Circular Buffer Synchronization for Wearable Sensor Data
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Solution Overview
Problem
Wearable electronic devices with multiple sensors face challenges in synchronizing real-time raw sensor data due to varying sample rates, hardware failures, and communication protocol issues, leading to accuracy degradation in applications that require synchronized data.
Innovation Solution
A computer-implemented method and a wearable electronic device with a processor configured to execute instructions for synchronizing real-time raw sensor data from multiple sensors. This involves using a circular buffer, index results, and sensor slices to handle gaps and failures at differing sampling rates, with consensus mechanisms ensuring synchronized data across sensors.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If multiple sensors operate at different sample rates, then each sensor can function independently with optimal performance, but the synchronized data output accuracy degrades
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a buffer as an intermediary component between sensors with different sample rates and the data output system. The buffer temporarily stores sensor data at different rates, allowing the system to synchronize and combine data from multiple sensors without requiring them to operate at the same rate, thus maintaining output accuracy while preserving sensor independence
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary actions by pre-allocating buffer memory and establishing data collection protocols before actual sensing begins. This preliminary setup enables the system to handle varying sample rates efficiently during operation, as the buffer structure and synchronization mechanisms are already in place to manage the data flow from multiple sensors
2Reliability
If the system handles gaps and hardware failures in sensor data, then the reliability of data collection improves, but the complexity of the data processing system increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements beforehand cushioning by creating a buffer that can absorb and compensate for data gaps caused by hardware failures or communication issues. The buffer acts as a cushion that maintains data flow continuity even when individual sensor readings are missing or corrupted, allowing the system to recover from failures without compromising overall reliability
Solution Approach 2:
The system employs feedback mechanisms to monitor the buffer status and sensor data quality in real-time. When gaps or failures are detected, the feedback loop triggers appropriate responses such as requesting retransmission, adjusting sampling rates, or flagging problematic data, thereby improving reliability through continuous monitoring and adaptive response
3Measurement precision
If real-time sensor data from multiple sensors is synchronized, then the accuracy of applications requiring synchronized data improves, but the difficulty of detecting and measuring data consistency increases
Solution Approach 1:
The buffer serves as an intermediary that not only stores data but also performs timestamping and synchronization metadata tracking. This intermediary layer simplifies the detection and measurement of data consistency by providing structured information about when data was collected from each sensor, making it easier to verify synchronization without directly analyzing raw sensor streams
Data Source
AI summary
A computer-implemented method is disclosed. The method includes (i) receiving a plurality of sensor streams, each sensor stream is received from a sensor of a plurality of sensors of a wearable electronic device; (ii) determining a sampling rate of each sensor stream; (iii) identifying a count of gaps and a length of each gap for each sensor stream; (iv) identifying a subset of a circular buffer for each sensor of the plurality of sensors that fits within a slice of time of interest characterized by a start timestamp and a stop timestamp; (v) determining consensus between the plurality of sensor streams; (vi) adding the plurality of sensor streams to the circular buffer; and (vii) determining whether a valid window of data exists for the plurality of sensor streams added to the circular buffer for synchronizing two or more sensor streams for a real time application.