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SamsungGranted patentNetworks & wirelessInterest 6/10

Samsung patents low-power IoT tags that reply without precise clocks

Samsung describes a method for ambient IoT devices to communicate with a reader without needing highly accurate internal timing. The device listens for a signal from the reader, calculates when to send its reply based on that reception, and transmits using either backscattering or an internal signal generator.

Why it mattersThis approach could simplify the design of cheap, battery-free sensors by removing the need for expensive, precise timing components.

In the filing’s own words

Apparatuses and methods for transmission and reception without precise timing capability. A method for an Internet of Things (IoT) device to communicate with a reader includes receiving a physical reader-to-device channel (PRDCH) from the reader and determining a transmission timing of a physical device-to-reader channel (PDRCH) to the reader. Transmission of the PDRCH is triggered by reception of the PRDCH. The transmission timing of the PDRCH is determined based on a reception timing of the PRDCH or another PRDCH. The method further includes transmitting the PDRCH to the reader at the determined transmission timing. The PDRCH is On-Off Keying (OOK) or Phase-Shift Keying (PSK) modulated by backscattering an externally provided carrier wave (CW) or generating the CW internally.

What exactly they claim (claim 1)

1. A method for an ambient Internet of things (A-IoT) device to communicate with a reader, the method comprising: receiving a physical reader-to-device channel (PRDCH) from the reader, wherein: the PRDCH is preceded by a first signal indicating start-of-signal and a second signal providing synchronization for receiving the PRDCH, the PRDCH is followed by a third signal indicating end-of-signal, and the PRDCH indicates a reader-to-device (R2D) message type of a corresponding R2D message carried in the PRDCH; determining a transmission timing of a physical device-to-reader channel (PDRCH) to the reader, wherein: the PDRCH is preceded by a fourth signal providing synchronization for receiving the PDRCH, and the transmission timing of the PDRCH is predefined from an end of the PRDCH; and transmitting the PDRCH to the reader at the determined transmission timing, wherein the PDRCH is transmitted by (i) backscattering an externally provided carrier wave (CW) or (ii) generating the CW internally.

Facts

Company
Samsung (Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.)
Official title
Transmission and reception without precise timing capability
Patent number
US12726390B2
Application number
19012794
Filed
Jan 7, 2025
Granted
Sep 1, 2026
Inventors
3
Claims
20

Classified under

H04L 27/2003 Electricity & electronicsH04W 56/001 Electricity & electronics
Read the full filing (official PDF) ↗ Open in the Patent Tracker

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Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.