Methods and apparatus for applying tactile pressure sensors

• US 8,638,236 B2
• Filed: 02/25/2010
• Issued: 01/28/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 02/25/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Chen, An M., Steenstra, Jack
• Primary Examiner(s): JEAN PIERRE, PEGUY
• Application Number:
  US12/712,873
• Publication Number:
  US 20110205081A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,433 Days
• Field of Search: 340/870.01, 340/870.18, 340/870.19, 702/150, 455/575.1, 455/566, 345/157, 345/173, 342/357.57
• US Class Current: 340/870.01
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2562/0247 Pressure sensors
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1112 Global tracking of patients, e.g. by using GPS
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/112 Gait analysis
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/19 Sporting applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2209/43 using wireless personal area networks [WPAN], e.g. 802.15, 802.15.1, 802.15.4, Bluetooth or ZigBee
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 9/00 Arrangements in telecontrol or telemetry systems for selectively calling a substation from a main station, in which substation desired apparatus is selected for applying a control signal thereto or for obtaining measured values therefrom

Abstract

A method of wireless communication includes transmitting configuration information to a tactile pressure sensor apparatus, receiving pressure sensor data from the tactile pressure sensor apparatus based on the configuration information, and providing the received tactile pressure sensor data to a user.

Claims

1. A method of wireless communication, comprising:

transmitting configuration information to a tactile pressure sensor apparatus;

receiving pressure sensor data from the tactile pressure sensor apparatus based on the configuration information; and

providing the received tactile pressure sensor data to a user,

wherein the configuration information comprises a sample rate for sampling a tactile pressure and a transmit rate for transmitting the tactile pressure sensor data corresponding to the sampled tactile pressure.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the tactile pressure sensor data comprises a plurality of sampled tactile pressures sampled at the sample rate and time stamp information associated with the sampled tactile pressures.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the pressure sensor data is received at the transmit rate.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

receiving GPS signals;

determining a plurality of GPS locations based on the GPS signals;

associating the GPS locations with the received tactile pressure sensor data based on the time stamp information; and

providing the received tactile pressure sensor data with the associated GPS locations to the user.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising transmitting the tactile pressure sensor data and the associated GPS locations to a server.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the tactile pressure sensor data is received through low power radio.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the low power radio is one selected from the group consisting of Bluetooth, Bluetooth low energy, ZigBee, and ANT.

8. An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising:

means for transmitting configuration information to a tactile pressure sensor apparatus;

means for receiving pressure sensor data from the tactile pressure sensor apparatus based on the configuration information; and

means for providing the received tactile pressure sensor data to a user,

wherein the configuration information comprises a sample rate for sampling a tactile pressure and a transmit rate for transmitting the tactile pressure sensor data corresponding to the sampled tactile pressure.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the tactile pressure sensor data comprises a plurality of sampled tactile pressures sampled at the sample rate and time stamp information associated with the sampled tactile pressures.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the pressure sensor data is received at the transmit rate.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, further comprising:

means for receiving GPS signals;

means for determining a plurality of GPS locations based on the GPS signals;

means for associating the GPS locations with the received tactile pressure sensor data based on the time stamp information; and

means for providing the received tactile pressure sensor data with the associated GPS locations to the user.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, further comprising means for transmitting the tactile pressure sensor data and the associated GPS locations to a server.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the tactile pressure sensor data is received through low power radio.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the low power radio is one selected from the group consisting of Bluetooth, Bluetooth low energy, ZigBee, and ANT.

15. A computer program product, comprising:

a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising code for;

transmitting configuration information to a tactile pressure sensor apparatus;

receiving pressure sensor data from the tactile pressure sensor apparatus based on the configuration information; and

providing the received tactile pressure sensor data to a user,

wherein the configuration information comprises a sample rate for sampling a tactile pressure and a transmit rate for transmitting the tactile pressure sensor data corresponding to the sampled tactile pressure.

16. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the tactile pressure sensor data comprises a plurality of sampled tactile pressures sampled at the sample rate and time stamp information associated with the sampled tactile pressures.

17. The computer program product of claim 16, wherein the pressure sensor data is received at the transmit rate.

18. The computer program product of claim 17, wherein the computer-readable medium further comprises code for:

receiving GPS signals;

determining a plurality of GPS locations based on the GPS signals;

associating the GPS locations with the received tactile pressure sensor data based on the time stamp information; and

providing the received tactile pressure sensor data with the associated GPS locations to the user.

19. The computer program product of claim 18, wherein the computer-readable medium further comprises code for transmitting the tactile pressure sensor data and the associated GPS locations to a server.

20. The computer program product of claim 19, wherein the tactile pressure sensor data is received through low power radio.

21. The computer program product of claim 20, wherein the low power radio is one selected from the group consisting of Bluetooth, Bluetooth low energy, ZigBee, and ANT.

22. An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising:

a processing system configured to;

transmit configuration information to a tactile pressure sensor apparatus;

receive pressure sensor data from the tactile pressure sensor apparatus based on the configuration information; and

provide the received tactile pressure sensor data to a user,

wherein the configuration information comprises a sample rate for sampling a tactile pressure and a transmit rate for transmitting the tactile pressure sensor data corresponding to the sampled tactile pressure.

23. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the tactile pressure sensor data comprises a plurality of sampled tactile pressures sampled at the sample rate and time stamp information associated with the sampled tactile pressures.

24. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the pressure sensor data is received at the transmit rate.

25. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the processing system is further configured to:

receive GPS signals;

determine a plurality of GPS locations based on the GPS signals;

associate the GPS locations with the received tactile pressure sensor data based on the time stamp information; and

provide the received tactile pressure sensor data with the associated GPS locations to the user.

26. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the processing system is further configured to transmit the tactile pressure sensor data and the associated GPS locations to a server.

27. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein the tactile pressure sensor data is received through low power radio.

28. The apparatus of claim 27, wherein the low power radio is one selected from the group consisting of Bluetooth, Bluetooth low energy, ZigBee, and ANT.

29. A system for obtaining and providing pressure feedback information, comprising:

an apparatus comprising a plurality of embedded tactile pressure sensors and a transceiver for transmitting pressure sensor data from the tactile pressure sensors;

a user equipment comprising a transceiver for receiving the pressure sensor data from the apparatus and for transmitting the pressure sensor data; and

a server for receiving the pressure sensor data from the user equipment;

wherein the user equipment is configured to transmit and the apparatus is configured to receive a pressure sensor configuration, and wherein the pressure sensor data is based on the configuration information.

30. The system of claim 29, wherein the user equipment further comprises a processing system and a display, the processing system being configured to process the received pressure sensor data and to display the processed data on the display for a user as the pressure sensor data is being received from the apparatus.

31. The system of claim 29, wherein the pressure sensor configuration comprises a sample rate for sampling a tactile pressure and a transmit rate for transmitting the pressure sensor data corresponding to the sampled tactile pressure.

32. A system for obtaining and providing pressure feedback information, comprising:

an apparatus comprising a plurality of embedded tactile pressure sensors and a transceiver for transmitting pressure sensor data from the tactile pressure sensors;

a user equipment comprising a transceiver for receiving the pressure sensor data from the apparatus and for transmitting the pressure sensor data; and

a server for receiving the pressure sensor data from the user equipment;

wherein the server is configured to process the pressure sensor data with previous pressure sensor data in order to obtain trend information and is configured to provide the trend information to a user.

33. A system for obtaining and providing pressure feedback information, comprising:

an apparatus comprising a plurality of embedded tactile pressure sensors and a transceiver for transmitting pressure sensor data from the tactile pressure sensors;

a user equipment comprising a transceiver for receiving the pressure sensor data from the apparatus and for transmitting the pressure sensor data; and

a server for receiving the pressure sensor data from the user equipment;

wherein the apparatus is a helmet and the tactile pressure sensors are layered on an inner surface of the helmet to detect an impact force on the inner surface.

34. A system for obtaining and providing pressure feedback information, comprising:

an apparatus comprising a plurality of embedded tactile pressure sensors and a transceiver for transmitting pressure sensor data from the tactile pressure sensors;

a user equipment comprising a transceiver for receiving the pressure sensor data from the apparatus and for transmitting the pressure sensor data; and

a server for receiving the pressure sensor data from the user equipment;

wherein the apparatus is a steering wheel and the tactile pressure sensors are positioned on the steering wheel to detect whether one hand or two hands make full contact with the steering wheel.

35. A system for obtaining and providing pressure feedback information, comprising:

an apparatus comprising a plurality of embedded tactile pressure sensors and a transceiver for transmitting pressure sensor data from the tactile pressure sensors;

a user equipment comprising a transceiver for receiving the pressure sensor data from the apparatus and for transmitting the pressure sensor data; and

a server for receiving the pressure sensor data from the user equipment;

wherein the apparatus is a walking cane and the tactile pressure sensors are positioned on a bottom surface of the walking cane to detect walking and leaning patterns of a user using the walking cane.

36. A system for obtaining and providing pressure feedback information, comprising:

an apparatus comprising a plurality of embedded tactile pressure sensors and a transceiver for transmitting pressure sensor data from the tactile pressure sensors;

a user equipment comprising a transceiver for receiving the pressure sensor data from the apparatus and for transmitting the pressure sensor data; and

a server for receiving the pressure sensor data from the user equipment;

wherein the apparatus is a boxing glove and the tactile pressure sensors are positioned on an impact surface of the boxing glove to detect an impact force on the impact surface.

37. A system for obtaining and providing pressure feedback information, comprising:

an apparatus comprising a plurality of embedded tactile pressure sensors and a transceiver for transmitting pressure sensor data from the tactile pressure sensors;

a user equipment comprising a transceiver for receiving the pressure sensor data from the apparatus and for transmitting the pressure sensor data; and

a server for receiving the pressure sensor data from the user equipment;

wherein the apparatus is a sole and the tactile pressure sensors are positioned on the sole to detect cadence and leaning patterns of a user.

38. A system for obtaining and providing pressure feedback information, comprising:

an apparatus comprising a plurality of embedded tactile pressure sensors and a transceiver for transmitting pressure sensor data from the tactile pressure sensors;

a user equipment comprising a transceiver for receiving the pressure sensor data from the apparatus and for transmitting the pressure sensor data; and

a server for receiving the pressure sensor data from the user equipment;

wherein the apparatus is a squeeze ball and the tactile pressure sensors are layered on a surface of the squeeze ball to detect a squeeze strength of a user.

39. A system for obtaining and providing pressure feedback information, comprising:

an apparatus comprising a plurality of embedded tactile pressure sensors and a transceiver for transmitting pressure sensor data from the tactile pressure sensors;

a user equipment comprising a transceiver for receiving the pressure sensor data from the apparatus and for transmitting the pressure sensor data; and

a server for receiving the pressure sensor data from the user equipment;

wherein the apparatus is configured to transmit and the user equipment is configured to receive the pressure sensor data using low power radio.

40. The system of claim 39, wherein the low power radio is one selected from the group consisting of Bluetooth, Bluetooth low energy, ZigBee, and ANT.

41. A system for obtaining and providing pressure feedback information, comprising:

an apparatus comprising a plurality of embedded tactile pressure sensors and a transceiver for transmitting pressure sensor data from the tactile pressure sensors;

a user equipment comprising a transceiver for receiving the pressure sensor data from the apparatus and for transmitting the pressure sensor data; and

a server for receiving the pressure sensor data from the user equipment;

wherein the apparatus is configured to transmit and the user equipment is configured to receive the pressure sensor data with an associated time stamp.

42. A system for obtaining and providing pressure feedback information, comprising:

an apparatus comprising a plurality of embedded tactile pressure sensors and a transceiver for transmitting pressure sensor data from the tactile pressure sensors;

a user equipment comprising a transceiver for receiving the pressure sensor data from the apparatus and for transmitting the pressure sensor data; and

a server for receiving the pressure sensor data from the user equipment;

wherein the user equipment is configured to receive a GPS signal, to determine GPS locations based on the GPS signal, to associate the GPS locations with the received pressure sensor data, and to transmit the GPS locations with the associated pressure sensor data to the server.

43. The system of claim 42, wherein the server is configured to correlate the GPS locations with the associated pressure sensor data to obtain velocity, acceleration, and elevation information as related to the associated pressure sensor data.

44. A system for obtaining and providing pressure feedback information, comprising:

an apparatus comprising a plurality of embedded tactile pressure sensors and a transceiver for transmitting pressure sensor data from the tactile pressure sensors;

a user equipment comprising a transceiver for receiving the pressure sensor data from the apparatus and for transmitting the pressure sensor data; and

a server for receiving the pressure sensor data from the user equipment;

wherein the server is configured to send a request to the user equipment with information on when the pressure sensor data should be collected by the apparatus, a frequency of upload by the apparatus, whether the user equipment should obtain GPS coordinates in association with the received pressure sensor data, and a frequency that the user equipment should obtain the GPS coordinates.

45. An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising:

a body;

a plurality of tactile pressure sensors embedded within the body on at least two opposing surfaces;

a transceiver; and

a processing system coupled to the transceiver and to the tactile pressure sensors and configured to receive tactile pressure information from the tactile pressure sensors and to contact emergency services through the transceiver when the tactile pressure information indicates simultaneous activation of the tactile pressure sensors on the at least two opposing surfaces consistent with a squeezing of the body.

46. An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising:

a processing system;

a transceiver coupled to the processing system; and

a display coupled to the processing system,

wherein the processing system is configured to;

transmit a pressure sensor configuration comprising a sample rate for sampling a tactile pressure and a transmit rate for transmitting the pressure sensor data corresponding to the sampled tactile pressure;

receive pressure sensor data at the transmit rate and sampled at the sample rate, the pressure sensor data comprising a plurality of sampled tactile pressures and time stamps associated with the sampled tactile pressures;

process the received pressure sensor data; and

display the processed data on the display.

47. The apparatus of claim 46, wherein the processing system is further configured to receive a GPS signal, to determine a GPS location based on the GPS signal, to associate the GPS location with the received pressure sensor data, and to transmit the GPS location with the associated pressure sensor data to a server.

48. The apparatus of claim 46, wherein the processing system is configured to receive the pressure sensor data through low power radio.

49. The apparatus of claim 48, wherein the low power radio is one selected from the group consisting of Bluetooth, Bluetooth low energy, ZigBee, and ANT.

50. An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising:

a surface on which a pressure can be exerted;

a plurality of pressure sensors embedded in the surface;

a controller coupled to the pressure sensors; and

a transceiver coupled to the controller,

wherein the controller is configured to;

receive a pressure sensor configuration comprising a sample rate for sampling a tactile pressure and a transmit rate for transmitting the pressure sensor data corresponding to the sampled tactile pressure;

obtain pressure sensor data from the pressure sensors; and

transmit the pressure sensor data and an associated time stamp to a user equipment.

51. The apparatus of claim 50, wherein the apparatus is one selected from the group consisting of a sole, a shoe, a boot, a helmet, a boxing glove, a cane, a squeeze ball, and a steering wheel.

52. The apparatus of claim 50, wherein the controller is configured to transmit using low power radio.

53. The apparatus of claim 52, wherein the low power radio is one selected from the group consisting of Bluetooth, Bluetooth low energy, ZigBee, and ANT.

54. A method of wireless communication, comprising:

receiving configuration information at a tactile pressure sensor from a user equipment; and

transmitting pressure sensor data to the user equipment based on the configuration information, wherein the configuration information comprises a sample rate for sampling a tactile pressure and a transmit rate for transmitting the pressure sensor data corresponding to the sampled tactile pressure.

55. The method of claim 54, wherein the tactile pressure sensor data comprises a plurality of sampled tactile pressures sampled at the sample rate and time stamp information associated with the sampled tactile pressures.

56. An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising:

means for receiving configuration information at a tactile pressure sensor from a user equipment; and

means for transmitting pressure sensor data to the user equipment based on the configuration information, wherein the configuration information comprises a sample rate for sampling a tactile pressure and a transmit rate for transmitting the pressure sensor data corresponding to the sampled tactile pressure.

57. The apparatus of claim 56, wherein the tactile pressure sensor data comprises a plurality of sampled tactile pressures sampled at the sample rate and time stamp information associated with the sampled tactile pressures.

58. A computer program product, comprising:

a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising code for;

receiving configuration information at a tactile pressure sensor from a user equipment; and

transmitting pressure sensor data to the user equipment based on the configuration information, wherein the configuration information comprises a sample rate for sampling a tactile pressure and a transmit rate for transmitting the pressure sensor data corresponding to the sampled tactile pressure.

59. The computer program product of claim 58, wherein the tactile pressure sensor data comprises a plurality of sampled tactile pressures sampled at the sample rate and time stamp information associated with the sampled tactile pressures.

60. An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising:

a processing system configured to;

receive configuration information at a tactile pressure sensor from a user equipment; and

transmit pressure sensor data to the user equipment based on the configuration information, wherein the configuration information comprises a sample rate for sampling a tactile pressure and a transmit rate for transmitting the pressure sensor data corresponding to the sampled tactile pressure.

61. The apparatus of claim 60, wherein the tactile pressure sensor data comprises a plurality of sampled tactile pressures sampled at the sample rate and time stamp information associated with the sampled tactile pressures.