WO2018018414A1

WO2018018414A1 - Method and device for providing an ordered list of neighbouring devices

Info

Publication number: WO2018018414A1
Application number: PCT/CN2016/091718
Authority: WO
Inventors: Guoqiang HUANG; Jianlong CAO; Yu Fu; Yongnian CHEN
Original assignee: Thomson Licensing
Priority date: 2016-07-26
Filing date: 2016-07-26
Publication date: 2018-02-01

Abstract

It is provided a method for providing a dynamic list of available devices in an area having a gateway and at least two anchor devices deployed, wherein at the gateway, comprising determining a list of available devices and positioning information of the available devices (602); determining positioning information of a displaying device with the assistance of the at least two anchor devices (603); determining distance values between the displaying device and the available devices (604); sorting order of the list by the distance values (605); and providing the sorted list (606).

Description

METHOD AND DEVICE FOR PROVIDING AN ORDERED LIST OF NEIGHBOURING DEVICES

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to data processing, and more particularly to a method and a device for providing an ordered list of neighboring devices.

BACKGROUND

A typical smart home consists of a smart residential gateway, one or more nodes and a controlling device. The gateway is a multi-radio-supported coordinator that plays a managing role to monitor and control the nodes. The nodes are all kinds of devices in wired or wireless communication with the gateway. They send their status and receive control commands from the gateway. The controlling device is used to provide a user interface to a user to present the nodes'status and control the devices.

Taking lights as example, the gateway collects on/off status of lamps at home and sends a list of the lamps together with their status to the controlling device. Then the user uses the controlling device to check lamps’status and control them.

Further, the gateway can collect the status of other home appliances, for example, refrigerator, heater, air conditioner, boiler etc. But the list provided by the gateway is in a fixed order. It does not change when the user holding the controlling device moves at home.

SUMMARY

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, it is provided a method for providing a dynamic list of available devices in an area having a gateway and at least two anchor devices deployed, wherein at the gateway, comprising determining a list of available devices and positioning information of the available devices； determining positioning information of a displaying device with the assistance of the at least two anchor devices； determining distance values between the displaying device and the available devices； sorting order of the list by the distance values； and providing the sorted list.

According to another aspect of present disclosure, it is provided a gateway for providing a dynamic list of available devices in an area having the gateway and at least two anchor devices deployed, wherein comprising a storage for storing data； and a processor for determining a list of available devices and positioning information of the available devices, wherein the positioning information of the available devices are read from the storage； determining positioning information of a displaying device with the assistance of the at least two anchor devices； determining distance values between the displaying device and the available devices； sorting order of the list by the distance values； and providing the sorted list.

It is to be understood that more aspects and advantages of the present disclosure will be found in the following detailed description of the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this application, will be used to illustrate an embodiment of the invention, as explained by the description. The invention is not limited to one embodiment.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an initial list on a display screen of a controlling device according to an embodiment of a present disclosure；

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a dynamic list based on distance between the controlling device and the neighboring controllable devices according to the embodiment of the present disclosure；

Fig. 3 is a block diagram of a system for providing a dynamic list according to an embodiment of the present disclosure；

Fig. 4 is a block diagram of a gateway for providing a dynamic list according to the embodiment of the present disclosure；

Fig. 5 is a block diagram of an anchor device for providing a dynamic list according to the embodiment of the present disclosure；

Fig. 6 is a flow chart showing a method for providing a dynamic list according to the embodiment of present disclosure；

Fig. 7 is a diagram showing positional relationship between the gateway, anchor nodes and the controllable device according to the embodiment of present disclosure； and

Fig. 8 is a schematic diagram showing a method for calculating distance between a controlling device and a controllable device according to the embodiment of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The embodiment of the present invention will now be described in detail in conjunction with the drawings. In the following description, some detailed descriptions of known functions and configurations may be omitted for clarity and conciseness.

It is desired to provide a method and a device for providing an ordered list of neighboring device to the controlling device. The neighboring devices are sorted in a near to far manner in the list. When the user holding the controlling device moves at home, the list is dynamically changed.

An embodiment of the present disclosure is to use indoor location technology (or called indoor positioning technology) to identify location of the controlling device 303 and the controllable devices. Both the controlling device 303 and the controllable devices are connected to a gateway, and location identification and distance calculation are carried out by the gateway. So the list of controllable devices displayed on the controlling device 303 can be sorted by distance values associated with each controllable device. Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an initial list on a display screen of a controlling device, e.g. a mobile phone or tablet, according to an embodiment of a present disclosure. Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a dynamic list based on distance between the controlling device 303 and the neighboring controllable devices according to the embodiment of the present disclosure. In most cases users are more interested in and prone to operate nearby devices than distant devices in most cases. The advantage of providing the dynamic list is that the users can easily find their desired device.

Fig. 3 is a block diagram of a system for providing a dynamic list according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The system comprises a gateway 301, two or more anchor devices 302, a controlling device 303 and two or more controllable devices 304. Herein, the anchor device is a device that has a fixed position and can assist the location identification for the controllable devices. In the embodiment, the anchor devices, the controlling device 303 and the controllable devices are connected to the gateway 301 via Wi-Fi. It shall note that other wireless protocols can also be used, for example, ZigBee, Zwave etc.

Fig. 4 is a block diagram of a gateway 301 for providing a dynamic list according to the embodiment of the present disclosure. The gateway 301 includes a microprocessor (MPC) or processor 401, a transceiver 402, a power supplier 403, a non-volatile storage 404 and a volatile storage 405.

The MPC 401 is used to process program instructions stored on the non-volatile storage 404.

The transceiver 402 is used to receive and send data. In this embodiment, it is a Wi-Fi transceiver. It shall note that it can also be other wireless transceiver as long as the wireless signal can be used for positioning calculation.

The power supplier 403 is used to supply power to all modules of the gateway. It usually converts alternating current to a 5 V direct current.

The volatile storage 405 is used to store temporary data. In implementations, it can use volatile random access memory (RAM) , e.g. SDRAM.

The non-volatile storage 404 is used to store data and program instructions, which remain in the non-volatile storage 404 if it is not powered. In implementations, it can use read only memory (ROM) , flash etc. As to flash, it can use NOR flash and NAND flash.

Fig. 5 is a block diagram of an anchor device for providing a dynamic list according to the embodiment of the present disclosure. The anchor device includes a microprocessor (MPC) or processor 501, a transceiver 502, a power supplier 503, a non-volatile storage 504 and a volatile storage 505.

The MPC 501 is used to process program instructions stored on the non-volatile storage 504.

The transceiver 502 is used to receive and send data. In this embodiment, it is a Wi-Fi transceiver. It shall be noted that it can also be other wireless transceiver as long as the wireless signal can be used for positioning calculation.

The power supplier 503 is used to supply power to all modules of the gateway. It usually converts alternating current to a 5 V direct current.

The volatile storage 505 is used to store temporary data. In implementations, it can use volatile random access memory (RAM) , e.g. SDRAM.

The non-volatile storage 504 is used to store data and program instructions, which remain in the non-volatile storage 504 if it is not powered. In implementations, it can use read only memory (ROM) , flash etc. As to flash, it can use NOR flash and NAND flash.

Fig. 6 is a flow chart showing a method for providing a dynamic list according to the embodiment of present disclosure.

At step 601, the processor 401 of the gateway stores coordinates of two anchor devices 302-1, 302-2 in response to a manual configuration or input. The anchor devices are deployed at user home or in an area where a dynamic list is provided. The coordinates of the anchor devices are manually measured and entered to the non-volatile storage 404 of the gateway. Herein, the gateway 301 is put at the origin of the coordinates system. So there is no need to store the gateway’s coordinate. If the gateway 301 is not put to origin of the coordinates system, the gateway 301 needs to store its coordinate in the non-volatile storage 404. It shall note that more anchor devices can be deployed.

At step 602, the processor 401 of the gateway 301 determines a list of controllable devices available for use and their coordinates. The processor 401 stores the list of controllable devices available for use in the non-volatile storage 404, for example, in the form of a table. Based on the communication via transceiver 402, it knows which controllable device becomes available or unavailable, and then adjusts the list of available controllable devices by adding or removing operation. The coordinates of available controllable devices are stored in the non-volatile storage 404 of the gateway. The processor 401 of the gateway 301 can directly read them from the non-volatile storage 404. Generally, the coordinate of a controllable device is calculated once when the controllable device joins the network. And then the coordinate associated with the controllable device is stored as constant value. It is because the controllable devices are generally mounted or placed at a fixed position. In a variant embodiment, the coordinate of a controllable device is calculated every time when the controllable device becomes available. The available state comprises the situation: a) when the controllable device is moved to the physical location of the network and turned on to join the network； and b) the controllable device is turned on from the off state. Below introduces a method for calculating the coordinate of a controllable device.

Fig. 7 is a diagram showing positional relationship between the gateway, anchor nodes and the controllable device according to the embodiment of present disclosure. The distance values d1, d2 and d3 can be determined by using a trigonometry locating algorithm. The trigonometry locating algorithm is one kind of algorithm for indoor locating technology or indoor positioning technology. It shall be noted that a person skilled in the art can use other algorithms for indoor locating technology. The trigonometry locating algorithm is based on Time of Arrival (TOA) . TOA, sometimes called time of flight (ToF) , is the travel time (or called propagation time) of a wireless signal or radio signal from a transmitter to a remote receiver. It uses the absolute time of arrival at a certain base station rather than the measured time difference between departing from one and arriving at the other station. The distance can be directly calculated from the time of arrival as signals travel with a known velocity. Time of arrival data from two base stations will narrow a position to a position circle； data from a third base station is required to resolve the precise position to a single point.

The method works as followed.

The controllable device sends an electromagnetic signal. Since the connection is wireless connection, the signal is sent in a multicast or broadcast manner. In this example, the signal is only sent once or at predetermined times. In a variant, the signal is periodically sent. So the gateway can periodically update the coordinate of the controllable device.

The gateway 301 and the anchor devices receive the electromagnetic signal and identify the controllable device, respectively. Because the Wi-Fi signal is broadcast or multicast, both the gateway and the anchor devices can receive the signal. From the unique mac address carried in this signal, they can identify the controllable device.

The gateway 301 and the anchor devices determines TOA. It can implemented by the following steps. The gateway and the anchor devices send a signal to a controllable device, respectively. And then the controllable device sends back the signals to them, respectively. By measuring the time difference from when it was sent and when it was received, the gateway 301 and the anchor devices determine TOA.

The anchor devices send information about TOA to the gateway 301 through transceiver 502 of the anchor devices.

The gateway 301 determines the distance values from the controllable device to the gateway 301 and two anchor devices as d3, d1 and d2.

It shall note that in a variant embodiment, the anchor devices do not determine TOA from the electromagnetic signal. It just forwards the signal to the gateway, and the gateway 301 does the calculations for the anchors. In another variant, the gateway 301 and the anchor nodes don’t determine TOA. They determine distance values d1, d2 and d3 directly.

After the distance values d1, d2 and d3 are determined, the gateway 301 determines coordinate of the controllable device (X0, Y0) based on the stored coordinates of the gateway 301 and the anchor devices by using the geometric triangle relationship, which is represented by the following formula. Then the gateway 301 stores the coordinate of the controllable device into the non-volatile storage 404.

At step 603, the processor 401 of the gateway 301 determines coordinate of the controlling device.

It shall be noted that the method used for determining coordinate of the controllable device can also be used to calculate the coordinate of the movable controlling device. The difference is that the controlling device 303 periodically sends the electromagnetic signal, and correspondingly the gateway 301 periodically determines the current coordinate of the controlling device 303 and the distance values. Besides, the coordinate of the controlling device 303 is stored in the volatile storage of the gateway, instead of the non-volatile storage. This is because the controlling device 303 is not fixed to a permanent position and is often moved. It makes no sense to store such information in a non-volatile storage.

At step 604, the processor 401 of the gateway 301 determines distance values between the controlling device 303 and the controllable devices by using their coordinates. Fig. 8 is a schematic diagram showing a method for calculating distance between a controlling device 303 and a controllable device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As can be seen, the controlling device 303 is represented by P and has a coordinate (X_p, Y_p) , and a controllable device is represented by A and has a coordinate (X_a, Y_a) . A distance PA and an angle αare calculated with the following formula.

At step 605, the processor 401 of the gateway 301 sorts the list of available controllable devices by their distance values to the controlling device.

At step 606, the processor 401 of the gateway 301 uses the transceiver 402 to send the sorted list to the controlling device. After receiving the sorted list, the controlling device 303 displays it.

In another variant of the embodiment, the steps 602 to 606 are carried out after the gateway 301 receives a notification message from the controlling device. In an example, the controlling device 303 is a tablet. And a controlling application is installed on the tablet. When the user opens the controlling application, the controlling application displays the list and periodically sends electromagnetic signals and notification messages. The periodic notification messages will trigger the gateway 301 to send back the sorted list periodically.

In the above embodiment, the anchor device is implemented as an independent device. In a variant of the embodiment, the functions of the anchor device are implemented within a controllable device that has a permanent fixed position.

In the above embodiment, the list shows available controllable devices. In a variant of the embodiment, the list shows available neighboring devices, no matter whether they are controllable or not. And the controlling device is just a device for displaying the list of neighboring devices sorted by distance values.

As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, aspects of the present principles can be embodied as a system, method or computer readable medium. Accordingly, aspects of the present principles can take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment (including firmware, resident software, micro-code, and so forth) , or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects that can all generally be referred to herein as a “circuit, ” “module” , or “system. ” Furthermore, aspects of the present principles can take the form of a computer readable storage medium. Any combination of one or more computer readable storage medium (s) may be utilized.

Further, a computer readable storage medium can take the form of a computer readable program product embodied in one or more computer readable medium (s) and having computer readable program code embodied thereon that is executable by a computer. A computer readable storage medium as used herein is considered a non-transitory storage medium given the inherent capability to store the information therein as well as the inherent capability to provide retrieval of the information therefrom. A computer readable storage medium can be, for example, but is not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. It is to be appreciated that the following, while providing more specific examples of computer readable storage mediums to which the present principles can be applied, is merely an illustrative and not exhaustive listing as is readily appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art: a portable computer diskette； a hard disk； a read-only memory (ROM) ； an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory) ； a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) ； an optical storage device； a magnetic storage device； or any suitable combination of the foregoing.

Further, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the block diagrams presented herein represent conceptual views of illustrative system components and/or circuitry embodying the principles of the invention. Similarly, it will be appreciated that any flow charts, flow diagrams, state transition diagrams, pseudo code, and the like represent various processes which may be substantially represented in computer readable storage media and so executed by a computer or processor, whether or not such computer or processor is explicitly shown.

A number of implementations have been described. Nevertheless, it will be understood that various modifications may be made. For example, elements of different implementations may be combined, supplemented, modified, or removed to produce other implementations. Additionally, one of ordinary skill will understand that other structures and processes may be substituted for those disclosed and the resulting implementations will perform at least substantially the same function (s) , in at least substantially the same way (s) , to achieve at least substantially the same result (s) as the implementations disclosed. Accordingly, these and other implementations are contemplated by this application and are within the scope of any of the described embodiments as defined by the appended claims.

Claims

A method for providing a dynamic list of available devices in an area having a gateway and at least two anchor devices deployed, wherein at the gateway, comprising

determining a list of available devices and positioning information of the available devices (602) ；

determining positioning information of a displaying device with the assistance of the at least two anchor devices (603) ；

determining distance values between the displaying device and the available devices (604) ；

sorting order of the list by the distance values (605) ； and

providing the sorted list (606) .
The method of claim 1, wherein further comprising

storing the positioning information of the gateway and the at least two anchor devices (601) .
The method of claim 2, wherein the step of determining positioning information of the displaying device further comprising

receiving time of arrival signals sent by the displaying device and destined to the gateway and the at least two anchor devices, wherein the time of arrival signals destined to the at least two anchor devices are received via the at least two anchor devices； and

determining positioning information of the displaying device based on the time of arrival signals and positioning information of the gateway and the at least two anchor devices.
The method of claim 1, wherein the at least two anchor devices are within in the list of the available devices.
The method of claim 1, wherein the at least two anchor devices are independent dedicated devices.
A gateway for providing a dynamic list of available devices in an area having the gateway and at least two anchor devices deployed, wherein comprising

a storage (404, 405) for storing data； and

a processor (401) for determining a list of available devices and positioning information of the available devices, wherein the positioning information of the available devices are read from the storage (404, 405) ； determining positioning information of a displaying device with the assistance of the at least two anchor devices； determining distance values between the displaying device and the available devices； sorting order of the list by the distance values； and providing the sorted list.
The gateway of claim 6, wherein the processor (401) is further used for storing the positioning information of the gateway and the at least two anchor devices into the storage (404, 405) .
The gateway of claim 7, wherein the gateway further comprises a transceiver (402) for sending and receiving data and the sorted list is provided via the transceiver (402) , and wherein the processor (401) is further used for receiving, via the transceiver (402) , time of arrival signals sent by the displaying device and destined to the gateway and the at least two anchor devices, wherein the time of arrival signals destined to the at least two anchor devices are received via the at least two anchor devices； and determining positioning information of the displaying device based on the time of arrival signals and positioning information of the gateway and the at least two anchor devices.
The gateway of claim 6, wherein the at least two anchor devices are within in the list of the available devices.
The gateway of claim 6, wherein the at least two anchor devices are independent dedicated devices.
Computer program comprising program code instructions executable by a processor for implementing a method according to at least one of claims 1 to 5.
Computer program product which is stored on a non-transitory computer readable medium and comprises program code instructions executable by a processor for implementing a method according to at least one of claims 1 to 5.