This application is related to application Ser. Nos. 12/344,519 and 12/508,611.
1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to a sensing and communicating device, specifically to a miniature device for determining location and survivability of a person under a disaster situation.
2. Description of Prior Art
A person may encounter many different dangerous situations during his or her life. For example, a person may be trapped under a mound of debris created by a fallen building during an earthquake or a terrorist attack. A rescue team is sent to fallen building to search for survivors. It is important for the rescue team to identify the location and status of the trapped person to save the person's life effectively. Although a mobile phone is becoming a popular handheld device, it may not be an effective communication device under a disaster situation. For example, the communication network may be destroyed during an earthquake. Further, a rescue task may take more than 1-2 weeks for a disaster such as an earthquake. The battery of the mobile phone may run out of power in a couple of days for most of devices.
Therefore, it is desirable to have a device carried by a person, which can be used in an emergency situation to communicate with an external rescue station operated by a rescue team. The device should be tiny in its form factor and therefore it can be embedded in the person's clothes or accessories without notification of the person in a normal daily life. The device should also be operated under an extremely low power consumption mode and therefore it is not necessary to replace its power supply or the device itself during a reasonable long operation lifetime of the device.
According to one embodiment of the present invention, the life-saving device is an electronic device in a standalone form. The device comprises a sensory unit, a processor, a data storage unit, a communication unit and a power supply system. According to one aspect of the present invention, the sensory unit may comprise an accelerometer and/or a gyroscope. According to another aspect of the present invention, the sensory unit may comprise an infrared sensor and/or a temperature sensor. In a sustaining mode, the device is operated under an extremely low power mode with the communication unit as a receiver only. All other functional blocks which are not required for the operation are switched off. In an emergency situation, a rescue station sends an authorized signal to the device to trigger the operation of sensory unit and other functional blocks. The sensory unit collects the data and the device transmits a data file including data collected from the sensory unit to the rescue station through an ad hoc communication network. The data file may also include location of the person determined from a GPS (Global Positioning System) and the identity of the person pre-stored in the data storage unit. The rescue team determines the survivability status and the location of the person based upon the received data.
According to another embodiment, the device is attachable to a handheld electronic device such as for example, a mobile phone. The power supply system may be a battery which is re-chargeable by a power supply of the mobile phone.
For a more complete understanding of the present invention and its various embodiments, and the advantages thereof, reference is now made to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
The present invention will now be described in detail with references to a few preferred embodiments thereof as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art, that the present invention may be practiced without some or all of these specific details. In other instances, well known process steps have not been described in detail in order not to unnecessarily obscure the present invention.
A processor 104 is employed to control operations of the device. The processor 104 may be a low power microprocessor or controller. A file storage unit 105 is employed for storing data. The person's identity may be pre-stored in the storage unit.
A sensory unit 106 is used to determine the survivability of a person in an emergency situation such as when the person is trapped in a mound of debris of a fallen building. According to one aspect of the present invention, the sensory unit 106 may comprise an accelerometer and/or a gyroscope. The accelerometer and/or the gyroscope can detect motion of the device induced by the carrying person. In an exemplary case, the device is embedded in a sleeve of a garment of the person. When the person moves his or her arm, the accelerometer and/or the gyroscope detects a signal. The signal indicates the person is still alive. The sensory unit 106 may also comprise an infrared and/or a temperature sensor for detecting a body temperature of the person. The survivability of the person may be determined by analyzing the data collected from the sensory unit.
The device 100 may further comprise a location identification unit 108 providing a means for determining the location of the person in emergency situation. The unit 108 may be a GPS (Global Positioning System). The location of the person may also be determined by a zonal method based upon an ad hoc network formed by multiple device including ZigBee transceivers. A power supply unit 110 is used to power the operation of the device. The power supply unit may include a battery. The power supply unit may further include a power management unit. When the device 100 is operated in a sustaining mode, the communication unit 102 is operated as a receiver to save the power consumption. After receiving an authorized signal from the external station, the processor 104 switches on all functional blocks of the device 100 for collecting survivability data and for transmitting the collected data to the external station. The transmitted data may also include other information such as the person's location collected from the location identification unit 108 and the person's identity pre-stored in the storage unit 105. The power supply unit 110 may also include a kinetic-to-electrical-energy converter for converting the kinetic energy generated from the person's motion to the electrical energy.
According to one embodiment of the present invention, the device is contained in a single case and is operated in a standalone manner. The device may be embedded in the person's clothes or accessories including shoes, hat, belt, rings, ear-rings, necklace and eyeglass.
According to another embodiment, the device 100 may be operated in collaboration with another handheld electronic device. An interface unit 112 is required to connect the device 100 to the handheld electronic device.
The device 100 may include optionally an alert unit 114. The unit may comprise a buzz and vibration generator. After the authorized signal from the external rescue station is received by the communication unit 102, the processor 104 controls an operation to deliver a buzz and/or a vibration signal to alter the person. The person being alerted may generate a motion intentionally to send a signal about his or her survival status to the rescue station.
An exemplary illustration of the life-saving device 100 is shown in
The device 300 further includes a transceiver 306 that is taken as a ZigBee transceiver as an exemplary case as shown in the figure. ZigBee is targeted at radio frequency (RF) applications that require a low data rate, long battery life, and secure networking.
The sensory unit of the exemplary device 300 further comprises an accelerometer and/or a gyroscope 308 and an infrared sensor and/or a temperature sensor 310. Silicon based accelerometers and/or gyroscopes have been used in many mobile devices to enhance its functionality such as in iPhone from Apple Inc. The cost of the accelerometer and/or gyroscope has been in decreasing path in recent years. The infrared sensor and the temperature sensor 310 may be employed to detect body temperature of a human body nearby or in touch with the sensors and to determine the survival status of the person. It should be noted that the accelerometer/gyroscope and/or the infrared/temperature sensors may used independently or in collaboration to determine the survivability status of the person in the emergency situation.
The life-saving device 300 may also include a GPS unit 312 as an option to determine the location of the person. Alternatively, the location can be determined by a zonal method for an ad hoc network formed by the multiple ZigBee devices.
According to one implementation of the present invention, the power supply system of the exemplary life-saving device 300 is a battery 314. The battery may be re-chargeable. The power supply of the device 300 is managed by the power management unit 316.
The device 300 may include a data bus 318 for exchanging data among different functional blocks of the device.
The device 300 may further include a buzz and/or vibration unit 319 as an option. After the ZigBee transceiver receives the authorized signal from the external rescue station, a buzz and/or vibration signal is delivered to the person. The person, being alerted, may generate intentionally a motion to deliver a signal to the rescue station about his or her survival status through the accelerometer and/or gyroscope.
According to another implementation of the present invention as illustrated in
After the authorized signal is received by the ZigBee transceiver 306, all function blocks including file storage unit 304, the accelerometer/gyroscope 308, the infrared sensor/temperature sensor 310 and the GPS unit 312 are switched on. The GPS unit 312 is not required if the location of the person is determined by the zonal method. The authorized signal may be sent from a mobile rescue station comprising a communication device conforming also to the ZigBee standard. The permission of delivery of the authorized signal may only be granted by a government agency. It can only be used, for example, in emergency situations such as in a nature disaster or under a terrorist attack. It may be a software key to unlock the life-saving device to operate as the emergency communication and data collection device.
After receiving the authorized signal, the processor 302 sends a command to switch on all other functional blocks of the device. The accelerometer/gyroscope 308 receives a signal if the person induces a motion of the device. The infrared sensor 310 receives radiation from the person and generates a corresponding signal indicating the survivability status of the person. The temperature sensor if used may collect the person's body temperature when the sensor and the body are in contact in at least some implementations of the present invention. The collected signals are then transmitted back to the mobile rescue station for analyzing the status of the person. In the same time, the person's identity and/or other personal data may also be read out from the file storage unit and be sent to the rescue station.
The interaction between the mobile rescue station 602 and the life-saving device 604 is further illustrated in
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
6314308 | Sheynblat et al. | Nov 2001 | B1 |
6668179 | Jiang | Dec 2003 | B2 |
6786866 | Odagiri et al. | Sep 2004 | B2 |
7058409 | Hanninen et al. | Jun 2006 | B2 |
7251470 | Faucher et al. | Jul 2007 | B2 |
7905832 | Lau et al. | Mar 2011 | B1 |
20030129977 | Dolwin | Jul 2003 | A1 |
20040224659 | Cheng | Nov 2004 | A1 |
20040263338 | Katz | Dec 2004 | A1 |
20040266349 | Wang | Dec 2004 | A1 |
20050037730 | Montague | Feb 2005 | A1 |
20060247560 | Halperin et al. | Nov 2006 | A1 |
20060253894 | Bookman et al. | Nov 2006 | A1 |
20060273916 | Ortelle | Dec 2006 | A1 |
20070004379 | Stanners | Jan 2007 | A1 |
20070270164 | Maier et al. | Nov 2007 | A1 |
20070276270 | Tran | Nov 2007 | A1 |
20080125288 | Case | May 2008 | A1 |
20080312565 | Celik-Butler et al. | Dec 2008 | A1 |
20090118595 | Greiner et al. | May 2009 | A1 |
20090174547 | Greene et al. | Jul 2009 | A1 |
20090224890 | Kim | Sep 2009 | A1 |
20100274100 | Behar et al. | Oct 2010 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
20110128147 A1 | Jun 2011 | US |