Communication system and operating method
In accordance with a first aspect of the present disclosure, a communication system is provided, comprising: a plurality of communication nodes which are operatively coupled to each other, wherein each of said communication nodes comprises a first radio frequency (RF) communication unit configured to perform ranging sessions with an external communication device; a controller configured to create a logical subset of said communication nodes based on an indication of a channel quality between the communication nodes and the external communication device, wherein said indication of the channel quality has been obtained using a second RF communication unit comprised in each of said communication nodes; the controller further being configured to cause that only the communication nodes included in said logical subset perform said ranging sessions with the external communication device.
1. A communication system, comprising:
a plurality of communication nodes which are operatively coupled to each other, wherein each of said communication nodes comprises a first radio frequency, RF, communication unit configured to perform ranging sessions with an external communication device;
a controller configured to create a logical subset of said communication nodes based on an indication of a channel quality between the communication nodes and the external communication device, wherein said indication of the channel quality has been obtained using a second RF communication unit comprised in each of said communication nodes;
the controller further being configured to cause that only the communication nodes included in said logical subset perform said ranging sessions with the external communication device.
2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first RF communication unit is an ultra-wideband, UWB, communication unit or a Wi-Fi communication unit.
3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the second RF communication unit is a low-power communication unit, wherein the second RF communication unit is one of a Bluetooth low energy, BLE, communication unit, an ultra-high frequency, UHF, communication unit, or a low frequency, LF, communication unit.
4. The system of claim 1 , wherein one of said communication nodes comprises the controller.
5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to create said logical subset by comparing channel quality indicators provided by all communication nodes, and by including in said logical subset only communication nodes that have provided high channel quality indicators.
6. The system of claim 5 , wherein the communication nodes are configured to apply a normalization function to the channel quality indicators before providing said channel quality indicators to the controller.
7. The system of claim 6 , wherein, if one or more channel quality indicators are equivalent, the controller is configured to include all communication nodes that have provided said equivalent channel quality indicators in the logical subset.
8. The system of claim 6 , wherein, if one or more channel quality indicators are equivalent, the controller is configured to include none of the communication nodes that have provided said equivalent channel quality indicators in the logical subset.
9. The system of claim 5 , wherein, if one or more channel quality indicators are equivalent, the controller is configured to include all communication nodes that have provided said equivalent channel quality indicators in the logical subset.
10. The system of claim 5 , wherein, if one or more channel quality indicators are equivalent, the controller is configured to include none of the communication nodes that have provided said equivalent channel quality indicators in the logical subset.
11. The system of claim 5 , wherein, if one or more channel quality indicators are equivalent, the controller is configured to include randomly selected communication nodes that have provided said equivalent channel quality indicators in the logical subset.
12. The system of claim 5 , wherein one of said communication nodes comprises the controller.
13. The system of claim 5 , wherein the controller is configured to create said logical subset using a configurable parameter M, wherein M is a number of communication nodes to be included in said logical subset and wherein M is smaller than or equal to the total number of communication nodes in the system.
14. The system of claim 1 , wherein the indication of the channel quality is based on at least one of the following parameters:
a received signal strength indicator;
statistics or parameters characteristic for the communication channel; ranging results obtained using the second RF communication unit;
a connection status between the communication nodes and the external communication device;
a bit error rate.
15. The system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to create said logical subset using a configurable parameter M, wherein M is a number of communication nodes to be included in said logical subset and wherein M is smaller than or equal to the total number of communication nodes in the system.
16. A method of operating a communication system, the system comprising a plurality of communication nodes which are operatively coupled to each other and a controller, wherein each of said communication nodes comprises a first radio frequency, RF, communication unit, the method comprising:
creating, by the controller, a logical subset of said communication nodes based on an indication of a channel quality between the communication nodes and an external communication device, wherein said indication of the channel quality has been obtained using a second RF communication unit comprised in each of said communication nodes;
causing, by the controller, that only communication nodes included in said logical subset perform ranging sessions with the external communication device, wherein said ranging sessions are performed by the first RF communication unit.
17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the first RF communication unit is an ultra-wideband, UWB, communication unit or a Wi-Fi communication unit.
18. The method of claim 16 , wherein the second RF communication unit is a low-power communication unit, wherein the second RF communication unit is one of a Bluetooth low energy, BLE, communication unit, an ultra-high frequency, UHF, communication unit, or a low frequency, LF, communication unit.