Coordinated and distributed frequency separation during coexisting communication

Abstract

An electronic device that coordinates frequencies of coexisting communication protocols is described. During operation, the electronic device may receive messages with beacon information for a communication protocol, where the beacon information is sourced from one or more gateways and is associated with a second electronic device, and wherein the beacon information in a given message includes a frequency of a given beacon and a given received signal strength of the given beacon. Then, the electronic device may provide, from the interface circuit, an instruction addressed to the second electronic device, where the instruction restricts frequencies of beacons from the second electronic device based at least in part on a band of frequencies associated with a second communication protocol used by at least one of the one or more gateways. For example, the instruction may eliminate beacons having one of the beacon frequencies that overlaps the band of frequencies.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An electronic device, comprising:
 a network node;   an interface circuit communicatively coupled to the network node;   a processor coupled to the interface circuit; and   memory, coupled to the processor, configured to store program instructions, wherein, when executed by the processor, the program instructions cause the electronic device to perform operations, comprising:
 receiving messages comprising beacon information for a communication protocol, wherein the beacon information is sourced from one or more gateways, corresponds to beacon frames and is associated with a second electronic device, and wherein the beacon information in a given message comprises a frequency of a given beacon frame and a given received signal strength of the given beacon frame; 
 obtaining a subset of the messages by selectively filtering the messages based at least in part on a filtering criterion; and 
 providing the subset of the messages addressed to a third electronic device. 
   
     
     
         2 . The electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein the second electronic device comprises a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) tag. 
     
     
         3 . The electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more gateways comprises an access point or an eNodeB. 
     
     
         4 . The electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein the communication protocol comprises Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE). 
     
     
         5 . The electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein the filtering criterion comprises one or more of: received signal strengths of the beacons frames, timestamps when the beacon frames were received, or a location of the second electronic device. 
     
     
         6 . The electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein the second electronic device is different from the third electronic device. 
     
     
         7 . The electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein the messages are received using a wired communication protocol that is different from the communication protocol. 
     
     
         8 . The electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein, after the receiving operation and prior to the obtaining operation, the operations comprise:
 aggregating the beacon information sourced from the one or more gateways; and   ranking the beacon information based at least in part on a communication-performance metric of the beacon frames; and   wherein the subset of the messages is based at least in part on the ranking.   
     
     
         9 . The electronic device of  claim 8 , wherein the communication-performance metric comprises received signal strengths of the beacon frames. 
     
     
         10 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium for use in conjunction with an electronic device, the computer-readable storage medium storing program instructions that, when executed by the electronic device, cause the electronic device to perform operations comprising:
 receiving messages comprising beacon information for a communication protocol, wherein the beacon information is sourced from one or more gateways, corresponds to beacon frames and is associated with a second electronic device, and wherein the beacon information in a given message comprises a frequency of a given beacon frame and a given received signal strength of the given beacon frame;   obtaining a subset of the messages by selectively filtering the messages based at least in part on a filtering criterion; and   providing the subset of the messages addressed to a third electronic device.   
     
     
         11 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 10 , wherein the one or more gateways comprises an access point or an eNodeB. 
     
     
         12 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 10 , wherein the communication protocol comprises Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE). 
     
     
         13 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 10 , wherein the filtering criterion comprises one or more of: received signal strengths of the beacons frames, timestamps when the beacon frames were received, or a location of the second electronic device. 
     
     
         14 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 10 , wherein the messages are received using a wired communication protocol that is different from the communication protocol. 
     
     
         15 . A method for providing a subset of messages, comprising:
 by an electronic device:   receiving messages comprising beacon information for a communication protocol, wherein the beacon information is sourced from one or more gateways, corresponds to beacon frames and is associated with a second electronic device, and wherein the beacon information in a given message comprises a frequency of a given beacon frame and a given received signal strength of the given beacon frame;   obtaining the subset of the messages by selectively filtering the messages based at least in part on a filtering criterion; and   providing the subset of the messages addressed to a third electronic device.   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the one or more gateways comprises an access point or an eNodeB. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the communication protocol comprises Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE). 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the filtering criterion comprises one or more of: received signal strengths of the beacons frames, timestamps when the beacon frames were received, or a location of the second electronic device. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the messages are received using a wired communication protocol that is different from the communication protocol. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein, after the receiving operation and prior to the obtaining operation, the method comprises:
 aggregating the beacon information sourced from the one or more gateways; and   ranking the beacon information based at least in part on a communication-performance metric of the beacon frames; and   wherein the subset of the messages is based at least in part on the ranking.