Wearable Sensor Interval Control for Battery-Aware Sensing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Wearable electronic devices with varying battery capacities performing identical sensing operations lead to energy waste and reduced usage time due to overlapping and unnecessary sensor operations.
Innovation Solution
An electronic device controls external sensors by identifying valid sensor values and adjusting sensing intervals based on battery capacity, deactivating or extending intervals for sensors with lower capacity to conserve power.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of energy
If multiple wearable electronic devices perform identical sensing operations simultaneously, then comprehensive sensing data is collected, but energy is wasted and usage time is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges sensing operations across multiple wearable devices by having them perform identical sensing functions simultaneously, then combines their data outputs. This allows comprehensive environmental and biometric monitoring while managing energy consumption through coordinated operation rather than independent duplicate operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements periodic sensing operations where wearable devices alternate between active sensing and idle states. Devices can be activated at different time intervals or cycles, reducing overall energy consumption while maintaining continuous monitoring capability across the device fleet.
2Reliability
If wearable devices with different battery capacities perform the same sensing operations, then uniform data quality is achieved, but devices with smaller batteries deplete faster
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by tailoring sensing operation parameters to each device's specific battery capacity. Devices with larger batteries can operate sensors at higher frequencies or with greater precision, while devices with smaller batteries use reduced-frequency or lower-resolution sensing modes, ensuring each device operates within its energy constraints while maintaining acceptable data quality.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes operational parameters such as sensing frequency, sampling rate, or activation thresholds based on battery capacity. This allows the system to optimize the balance between data quality and energy consumption for each device individually, extending usage time for devices with smaller batteries while maintaining reliable data collection across the fleet.
3Loss of information
If all sensors in wearable devices operate continuously, then complete environmental and biometric information is captured, but power consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies partial action by selectively activating only the necessary sensors based on current operational context, environmental conditions, or user activity states. Instead of running all sensors continuously, the system activates subsets of sensors as needed, reducing power consumption while capturing sufficient information for the given situation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements dynamic sensor management where sensing operations are adjusted in real-time based on detected conditions. Sensors can be activated, deactivated, or have their sampling rates adjusted dynamically according to user activity, environmental context, or battery status, optimizing the balance between information completeness and energy usage.
Data Source
AI summary
An electronic device is provided. The electronic device includes communication circuitry, memory, including one or more storage media, storing instructions, and a processor communicatively coupled to the communication circuitry and the memory, wherein the instructions when executed by the processor, cause the electronic device to identify a first sensor of a first external electronic device and a second sensor of a second external electronic device corresponding to the first sensor based on communications with the first and second external electronic devices, identify whether the first sensor value is a valid value, when the first sensor value is received from the first external electronic device based on the first external electronic device being worn on a human body, and, based on identifying that the first sensor value is the valid value, change a first sensing time interval of the second sensor to a second sensing time interval greater than the first sensing time interval.