Transmitter IC for single-channel Bluetooth beacon
View Patent ↗Methods and systems described herein relate to broadcasting an advertisement event on a wireless channel. An example method includes generating, based on data, a data signal including one or more data packets, where each of the one or more data packets is a non-connectable and non-scannable data packet; generating an RF signal using an oscillator circuit; directly modulating the RF signal, based on the data signal, to generate a modulated RF signal; amplifying the modulated RF signal; broadcasting the amplified modulated RF signal on the wireless channel, where the amplified modulated RF signal is associated with the advertisement event.
1. A method of broadcasting an advertisement event on a wireless channel, the method comprising:
an oscillator circuit generating an RF signal;
a prescaler generating a clock signal based on the RF signal;
a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) packetizer using the clock signal to generate a data signal comprising one or more data packets, wherein each of the one or more data packets is a non-connectable data packet;
directly modulating the RF signal, based on the data signal, to generate a modulated RF signal;
amplifying the modulated RF signal;
broadcasting the amplified modulated RF signal on the wireless channel, wherein the amplified modulated RF signal is associated with the advertisement event.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more data packets are based on a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) protocol.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the oscillator circuit is a Pierce oscillator circuit.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the wherein the oscillator circuit comprises a thin-film bulk acoustic resonator (FBAR).
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein a frequency of the wireless channel is one or more of the following frequencies: 2.402, 2.426, and 2.48 GHz.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the modulated RF signal comprises a first frequency and a second frequency, wherein the first frequency and the second frequency are within a bandwidth of the wireless channel.
7. The method of claim 6 , wherein directly modulating the RF signal comprises modulating the RF signal using Gaussian Frequency Shift Keying (GFSK).
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein directly modulating the RF signal, based on the data signal, to generate the modulated RF signal comprises using the data signal to control a capacitor bank coupled to the oscillating circuit.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the advertisement event is broadcasted periodically.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the clock signal is a scaled version of the RF signal.
11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the clock signal is a scaled version of the modulated RF signal.
12. A broadcasting unit comprising:
an oscillator configured to generate an RF signal;
a prescaler configured to generate a clock signal based on the RF signal;
a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) packetizer configured to use the clock signal to generate a data signal comprising one or more data packets, wherein each of the one or more data packets is a non-connectable data packet, and wherein the RF signal is directly modulated based on the data signal to generate a modulated RF signal;
a power amplifier configured to amplify the modulated RF signal; and
an antenna configured to broadcast the amplified modulated RF signal in a wireless channel as an advertisement event.
13. The broadcasting device of claim 12 , wherein the oscillator circuit comprises a thin-film bulk acoustic resonator (FBAR).
14. The broadcasting device of claim 12 , wherein the one or more data packets are based on a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) protocol.
15. The broadcasting device of claim 12 , wherein the oscillator circuit is a Pierce oscillator circuit.
16. The broadcasting device of claim 12 , wherein the modulated RF signal comprises a first frequency and a second frequency, wherein the first frequency and the second frequency are within a bandwidth of a wireless channel.
17. A system comprising:
one or more processors;
an oscillator, comprising an FBAR resonator, configured to generate an RF signal;
a prescaler generating a clock signal based on the RF signal;
a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) packetizer configured to:
receive data from the one or more processors;
use the clock signal to generate a data signal comprising one or more data packets, wherein each of the one or more data packets is a non-connectable data packet wherein the RF signal is directly modulated based on the data signal to generate a modulated RF signal;
a power amplifier configured to amplify the modulated RF signal; and
an antenna configured to broadcast the amplified modulated RF signal in a wireless channel as an advertisement event.
18. The system of claim 17 further comprising a sensor, wherein the data is based on an output of the sensor.
19. The system of claim 17 , wherein the one or more data packets are based on a BLE protocol.