LOCATION-BASED RANKING AND SWITCHING OF WIRELESS CHANNELS IN A BODY AREA NETWORK OF MEDICAL DEVICES
First Claim
1. A method of operating a portable medical device that is configured for wireless data communication using a plurality of wireless channels, the method comprising:
- obtaining, at the medical device, location data that is indicative of a current geographic position of the medical device;
selecting, with the medical device, one of the plurality of wireless channels to obtain a selected wireless channel, wherein the selected wireless channel is correlated to the obtained location data; and
thereafter, performing wireless data communication with the medical device, using the selected wireless channel.
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Abstract
Operating techniques and methodologies for a body area network of medical devices are provided. One technique relates to an intelligent channel hopping scheme that detects loss of wireless synchronization on an initial wireless channel, thereafter obtains a measure of quality for the initial wireless channel, and then selects a new wireless channel when the obtained measure of quality fails to satisfy a threshold criteria. Another operating technique dynamically adapts an ordered list of available wireless channels in accordance with a quality measure of the available wireless channels. Thus, when quality degradation associated with a first wireless channel is detected, the ordered list can be updated to indicate a lower preference for the first wireless channel and to indicate a higher preference for a second wireless channel that does not suffer from quality degradation. Another channel hopping or switching technique selects wireless channels in a manner that is influenced by the current geographic position of the medical device.
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Citations
15 Claims
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1. A method of operating a portable medical device that is configured for wireless data communication using a plurality of wireless channels, the method comprising:
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obtaining, at the medical device, location data that is indicative of a current geographic position of the medical device; selecting, with the medical device, one of the plurality of wireless channels to obtain a selected wireless channel, wherein the selected wireless channel is correlated to the obtained location data; and thereafter, performing wireless data communication with the medical device, using the selected wireless channel. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A method of operating a portable medical device that is configured for wireless data communication using a plurality of wireless channels, the method comprising:
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performing wireless data communication with the medical device, using a first wireless channel; receiving, at the medical device, a location assignment command; obtaining, at the medical device, location data that is indicative of a first geographic position of the medical device; and designating, with the medical device, the first wireless channel as a preferred wireless channel for a first local area associated with the first geographic position. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A wireless medical device for a body area network of medical devices, the wireless medical device comprising:
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a processor; a memory element coupled to the processor and configured to store a location-correlated list of wireless channels for the medical device, the location-correlated list including entries that correlate local areas to preferred wireless channels; a positioning subsystem coupled to the processor and configured to obtain location data that is indicative of a current geographic position of the medical device; and a wireless communication module coupled to the processor and configured to support wireless data communication using the preferred wireless channels included in the location-correlated list; wherein the processor is configured to; determine when the location data indicates that the medical device is located in one of the local areas; identify the preferred wireless channel that is correlated to the one of the local areas; and cause the wireless communication module to perform wireless data communication using the identified preferred wireless channel. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15)
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Specification