External Controller Narrowband Interference Excision
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current communication systems for implanted wireless devices, such as microstimulators, face interference from narrowband interferers, which degrade signal reception and hinder effective communication with external control units.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of a main control unit (MCU) that captures and processes signals to identify and nullify narrowband interference, using techniques like spectral transformation and inverse transformation, along with overlapping windows and signal processing, to generate a time domain signal free from interference.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If narrowband interference is present in the communication channel, then signal reception quality deteriorates, but implementing interference excision processing increases device complexity in the external controller
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary signal processing system within the external controller that acts as a mediator between the received signal and the final decoded signal. This intermediary system performs spectral analysis, identifies narrowband interferers, and applies excision techniques to remove interference before signal reconstruction, thereby improving reception quality without requiring changes to the implanted device itself.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces traditional time-domain signal filtering methods with frequency-domain spectral analysis and excision techniques. By transforming the signal processing approach from mechanical/time-domain filtering to frequency-domain manipulation, the system can more effectively identify and remove narrowband interferers while maintaining acceptable computational complexity.
2Measurement precision
If spectral transformation and inverse transformation are used to remove narrowband interference, then signal processing capability improves, but computational requirements and processing time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies partial spectral transformation by performing FFT only on selected time segments or frequency bands where interference is suspected, rather than transforming the entire signal spectrum. This selective approach maintains detection accuracy for narrowband interferers while reducing overall computational burden and processing time.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary spectral analysis to identify the presence and characteristics of narrowband interferers before applying full inverse transformation. By detecting interference patterns early in the processing chain and pre-identifying frequency components to be excised, the system avoids unnecessary computational steps and reduces overall processing time.
Data Source
AI summary
Communication techniques are described that can improve signal reception from an implanted wireless device to a main control unit (MCU) while in the presence of a narrowband interferer. The implanted wireless device can be any appropriate device such as a microtransponder, microstimulator, a sensor device or a drug delivery device. The MCU captures samples of signals emanating from the wireless device during an expected transmission time interval. The captured samples are evaluated and transformed into a series of spectral terms that are then evaluated to identify narrowband interference signals. The identified narrowband interference terms can be initialized to a null value to remove the signal spectrum resulting from the communication, and an inverse transformation can be used to generate a time domain signal that is free from interference. Overlapping windows and other signal processing techniques can also be applied to improve overall communications.