Apparatus and method for reducing power consumption in physiological condition monitors
First Claim
1. An apparatus capable of monitoring at least one physiological condition of a person in which data about said at least one physiological condition is stored in a memory data storage device, said apparatus comprising:
- a memory data storage device capable of operating in a high power mode when data is being written to said memory data storage device and capable of operating in a low power mode when inactive;
a plurality of detectors capable of being coupled to said person, said plurality of detectors comprising at least one detector capable of obtaining data about at least one physiological condition of said person;
a data acquisition device coupled to said plurality of detectors capable of receiving from at least one detector incoming data to be written to said memory data storage device;
a controller coupled to said memory data storage device capable of writing data to said memory data storage device and coupled to said data acquisition device capable of receiving incoming data from said data acquisition device; and
a first low power buffer coupled to said controller, wherein said controller stores said incoming data in said first low power buffer until a predetermined amount of incoming data has been accumulated in said first low power buffer and wherein said controller transfers said accumulated predetermined amount of incoming data to said memory data storage device in a single data transfer.
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Abstract
There is disclosed an apparatus and method for reducing power consumption in physiological condition monitors that use a memory data storage device that operates in a high power mode when data is being written to the memory data storage device and operates in a low power mode when inactive. The apparatus comprises: 1) a controller for receiving incoming data to be written to the memory data storage device; and 2) a first low power buffer coupled to the controller. The controller stores the incoming data in the first low power buffer until a predetermined amount of incoming data has been accumulated in the first low power buffer and transfers the accumulated predetermined amount of incoming data to the memory data storage device in a single data transfer.
136 Citations
40 Claims
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1. An apparatus capable of monitoring at least one physiological condition of a person in which data about said at least one physiological condition is stored in a memory data storage device, said apparatus comprising:
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a memory data storage device capable of operating in a high power mode when data is being written to said memory data storage device and capable of operating in a low power mode when inactive;
a plurality of detectors capable of being coupled to said person, said plurality of detectors comprising at least one detector capable of obtaining data about at least one physiological condition of said person;
a data acquisition device coupled to said plurality of detectors capable of receiving from at least one detector incoming data to be written to said memory data storage device;
a controller coupled to said memory data storage device capable of writing data to said memory data storage device and coupled to said data acquisition device capable of receiving incoming data from said data acquisition device; and
a first low power buffer coupled to said controller, wherein said controller stores said incoming data in said first low power buffer until a predetermined amount of incoming data has been accumulated in said first low power buffer and wherein said controller transfers said accumulated predetermined amount of incoming data to said memory data storage device in a single data transfer. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 24, 25)
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16. An apparatus capable of receiving a signal representative of at least one physiological condition of a person in which data about said signal is stored in a memory data storage device, the apparatus comprising:
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a memory data storage device capable of operating in a high power mode when data is being written to said memory data storage device and capable of operating in a low power mode when inactive;
a receiver capable of being coupled to an antenna and capable of receiving a signal representative of at least one physiological condition of a person;
a processor unit coupled to said receiver capable of receiving incoming data in the form of a signal representative of at least one physiological condition of a person and capable of writing said incoming data to said memory data storage device;
a controller coupled to said memory data storage device and capable of writing to said memory data storage device and coupled to said processor unit and capable of receiving said incoming data from said processor unit; and
a first low power buffer coupled to said controller, wherein said controller stores said incoming data in said first low power buffer until a predetermined amount of incoming data has been accumulated in said first low power buffer and wherein said controller transfers said accumulated predetermined amount of incoming data to said memory data storage device in a single data transfer. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 26)
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27. A method of reducing power consumption in an electronic data storage system in a physiological condition monitor comprising the steps of:
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placing a memory data storage device in a physiological condition monitor in a low power mode of operation;
storing data in a first low power buffer when said memory data storage device is in a low power mode of operation until a predetermined amount of data has been stored in said first low power buffer;
placing said memory data storage device in a high power mode of-operation; and
transferring said predetermined amount of data to said memory data storage device when said memory data storage device is in a high power mode of operation. - View Dependent Claims (28)
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29. A method of reducing power consumption in a flash memory data storage system in a physiological condition monitor comprising the steps of:
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placing a flash memory data card in a physiological condition monitor in a low power mode of operation;
storing data in a first low power buffer when said flash memory data card is in a low power mode of operation until a specified amount of data has been stored in said first low power buffer;
placing said flash memory data card in a high power mode of operation; and
transferring said specified amount of data to said flash memory data card when said flash memory data card is in a high power mode of operation. - View Dependent Claims (30)
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31. An apparatus capable of evaluating movement of a body relative to an environment, said apparatus comprising:
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a sensor, associable with said body, that senses accelerative phenomena of said body;
a processor, associated with said sensor, that processes said sensed accelerative phenomena as a function of at least one accelerative event characteristic to thereby determine whether said evaluated body movement is within environmental tolerance;
a memory data storage device capable of operating in a high power mode when data is being written to said memory data storage device and capable of operating in a low power mode when inactive;
a data acquisition device coupled to said processor capable of receiving from said processor incoming data from said sensor to be written to said memory data storage device;
a controller coupled to said memory data storage device capable of writing data to said memory data storage device and coupled to said data acquisition device capable of receiving incoming data from said data acquisition device; and
a first low power buffer coupled to said controller, wherein said controller stores said incoming data in said first low power buffer until a predetermined amount of incoming data has been accumulated in said first low power buffer and wherein said controller transfers said accumulated predetermined amount of incoming data to said memory data storage device in a single data transfer. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38)
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39. A method of reducing power consumption in an electronic data storage system in an apparatus capable of evaluating movement of a body relative to an environment of the type comprising:
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a sensor, associable with said body, that senses accelerative phenomena of said body;
a processor, associated with said sensor, that processes said sensed accelerative phenomena as a function of at least one accelerative event characteristic to thereby determine whether said evaluated body movement is within environmental tolerance;
a memory data storage device capable of operating in a high power mode when data is being written to said memory data storage device and capable of operating in a low power mode when inactive;
a data acquisition device coupled to said processor capable of receiving from said processor incoming data from said sensor to be written to said memory data storage device;
a controller coupled to said memory data storage device capable of writing data to said memory data storage device and coupled to said data acquisition device capable of receiving incoming data from said data acquisition device; and
a first low power buffer coupled to said controller, wherein said controller stores said incoming data in said first low power buffer until a predetermined amount of incoming data has been accumulated in said first low power buffer and wherein said controller transfers said accumulated predetermined amount of incoming data to said memory data storage device in a single data transfer, wherein said method comprises the steps of;
placing said memory data storage device is a low power mode of operation;
storing data in said first low power buffer when said memory data storage device is in a low power mode of operation until a predetermined amount of data has been stored in said first low power buffer;
placing said memory data storage device in a high power mode of operation; and
transferring said predetermined amount of data to said memory data storage device when said memory data storage device is in a high power mode of operation. - View Dependent Claims (40)
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Specification