Embedded data link and protocol
First Claim
1. A transmission system comprising an RF transmitter coil;
- an RF receiver coil in close wireless proximity to said transmitter coil;
means for applying to said transmitter coil an RF transmission signal representing a first bit value by N successive cycles of an RF carrier frequency and representing a second bit value by the suppression of RF carrier transmission for M successive cycles;
the degree of inter-coil interaction determining the number of cycles of RF carrier frequency induced in said receiver coil in response to the transmission of successive bits of said first value, said inter-coil interaction being affected by inter-coil coupling, inter-coil distance and the Q values of said transmitter and receiver coils; and
means for operating on the RF signal induced in said receiver coil to unambiguously determine the number P of transmitted bits of said first value;
said operating means including means for counting modulo N, after an initial offset, the number of RF cycles induced in said receiver coil, and said inter-coil interaction being limited to a range that allows a unique number of induced cycles to be counted for each number P of transmitted bits of said first value.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A data link and protocol for a subcutaneous, tissue stimulating device. While stimulation is taking place, under control of pulses whose durations in a data frame determine the stimulation pulse widths, data is actually transmitted and processed for determining the parameters of the next stimulation. Thus transmission of data occurs simultaneously with stimulation. Data is represented by sequences which have more 1s than 0s, with each 1 being represent by a number of successive RF cycles and a single 0 by the absence of a number of RF cycles. In this way a duty cycle of 75% can be achieved so that required power is transferred to the implant. Variations in link condition, e.g., degree of ringing, are accommodated by means of offset tuning the transcutaneous transmit and receive coils. This ensures that the oscillating signal in the receive circuit that persists during the transmission of a 0 becomes out-of-phase with the RF transmission that is received for the next 1. The signal induced in the receive coil with the transmission of a new 1 cancels the out-of-phase ringing in the receive coil due to the earlier transmission, thereby causing the oscillation'"'"'s amplitude to fall below a detection level to ensure the detection of an earlier transmitted 0 during the time that the next 1 is transmitted. A bit decoder is implemented that unambiguously recovers the number of 1s over a prescribed range of link transmission conditions.
217 Citations
73 Claims
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1. A transmission system comprising an RF transmitter coil;
- an RF receiver coil in close wireless proximity to said transmitter coil;
means for applying to said transmitter coil an RF transmission signal representing a first bit value by N successive cycles of an RF carrier frequency and representing a second bit value by the suppression of RF carrier transmission for M successive cycles;
the degree of inter-coil interaction determining the number of cycles of RF carrier frequency induced in said receiver coil in response to the transmission of successive bits of said first value, said inter-coil interaction being affected by inter-coil coupling, inter-coil distance and the Q values of said transmitter and receiver coils; and
means for operating on the RF signal induced in said receiver coil to unambiguously determine the number P of transmitted bits of said first value;
said operating means including means for counting modulo N, after an initial offset, the number of RF cycles induced in said receiver coil, and said inter-coil interaction being limited to a range that allows a unique number of induced cycles to be counted for each number P of transmitted bits of said first value. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
- an RF receiver coil in close wireless proximity to said transmitter coil;
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12. A transmission system comprising an RF transmitter coil;
- an RF receiver coil in close wireless proximity to said transmitter coil;
means for applying to said transmitter coil an RF transmission signal representing a first bit value by N successive cycles of an RF carrier frequency and representing a second bit value by the suppression of RF carrier transmission for M successive cycles;
the degree of inter-coil interaction determining the number of cycles of RF carrier frequency induced in said receiver coil in response to the transmission of successive bits of said first value, said inter-coil interaction being affected by inter-coil coupling, inter-coil distance and the Q values of said transmitter and receiver coils; and
means for operating on the RF signal induced in said receiver coil to unambiguously determine the number P of transmitted bits of said first value when the degree of inter-coil interaction is restricted to a predetermined range. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16)
- an RF receiver coil in close wireless proximity to said transmitter coil;
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17. A transmission system comprising an RF transmitter coil;
- an RF receiver coil coupled to said RF transmitter coil;
means for applying to said RF transmitter coil an RF signal in which a 1 bit is represented by a predetermined number, greater than 2, of cycles of said RF signal and a 0 bit is represented by the absence of a predetermined number, greater than 2, of cycles of said RF signal;
the coupling between said coils being such that when the separation of said coils is within prescribed limits the transmission of a single 0 bit between two 1 bits gives rise to at least one RF cycle in said RF receiver coil having an amplitude below a defined percentage of the amplitude of the received RF signal; and
means for counting successive RF cycles in said RF receiver coil whose amplitudes exceed said percentage to decode received 0 and 1 bits. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21)
- an RF receiver coil coupled to said RF transmitter coil;
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22. A transmission system comprising an RF transmitter coil;
- an RF receiver coil coupled to said RF transmitter coil;
means for applying to said RF transmitter coil an RF signal in which a 1 bit is represented by a predetermined number, greater than 2, of cycles of said RF signal and a 0 bit is represented by the absence of a predetermined number, greater than 2, of cycles of said RF signal;
said RF transmitter and receiver being tuned to slightly different frequencies such that, during the transmission of a 0 bit, any ringing current in said RF receiver coil changes phase so as to oppose the RF signal received during transmission of the next 1 bit giving rise to at least one RF cycle in said RF receiver coil having an amplitude below a defined percentage of the amplitude of the received RF signal; and
means for counting successive RF cycles in said RF receiver coil whose amplitudes exceed said percentage to decode received 0 and 1 bits. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25)
- an RF receiver coil coupled to said RF transmitter coil;
- 26. A method for effecting transmission between an RF transmitter coil and an RF receiver coil variably coupled to said transmitter coil, the inter-coil coupling between said receiver and transmitter coils varying between a predetermined maximum and a predetermined minimum dependent upon the specified range of separation between said coils, comprising the steps of applying to said transmitter coil an RF transmission signal, said RF transmission signal representing a first bit value by N successive cycles of an RF carrier signal and representing a second bit value by the suppression of RF carrier transmission for M successive cycles, and operating on the RF signal induced in said receiver coil by counting with a modulo N counting scheme successive cycles of the RF carrier that exceed a detection threshold and off-setting the count with respect to the start of the successive cycles that are to be counted, said offset being a function of said inter-coil coupling.
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35. A method for effecting transmission between an RF transmitter coil and an RF receiver coil variably coupled to said transmitter coil, damping in said receiver coil varying between a predetermined maximum and a predetermined minimum dependent upon the specified range of separation between said coils, comprising the steps of applying to said transmitter coil an RF carrier signal, said RF carrier signal representing a first bit value by N successive cycles and representing a second bit value by the suppression of RF carrier transmission for M successive cycles;
- and operating on the RF signal induced in said receiver coil by counting modulo N, with a counting offset depending on the degree of inter-coil coupling, successive cycles of the RF carrier signal in the coil that exceed a threshold value.
- View Dependent Claims (36, 37, 38)
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39. A method for effecting transmission between an RF transmitter coil and an RF receiver coil coupled to said RF transmitter coil comprising the steps of applying to said RF transmitter coil an RF signal in which a 1 bit is represented by a predetermined number, greater than 2, of cycles of said RF signal and a 0 bit is represented by the absence of a predetermined number, greater than 2, of cycles of said RF signal;
- establishing the coupling between said coils such that when the separation of said coils is within prescribed limits the transmission of a single 0 bit between two 1 bits gives rise to at least one RF cycle in said RF receiver coil having an amplitude below a defined percentage of the amplitude of the received RF signal; and
counting successive RF cycles in said RF receiver coil whose amplitudes exceed said percentage to decode received 0 and 1 bits. - View Dependent Claims (40, 41, 42, 43)
- establishing the coupling between said coils such that when the separation of said coils is within prescribed limits the transmission of a single 0 bit between two 1 bits gives rise to at least one RF cycle in said RF receiver coil having an amplitude below a defined percentage of the amplitude of the received RF signal; and
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44. A method for effecting transmission between an RF transmitter coil and an RF receiver coil coupled to said RF transmitter coil comprising the steps of applying to said RF transmitter coil an RF signal in which a 1 bit is represented by a predetermined number, greater than 2, of cycles of said RF signal, and a 0 bit is represented by the absence of a predetermined number, greater than 2, of cycles of said RF signal;
- slightly offsetting the tuning of said RF transmitter and receiver coils such that, during the transmission of a 0 bit, ringing current in said RF receiver coil changes phase so as to oppose the RF signal received for the next 1 bit giving rise to at least one RF cycle in said RF receiver coil having an amplitude below a defined percentage of the amplitude of the received RF signal; and
counting successive RF cycles in said RF receiver coil whose amplitudes exceed said percentage to decode received 0 and 1 bits. - View Dependent Claims (45, 46, 47)
- slightly offsetting the tuning of said RF transmitter and receiver coils such that, during the transmission of a 0 bit, ringing current in said RF receiver coil changes phase so as to oppose the RF signal received for the next 1 bit giving rise to at least one RF cycle in said RF receiver coil having an amplitude below a defined percentage of the amplitude of the received RF signal; and
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48. A transmission system comprising an RF transmitter coil;
- an RF receiver coil in close wireless proximity to said transmitter coil;
means for applying to said transmitter coil an RF transmission signal representing a first bit value by N successive cycles of an RF carrier frequency and representing a second bit value by the suppression of RF carrier transmission for M successive cycles;
the degree of inter-coil interaction determining the number of cycles of RF carrier frequency induced in said receiver coil in response to the transmission of successive bits of said first value, said inter-coil interaction being affected by inter-coil coupling, inter-coil distance and the Q values of said transmitter and receiver coils; and
means for operating on the RF signal induced in said receiver coil to unambiguously determine the number P of bits of said first value transmitted when the degree of inter-coil interaction is restricted to a predetermined range R'"'"',R*-1!, where R*=R'"'"'+N and R'"'"' is the lowest value of R calculated by R=K-N(P-1)determined by experimentation for preset N and P with variable inter-coil interaction, and K is a count of the number of RF carrier frequency cycles induced in the receiver coil exceeding a detection threshold so that P is determined to be a unique integer satisfying (K+1-R'"'"')/N≦
P≦
(K-R'"'"')/N+1. - View Dependent Claims (49, 50)
- an RF receiver coil in close wireless proximity to said transmitter coil;
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51. A transmission system comprising an RF transmitter coil;
- an RF receiver coil in close wireless proximity to said transmitter coil;
means for applying to said transmitter coil an RF transmission signal representing a first bit value by N successive cycles of an RF carrier frequency and representing a second bit value by the suppression of RF carrier transmission for M successive cycles;
the degree of inter-coil interaction determining the number of cycles of RF carrier frequency induced in said receiver coil in response to the transmission of successive bits of said first value, said inter-coil interaction being affected by inter-coil coupling, inter-coil distance and the Q values of said transmitter and receiver coils; and
means for operating on the RF signal induced in said receiver coil to unambiguously determine the number P of bits of said first value when the degree of inter-coil interaction is restricted to a predetermined range R'"'"',R*-1!, where R*=R'"'"'+N and R'"'"' is the minimum of a plurality of values of R calculated by R=K-N(P-1) determined by experimentation for preset N and P over a range of several inter-coil interactions, said operating means performing each calculation by (i) discarding the first R'"'"'-1 cycles of the K successive RF cycles induced in said receiver coil, (ii) counting modulo N all remaining cycles of the successive RF cycles, and (iii) determining the number P by generating a flagging event on every modulo N count of 1. - View Dependent Claims (73)
- an RF receiver coil in close wireless proximity to said transmitter coil;
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52. A cochlear implant system comprising:
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a wearable speech processor for receiving ambient sounds and generating in response a plurality of sequential stimulation signals, each said stimulation signal having a duration, said processor including a transmitter for transmitting said sequential stimulation signals; and an implantable cochlear stimulator, said stimulator including a receiver for receiving said stimulation signals and a plurality of electrodes for applying said stimulation signals to a patient'"'"'s aural nerve, each stimulation signal being applied for the corresponding duration for said stimulation signal; wherein said transmitter transmits said sequential stimulation signals as a stream of digital data partitioned into frames, each frame corresponding to one of said stimulation signals, each said frame including data defining characteristics of a following stimulation signal except for the duration of said following stimulation signal, each frame having a frame duration which defines the duration of the current stimulation signal.
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53. A cochlear implant system comprising:
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an internal stimulator having a receiver, and a plurality of electrodes for applying stimulation to the patient'"'"'s aural nerve; and an external speech processor for receiving ambient sounds and for generating in response a plurality of processed signals, each processed signal including data defining a duration and at least one other characteristic of a corresponding stimulation signal, said processor including a transmitter for transmitting a sequence of data frames corresponding to each said processed signal, each frame including frame data defining said other characteristic and a frame duration defining the duration of the current stimulation signal. - View Dependent Claims (54, 55, 56, 57)
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58. A system comprising an RF transmitter and an RF receiver, said transmitter and said receiver both operating on frames having a predetermined format and representing both digital data and time-interval information;
- said RF transmitter including means for selectively generating and suppressing RF carrier cycles to represent digital data and to do so within a frame for an overall variable period representative of time-interval information, the RF carrier cycles representative of said digital data being embedded within the overall RF transmission representative of said time-interval information; and
said RF receiver including means for detecting individual carrier cycles in the received RF transmission, means for decoding individually detected carrier cycles to derive digital data, and means for deriving time-interval information from the period required to detect all carrier cycles in the current frame. - View Dependent Claims (59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69)
- said RF transmitter including means for selectively generating and suppressing RF carrier cycles to represent digital data and to do so within a frame for an overall variable period representative of time-interval information, the RF carrier cycles representative of said digital data being embedded within the overall RF transmission representative of said time-interval information; and
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70. A transmitter for transmitting variable-duration frames having a predetermined format and representing both digital data and time-interval information comprising means for selectively generating and suppressing RF carrier cycles to represent digital data, and means for transmitting the generated RF carrier cycles within a frame for a period representative of time-interval information, the RF carrier cycles representative of said digital data being embedded within the overall RF transmission representative of said time-interval information.
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71. A method of transmitting successive frames, each frame having both analog and digital command information for selected utilization circuits, comprising the steps of transmitting in each frame the analog command information for a first respective utilization circuit and transmitting in each frame the digital command information for a second respective utilization circuit, wherein said second utilization circuit operates on the digital command information conveyed in the previous frame.
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72. A method for effecting transmission between an RF transmitter and an RF receiver, said transmitter and said receiver both operating on frames having a predetermined format and representing both digital data and time-interval information, comprising the steps of controlling said RF transmitter to selectively generate and suppress RF carrier cycles to represent digital data and to do so within a frame for an overall variable duration representative of time-interval information, the RF carrier cycles representative of said digital data being embedded within the overall RF transmission representative of said time-interval information;
- and detecting in said RF receiver individual carrier cycles in the received RF transmission, decoding individually detected carrier cycles to derive digital data, and deriving time-interval information from the period required to detect all carrier cycles in the current frame.
Specification