Time synchronization for nodes in a wireless personal area network (WPAN)
View Patent ↗Described herein are systems, methods, and apparatuses for time synchronization for nodes in a wireless personal area network (WPAN). A first message can be received, via an advertising channel, from an advertising node of a WPAN, the first message comprising an advertising message and a message identifier. A second message can be received from a timekeeper node of the WPAN, the second message comprising the message identifier of the first message and timestamp information identifying a time the second message was received by the timekeeper node. A time offset value can be calculated for a clock circuitry with respect to the advertising node, the time offset value comprising a difference between a time the first message was received by the receiver circuitry and the timestamp information of the second message. The clock circuitry can be adjusted based, at least in part, on the time offset value.
1. An apparatus of a wireless device, the apparatus comprising:
receiver circuitry configured to:
receive a first message, via an advertising channel, from an advertising node of a wireless personal area network (WPAN), the first message comprising an advertising message and a message identifier; and
receive a second message from a timekeeper node of the WPAN, the second message comprising the message identifier of the first message and timestamp information identifying a time the first message was received by the timekeeper node; and
synchronization circuitry configured to:
calculate a time offset value for a clock circuitry with respect to the advertising node, the time offset value comprising a difference between a time the first message was received by the receiver circuitry and the timestamp information of the second message; and
adjust the clock circuitry based, at least in part, on the time offset value.
2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the synchronization circuitry is further configured to adjust a phase of the clock circuitry by the time offset value.
3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the synchronization circuitry is further configured to:
calculate a clock cycle count of the clock circuitry for a first clock signal interval; the first clock signal interval comprising an interval from a previous adjustment of the clock circuitry to the time the first message was received by the receiver circuitry; and
adjust a clock rate of the clock circuitry wherein the clock cycle count comprises a second clock signal interval, the second clock signal interval comprising a time period from the previous adjustment of the clock circuitry to the timestamp information of the second message.
4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the second message comprises an advertising message, and the receiver circuitry is further configured to receive the second message via an advertising channel.
5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the receiver circuitry is further configured to receive the second message via a channel allocated for direct node-to-node communications.
6. The apparatus of claim 5 , wherein the receiver circuitry is further configured to receive the first message during an advertising channel reception interval and to receive the second message outside the advertising channel reception interval.
7. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the WPAN comprises at least one of a Bluetooth low energy (BLE) network, a Zigbee network, near field communication (NFC) network, or a radio frequency identification (RFID) network.
8. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the receiver circuitry is to further receive a request from a master node of the WPAN to transition an operational mode from a scanner operational mode to an advertising operational mode, and the apparatus further comprises:
processing circuitry configured to transition the operational mode from the scanner operational mode to the advertising operational mode in response to receiving the request from the master node of the WPAN.
9. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising:
one or more antennas used by the receiver circuitry to receive the first message and the second message.
10. The apparatus of claim 9 , further comprising:
transceiver circuitry to transmit and receive long range communication data via the one or more antennas for communication with a long range network comprising at least one of a wireless local area network (WLAN), a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network, or an LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) network.
11. A method comprising:
receiving a first message, via an advertising channel, from an advertising node of a wireless personal area network (WPAN), the first message comprising an advertising message and a message identifier;
receiving a second message from a timekeeper node of the WPAN, the second message comprising the message identifier of the first message and timestamp information identifying a time the first message was received by the timekeeper node;
calculating a time offset value for a clock circuitry with respect to the advertising node, the time offset value comprising a difference between a time the first message was received by the receiver circuitry and the timestamp information of the second message; and
adjusting the clock circuitry based, at least in part, on the time offset value.
12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
adjusting a phase of the clock circuitry by the time offset value.
13. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
calculating a clock cycle count of the clock circuitry for a first clock signal interval, the first clock signal interval comprising an interval from a previous adjustment of the clock circuitry to the time the first message was received by the receiver circuitry; and
adjusting a clock rate of the clock circuitry wherein the clock cycle count comprises a second clock signal interval, the second clock signal interval comprising a time period from the previous adjustment of the clock circuitry to the timestamp information of the second message.
14. The method of claim 11 , wherein the second message comprises an advertising message, and the method further comprises:
receiving the second message via an advertising channel, or via a channel allocated for direct node-to-node communications.
15. The method of claim 11 , wherein the WPAN comprises at least one of a Bluetooth low energy (BLE) network, a Zigbee network, near field communication (NFC) network, or a radio frequency identification (RFID) network.
16. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium that stores instructions executable by one or more processors to:
receive a first message, via an advertising channel, from an advertising node of a wireless personal area network (WPAN), the first message comprising an advertising message and a message identifier; and
receive a second message from a timekeeper node of the WPAN, the second message comprising the message identifier of the first message and timestamp information identifying a time the first message was received by the timekeeper node;
calculate a time offset value for a clock circuitry with respect to the advertising node, the time offset value comprising a difference between a time the first message was received by the receiver circuitry and the timestamp information of the second message; and
adjust the clock circuitry based, at least in part, on the time offset value.
17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16 , wherein the program instructions are further executable to adjust a phase of the clock circuitry by the time offset value.
18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16 , wherein the program instructions are further executable to:
calculate a clock cycle count of the clock circuitry for a first clock signal interval, the first clock signal interval comprising an interval from a previous adjustment of the clock circuitry to the time the first message was received by the receiver circuitry; and
adjust a clock rate of the clock circuitry wherein the clock cycle count comprises a second clock signal interval, the second clock signal interval comprising a time period from the previous adjustment of the clock circuitry to the timestamp information of the second message.
19. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16 , wherein the second message comprises an advertising message, and the receiver circuitry is further configured to receive the second message via an advertising channel.
20. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16 , wherein the program instructions are further executable to receive the second message via a channel allocated for direct node-to-node communications.
21. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 20 , wherein the program instructions are further executable to receive the first message during an advertising channel reception interval and to receive the second message outside the advertising channel reception interval.
22. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16 , wherein the WPAN comprises at least one of a Bluetooth low energy (BLE) network, a Zigbee network, near field communication (NFC) network, or a radio frequency, identification (RFID) network.
23. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16 , wherein the program instructions are further executable to:
receive a request from a master node of the WPAN to transition an operational mode from a scanner operational mode to an advertising operational mode;
transition the operational mode from the scanner operational mode to the advertising operational mode in response to receiving the request from the master node of the WPAN.