• 专利附录
  • 专利说明
  • 权利要求
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  • 优先权
    • 专利摘要:
    The invention relates to a method (Pcd) for transmitting data from an electronic device to an electronic device, comprising the following steps: transmitting (Pcd_Em1) a sequence of light signals by a light source of the electronic device, each signal presenting a light intensity level belonging to a set of at least four levels of light intensity, said sequence corresponding to a coding of the data to be transmitted, detecting (Pcd_Det1) successive light intensity levels by an optical sensor of the electronic device , so as to reconstruct the sequence, decode (Pcd_Dec) the sequence in order to reconstruct the data. The electronic device may be, for example, a smartphone or tablet and the electronic device a watch, for example.
    公开号:CH713721A2
    申请号:CH00551/17
    申请日:2017-04-25
    公开日:2018-10-31
    发明作者:Bonnet Thierry
    申请人:Eta Sa Mft Horlogere Suisse；
    IPC主号:
    专利说明:

    Description
    TECHNICAL AREA
    The present invention relates to a method of transmitting data from an electronic device to an electronic device, including an electronic watch.
    PRIOR ART
    The so-called "connected" watches, able to communicate with an electronic device such as a smartphone, have become established in recent years in the watchmaking environment. The setting of such a watch can be done manually, in particular via the activation of pushbuttons, crowns and / or tactile keys, which is relatively restrictive for the user or the after-sales service responsible for the adjustment.
    To avoid these drawbacks, it is now possible to adjust an electronic watch automatically, by equipping it with devices supporting Bluetooth Low Energy technology or a near field communication technology. However, these devices are quite complex to set up and require to incorporate specific means of communication both on the electronic device and on the watch, including antennas. They must also be certified which causes additional cost.
    In the patent application EP 16 157 655, it has been proposed a new way of transferring adjustment data to an electronic watch from an electronic device, typically a smartphone, simpler and less expensive than the solutions. previously mentioned. For this, the watch includes a phototransistor for detecting light signals from a light source of the electronic device. These light signals encode data via two-state modulation: presence or absence of light. However, this type of bipolar optical modulation has the disadvantage of only allowing relatively low transmission rates. On the other hand, the transmission can only be asynchronous, and the operating systems of the electronic devices do not make it possible to guarantee a perfect stability of the transmission frequency. The transmission periods may therefore not be identical durations, it may be the cause of errors in reception and decoding.
    SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
    The present invention aims to overcome the disadvantages presented in the previous part, by providing an improved optical transmission method.
    For this purpose, the invention relates to a method of transmitting data from an electronic device to an electronic device, comprising the following steps: - emitting a sequence of light signals by a light source of the electronic device, each signal having a light intensity level belonging to a set of at least four levels of light intensity, said sequence corresponding to an encoding of the data to be transmitted, - detecting successive levels of light intensity by an optical sensor of the watch , so as to reconstruct the sequence, - decode the sequence in order to reconstitute the data.
    Advantageously, the electronic device is an electronic watch, but it is understood that the method could quite be adapted to other types of electronic devices and that no method step requires limiting the receiver device to a electronic watch.
    The coding of the data being carried out in the form of light signals with at least four states, it will be said that the signals encode these data by means of an optical modulation at least four levels, more simply called multilevel optical modulation. . By Multi, we will hear at least four.
    This method has the advantage that it can be implemented in a predominantly automatic manner. In particular, in the case where the electronic device is an electronic watch, this method can be implemented without the user having to perform complex adjustment via crowns, push buttons or touch keys for example. Naturally, the process must be initiated, which can be done either manually by pressing a push button, or automatically, for example via a system default standby that wakes up to receive a certain light sequence. The automated transmission of data between the electronic device and the electronic watch greatly facilitates the programming of the watch. It also avoids errors or inaccuracies resulting from manual configuration. It offers the user the possibility of using the more user-friendly interface of the electronic device, typically a smartphone application, to select and configure the data to be transferred to the watch. All kinds of data can be transmitted in this way, including short messages, subject to the display capabilities of the watch. Thus it will be easy to set time, time changes, setting an alarm, setting the date, or transmit other information such as moon phases, schedules and coefficients of tides, sunset and sunrise times, etc.
    In addition, this method has the advantage of not requiring to incorporate communication antennas (expensive, cumbersome and sometimes incompatible with metal cladding) on the watch (or more generally, the electronic device) or the electronic apparatus, the optical communication system between the watch and the electronic device consisting only of a point light source of light emitting diode type and an optical sensor, for example a phototransistor or a photodiode.
    Finally, the method according to the invention is particularly advantageous in that it allows either higher rate asynchronous transmission than in the case of a bipolar optical modulation, or a synchronous transmission, as explained hereinafter. after.
    In the case of asynchronous transmission, the emission of light signals on at least four levels of light intensity can accelerate the transmission. Indeed, instead of detecting whether the light source is on or off as is the case in the application EP16157655, that is to say to detect intensity levels among two possibilities, the intensity level is detected. light source from at least four possibilities. The bit rate is therefore at least doubled (in particular, it is doubled if the light source can take four and only four different levels of light intensity).
    In the case of a synchronous transmission, the emission of light signals on at least four levels of light intensity makes it possible to transmit a clock signal in addition to the data. On each clock period, a part of the data (for example one or more bits) is transmitted with the phase (state up or down) of the clock. In particular, when the clock is in the high state, the data portion is coded on certain levels of light intensity, whereas when the clock is in the low state, said data portion is coded on other levels of light intensity. Using threshold levels, it is therefore possible for the electronic device to reconstruct the data taking into account the clock signal also transmitted.
    Thus, in one embodiment, the set of at least four intensity levels is divided into a first portion and a second portion, a light signal on two of the sequence having a level of light intensity belonging to in the first part, the other signals having a level of luminous intensity belonging to the second part.
    The method according to the invention may comprise one or a technically possible combination of the following features.
    In a non-limiting embodiment, the detection step further comprises a substep of resynchronization consisting of resetting a counter of sampling periods of the electronic device to detect a change in brightness by the optical sensor. and provided that the sampling periods counted by the meter are between two threshold values.
    In a non-limiting embodiment, the light intensity levels of the set are regularly distributed on a scale of brightness.
    In a non-limiting embodiment, the method comprises a step of transmitting a sequence of light signals with two intensity levels corresponding to clock phases, simultaneously with the transmission step of the sequence of light signals corresponding to the data to be transmitted, by a second light source of the electronic apparatus, and a step of detecting a succession of the two light intensity levels by a second optical sensor of the electronic device, so as to reconstitute the clock, the two light signal sequences being transmitted on two distinct wavelengths.
    In a non-limiting embodiment, the method comprises an additional step of generating a transmission report.
    In a non-limiting embodiment, the step of generating a transmission report comprises an emission of a light signal by a light emitting diode of the electronic device.
    In a non-limiting embodiment, the step of generating a transmission report comprises a positioning of display means of the electronic device. If the electronic device is a watch, these display means are for example needles, and / or display disks (for example display discs of the day, the month, the moon phase, etc., a portion of which faces a counter in order to display information).
    In a non-limiting embodiment in which the electronic device is an electronic watch, the method comprises an additional step of analyzing an image of the dial of the watch taken by a camera of the electronic device, following the positioning of the display means of the watch.
    In a non-limiting embodiment, the electronic device is portable, including smartphone type or electronic tablet.
    By "portable electronic device" is meant an electronic device, also called user terminal, capable of being worn and transported by a user, and to be functional during its transport. This is the case for example of a smartphone. Naturally, devices requiring a mains supply, for example desktop computers, are excluded from this definition. Device sets, such as a laptop to which a device is connected by wireless or wired link, are also excluded from this definition.
    This method has the advantage of requiring very little hardware: a smartphone-type portable device with a suitable mobile application is sufficient to implement it. The method does not require the use of dedicated hardware such as a sensor to connect to a computer, nor bulky hardware. Anyone (eg a watchmaker) with a smartphone with the appropriate application could implement the process.
    In a non-limiting embodiment, the light source is an area of a display screen of the electronic device.
    In a non-limiting embodiment, the light source is a light emitting diode also serving as a flash for the electronic device.
    BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
    The details of the invention will appear more clearly on reading the description which follows, made with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: FIG. 1 shows a watch, seen from the dial side, receiving, via an optical sensor, a light signal emitted by a light-emitting diode of a smartphone also used as a flash of said smartphone, said smartphone being seen at the back of the FIG . 2 represents a watch, seen from the bottom, receiving, via an optical sensor, a light signal emitted by a portion of a smartphone screen, the optical sensor being positioned vis-à-vis said portion, the smartphone being seen screen side fig. 3 represents luminous intensity levels as a function of the phases of a clock, in the case of a synchronous optical modulation with four levels of luminous intensity FIG. 4 represents levels of light intensity emitted by a light source of a portable electronic device, before and after a calibration step of the method according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG. 5 represents steps of the method according to one embodiment of the invention.
    DETAILED DESCRIPTION
    Figs. 1 and 2 represent an electronic device MT, in this case an electronic watch although this is not limiting, and an electronic device AE capable of implementing the data transfer method according to the invention. More particularly, the watch MT is equipped with an optical sensor PR, in this case a phototransistor although this is not limiting, connected to a microcontroller (not shown) of the watch MT. The transmission method consists in emitting a sequence of light signals by a light source SL of the electronic apparatus AE on at least four distinct levels of light intensity, in receiving the sequence of light signals by the optical sensor PR of the electronic device MT. , and converting the received sequence into an exploitable signal.
    In a first configuration shown in FIG. 1, the phototransistor PR is located under the dial CD of the watch MT, vis-à-vis a light-letting aperture. In another configuration, the phototransistor PR is located on the side of the bottom of the watch MT which is at least partially transparent to let the light or has a removable hatch. Naturally, many other configurations can be envisaged. Note that the optical sensor is not necessarily a phototransistor, it can alternatively be a photodiode or a photovoltaic cell.
    The transfer of data from the electronic device AE is effected via the light source SL, for example a flash or an EC screen of said AE device. In the configuration shown in FIG. 1, the electronic device AE is a smartphone and the emission of light signals is performed via the flash of the smartphone which is the light source. Since the flash is located on the back of the device, it is possible to use the EC screen of the AE device to manage the transfer application using the smartphone's EC screen during data transfers while visually controlling the changes made to the MT watch display.
    In the configuration shown in FIG. 2, the electronic device AE is a smartphone and the emission of the light signals is carried out via the EC screen of the smartphone. Specifically, the EC screen has a disk-shaped area, the brightness level is homogeneous, said area constituting the light source SL. The MT watch is placed directly against or facing the EC screen of the smartphone, vis-à-vis the light disc. In this case, the application must be configured before making the transfer and, if the CD dial of the MT watch is not visible, a step of controlling the data transfer must be performed after the operation. This configuration has the advantage of being less sensitive to external light disturbances than the configuration of FIG. 1.
    In an alternative embodiment of the previous configuration, the EC screen can be separated into two areas to circumscribe the light source to one of the EC screen areas. The remaining area of the EC screen is reserved for the user interface of the application controlling the data transfer. The transmission of data and the control of its execution are thus facilitated.
    It is noted that the electronic device AE shown is portable type, but it could alternatively be a device connected to a desktop computer, for example by USB link, this device comprising a light source as described in the previous paragraphs (a light-emitting diode or a portion of a device screen). This variant has the advantage of being able to increase the modulation speed which could be limited by the performance of portable electronic devices of the smartphone type.
    The data transfer can be performed using different types of optical modulation. As mentioned above, NRZ type bipolar modulation is easy to implement but has limited performance. It is therefore advantageous to take advantage of the possibilities of screens or flashes of smartphones (or more generally screens or flashes of portable electronic devices) to perform a multi-level optical modulation. Recent screens and flashes can in fact generally transmit on at least 4 distinct levels of light intensity (of which a level may for example correspond to the state "no light emission").
    The synchronous multilevel modulation according to the invention makes it possible to transmit at each clock period a part of the data (for example a bit) but also the phase (low state or high state) of the clock, all this thanks to a single sequence of light signals. Fig. 3 shows an example of four-level synchronous modulation, which allows each clock phase to transmit a bit and said phase. In this example, the phases n and n + 2 correspond to a low state of the clock, and the phases n + 1 and n + 3 corresponding to a high state of the clock. On a low state of the clock, the bit to be transmitted is coded on the 2 lowest levels of light intensity. On a high state of the clock, the bit to be transmitted is coded on the 2 highest levels of light intensity.
    Moreover, in the case of an asynchronous multilevel modulation, it is advantageous to choose a sampling frequency of the watch MT which is much greater than the theoretical transmission frequency of the electronic apparatus AE, of to avoid possible variations in the emission period. Typically, the sampling frequency is chosen 16 times larger than the transmission frequency.
    In addition, the method according to the invention in the case of an asynchronous optical transmission advantageously comprises a resynchronization step implementing a counter of sampling periods of the watch MT. In the case of a sampling frequency 16 times greater than the transmission frequency, no transition (from 0 to 1 or vice versa) should be detected during the first 8 sampling periods counted by the meter. If such a transition exists, it is interpreted as an error. This kind of error results for example from a flickering of the light source which would be interpreted, wrongly, as a change of level. On the other hand, a transition is sought in the 12 sampling periods following the first 8 sampling periods. If such a transition is detected, then the previous bit is saved and the counter is reset to its original value.
    In addition, when no transition is detected during a number of significant sampling periods, there is a risk of phase shift between the emitting electronic device AE and the receiving watch MT due to the instability of the transmission. transmission frequency of the coded signal. It is interesting in this case to use the technique of "bit stuffing" which consists of adding fictitious transitions to regularly resynchronize the receiver with the transmitter. For example, in a transmission of a long series of bits of zero value, a bit of value one is introduced after a series of five zero. On the receiver side, the reverse procedure is performed: after detection of five successive bits of value 7, a bit of value one is expected. If this is not the case, it is determined that an error has occurred. If this is the case, the bit of value one is not taken into account for decoding and the counter is reset.
    According to one embodiment of the method according to the invention, the transmission method comprises a step of calibrating the levels of light intensity emitted by the light source of the watch MT. These levels are calibrated so that they are evenly distributed with respect to a brightness scale, that is to say such that the brightness difference between two nearest levels is constant. This step optimizes the distinction of the different brightness levels to avoid level reading errors on the receiver side. An example is shown in FIG. 4. This figure shows brightness levels according to the data to be coded, before calibration ("original" curve) and after calibration ("corrected" curve).
    In one embodiment in which the data transmission is asynchronous, the watch MT is equipped with two optical sensors capable of receiving different wavelengths, for example that corresponding to blue for the first optical sensor and the corresponding one. red for the second optical sensor. Similarly, the electronic device AE is equipped with two light sources capable of emitting on these two wavelengths. In this case, one of the sources transmits the data asynchronously, while the other light source transmits a clock signal, so that the receiver can synchronize on the transmitter.
    In one embodiment, the method comprises a step of generating a transmission report, the report being produced by the watch MT to the user or the electronic device AE. For example, at the end of a transmission operation, display means of the AF watch (for example the hour, minute and second hands) of the watch can be positioned so as to signify the success or the failure of transmission. This particular position of the AF display means can be read by the user who is thus informed of the unfolding of the
    权利要求:
    Claims (17)
    [1]
    transmission. Alternatively, the electronic device AE can, thanks to its CM camera and to image analysis means, analyze the position of the display means AF of the watch MT and deduce whether the transmission has been correctly performed or not. . It is also possible to add on the MT watch a light-emitting diode capable of emitting, at the end of a transmission, a short sequence intended to be received by an optical sensor of the electronic apparatus AE. Following the sequence, the electronic device AE can determine whether the transmission has been successful. In conclusion, the multilevel optical transmission between an electronic device and an electronic device allows, according to the asynchronous or synchronous mode chosen, to increase the transmission rate or to reduce the risk of errors. Naturally, those skilled in the art will be able to make multiple variations from the embodiments presented without departing from the scope of the claims. For example, as already mentioned, there is no reason to limit the electronic device to an electronic watch since the invention relates to a data transmission method for which the nature of the receiving device not in play, except of course in the particular case where the method comprises a step of generating a report via watch hands. claims
    A method (Pcd) for transmitting data from an electronic apparatus (AE) to an electronic device (MT), comprising the steps of: - transmitting (Pcd_Em1) a sequence of light signals by a light source (SL) of the electronic apparatus (AE), each signal having a light intensity level belonging to a set of at least four levels of light intensity, said sequence corresponding to a coding of the data to be transmitted, -detecting (Pcd_Det1) levels of light intensity, successive luminous intensity by an optical sensor (PR) of the device (MT), so as to reconstitute the sequence, - decode (Pcd_Dec) the sequence in order to reconstitute the data.
    [2]
    2. Method (Pcd) transmission according to the preceding claim, the set of at least four intensity levels being divided into a first portion and a second portion, an alternate light signal of the sequence having a level of intensity the other signals having a level of luminous intensity belonging to the second part.
    [3]
    3. Method (Pcd) transmission according to one of the preceding claims, the detection step (Pcd_Det) further comprising a substep resynchronization (Det1_Rsc) of resetting a counter sampling periods of the device (MT ) to detect a change in brightness by the optical sensor (PR) and provided that the sampling periods counted by the counter are between two threshold values.
    [4]
    4. Method (Pcd) transmission according to one of the preceding claims, the light intensity levels of the set being evenly distributed on a scale of brightness.
    [5]
    5. Method (Pcd) transmission according to one of the preceding claims, comprising a step of transmitting (Pcd Em2) a sequence of light signals with two intensity levels corresponding to clock phases, simultaneously with the step of transmitting (Pcd_Em1) the sequence of light signals corresponding to the data to be transmitted, by a second light source (SL) of the electronic apparatus (AE), and a detection step (Pcd.Det2) of a succession of the two levels of light intensity by a second optical sensor of the device (MT), so as to reconstruct the clock, the two sequences of light signals being transmitted on two distinct wavelengths.
    [6]
    6. Method (Pcd) transmission according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the second optical sensor is a phototransistor or a photodiode.
    [7]
    7. Method (Pcd) transmission according to one of the preceding claims characterized in that it comprises an additional step of generating (Pcd_Crd) a transmission report.
    [8]
    8. Method (Pcd) transmission according to the preceding claim, the step of generating (Pcd_Crd) a transmission report comprising a transmission (Crd_Em3) of a light signal by a light emitting diode of the device (MT).
    [9]
    9. Method (Pcd) transmission according to claim 7, the step of generating (Pcd_Crd) a transmission report including a positioning (Crd_Pos) display means (AF) of the device (MT).
    [10]
    10. Method (Pcd) transmission according to the preceding claim, wherein the device (MT) is an electronic watch, and the display means (AF) are needles and / or display discs of said watch.
    [11]
    11. Method (Pcd) transmission according to claim 10, comprising an additional step of analysis (Crd_Aly) of an image of the dial (CD) of the watch (MT) taken by a camera (CM) of the electronic device (AE), following the positioning of the display means (AF) of the watch (MT).
    [12]
    12. Method (Pcd) transmission according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the electronic device (AE) is portable, including smartphone type or electronic tablet.
    [13]
    Transmission method (Pcd) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the light source (SL) is an area of a display screen (EC) of the electronic apparatus (AE).
    [14]
    14. Method (Pcd) transmission according to one of claims 1 to 12 characterized in that the light source (SL) is a light emitting diode also flash for the electronic device (AE).
    [15]
    15. Method (Pcd) transmission according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the optical sensor (PR) is a phototransistor.
    [16]
    16. Method (Pcd) transmission according to one of claims 1 to 14, characterized in that the optical sensor (PR) is a photodiode.
    [17]
    17. Method (Pcd) transmission according to one of claims 1 to 16, wherein the electronic device (MT) is an electronic watch.
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    同族专利:
    公开号 | 公开日
    CH713721B1|2021-02-15|
    引用文献:
    公开号 | 申请日 | 公开日 | 申请人 | 专利标题
    法律状态:
    优先权:
    申请号 | 申请日 | 专利标题
    CH00551/17A|CH713721B1|2017-04-25|2017-04-25|A method of transmitting data from an electronic device to an electronic device.|CH00551/17A| CH713721B1|2017-04-25|2017-04-25|A method of transmitting data from an electronic device to an electronic device.|
    CH01405/17A| CH713643A2|2017-03-20|2017-11-20|Method for adjusting the running frequency of an electronic watch|
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