GPS power conservation using environmental data

• US 10,209,365 B2
• Filed: 02/17/2017
• Issued: 02/19/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 06/22/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Fitbit, Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Fitbit, Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Venkatraman, Subramaniam, Panther, Heiko Gernot Albert, Yuen, Shelten Gee Jao
• Primary Examiner(s): Le, Toan
• Application Number:
  US15/436,440
• Publication Number:
  US 20170160398A1
• Time in Patent Office: 732 Days
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2560/0209 adapted for power saving
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2560/0242 adapted to measure environmental factors, e.g. temperature, pollution
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2562/0219 Inertial sensors, e.g. accelerometers, gyroscopes, tilt switches
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2562/0223 Magnetic field sensors
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0002 Remote monitoring of patients using telemetry, e.g. transmission of vital signals via a communication network A61B5/07 takes precedence; transmission systems for measured values G08C; transmission H04B; transmission of digital information H04L; wireless communication networks H04W
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0059 using light, e.g. diagnosis by transillumination, diascopy, fluorescence A61B5/0093, A61B5/1455, A61B5/02416 and A61B5/0261 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0205 Simultaneously evaluating both cardiovascular conditions and different types of body conditions, e.g. heart and respiratory condition
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/02416 using photoplethysmograph signals, e.g. generated by infrared radiation A61B5/14552 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/02427 Details of sensor
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/02433 for infrared radiation
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/02438 with portable devices, e.g. worn by the patient
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0533 Measuring galvanic skin response
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0537 Measuring body composition by impedance, e.g. tissue hydration or fat content
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1112 Global tracking of patients, e.g. by using GPS
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1118 Determining activity level
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/112 Gait analysis
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1123 Discriminating type of movement, e.g. walking or running A61B5/1116, A61B5/112 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/318 Heart-related electrical modalities, e.g. electrocardiography [ECG]
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/389 Electromyography [EMG]
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/4812 Detecting sleep stages or cycles
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/681 : Wristwatch-type devices
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 5/00 : Measuring height; Measuring distances transverse to line of sight; Levelling between separated points; Surveyors' levels G01C3/20, G01C3/30 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01P 13/00 : Indicating or recording presence, absence, or direction, of movement electric switches H01H; counting moving objects G06M7/00
• CPC Class Codes: G01P 15/00 : Measuring acceleration; Measuring deceleration; Measuring shock, i.e. sudden change of acceleration
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/19 : Sporting applications
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/34 : Power consumption
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/012 : Identifying whether indoors or outdoors
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/017 : Detecting state or type of motion
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/385 : Transceivers carried on the body, e.g. in helmets
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 : specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/027 : using movement velocity, acceleration information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 : Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 : in wireless communication networks

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.

Claims

1. A biometric monitoring device configured to be worn on a person, the device comprising:

a global positioning system (GPS) receiver;

a motion sensor;

a biometric sensor configured to generate body characteristic data; and

a controller, communicatively coupled to the GPS receiver and the biometric sensor, including at least one processor and a non-transitory computer readable medium, the non-transitory computer readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon which, when executed, cause the at least one processor to;

determine a motion state of the device based on motion data received from the motion sensor, and

set a frequency with which the GPS receiver obtains positional fixes based on the motion state and the body characteristic data,

wherein the frequency of obtaining positional fixes comprises a time interval between which the GPS receiver obtains positional fixes of the device, the controller being configured to set the frequency at one of a first level and a second level, and

wherein the second level has a lower frequency with which the GPS receiver obtains the positional fixes than the first level, the second level indicative of a greater time interval between positional fixes than the first level.

2. The device of claim 1, wherein the computer-executable instructions, when executed, further cause the at least one processor to:

determine that the body characteristic data is indicative of the device being worn by the person,

wherein setting the frequency with which the GPS receiver obtains positional fixes is further based on the determination that the device is being worn by the person.

3. The device of claim 2, wherein the computer-executable instructions, when executed, further cause the at least one processor to:

determine that the motion state of the device is indicative of the device being in motion; and

in response to determining that the body characteristic data is indicative of the device being worn by the person and determining that the motion state of the device is indicative of the device being in motion, set the frequency with which the GPS receiver obtains positional fixes to the first level.

4. The device of claim 2, wherein the computer-executable instructions, when executed, further cause the at least one processor to:

determine that the body characteristic data is substantially non-constant; and

determine that the body characteristic data is indicative of the device being worn by the person in response to determining that the body characteristic data is substantially non-constant.

5. The device of claim 2, wherein the computer-executable instructions, when executed, further cause the at least one processor to:

determine that the body characteristic data is indicative of the device not being worn by the person; and

in response to determining that the body characteristic data is indicative of the device not being worn by the person, i) refrain from using the determined motion state in setting the frequency with which the GPS receiver obtains positional fixes and ii) set the frequency with which the GPS receiver obtains positional fixes to the second level.

6. The device of claim 5, wherein the computer-executable instructions, when executed, further cause the at least one processor to:

determine that the body characteristic data is substantially constant, and

determine that the body characteristic data is indicative of the device not being worn by the person in response to determining that the body characteristic data is substantially constant.

7. The device of claim 1, wherein the computer-executable instructions, when executed, further cause the at least one processor to:

determine a first numerical value indicative of the motion state;

determine a second numerical value indicative of whether the device is worn by the person;

calculate a weighted sum of the first and second numerical values; and

compare the weighted sum to a threshold value,

wherein setting the frequency with which the GPS receiver obtains positional fixes is further based on the comparison of the weighted sum to the threshold value.

8. The device of claim 7, further comprising:

an ambient light sensor,

wherein the computer-executable instructions, when executed, further cause the at least one processor to;

determine a third numerical value based on data received from the ambient light sensor,

wherein calculating the weighted sum further comprises calculating a weighted sum of the first, second, and third numerical values.

9. The device of claim 8, wherein the computer-executable instructions, when executed, further cause the at least one processor to:

set the frequency with which the GPS receiver obtains positional fixes to the first level in response to the weighted sum being greater than or equal to the threshold value; and

set the frequency with which the GPS receiver obtains positional fixes to the second level in response to the weighted sum being less than the threshold value.

10. The device of claim 8, wherein the computer-executable instructions, when executed, further cause the at least one processor to:

normalize each of the first, second, and third numerical values.

11. The device of claim 8, wherein the computer-executable instructions, when executed, further cause the at least one processor to:

determine a confidence score associated with the third numerical value,

wherein setting the frequency with which the GPS receiver obtains positional fixes is further based on the confidence score.

12. The device of claim 1, wherein the first level supports the GPS receiver performing a warm start and does not support a hot start.

13. The device of claim 1, wherein the biometric sensor includes one or more sensors selected from:

a photoplethysmographic sensor, electrocardiographic sensor, electromyographics sensor, galvanic skin response sensor, body fat measurement sensor, and bioimpedance sensor.

14. A method for setting a frequency with which a global positioning system (GPS) receiver of a biometric monitoring device obtains positional fixes, the method comprising:

generating, via a motion sensor of the device, motion data;

determining, via a processor of the device, a motion state of the device based on motion data received from the motion sensor;

generating, via a biometric sensor of the device, body characteristic data;

setting, via the processor, a frequency with which the GPS receiver obtains positional fixes based on the motion state and the body characteristic data,

wherein the frequency of obtaining positional fixes comprises a time interval between which the GPS receiver obtains positional fixes of the device, the processor being configured to set the frequency at one of a first level and a second level, and

wherein the second level has a lower frequency with which the GPS receiver obtains the positional fixes than the first level, the second level indicating a greater time interval between positional fixes than the first level.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

determining that the body characteristic data is indicative of the device being worn by a person,

wherein setting the frequency with which the GPS receiver obtains positional fixes is further based on the determination that the device is worn by the person.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

determining that the motion state of the device is indicative of the device being in motion; and

in response to determining that the body characteristic data is indicative of the device being worn by the person and determining that the motion state of the device is indicative of the device being in motion, setting the frequency with which the GPS receiver obtains positional fixes to the first level.

17. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

determining that the body characteristic data is substantially non-constant; and

determining that the body characteristic data is indicative of the device being worn by the person in response to determining that the body characteristic data is substantially non-constant.

18. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

determining that the body characteristic data is indicative of the device not being worn by the person; and

in response to determining that the body characteristic data is indicative of the device not being worn by the person, i) refraining from using the determined motion state in setting the frequency with which the GPS receiver obtains positional fixes and ii) setting the frequency with which the GPS receiver obtains positional fixes to the second level.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

determining that the body characteristic data is substantially constant, and

determining that the body characteristic data is indicative of the device not being worn by the person in response to determining that the body characteristic data is substantially constant.

20. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

determining a first numerical value indicative of the motion state;

determining a second numerical value indicative of whether the device is being worn by a person;

calculating a weighted sum of the first and second numerical values; and

comparing the weighted sum to a threshold value,

wherein setting the frequency with which the GPS receiver obtains positional fixes is further based on the comparison of the weighted sum to the threshold value.

21. The method of claim 20, further comprising:

determining a third numerical value based on data received from an ambient light sensor of the device,

wherein calculating the weighted sum further comprises calculating a weighted sum of the first, second, and third numerical values.

22. The method of claim 21, further comprising:

setting the frequency with which the GPS receiver obtains positional fixes to the first level in response to the weighted sum being greater than or equal to the threshold value; and

setting the frequency with which the GPS receiver obtains positional fixes to the second level in response to the weighted sum being less than the threshold value.

23. The method of claim 21, further comprising:

normalizing each of the first, second, and third numerical values.

24. The method of claim 21, further comprising:

determining a confidence score associated with the third numerical value,

wherein setting the frequency with which the GPS receiver obtains positional fixes is further based on the confidence score.

25. The method of claim 14, wherein the first level supports the GPS receiver performing a warm start and does not support a hot start.

26. The method of claim 14, wherein the biometric sensor includes one or more sensors selected from:

a photoplethysmographic sensor, electrocardiographic sensor, electromyographics sensor, galvanic skin response sensor, body fat measurement sensor, and bioimpedance sensor.

27. 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, cause the device to at least:

generate, via a motion sensor of the device, motion data;

determine, via a processor of the device, a motion state of the device based on motion data received from the motion sensor;

generate, via a biometric sensor of the device, body characteristic data;

set, via the processor, a frequency with which a global positioning system (GPS) receiver of the device obtains positional fixes based on the motion state and the body characteristic data,

wherein the frequency of obtaining positional fixes comprises a time interval between which the GPS receiver obtains positional fixes of the device, the processor being configured to set the frequency at one of a first level and a second level, and

wherein the second level has a lower frequency with which the GPS receiver obtains the positional fixes than the first level, the second level indicating a greater time interval between positional fixes than the first level.

28. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 27, further having stored therein computer-executable instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the device to perform operations comprising:

determining that the body characteristic data is indicative of the device being worn by the person,

wherein setting the frequency with which the GPS receiver obtains positional fixes is further based on the determination that the device is worn by the person.

29. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 28, further having stored therein computer-executable instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the device to perform operations comprising:

determining that the motion state of the device is indicative of the device being in motion; and

in response to determining that the body characteristic data is indicative of the device being worn by the person and determining that the motion state of the device is indicative of the device being in motion, setting the frequency with which the GPS receiver obtains positional fixes to the first level.

30. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 28, further having stored therein computer-executable instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the device to perform operations comprising:

determining that the body characteristic data is substantially non-constant; and

determining that the body characteristic data is indicative of the device being worn by the person in response to determining that the body characteristic data is substantially non-constant.