MEMS recorder apparatus method and system

• US 9,644,971 B2
• Filed: 11/04/2014
• Issued: 05/09/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 11/04/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Babitch, Daniel, Vantalon, Nicolas
• Primary Examiner(s): FREJD, RUSSELL WARREN
• Application Number:
  US14/532,582
• Publication Number:
  US 20170024345A1
• Time in Patent Office: 917 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: B81B 2201/0235 Accelerometers
• CPC Class Codes: B81B 2201/0242 Gyroscopes
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/1654 with electromagnetic compass
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/26 involving a sensor measurement for aiding acquisition or tracking
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/47 the supplementary measurement being an inertial measurement, e.g. tightly coupled inertial
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3243 Power saving in microcontroller unit
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/4022 using switching circuits, e.g. switching matrix, connection or expansion network G06F13/4009 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/4282 on a serial bus, e.g. I2C bus, SPI bus on daisy chain buses G06F13/4247
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 10/00 Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/50 in wire-line communication networks, e.g. low power modes or reduced link rate

Abstract

A Micro-Electromechanical System (MEMS) recorder is provided. The MEMS recorder includes a scheduler, a serializer, a multiplexer, a transmit/receive switch, a master clock generator, a deserializer, a comparator array to determine whether to generate a signal to wake up a controller and/or a location module from a sleep mode, and a First-In-First-Out (FIFO) memory to output data to be stored and wake up the controller and/or the location module from the sleep mode if a signal to wake up the controller and/or the location module is received or if the FIFO memory is full, wherein the controller and/or the location module is awakened directly by the MEMS recorder or via the controller.

Claims

1. A Micro-Electromechanical System (MEMS) recorder, comprising:

a scheduler configured to receive a recording schedule, bias values, comparator thresholds, and a device identification for at least one MEMS sensor;

a serializer configured to serialize data received from the scheduler;

a multiplexer configured to receive MEMS sensor data from at least one MEMS sensor, receive MEMS sensor data from another device, and receive an enable signal from the scheduler;

a transmit/receive switch configured to receive MEMS sensor data from the multiplexer, receive serialized data from the serializer, and receive a signal from the scheduler indicating whether to receive or transmit;

a master clock generator configured to generate a master clock signal for the MEMS recorder;

a deserializer configured to receive a deserialize control signal from the scheduler, receive serialized MEMS sensor data from the transmit/receive switch, and deserialize the received serialized MEMS sensor data;

a comparator array configured to receive a compare control signal from the scheduler, receive the bias values, receive deserialized MEMS sensor data from the deserializer, store the received deserialized MEMS sensor data as latest data, receive the device identification associated with the received deserialized MEMS sensor data, remove the bias values from the corresponding MEMS sensor data, compare the deserialized MEMS sensor data to the comparator threshold in accordance with the compare control signal to determine whether to generate a signal to wake up a controller and/or a location module if the controller and/or the location module are in sleep mode; and

a First-In-First-Out (FIFO) memory configured to receive a FIFO control signal from the scheduler, receive the latest data from the comparator array, receive the result of the comparison from the comparator array, receive the signal to wake up the controller and/or the location module, if any, from the comparator array, and output data to be stored and wake up the controller and/or the location module, if the signal indicates that the controller and/or the location module should be awakened or the FIFO memory is full, wherein the controller and/or the location module is awakened directly by the MEMS recorder or via the controller.

2. The MEMS recorder of claim 1, wherein the multiplexer is a multiplexer configured to receive MEMS sensor data from at least one MEMS sensor via a serial clock input/output and a serial data input/output, receive MEMS sensor data from another device, and receive an enable signal from the scheduler.

3. The MEMS recorder of claim 1, wherein the at least one MEMS sensor comprises an accelerometer, a digital compass, a gyroscope, an inertial module, a magnetic sensor, and a barometer.

4. The MEMS recorder of claim 1, wherein comparator thresholds differ for different MEMS sensors or different axes of MEMS sensor data, and where the comparator thresholds may be used employed individually or as a vector.

5. The MEMS recorder of claim 1, wherein the location module is comprised of one of a wireless positioning device, a positioning device utilizing a radio receiver, a base station based positioning device utilizing cellular signals, a positioning device based on a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), wherein the wireless receiver comprises a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receiver, a Wireless Fidelity (WiFi) receiver, and a Bluetooth receiver, and wherein the wireless receiver may include a user-defined degree of sharing of functionality between hardware and software.

6. The MEMS recorder of claim 1, wherein the comparator array comprises a number of array elements equal to a number of MEMS sensors providing MEMS sensor data, wherein each of the number of array elements includes:

a latest data module configured to store and output MEMS sensor data received that was most recently received;

a FIFO comparator configured to remove bias values from MEMS sensor data and compare MEMS sensor data most recently received to MEMS sensor data previously received to determine if the comparison result should be stored in the FIFO memory; and

an interrupt comparator configured to remove bias values from MEMS sensor data and compare MEMS sensor data most recently received to MEMS sensor data previously received to determine if an interrupt signal should be generated.

7. A Micro-Electromechanical System (MEMS) recorder, comprising:

a scheduler configured to receive a recording schedule, filter parameters, bias values, comparator thresholds, and a device identification for at least one MEMS sensor;

a serializer configured to serialize data received from the scheduler;

a multiplexer configured to receive MEMS sensor data from at least one MEMS sensor, receive MEMS sensor data from another device, and receive an enable signal from the scheduler;

a transmit/receive switch configured to receive MEMS sensor data from the multiplexer, receive serialized data from the serializer, and receive a signal from the scheduler indicating whether to receive or transmit;

a master clock generator configured to generate a master clock signal for the MEMS recorder;

a deserializer configured to receive a deserialize control signal from the scheduler, receive serialized MEMS sensor data from the transmit/receive switch, and deserialize the received serialized MEMS sensor data;

a filter/comparator array configured to receive a filter/compare control signal from the scheduler, receive the bias values, receive deserialized MEMS sensor data from the deserializer, store the received deserialized MEMS sensor data as latest data, receive the device identification associated with the received deserialized MEMS sensor data, filter the received deserialized MEMS sensor data according to the filter/compare control signal, remove the bias values from the corresponding MEMS sensor data, compare the result of filtering to previous results of filtering to determine whether to generate a signal to wake up a controller and/or a location module if the controller and/or the location module are in sleep mode; and

a First-In-First-Out (FIFO) memory configured to receive a FIFO control signal from the scheduler, receive the latest data from the filter/comparator array, receive the filtered MEMS sensor data from the filter/comparator array, receive the result of the comparison from the filter/comparator array, receive the signal to wake up the controller and/or the location module, if any, from the filter/comparator array, and output data to be stored and wake up the controller and/or the location module, if the signal indicates that the controller and/or the location module should be awakened or the FIFO memory is full, wherein the controller and/or the location module is awakened directly by the MEMS recorder or via the controller.

8. The MEMS recorder of claim 7, wherein the multiplexer is a multiplexer configured to receive MEMS sensor data from at least one MEMS sensor via a serial clock input/output and a serial data input/output, receive MEMS sensor data from another device, and receive an enable signal from the scheduler.

9. The MEMS recorder of claim 7, wherein the at least one MEMS sensor comprises an accelerometer, a digital compass, a gyroscope, an inertial module, a magnetic sensor, and a barometer.

10. The MEMS recorder of claim 7, wherein the filter/compare control signal indicates an amount of MEMS sensor data to average before comparing.

11. The MEMS recorder of claim 7, wherein comparator thresholds differ for different MEMS sensors or different axes of MEMS sensor data, and where the comparator thresholds may be used employed individually or as a vector.

12. The MEMS recorder of claim 7, wherein the location module is comprised of one of a wireless positioning device, a positioning device utilizing a radio receiver, a base station based positioning device utilizing cellular signals, a positioning device based on a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), wherein the wireless receiver comprises a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receiver, a Wireless Fidelity (WiFi) receiver, and a Bluetooth receiver, and wherein the wireless receiver may include a user-defined degree of sharing of functionality between hardware and software.

13. The MEMS recorder of claim 7, wherein the filter/comparator array comprises a number of array elements equal to a number of MEMS sensors providing MEMS sensor data, wherein each of the number of array elements includes:

a latest data module configured to store and output MEMS sensor data received that was most recently received;

a filter module is configured to filter MEMS sensor data in accordance with the filter/compare control signal;

a FIFO comparator configured to remove bias values from MEMS sensor data and compare MEMS sensor data most recently received to MEMS sensor data previously received to determine if the comparison result should be stored in the FIFO memory; and

an interrupt comparator configured to remove bias values from MEMS sensor data and compare MEMS sensor data most recently received to MEMS sensor data previously received to determine if an interrupt signal should be generated.

14. A method of recording Micro-Electromechanical System (MEMS) sensor data, comprising:

receiving, via a scheduler, a recording schedule, filter parameters, bias values, comparator thresholds, and a device identification for at least one MEMS sensor;

serializing, via a serializer, data received from the scheduler;

receiving, via a multiplexer, MEMS sensor data from at least one MEMS sensor, MEMS sensor data from another device, and an enable signal from the scheduler;

receiving, via a transmit/receive switch, MEMS sensor data from the multiplexer, serialized data from the serializer, and a signal from the scheduler indicating whether to receive or transmit;

generating, via a master clock generator, a master clock signal;

receiving, via a deserializer, a deserialize control signal from the scheduler, serialized MEMS sensor data from the transmit/receive switch, and deserializing the received serialized MEMS sensor data;

receiving, via a filter/comparator array, a filter/compare control signal from the scheduler, bias values from the scheduler, deserialized MEMS sensor data from the deserializer, and storing the received deserialized MEMS sensor data as latest data, receiving the device identification associated with the received deserialized MEMS sensor data, filtering the received deserialized MEMS sensor data according to the filter/compare control signal, removing the bias values from the corresponding MEMS sensor data, comparing the result of filtering to previous results of filtering to determine whether to generate a signal to wake up a controller and/or a location module if the controller and/or the location module is in sleep mode; and

receiving, via a First-In-First-Out (FIFO) memory, a FIFO control signal from the scheduler, the latest data from the filter/comparator array, the filtered MEMS sensor data from the filter/comparator array, the result of the comparison from the filter/comparator array, the signal to wake up the controller and/or the location module, if any, from the filter/comparator array, and outputting data to be stored and waking up the controller and/or the location module, if the signal indicates that the controller and/or the location module should be awakened or the FIFO memory is full, wherein the controller and/or the location module is awakened directly by the MEMS recorder or via the controller.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein receiving, via a multiplexer, MEMS sensor data from at least one MEMS sensor via a serial clock input/output and a serial data input/output, MEMS sensor data from another device, and an enable signal from the scheduler comprises receiving, via a multiplexer, MEMS sensor data from at least one MEMS sensor, MEMS sensor data from another device, and an enable signal from the scheduler.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the at least one MEMS sensor comprises an accelerometer, a digital compass, a gyroscope, an inertial module, a magnetic sensor, and a barometer.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein the filter/compare control signal indicates an amount of MEMS sensor data to average before comparing.

18. The method of claim 14, wherein comparator thresholds differ for different MEMS sensors or different axes of MEMS sensor data, and where the comparator thresholds may be used employed individually or as a vector.

19. The method of claim 14, wherein the location module is comprised of one of a wireless positioning device, a positioning device utilizing a radio receiver, a base station based positioning device utilizing cellular signals, a positioning device based on a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), wherein the wireless receiver comprises a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receiver, a Wireless Fidelity (WiFi) receiver, and a Bluetooth receiver, and wherein the wireless receiver may include a user-defined degree of sharing of functionality between hardware and software.

20. The MEMS recorder of claim 14, wherein the filter/comparator array comprises a number of array elements equal to a number of MEMS sensors providing MEMS sensor data, wherein each of the number of array elements includes:

a latest data module configured to store and output MEMS sensor data received that was most recently received;

a filter module is configured to filter MEMS sensor data in accordance with the filter/compare control signal;

a FIFO comparator configured to remove bias values from MEMS sensor data and compare MEMS sensor data most recently received to MEMS sensor data previously received to determine if the comparison result should be stored in the FIFO memory; and

an interrupt comparator configured to remove bias values from MEMS sensor data and compare MEMS sensor data most recently received to MEMS sensor data previously received to determine if an interrupt signal should be generated.