GPS power conservation using environmental data
First Claim
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1. An apparatus comprising:
- a biometric monitoring device to be worn on a person'"'"'s wrist, the biometric monitoring device including;
a controller including at least one processor and a memory;
a global positioning system (GPS) receiver; and
at least one non-GPS sensor, the at least one non-GPS sensor includes one or more sensors selected from the group consisting of;
a single-axis accelerometer, a multi-axis accelerometer, a gyroscope, and a magnetometer, wherein;
the at least one processor, the memory, the GPS receiver, and the at least one non-GPS sensor are communicatively connected, andthe memory stores computer-executable instructions for controlling the at least one processor to;
a) receive motion data from the at least one non-GPS sensor,b) determine whether the biometric monitoring device is substantially motionless or in motion based at least in part on the motion data, andc) set a frequency with which the GPS receiver obtains positional fixes at a first level responsive, at least in part, to a determination by the at least one processor that the motion data indicates that the biometric monitoring device is in motion, andd) set the frequency with which the GPS receiver obtains positional fixes at a second level lower than the first level responsive, at least in part, to a determination by the at least one processor that the motion data indicates that the biometric monitoring device is substantially motionless, wherein the second level supports the GPS receiver performing a warm start and does not support a hot start.
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Abstract
Biometric monitoring devices, including various technologies that may be implemented in such devices, are discussed herein. Additionally, techniques, systems, and apparatuses are discussed herein for providing power-conserving techniques and systems for efficiently utilizing a GPS receiver are described. The positional fix frequency of the GPS receiver may, according to some implementations, be modified or adjusted between various levels according to data from one or more non-GPS sensors. Such non-GPS sensors may include, for example, ambient light intensity or spectrum sensors, accelerometers, gyroscopes, magnetometers, heart rate sensors, galvanic skin response sensors, infrared sensors, etc.
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Citations
30 Claims
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1. An apparatus comprising:
a biometric monitoring device to be worn on a person'"'"'s wrist, the biometric monitoring device including; a controller including at least one processor and a memory; a global positioning system (GPS) receiver; and at least one non-GPS sensor, the at least one non-GPS sensor includes one or more sensors selected from the group consisting of;
a single-axis accelerometer, a multi-axis accelerometer, a gyroscope, and a magnetometer, wherein;the at least one processor, the memory, the GPS receiver, and the at least one non-GPS sensor are communicatively connected, and the memory stores computer-executable instructions for controlling the at least one processor to; a) receive motion data from the at least one non-GPS sensor, b) determine whether the biometric monitoring device is substantially motionless or in motion based at least in part on the motion data, and c) set a frequency with which the GPS receiver obtains positional fixes at a first level responsive, at least in part, to a determination by the at least one processor that the motion data indicates that the biometric monitoring device is in motion, and d) set the frequency with which the GPS receiver obtains positional fixes at a second level lower than the first level responsive, at least in part, to a determination by the at least one processor that the motion data indicates that the biometric monitoring device is substantially motionless, wherein the second level supports the GPS receiver performing a warm start and does not support a hot start. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method in a biometric monitoring device, the method comprising:
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(a) receiving, at a first time, first motion data from at least one non-GPS sensor in the biometric monitoring device worn on a person'"'"'s wrist, the at least one non-GPS sensor includes one or more sensors selected from the group consisting of;
a single-axis accelerometer, a multi-axis accelerometer, a gyroscope, and a magnetometer;(b) determining that the biometric monitoring device is in motion based at least in part on the first motion data; (c) setting a frequency with which a GPS receiver in the biometric monitoring device obtains positional fixes at a first level responsive, at least in part, to the determination that the biometric monitoring device is in motion; (d) receiving, at a second time, second motion data from the at least one non-GPS sensor; (e) determining that the biometric monitoring device is substantially motionless based at least in part on the second motion data; and (f) setting the frequency with which the GPS receiver obtains positional fixes at a second level lower than the first level responsive, at least in part, to the determination that the biometric monitoring device is substantially motionless, wherein the second level supports the GPS receiver performing a warm start and does not support a hot start. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A non-transitory, machine-readable storage medium, having stored therein computer-executable instructions which, when executed by at least one processor in a biometric monitoring device to be worn on a person'"'"'s wrist, cause the biometric monitoring device to perform the operations comprising:
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(a) receiving, at a first time, first motion data from at least one non-GPS sensor in the biometric monitoring device worn on the person'"'"'s wrist, the at least one non-GPS sensor includes one or more sensors selected from the group consisting of;
a single-axis accelerometer, a multi-axis accelerometer, a gyroscope, and a magnetometer;(b) determining that the biometric monitoring device is in motion based at least in part on the first motion data; (c) setting a frequency with which a GPS receiver in the biometric monitoring device obtains positional fixes at a first level responsive, at least in part, to the determination that the biometric monitoring device is in motion; (d) receiving, at a second time, second motion data from the at least one non-GPS sensor; (e) determining that the biometric monitoring device is substantially motionless based at least in part on the second motion data; and (f) setting the frequency with which the GPS receiver obtains positional fixes at a second level lower than the first level responsive, at least in part, to the determination that the biometric monitoring device is substantially motionless, wherein the second level supports the GPS receiver performing a warm start and does not support a hot start. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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Specification