Wearable heart rate monitor
First Claim
1. A method of operating a heart rate monitor of a wearable fitness monitoring device comprising a plurality of sensors including the heart rate monitor and a motion detecting sensor, the method comprising:
- (a) operating the heart rate monitor in a first mode while also operating in a second mode configured to detect near proximity of the wearable fitness monitoring device to a user'"'"'s skin, wherein the first mode is configured to determine one or more characteristics of a user'"'"'s heartbeat waveform when the wearable fitness monitoring device is in near proximity to the user;
(b) from information collected in the second mode, determining that the heart rate monitor is not proximate to the user'"'"'s skin;
(c) determining from information output by the motion detecting sensor that the wearable fitness monitoring device has had been still for at least a defined period; and
(d) in response to determining that the heart rate monitor is not proximate to the user'"'"'s skin and that the wearable fitness monitoring device has been still for at least the defined period, ending operating the heart rate monitor in the first mode.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
Some embodiments provide a wearable fitness monitoring device including a motion sensor and a photoplethysmographic (PPG) sensor. The PPG sensor includes (i) a periodic light source, (ii) a photo detector, and (iii) circuitry determining a user'"'"'s heart rate from an output of the photo detector. Some embodiments provide methods for operating a heart rate monitor of a wearable fitness monitoring device to measure one or more characteristics of a heartbeat waveform. Some embodiments provide methods for operating the wearable fitness monitoring device in a low power state when the device determines that the device is not worn by a user. Some embodiments provide methods for operating the wearable fitness monitoring device in a normal power state when the device determines that the device is worn by a user.
169 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method of operating a heart rate monitor of a wearable fitness monitoring device comprising a plurality of sensors including the heart rate monitor and a motion detecting sensor, the method comprising:
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(a) operating the heart rate monitor in a first mode while also operating in a second mode configured to detect near proximity of the wearable fitness monitoring device to a user'"'"'s skin, wherein the first mode is configured to determine one or more characteristics of a user'"'"'s heartbeat waveform when the wearable fitness monitoring device is in near proximity to the user; (b) from information collected in the second mode, determining that the heart rate monitor is not proximate to the user'"'"'s skin; (c) determining from information output by the motion detecting sensor that the wearable fitness monitoring device has had been still for at least a defined period; and (d) in response to determining that the heart rate monitor is not proximate to the user'"'"'s skin and that the wearable fitness monitoring device has been still for at least the defined period, ending operating the heart rate monitor in the first mode. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A wearable fitness monitoring device comprising:
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a motion sensor configured to provide output corresponding to motion by a user wearing the fitness monitoring device; a photoplethysmographic sensor comprising (i) a periodic light source, (ii) a photo detector positioned to receive periodic light emitted by the periodic light source after interacting with a user'"'"'s skin, and (iii) circuitry determining a user'"'"'s heart rate from an output of the photo detector; and control logic configured to; (a) operate the photoplethysmographic sensor in a first mode while also operating in a second mode configured to detect near proximity of the wearable fitness monitoring device to a user'"'"'s skin, wherein the first mode is configured to determine one or more characteristics of a user'"'"'s heartbeat waveform when the wearable fitness monitoring device is in near proximity to the user; (b) from information collected in the second mode, determine that the photoplethysmographic sensor is not proximate to the user'"'"'s skin; (c) determining from information output by the motion sensor that the wearable fitness monitoring device has had been still for at least a defined period; and (d) in response to determining that the photoplethysmographic sensor is not proximate to the user'"'"'s skin and that the wearable fitness monitoring device has been still for at least the defined period, end operating the photoplethysmographic sensor in the first mode. - View Dependent Claims (20)
operating the photoplethysmographic sensor in the first mode comprises pulsing the light source in the photoplethysmographic sensor at a first mode frequency and detecting light from the light source at the first mode frequency.
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Specification