Health-related opportunistic networking

• US 8,032,124 B2
• Filed: 02/28/2007
• Issued: 10/04/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 02/28/2007
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Scott, James William, Karkanias, Chris Demetrios, Hodges, Stephen Edward
• Primary Examiner(s): Afshar; Kamran
• Assistant Examiner(s): Behnamian; Shahriar
• Application Number:
  US11/680,073
• Publication Number:
  US 20080209046A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,679 Days
• Field of Search: 370/238, 370/260, 455/414.1, 455/502, 455/445, 455/403, 340/539.12, 600/418
• US Class Current: 455/414.1
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0002 Remote monitoring of patients using telemetry, e.g. transmission of vital signals via a communication network A61B5/07 takes precedence; transmission systems for measured values G08C; transmission H04B; transmission of digital information H04L; wireless communication networks H04W
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 10/60 for patient-specific data, e.g. for electronic patient records
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/20 for the management or administration of healthcare resources or facilities, e.g. managing hospital staff or surgery rooms
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 80/00 ICT specially adapted for facilitating communication between medical practitioners or patients, e.g. for collaborative diagnosis, therapy or health monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/306 Route determination based on the nature of the carried application
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/02 Communication route or path selection, e.g. power-based or shortest path routing
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/246 Connectivity information discovery
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/04 adapted for relaying to or from another terminal or user
• CPC Class Codes: Y02A 90/10 Information and communication technologies [ICT] supporting adaptation to climate change, e.g. for weather forecasting or climate simulation

Abstract

A wireless opportunistic network that can facilitate data transfer by way of interconnected devices is disclosed. In accordance with this opportunistic network, each of the devices effectively contributes to the transfer of the information thereby obviating the need for an external carrier. In this manner, the carrier infrastructure is embodied and distributed throughout the individual devices of the network. In a particular aspect, the opportunistic network is employed to transfer and make available health-related data. This functionality can be used in many scenarios related to heath from, monitoring patients and conveying basic diagnostic data to identifying bioterrorism by way of collaborating data between a number of devices within the network. Essentially, the innovation provides for at least two core functional ideas, the opportunistic network infrastructure and the use of the network in health related scenarios.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

an opportunistic connection component configured to determine a communication path between an origin device and a target device based upon a health-related situation, wherein the communication path travels through a plurality of devices active within the opportunistic network;

a data communication component configured to aggregate health-related data until occurrence of an opportunity to transfer the health-related data along the communication path; and

a verification component configured to, for information to be delivered to the target device, determine whether capacity is available to capture additional information to be delivered to the target device;

wherein the data communication component is further configured to, based on a determination by the verification component, aggregate the additional information from at least one proximate device prior to transferring the health-related data and the additional information along the communication path to the target device.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein at least a subset of the plurality of devices in the wireless opportunistic network is configured to dynamically change as a function of location which alters configuration of the opportunistic networking path, including altering paths for ongoing transmissions.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the opportunistic connection component is configured to determine the communication path based upon acuteness or severity of the health-related situation.

4. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

an analysis component configured to evaluate the plurality of devices that are active within the opportunistic network; and

a connection selection component configured to determine at least one of the active devices as a function of at least one of data type, context, or provider policy criteria.

5. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a receiving component configured to obtain, analyze and verify health-related data; and

a data transfer component configured to facilitate transmission of the data along the communication path as a function of the analysis of the health-related data.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the receiving component is configured to gather the health-related data by way of a plurality of sensory mechanisms.

7. The system of claim 6, further comprising an aggregation component configured to collect the health-related data from a subset of the plurality of devices active in the opportunistic network.

8. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

an analysis component configured to evaluate the health-related data;

a routing component configured to determine an optimal communication path, through a communication framework including both peer-to-peer and hub-and-spoke components, to the target device as a function of the analysis; and

a transmission system component configured to transfer a subset of the health-related data along the optimal communication path.

9. The system of claim 8, further comprising:

a content analysis component configured to evaluate content of the health-related data;

a target determination component configured to identify the target device as a function of the content evaluation;

a policy component configured to identify at least one of a delivery rule or a preference as a function of the content in view of the target device; and

a monetization component configured to calculate a cost, based at least in part on a service provision rate determined in consideration of an agreement to share resources, for each of the devices active in the opportunistic network that store/forward the data along the communication path.

10. The system of claim 8, further comprising:

a proximate device locator component configured to identify a plurality of devices proximate to the origin device;

a load analysis component configured to establish available transmit capacity of each of the proximately located plurality of devices; and

a transmit path determination component configured to facilitate establishment of the communication path as a function of the available transmit capacity analysis.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the wireless opportunistic network comprises a plurality of mobile devices having capability to store and forward health-related data using an internal communication infrastructure.

12. The system of claim 1, further comprising a machine learning and reasoning component configured to automatically select the communication path based upon at least one of a probabilistic and a statistical-based analysis.

13. A method comprising:

receiving health-related data from at least one device in a wireless opportunistic network, the health-related data to be delivered to a target device;

analyzing the health-related data based upon a health-related protocol;

locating a plurality of handoff devices as a function of the analysis of the health-related data;

aggregating the health-related data on one of the plurality of handoff devices;

determining whether additional capacity exists on the one of the plurality of handoff devices for additional data to be delivered to the target device;

based on determining that the additional capacity exists, aggregating the additional data from at least one proximate device; and

based on the one of the plurality of handoff devices becoming connected to another of the plurality of handoff devices, transferring a portion of the health-related data and additional data to each of the handoff devices in sequence so as to transmit the data to the target device.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising configuring at least one of a plurality of portable devices of the wireless network to facilitate a capability of receiving and sending health-related data by way of an internal communication infrastructure.

15. The method of claim 13, further comprising selecting one of the plurality of handoff devices to connect to based on a confidential status of the health-related data.

16. The method of claim 13, further comprising aggregating the health-related data by way of a plurality of health related sensory mechanisms.

17. The method of claim 13, further comprising prioritizing transfer of the health-related data with respect to other data as a function of content of the health-related data.

18. The method of claim 13, further comprising actively monitoring the wireless opportunistic network to dynamically identify the plurality of handoff devices.

19. A tangible computer-readable storage medium storing instructions, the instructions to, if executed by a computing device, cause the computing device to perform operations comprising:

establishing an opportunistic networking infrastructure by occasional or periodic interconnection of a plurality of mobile devices;

receiving health-related data to be delivered to a target entity on a subset of the mobile devices;

aggregating the health-related data onto an origin device;

capturing, on the origin device, additional information from at least one proximate device if capacity is available on the origin device, the additional information to be delivered to the target entity;

determining priority of transmission as a function of content or context of the health-related data;

identifying a communication path through the opportunistic networking infrastructure as a function of the priority; and

based on an occurrence of an opportunity to transmit the health-related data and additional information to one of the plurality of mobile devices, transferring the health-related data and the additional information to the target entity by way of the communication path.

20. The tangible computer-readable storage medium of claim 19, the operations further comprising:

inferring the target entity as a function of content of the health related data, and dynamically changing the communication path for data en route as a function of the content.