Method of communicating information between nodes

• US 10,250,448 B2
• Filed: 06/03/2013
• Issued: 04/02/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 06/22/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Lifeline Systems Company (Koninklijke Philips N.V.)
• Original Assignee: Koninklijke Philips N.V.
• Inventors: Burza, Marek Brzysztof
• Primary Examiner(s): Ngo, Ricky Q
• Assistant Examiner(s): Kirillova, Ellen A
• Application Number:
  US14/405,636
• Publication Number:
  US 20150139027A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,129 Days
• Field of Search: 370254
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/016 Personal emergency signalling and security systems emergency non-personal manually actuated alarm activators G08B25/12
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/12 Discovery or management of network topologies
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/005 Discovery of network devices, e.g. terminals

Abstract

There is provided a method of communicating information from a first node to a second node, the method comprising the first node transmitting a device name for the first node; the second node detecting the device name for the first node; and the second node determining the occurrence of an event at the first node and/or information from the first node from the detected device name for the first node.

Claims

1. A method of communicating information from a plurality of first nodes to a second node wherein each first node includes a wearable device including at least one of an accelerometer, a magnetometer, and a gyroscope configured to detect falls, and at least one processor and a transmitter and the second node is a base station including a transceiver, at least one processor, and a memory, the method comprising,

during a discovery phase:

with the at least one first node processor of each of a plurality of wearable devices, adapting or amending a device name for each first node to include an indication of events at the first node, the events including at least a fall of a user wearing the wearable device;

with the base station, scanning an air interface to access each of the first nodes;

with each wearable device, transmitting the adapted or amended device name for each accessed wearable device corresponding to each of the events;

with the base station, storing the adapted or amended device names corresponding to each event of each wearable device in the base station memory;

during a fall detection phase;

in response to one of the wearable devices detecting a fall, powering up the transmitter;

with the base station, periodically accessing wearable devices whose transmitter is powered up;

with the wearable device whose transmitter is powered up in response to being accessed by the base station, transmitting its adapted or amended name corresponding to a fall event;

with the base station, in response to receiving an adapted or amended device name, accessing the base station memory, determining whether the received adapted or amended name is indicative of a fall and in response to the adapted or determined device name is indicative of a fall, issuing a fall notification; and

powering down the transmitter of the wearable device until another event is detected.

2. An electronic device configured to communicate information, the electronic device comprising:

a wearable user device having at least one processor programmed to;

detect a device name transmitted by a base station during a node discovery phase; and

transmit an adapted or amended device name for the wearable user device adapted or amended to include an indication of the occurrence of the fall of a patient operably engaged with the wearable user device to the base station; and

a base station having at least one processor programmed to;

during a fall detection phase, periodically transmitting the device name;

determine the occurrence of a fall of the patient operably engaged with the wearable user device from a received adapted or amended device name; and

generating a fall alert;

wherein the wearable user device is further configured to detect a fall and in response to the detecting the fall, activate a transmitter of the user wearable device, and in response to receiving the device name from the base station, transmitting the adapted or amended device name.

3. The electronic device as claimed in claim 2, wherein the at least one processor of the base station is further programmed to:

determine the occurrence of the fall of the patient from the detection of the adapted or amended device name; and

transmit the device name to the associated call center.

4. The electronic device as claimed in claim 2, wherein the at least one processor of the base station is further programmed to:

compare the adapted or amended detected device name to one or more adapted or amended device names stored in a memory of the base station, each stored adapted or amended device name having a respective occurrence of at least one of a vent and information associated with the patient and detected by the wearable device; and

transmit the detected device name and the at least one event and at least a portion of information to the associated call center.

5. The electronic device as claimed in claim 2, wherein the at least one processor of the base station is further programmed to:

extract the information concerning the occurrence of the event and information from the wearable user device from part or all of the detected device name; and

transmit the detected device name and the extracted information to the associated call center.

6. The electronic device as claimed in claim 5, wherein the at least one processor of the base station is further programmed to:

determine when the detected device name comprises a predetermined character string corresponding to the wearable user device, and

extract, from a remaining part of the detected device name, information concerning the occurrence of the fall of the patient from the wearable user device when the detected device name comprises a predetermined character string corresponding to the wearable user device; and

transmit the detected device name and the extracted information to the associated call center.

7. The electronic device as claimed in claim 2, wherein the at least one processor of the wearable user device is further programmed to:

respond to queries from the base station by transmitting the adapted or amended device name for the wearable user device when information is to be communicated from the wearable user device to the base station.

8. The electronic device as claimed in claim 2, wherein during a fall detection phase:

in response to one of the wearable devices detecting a fall, powering up the transmitter;

with the base station, periodically accessing wearable devices whose transmitter is powered up;

with the wearable device whose transmitter is powered up in response to being accessed by the base station, transmitting its adapted or amended name corresponding to a fall event;

with the base station, in response to receiving an adapted or amended device name, accessing the base station memory, determining whether the received adapted or amended name is indicative of a fall and in response to the adapted or determined device name is indicative of a fall, issuing a fall notification; and

powering down the transmitter of the wearable device until another event is detected.

9. A method for an electronic device configured to communicate information, the method, comprising:

detecting, with a processor of a wearable user device, a device name transmitted by a base station during a node discovery phase;

transmitting, with the processor of the wearable user device, an adapted or amended device name for the wearable user device adapted or amended to include an indication of the occurrence of the fall of a patient operably engaged with the wearable user device to the base station;

periodically transmitting, with a processor of a base station, the device name during a fall detection phase;

determining, with the processor of the base station, the occurrence of a fall of the patient operably engaged with the wearable user device from a received adapted or amended device name;

generating, with the processor of the base station, a fall alert;

detecting, with the processor of the wearable user device, a fall;

activating, with the processor of the wearable user device and in response to the detecting the fall, a transmitter of the user wearable device; and

transmitting, with the processor of the wearable user device and in response to receiving the device name from the base station, the adapted or amended device name.

10. The method as claimed in claim 9, further comprising:

determining, with the processor of the base station, the occurrence of the fall of the patient from the detection of the adapted or amended device name; and

transmitting, with the processor of the base station, the device name to the associated call center.

11. The method as claimed in claim 9, further comprising:

comparing, with the processor of the base station, the adapted or amended detected device name to one or more adapted or amended device names stored in a memory of the base station, each stored adapted or amended device name having a respective occurrence of at least one of a vent and information associated with the patient and detected by the wearable device; and

transmitting, with the processor of the base station, the detected device name and the at least one event and at least a portion of information to the associated call center.

12. The method as claimed in claim 9 further comprising:

extracting, with the processor of the base station, the information concerning the occurrence of the event and information from the wearable user device from part or all of the detected device name; and

transmitting, with the processor of the base station, the detected device name and the extracted information to the associated call center.

13. The method as claimed in claim 12, further comprising:

determining, with the processor of the base station, when the detected device name comprises a predetermined character string corresponding to the wearable user device;

extracting, with the processor of the base station, from a remaining part of the detected device name, information concerning the occurrence of the fall of the patient from the wearable user device when the detected device name comprises a predetermined character string corresponding to the wearable user device; and

transmitting, with the processor of the base station, the detected device name and the extracted information to the associated call center.

14. The method as claimed in claim 9, further comprising:

responding, with the processor of the wearable user device, to queries from the base station by transmitting the adapted or amended device name for the wearable user device when information is to be communicated from the wearable user device to the base station.

15. The method as claimed in claim 9, further comprising, during the fall detection phase:

powering up the transmitter in response to one of the wearable devices detecting a fall;

periodically accessing wearable devices whose transmitter is powered up with the base station;

transmitting the adapted or amended name corresponding to a fall event with the wearable device whose transmitter is powered up in response to being accessed by the base station;

accessing the base station memory, determining whether the received adapted or amended name is indicative of a fall and in response to the adapted or determined device name is indicative of a fall, and issuing a fall notification with the base station in response to receiving an adapted or amended device name; and

powering down the transmitter of the wearable device until another event is detected.