MOBILE DEVICE SLEEP MONITORING USING ENVIRONMENTAL SOUND

• US 20120092171A1
• Filed: 10/14/2010
• Published: 04/19/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 10/14/2010
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Hwang, Kyuwoong, Lee, Te-Won, Kim, Taesu, You, Kisun
• Application Number:
  US12/904,950
• Publication Number:
  US 20120092171A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/575
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 15/00 ICT specially adapted for medical reports, e.g. generation or transmission thereof
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/67 for remote operation
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 50/20 for computer-aided diagnosis, e.g. based on medical expert systems

Abstract

A sleep monitoring application is installed on a mobile device. The mobile device is placed in a location when a user sleeps and records environmental sound. The sleep monitoring application determines indicators of sleep activity such as breathing sounds made by the user, and determines a sleep state of the user based on the indicators of sleep activity. Sleep disorders can be detected from the indicators of sleep activity. The sleep monitoring application may generate a report that summarizes the user'"'"'s sleep states and alerts the user to any sleep disorders. The sleep monitoring application can use the environmental sound and the determined sleep states to determine ambient sound that is associated with good sleep. Later, if the sleep application determines the user is having problems sleeping, the sleep monitoring application can play the determined ambient sound to help the user sleep.

Claims

1. A method for sleep monitoring, comprising:

collecting environmental sound at a mobile device;

analyzing the environmental sound, by the mobile device, to determine one or more indicators of sleep activity;

processing the one or more indicators of sleep activity, by the mobile device, to identify one or more sleep cycles; and

generating a sleep report by the mobile device using the identified one or more sleep cycles.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein analyzing the environmental sound to determine indicators of sleep activity uses one or more sound models.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the sound models comprise techniques to determine at least one of inhale states, vibrations, snoring strengths, pauses, or lengths of pauses.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the indicators of sleep activity comprise sound associated with breathing and sound associated with body movement.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising analyzing the environmental sound to determine ambient sound.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising correlating the ambient sound with the one or more sleep cycles to identify ambient sound associated with a user having entered a predetermined sleep stage within a predetermined amount of time or with the user having slept without awaking for a predetermined amount of time.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

determining that a user is not asleep using the one or more identified sleep cycles; and

if it is determined that the user is not asleep, causing the identified ambient sound to play.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein causing the identified ambient sound to play comprises one of causing the mobile device to play the ambient sounds or causing an electronic device external to the mobile device to play the ambient sound.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining that a user is asleep using the one or more identified sleep cycles; and

if it is determined that the user is asleep, disabling one or more electronic devices.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising processing the one or more indicators of sleep activity to identify one or more sleep disorders.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining that a user is about to awaken using the one or more identified sleep cycles; and

if it is determined that the user is about to awaken, enabling one or more electronic devices.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the one or more electronic devices includes one or more of a television, a radio, or a lighting device.

13. An apparatus for sleep monitoring, comprising:

means for collecting environmental sound;

means for analyzing the environmental sound to determine one or more indicators of sleep activity;

means for processing the one or more indicators of sleep activity to identify one or more sleep cycles; and

means for generating a sleep report using the identified one or more sleep cycles.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the means for analyzing the environmental sound to determine indicators of sleep activity comprises means for analyzing the environmental sound using one or more sound models.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the sound models comprise techniques to determine at least one of inhale states, vibrations, snoring strengths, pauses, or lengths of pauses.

16. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the indicators of sleep activity comprise sound associated with breathing and sound associated with body movement.

17. The apparatus of claim 13, further comprising means for analyzing the environmental sound to determine ambient sound.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, further comprising means for correlating the ambient sound with the one or more sleep cycles to identify ambient sound associated with a user having entered a predetermined sleep stage within a predetermined amount of time or with the user having slept without awaking for a predetermined amount of time.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, further comprising:

means for determining that a user is not asleep using the one or more identified sleep cycles; and

means for causing the identified ambient sound to play if it is determined that the user is not asleep.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein causing the identified ambient sound to play comprises one of causing the apparatus to play the ambient sounds or causing an electronic device external to the apparatus to play the ambient sound.

21. The apparatus of claim 13, further comprising:

means for determining that a user is asleep using the one or more identified sleep cycles; and

means for disabling one or more electronic devices if it is determined that the user is asleep.

22. The apparatus of claim 13, further comprising means for processing the one or more indicators of sleep activity to identify one or more sleep disorders.

23. The apparatus of claim 13, further comprising:

means for determining that a user is about to awaken using the one or more identified sleep cycles; and

means for enabling one or more electronic devices if it is determined that the user is about to awaken.

24. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the one or more electronic devices includes one or more of a television, a radio, or a lighting device.

25. A computer-readable medium comprising instructions that cause a computer to:

collect environmental sound;

analyze the environmental sound to determine one or more indicators of sleep activity;

process the one or more indicators of sleep activity to identify one or more sleep cycles; and

generate a sleep report using the identified one or more sleep cycles.

26. The computer-readable medium of claim 25, wherein analyzing the environmental sound to determine indicators of sleep activity uses one or more sound models.

27. The computer-readable medium of claim 26, wherein the sound models comprise techniques to determine at least one of inhale states, vibrations, snoring strengths, pauses, or lengths of pauses.

28. The computer-readable medium of claim 25, wherein the indicators of sleep activity comprise sound associated with breathing and sound associated with body movement.

29. The computer-readable medium of claim 25, further comprising computer-executable instructions that cause the computer to analyze the environmental sound to determine ambient sound.

30. The computer-readable medium of claim 29, further comprising computer-executable instructions that cause the computer to correlate the ambient sound with the one or more sleep cycles to identify ambient sound associated with a user having entered a predetermined sleep stage within a predetermined amount of time or with the user having slept without awaking for a predetermined amount of time.

31. The computer-readable medium of claim 30, further comprising computer-executable instructions that cause the computer to:

determine that a user is not asleep using the one or more identified sleep cycles; and

if it is determined that the user is not asleep, cause the identified ambient sound to play.

32. The computer-readable medium of claim 31, wherein causing the identified ambient sound to play comprises one of causing the computer to play the ambient sounds or causing an electronic device external to the computer to play the ambient sound.

33. The computer-readable medium of claim 25, further comprising computer-executable instructions that cause the computer to:

determine that a user is asleep using the one or more identified sleep cycles; and

if it is determined that the user is asleep, disable one or more electronic devices.

34. The computer-readable medium of claim 25, further comprising processing the one or more indicators of sleep activity to identify one or more sleep disorders.

35. The computer-readable medium of claim 25, further comprising computer-executable instructions that cause the computer to:

determine that a user is about to awaken using the one or more identified sleep cycles; and

if it is determined that the user is about to awaken, enable one or more electronic devices.

36. The computer-readable medium of claim 35, wherein the one or more electronic devices includes one or more of a television, a radio, or a lighting device.

37. An apparatus for sleep monitoring, comprising:

a recorder for collecting environmental sound;

a sound analyzer for analyzing the environmental sound to determine one or more indicators of sleep activity;

a sleep cycle identifier for processing the one or more indicators of sleep activity to identify one or more sleep cycles; and

a report generator for generating a sleep report using the identified one or more sleep cycles.

38. The apparatus of claim 37, wherein analyzing the environmental sound to determine indicators of sleep activity uses one or more sound models.

39. The apparatus of claim 38, wherein the sound models comprise techniques to determine at least one of inhale states, vibrations, snoring strengths, pauses, or lengths of pauses.

40. The apparatus of claim 37, wherein the indicators of sleep activity comprise sound associated with breathing and sound associated with body movement.

41. The apparatus of claim 37, further comprising an ambient sound engine for analyzing the environmental sound to determine ambient sound.

42. The apparatus of claim 41, wherein the ambient sound engine correlates the ambient sound with the one or more sleep cycles to identify ambient sound associated with a user having entered a predetermined sleep stage within a predetermined amount of time or with the user having slept without awaking for a predetermined amount of time.

43. The apparatus of claim 42, wherein the ambient sound engine further:

determines that a user is not asleep using the one or more identified sleep cycles; and

if it is determined that the user is not asleep, causes the identified ambient sound to play.

44. The apparatus of claim 43, wherein causing the identified ambient sound to play comprises one of causing the apparatus to play the ambient sounds or causing an electronic device external to the apparatus to play the ambient sound.

45. The apparatus of claim 37, further comprising an electronic device controller for:

determining that a user is asleep using the one or more identified sleep cycles; and

if it is determined that the user is asleep, disabling one or more electronic devices.

46. The apparatus of claim 37, further comprising a sleep disorder identifier for processing the one or more indicators of sleep activity to identify one or more sleep disorders.

47. The apparatus of claim 37, further comprising an electronic device controller for:

determining that a user is about to awaken using the one or more identified sleep cycles; and

if it is determined that the user is about to awaken, enabling one or more electronic devices.

48. The apparatus of claim 47, wherein the one or more electronic devices includes one or more of a television, a radio, or a lighting device.

49. The apparatus of claim 37, wherein the sleep report comprises information directed to a plurality of sound events.