TW202010348A - Multi-member Bluetooth device capable of avoiding signal interrupt - Google Patents

Abstract

A multi-member Bluetooth device includes: a main Bluetooth circuit capable of bidirectionally communicating with a remote Bluetooth device through a first Bluetooth communication circuit; and an auxiliary Bluetooth circuit capable of communicating with the main Bluetooth circuit through a data transmission circuit. While the main Bluetooth circuit utilizes the first Bluetooth communication circuit to communicate with the remote Bluetooth device, the auxiliary Bluetooth circuit utilizes a second Bluetooth communication circuit to sniff packets transmitted from the remote Bluetooth device. When detected that the auxiliary Bluetooth circuit has missed packets transmitted from the remote Bluetooth device, the main Bluetooth circuit transmits the missed packets to the auxiliary Bluetooth circuit through the data transmission circuit.

Description

Multi-member Bluetooth device capable of avoiding signal interruption

The invention relates to a Bluetooth device, in particular to a multi-member Bluetooth device which can avoid signal interruption.

A multi-member Bluetooth device refers to a Bluetooth device composed of multiple Bluetooth circuits that are used in conjunction with each other, for example, a pair of Bluetooth headphones, a group of Bluetooth speakers, and so on. When the multi-member Bluetooth device is connected with other Bluetooth devices (hereinafter referred to as remote Bluetooth devices), the remote Bluetooth device treats the multi-member Bluetooth device as a single Bluetooth device. A traditional multi-member Bluetooth device will designate one of its member circuits as a signal relay circuit during operation, and serve as a data communication bridge between the remote Bluetooth device and other member circuits.

During operation, the computational load of the signal relay circuit is higher than that of other member circuits, so the power consumption and heat generation of the signal relay circuit are usually higher than those of other member circuits. When the signal relay circuit is difficult to continue as a data communication bridge between the remote Bluetooth device and other member circuits due to insufficient power or other reasons, the traditional multi-member Bluetooth device will designate another member circuit as the new The signal relay circuit, and the new signal relay circuit re-establishes a new Bluetooth connection with the remote Bluetooth device. After the new signal relay circuit establishes a new Bluetooth connection with the remote Bluetooth device, all member circuits in the multi-member Bluetooth device will be restored to the remote Bluetooth device through the new signal relay circuit. Data communication.

However, before the new Bluetooth connection between the new signal relay circuit and the remote Bluetooth device is established, other member circuits may be temporarily unable to communicate with the remote Bluetooth device, and the signal may be interrupted. . For example, in the context of Bluetooth headsets, it is likely that one of the headsets will have an audio interruption, resulting in a bad user experience.

In view of this, how to reduce or avoid the signal interruption of multi-member Bluetooth devices is really a problem to be solved.

This specification provides an embodiment of a multi-member Bluetooth device for data transmission with a remote Bluetooth device. The multi-member Bluetooth device includes: a main Bluetooth circuit, including: a first Bluetooth communication circuit; a first data transmission circuit; and a first control circuit, which is set to be capable of wireless transmission via Bluetooth through the first Bluetooth communication circuit Two-way packet transmission with the remote Bluetooth device and data communication with other devices through the first data transmission circuit; and a pair of Bluetooth circuits, including: a second Bluetooth communication circuit; a second data transmission circuit; and A second control circuit configured to control the second data transmission circuit to perform data communication with the first data transmission circuit; wherein, in the process of packet transmission between the first Bluetooth communication circuit and the remote Bluetooth device, the first The second control circuit will use the second Bluetooth communication circuit to record the packets sent by the remote Bluetooth device; and the first control circuit is also configured to check that the secondary Bluetooth circuit misses the packets sent by the remote Bluetooth device In this case, the packet missed by the secondary Bluetooth circuit is transmitted to the second data transmission circuit through the first data transmission circuit.

One of the advantages of the above embodiment is that the secondary Bluetooth circuit will record the packets sent by the remote Bluetooth device, so the primary Bluetooth circuit only needs to transmit the packets missed by the secondary Bluetooth circuit to the secondary Bluetooth circuit, without transferring the remote Bluetooth device All the packets sent to the secondary Bluetooth circuit can greatly reduce the operating burden of the main Bluetooth circuit, save the power consumption of the main Bluetooth circuit, and effectively extend the working time and standby time of the main Bluetooth circuit.

Another advantage of the above embodiment is that it can greatly reduce the data transmission bandwidth requirement between the main Bluetooth circuit and the auxiliary Bluetooth circuit.

Other advantages of the present invention will be explained in more detail with the following description and drawings.

The embodiments of the present invention will be described below in conjunction with related drawings. In the drawings, the same reference numerals indicate the same or similar elements or method flows.

FIG. 1 is a simplified functional block diagram of a multi-member Bluetooth device 100 according to an embodiment of the invention. The multi-member Bluetooth device 100 is used for data transmission with a remote Bluetooth device 102, and includes multiple member circuits. For convenience of description, only three member circuits are shown in the embodiment of FIG. 1, which are the first Bluetooth circuit 110, the second Bluetooth circuit 120, and the third Bluetooth circuit 130, respectively.

In this embodiment, all member circuits in the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 have a similar main circuit architecture, but different additional circuit elements can be set in different member circuits without limiting the circuit structure of all member circuits. Exactly the same. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, the first Bluetooth circuit 110 includes a Bluetooth communication circuit 111, a data transmission circuit 113, a control circuit 115, and a judgment circuit 117. Similarly, the second Bluetooth circuit 120 includes a Bluetooth communication circuit 121, a data transmission circuit 123, a control circuit 125, and a judgment circuit 127.

The main circuit components inside the Bluetooth circuit 130 are also similar to the aforementioned Bluetooth circuit 110 or 120, but for simplicity, the internal circuit components of the Bluetooth circuit 130 are not shown in FIG.

In the first Bluetooth circuit 110, the Bluetooth communication circuit 111 can be used for data communication with other Bluetooth devices. The data transmission circuit 113 can be used for data communication with other member circuits.

The control circuit 115 is coupled to the Bluetooth communication circuit 111 and the data transmission circuit 113, and is configured to directly communicate with the remote Bluetooth device 102 through the Bluetooth communication circuit 111 in a Bluetooth wireless transmission mode, and can communicate with other members through the data transmission circuit 113 The circuit performs data communication.

The judging circuit 117 is coupled to the control circuit 115, and is configured to evaluate the computing load, remaining power, temperature, or operating environment of the first Bluetooth circuit 110, and can notify when the aforementioned operating parameters of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 reach a predetermined condition Control circuit 115.

In some embodiments, the judging circuit 117 is also coupled to the data transmission circuit 113, and receives the computing load and remaining data from other member circuits (for example, the Bluetooth circuit 120 or 130 in FIG. 1) through the data transmission circuit 113. Indication of power, temperature, or operating environment.

In the second Bluetooth circuit 120, the Bluetooth communication circuit 121 can be used for data communication with other Bluetooth devices. The data transmission circuit 123 can be used for data communication with other member circuits.

The control circuit 125 is coupled to the Bluetooth communication circuit 121 and the data transmission circuit 123, and is configured to perform data communication with other wireless communication methods via the Bluetooth communication circuit 121 and to perform data communication with other member circuits through the data transmission circuit 123.

The judging circuit 127 is coupled to the control circuit 125, and is configured to evaluate the computing load, remaining power, temperature, or operating environment of the second Bluetooth circuit 120, and can notify when the aforementioned operating parameters of the second Bluetooth circuit 120 reach a predetermined condition Control circuit 125.

In some embodiments, the judgment circuit 127 is also coupled to the data transmission circuit 123, and receives the computational load and remaining data from other member circuits (for example, the Bluetooth circuit 110 or 130 in FIG. 1) through the data transmission circuit 123. Indication of power, temperature, or operating environment.

In practice, the aforementioned Bluetooth communication circuits 111 and 121 can be implemented by suitable communication circuits that can support various versions of the Bluetooth communication protocol. The aforementioned data transmission circuits 113 and 123 can be implemented by various wired transmission circuits, wireless transmission circuits, or a hybrid circuit that integrates both transmission mechanisms. Both the aforementioned control circuits 115 and 125 can be implemented by various microprocessors or digital signal processing circuits with appropriate computing capabilities. The aforementioned judgment circuits 117 and 127 can be implemented by suitable circuits capable of sensing, collecting, recording, and comparing related operating parameters.

In some embodiments, the judgment circuit 117 or 127 may also be integrated into the control circuit 115 or 125. In addition, the aforementioned data transmission circuits 113 and 123 may be integrated into the aforementioned Bluetooth communication circuits 111 and 121, respectively, or the aforementioned Bluetooth communication circuits 111 and 121 may be used to implement the functions of the data transmission circuits 113 and 123.

In other words, the aforementioned Bluetooth communication circuit 111 and the data transmission circuit 113 may be implemented by different circuits, or may be implemented by the same circuit. Similarly, the aforementioned Bluetooth communication circuit 121 and the data transmission circuit 123 may be implemented by different circuits, or may be implemented by the same circuit.

In application, the different functional blocks in the aforementioned first Bluetooth circuit 110 can also be integrated into a single circuit chip. For example, all functional blocks in the first Bluetooth circuit 110 can be integrated into a single Bluetooth controller IC. Similarly, all the functional blocks in the second Bluetooth circuit 120 can be integrated into another single Bluetooth control chip.

It can be seen from the foregoing description that different member circuits in the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 can communicate with each other through various data transmission circuits and various wired or wireless transmission mechanisms to form various types of data networks or data links. When the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 communicates with the remote Bluetooth device 102, the multiple member circuits of the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 will only have one specific member circuit responsible for direct data communication with the remote Bluetooth device 102 at the same time All other member circuits communicate with the remote Bluetooth device 102 indirectly through the specific member circuit. Therefore, the remote Bluetooth device 102 treats the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 as a single Bluetooth device.

The operation of the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 will be further described below with reference to FIGS. 2 to 4. FIG. 2 is a simplified flowchart of a method for implementing seamless handover between different member circuits of the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 of the present invention. FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 are simplified operation diagrams of the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 in different operation stages.

In the flowchart of FIG. 2, the process in the field to which a specific device belongs belongs to the process performed by the specific device. For example, the part marked in the "first Bluetooth circuit" field is the process performed by the first Bluetooth circuit 110; the part marked in the "second Bluetooth circuit" field is the second Bluetooth circuit 120 The process performed; the part marked in the "third Bluetooth circuit" field is the process performed by the third Bluetooth circuit 130. The aforementioned logic is also applicable to other subsequent flowcharts.

For convenience of explanation, the following assumes that the member circuit preset to be responsible for Bluetooth communication with an external Bluetooth device in the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 is the first Bluetooth circuit 110.

In the process 202, the first Bluetooth circuit 110 directly communicates with the remote Bluetooth device 102, as shown in FIG. For example, the control circuit 115 may control the Bluetooth communication circuit 111 to establish a Bluetooth connection with the remote Bluetooth device 102 in the process 202, and directly perform two-way data communication with the remote Bluetooth device 102. For another example, the control circuit 115 may control the Bluetooth communication circuit 111 to unidirectionally send data to the remote Bluetooth device 102 in the advertising mode in the process 202. For another example, the control circuit 115 may control the Bluetooth communication circuit 111 in the process 202 to unidirectionally receive data from the remote Bluetooth device 102 in an appropriate Bluetooth packet receiving mode.

In other words, the data communication between the first Bluetooth circuit 110 and the remote Bluetooth device 102 may be bidirectional or unidirectional.

In the process 204, the first Bluetooth circuit 110 notifies other member circuits in the multi-member Bluetooth device 100, and the first Bluetooth circuit 110 is responsible for communicating with the remote Bluetooth device 102. That is, next, the first Bluetooth circuit 110 will act as a data communication bridge between the remote Bluetooth device 102 and other member circuits. In the process 204, the control circuit 115 can transmit the aforementioned notification information to the data transmission circuits of other member circuits through the data transmission circuit 123.

Next, when the second Bluetooth circuit 120 needs to receive data from the remote Bluetooth device 102 or needs to send data to the remote Bluetooth device 102, the second Bluetooth circuit 120 will proceed to process 206. Similarly, when the third Bluetooth circuit 130 needs to receive data from the remote Bluetooth device 102 or needs to send data to the remote Bluetooth device 102, the third Bluetooth circuit 120 will perform the process 208.

In the process 206, the second Bluetooth circuit 120 indirectly communicates with the remote Bluetooth device 102 through the first Bluetooth circuit 110. For example, the control circuit 125 in the second Bluetooth circuit 120 may transmit the data to be transmitted to the remote Bluetooth device 102 through the data transmission circuit 123 to the data transmission circuit 113 of the first Bluetooth circuit 110, and then the first Bluetooth circuit 110 will The data is transferred to the remote Bluetooth device 102. For another example, the control circuit 125 in the second Bluetooth circuit 120 can receive data from the remote Bluetooth device 102 through the first Bluetooth circuit 110.

In the process 208, the third Bluetooth circuit 130 indirectly communicates with the remote Bluetooth device 102 through the first Bluetooth circuit 110. For example, the third Bluetooth circuit 130 may transmit the data to be transmitted to the remote Bluetooth device 102 to the data transmission circuit 113 of the first Bluetooth circuit 110, and then the first Bluetooth circuit 110 may transfer the data to the remote Bluetooth device 102. For another example, the third Bluetooth circuit 130 can receive data from the remote Bluetooth device 102 through the first Bluetooth circuit 110.

In this way, when the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 is in operation, only the first Bluetooth circuit 110 will directly communicate with the remote Bluetooth device 102, and other member circuits will indirectly communicate with the remote Bluetooth device 102 through the first Bluetooth circuit 110. Communication. In other words, at this time, the first Bluetooth circuit 110 will play a signal relay role between other member circuits and the remote Bluetooth device 102.

In an environment in which all member circuits of the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 are battery-powered, the aforementioned mechanism can save the calculation amount, power consumption, and heat generation of other member circuits.

During the operation of the multi-member Bluetooth device 100, the determination circuit 117 of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 performs the process 210 periodically or intermittently.

In the process 210, the judgment circuit 117 evaluates the operational parameters such as the computing load, remaining power, temperature, and/or operating environment of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 to determine whether it is necessary to hand over the signal relay role played by the first Bluetooth circuit 110 To other member circuits. If the judgment circuit 117 judges that the current situation of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 has reached the preset condition that the signal relay role needs to be handed over to other member circuits, the first Bluetooth circuit 110 will proceed to the process 212; otherwise, the judgment circuit 117 will continue the cycle Process 210 is repeated, either intermittently or intermittently.

For example, the judging circuit 117 may operate when the computing load of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 exceeds a predetermined level, the remaining power of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 is lower than a predetermined level, the temperature of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 exceeds a predetermined temperature value, and the first When the operating environment of the Bluetooth circuit 110 deviates from the preset condition, it is determined that the signal relay role played by the first Bluetooth circuit 110 needs to be handed over to other member circuits. In some embodiments where the first Bluetooth circuit 110 is a Bluetooth headset, the preset condition of the operating environment of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 is that the first Bluetooth circuit 110 should operate in the ear canal of the user. In this case, the determining circuit 117 may determine that the operating environment of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 deviates from the preset condition when it senses that the position of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 is away from the user's ear.

For another example, when at least one of the foregoing conditions is met, the determination circuit 117 may determine that the signal relay role played by the first Bluetooth circuit 110 needs to be handed over to other member circuits.

In another embodiment, the judgment circuit 117 can also receive the computing load, remaining power, temperature, or other data from other member circuits (for example, the Bluetooth circuits 120 and 130 in FIG. 1) through the data transmission circuit 113 in the process 210. Is the indication information of the operating parameters such as the operating environment, and compares the difference between the operating parameters of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 and the operating parameters of other member circuits in the process 210 to determine whether it is necessary to play the role of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 The basis for the handover of the signal relay role to other member circuits. In this embodiment, other member circuits may use their own judgment circuits to evaluate their own operating parameters such as computing load, remaining power, temperature, and/or operating environment, and transmit the obtained operating parameters to the first Bluetooth in process 210 The judgment circuit 117 of the circuit 110.

For example, the judging circuit 117 may calculate the load of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 beyond the other member circuits to a predetermined degree, the remaining power of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 is lower than the remaining power of the other member circuits by a predetermined degree, the first Bluetooth circuit 110 The temperature of the other member circuits exceeds the temperature of the other member circuit by a predetermined degree, and the operating environment of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 deviates from the preset condition but the operating environment of the other member circuit meets the preset condition, it is determined that the first Bluetooth circuit 110 needs to be played The signal relay role is handed over to other member circuits.

For another example, when at least one of the foregoing conditions is met, the determination circuit 117 may determine that the signal relay role played by the first Bluetooth circuit 110 needs to be handed over to other member circuits.

In practice, the judging circuit 117 may also incorporate the aforementioned operating parameters of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 and the differences in operating parameters between the first Bluetooth circuit 110 and other member circuits into the comprehensive judgment consideration of the foregoing process 210.

For example, the judging circuit 117 may operate when the operation load of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 exceeds a predetermined level, the remaining power of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 is lower than a predetermined level, the temperature of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 exceeds a predetermined temperature value, the first Bluetooth The operation load of the circuit 110 exceeds the other member circuits by a predetermined degree, the remaining power of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 is lower than the remaining power of the other member circuits by a predetermined degree, and the temperature of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 exceeds the temperature of the other member circuits by one When it is predetermined and the operating environment of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 deviates from the preset condition but the operating environment of the other member circuits meets the preset condition, it is determined that the signal relay role played by the first Bluetooth circuit 110 needs to be handed over to the other member circuits.

Alternatively, the determination circuit 117 may also determine that the signal relay role played by the first Bluetooth circuit 110 needs to be handed over to other member circuits when at least part of the foregoing conditions are satisfied.

When the judging circuit 117 judges that the signal relaying role played by the first Bluetooth circuit 110 needs to be handed over to other member circuits, the judging circuit 117 notifies the control circuit 115 and causes the control circuit 115 to perform the process 212.

In the process 212, the control circuit 115 may select a member circuit from other member circuits of the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 to play a role of signal relay in subsequent operations, and connect the device of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 through the data transmission circuit 113 The identification data, the Bluetooth connection parameters between the first Bluetooth circuit 110 and the remote Bluetooth device 102, and a handover instruction are transmitted to the selected member circuit.

In practice, the control circuit 115 can select any member circuit from other member circuits of the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 to play the role of signal relay in subsequent operations.

Alternatively, the control circuit 115 may also select a member circuit with the most ideal operating parameters from other member circuits of the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 to play a role of signal relay in subsequent operations.

For example, the control circuit 115 may select a member circuit with the highest remaining power from other member circuits of the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 to play a signal relay role in subsequent operations.

For another example, the control circuit 115 may select a member circuit with the lowest average computing load from other member circuits of the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 to play a role of signal relay in subsequent operations.

For another example, the control circuit 115 may select a member circuit having the lowest temperature from other member circuits of the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 to play a signal relay role in subsequent operations.

For another example, the control circuit 115 may also set appropriate weights on a plurality of operation parameters of other member circuits, and select a member circuit with the highest weighted score of these operation parameters to play a role of signal relay in subsequent operations.

For convenience of explanation, it is assumed that the control circuit 115 selects the second Bluetooth circuit 120 in the foregoing process 212 to play a role of signal relay in subsequent operations.

Therefore, in the process 212, the control circuit 115 uses the data transmission circuit 113 and the data transmission circuit 123 to compare the device identification data of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 and the Bluetooth connection parameters between the first Bluetooth circuit 110 and the remote Bluetooth device 102 And, the handover instruction is transmitted to the second Bluetooth circuit 120, as shown in FIG. 3.

The aforementioned handover instruction is used to instruct the second Bluetooth circuit 120 to use the device identification data and Bluetooth connection parameters of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 to impersonate the name of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 to directly communicate with the remote Bluetooth device 102 That is, instruct the second Bluetooth circuit 120 to use the device identification data and Bluetooth connection parameters of the first Bluetooth circuit 110, instead of directly communicating with the remote Bluetooth device 102 via Bluetooth wireless transmission method for the first Bluetooth circuit 110 to continue Play the role of signal relay.

In practice, the device identification data of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 transmitted in the foregoing process 212 can be changed according to the version of the Bluetooth communication protocol used between the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 and the remote Bluetooth device 102, or Bluetooth The communication mode varies.

For example, in one embodiment, the device identification data of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 includes a sync word used by the first Bluetooth circuit 110, a Bluetooth address of the first Bluetooth circuit 110, and a first The logical transport address (LT_ADDR) of the Bluetooth circuit 110.

For another example, in another embodiment, the device identification data of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 includes the access address of the first Bluetooth circuit 110.

For another example, in another embodiment, the device identification data of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 includes the access address of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 and the advertising device address of the first Bluetooth circuit 110.

Similarly, the Bluetooth connection parameters transmitted in the foregoing process 212 may vary according to the version of the Bluetooth communication protocol used between the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 and the remote Bluetooth device 102, or the Bluetooth communication mode .

For example, in an embodiment, the Bluetooth connection parameters between the first Bluetooth circuit 110 and the remote Bluetooth device 102 include a piconet clock and an adaptive frequency hopping map. AFH map).

For another example, in another embodiment, the Bluetooth connection parameters between the first Bluetooth circuit 110 and the remote Bluetooth device 102 include piconet clock, adaptive frequency hopping mapping, and link key , And encryption key

For another example, in another embodiment, the Bluetooth connection parameters between the first Bluetooth circuit 110 and the remote Bluetooth device 102 include advertising interval, channel map, and manufacturer’s own Vendor specific timing data.

For another example, in another embodiment, the Bluetooth connection parameters between the first Bluetooth circuit 110 and the remote Bluetooth device 102 include an anchor point instant, a connection counter, and a connection counter. Line interval (connection interval), channel mapping, long term key (long term key), connection key (session key), initialization vector (initialization vector), encryption algorithm count value (CCM counter), and manufacturer's own Scheduled data.

In the process 214, the control circuit 125 of the second Bluetooth circuit 120 receives the aforementioned device identification data, Bluetooth connection parameters, and handover instruction from the first Bluetooth circuit 110 through the data transmission circuit 123.

In the process 216, the first Bluetooth circuit 110 or the second Bluetooth circuit 120 notifies other member circuits in the multi-member Bluetooth device 100, and the second Bluetooth circuit 120 is responsible for communicating with the remote Bluetooth device 102. That is, next, the second Bluetooth circuit 120 will instead act as a data communication bridge between the remote Bluetooth device 102 and other member circuits. In the process 216, the control circuit 115 or 125 may transmit the aforementioned notification information to the data transmission circuits of other member circuits through the corresponding data transmission circuits.

In the process 218, the control circuit 125 of the second Bluetooth circuit 120 controls the Bluetooth communication circuit 121 to use the device identification data and the Bluetooth connection parameters of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 to directly communicate with the remote Bluetooth device in the name of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 102 performs data communication, as shown in Figure 4. Please note that the aforementioned pretending to be the name of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 means that the second Bluetooth circuit 120 will deliberately use the device identification data of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 as the second when communicating directly with the remote Bluetooth device 102 The device identification data of the Bluetooth circuit 120 causes the remote Bluetooth device 102 to mistakenly think that it is still performing Bluetooth communication with the first Bluetooth circuit 110.

On the other hand, when the Bluetooth communication circuit 121 of the second Bluetooth circuit 120 directly communicates with the remote Bluetooth device 102 in the name of the first Bluetooth circuit 110, the control circuit 115 of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 controls the Bluetooth communication circuit 111 stops directly performing data communication with the remote Bluetooth device 102 by Bluetooth wireless transmission, so as to avoid conflicts in the reception of the remote Bluetooth device 102.

In other words, while the first Bluetooth circuit 110 uses the Bluetooth communication circuit 111 to directly communicate with the remote Bluetooth device 102, the Bluetooth communication circuit 121 of the second Bluetooth circuit 120 does not directly communicate with the remote Bluetooth device 102, and While the Bluetooth communication circuit 121 of the second Bluetooth circuit 120 directly communicates with the remote Bluetooth device 102, the Bluetooth communication circuit 111 of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 does not directly communicate with the remote Bluetooth device 102.

In addition, the Bluetooth communication circuit 121 uses the device identification data and multiple Bluetooth connection parameters to pretend to be the name of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 to directly communicate with the remote Bluetooth device 102 by Bluetooth wireless transmission, and does not need to go through End Bluetooth device 102 agrees. Therefore, when the second Bluetooth circuit 120 starts direct Bluetooth communication with the remote Bluetooth device 102, the remote Bluetooth device 102 will not be required to perform the Bluetooth connection procedure again.

In other words, the aforementioned second Bluetooth circuit 120 uses the device identification data and Bluetooth connection parameters of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 to directly perform Bluetooth communication with the remote Bluetooth device 102, thereby eliminating the need to reconnect with the remote Bluetooth device 102 for Bluetooth. The time required for the procedure. From another perspective, the foregoing method can effectively avoid the signal interruption caused by the second Bluetooth circuit 120 needing to re-establish the Bluetooth connection process with the remote Bluetooth device 102 in its own name.

Next, when the first Bluetooth circuit 110 needs to receive data from the remote Bluetooth device 102 or needs to send data to the remote Bluetooth device 102, the first Bluetooth circuit 110 will perform the process 220. Similarly, when the third Bluetooth circuit 130 needs to receive data from the remote Bluetooth device 102 or needs to send data to the remote Bluetooth device 102, the third Bluetooth circuit 120 will perform the process 222.

In the process 220, the first Bluetooth circuit 110 will instead indirectly communicate with the remote Bluetooth device 102 via the second Bluetooth circuit 120. For example, the control circuit 115 in the first Bluetooth circuit 110 may transmit the data to be transmitted to the remote Bluetooth device 102 through the data transmission circuit 113 to the data transmission circuit 123 of the second Bluetooth circuit 120, and then the second Bluetooth circuit 120 will The data is transferred to the remote Bluetooth device 102. For another example, the control circuit 115 in the first Bluetooth circuit 110 can receive data from the remote Bluetooth device 102 through the second Bluetooth circuit 120.

In the process 222, the third Bluetooth circuit 130 indirectly communicates with the remote Bluetooth device 102 through the second Bluetooth circuit 120. For example, the third Bluetooth circuit 130 may transmit the data to be transmitted to the remote Bluetooth device 102 to the data transmission circuit 123 of the second Bluetooth circuit 120, and then the second Bluetooth circuit 120 may transfer the data to the remote Bluetooth device 102. For another example, the third Bluetooth circuit 130 can receive data from the remote Bluetooth device 102 through the second Bluetooth circuit 120.

In this way, in the subsequent operation of the multi-member Bluetooth device 100, only the second Bluetooth circuit 120 will directly communicate with the remote Bluetooth device 102, and the other member circuits will be indirectly communicated with the remote through the second Bluetooth circuit 120. The Bluetooth device 102 performs data communication. In other words, at this time, the second Bluetooth circuit 120 will replace the first Bluetooth circuit 110 as a signal relaying role between other member circuits and the remote Bluetooth device 102.

Please note that the foregoing sequence of execution of the process in FIG. 2 is only an exemplary embodiment, and does not limit the actual implementation of the present invention. For example, the foregoing action of transmitting the device identification data of the first Bluetooth circuit 110, the Bluetooth connection parameters between the first Bluetooth circuit 110 and the remote Bluetooth device 102, and the handover instruction to the second Bluetooth circuit 120 is in the process 212 In the same time, but in practical applications can also be carried out separately at different points in time.

In some embodiments or applications, in the process of playing the role of signal relay, the aforementioned first Bluetooth circuit 110 may also skip the judgment operation of the aforementioned process 210 to directly proceed to the process 212 in order to achieve a specific application purpose. Operation. For example, the control circuit 115 may actively request a certain one of the other member circuits when the first Bluetooth circuit 110 enters a certain operation mode (for example, when entering the power saving mode, entering the firmware automatic update mode, or preparing to restart) A member circuit (for example, the aforementioned second Bluetooth circuit 120) replaces the first Bluetooth circuit 110 to directly communicate with the remote Bluetooth device 102 to continue to play the role of signal relay without being limited to the judgment of the judgment circuit 117 at the time result. In this case, it is equivalent to the first Bluetooth circuit 110 skipping the aforementioned procedure 210 and directly performing the procedure 212.

In addition, the number of member circuits in the aforementioned multi-member Bluetooth device 100 can be reduced to two, or it can be increased according to actual circuit application needs.

The aforementioned multi-member Bluetooth device 100 architecture and operation mode can be applied to pairs of Bluetooth headsets, groups of Bluetooth speakers, groups of virtual reality devices, groups of Bluetooth tire pressure detectors, including multiple Internet of Things The unit circuit of the Internet of Things system and other various devices or systems adopting the Bluetooth transmission mechanism. The aforementioned remote Bluetooth device 102 can use various types of desktop computers, notebook computers, tablet computers, mobile phones, smart watches, virtual reality image signal generating devices, smart speakers, smart TVs, and cars with Bluetooth transmission capabilities Use electronic devices, Internet of Things transmission and reception circuits and other suitable devices to achieve.

As can be seen from the foregoing description, the first Bluetooth circuit 110 will first play the role of signal relay in the multi-member Bluetooth device 100, directly perform Bluetooth communication with the remote Bluetooth device 102, and serve as a communication between the remote Bluetooth device 102 and other member circuits Data communication bridge. After the first Bluetooth circuit 110 plays the role of signal relay for a period of time, the control circuit 115 of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 will instruct the second Bluetooth circuit 120 to continue to play the role of signal relay and use the device identification data of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 With the connection parameters of Bluetooth, the name of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 is assumed to replace the first Bluetooth circuit 110 to directly perform Bluetooth communication with the remote Bluetooth device 102 as a data communication bridge between the remote Bluetooth device 102 and other member circuits.

The aforementioned method of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 handing over the signal relay role to the second Bluetooth circuit 120 can effectively reduce the calculation amount, power consumption, or heat generation of the first Bluetooth circuit 110.

In addition, using the aforementioned method of directly communicating with the remote Bluetooth device 102 in the name of the first Bluetooth circuit 110, the second Bluetooth circuit 120 does not need to re-establish a new Bluetooth connection with the remote Bluetooth device 102, so it can effectively avoid A signal interruption occurs in a member circuit of the multi-member Bluetooth device 100.

In other words, using the method of FIG. 2 described above, the first Bluetooth circuit 110 can seamlessly transfer the signal relay role to the second Bluetooth circuit 120 without first obtaining the consent of the remote Bluetooth device 102.

From another perspective, the member circuit that plays the role of the current signal relay in the aforementioned multi-member Bluetooth device 100 (hereinafter referred to as the main Bluetooth circuit) can select the next member circuit that continues to play the role of signal relay when appropriate (Hereinafter referred to as a secondary Bluetooth circuit), and flexibly decides when the secondary Bluetooth circuit replaces the primary Bluetooth circuit to directly perform Bluetooth communication with the remote Bluetooth device 102.

Therefore, by using the method of FIG. 2 described above, management mechanisms such as load balancing, power consumption balance, or heat balance can be implemented among multiple Bluetooth circuits of the multi-member Bluetooth device 100, so the overall performance of the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 can be improved , Extend the life of the Bluetooth circuit, or improve the user experience.

In the aforementioned embodiments of FIGS. 2 to 4, the main Bluetooth circuit that plays the role of current signal relay performs two-way packet transmission with the remote Bluetooth device 102, while other member circuits receive the remote Bluetooth device indirectly through the main Bluetooth circuit. The packet sent by 102, and the main Bluetooth circuit will judge whether to switch the main Bluetooth circuit according to its own operating parameters such as computing load, remaining power, temperature, operating environment, and/or the operating parameters of the main Bluetooth circuit and other member circuits. The signal relay role played is handed over to other member circuits. However, this is only one of the ways in which the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 in FIG. 1 interacts with the remote Bluetooth device 102, and does not limit the actual operation of the multi-member Bluetooth device 100.

The following further describes another operation mode of the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 with FIGS. 5 to 7. FIG. 5 is a simplified flowchart of another operation method of the interaction between the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 and the remote Bluetooth device 102 in FIG. 1. 6 to 7 are simplified flowcharts of another method for achieving seamless handover between different member circuits of the multi-member Bluetooth device 100.

In this embodiment, one of the member circuits of the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 (hereinafter also referred to as the main Bluetooth circuit) will be responsible for two-way packet transmission with the remote Bluetooth device 102. In the process of two-way packet transmission between the main Bluetooth circuit and the remote Bluetooth device 102, other member circuits will sniff the packets sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102, but do not allow other member circuits to send commands, data, or other related information The packet is sent to the remote Bluetooth device 102. In other words, all the member circuits of the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 in this embodiment will receive the packets sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102, but only the main Bluetooth circuit is allowed to send commands, data, or other related packets to the remote Bluetooth device 102.

For convenience of explanation, the following assumes that the member circuit preset in the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 to be responsible for bidirectional packet transmission with the remote Bluetooth device 102 is the first Bluetooth circuit 110.

As shown in FIG. 5, the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 will first perform the process 502 to obtain the Bluetooth connection parameters required to receive the packet sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102. In practice, the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 can use one of the member circuits to connect with the remote Bluetooth device 102 to obtain related Bluetooth connection parameters, and then use the member circuit to transmit the obtained Bluetooth connection parameters to other member circuits .

For example, in an embodiment, the control circuit 115 of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 may control the Bluetooth communication circuit 111 to establish a Bluetooth connection with the remote Bluetooth device 102 in the process 502, and connect the first Bluetooth circuit 110 with the remote Bluetooth device The Bluetooth connection parameters between 102 are transmitted to other member circuits such as the second Bluetooth circuit 120 through the data transmission circuit 113, so that the other member circuits can then use the Bluetooth connection parameters to receive the packet sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102.

For another example, in another embodiment, the control circuit 125 of the second Bluetooth circuit 120 may control the Bluetooth communication circuit 121 to establish a Bluetooth connection with the remote Bluetooth device 102 in the process 502, and connect the second Bluetooth circuit 120 to the remote The Bluetooth connection parameters between the Bluetooth devices 102 are transmitted to other member circuits through the data transmission circuit 123, so that the other member circuits can then use the Bluetooth connection parameters to receive packets from the remote Bluetooth device 102. On the other hand, the control circuit 125 can also send the device identification data of the second Bluetooth circuit 120 and the Bluetooth connection parameters between the second Bluetooth circuit 120 and the remote Bluetooth device 102 through the data transmission circuit 123 in the process 502 Give the first Bluetooth circuit 110 so that the first Bluetooth circuit 110 can perform two-way packet transmission with the remote Bluetooth device 102 in the subsequent process 506. After that, the second Bluetooth circuit 120 will be changed to only receive packets from the remote Bluetooth device 102 in one direction, and will not send packets to the remote Bluetooth device 102 again, so as to avoid the problem of packet conflicts in the remote Bluetooth device 102.

In the process 504, the first Bluetooth circuit 110 notifies other member circuits in the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 (for example, the aforementioned second Bluetooth circuit 120 and third Bluetooth circuit 130), and then the first Bluetooth circuit 110 is responsible for The remote Bluetooth device 102 performs two-way packet transmission. In the process 504, the first Bluetooth circuit 110 also instructs other member circuits to notify the first Bluetooth circuit 110 when recording (ie, receiving) the packet sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102. That is, other member circuits can unidirectionally receive the packets sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102, but are not allowed to transmit commands, data, or other related packets to the remote Bluetooth device 102. The control circuit 115 can transmit the aforementioned notification information and instructions to the data transmission circuits of other member circuits through the data transmission circuit 123.

Next, when the remote Bluetooth device 102 needs to send various commands or data to the multi-member Bluetooth device 100, or the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 needs to send various commands or data to the remote Bluetooth device 102, the first Bluetooth circuit 110 will perform Process 506.

In the process 506, the control circuit 115 can use the Bluetooth connection parameters acquired in the process 502 to perform a two-way packet transmission with the remote Bluetooth device 102 through the Bluetooth communication circuit 111 to receive various commands or commands from the remote Bluetooth device 102. Data, or send various commands or data to the remote Bluetooth device 102. According to the operation description of the foregoing process 502, the Bluetooth connection parameters used by the first Bluetooth circuit 110 and the remote Bluetooth device 102 for two-way packet transmission may be acquired by the first Bluetooth circuit 110 itself, or may be other members From a circuit (for example, the second Bluetooth circuit 120).

If the Bluetooth connection parameters used by the first Bluetooth circuit 110 are acquired by the first Bluetooth circuit 110 itself, the first Bluetooth circuit 110 can use the first Bluetooth circuit 110's own name to perform bidirectional communication with the remote Bluetooth device 102 in the process 506 Packet transmission. If the Bluetooth connection parameters used by the first Bluetooth circuit 110 are transmitted from the second Bluetooth circuit 120, the first Bluetooth circuit 110 can use the name of the second Bluetooth circuit 120 to perform a two-way packet with the remote Bluetooth device 102 in the process 506 transmission.

Each time the Bluetooth communication circuit 111 receives the packet from the remote Bluetooth device 102, the control circuit 115 of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 performs the process 508, and transmits a confirmation message corresponding to the received packet through the Bluetooth communication circuit 111 ( acknowledge message) to the remote Bluetooth device 102. If the remote Bluetooth device 102 does not receive the corresponding confirmation information of the specific packet, it will retransmit the specific packet to the Bluetooth communication circuit 111. In practice, various suitable existing packet handshake mechanisms can be adopted between the first Bluetooth circuit 110 and the remote Bluetooth device 102 to reduce or avoid the occurrence of missing packets.

On the other hand, during the bidirectional packet transmission between the first Bluetooth circuit 110 and the remote Bluetooth device 102, other member circuits will perform the process 510 to record the packets sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102.

For example, in the process 510, the control circuit 125 of the second Bluetooth circuit 120 may record the packets sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102 through the Bluetooth communication circuit 121 according to the Bluetooth connection parameters acquired in the process 502. In an embodiment, the Bluetooth communication circuit 121 can record all Bluetooth packets sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102. In another embodiment, the Bluetooth communication circuit 121 will only record Bluetooth packets that the remote Bluetooth device 102 will transmit to the first Bluetooth circuit 110, but will not record the remote Bluetooth device 102 to transmit to the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 Bluetooth packets from external devices. It can be known from the description of the foregoing process 502 that the Bluetooth connection parameters used when the second Bluetooth circuit 120 records the packet sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102 may be obtained by the second Bluetooth circuit 120 itself, or may be other member circuits (For example, the first Bluetooth circuit 110).

Each time the other member circuit records (ie, receives) the packet sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102, the process 512 is performed. In the process 512, the member circuit sends a notification message corresponding to the received packet to the first Bluetooth circuit 110, but does not send any confirmation message to the remote Bluetooth device 102. For example, each time the second Bluetooth circuit 120 receives a packet sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102, the control circuit 125 may perform the process 512 and send a corresponding notification message to the data transmission circuit of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 through the data transmission circuit 123 113, but the control circuit 125 does not send any confirmation information to the remote Bluetooth device 102 through the Bluetooth communication circuit 121 and the data transmission circuit 123.

In other words, although the first Bluetooth circuit 110 and other member circuits both receive the packet sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102 in this embodiment, only the first Bluetooth circuit 110 sends a confirmation message to the remote Bluetooth device 102 when receiving the packet No other member circuits will send confirmation messages to the remote Bluetooth device 102 to avoid misjudgment caused by the remote Bluetooth device 102. Since the remote Bluetooth device 102 does not know that the second Bluetooth circuit 120 is recording the packets sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102, and the second Bluetooth circuit 120 does not send the corresponding confirmation information to the remote Bluetooth device 102, the second Bluetooth circuit Between 120 and the remote Bluetooth device 102, no packet handshake procedure is performed for the packets sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102.

In this embodiment, the purpose of the second Bluetooth circuit 120 to transmit the aforementioned notification message to the first Bluetooth circuit 110 is not to perform a packet handshake procedure with the first Bluetooth circuit 110, but to allow the first Bluetooth circuit 110 to Grasp the result of the second Bluetooth circuit 120 recording the packet sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102.

In addition, the purpose of the second Bluetooth circuit 120 to transmit the aforementioned notification information to the first Bluetooth circuit 110 is not to allow the first Bluetooth circuit 110 to decide whether to transmit the aforementioned confirmation message to the remote Bluetooth device 102. Before transmitting the aforementioned confirmation message to the remote Bluetooth device 102, the first Bluetooth communication circuit 111 of this embodiment does not check whether the data transmission circuit 113 has received the aforementioned notification message from the second Bluetooth circuit 120. Therefore, the timing of the first Bluetooth communication circuit 111 transmitting the confirmation message to the remote Bluetooth device 102 is independent of whether the data transmission circuit 113 has received the aforementioned notification message from the second Bluetooth circuit 120.

For example, when the remote Bluetooth device 102 sends out a specific Bluetooth packet, if the first Bluetooth circuit 110 receives the specific Bluetooth packet, but the second Bluetooth circuit 120 does not record the specific Bluetooth packet, the first Bluetooth communication circuit 111 A corresponding confirmation message is still sent to the remote Bluetooth device 102 through the Bluetooth communication circuit 111. Conversely, if the second Bluetooth circuit 120 records the specific Bluetooth packet, but the first Bluetooth circuit 110 does not receive the specific Bluetooth packet, the first Bluetooth communication circuit 111 will not send the corresponding confirmation message to the remote Bluetooth装置102。 The device 102.

Obviously, when the control circuit 115 of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 decides whether to send the confirmation information corresponding to a specific Bluetooth packet to the remote Bluetooth device 102, it does not consider whether the second Bluetooth circuit 120 has transmitted the specific information The corresponding notification information of the Bluetooth packet is sent to the first Bluetooth circuit 110.

In practice, the foregoing notification information transmitted from the second Bluetooth circuit 120 to the first Bluetooth circuit 110 may be implemented in various suitable data formats. For example, when the second Bluetooth circuit 120 receives a specific Bluetooth packet from the remote Bluetooth device 102, the control circuit 125 may extract the corresponding packet sequence number from the specific Bluetooth packet, and the packet sequence number together with the available identification number The device code or device identification data of the second Bluetooth circuit 120 are combined or encoded together into notification information corresponding to the specific Bluetooth packet. For another example, the control circuit 125 may extract suitable packet identification data from the specific Bluetooth packet, and combine or encode the packet identification data together with a device code or device identification data for identifying the second Bluetooth circuit 120 into The corresponding notification information of the specific Bluetooth packet.

As can be seen from the foregoing description, in the process that the remote Bluetooth device 102 successively sends out multiple Bluetooth packets, the first Bluetooth circuit 110 will repeat the aforementioned processes 506 and 508 under normal circumstances, and then send multiple confirmation messages to the remote Bluetooth device 102. On the other hand, under normal circumstances, other member circuits will repeat the foregoing processes 510 and 512, and then send multiple notification messages to the first Bluetooth circuit 110. For example, the second Bluetooth circuit 120 repeats the foregoing processes 510 and 512 to transmit multiple notification messages corresponding to the multiple Bluetooth packets sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102 to the first Bluetooth circuit 110.

In actual operation, individual member circuits may occasionally miss part of the packets sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102, and the number of packets and the number of packets missed by different member circuits may also be different. Therefore, the first Bluetooth circuit 110 may perform the process 514 intermittently or periodically to determine whether the individual member circuit misses the packet sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102 according to the plurality of notification messages from the individual member circuit.

For example, in the process 514, the control circuit 115 of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 may check whether the second Bluetooth circuit 120 misses some packets from the remote Bluetooth device 102 according to a plurality of notification messages from the second Bluetooth circuit 120 . The control circuit 115 may parse out a plurality of packet sequence number data or a plurality of packet identification data from the plurality of notification messages transmitted from the second Bluetooth circuit 120. The control circuit 115 can check whether the packet sequence number data or the packet identification data have continuity to check whether the second Bluetooth circuit 120 misses some packets from the remote Bluetooth device 102. If the foregoing packet sequence data or packet identification data is discontinuous, the control circuit 115 may determine that the second Bluetooth circuit 120 has missed a packet corresponding to the missing packet sequence data or packet identification data. According to the missing packet sequence number data or packet identification data, the control circuit 115 may further define which packets are missed by the second Bluetooth circuit 120.

As mentioned above, a packet handshake mechanism is adopted between the first Bluetooth circuit 110 and the remote Bluetooth device 102, so under normal circumstances the first Bluetooth circuit 110 should be able to successfully obtain all packets sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102. If the control circuit 115 detects that a particular member circuit has missed a part of the packets sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102, it will proceed to the process 516 and transmit the missed packet of the particular member circuit to the particular member through the data transmission circuit 113 Circuit, so that the specific member circuit will fill up the missed packets.

By repeating the foregoing operations, the other member circuits can complete the missing packets with the assistance of the first Bluetooth circuit 110.

For example, if the control circuit 115 detects that the second Bluetooth circuit 120 has missed some packets from the remote Bluetooth device 102, the control circuit 115 will perform a process 516 to transmit the missed packets of the second Bluetooth circuit 120 through data transmission. The circuit 113 transmits to the second Bluetooth circuit 120. In this case, the second Bluetooth circuit 120 performs the process 518 to receive the packet transmitted from the first Bluetooth circuit 110 through the data transmission circuit 123, thereby obtaining the missed packet.

During the interaction between the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 and the remote Bluetooth device 102, if other member circuits need to send commands or data to the remote Bluetooth device 102, the related commands or data can be sent to the first Bluetooth circuit through the data transmission circuit 110. Then, the first Bluetooth circuit 110 can transmit the aforementioned command or data to the remote Bluetooth device 102 through the Bluetooth communication circuit 111. In other words, other member circuits can indirectly transmit commands or data to the remote Bluetooth device 102 through the first Bluetooth circuit 110.

As can be seen from the foregoing description, a packet handshake mechanism is used between the first Bluetooth circuit 110 and the remote Bluetooth device 102 to avoid missing packets, and the timing of the first Bluetooth communication circuit 111 sending confirmation information to the remote Bluetooth device 102 , Regardless of whether the data transmission circuit 113 has received the aforementioned notification information from the second Bluetooth circuit 120.

Therefore, other member circuits transmit corresponding notification information to the action of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 when receiving the packet sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102, and will not interfere or delay the first Bluetooth circuit 110 and the remote Bluetooth device 102. The packet handshaking procedure does not cause an additional operational burden for the first Bluetooth circuit 110 to perform the foregoing packet handshaking procedure.

On the other hand, since other member circuits in the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 (for example, the aforementioned second Bluetooth circuit 120 and third Bluetooth circuit 130) will record packets from the remote Bluetooth device 102, each member circuit is Under normal circumstances, most of the packets sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102 will be received. Therefore, the first Bluetooth circuit 110 as the main Bluetooth circuit only needs to transmit the packets missed by the individual member circuits to the corresponding member circuits, and does not need to transmit all the packets sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102 to each member circuit .

Compared with the aforementioned embodiment of FIG. 2, the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 uses the method of FIG. 5 to interact with the remote Bluetooth device 102, which can greatly reduce the packet of the main Bluetooth circuit (in this example, the first Bluetooth circuit 110) Transmit the burden, thereby saving the power consumption of the main Bluetooth circuit. In this way, the working time and standby time of the main Bluetooth circuit can be effectively extended.

In addition, it can greatly reduce the data transmission bandwidth requirement between the main Bluetooth circuit and other member circuits, so it can simplify the hardware design of the main Bluetooth circuit and other member circuits, and/or reduce the circuit complexity and circuit cost .

During operation, various member circuits of the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 can also use various suitable existing data synchronization mechanisms to ensure that different member circuits can simultaneously play the audio data or video data transmitted from the remote Bluetooth device 102. This avoids the inconsistent playback timing of different member circuits.

During the interaction between the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 and the remote Bluetooth device 102 using the method of FIG. 5 described above, the main Bluetooth circuit can intermittently evaluate whether to transfer the role of the main Bluetooth circuit to other member circuits. Similarly, other member circuits can also intermittently evaluate whether to actively replace the role of the main Bluetooth circuit. Hereinafter, another method for achieving seamless handover between different member circuits of the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 to 7.

For example, during the operation of the multi-member Bluetooth device 100, the control circuit 115 of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 may periodically or intermittently perform the process 602 in FIG. 6, while the control circuits of other member circuits may be periodic or intermittent Proceed to the process 610 in FIG. 6.

In the process 602, the control circuit 115 calculates the Bluetooth packet loss rate of other member circuits, and compares the Bluetooth packet loss rate of other members with the Bluetooth packet loss rate of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 to evaluate the other member circuits and the first The relative reception quality between the Bluetooth circuits 110. For the first Bluetooth circuit 110, the higher the Bluetooth packet loss rate of a member circuit, the more times the first Bluetooth circuit 110 may reissue the packet to the member circuit.

For example, in the process 602, the control circuit 115 may calculate the total number and missed reception of a Bluetooth packet sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102 by a member circuit (for example, the second Bluetooth circuit 120) according to the determination result of the foregoing process 514 The average number of packets, or the moving average number of missing packets (moving avarage), and the calculated result represents the Bluetooth packet loss rate of the member circuit.

For another example, the control circuit 115 may calculate the total number of times the packet is reissued to a member circuit or the number of moving averages, and use the calculated result to represent the Bluetooth packet loss rate of the member circuit.

If the control circuit 115 finds that the Bluetooth packet loss rate of other member circuits is lower than the Bluetooth packet loss rate of the first Bluetooth circuit 110, the first Bluetooth circuit 110 may perform the process 604; otherwise, the first Bluetooth circuit 110 will continue to monitor individual members Changes in the loss rate of Bluetooth packets in the circuit.

In the process 604, the control circuit 115 may select a member circuit from other member circuits whose Bluetooth packet loss rate is lower than that of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 to play the role of the main Bluetooth circuit in the subsequent operation, and transfer a connection through the data transmission circuit 113 The instruction (handover instruction) is transmitted to the selected member circuit.

For example, the control circuit 115 may select the member circuit with the lowest Bluetooth packet loss rate to play the role of the main Bluetooth circuit in subsequent operations.

Alternatively, the control circuit 115 may arbitrarily select a member circuit from the member circuits having a lower Bluetooth packet loss rate than the first Bluetooth circuit 110 at a predetermined time point to play the role of a master Bluetooth circuit in subsequent operations.

For convenience of explanation, it is assumed below that the control circuit 115 selects the second Bluetooth circuit 120 in the foregoing process 604 to play the role of the main Bluetooth circuit in subsequent operations.

Therefore, in the process 604, the control circuit 115 transmits the handover instruction to the second Bluetooth circuit 120 through the data transmission circuit 113 and the data transmission circuit 123.

The handover instruction transmitted by the control circuit 115 in the process 604 can be used to instruct the second Bluetooth circuit 120 to take over the role of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 to directly perform two-way packet transmission with the remote Bluetooth device 102. That is, the aforementioned handover instruction will indicate that the second Bluetooth circuit 120 will be directly used to perform two-way packet transmission with the remote Bluetooth device 102 via Bluetooth wireless transmission in order to continue to play the role of the main Bluetooth circuit.

If the Bluetooth connection parameters referred to in the foregoing process 502 are acquired by the first Bluetooth circuit 110 and transmitted to the second Bluetooth circuit 120, the control circuit 115 can also identify the device of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 in the process 604 The data is transmitted to the second Bluetooth circuit 120 through the data transmission circuit 113 and the data transmission circuit 123.

In the process 606, the control circuit 125 of the second Bluetooth circuit 120 receives the handover instruction from the first Bluetooth circuit 110 through the data transmission circuit 123.

In the process 608, the first Bluetooth circuit 110 or the second Bluetooth circuit 120 will notify other member circuits in the multi-member Bluetooth device 100, and then the second Bluetooth circuit 120 is responsible for bidirectional packet transmission with the remote Bluetooth device 102, It also instructs other member circuits to notify the second Bluetooth circuit 120 when recording the packet sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102. That is, the second Bluetooth circuit 120 will be replaced by the role of the main Bluetooth circuit. In the process 608, the control circuit 115 or 125 may transmit the aforementioned notification and instruction information to the data transmission circuits of other member circuits through the corresponding data transmission circuits.

After the first Bluetooth circuit 110 or the second Bluetooth circuit 120 performs the process 608, the first Bluetooth circuit 110 will change to receive packets from the remote Bluetooth device 102 in one direction, and will not send packets to the remote Bluetooth. Device 102 to avoid the problem of packet conflicts in the remote Bluetooth device 102.

Since the second Bluetooth circuit 120 with a lower Bluetooth packet loss rate than the first Bluetooth circuit 110 is responsible for bidirectional packet transmission with the remote Bluetooth device 102, the possibility of the remote Bluetooth device 102 needing to retransmit the packet can be reduced To further reduce the operating burden of the remote Bluetooth device 102.

As described above, during the interaction between the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 and the remote Bluetooth device 102 using the method of FIG. 5 described above, the control circuits of other member circuits may periodically or intermittently perform the process 610 in FIG. 6 to detect It is tested whether the main Bluetooth circuit 110 is disabled or disappeared.

For example, in the process 610, the control circuit 125 of the second Bluetooth circuit 120 may detect whether the main Bluetooth circuit 110 is disabled or missing. In practice, the control circuit 125 can detect whether the main Bluetooth circuit 110 is disabled or missing by evaluating the data communication status between the second Bluetooth circuit 120 and the first Bluetooth circuit 110 that was playing the role of the main Bluetooth circuit at that time.

The aforementioned data communication status between the second Bluetooth circuit 120 and the first Bluetooth circuit 110 mainly refers to whether the data communication circuits 123 and 113 still maintain normal communication capabilities.

In this embodiment, the control circuit 125 may be configured not to interact with the second Bluetooth circuit 120 when the first Bluetooth circuit 110 exceeds a predetermined time, or the packets missed by the second Bluetooth circuit 120 are not obtained by the first Bluetooth circuit 110 When the frequency of reissue exceeds a predetermined threshold, the main Bluetooth circuit 110 is determined to be disabled or missing.

When the control circuit 125 determines that the first Bluetooth circuit 110 is disabled or missing, the second Bluetooth circuit 120 may perform the foregoing process 608 to notify other member circuits in the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 (including the first Bluetooth circuit 110) Next, the second Bluetooth circuit 120 is responsible for bidirectional packet transmission with the remote Bluetooth device 102, and instructs other member circuits to notify the second Bluetooth circuit 120 when recording the packet sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102. That is, the second Bluetooth circuit 120 will be replaced by the role of the main Bluetooth circuit.

Whether the second Bluetooth circuit 120 actively decides to continue to play the role of the main Bluetooth circuit, or the second Bluetooth circuit 120 designated by the first Bluetooth circuit 110 to continue to play the role of the main Bluetooth circuit as described above, the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 will proceed The process of FIG. 7 to interact with the remote Bluetooth device 102.

In the process 702, the second Bluetooth circuit 120 succeeds the first Bluetooth circuit 110 and plays a role of performing two-way packet transmission with the remote Bluetooth device 102.

For example, assume that the first Bluetooth circuit 110 uses the own name of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 to perform two-way packet transmission with the remote Bluetooth device 102 in the aforementioned process 506, and the first Bluetooth circuit 110 uses the first Bluetooth circuit 110 in the aforementioned process 604 The device identification data of 110 is transmitted to the second Bluetooth circuit 120, then the control circuit 125 of the second Bluetooth circuit 120 can control the Bluetooth communication circuit 121 to use the device identification data and Bluetooth connection parameters provided by the first Bluetooth circuit 110 in the process 702, Pretending to be the name of the first Bluetooth circuit 110, it directly performs two-way packet transmission with the remote Bluetooth device 102 to receive various commands or data from the remote Bluetooth device 102, or send various commands or data to the remote Bluetooth device 102. The same as the aforementioned embodiment of FIG. 2, the so-called impersonation of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 refers to a device in which the second Bluetooth circuit 120 will deliberately use the first Bluetooth circuit 110 when performing two-way Bluetooth packet transmission with the remote Bluetooth device 102 The identification data is used as the device identification data of the second Bluetooth circuit 120, so that the remote Bluetooth device 102 thinks that the object of its Bluetooth communication is still the same as the case of the foregoing process 506, that is, the first Bluetooth circuit 110.

For another example, it is assumed that the Bluetooth connection parameters referred to in the foregoing process 502 are acquired by the second Bluetooth circuit 120 and transmitted to the first Bluetooth circuit 110, and the first Bluetooth circuit 110 uses the second Bluetooth circuit in the foregoing process 506 In the name of 110, two-way packet transmission is performed with the remote Bluetooth device 102, then the control circuit 125 of the second Bluetooth circuit 120 can control the Bluetooth communication circuit 121 to use the device identification data of the second Bluetooth circuit 110 and the second Bluetooth circuit 110 in the process 702 The previously obtained Bluetooth connection parameters directly communicate with the remote Bluetooth device 102 in two-way packets to receive various commands or data from the remote Bluetooth device 102 or send various commands or data to the remote Bluetooth device 102. Unlike the previous embodiment, the second Bluetooth circuit 120 does not perform the packet transmission with the remote Bluetooth device 102 in the name of the first Bluetooth circuit 110, but uses the second Bluetooth circuit 120's own name with the remote Bluetooth device 102 Packet transmission is performed, but the remote Bluetooth device 102 also thinks that the object of its Bluetooth communication is still the same as that in the process 506, that is, it is the second Bluetooth circuit 120.

Similarly, the second Bluetooth circuit 120 succeeds the first Bluetooth circuit 110 and plays a role of performing two-way packet transmission with the remote Bluetooth device 102 without first obtaining the permission of the remote Bluetooth device 102. Therefore, after the second Bluetooth circuit 120 takes over the role of the first Bluetooth circuit 110, the remote Bluetooth device 102 will not be required to perform the Bluetooth connection procedure again.

In other words, the aforementioned second Bluetooth circuit 120 succeeds the first Bluetooth circuit 110 to play a role of performing two-way packet transmission with the remote Bluetooth device 102, which can save the time required to re-connect with the remote Bluetooth device 102 for the Bluetooth connection procedure . From another perspective, the foregoing method can effectively avoid the signal interruption caused by the second Bluetooth circuit 120 needing to re-establish the Bluetooth connection process with the remote Bluetooth device 102.

Next, each time the Bluetooth communication circuit 121 receives the packet from the remote Bluetooth device 102, the control circuit 112 of the second Bluetooth circuit 120 performs a process 704, and transmits a corresponding one corresponding to the received packet through the Bluetooth communication circuit 121. Confirm the information to the remote Bluetooth device 102. If the remote Bluetooth device 102 does not receive the corresponding confirmation information of the specific packet, it will retransmit the specific packet to the Bluetooth communication circuit 121. Similar to the foregoing embodiment of FIG. 5, various suitable existing packet handshaking mechanisms can be used between the second Bluetooth circuit 120 and the remote Bluetooth device 102 to reduce or avoid the occurrence of missing packets. In this way, the Bluetooth packet loss rate of the second Bluetooth circuit 120 can be effectively reduced.

On the other hand, during the two-way packet transmission between the second Bluetooth circuit 120 and the remote Bluetooth device 102, other member circuits will perform a process 706 to record the packets sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102.

In the process 706, the control circuits of other member circuits will record the Bluetooth connection parameters acquired in the aforesaid process 502 through the relevant Bluetooth communication circuit to record the packets sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102. In an embodiment, other member circuits may record all Bluetooth packets sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102. In another embodiment, other member circuits will only record the Bluetooth packets that the remote Bluetooth device 102 will transmit to the first Bluetooth circuit 110, but will not record the remote Bluetooth device 102 to be transmitted to the multi-member Bluetooth device 100. The Bluetooth packet of the device.

For example, during the process of the second Bluetooth circuit 120 performing the process 702 and the two-way packet transmission with the remote Bluetooth device 102, the control circuit 115 of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 may record the packets sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102 via the Bluetooth communication circuit 111 .

Every time other member circuits including the first Bluetooth circuit 110 record (ie, receive) the packet sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102, the process 708 is performed. In the process 708, the member circuit sends a notification message corresponding to the received packet to the second Bluetooth circuit 110, but does not send any confirmation message to the remote Bluetooth device 102.

In other words, the operation of the other member circuits in the process 708 is very similar to the operation in the process 512 of FIG. 5 described above, the difference is only the object that sends the notification message, at this time it will be changed to the second Bluetooth that plays the role of the main Bluetooth circuit Circuit 110 instead of the first Bluetooth circuit 110.

Therefore, although all the member circuits in the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 will receive the packet sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102, only the second Bluetooth circuit 120 playing the role of the main Bluetooth circuit at this time will send a confirmation message to the remote when receiving the packet The terminal Bluetooth device 102 and other member circuits including the first Bluetooth circuit 110 will not send confirmation information to the remote Bluetooth device 102, so as to avoid misjudgment caused by the remote Bluetooth device 102.

For example, each time the first Bluetooth circuit 110 receives a packet sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102, the control circuit 115 may perform a process 708 to transmit a corresponding notification message to the data transmission circuit of the second Bluetooth circuit 110 through the data transmission circuit 113 123, but the control circuit 115 will not send any confirmation information to the remote Bluetooth device 102 through the Bluetooth communication circuit 111 and the data transmission circuit 113. That is, during the process of the two-way packet transmission between the second Bluetooth circuit 120 and the remote Bluetooth device 102, the first Bluetooth circuit 110 will no longer perform the packet handshake procedure with the end Bluetooth device 102.

In this embodiment, the purpose of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 to transmit the aforementioned notification information to the second Bluetooth circuit 120 is also not to perform a packet handshake procedure with the second Bluetooth circuit 120, but to allow the second Bluetooth circuit 120 to Grasp the result of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 recording the packet sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102.

Similar to the foregoing embodiment of FIG. 5, the second Bluetooth circuit 120 may perform the process 710 intermittently or periodically to determine whether the individual member circuit misses the remote Bluetooth device 102 according to the plurality of notification messages from the individual member circuit Packet.

For example, in the process 710, the control circuit 125 of the second Bluetooth circuit 120 may check whether the first Bluetooth circuit 110 misses some packets from the remote Bluetooth device 102 according to the plurality of notification messages from the first Bluetooth circuit 110 . The control circuit 125 may parse out a plurality of packet sequence data or a plurality of packet identification data from the plurality of notification messages transmitted from the first Bluetooth circuit 110. The control circuit 125 may check whether the packet sequence number data or the packet identification data have continuity, so as to check whether the first Bluetooth circuit 110 misses some packets sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102. If the foregoing packet sequence number data or packet identification data is discontinuous, the control circuit 125 may determine that the first Bluetooth circuit 110 has missed the packet corresponding to the missing packet sequence number data or packet identification data. According to the missing packet sequence number data or packet identification data, the control circuit 125 may further define which packets are missed by the first Bluetooth circuit 110.

As mentioned above, a packet handshake mechanism is used between the second Bluetooth circuit 120 and the remote Bluetooth device 102, so under normal circumstances the second Bluetooth circuit 120 should be able to successfully obtain all subsequent packets sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102. If the control circuit 125 detects that a particular member circuit has missed a part of the packets sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102, it will proceed to the process 712 and transmit the packet missed by the particular member circuit to the particular member through the data transmission circuit 123 Circuit, so that the specific member circuit will fill up the missed packets.

By repeating the foregoing operations, other member circuits can complete the missing packets with the assistance of the second Bluetooth circuit 120.

For example, if the control circuit 125 detects that the first Bluetooth circuit 110 has missed some packets from the remote Bluetooth device 102, the control circuit 125 will proceed to the process 712 to transmit the packets missed by the first Bluetooth circuit 110 through data transmission The circuit 123 is transmitted to the first Bluetooth circuit 110. In this case, the first Bluetooth circuit 110 performs the process 714 to receive the packet from the second Bluetooth circuit 120 through the data transmission circuit 113, thereby obtaining the missed packet.

During the period when the second Bluetooth circuit 120 plays the role of the main Bluetooth circuit, if other member circuits need to transmit commands or data to the remote Bluetooth device 102, the related commands or data may be transmitted to the second Bluetooth circuit 120 through the data transmission circuit. Then, the second Bluetooth circuit 120 can transmit the aforementioned command or data to the remote Bluetooth device 102 through the Bluetooth communication circuit 121. In other words, other member circuits can indirectly transmit commands or data to the remote Bluetooth device 102 through the second Bluetooth circuit 120.

Similarly, during the interaction between the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 and the remote Bluetooth device 102 using the method of FIG. 7, the second Bluetooth circuit 120 playing the role of the main Bluetooth circuit may periodically or intermittently calculate the loss of Bluetooth packets of other member circuits And compare the Bluetooth packet loss rate of other members with the Bluetooth packet loss rate of the second Bluetooth circuit 120 to evaluate the relative reception quality between the other member circuits and the second Bluetooth circuit 120. The operation of the circuit 110 in the aforementioned process 602 is similar. Similarly, other member circuits can periodically or intermittently evaluate whether they want to actively replace the role of the main Bluetooth circuit.

For example, at this time, the control circuit 115 of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 may periodically or intermittently perform the process 716 in FIG. 7 to detect whether the second Bluetooth circuit is disabled or missing. Its operation is the same as that of the aforementioned second Bluetooth circuit 120. The operation in process 610 is similar.

Please note that the aforementioned seamless handover method of FIGS. 6 to 7 is only an exemplary embodiment, and does not limit the actual implementation of the present invention. In practice, during the interaction between the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 and the remote Bluetooth device 102 using the method shown in FIG. 5, the main Bluetooth circuit can also use the evaluation method of the process 210 in FIG. 2 to determine whether The role of the Bluetooth circuit is transferred to other member circuits.

For example, during the interaction between the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 and the remote Bluetooth device 102 using the method shown in FIG. 5, the first Bluetooth circuit 110 playing the role of the main Bluetooth circuit can use the judgment circuit 117 to evaluate the computing load of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 , Remaining power, temperature, and/or operating environment and other operating parameters to determine whether it is necessary to transfer the role of the primary Bluetooth circuit played by the first Bluetooth circuit 110 to other member circuits. The judging circuit 117 may operate when the computing load of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 exceeds a predetermined level, the remaining power of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 is lower than a predetermined level, the temperature of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 exceeds a predetermined temperature value, and/or the first When the operating environment of the Bluetooth circuit 110 deviates from the preset condition, it is determined that the role of the primary Bluetooth circuit played by the first Bluetooth circuit 110 needs to be handed over to other member circuits.

For another example, when the judging circuit 117 performs the aforementioned evaluation operation, it can also compare the difference between the operating parameters of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 and the operating parameters of other member circuits to determine whether it is necessary to play the role of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 The basis for the transfer of the role of the main Bluetooth circuit to other member circuits. In this embodiment, other member circuits may use their own judgment circuits to evaluate their own operating parameters such as computing load, remaining power, temperature, and/or operating environment, and transmit the obtained operating parameters to the first during the operation The judgment circuit 117 of the Bluetooth circuit 110. The judging circuit 117 may calculate that the computing load of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 exceeds the other member circuits by a predetermined degree, the remaining power of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 is lower than the remaining power of the other member circuits by a predetermined degree, the temperature of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 If the temperature of other member circuits exceeds a predetermined level and/or the operating environment of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 deviates from the preset condition but the operating environment of the other member circuits meets the preset condition, it is determined that the first Bluetooth circuit 110 needs to be played The role of the main Bluetooth circuit is handed over to other member circuits.

In practice, the judgment circuit 117 may also incorporate the operating parameters of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 and the differences in the operating parameters of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 and other member circuits into the aforementioned comprehensive judgment.

For example, the judging circuit 117 may operate when the operation load of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 exceeds a predetermined level, the remaining power of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 is lower than a predetermined level, the temperature of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 exceeds a predetermined temperature value, the first Bluetooth The operation load of the circuit 110 exceeds the other member circuits by a predetermined degree, the remaining power of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 is lower than the remaining power of the other member circuits by a predetermined degree, and the temperature of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 exceeds the temperature of the other member circuits by one If the predetermined degree and/or the operating environment of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 deviates from the preset condition but the operating environment of the other member circuits meets the preset condition, it is determined that the role of the primary Bluetooth circuit played by the first Bluetooth circuit 110 needs to be handed over to the other Member circuit.

Once the judging circuit 117 determines that the role of the primary Bluetooth circuit played by the first Bluetooth circuit 110 needs to be handed over to other member circuits, the first Bluetooth circuit 110 can proceed to the process 604 in FIG. 6 and send a handover instruction to other suitable member circuits (for example , The aforementioned second Bluetooth circuit 120).

As can be seen from the foregoing description, during the two-way packet transmission between the first Bluetooth circuit 110 and the remote Bluetooth device 102 through the Bluetooth communication circuit 111, the Bluetooth communication circuit 121 of the second Bluetooth circuit 120 does not perform two-way packet with the remote Bluetooth device 102 While the second Bluetooth circuit 120 performs the two-way packet transmission with the remote Bluetooth device 102 through the Bluetooth communication circuit 121, the Bluetooth communication circuit 111 of the first Bluetooth circuit 110 does not perform the two-way packet transmission with the remote Bluetooth device 102.

Please note that the foregoing sequence of execution of the processes in FIGS. 5 to 7 is only an exemplary embodiment, and does not limit the actual implementation of the present invention.

For example, the processes 502 and 504 in FIG. 5 can be performed simultaneously, or the order of the processes 502 and 504 can be reversed.

For another example, the processes 602 and 610 in FIG. 6 can be performed at any time between the processes 506 to 518 in FIG. 5.

In some embodiments, the processes 602, 604, and 606 in FIG. 6 may also be omitted, or the process 610 may be omitted.

The number of member circuits in the aforementioned multi-member Bluetooth device 100 can be reduced to two, or it can be increased according to actual circuit application needs. In an embodiment in which the number of member circuits in the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 is only two, when the second Bluetooth circuit 120 determines that the first Bluetooth circuit 110 is disabled or missing in the process 610 of FIG. 6, the process 608 may be skipped. The flow 702 of FIG. 7 is directly performed.

In addition, in some embodiments, the determination circuit 117 in the first Bluetooth circuit 110 and/or the determination circuit 127 in the second Bluetooth circuit 120 may also be omitted.

As can be seen from the foregoing description, during the interaction between the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 and the remote Bluetooth device 102 using the method shown in FIG. 5, other member circuits will record the packets sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102, so the main Bluetooth circuit only needs to transmit The packets missed by other member circuits may be sent to other member circuits, and there is no need to transfer all the packets sent by the remote Bluetooth device 102 to other member circuits. Therefore, the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 uses the method of FIG. 5 to interact with the remote Bluetooth device 102, which can greatly reduce the packet transfer burden of the main Bluetooth circuit, thereby saving the power consumption of the main Bluetooth circuit and reducing the calorific value of the main Bluetooth circuit . In this way, the working time and standby time of the main Bluetooth circuit can be effectively extended, the service life of the main Bluetooth circuit can be extended, and/or the user experience can be improved. .

In addition, it can greatly reduce the data transmission bandwidth requirement between the main Bluetooth circuit and other member circuits, so it can simplify the hardware design of the main Bluetooth circuit and other member circuits, and/or reduce the circuit complexity and circuit cost .

In addition, when the Bluetooth packet loss rate of other member circuits is lower than the main Bluetooth circuit, or the main Bluetooth circuit is disabled or missing, the other member circuits can take over the role of two-way packet transmission with the remote Bluetooth device 102 instead of the main Bluetooth circuit. There is no need to re-establish a new Bluetooth connection with the remote Bluetooth device 102, so the signal interruption of the member circuits in the multi-member Bluetooth device 100 can be effectively avoided.

Certain words are used in the specification and patent application scope to refer to specific elements, and those skilled in the art may use different terms to refer to the same element. This specification and the scope of patent application do not use the difference in names as a means of distinguishing elements, but the difference in function of elements as a basis for distinguishing. "Inclusion" mentioned in the description and the scope of patent application is an open term and should be interpreted as "including but not limited to." In addition, the term "coupled" here includes any direct and indirect connection means. Therefore, if it is described that the first element is coupled to the second element, it means that the first element can be directly connected to the second element through electrical connection, wireless transmission, optical transmission, or other signal connection, or through other elements or connections The means is indirectly electrically or signally connected to the second element.

The description method of "and/or" used in the specification includes any one of the listed items or any combination of multiple items. In addition, unless otherwise specified in the specification, any singular expressions also include the plural meaning.

The above are only preferred embodiments of the present invention, and any equivalent changes and modifications made according to the claims of the present invention shall fall within the scope of the present invention.

100‧‧‧multi-member Bluetooth device

102‧‧‧Remote Bluetooth device

110, 120, 130 ‧‧‧ Bluetooth circuit (Bluetooth circuit)

111、121‧‧‧Bluetooth communication circuit

113, 123‧‧‧ data transmission circuit (data transmission circuit)

115, 125‧‧‧ control circuit

117, 127‧‧‧determination circuit

202～222, 502～518, 602～610, 702～716

FIG. 1 is a simplified functional block diagram of a multi-member Bluetooth device according to an embodiment of the invention.

2 is a simplified flowchart of a method for achieving seamless handover between different member circuits of a multi-member Bluetooth device according to the present invention.

3 and 4 are simplified operation diagrams of the multi-member Bluetooth device in FIG. 1 at different operation stages.

FIG. 5 is a simplified flowchart of another operation method of the interaction between the multi-member Bluetooth device and the remote Bluetooth device of the present invention.

6 to 7 are simplified flowcharts of another method for achieving seamless handover between different member circuits of a multi-member Bluetooth device according to the present invention.

502~518‧‧‧Operating process

Claims (10)

A multi-member Bluetooth device (100) is used for data transmission with a remote Bluetooth device (102). The multi-member Bluetooth device (100) includes: a main Bluetooth circuit (110), including: a first Bluetooth communication circuit (111); a first data transmission circuit (113); and a first control circuit (115) configured to communicate with the remote Bluetooth device (102) via Bluetooth wireless transmission through the first Bluetooth communication circuit (111) ) Two-way packet transmission and data communication with other devices through the first data transmission circuit (113); and a pair of Bluetooth circuits (120), including: a second Bluetooth communication circuit (121); a second data A transmission circuit (123); and a second control circuit (125) configured to control the second data transmission circuit (123) to perform data communication with the first data transmission circuit (113); wherein, the first Bluetooth communication During the packet transmission between the circuit (111) and the remote Bluetooth device (102), the second control circuit (125) will use the second Bluetooth communication circuit (121) to sniff the remote Bluetooth device ( 102) The packet sent out; and the first control circuit (115) is further configured to, when the secondary Bluetooth circuit (120) is detected to have missed the packet sent by the remote Bluetooth device (102), the secondary Bluetooth Packets missed by the circuit (120) are transmitted to the second data transmission circuit (123) through the first data transmission circuit (113). The multi-member Bluetooth device (100) according to claim 1, wherein the first control circuit (115) is further configured to communicate through the first Bluetooth when receiving a packet from the remote Bluetooth device (102) The circuit (111) sends a confirmation message to the remote Bluetooth device (102), and the second control circuit (125) is also configured to pass the second Bluetooth device (102) when receiving a packet from the remote The data transmission circuit (123) transmits a corresponding notification message to the first data transmission circuit (113), but does not transmit any confirmation information to the remote Bluetooth device (102) through the second Bluetooth communication circuit (121); wherein The timing of the first Bluetooth communication circuit (111) transmitting the confirmation message to the remote Bluetooth device (102) is independent of whether the first data transmission circuit (113) has received the notification message. The multi-member Bluetooth device (100) according to claim 2, wherein the first control circuit (115) is further configured to check the vice according to a plurality of notification messages from the second data transmission circuit (123) Whether the Bluetooth circuit (120) misses the packet sent by the remote Bluetooth device (102). The multi-member Bluetooth device (100) according to claim 2, wherein the first control circuit (115) is further configured to have a higher Bluetooth packet loss rate in the secondary Bluetooth circuit (120) than in the primary Bluetooth circuit (110) When the Bluetooth packet loss rate is low, the secondary Bluetooth circuit (120) is instructed to replace the primary Bluetooth circuit (110) and the remote Bluetooth device (102) for bidirectional packet transmission. The multi-member Bluetooth device (100) according to claim 4, wherein in the process of the two-way packet transmission in which the secondary Bluetooth circuit (120) succeeds the main Bluetooth circuit (110) and the remote Bluetooth device (102), The first control circuit (115) will record the packet sent by the remote Bluetooth device (102) through the first Bluetooth communication circuit (111). The multi-member Bluetooth device (100) according to claim 2, wherein the second control circuit (125) is further configured to pass through the second Bluetooth communication circuit when the main Bluetooth circuit (110) is disabled or missing ( 121) Two-way packet transmission with the remote Bluetooth device (102) to avoid missing packets from the remote Bluetooth device (102). The multi-member Bluetooth device (100) according to claim 6, wherein the second control circuit (125) is further configured to evaluate data between the primary Bluetooth circuit (110) and the secondary Bluetooth circuit (120) Communication status to detect whether the main Bluetooth circuit (110) is disabled or missing. The multi-member Bluetooth device (100) according to claim 2, wherein the main Bluetooth circuit (110) further includes: a first judgment circuit (117), coupled to the first control circuit (115), set to Evaluate the computing load, remaining power, temperature, or operating environment of the main Bluetooth circuit (110); wherein, the first judging circuit (117) will exceed the computing load of the main Bluetooth circuit (110) by a predetermined level, the When the remaining power of the main Bluetooth circuit (110) is lower than a predetermined level, the temperature of the main Bluetooth circuit (110) exceeds a predetermined temperature value, or the operating environment of the main Bluetooth circuit (110) deviates from a preset condition, the The secondary Bluetooth circuit (120) takes over the main Bluetooth circuit (110) and performs two-way packet transmission with the remote Bluetooth device (102). The multi-member Bluetooth device (100) according to claim 2, wherein the main Bluetooth circuit (110) further includes: a first judgment circuit (117), coupled to the first control circuit (115) and the first A data transmission circuit (113) configured to evaluate the operation load, remaining power, temperature, or operating environment of the main Bluetooth circuit (110), and receive the secondary Bluetooth circuit (120) through the first data transmission circuit (113) ) Incoming computing load, remaining power, temperature, or operating environment indication information; wherein, the computing load of the first Bluetooth circuit (117) in the primary Bluetooth circuit (110) exceeds the secondary Bluetooth circuit (120) To a predetermined degree, the remaining power of the main Bluetooth circuit (110) is lower than the remaining power of the sub-Bluetooth circuit (120) by a predetermined degree, and the temperature of the main Bluetooth circuit (110) exceeds that of the sub-Bluetooth circuit (120) When the temperature reaches a predetermined level, or the operating environment of the main Bluetooth circuit (110) deviates from the preset condition but the operating environment of the sub-Bluetooth circuit (120) meets the preset condition, the sub-Bluetooth circuit (120) is instructed to take over the main The Bluetooth circuit (110) and the remote Bluetooth device (102) perform two-way packet transmission. The multi-member Bluetooth device (100) according to any one of claims 2 to 9, wherein during the two-way packet transmission between the first Bluetooth communication circuit (111) and the remote Bluetooth device (102), the The second Bluetooth communication circuit (121) does not perform two-way packet transmission with the remote Bluetooth device (102), but during the two-way packet transmission between the second Bluetooth communication circuit (121) and the remote Bluetooth device (102) , The first Bluetooth communication circuit (111) will not perform two-way packet transmission with the remote Bluetooth device (102).

Images