Systems and methods for passive radio enabled power gating for a body mountable device

• US 9,967,001 B2
• Filed: 07/25/2016
• Issued: 05/08/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 07/25/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: DexCom Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Verily Life Sciences LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Biederman, William
• Primary Examiner(s): Chen, Junpeng
• Application Number:
  US15/218,587
• Publication Number:
  US 20180026678A1
• Time in Patent Office: 652 Days
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2560/0214 of power generation or supply
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/14532 for measuring glucose, e.g. by tissue impedance measurement
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6801 specially adapted to be attached to or worn on the body surface
• CPC Class Codes: G08C 17/04 using magnetically coupled devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 5/79 for data transfer in combination with power transfer
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0235 where the received signal is a power saving command
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

Systems and methods for passive radio enabled power gating for a body mountable device are disclosed. In one embodiment, a system for power gating includes: a power supply; a Near Field Communication (NFC) antenna to receive NFC signals; a Radio Frequency (RF) rectifier electrically coupled to the NFC antenna to generate a current based on a signal received from the NFC antenna; and an electronic switch coupled between the power supply and a sensor, wherein the RF rectifier is further coupled to the switch to apply the current to the switch to change a state of the switch.

Claims

1. A system for power gating for a wearable glucose sensor comprising:

a power supply;

a Near Field Communication (NFC) antenna to receive NFC signals;

a Radio Frequency (RF) rectifier electrically coupled to the NFC antenna to generate a current based on a first signal received from the NFC antenna;

a sensor terminal adapted to electrically couple to a sensor;

a memory coupled to the sensor and configured to store data received from the sensor;

an electronic switch coupled between the power supply and the sensor terminal to control electrical connection between the power supply in the sensor terminal, wherein the RF rectifier is further coupled to the electronic switch to apply the current to the electronic switch to change a state of the electronic switch; and

a network interface coupled to the memory, the network interface activated by a second NFC signal and transmit data stored in the memory to a remote device.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the electronic switch comprises one or more of:

a transistor, a relay, or an electronically controlled switch.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the power supply comprises a battery.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the electronic switch is further coupled between the power supply and a processor.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the processor is coupled to the sensor to receive sensor data from the sensor when the electronic switch is closed, and to the memory to store the sensor data in the memory.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the processor is coupled to the NFC antenna to transmit data using the NFC antenna.

7. The system of claim 5, further comprising a second antenna and wherein the processor is coupled to the second antenna to transmit data using the second antenna, and wherein the second antenna is configured to transmit data using a different protocol than the NFC antenna.

8. The system of claim 4, wherein the sensor comprises a glucose sensor.

9. The system of claim 1, further comprising a processor coupled to:

the electronic switch to receive a second current from the power supply when the electronic switch is closed,

the sensor to receive one or more sensor signals from the sensor, and

the NFC antenna to transmit stored data using the NFC antenna.

10. A method for power gating comprising:

receiving a Near Field Communication (NFC) signal using a NFC antenna;

converting the NFC signal to a current;

applying the current to an electronic switch positioned to interrupt current flow between a power supply and a load, the electronic switch opened or closed by the current;

activating a sensor to measure blood glucose and transmit sensor data associated with blood glucose;

storing the sensor data in a memory;

activating a network interface based in part on a second NFC signal; and

transmitting stored sensor data to a remote device using the network interface.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the electronic switch comprises one or more of:

a transistor, a relay, or an electronically controlled switch.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the power supply comprises a battery.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the load comprises a processor and a sensor.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising, when the electronic switch is closed:

receiving, from the sensor, signals comprising sensor data; and

storing the sensor data in a memory.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the sensor comprises a glucose sensor.

16. The method of claim 14, further comprising transmitting data associated with the sensor data to a remote device.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the data is transmitted using the NFC antenna.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein the data is transmitted using a second antenna, and wherein the second antenna is configured to transmit data using a different protocol than the NFC antenna.

19. The method of claim 10, further comprising transmitting stored data using the NFC antenna.

20. A wearable glucose sensor comprising:

a power supply;

a Near Field Communication (NFC) antenna for receiving NFC signals;

a Radio Frequency (RF) rectifier electrically coupled to the NFC antenna to generate a current based on a first signal received from the NFC antenna;

a blood glucose sensor;

a processor coupled to the blood glucose sensor, the processor to;

store sensor data received from the blood glucose sensor;

upon receipt of a second signal received from the NFC antenna, transmit the sensor data to a remote device using a network interface; and

an electronic switch coupled between the power supply and the processor, wherein the RF rectifier is further coupled to the electronic switch to apply the current to the electronic switch to provide power from the power supply to the processor.

21. The wearable glucose sensor of claim 20, wherein the electronic switch comprises one or more of:

a transistor, a relay, or an electronically controlled switch.

22. The wearable glucose sensor of claim 20, wherein the remote device comprises one or more of:

a smartphone, a tablet, or a laptop computer.