Arbitration Module for Multi-Radio Medical Device
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Solution Overview
Problem
There is a need for a handheld medical device that can efficiently aggregate, manage, and communicate diagnostic and prescriptive data from various medical devices and systems, while also handling multiple communication protocols and interfaces to prevent collisions and interference, and minimize size by integrating communication interfaces into a single integrated circuit with shared antennas.
Innovation Solution
A handheld medical device with multiple communication modules and an arbitration module that prioritizes communication requests, allowing the device to selectively communicate with insulin infusion pumps and continuous glucose monitors using different wireless protocols over shared or separate antennas, and includes a communication control module to manage channel allocation and prevent saturation of front-end circuits.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If multiple communication modules are integrated into a single handheld medical device to communicate with various medical devices, then the device's functionality and versatility are improved, but communication collisions and interference between modules occur
Solution Approach 1:
The arbitration module performs preliminary priority determination before communication occurs. It pre-establishes communication priorities for different modules (e.g., insulin pump communication has higher priority than glucose monitor communication) and proactively manages channel allocation to prevent collisions before they happen, rather than resolving conflicts after they occur
Solution Approach 2:
The arbitration module acts as an intermediary between multiple communication modules and the shared communication channel. It mediates access requests from different modules, granting permission to high-priority modules while denying or deferring lower-priority modules, thereby preventing direct interference between simultaneous communication attempts
2Volume of moving object
If multiple communication modules share a single antenna to minimize device size, then the device dimensions are reduced, but signal interference and saturation of front-end circuits occur
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary channel allocation and permission granting before simultaneous transmissions occur. The arbitration module determines which module may access the shared antenna at any given moment, preventing multiple modules from transmitting simultaneously and causing front-end circuit saturation or signal interference
Solution Approach 2:
The arbitration module implements periodic channel allocation, granting communication permissions in time-divided intervals to different modules based on their priority levels. This periodic access control ensures that only one module transmits at a time through the shared antenna, eliminating signal interference while maintaining compact device dimensions
3Adaptability or versatility
If different wireless communication protocols are implemented to communicate with various medical devices, then the device's compatibility is improved, but the complexity of managing multiple protocols increases
Solution Approach 1:
The arbitration module serves as a universal management layer that handles multiple communication protocols through a single unified interface. It abstracts the complexity of protocol-specific management by providing a common permission-granting mechanism that works across different protocols (e.g., Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, proprietary protocols), allowing each protocol to operate independently while sharing common resource management
4Reliability
If communication priority is granted to insulin pump over glucose monitor to ensure patient safety, then the reliability of critical communication is improved, but the response time for non-critical communications is delayed
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies different quality levels of service to different communication types. Critical communications (insulin pump) receive high-priority treatment with immediate permission granting and guaranteed channel access, while non-critical communications (glucose monitor) receive lower-priority treatment with deferred access. This local differentiation of communication quality ensures patient safety while maintaining overall system functionality
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a handheld medical device (104) that arbitrates priority among multiple communication modules (502; 504) having separate antennas (514; 516; 517) for communicating with a plurality of medical devices, the handheld medical device comprising: a first cornmunication module (502) that selectively communicates in a first frequency band with an first device (204) external to the handheld medical device (104) via a first antenna (514) using a first wireless communication protocol, wherein the first device (204) is adapted to administer a substance to a patient by cornmunicating with the handheld medical device via the first communication module (502); a second communication module (504) that selectively communicates in the first frequency band with a second device (200) external to the handheld medical device (104) using a second wireless communication protocol, wherein the second device (200) is adapted to monitor a health parameter of the patient by communicating with the handheld medical device via the second communication module (504); and an arbitration module (508) that is adapted to selectively grant permission to communicate to the first communication module (502) and to deny permission to communicate to the second communication module (504) and that is adapted to alternatively selectively deny permission to communicate to the first communication module (502) and to grant permission to communicate to the second communication module (504).