Wireless Synchronization for Implantable Electronics
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing technologies face challenges in synchronizing implantable electronic devices, particularly in acquiring synchronized time-series data due to unknown time references and clock drifts.
Innovation Solution
A method for wireless synchronization in an implantable system, where a computing device receives a synchronization signal, records a timestamp, and determines a synchronized time offset based on timestamps from both the receiving and transmitting devices, allowing for synchronized data transmission.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If multiple implantable devices are used to acquire time-series data, then the system can capture comprehensive physiological signals, but the devices have unknown time references and clock drifts causing synchronization challenges
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a feedback mechanism where each implantable device sends its local timestamp to a central device, receives the calculated time offset, and adjusts its clock accordingly. This closed-loop feedback system continuously corrects time drift and maintains synchronization across multiple devices, resolving the contradiction between using multiple devices and maintaining time accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The central device acts as an intermediary that coordinates time synchronization between multiple implantable devices. It collects timestamps from all devices, calculates the time offsets relative to a reference clock, and distributes correction information back to the devices. This intermediary approach enables precise synchronization without requiring direct peer-to-peer communication between devices.
2Measurement precision
If devices transmit synchronization messages in real-time, then synchronization accuracy is maintained, but transmission delays and communication overhead increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary time offset calculation by collecting timestamps from all devices and computing the synchronization corrections before actual data acquisition begins. This preliminary action ensures that devices are pre-synchronized and can operate with minimal real-time communication, reducing transmission delays during the critical data collection phase.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods for wireless synchronization in an implantable system include receiving, by a first computing device, a first synchronization signal; recording, by the first computing device, a first timestamp based on a time of receipt of the first synchronization signal; receiving, by the first computing device, a synchronization request comprising a second timestamp; determining, by the first computing device, a synchronized time offset based on the first timestamp and the second timestamp; transmitting, by the first computing device, a second synchronization signal; generating, by the first computing device, a synchronization message comprising a third timestamp based on a time of transmission of the second synchronization signal and the synchronized time offset; queuing, by the first computing device, the synchronization message during a non-accessible transmission time slot; and wirelessly transmitting, by the first computing device, the synchronization message to a second computing device during an available signal transmission time slot.