Wireless body area network system with low power consumption, connection maintenance and rate self-adaption

Abstract

The invention discloses a wireless body area network system with low power consumption, connection keeping and rate self-adaption, a body area network gateway unit is connected with a plurality of body area network wireless module units, a body area network gateway device is integrated with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and ZigBee chips, the IP of Bluetooth and ZigBee data interfaces is realized based on an SLIP protocol, and the body area network gateway unit is connected with the plurality of body area network wireless module units. Therefore, an IP network with multiple communication technology systems fused can be realized. The body area network wireless module comprises a Wi-Fi SoC chip and a Bluetooth SoC chip, and by applying strategies such as automatic frequency switching, deep sleep, light sleep and adaptive parameter configuration, connection can be kept with low power consumption when no service exists, and adaptive switching of communication links or updating of chip parameter configuration during service transmission can be achieved. The scheme provided by the invention has the capability of keeping connection with low power consumption aiming at the service transmission requirement at a specific moment, and meanwhile, the power consumption of the wireless communication module can be minimized under different service transmission rate requirements according to the change of the service transmission rate.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention belongs to the field of low-power wireless body area network, and in particular relates to a low-power wireless body area network system capable of maintaining connection and rate adaptation. Background Art

[0002] Existing wireless body area network systems usually use mature wireless short-range transmission technologies such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and ZigBee to achieve information access for different terminal devices through a portable gateway device.

[0003] At the same time, since the wireless body area network system is powered by batteries and its power is limited, some low-power methods are usually used to reduce the power consumption of body area network communication. Existing low-power wireless transmission methods are commonly used in the fields of wireless smart home, smart medical care, wireless sensor networks, wireless local area networks, etc. Specific applications include smart door locks, portable medical gateways, wireless sensor networks, etc.

[0004] In emergency rescue scenarios in remote areas or where existing communication infrastructure is damaged, the existing low-power wireless short-range transmission technology cannot meet the application requirements of wireless body area network emergency rescue. It has the following shortcomings:

[0005] 1) Poor real-time performance: Smart door locks and other devices usually use the method of putting the communication module to sleep to reduce power consumption, and trigger the device to wake up by pressing a button or other methods. This low-power solution will cause a significant increase in transmission delay in the wireless body area network, seriously reducing the real-time performance of transmission, making it difficult to meet the real-time interactivity requirements of wireless body area network terminal devices;

[0006] 2) High power consumption: In order to keep the device connected at all times, the communication module of some smart home devices and medical portable terminal devices is always active and maintains a wireless connection with the gateway, which will cause the communication module of the device to consume high power and cannot meet the low-power transmission requirements;

[0007] 3) Low transmission rate: Existing terminal devices using technologies such as Bluetooth and ZigBee usually only support data transmission at a rate of a few Kbps to tens of Kbps, which cannot meet the requirements of relatively high transmission rates such as real-time video and pictures.

[0008] In emergency rescue scenarios, rescuers wear a body area network system consisting of a gateway device, real-time video recording equipment, ad hoc network communication equipment, command equipment, etc. In the absence of infrastructure, battery power and other constraints, in order to perform complex rescue tasks, the wireless body area network system is required to have low power consumption, maintain connection, and support multiple transmission rate applications. Summary of the invention

[0009] In view of the above problems, the object of the present invention is to provide a wireless body area network system with low power consumption, connection maintenance and rate adaptation.

[0010] The specific technical solution for achieving the purpose of the present invention is:

[0011] A wireless body area network system with low power consumption, connection maintenance and rate adaptation, comprising a body area network gateway unit and a body area network wireless module unit;

[0012] The body area network gateway unit is connected to a plurality of body area network wireless module units, and the body area network wireless module units are arranged in the body area network terminal device and are respectively connected to the main control chip of the body area network terminal device;

[0013] The body area network gateway unit communicates with the body area network wireless module unit through multiple communication modes.

[0014] Furthermore, the body area network gateway unit includes a Wi-Fi routing main control chip, an antenna, and a Bluetooth module;

[0015] The body area network gateway unit realizes routing forwarding through the Wi-Fi routing main control chip, and realizes Wi-Fi wireless connection with the body area network wireless module unit through the antenna;

[0016] The body area network gateway unit also realizes Bluetooth connection with the body area network wireless module unit through the Bluetooth module. Further, the body area network wireless module unit includes a Wi-Fi SoC chip and a Bluetooth SoC chip;

[0017] The data transmission between the Wi-Fi SoC chip and the main control chip of the body area network terminal device is realized through the USB protocol, the data transmission between the Bluetooth SoC chip and the main control chip of the body area network terminal device is realized through the UART protocol, and the control information is transmitted between the Wi-Fi SoC and the Bluetooth SoC chip through the GPIO interface.

[0018] Furthermore, when there is communication transmission between the body area network gateway unit and the body area network wireless module unit, the Wi-Fi SoC chip and the Bluetooth SoC chip perform data transmission based on a sleep switching strategy.

[0019] Furthermore, the body area network wireless module units are in a sleep state when there is no data transmission;

[0020] When there is business transmission, only one of the Wi-Fi SoC chip and Bluetooth SoC chip of the body area network wireless module unit is in sleep state at the same time to maintain data transmission efficiency.

[0021] Furthermore, when there is business transmission, the Wi-Fi SoC chip and the Bluetooth SoC chip of the body area network wireless module unit perform data transmission based on a dynamic frequency switching strategy;

[0022] When there is business transmission, the Wi-Fi SoC chip or Bluetooth SoC chip in the non-sleep state counts the data throughput of wireless transmission in real time:

[0023] If the Wi-Fi SoC chip is not in sleep mode and its statistical data throughput is continuously lower than the set threshold, the deep sleep mode will be enabled and the Bluetooth SoC chip will be awakened through the GPIO interface. The Bluetooth SoC chip will then be responsible for subsequent data transmission.

[0024] If the Bluetooth SoC chip is not in sleep mode and its statistical throughput continues to be higher than the set threshold, the deep sleep mode will be enabled and the Wi-Fi SoC chip will be awakened through the GPIO interface. The Wi-Fi SoC chip will then be responsible for subsequent data transmission.

[0025] Furthermore, when there is no service transmission, the Wi-Fi SoC chip and the Bluetooth SoC chip of the body area network wireless module unit are both in a sleep state, wherein:

[0026] The Wi-Fi SoC chip is in a deep sleep mode, and the Bluetooth SoC chip is in a light sleep mode;

[0027] In the shallow sleep mode, the chip remains connected but does not transmit business data, the chip CPU uses clock gating and the power supply voltage is reduced, and in the deep sleep mode, the connection is disconnected and the chip CPU is powered off.

[0028] The present invention also provides a low-power and adaptive data transmission method based on the above system, comprising the following steps:

[0029] Step 1: Initialize the body area network gateway unit and the body area network wireless module unit, enable the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth of the body area network gateway unit, and connect the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth of the wireless module unit in the body area network terminal device to the body area network gateway unit;

[0030] Step 2: Based on the SLIP protocol, configure the Bluetooth data interface as a network card with an IPv4 address, so that Bluetooth and Wi-Fi data can be forwarded through IP network routing;

[0031] Step 3: Establish a connection between the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth data interfaces of the wireless module unit in the body area network terminal device and the body area network gateway unit, and configure them to automatically connect upon power-on;

[0032] Step 4: Wireless service transmission is performed between body area network terminal devices as needed.

[0033] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following beneficial effects:

[0034] (1) The body area network system of the present invention is based on a sleep switching strategy during data transmission, that is, when there is no business transmission, the Wi-Fi chip enters a deep sleep state and disconnects, and the Bluetooth chip enters a light sleep state and maintains the connection through Bluetooth. Compared with the method of maintaining the connection in the Wi-Fi low power consumption mode, it has lower power consumption;

[0035] After the wireless module is powered on and the connection is established, the wireless module will remain connected, thus ensuring the real-time interaction with other devices in the body area network;

[0036] The body area network system of the present invention applies a dynamic frequency switching strategy, and through real-time statistics of service throughput, adopts a method of Wi-Fi deep sleep and Bluetooth light sleep to maintain connection when there is no service transmission, adopts Wi-Fi deep sleep and Bluetooth wakes up and runs in normal mode when low-speed data transmission (for example, ≤10Kbps), adopts Bluetooth deep sleep when medium-speed data transmission (for example, 10Kbps~1Mbps), Bluetooth is in deep sleep mode and Wi-Fi wakes up but runs under the parameter configuration of low transmission power and long listening interval, and when high-speed data transmission (for example, >1Mbps), Bluetooth is in deep sleep mode and Wi-Fi wakes up and runs under the parameter configuration of high transmission power and short listening interval, thereby achieving the effect of minimizing the power consumption of the wireless module under the requirements of different service transmission rates, and has the ability to maintain connection with low power consumption for service transmission requirements at specific times, and can adaptively adjust the communication parameter configuration according to the change of service transmission rate, so as to achieve the effect of minimizing the power consumption of the wireless communication module under the requirements of different service transmission rates, thereby improving the communication efficiency and real-time performance of the system, and reducing the power consumption of the system;

[0037] (2) In the solution of the present invention, the body area network gateway unit adopts multiple wireless communication systems including but not limited to Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, ZigBee and other chips are connected to the body area network gateway device main control through the UART interface, and the data transmission interfaces of Bluetooth, ZigBee and other devices are encapsulated into IP network cards based on the SLIP protocol to realize an IP network integrating multiple communication systems; the body area network module adopts a combination of two or more of the communication systems such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, ZigBee and other communication systems. The Wi-Fi chip and the main control adopt a USB interface, and other communication systems and the main control adopt a UART interface. At the main control end, its data interface is encapsulated into an IP network card based on the SLIP protocol, and can simultaneously establish multiple IP data links of different communication systems with the body area network gateway device, have the ability of flexible switching, and can integrate the advantages of different communication systems.

[0038] The present invention is further described below in conjunction with specific implementation modes. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0039] Figure 1 Schematic diagram of the architecture of a wireless body area network system with low power consumption, connection maintenance and rate adaptation in an embodiment of the present invention.

[0040] Figure 2 The figure is a flowchart of a low power consumption and adaptive data transmission method in an embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0041] Example

[0042] The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be described clearly and completely below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present invention. The described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present invention, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without creative work are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0043] As shown in this application and claims, unless the context clearly indicates an exception, the words "a", "an", "an kind" and / or "the" do not refer to the singular and may also include the plural. Generally speaking, the terms "include" and "comprise" only indicate the inclusion of the steps and elements that have been clearly identified, and these steps and elements do not constitute an exclusive list. The method or device may also include other steps or elements.

[0044] Unless otherwise specifically stated, the relative arrangement, numerical expressions and numerical values ​​of the parts and steps set forth in these embodiments do not limit the scope of the present application. At the same time, it should be understood that, for ease of description, the sizes of the various parts shown in the accompanying drawings are not drawn according to the actual proportional relationship. The technology, method and equipment known to those of ordinary skill in the relevant field may not be discussed in detail, but in appropriate cases, the technology, method and equipment should be considered as a part of the authorization specification. In all examples shown and discussed here, any specific value should be interpreted as being merely exemplary, rather than as a limitation. Therefore, other examples of exemplary embodiments may have different values. It should be noted that similar reference numerals and letters represent similar items in the following drawings, so that once a certain item is defined in an accompanying drawing, it does not need to be further discussed in subsequent drawings.

[0045] Combination Figure 1 , a low-power and connection-maintaining and rate-adaptive wireless body area network system, comprising a body area network gateway unit and a body area network wireless module unit;

[0046] The body area network gateway unit is connected to a plurality of body area network wireless module units, and the body area network wireless module units are arranged in the body area network terminal device and are respectively connected to the main control chip of the body area network terminal device;

[0047] The body area network gateway unit communicates with the body area network wireless module unit through multiple communication modes.

[0048] Specifically, the body area network gateway unit includes a Wi-Fi routing main control chip, an antenna, and a Bluetooth module;

[0049] The body area network gateway unit realizes routing forwarding and 2.4GHz / 5GHz dual-band Wi-Fi AP functions through the Wi-Fi routing main control chip, realizes Wi-Fi wireless connection with the body area network wireless module unit through the antenna, supports Bluetooth device access through the Bluetooth module, and can also integrate other communication systems such as ZigBee;

[0050] The body area network gateway unit also realizes Bluetooth connection with the body area network wireless module unit through the Bluetooth module.

[0051] The body area network wireless module unit includes a Wi-Fi SoC chip and a Bluetooth SoC chip; the body area network terminal device can establish a wireless connection with the body area network gateway device through the wireless module to form a wireless body area network. In addition, other chips such as ZigBee can also be replaced or integrated in the same way.

[0052] The data transmission between the Wi-Fi SoC chip and the main control chip of the body area network terminal device is realized through the USB protocol, the data transmission between the Bluetooth SoC chip and the main control chip of the body area network terminal device is realized through the UART protocol, and the control information is transmitted between the Wi-Fi SoC and the Bluetooth SoC chip through the GPIO interface.

[0053] When there is communication transmission between the body area network gateway unit and the body area network wireless module unit, the Wi-Fi SoC chip and the Bluetooth SoC chip perform data transmission based on a sleep switching strategy.

[0054] The body area network wireless module units are in a sleep state when there is no data transmission;

[0055] When there is business transmission, only one of the Wi-Fi SoC chip and Bluetooth SoC chip of the body area network wireless module unit is in sleep state at the same time to maintain data transmission efficiency.

[0056] When there is business transmission, the Wi-Fi SoC chip and Bluetooth SoC chip of the body area network wireless module unit transmit data based on the dynamic frequency switching strategy;

[0057] When there is business transmission, the Wi-Fi SoC chip or Bluetooth SoC chip in the non-sleep state counts the data throughput of wireless transmission in real time:

[0058] If the Wi-Fi SoC chip is not in sleep mode and its statistical data throughput is continuously lower than the set threshold, the deep sleep mode will be enabled and the Bluetooth SoC chip will be awakened through the GPIO interface. The Bluetooth SoC chip will then be responsible for subsequent data transmission.

[0059] If the Bluetooth SoC chip is not in sleep mode and its statistical throughput continues to be higher than the set threshold, the deep sleep mode will be enabled and the Wi-Fi SoC chip will be awakened through the GPIO interface. The Wi-Fi SoC chip will then be responsible for subsequent data transmission.

[0060] Furthermore, when there is no service transmission, the Wi-Fi SoC chip and the Bluetooth SoC chip of the body area network wireless module unit are both in a sleep state, wherein:

[0061] The Wi-Fi SoC chip is in a deep sleep mode, and the Bluetooth SoC chip is in a light sleep mode;

[0062] In the shallow sleep mode described in this embodiment, the chip remains connected but does not transmit business data, the chip CPU uses clock gating and the power supply voltage is reduced, and in the deep sleep mode, the connection is disconnected and the chip CPU is powered off.

[0063] In addition, the present invention also provides a low-power and adaptive data transmission method based on the above system, comprising the following steps:

[0064] Step 1: Initialize the body area network gateway unit and the body area network wireless module unit, enable the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth of the body area network gateway unit, and connect the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth of the wireless module unit in the body area network terminal device to the body area network gateway unit;

[0065] Step 2: Based on the SLIP protocol, configure the Bluetooth data interface as a network card with an IPv4 address, so that Bluetooth and Wi-Fi data can be forwarded through IP network routing;

[0066] Step 3: Establish a connection between the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth data interfaces of the wireless module unit in the body area network terminal device and the body area network gateway unit, and configure them to automatically connect upon power-on;

[0067] Step 4: Wireless service transmission is performed between body area network terminal devices as required, specifically:

[0068] Step 4-1: for any body area network terminal device, determine whether there is business transmission. If yes, go to step 4-2. If no, the Wi-Fi SoC chip enters deep sleep mode, the Bluetooth SoC chip enters light sleep mode, and wakes up periodically to maintain the connection;

[0069] Step 4-2: for any body area network terminal device, determine whether the service transmission rate exceeds the specified threshold. If yes, go to step 4-3; if no, wake up the Bluetooth SoC chip, put the Wi-Fi SoC chip into deep sleep mode, and the Bluetooth SoC chip is responsible for subsequent data transmission;

[0070] Step 4-3: Wake up the Wi-Fi SoC chip through the GPIO interface. The Wi-Fi SoC chip is responsible for data transmission, and the Bluetooth SoC chip enters deep sleep mode.

[0071] Compared with the common low-power solutions in the existing wireless body area network / near field local area network technology, low-power wireless communication protocols such as low-power Bluetooth are adopted to reduce the power consumption of wireless communication, but at the same time the communication rate is limited, usually only tens of Kbps, or the sleep mode adopted by the existing solution turns off the radio frequency, CPU, etc. of the communication module in the sleep mode, thereby reducing power consumption, but because the sleep mode is disconnected, the device needs an external trigger to wake up, resulting in the device being unable to ensure the real-time interaction. In the solution of the present invention, when there is no business transmission, the Wi-Fi chip enters a deep sleep state and disconnects, and the Bluetooth chip enters a shallow sleep state and maintains the connection through Bluetooth. Compared with the method of maintaining the connection in the Wi-Fi low-power mode, it has lower power consumption; after the wireless module is powered on and the connection is established, the wireless module will always be in a state of maintaining the connection, thereby ensuring the real-time interaction with other devices in the body area network;

[0072] To sum up, the solution of the present invention has the ability to maintain connection with low power consumption in response to business transmission needs at specific moments, and can adaptively adjust communication parameter configuration according to changes in business transmission rate to achieve the effect of minimizing the power consumption of the wireless communication module under different business transmission rate requirements.

[0073] The above-mentioned embodiments only express several implementation methods of the present application, and the descriptions thereof are relatively specific and detailed, but they cannot be understood as limiting the scope of the invention patent. It should be pointed out that, for a person of ordinary skill in the art, several variations and improvements can be made without departing from the concept of the present application, and these all belong to the protection scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the patent of the present application shall be subject to the attached claims.

Claims

1. A low-power, connection-maintaining and rate-adaptive wireless body area network system, characterized in that: It includes a body area network gateway unit and a body area network wireless module unit; The body area network gateway unit is connected to a plurality of body area network wireless module units, and the body area network wireless module units are arranged in the body area network terminal device and are respectively connected to the main control chip of the body area network terminal device; The body area network gateway unit communicates with the body area network wireless module unit through multiple communication modes.

2. The low power consumption and connection maintaining and rate adaptive wireless body area network system according to claim 1 is characterized in that: The body area network gateway unit includes a Wi-Fi routing main control chip, an antenna, and a Bluetooth module; The body area network gateway unit realizes routing forwarding through the Wi-Fi routing main control chip, and realizes Wi-Fi wireless connection with the body area network wireless module unit through the antenna; The body area network gateway unit also realizes Bluetooth connection with the body area network wireless module unit through the Bluetooth module.

3. The low power consumption, connection maintaining and rate adaptive wireless body area network system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The body area network wireless module unit includes a Wi-Fi SoC chip and a Bluetooth SoC chip; The data transmission between the Wi-Fi SoC chip and the main control chip of the body area network terminal device is realized through the USB protocol, the data transmission between the Bluetooth SoC chip and the main control chip of the body area network terminal device is realized through the UART protocol, and the control information is transmitted between the Wi-Fi SoC and the Bluetooth SoC chip through the GPIO interface.

4. The low power consumption and connection maintaining and rate adaptive wireless body area network system according to claim 3 is characterized in that: When there is communication transmission between the body area network gateway unit and the body area network wireless module unit, the Wi-Fi SoC chip and the Bluetooth SoC chip perform data transmission based on a sleep switching strategy.

5. The low power consumption and connection maintaining and rate adaptive wireless body area network system according to claim 4, characterized in that: The body area network wireless module units are in a sleep state when there is no data transmission; When there is business transmission, only one of the Wi-Fi SoC chip and Bluetooth SoC chip of the body area network wireless module unit is in sleep state at the same time to maintain data transmission efficiency.

6. The low power consumption, connection maintaining and rate adaptive wireless body area network system according to claim 5, characterized in that: When there is business transmission, the Wi-Fi SoC chip and Bluetooth SoC chip of the body area network wireless module unit transmit data based on the dynamic frequency switching strategy; When there is business transmission, the Wi-Fi SoC chip or Bluetooth SoC chip in the non-sleep state counts the data throughput of wireless transmission in real time: If the Wi-Fi SoC chip is not in sleep mode and its statistical data throughput is continuously lower than the set threshold, the deep sleep mode will be enabled and the Bluetooth SoC chip will be awakened through the GPIO interface. The Bluetooth SoC chip will then be responsible for subsequent data transmission. If the Bluetooth SoC chip is not in sleep mode and its statistical throughput continues to be higher than the set threshold, the deep sleep mode will be enabled and the Wi-Fi SoC chip will be awakened through the GPIO interface. The Wi-Fi SoC chip will then be responsible for subsequent data transmission.

7. The low-power, connection-maintaining and rate-adaptive wireless body area network system according to claim 5 or 6, characterized in that: When there is no business transmission, the Wi-Fi SoC chip and Bluetooth SoC chip of the body area network wireless module unit are in sleep state, where: The Wi-Fi SoC chip is in a deep sleep mode, and the Bluetooth SoC chip is in a light sleep mode; In the shallow sleep mode, the chip remains connected but does not transmit business data, the chip CPU uses clock gating and the power supply voltage is reduced, and in the deep sleep mode, the connection is disconnected and the chip CPU is powered off.

8. The low power consumption and adaptive data transmission method of the system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that: The following steps are involved: Step 1: Initialize the body area network gateway unit and the body area network wireless module unit, enable the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth of the body area network gateway unit, and connect the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth of the wireless module unit in the body area network terminal device to the body area network gateway unit; Step 2: Based on the SLIP protocol, configure the Bluetooth data interface as a network card with an IPv4 address, so that Bluetooth and Wi-Fi data can be forwarded through IP network routing; Step 3: Establish a connection between the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth data interfaces of the wireless module unit in the body area network terminal device and the body area network gateway unit, and configure them to automatically connect upon power-on; Step 4: Wireless service transmission is performed between body area network terminal devices as needed.

9. The low power consumption and adaptive data transmission method according to claim 8, characterized in that: The process of on-demand wireless service transmission between body area network terminal devices in step 4 is as follows: Step 4-1: for any body area network terminal device, determine whether there is business transmission. If yes, go to step 4-2. If no, the Wi-Fi SoC chip enters deep sleep mode, the Bluetooth SoC chip enters light sleep mode, and wakes up periodically to maintain the connection; Step 4-2: for any body area network terminal device, determine whether the service transmission rate exceeds the specified threshold. If yes, go to step 4-3; if no, wake up the Bluetooth SoC chip, put the Wi-Fi SoC chip into deep sleep mode, and the Bluetooth SoC chip is responsible for subsequent data transmission; Step 4-3: Wake up the Wi-Fi SoC chip through the GPIO interface. The Wi-Fi SoC chip is responsible for data transmission, and the Bluetooth SoC chip enters deep sleep mode.

10. The low power consumption and adaptive data transmission method according to claim 9, characterized in that: In the shallow sleep mode, the chip remains connected but does not transmit business data, the chip CPU uses clock gating and the power supply voltage is reduced, and in the deep sleep mode, the connection is disconnected and the chip CPU is powered off.

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