Wireless transmission reliability

• US 8,850,293 B2
• Filed: 12/06/2011
• Issued: 09/30/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 12/06/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Welch Allyn Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Welch Allyn Incorporated
• Inventors: Baker, Steven D., Petersen, Eric G.
• Primary Examiner(s): Merant, Guerrier
• Assistant Examiner(s): Gandhi, Dipakkumar
• Application Number:
  US13/312,742
• Publication Number:
  US 20130145236A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,029 Days
• US Class Current: 714/776
• CPC Class Codes: H03M 13/09 Error detection only, e.g. using cyclic redundancy check [CRC] codes or single parity bit
• CPC Class Codes: H03M 13/1102 Codes on graphs and decoding on graphs, e.g. low-density parity check [LDPC] codes
• CPC Class Codes: H03M 13/116 Quasi-cyclic LDPC [QC-LDPC] codes, i.e. the parity-check matrix being composed of permutation or circulant sub-matrices
• CPC Class Codes: H03M 13/1515 Reed-Solomon codes
• CPC Class Codes: H03M 13/27 using interleaving techniques
• CPC Class Codes: H03M 13/353 Adaptation to the channel
• CPC Class Codes: H03M 13/373 with erasure correction and erasure determination, e.g. for packet loss recovery or setting of erasures for the decoding of Reed-Solomon codes
• CPC Class Codes: H03M 13/6527 IEEE 802.11 [WLAN]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0057 Block codes H04L1/0061, H04L1/0064 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/007 Unequal error protection for format H04L1/0078; for codes per se H03M13/35

Abstract

A method for performing error correction during a transmission of physiological data includes two or more data packets that are sent from a first electronic computing device to a second electronic computing device. Each of the data packets includes physiological data. Each of the data packets has a first packet size. Each of the data packets includes error correction information. The error correction information for each of the two or more packets is distributed across the two or more data packets.

Claims

1. A method for performing error correction during a transmission of physiological data, the method comprising:

sending two or more data packets from a first electronic computing device to a second electronic computing device, each of the data packets including physiological data, each of the data packets having a first packet size, and each of the data packets including error correction information, the error correction information being included within each of the two or more data packets;

determining a transmission error rate for the two or more data packets; and

based on the transmission error rate, adjusting a packet size for data transmission to a second packet size;

wherein adjusting a packet size for data transmission further comprises decreasing the first packet size when the transmission error rate is greater than a first predetermined threshold; and

wherein determining the transmission error rate further comprises disabling error correction at the first electronic computing device when the transmission error rate is not greater than a second predetermined threshold, the second predetermined threshold being smaller than the first predetermined threshold.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the transmission error rate comprises determining a packet error rate for the data transmission.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the transmission error rate comprises determining a packet loss rate for the data transmission.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the transmission error rate further comprises enabling error correction at the first electronic computing device when the transmission error rate is greater than a third predetermined threshold, the third predetermined threshold being smaller than the first predetermined threshold but larger than the second predetermined threshold.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein adjusting a packet size for data transmission further comprises increasing the first packet size when the transmission error rate is less than a fourth predetermined threshold, the fourth predetermined threshold being smaller than the first predetermined threshold but larger than the third predetermined threshold.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein error correction is enabled or disabled automatically based on the transmission error rate.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising sending one or more additional data packets from the first electronic computing device to the second electronic computing device, each of the one or more additional data packets having the second packet size.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein error correction is enabled or disabled automatically based on a CPU load at the first electronic computing device or at the second electronic computing device.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the first electronic computing device and the second electronic computing device are not directly connected and wherein the error correction information is maintained from the first electronic computing device to the second electronic computing device.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein error correction is implemented above a data link layer.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving a management level communication from the second electronic computing device, wherein the management level communication includes information on one or more of battery power, signal strength, packet size and whether to disable or enable data error correction.

12. A first electronic computing device, comprising:

a processing unit;

a system memory connected to the processing unit, the system memory comprising instructions that, when executed by the processing unit, cause the processing unit to;

send two or more data packets from the first electronic computing device to a second electronic computing device, each of the data packets including physiological data, each of the data packets having a first packet size, each of the data packets including error correction information, the error correction information for each of the two or more data packets being distributed across the two or more data packets, the error correction information incorporating a method of forward error correction, the error correction information providing redundant packet data in a data portion of each of the data packets;

determine a transmission error rate for the one or more data packets, the transmission error rate being determined from packet error information received from the second electronic computing device;

determine whether the transmission error rate is greater than a first predetermined threshold;

when the transmission error rate is greater than the first predetermined threshold, decrease the first packet size to a second packet size;

determine whether the transmission error rate is not greater than a second predetermined threshold, the second predetermined threshold being smaller than the first predetermined threshold;

when the transmission error rate is not greater than the second predetermined threshold, disable forward error correction at the first electronic computing device;

determine whether the transmission error rate is greater than a third predetermined threshold, the third predetermined threshold being smaller than the first predetermined threshold but larger than the second predetermined threshold;

when the transmission error rate is greater than the third predetermined threshold, enable error correction at the first electronic computing device;

determine whether the transmission error rate is less than a fourth predetermined threshold, the fourth predetermined threshold being smaller than the first predetermined threshold but larger than the third predetermined threshold;

when the transmission error rate is less than the fourth predetermined threshold, increase the first packet size to a third packet size;

send one or more additional data packets from the first electronic computing device to the second electronic computing device, each of the one or more additional data packets having either the first packet size, the second packet size or the third packet size;

receive information that data reconstruction errors at the second electronic computing device are greater than the fourth predetermined threshold;

when it is determined that the data reconstruction errors at the second electronic computing device are greater than the fourth predetermined threshold, impose a limit on a type of data to be transmitted at the first electronic computing device; and

send management level communication in the one or more data packets, the management level communication including information on one or more of battery power, signal strength, packet size and whether to disable or enable data error correction.