Low power motion detector
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A system, comprising:
- an accelerometer, responsive to acceleration of the system, configured to provide an accelerometer output signal having a magnitude indicative of at least one component of the acceleration;
a motion detector, responsive to the accelerometer output signal, configured to provide a processor interrupt signal if the magnitude reaches a threshold; and
a processor, responsive to the processor interrupt signal, configured to determine acceleration with higher accuracy than the motion detector is capable ofwherein the interrupt signal is for interrupting a power-saving state of the processor and for beginning a power-saving state of the motion detector, andwherein the processor is responsive to the accelerometer output signal only when the processor interrupt signal has interrupted the processor.
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Abstract
An energy-efficient acceleration measurement system is presented. The system includes an accelerometer, responsive to acceleration of the system, for providing an accelerometer output signal having a magnitude indicative of at least one component of the acceleration. A motion detector is responsive to the accelerometer output signal, and provides a processor interrupt signal, but only if the magnitude of acceleration reaches a threshold. The processor, responsive to the processor interrupt signal, measures the acceleration with higher accuracy than the motion detector is capable of, but in a way that consumes more power than was needed by the motion detector.
43 Citations
19 Claims
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1. A system, comprising:
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an accelerometer, responsive to acceleration of the system, configured to provide an accelerometer output signal having a magnitude indicative of at least one component of the acceleration; a motion detector, responsive to the accelerometer output signal, configured to provide a processor interrupt signal if the magnitude reaches a threshold; and a processor, responsive to the processor interrupt signal, configured to determine acceleration with higher accuracy than the motion detector is capable of wherein the interrupt signal is for interrupting a power-saving state of the processor and for beginning a power-saving state of the motion detector, and wherein the processor is responsive to the accelerometer output signal only when the processor interrupt signal has interrupted the processor. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A method comprising:
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setting a reference level for each axis, upon enabling a motion detector, averaging acceleration data obtained from an accelerometer output signal, so as to accomplish low pass filtering results without a multiplier, updating the reference level at periods that are sufficiently small to offset temperature drift, and providing a processor interrupt signal if the motion detector concludes that an absolute difference between an average acceleration and a corresponding reference level exceeds at least one threshold wherein the interrupt signal is for interrupting a power-saving state of the processor and for beginning a power-saving state of the motion detector, and wherein the processor is responsive to the accelerometer output signal only when the processor interrupt signal has interrupted the processor. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A motion detector comprising:
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at least one reference level register, configured to set and periodically update a reference level for each axis, a summing register for each coordinate axis, configured to average acceleration data obtained from the accelerometer to yield an average acceleration, an offsetting and compare unit, configured to offset the average acceleration using the reference level, and configured to provide an offset acceleration, and compare the offset acceleration to at least one threshold, and an interrupt unit, configured to provide a processor interrupt signal if the at least one threshold is reached wherein the interrupt signal is for interrupting a power-saving state of the processor and for beginning a power-saving state of the motion detector. - View Dependent Claims (12)
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13. A method, comprising:
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providing an accelerometer output signal, having a magnitude indicative of at least one component of acceleration, to a motion detector, in response to the acceleration; providing a processor interrupt signal if the magnitude reaches a threshold, in response to the accelerometer output signal; determining acceleration with higher accuracy than the motion detector is capable of, in response to the processor interrupt signal; and providing instructions in response to determining the acceleration with higher accuracy; wherein the interrupt signal is for interrupting a power-saving state of the processor and for beginning a power-saving state of the motion detector, and wherein the processor is responsive to the accelerometer output signal only when the processor interrupt signal has interrupted the processor. - View Dependent Claims (14)
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15. A computer readable medium encoded with a software data structure the software comprising codes which, when executed, control the following:
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providing an accelerometer output signal, having a magnitude indicative of at least one component of acceleration, to a motion detector, in response to the acceleration of the system; providing a processor interrupt signal if the magnitude reaches a threshold, in response to the accelerometer output signal; determining acceleration with higher accuracy than the motion detector is capable of, in response to the processor interrupt signal; and providing instructions in response to determining the acceleration with higher accuracy; wherein the interrupt signal is for interrupting a power-saving state of the processor and for beginning a power-saving state of the motion detector, and wherein the processor is responsive to the accelerometer output signal only when the processor interrupt signal has interrupted the processor. - View Dependent Claims (16)
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17. A system, comprising:
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means for providing an accelerometer output signal, having a magnitude indicative of at least one component of acceleration, in response to the acceleration of the system; means for providing an interrupt signal if the magnitude reaches a threshold, in response to the accelerometer output signal; and means for determining acceleration with higher accuracy, in response to the interrupt signal, wherein the interrupt signal is for interrupting a power-saving state of the means for determining acceleration with higher accuracy, and for beginning a power-saving state of the means for providing the interrupt signal, and wherein the means for determining acceleration with higher accuracy is responsive to the accelerometer output signal only when the processor interrupt signal has interrupted the means for determining acceleration with higher accuracy.
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18. Apparatus comprising:
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a receiving unit configured to receive an accelerometer output signal having a magnitude indicative of at least one component of acceleration; and an interrupt unit configured to provide a processor interrupt signal if the magnitude reaches a threshold, wherein the apparatus is configured to enter a power-saving state if the magnitude reaches the threshold, and wherein the processor interrupt signal is for making the processor responsive to the accelerometer output signal. - View Dependent Claims (19)
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Specification