bluetooth circuit 110 itself, or may be other member circuits. (eg, from the second Bluetooth circuit 120).

As mentioned above, various suitable packet handshake mechanisms can be used between the first Bluetooth circuit 110 and the remote Bluetooth device 102 to reduce or avoid the occurrence of missing packets.

In the process 708 , the secondary Bluetooth circuit operates in the indirect receiving mode to receive the packets forwarded by the first Bluetooth circuit 110 . For example, the second control circuit 127 can control the second Bluetooth circuit 120 to operate in an indirect receiving mode, and use the second Bluetooth communication circuit 121 to receive packets transmitted from the first Bluetooth circuit 110 . As mentioned above, when the second Bluetooth circuit 120 operates in the indirect receiving mode, the second control circuit 127 does not use the second Bluetooth communication circuit 121 to sniff the packets sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102 . In other words, when the second Bluetooth circuit 120 operates in the indirect receiving mode, the second Bluetooth circuit 120 indirectly acquires the packets sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102 through the first Bluetooth circuit 110 .

As shown in FIG. 7 , when the secondary Bluetooth circuit operates in the indirect reception mode, the process 710 is also performed intermittently to calculate a reception quality indicator ( signal reception quality indicator). For example, in the process 710 , the second control circuit 127 of the second Bluetooth circuit 120 can evaluate the current Bluetooth signal reception status of the second Bluetooth communication circuit 121 to calculate a corresponding signal reception quality indicator. In practice, the aforementioned reception quality indicators can be a packet error rate (PER), a bit error rate (BER), a signal reception strength (signal reception strength), a quality of service (quality of service, QoS), or other index values that can represent the current Bluetooth signal reception status of the second Bluetooth communication circuit 121 .

Next, the second control circuit 127 may perform the process 712 to compare the aforementioned reception quality index with a predetermined index value.

If the received signal quality index calculated by the second control circuit 127 is worse than the predetermined index value, it means that the wireless signal environment in which the second Bluetooth circuit 120 performs the Bluetooth communication at that time is not ideal. In this case, the second Bluetooth circuit 120 can continue to operate in the indirect receiving mode, and repeat the operations of the aforementioned process 708 to process 712 .

On the contrary, if the received signal quality index calculated by the second control circuit 127 is better than the predetermined index value, it means that the wireless signal environment in which the second Bluetooth circuit 120 performs Bluetooth communication at that time is ideal enough. In this case, the second Bluetooth circuit 120 may perform the process 714 .

In the process 714 , the second control circuit 127 generates a second mode switching request, and transmits the second mode switching request to the main Bluetooth circuit through the second Bluetooth communication circuit 121 . The aforementioned second mode switching request is used to request the master Bluetooth circuit to allow the second Bluetooth circuit 120 to switch from the indirect receiving mode to the sniffing mode. In practice, various suitable data formats can be used to implement the second mode switching request.

In the process 716 , the first Bluetooth circuit 110 uses the first Bluetooth communication circuit 111 to receive the second mode switching request from the second Bluetooth circuit 120 .

In the process 718, the first control circuit 117 of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 determines whether to allow the second Bluetooth circuit 120 to switch the operation mode. In this embodiment, after receiving the aforementioned second mode switching request, the first control circuit 117 can judge whether to allow the second Bluetooth circuit 120 to switch the operation mode according to a predetermined rule, and perform corresponding follow-up according to the judgment result. Process flow. If the first control circuit 117 determines that the second Bluetooth circuit 120 is not allowed to switch the operation mode, the process 802 in FIG. 8 will be performed. On the contrary, if the first control circuit 117 decides to allow the second Bluetooth circuit 120 to switch the operation mode after judgment, the process 806 in FIG. 8 will be performed.

Since the first Bluetooth circuit 110 allows the second Bluetooth circuit 120 to switch the operation mode, the second Bluetooth circuit 120 can switch from the indirect receiving mode to the sniffing mode, and then the second Bluetooth circuit 120 will sniff the remote Bluetooth by itself The packets sent by the device 102 , so the first Bluetooth circuit 110 does not need to forward the packets sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102 to the second Bluetooth circuit 120 . As a result, the computing load, power consumption, or heat generation of the second Bluetooth circuit 120 may increase, but the data bandwidth requirement between the first Bluetooth circuit 110 and the second Bluetooth circuit 120 can be reduced, and the first Bluetooth circuit 110 can also be reduced. Operation load, power consumption, or heat generation of the Bluetooth circuit 110 .

Therefore, after receiving the aforementioned second mode switching request, the first control circuit 117 can evaluate whether there are factors that are not suitable for the second Bluetooth circuit 120 to switch the operation mode, and if not, allow the second Bluetooth circuit 120 to switch the operation mode . For example, the first control circuit 117 may allow the second Bluetooth circuit 120 when the computing load of the second Bluetooth circuit 120 is lower than a predetermined level, the remaining power is higher than a predetermined threshold, and/or the temperature is lower than a predetermined temperature. Circuit 120 switches operating modes. For another example, the first control circuit 117 can only allow the second Bluetooth circuit 110 when the computing load of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 is higher than a predetermined level, the remaining power is lower than a predetermined threshold, and/or the temperature is higher than a predetermined temperature. The Bluetooth circuit 120 switches the operation mode.

In the process 802 , the first control circuit 117 generates a rejection message indicating that the first Bluetooth circuit 110 does not allow the second Bluetooth circuit 120 to switch the operation mode, and transmits the rejection message to the second Bluetooth circuit through the first Bluetooth communication circuit 111 120.

In the process 804 , the second Bluetooth circuit 120 uses the second Bluetooth communication circuit 121 to receive the rejection information from the first Bluetooth circuit 110 . In this case, the second control circuit 127 will control the second Bluetooth circuit 120 to continue to operate in the indirect receiving mode according to the indication of the rejection information, and repeat the operations of the aforementioned process 708 to process 712 .

In the process 806, the first control circuit 117 of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 generates a second mode switching instruction for instructing the second Bluetooth circuit 120 to switch from the indirect receiving mode to the sniffing mode, and communicates through the first Bluetooth The circuit 111 transmits the second mode switching instruction to the second Bluetooth circuit 120 .

In the process 808 , the second Bluetooth communication circuit 121 receives the second mode switching instruction from the first Bluetooth circuit 110 , and the second control circuit 127 sends the second mode switching instruction to the second Bluetooth circuit 120 according to the second mode switching instruction. The operating mode is switched from the indirect reception mode to the sniffing mode.

Next, the first Bluetooth circuit 110 will perform the process 810 , and the second Bluetooth circuit 120 will perform the process 812 .

In the process 810 , the first control circuit 117 of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 uses the first Bluetooth communication circuit 111 to receive packets from the remote Bluetooth device 102 , but the first control circuit 117 does not pass the first Bluetooth communication circuit 111 The packets transmitted from the remote Bluetooth device 102 are forwarded to the second Bluetooth circuit 120 .

In the process 812 , the second control circuit 127 of the second Bluetooth circuit 120 can use the second Bluetooth communication circuit 121 to sniff the packets sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102 according to the Bluetooth connection parameters obtained in the process 202 . In one embodiment, the second Bluetooth communication circuit 121 can sniff all Bluetooth packets sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102 . In another embodiment, the second Bluetooth communication circuit 121 only sniffs the Bluetooth packets to be transmitted by the remote Bluetooth device 102 to the first Bluetooth circuit 110 , but does not sniff the Bluetooth packets to be transmitted by the remote Bluetooth device 102 to the multi-member Bluetooth Bluetooth packets of devices other than device 100. It can be seen from the description of the aforementioned process 202 that the Bluetooth connection parameters used by the second Bluetooth communication circuit 121 to sniff the packets sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102 may be obtained by the second Bluetooth circuit 120 itself, or may be obtained by other members. circuit (eg, the first Bluetooth circuit 110 ).

Next, the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 may perform the same operations as the aforementioned processes 210 to 216 in FIG. 2 .

Please note that the aforementioned first control circuit 117 first performs the determination procedure of the process 718, and then performs the operation of the process 806 after determining that the second Bluetooth circuit 120 is allowed to switch the operation mode, which is only an example, and does not limit the actual implementation of the present invention. Way. In practice, after receiving the aforementioned second mode switching request, the first control circuit 117 can skip the judgment procedure of the aforementioned flow 718 and directly perform the flow 806 .

As can be seen from the foregoing description, the second Bluetooth circuit 120 acting as the secondary Bluetooth circuit will intermittently compare the reception quality indicator corresponding to the second Bluetooth communication circuit 121 with the predetermined indicator value during the operation in the indirect reception mode. , to evaluate whether the Bluetooth signal receiving condition of the second Bluetooth communication circuit 121 at that time is obviously improved. As long as the reception quality index of the second Bluetooth communication circuit 121 is worse than the aforementioned predetermined index value, that is, the wireless signal environment in which the second Bluetooth circuit 120 performs Bluetooth communication at that time is not ideal, the first Bluetooth circuit that plays the role of the main Bluetooth circuit 110 will not instruct the second Bluetooth circuit 120 to switch to the sniffing mode, so as to prevent the second Bluetooth circuit 120 from wasting computing resources and power in performing inefficient packet sniffing operations.

Only when the reception quality index of the second Bluetooth communication circuit 121 is better than the aforementioned predetermined index value, that is, the Bluetooth wireless signal environment of the second Bluetooth circuit 120 becomes sufficiently ideal, the first Bluetooth circuit 110 will indicate The second Bluetooth circuit 120 switches the operation mode from the indirect receiving mode to the sniffing mode. In this case, the first Bluetooth circuit 110 only needs to transmit the packets missed by the second Bluetooth circuit 120 to the second Bluetooth circuit 120, and does not need to forward all the packets sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102 to the second Bluetooth circuit 120. Therefore, the operation burden, power consumption, and heat generation of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 can be reduced, the working time and standby time of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 can be prolonged, and the distance between the first Bluetooth circuit 110 and the second Bluetooth circuit 120 can be reduced. data transmission bandwidth requirements.

Similarly, the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 can dynamically switch the operation mode of the third Bluetooth circuit 130 according to the data throughput sniffed by the third Bluetooth circuit 130 according to the aforementioned method.

Therefore, using the operation modes of FIG. 7 and FIG. 8, the main Bluetooth circuit in the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 can dynamically switch the operation mode of the sub Bluetooth circuit from the indirect receiving mode to the sniffing mode, and adaptively change the main Bluetooth circuit The matching operation between the circuit and the secondary Bluetooth circuit can realize load balancing, power consumption balancing, or heat balancing and other management mechanisms among the multiple Bluetooth circuits of the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 , so that the performance of the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 can be improved. Overall performance, prolong the life of the Bluetooth circuit, or improve the user experience.

Please refer to FIG. 9 to FIG. 10 , which are simplified flowcharts of the operation method of the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 in a sixth embodiment of the present invention.

In the embodiments of FIG. 9 and FIG. 10 , when the secondary Bluetooth circuit operates in the indirect reception mode, the process 710 is also intermittently performed to calculate a signal corresponding to the signal reception status of its own Bluetooth communication circuit. Receiver quality indicator. However, the secondary Bluetooth circuit in this embodiment will not perform the aforementioned process 712 after performing the process 710, but will perform the process 912 in FIG. 9 to transmit the received quality index calculated by itself to the main Bluetooth circuit.

For example, after the second Bluetooth circuit 120 calculates the aforementioned reception quality index in the process 710, the process 912 is performed. At this time, the second control circuit 127 transmits the reception quality indicator to the first Bluetooth circuit 110 through the second Bluetooth communication circuit 121 .

In the process 914 , the first Bluetooth circuit 110 utilizes the first Bluetooth communication circuit 111 to receive the received signal quality indicator from the second Bluetooth circuit 120 .

Next, the first control circuit 117 will perform a process 916 to compare the reception quality index calculated by the second Bluetooth circuit 120 with a predetermined index value.

If the received signal quality index calculated by the second control circuit 127 is worse than the predetermined index value, it means that the wireless signal environment in which the second Bluetooth circuit 120 performs the Bluetooth communication at that time is not ideal. In this case, the first Bluetooth circuit 110 may perform the process 802 in FIG. 10 .

On the contrary, if the received signal quality index calculated by the second control circuit 127 is better than the predetermined index value, it means that the wireless signal environment in which the second Bluetooth circuit 120 performs Bluetooth communication at that time is ideal enough. In this case, the first Bluetooth circuit 110 may perform the process 806 in FIG. 10 .

In the process 806 , the first control circuit 117 generates a second mode switching instruction for instructing the second Bluetooth circuit 120 to switch from the indirect receiving mode to the sniffing mode, and switches the second mode to the second mode through the first Bluetooth communication circuit 111 The switching instruction is transmitted to the second Bluetooth circuit 120 .

In the process 808 , the second Bluetooth communication circuit 121 receives the second mode switching instruction from the first Bluetooth circuit 110 , and the second control circuit 127 sends the second mode switching instruction to the second Bluetooth circuit 120 according to the second mode switching instruction. The operating mode is switched from the indirect reception mode to the sniffing mode.

Next, the first Bluetooth circuit 110 will perform the process 810 , and the second Bluetooth circuit 120 will perform the process 812 .

In the process 810 , the first control circuit 117 uses the first Bluetooth communication circuit 111 to receive packets from the remote Bluetooth device 102 , but the first control circuit 117 does not send the remote Bluetooth device 102 to the remote Bluetooth device 102 through the first Bluetooth communication circuit 111 . The incoming packets are forwarded to the second Bluetooth circuit 120 .

In the process 812 , the second control circuit 127 can use the second Bluetooth communication circuit 121 to sniff the packets sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102 according to the Bluetooth connection parameters obtained in the process 202 .

Next, the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 may perform the same operations as the aforementioned processes 210 to 216 in FIG. 2 .

Many of the processes in FIG. 10 are the same as those in the embodiment of FIG. 8 . Therefore, the foregoing descriptions about the operation mode and the variation of the embodiments of the corresponding processes in FIG. 8 are also applicable to the embodiment of FIG. 10 .

As can be seen from the foregoing description, the first Bluetooth circuit 110 in this embodiment intermittently compares the reception quality indicator corresponding to the second Bluetooth communication circuit 121 with the received signal quality index corresponding to the second Bluetooth communication circuit 121 while the second Bluetooth circuit 120 is operating in the indirect reception mode. The predetermined index values are compared to evaluate whether the current Bluetooth signal receiving conditions of the second Bluetooth communication circuit 121 are significantly improved. As long as the reception quality index of the second Bluetooth communication circuit 121 is worse than the aforementioned predetermined index value, that is, the wireless signal environment in which the second Bluetooth circuit 120 performs Bluetooth communication at that time is not ideal, the first Bluetooth circuit that plays the role of the main Bluetooth circuit 110 will not instruct the second Bluetooth circuit 120 to switch to the sniffing mode, so as to prevent the second Bluetooth circuit 120 from wasting computing resources and power in performing inefficient packet sniffing operations.

Only when the reception quality index of the second Bluetooth communication circuit 121 is better than the aforementioned predetermined index value, that is, the Bluetooth wireless signal environment of the second Bluetooth circuit 120 becomes sufficiently ideal, the first Bluetooth circuit 110 will indicate The second Bluetooth circuit 120 switches the operation mode from the indirect receiving mode to the sniffing mode. In this case, the first Bluetooth circuit 110 only needs to transmit the packets missed by the second Bluetooth circuit 120 to the second Bluetooth circuit 120, and does not need to forward all the packets sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102 to the second Bluetooth circuit 120. Therefore, the operation burden, power consumption, and heat generation of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 can be reduced, the working time and standby time of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 can be prolonged, and the distance between the first Bluetooth circuit 110 and the second Bluetooth circuit 120 can be reduced. data transmission bandwidth requirements.

Similarly, the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 can dynamically switch the operation mode of the third Bluetooth circuit 130 according to the data throughput sniffed by the third Bluetooth circuit 130 according to the aforementioned method.

9 and 10, the primary Bluetooth circuit in the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 can dynamically switch the operation mode of the secondary Bluetooth circuit from the indirect receiving mode to the sniffing mode, and adaptively change the primary Bluetooth circuit The matching operation between the circuit and the secondary Bluetooth circuit can realize load balancing, power consumption balancing, or heat balancing and other management mechanisms among the multiple Bluetooth circuits of the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 , so that the performance of the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 can be improved. Overall performance, prolong the life of the Bluetooth circuit, or improve the user experience.

Please note that the number of member circuits of the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 in the foregoing embodiments may be reduced to two, or may be increased according to actual circuit application requirements.

Certain terms are used in the description and the scope of the claims to refer to specific elements, and those skilled in the art may refer to the same elements by different terms. This specification and the scope of the patent application do not use the difference in name as a way to distinguish elements, but use the difference in function of the elements as a criterion for distinguishing. The "comprising" mentioned in the description and the scope of the patent application is an open-ended term, and should be interpreted as "including but not limited to". In addition, the term "coupled" herein includes any direct and indirect means of connection. Therefore, if it is described in the text that the first element is coupled to the second element, it means that the first element can be directly connected to the second element through electrical connection or signal connection such as wireless transmission or optical transmission, or through other elements or connections. The means is indirectly electrically or signally connected to the second element.

The descriptions of "and/or" used in the specification include any combination of one or more of the listed items. In addition, unless otherwise specified in the specification, any term in the singular also includes the meaning in the plural.

The above are only preferred embodiments of the present invention, and all equivalent changes and modifications made according to the claims of the present invention shall fall within the scope of the present invention.

100． . . multi-member Bluetooth device

102． . . remote Bluetooth device

110． . . first Bluetooth circuit

111． . . first Bluetooth communication circuit

113． . . first packet parsing circuit

115． . . first clock synchronizing circuit

117． . . first control circuit

120． . . second Bluetooth circuit

121． . . second Bluetooth communication circuit

123． . . second packet parsing circuit

125． . . second clock synchronizing circuit

127． . . second control circuit

130． . . third Bluetooth circuit

FIG. 1 is a simplified functional block diagram of a multi-member Bluetooth device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 to 3 are simplified flowcharts of the operation method of the multi-member Bluetooth device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a simplified partial flowchart of the operation method of the multi-member Bluetooth device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a simplified partial flowchart of the operation method of the multi-member Bluetooth device according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a simplified partial flowchart of the operation method of the multi-member Bluetooth device according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

7 to 8 are simplified flowcharts of the operation method of the multi-member Bluetooth device according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

9 to 10 are simplified flowcharts of the operation method of the multi-member Bluetooth device according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention.

100． ． ． Multi-member Bluetooth device 102． ． ． remote bluetooth device 110． ． ． first bluetooth circuit 111． ． . first bluetooth communication circuit 113． . . The first packet parsing circuit 115． . . The first clock synchronization circuit 117． . . first control circuit 120． . . second bluetooth circuit 121． . . second bluetooth communication circuit 123． . . The second packet parsing circuit 125． . . Second clock synchronization circuit 127． . . second control circuit 130． . . third bluetooth circuit

Claims (7)

A secondary Bluetooth circuit (120) in a multi-member Bluetooth device (100), the multi-member Bluetooth device (100) is used for data transmission with a remote Bluetooth device (102), and comprises a main Bluetooth circuit (110) and The secondary Bluetooth circuit (120), the secondary Bluetooth circuit (120) includes: a second Bluetooth communication circuit (121); a second packet parsing circuit (123) configured to parse the packets received by the second Bluetooth communication circuit (121); and A second control circuit (127), coupled to the second Bluetooth communication circuit (121) and the second packet analysis circuit (123), configured to control the secondary Bluetooth circuit (120) in a sniffing mode and a How it works in indirect reception mode; Wherein, when the secondary Bluetooth circuit (120) operates in the sniffing mode, the primary Bluetooth circuit (110) receives packets from the remote Bluetooth device (102), and the second control circuit (127) Using the second Bluetooth communication circuit (121) to sniff the packets sent by the remote Bluetooth device (102); When a data throughput of packets sniffed by the secondary Bluetooth circuit (120) is lower than a predetermined threshold, the secondary Bluetooth circuit (120) switches from the sniffing mode to the indirect receiving mode; and During the period when the secondary Bluetooth circuit (120) operates in the indirect communication mode, the second control circuit (127) will not use the second Bluetooth communication circuit (121) to sniff the remote Bluetooth device (102) for packets, the main Bluetooth circuit (110) will receive the packets from the remote Bluetooth device (102), and forward the received packets to the secondary Bluetooth circuit (120), and the second control circuit (127) The second bluetooth communication circuit (121) is used to receive the packets forwarded by the main bluetooth circuit (110). The secondary Bluetooth circuit (120) of claim 1, wherein one of the primary Bluetooth circuit (110) and the second control circuit (127) calculates the data throughput, and the primary Bluetooth circuit (110) ) and one of the second control circuit (127) compares the data throughput to the predetermined threshold. The secondary Bluetooth circuit (120) of claim 2, wherein the second control circuit (127) is further configured to calculate the data throughput and compare the data throughput with the predetermined threshold; Wherein, if the data throughput is lower than the predetermined threshold, the second control circuit (127) will transmit a mode switching request to the main Bluetooth circuit (110) through the second Bluetooth communication circuit (121) to request The main Bluetooth circuit (110) allows the secondary Bluetooth circuit (120) to switch from the sniffing mode to the indirect receiving mode. The secondary Bluetooth circuit (120) as claimed in claim 2, wherein the second control circuit (127) is further configured to calculate the data throughput and transmit the data throughput through the second Bluetooth communication circuit (121) to the master Bluetooth circuit (110) for the master Bluetooth circuit (110) to compare the data throughput with the predetermined threshold; Wherein, if the data throughput is lower than the predetermined threshold, the second Bluetooth communication circuit (121) will receive a mode switching instruction generated by the main Bluetooth circuit (110), and the second control circuit (127) will The secondary Bluetooth circuit (120) is switched from the sniffing mode to the indirect receiving mode according to the mode switching instruction. The secondary Bluetooth circuit (120) according to claim 2, wherein, during the period when the secondary Bluetooth circuit (120) operates in the sniffing mode, the second control circuit (127) further utilizes the second Bluetooth communication circuit (121) Receive packets from the main Bluetooth circuit (110) to obtain packets sent by the remote Bluetooth device (102) but missed by the second Bluetooth communication circuit (121). The secondary Bluetooth circuit (120) of claim 5, wherein during the period when the secondary Bluetooth circuit (120) operates in the sniffing mode, the primary Bluetooth circuit (110) transmits missing packets to the second Bluetooth the frequency of the Bluetooth communication circuit (121) to calculate the data throughput and compare the data throughput with the predetermined threshold; Wherein, if the data throughput is lower than the predetermined threshold, the second Bluetooth communication circuit (121) will receive a mode switching instruction generated by the main Bluetooth circuit (110), and the second control circuit (127) will The secondary Bluetooth circuit (120) is switched from the sniffing mode to the indirect receiving mode according to the mode switching instruction. The secondary Bluetooth circuit (120) of claim 5, wherein during the period when the secondary Bluetooth circuit (120) operates in the sniffing mode, the primary Bluetooth circuit (110) transmits missing packets to the second Bluetooth The frequency of the bluetooth communication circuit (121) to calculate the data throughput, and transmit the data throughput to the second bluetooth communication circuit (121), and the second control circuit (127) is also set to the data throughput The amount is compared with the predetermined threshold; Wherein, if the data throughput is lower than the predetermined threshold, the second control circuit (127) will transmit a mode switching request to the main Bluetooth circuit (110) through the second Bluetooth communication circuit (121) to request The main Bluetooth circuit (110) allows the secondary Bluetooth circuit (120) to switch from the sniffing mode to the indirect receiving mode.

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