Use of location awareness to control radio frequency interference in a healthcare environment
First Claim
1. A method of controlling RF interference in a healthcare establishment, said method comprising:
- receiving data regarding a wirelessly detectable tag associated to a first piece of equipment within the healthcare establishment;
determining whether the first piece of equipment is positioned relative to a second piece of equipment within the healthcare establishment such that an RF interference constraint is violated, based at least in part on the data regarding the wirelessly detectable tag, said determining comprising;
obtaining an indication of a location of the first piece of equipment within the healthcare establishment based at least in part on the data regarding the wirelessly detectable tag; and
obtaining an indication of a distance between the first piece of equipment and the second piece of equipment based at least in part on the location of the first piece of equipment and a location of the second piece of equipment within the healthcare establishment; and
responsive to the RF interference constraint being violated, causing a variation in RF power transmitted by at least one of the first piece of equipment and the second piece of equipment.
25 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method of controlling RF interference in a healthcare establishment. The method comprises receiving data regarding a wirelessly detectable tag associated to a first piece of equipment within the healthcare establishment; determining whether the first piece of equipment is positioned relative to a second piece of equipment within the healthcare establishment such that an RF interference constraint is violated, based at least in part on the data regarding the wirelessly detectable tag; and responsive to the RF interference constraint being violated, causing a variation in RF power transmitted by at least one of the first piece of equipment and the second piece of equipment. In this way, wireless communication equipment can be used in the healthcare establishment without deleterious effects on sensitive medical equipment.
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Citations
29 Claims
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1. A method of controlling RF interference in a healthcare establishment, said method comprising:
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receiving data regarding a wirelessly detectable tag associated to a first piece of equipment within the healthcare establishment; determining whether the first piece of equipment is positioned relative to a second piece of equipment within the healthcare establishment such that an RF interference constraint is violated, based at least in part on the data regarding the wirelessly detectable tag, said determining comprising; obtaining an indication of a location of the first piece of equipment within the healthcare establishment based at least in part on the data regarding the wirelessly detectable tag; and obtaining an indication of a distance between the first piece of equipment and the second piece of equipment based at least in part on the location of the first piece of equipment and a location of the second piece of equipment within the healthcare establishment; and responsive to the RF interference constraint being violated, causing a variation in RF power transmitted by at least one of the first piece of equipment and the second piece of equipment. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method of controlling RF interference in a healthcare establishment, said method comprising:
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receiving data regarding a wirelessly detectable tag associated to a first piece of equipment within the healthcare establishment; determining whether the first piece of equipment is positioned relative to a second piece of equipment within the healthcare establishment such that an RF interference constraint is violated, based at least in part on the data regarding the wirelessly detectable tag; and responsive to the RF interference constraint being violated, causing a variation in RF power transmitted by at least one of the first piece of equipment and the second piece of equipment; wherein determining whether the first piece of equipment is positioned relative to a second piece of equipment within the healthcare establishment such that an RF interference constraint is violated, based at least in part on the data regarding the wirelessly detectable tag comprises; obtaining an indication of a location of the first piece of equipment within the healthcare establishment based at least in part on the data regarding the wirelessly detectable tag; obtaining an indication of a distance between the first piece of equipment and the second piece of equipment based at least in part on the location of the first piece of equipment and a location of the second piece of equipment within the healthcare establishment; obtaining an indication of RF power transmitted by one of the first piece of equipment and the second piece of equipment; obtaining an indication of an exposed RF field strength limit at the other of the first piece of equipment and the second piece of equipment; deriving an indication of an exposed RF field strength at the other of the first piece of equipment and the second piece of equipment based at least in part on the distance between the first piece of equipment and the second piece of equipment and the RF power transmitted by the one of the first piece of equipment and the second piece of equipment; and concluding that the RF interference constraint is violated if the exposed RF field strength at the other of the first piece of equipment and the second piece of equipment exceeds the exposed RF field strength limit at the other of the first piece of equipment and the second piece of equipment. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A method of controlling RF interference in a healthcare establishment, said method comprising:
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receiving data regarding a wirelessly detectable tag associated to a first piece of equipment within the healthcare establishment; determining whether the first piece of equipment is positioned relative to a second piece of equipment within the healthcare establishment such that an RF interference constraint is violated, based at least in part on the data regarding the wirelessly detectable tag; responsive to the RF interference constraint being violated, causing a variation in RF power transmitted by at least one of the first piece of equipment and the second piece of equipment; responsive to the RF interference constraint not being violated, determining whether a hypothetical increase in RF power transmitted by at least one of the first piece of equipment and the second piece of equipment would result in the RF interference constraint being violated; and responsive to determining that the hypothetical increase in RF power transmitted by at least one of the first piece of equipment and the second piece of equipment would not result in the RF interference constraint being violated, causing an increase in RF power transmitted by at least one of the first piece of equipment and the second piece of equipment in accordance with the hypothetical increase.
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24. A system for controlling RF interference in a healthcare establishment, said system comprising:
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a first functional entity adapted to receive data regarding a wirelessly detectable tag associated to a first piece of equipment within the healthcare establishment; a second functional entity adapted to determine whether the first piece of equipment is positioned relative to a second piece of equipment within the healthcare establishment such that an RF interference constraint is violated, based at least in part on the data regarding the wirelessly detectable tag; and a third functional entity adapted to cause, responsive to the RF interference constraint being violated, a variation in RF power transmitted by at least one of the first piece of equipment and the second piece of equipment; wherein, to determine whether the first piece of equipment is positioned relative to a second piece of equipment within the healthcare establishment such that an RF interference constraint is violated, based at least in part on the data regarding the wirelessly detectable tag, the second functional entity is adapted to; obtain an indication of a location of the first piece of equipment within the healthcare establishment based at least in part on the data regarding the wirelessly detectable tag; obtain an indication of a distance between the first piece of equipment and the second piece of equipment based at least in part on the location of the first piece of equipment and a location of the second piece of equipment within the healthcare establishment; obtain an indication of RF power transmitted by one of the first piece of equipment and the second piece of equipment; obtain an indication of an exposed RF field strength limit at the other of the first piece of equipment and the second piece of equipment; derive an indication of an exposed RF field strength at the other of the first piece of equipment and the second piece of equipment based at least in part on the distance between the first piece of equipment and the second piece of equipment and the RF power transmitted by the one of the first piece of equipment and the second piece of equipment; and conclude that the RF interference constraint is violated if the exposed RF field strength at the other of the first piece of equipment and the second piece of equipment exceeds the exposed RF field strength limit at the other of the first piece of equipment and the second piece of equipment.
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25. A computer-readable storage medium comprising a program element for execution by a computing device to control RF interference in a healthcare establishment, said program element comprising:
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first computer-readable program code to receive data regarding a wirelessly detectable tag associated to a first piece of equipment within the healthcare establishment; second computer-readable program code to determine whether the first piece of equipment is positioned relative to a second piece of equipment within the healthcare establishment such that an RF interference constraint is violated, based at least in part on the data regarding the wirelessly detectable tag; and third computer-readable program code to cause, responsive to the RF interference constraint being violated, a variation in RF power transmitted by at least one of the first piece of equipment and the second piece of equipment; wherein, to determine whether the first piece of equipment is positioned relative to a second piece of equipment within the healthcare establishment such that an RF interference constraint is violated, based at least in part on the data regarding the wirelessly detectable tag, the second computer-readable program code comprises computer-readable program code to; obtain an indication of a location of the first piece of equipment within the healthcare establishment based at least in part on the data regarding the wirelessly detectable tag; obtain an indication of a distance between the first piece of equipment and the second piece of equipment based at least in part on the location of the first piece of equipment and a location of the second piece of equipment within the healthcare establishment; obtain an indication of RF power transmitted by one of the first piece of equipment and the second piece of equipment; obtain an indication of an exposed RF field strength limit at the other of the first piece of equipment and the second piece of equipment; derive an indication of an exposed RF field strength at the other of the first piece of equipment and the second piece of equipment based at least in part on the distance between the first piece of equipment and the second piece of equipment and the RF power transmitted by the one of the first piece of equipment and the second piece of equipment; and conclude that the RF interference constraint is violated if the exposed RF field strength at the other of the first piece of equipment and the second piece of equipment exceeds the exposed RF field strength limit at the other of the first piece of equipment and the second piece of equipment.
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26. A system for controlling RF interference in a healthcare establishment, said system comprising:
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a first functional entity adapted to receive data regarding a wirelessly detectable tag associated to a first piece of equipment within the healthcare establishment; a second functional entity adapted to determine whether the first piece of equipment is positioned relative to a second piece of equipment within the healthcare establishment such that an RF interference constraint is violated, based at least in part on the data regarding the wirelessly detectable tag, said second functional entity being adapted to; obtain an indication of a location of the first piece of equipment within the healthcare establishment based at least in part on the data regarding the wirelessly detectable tag; and obtain an indication of a distance between the first piece of equipment and the second piece of equipment based at least in part on the location of the first piece of equipment and a location of the second piece of equipment within the healthcare establishment; and a third functional entity adapted to cause, responsive to the RF interference constraint being violated, a variation in RF power transmitted by at least one of the first piece of equipment and the second piece of equipment. - View Dependent Claims (27)
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28. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising a program element for execution by a computing device to control RF interference in a healthcare establishment, said program element comprising:
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first computer-readable program code to receive data regarding a wirelessly detectable tag associated to a first piece of equipment within the healthcare establishment; second computer-readable program code to determine whether the first piece of equipment is positioned relative to a second piece of equipment within the healthcare establishment such that an RF interference constraint is violated, based at least in part on the data regarding the wirelessly detectable tag, said second computer-readable program code comprising program code to; obtain an indication of a location of the first piece of equipment within the healthcare establishment based at least in part on the data regarding the wirelessly detectable tag; and obtain an indication of a distance between the first piece of equipment and the second piece of equipment based at least in part on the location of the first piece of equipment and a location of the second piece of equipment within the healthcare establishment; and third computer-readable program code to cause, responsive to the RF interference constraint being violated, a variation in RF power transmitted by at least one of the first piece of equipment and the second piece of equipment. - View Dependent Claims (29)
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Specification