1. Field
The disclosure relates to a method, apparatus and system to provide power optimized Internet-of-Things (IoT) communication. Specifically, the disclosure relates to a method, apparatus and system to provide an integrated HUB for receiving information from wearable IoT devices.
2. Description of Related Art
IoT is the interconnection of uniquely identifiable radio-enabled computing devices within the existing Internet infrastructure. IoT offers advanced connectivity of devices, systems and services that extends beyond machine-to-machine (M2M) communications and covers a variety of protocols, domains and applications. The interconnection of these embedded devices is expected to exponentially expedite automation in nearly all fields while also advancing applications like the so-called Smart Grid. Things, in the IoT, include a variety of devices such as heart monitoring devices, biochip transponders, automobiles sensors or field operation devices. By way of example such sensors may be arranged to assist fire-fighters in search and rescue. Current market examples also include smart thermostat systems, heart rate monitor and wrist watches that monitor movement and sleep patterns. The industry is seeing the proliferation of wearable IoT devices in order to enable new classes of user experiences that include seamless and continuous interaction.
Many of the IoT devices are carried on the users or are embedded in devices where they are always on and connected to the cloud. The cloud continually aggregates data from these devices, processes the data and fuse related data from different devices to arrive at suitable conclusions. At the same time many of these wearable devices have a low-battery capacity and the continual cloud communication is detrimental to their battery life.
These and other embodiments of the disclosure will be discussed with reference to the following exemplary and non-limiting illustrations, in which like elements are numbered similarly, and where:
Certain embodiments may be used in conjunction with various devices and systems, for example, a mobile phone, a smartphone, a laptop computer, a sensor device, a Bluetooth (BT) device, an Ultrabook™, a notebook computer, a tablet computer, a handheld-device, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) device, a handheld PDA device, an on board device, an off-board device, a hybrid device, a vehicular device, a non-vehicular device, a mobile or portable device, a consumer device, a non-mobile or non-portable device, a wireless communication station, a wireless communication device, a wireless Access Point (AP), a wired or wireless router, a wired or wireless modem, a video device, an audio device, an audio-video (AV) device, a wired or wireless network, a wireless area network, a Wireless Video Area Network (WVAN), a Local Area Network (LAN), a Wireless LAN (WLAN), a Personal Area Network (PAN), a Wireless PAN (WPAN), and the like.
Some embodiments may be used in conjunction with devices and/or networks operating in accordance with existing Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) standards (IEEE 802.11-2012, IEEE Standard for Information technology—Telecommunications and information exchange between systems Local and metropolitan area networks—Specific requirements Part 11: Wireless LAN Medium Access Control (MAC) and Physical Layer (PHY) Specifications, Mar. 29, 2012; IEEE 802.11 task group ac (TGac) (“IEEE 802.11-09/03G8r12—TGac Channel Model Addendum Document”); IEEE 802.11 task group ad (TGad) (IEEE 802.11ad-2012, IEEE Standard for Information Technology and brought to market under the WiGig brand—Telecommunications and Information Exchange Between Systems—Local, and Metropolitan Area Networks—Specific Requirements—Part 11: Wireless LAN Medium Access Control (MAC) and Physical Layer (PHY) Specifications—Amendment 3: Enhancements for Very High Throughput in the 60 GHz Band, 28 Dec. 2012)) and/or future versions and/or derivatives thereof, devices and/or networks operating in accordance with existing Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) Alliance (WFA) Peer-to-Peer (P2P) specifications (Wi-Fi P2P technical specification, version 1.2, 2012) and/or future versions and/or derivatives thereof, devices and/or networks operating in accordance with existing cellular specifications and/or protocols, e.g., 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE), and/or future versions and/or derivatives thereof, devices and/or networks operating in accordance with existing Wireless HDTM specifications and/or future versions and/or derivatives thereof, units and/or devices which are part of the above networks, and the like.
Some embodiments may be implemented in conjunction with the BT and/or Bluetooth, low energy (BLE) standard. As briefly discussed, BT and BLE are wireless technology standard for exchanging data over short distances using short-wavelength UHF radio waves in the industrial, scientific and medical (ISM) radio bands (i.e., bands from 2400-2483.5 MHz). BT connects fixed and mobile devices by building personal area networks (PANs). Bluetooth uses frequency-hopping spread spectrum. The transmitted data are divided into packets and each packet is transmitted on one of the 79 designated BT channels. Each channel has a bandwidth of 1 MHz. A recently developed BT implementation, Bluetooth 4.0, uses 2 MHz spacing which allows for 40 channels.
Some embodiments may be used in conjunction with one way and/or two-way radio communication systems, a BT device, a BLE device, cellular radio-telephone communication systems, a mobile phone, a cellular telephone, a wireless telephone, a Personal Communication Systems (PCS) device, a PDA device which incorporates a wireless communication device, a mobile or portable Global Positioning System (GPS) device, a device which incorporates a GPS receiver or transceiver or chip, a device which incorporates an RFID element or chip, a Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) transceiver or device, a Single Input Multiple Output (SIMO) transceiver or device, a Multiple Input Single Output (MISO) transceiver or device, a device having one or more internal, antennas and/or external antennas, Digital Video Broadcast (DVB) devices or systems, multi-standard radio devices or systems, a wired or wireless handheld device, e.g., a Smartphone, a Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) device, or the like. Some demonstrative embodiments may be used in conjunction with a WLAN. Other embodiments may be used in conjunction with any other suitable wireless communication network, for example, a wireless area network, a “piconet” a WPAN, a WVAN and the like.
Smartphone owners carry their smartphones on them nearly all the time. Since the smartphone is almost always connected to the cloud through cellular/WiFi connectivity, it may be a good conduit for the IoT devices to access the cloud. The smartphone also provides a convenient HUB for sensors, appliances, wearables and can perform the first level of analyzing and fusing data from different sources to enhance user experience. The data rates involved in communicating with the IoT devices is very low and bursty (e.g., heart rate monitor, fitness, activity, notifications, etc.). The link between the wearables/IoT and the phone is a short range since the devices are on the body of the smartphone user. A short range may be in a range of about 0-2 feet, 0-4 feet or 0-6 feet. A typical link devices may be a low rate protocol such as BLE. In one embodiment, the disclosure relates to a mechanism to efficiently offload the BLE communication with the IoT devices to reduce power dissipation and increase battery life while still providing access to the cloud and the computational capabilities of the smartphone.
Smartphone 110 communicates with Gateway 120. Gateway 120 may comprise a router, a modem, a base station or any other device configured for wireless communication. Gateway 120 communicates with network and cloud infrastructure 130. Network infrastructure 124 includes hardware and software resources that enable network connectivity, communication, operations and management of the entire network. Network infrastructure 124 also provides communication paths between users, processes and external networks. Cloud 126 represents data center infrastructure having different servers and databases.
In a conventional application, data from heart rate monitor 104 is communicated to designated servers (not shown) in cloud 126 for processing. Additional Information from smartwatch 102, wearable bio-patch 106 and smartphone 110 may also be routed to cloud 126. The gathered information may then be combined (interchangeably, fused) and analyzed to reach certain conclusions or make educated observations. For example, the data from heart rate monitor 104 can show an increased heart rate. Data from wearable body patch may show increase in the user's pulse rate while data, from the smartphone may show rapid acceleration. The data can be fused together at cloud 126 to reach a conclusion that the user may be at a fast moving vehicle. The conclusion can then be forwarded to the user or other entities if desired. The conventional methods are deficient in that the fusion and analysis step may take place on a cloud server. In addition, significant uplink power is consumed to communicate different sensor data from smartphone 110 to gateway 120. Finally, data communication between devices 102, 104 and 106 may interfere with the smartphone's other communication priorities (e.g., LTE, Wi-Fi and Cellular).
In one embodiment of the disclosure, data fusion and analysis occurs on an independent logic at smartphone 110 without awakening the platform (host) processor or communication modules.
The sensors shown in
Data from sensors 202 may be asynchronous. System 200 receives information from external sensors at receiver 205. Receiver 205 may define a conventional frontend receiver including universal asynchronous receiver/transmitter (UART) for translating data between parallel and serial forms. Receiver 205 may also include inter-integrated bus (I2C) for attaching low-speed peripherals to system 200, general purpose input/output (GPIO) as additional chip connectors and serial peripheral interface (SPI).
Sensor information is then communicated from receiver 205 to Open Core Protocol (OCP) 206. Open Core Protocol is a specification for various interconnects and fabrics on a system-on-chip (SOC). The OCP is an interconnect protocol that allows the different IP blocks to interact on a system-on-chip (OCP). OCP 206 may not be logically part of the core but can be physically implemented elsewhere. OCP 206 communicates with ISH DFX 2089, SRAM 210, Core 212 and HUB 213. ISH DFX handle any design for testing and manufacturing.
Static Random-Access Memory (SRAM) 210 may comprise one or more memory bi-stable latching circuitry to store bits of data. SRAM is shown as an exemplary embodiment and it may include any on-die memory or other memory circuitry. Core 212 may comprise a processor circuitry. For example, core 212 may comprise multi-core processor architecture or miniature processor architecture.
HUB 213 may be one or more processors combining to form the wearable IoT HUB. The one or more processors may comprise hardware, software logic or a combination thereof. BLE BB stack part of HUB 213 represents the implementation of the different layers of the BLE protocol. The implementation may be in hardware, software or a hybrid of hardware and software. The BLE BB stack determines priority of access to the medium and determines when what modes and services will be supported. The BLE BB stack also conditions data before it is passed to the physical layer for transmission/reception over the air.
In one embodiment, HUB 213 receives information from various sensors/IoT 202 and fuse the information based on given or known attributes to arrive at a meaningful conclusion. The information received from IoT or sensors 202 may comprise information relating to the user's movement or environment. For example, the information may include data relating to the user's walking pace or speed, acceleration or ambient lighting about the user. The information may be received from several different sources. For example, a wristwatch may provide ambient lighting information, a pedometer may provide movement information and the smartphone may provide acceleration information. By fusing this information, data analysis may be done to reach meaningful conclusions.
In an exemplary embodiment, data from the accelerometer, gyroscope, GNSS and strength of received wireless signals may be combined to determine a user's location (indoors or outdoors) with a high degree of precision and without consuming too much power. In another embodiment, data from pedometer, accelerometer and heart rate sensor may be combined to determine calories burnt.
Fused data may be analyzed based on a number of predefined criteria. Analysis may result in conclusions that require awakening the main CPU or connectivity mode. For example, fused data may contain data from several sources that form the basis of activity mapping. Communication or further analysis of this information may require additional computing or communication power. In such cases, HUB 213 may awaken the smartphone's connectivity module 216 or processor (not shown). Once the main connectivity module 216 is awakened, information may be transmitted to an external network or the cloud (e.g., cloud 130,
In one embodiment of the disclosure, dedicated radio 314 may be integrated with HUB 312, core 312 and MEM 310 on a system-on-chip (SoC). The intermittent and sporadic workload and traffic of the IoT devices and applications may be handled by a short range, low data rate, power and duty-cycle optimized radio without waking up the connectivity chip and application processor on the main platform. Specifically, Offload engine 300 may be configured on a lower power processor configured for efficient power consumption. Offload engine 300 can post-process the sensor data for data fusion and analysis.
As shown in
As stated, Offload engine 300 interfaces with main connectivity radio 350 for light traffic and workload applications. Representatives examples of these applications include wireless service discovery and proximity sensing (see sensors 202,
In
In one embodiment, power savings for the optimized radio mode (314,
Second, the PHY and MAC layers (427, 428 at
Third, the RFIC (e.g., BLE 214,
In another embodiment of the disclosure, the dedicated low-power BLE radio-mode or the standalone radio will have relaxed specification because it supports short-distances and does not need to simultaneously coexist with other communication modes such as Wi-Fi or cellular. In an exemplary embodiment, the Wi-Fi and the BLE radios not need operate at the same instant in time. In one implementation the idle timeslots are used. In another embodiment, low power transmission is used for short communication distances. The low power transmission creates less opportunity for interaction between the radios. The disclosed embodiment does not use EDR and may be slotted to operate such that it does not interfere with platform simultaneous operation. As an estimate, the power dissipation of the optimized BT/BLE radio can be about 5-10 mW in active mode and in the nW-μW range in the sleep or standby mode. With aggressive duty cycling and fast on/off features the average power dissipation may be further reduced (e.g., to 5 μW assuming 0.1% duty cycling and the above estimates for active and standby power.
Integrated sensor HUB 530 may include, among others, a sensor HUB and an optional dedicated BLE radio as shown with respect to
In one implementation, HUB 530 receives data from a plurality of wearable IoTs. The data may concern movement, acceleration, temperature, barometric pressure and other sensor data. HUB 530 may apply instructions 542 stored in memory 540 to analyze the data. HUB 530 may also fuse data from different wearable IoTs.
HUB 530 may compile, analyze and fuse wearable IoT data while keeping platform radio 520 and platform processor 550 in sleep mode. In another example, HUB 530 awakens platform processor 550 when additional processing capabilities are needed or when certain triggering event are sensed. A triggering event may be any event programmed into memory 540 that requires further action by the platform processor. For example, a triggering event may be if the wearable sensor on the user's body indicate elevated heart rate combined wither alone or in combination with other events (e.g., increased body temperature.) Once platform processor 550 is awakened, additional steps may be taken, for example, by reporting the exigent conditions through platform radio 520.
The process of
At step 660, an additional determination is made weather to awaken the host. If additional information from steps 630 to 650 warrant awakening the host computer, then the host is awakened, and data is directed thereto as shown in step 670. Otherwise, the flow diagram reverts back to step 610 and continues to gather wearable IoT data. While not shown additional steps may be included whereby the HUB actively interrogates the wearable sensors for additional information.
The following non-limiting examples illustrate different embodiments of the disclosure. Example 1 relates to an apparatus to communicate with a plurality of wearable sensors, comprising: a communication logic to communicate with one or more wearable sensors and with a connectivity mode of a host platform; and a first logic to combine incoming data from the one or more wearable sensors, the first logic configured to fuse incoming data from the one or more wearable sensors and to determine whether to awaken the host platform.
Example 2 relates to the apparatus of example 1, further comprising a second logic to communicate incoming data with the host platform.
Example 3 relates to the apparatus of example 2, wherein the first logic is further configured to schedule communication with the plurality of wearable sensors when a main connectivity radio of the host platform is inactive.
Example 4 relates to the apparatus of example 2, wherein the communication logic defines a low data rate, low-power, short-range wireless communication.
Example 5 relates to the apparatus of example 2, wherein the first logic is further configured to execute at least one of transport, session, presentation and application layers of a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) baseband protocol.
Example 6 relates to the apparatus of example 1, wherein the first logic maintains exclusive communication with the one or more wearable sensors.
Example 7 relates to the apparatus of example 1, wherein at least one of the communication logic or the first logic is integrated with the host platform.
Example 8 relates to the apparatus of example 1, wherein the first logic is further configured to form a data profile by fusing incoming data from the one or more wearable sensors.
Example 9 relates to the apparatus of claim 3, wherein the first logic is further configured to coordinate at least one of transmission or reception of data from the one or more wearable sensors with the host platform to reduce interference.
Example 10 relates to a system comprising: one or more antennas; a platform radio to communicate with the one or more antennas; a platform processor to communicate with the platform radio; and a first logic to combine incoming data from one or more wearable sensors, the first logic configured to fuse incoming data from the one or more wearable sensors and to determine whether to awaken the host platform.
Example 11 relates to the system of example 10, former comprising a second logic to communicate incoming data with the host platform.
Example 12 relates to the system of example 11, wherein the first logic is further configured to schedule communication with the plurality of wearable sensors when a main connectivity radio of the host platform is inactive.
Example 13 relates to the system of example 11, wherein the communication logic defines a low data rate, low-power, short-range wireless communication.
Example 14 relates to the system of example 11, wherein the first logic is further configured to execute at least one of transport, session, presentation and application layers of a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) baseband protocol.
Example 15 relates to the system of example 10, wherein the first logic maintains exclusive communication with the one or more wearable sensors.
Example 16 relates to the system of example 10, wherein at least one of the communication logic or the first logic is integrated with the host platform.
Example 17 relates to the system of example 10, wherein the first logic is further configured to form a data profile by fusing incoming data from the one or more wearable sensors.
Example 18 relates to a tangible machine-readable non-transitory storage medium that contains instructions, which when executed by one or more processors result in performing operations comprising: evaluating at a first logic information from one or more wearable sensors to determine whether to awaken the host computer; receiving incoming data from one or more wearable sensors; combining the incoming data from the one or more wearable sensors to form fused data; analyzing the fused data to form a data profile; and determine whether to awaken the platform processor as a function of the data profile.
Example 19 relates to the tangible machine-readable non-transitory storage medium of example 18, further comprising a second logic to communicate incoming data with the host platform.
Example 20 relates to the tangible machine-readable non-transitory storage medium of example 18, wherein the first logic is further configured to schedule communication with the plurality of wearable sensors when a main connectivity radio of the host platform is in sleep mode.
Example 21 relates to the tangible machine-readable non-transitory storage medium of example 20, wherein the communication logic defines a low data rate, low-power, short-range wireless communication.
Example 22 relates to the tangible machine-readable non-transitory storage medium of example 20, wherein the first logic is further configured to execute at least one of transport, session, presentation and application, layers of a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) baseband protocol.
Example 23 relates to the tangible machine-readable non-transitory storage medium of example 20, wherein the first logic maintains exclusive communication with the one or more wearable sensors.
While the principles of the disclosure have been illustrated in relation to the exemplary embodiments shown herein, the principles of the disclosure are not limited thereto and include any modification, variation or permutation thereof.