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Apple patents UWB method for measuring distance to many devices at once

Apple has filed a patent for a way to use Ultra Wideband (UWB) technology to measure the distance between one device and multiple others simultaneously. The system uses a mix of standard radio signals and specialized UWB pulses to coordinate these measurements in a specific order, allowing the main device to gather location data from several responders in a single cycle.

Why it mattersThis could improve how Apple devices like iPhones and AirTags find their position relative to other nearby gadgets, potentially making features like Precision Finding more efficient when many devices are in the same area.

In the filing’s own words

Embodiments are disclosed for one-to-many and many-to-many ranging using narrowband assisted (NBA)-multi-millisecond (MMS) ultra wideband (UWB) protocols. Some embodiments include an initiator device that communicates with many responder devices. For example, the initiator device can transmit a control/initialization poll message via NB signaling that identifies a ranging cycle, and transmit a first set of MMS segments corresponding to the control/initialization poll message. The initiator device can receive a plurality of report frames from two or more responder devices via NB signaling subsequent to transmitting the first set of MMS segments, and transmit within the ranging cycle, a ranging results report message based at least on the plurality of report frames via narrowband signaling.

What exactly they claim (claim 1)

1. An initiator device comprising: a memory; and a processor coupled to the memory, configured to: transmit during a contention-based ranging procedure, via narrowband signaling in a first access slot of a ranging cycle, a control/initialization poll message that identifies a number of access slots in the ranging cycle; receive, in the first access slot, a first poll response message corresponding to the control/initialization poll message; transmit, in the first access slot, a first set of multi-millisecond (MMS) segments corresponding to the control/initialization poll message; receive, in a second access slot of the number of access slots, a second poll response message corresponding to the control/initialization poll message; and subsequent to receiving the second poll response message, transmit, in the second access slot, a corresponding second poll message.

Facts

Company
Apple (Apple Inc.)
Official title
ONE-TO-MANY AND MANY-TO-MANY RANGING USING NBA-MMS UWB PROTOCOLS
Publication number
US20260281966A1
Application number
19539526
Filed
Feb 13, 2026
Published
Sep 17, 2026
Inventors
7
Claims
20

Classified under

H04W 64/003 Electricity & electronicsH04L 5/0048 Electricity & electronicsH04W 24/10 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.