System and devices using a preamble-based DSS communication link and spectrum-impact-smoothed channel sets implementing channel resynchronization and abbreviated acknowledgments
View Patent ↗Disclosed herein are wireless devices operable at intermediate wireless at ranges of thousands of meters, utilizing packets that include a preamble and a data payload. Devices may be such things as keypads, door latches, occupancy monitors, sprinkler controllers and other devices needing a communications link. A digital spread-spectrum frequency hopping rotation is used, wherein packet transmissions rotate through frequency sequences. A spectrum-impact-smoothed channel set is fashioned using sequences that each specify a unique preamble frequency relative to the other sequences and channels. The set is traversed as packets are transmitted, thereby distributing the focused radio-frequency emission impact of packets having long preambles over time. Channel directives are issued in stream packets, and acknowledgments to channel directives are made using a time-conserving abbreviated format. Detailed information on various example embodiments of the inventions are provided in the Detailed Description below, and the inventions are defined by the appended claims.
1. A pair of wireless communications devices operational at intermediate ranges, said devices utilizing a set of discrete radio frequencies that form a set of spectrum-impact-smoothed (SIS) channels each having a distinct digital spread spectrum frequency sequence, each SIS channel specifying a unique frequency to be used in the transmission of a packet preamble relative to all of the other SIS channels within the set, a first one of said devices being a source of streamed data and the second one being a receiver of streamed data, each of said devices comprising:
a transceiver functional for wireless communication using the frequency sequence of the spectrum-impact-smoothed channels; and
an electronic circuit implementing a state machine immutable to power-transient events;
wherein said state machine of each device is configured to sequence through a set of states to implement the functions of:
(a) configuring said transceiver of the particular device to transmit or receive a packet on a channel having distinct communication parameters,
(b) synchronizing with the other of said wireless devices on a first communications channel in the set of SIS channels, said synchronizing initiating a sequence of SIS channels beginning with the first communications channel,
(c) exchanging a packet with the other of said wireless devices using the first communications channel,
(d) repeatedly determining a next SIS channel to be used in the course of exchanging a packet with the other of said devices, wherein said determining comprises selecting a channel as directed or otherwise not yet used in the course of the sequence of SIS channels beginning with a first communications channel,
(e) repeatedly exchanging a packet with the other of said wireless devices using a determined next SIS channel;
wherein said state machine of said first device is configured to sequence through a set of states to implement the functions of:
(f) transmitting a packet to said second device containing an SIS channel directive from a current to a successive channel,
(g) after the transmission of a packet containing an SIS channel directive to a successive
channel, receiving an abbreviated acknowledgment from said second device containing an address, and
(h) after the receipt of an acknowledgment following the transmission of a packet containing an SIS channel directive to a successive channel and a matching address, setting a current channel to the successive channel; and
wherein said state machine of said second device is configured to sequence through a set of states to implement the functions of:
(i) receiving a packet from said first device containing an SIS channel directive to a successive channel, and
(j) after the reception of a packet containing an SIS channel directive to a successive channel, transmitting an abbreviated acknowledgment to said first device, the abbreviated acknowledgment transmitted omitting a terminal part of packets as compared to packets received from said first device, and
(k) after the reception of a packet containing an SIS channel directive to a successive channel, setting a current channel to the successive channel.
2. The pair of devices recited in claim 1 , wherein said state machine of said second device is configured to sequence through a set of states to transmit an abbreviated acknowledgment that includes an address.
3. The pair of devices recited in claim 2 , wherein said state machine of said first device is configured to sequence through a set of states to determine a positive receipt of an abbreviated acknowledgment on condition of receiving a valid preamble and expected address.
4. The pair of devices recited in claim 1 , wherein said state machine of said second device is further configured to halt the transmission of a portion of a normal packet following the transmission of an abbreviated acknowledgment.
5. The pair of devices recited in claim 4 , wherein said state machine of said second device is further configured to halt the transmission of a portion of a normal packet through submission of a transceiver command.
6. The pair of devices recited in claim 4 , wherein said state machine of said second device is further configured to halt the transmission of a portion of a normal packet by the expiration of a timer.
7. The pair of devices recited in claim 4 , wherein said state machine of said second device is further configured to halt the transmission of a portion of a normal packet through a polling operation or through monitoring the state of said transmitter of said second device.
8. The pair of devices recited in claim 1 , wherein said state machine of said second device is configured to sequence through a set of states to transmit an abbreviated acknowledgment in the form of a packet containing only a preamble and optionally an address.
9. The pair of devices recited in claim 1 , wherein said state machine of said first device is configured to sequence through a set of states to determine a positive receipt of an abbreviated acknowledgment by receiving an interrupt for reception of a valid preamble.
10. The pair of devices recited in claim 1 , wherein said state machine of said first device is configured to sequence through a set of states to revert to a previously used channel on expiration of a short timeout period beginning with the reception of a packet containing an SIS directive.
11. The pair of devices recited in claim 1 , wherein said second device includes two transceivers, and further wherein said state machine of said second device is configured to sequence through a set of states to simultaneously transmit an abbreviated acknowledgment and receive a packet in a stream.
12. The pair of devices recited in claim 11 , wherein said state machine of said second device is configured to sequence through a set of states to simultaneously discontinue transmission of an abbreviated acknowledgment following the detection of a subsequent incoming packet identified from said first device.
13. The pair of wireless communications devices operational at intermediate ranges of claim 1 , wherein, at least one of a pair of wireless communications devices operational at intermediate ranges is connected to a paired device through a cloud based network.
14. A pair of wireless communications devices operational at intermediate ranges, said devices utilizing a set of discrete radio frequencies that form a set of spectrum-impact-smoothed (SIS) channels each having a distinct digital spread spectrum frequency sequence, each SIS channel specifying a unique frequency to be used in the transmission of a packet preamble relative to all of the other SIS channels within the set, a first one of said devices being a source of streamed data and the second one being a receiver of streamed data, each of said devices comprising:
a transceiver functional for wireless communication using the frequency sequence of the spectrum-impact-smoothed channels; and
an electronic circuit implementing a state machine immutable to power-transient events;
wherein said state machine of each device is configured to sequence through a set of states to implement the functions of:
(a) configuring said transceiver of the particular device to transmit or receive a packet on a channel having distinct communication parameters,
(b) synchronizing with the other of said wireless devices on a first communications channel in the set of SIS channels, said synchronizing initiating a sequence of SIS channels beginning with the first communications channel,
(c) exchanging a packet with the other of said wireless devices using the first communications channel,
(d) repeatedly determining a next SIS channel to be used in the course of exchanging a packet with the other of said devices, wherein said determining comprises selecting a channel as directed or otherwise not yet used in the course of the sequence of SIS channels beginning with a first communications channel,
(e) repeatedly exchanging a packet with the other of said wireless devices using a determined next SIS channel;
wherein said state machine of said first device is configured to sequence through a set of states to implement the functions of:
(f) transmitting a packet to said second device containing an SIS channel directive from a current to a successive channel,
(g) after the transmission of a packet containing an SIS channel directive to a successive channel, receiving either a regular or an abbreviated acknowledgment from said second device, and
(h) after the receipt of an acknowledgment following the transmission of a packet containing an SIS channel directive to a successive channel, setting a current channel to the successive channel; and
wherein said state machine of said second device is configured to sequence through a set of states to implement the functions of:
(i) receiving a packet from said first device containing an SIS channel directive to a successive channel, and
(j) after the reception of a packet containing an SIS channel directive to a successive channel, transmitting an abbreviated acknowledgment to said first device, the abbreviated acknowledgment omitting a terminal part of packets as compared to packets received from said first device, the abbreviated acknowledgment including a flag that indicates the acknowledgment to be abbreviated, and
(k) after the reception of a packet containing an SIS channel directive to a successive channel, setting a current channel to the successive channel.
15. The pair of devices recited in claim 14 , wherein said state machine of said second device is configured to sequence through a set of states to transmit an abbreviated acknowledgment that includes an address byte that includes a flag that indicates the acknowledgment to be abbreviated.
16. The pair of devices recited in claim 14 , wherein said state machine of said second device is configured to sequence through a set of states to transmit a non-abbreviated packet that includes a flag that indicates the packet to be normal.
17. The pair of devices recited in claim 14 , wherein said state machine of said second device is configured to sequence through a set of states to transmit an abbreviated acknowledgment in the form of a packet containing only a preamble and optionally an address.
18. A pair of wireless communications devices operational at intermediate ranges, said devices utilizing a set of discrete radio frequencies that form a set of spectrum-impact-smoothed (SIS) channels each having a distinct digital spread spectrum frequency sequence, each SIS channel specifying a unique frequency to be used in the transmission of a packet preamble relative to all of the other SIS channels within the set, a first one of said devices being a source of streamed data and the second one being a receiver of streamed data, each of said devices comprising:
a transceiver functional for wireless communication using the frequency sequence of the spectrum-impact-smoothed channels; and
an electronic circuit implementing a state machine immutable to power-transient events;
wherein said state machine of each device is configured to sequence through a set of states to implement the functions of:
(a) configuring said transceiver of the particular device to transmit or receive a packet on a channel having distinct communication parameters,
(b) synchronizing with the other of said wireless devices on a first communications channel in the set of SIS channels, said synchronizing initiating a sequence of SIS channels beginning with the first communications channel,
(c) exchanging a packet with the other of said wireless devices using the first communications channel,
(d) repeatedly determining a next SIS channel to be used in the course of exchanging a packet with the other of said devices, wherein said determining comprises selecting a channel as directed or otherwise not yet used in the course of the sequence of SIS channels beginning with a first communications channel,
(e) repeatedly exchanging a packet with the other of said wireless devices using a determined next SIS channel;
wherein said state machine of said first device is configured to sequence through a set of states to implement the functions of:
(f) transmitting a packet to said second device containing an SIS channel directive from a current to a successive channel,
(g) after the transmission of a packet containing an SIS channel directive to a successive channel, receiving an abbreviated acknowledgment from said second device, and
(h) after the receipt of an acknowledgment following the transmission of a packet containing an SIS channel directive to a successive channel, setting a current channel to the successive channel; and
wherein said state machine of said second device is configured to sequence through a set of states to implement the functions of:
(i) receiving a packet from said first device containing an SIS channel directive to a successive channel, and
(j) after the reception of a packet containing an SIS channel directive to a successive channel, transmitting an abbreviated acknowledgment to said first device, the abbreviated acknowledgment transmitted omitting a terminal part of packets as compared to packets received from said first device, the abbreviated acknowledgment further including a preamble containing a non-continuous sequence, and
(k) after the reception of a packet containing an SIS channel directive to a successive channel, setting a current channel to the successive channel.
19. The pair of devices recited in claim 18 , wherein said state machine of said second device is configured to sequence through a set of states to transmit an abbreviated acknowledgment in the form of a packet containing only a preamble and optionally an address.
20. The pair of devices recited in claim 18 , wherein said state machine of said first device is configured to sequence through a set of states to revert to a previously used channel on expiration of a short timeout period beginning with the reception of a packet containing an SIS directive.