Physical parameter remote sensing system

Abstract

A sensing apparatus for measuring at least one parameter includes at least one sensor for detecting at least one parameter and outputting a signal representative of the parameter. The sensing apparatus includes a memory for storing data and computer instructions and a communication component configured to transmit data representative of a value associated with the at least one parameter. A processor of the sensing apparatus communicates with the at least one sensor, the memory and the communication component. The processor receives output signals from said at least one sensor, and calculates at least one parameter based on computer instructions stored in the memory. The parameter is formatted in a human interface device (HID) compliant protocol, and provided to the communication component, which transmits the at least one HID compliant parameter value to a remote processing device.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A sensing device configured for measuring at least one parameter comprising:
 at least one sensor configured to measure the at least one parameter;   a memory;   a sensing device processor in communication with the at least one sensor and the memory;   a first communications component in communication with the sensing device processor; and   at least one of a wake sensor or a wake circuit;   wherein the memory has stored therein, computer instructions that when executed by the sensing device processor:
 establish a communications link between the sensing device and a remote processing device; 
 responsive to sensing, by the at least one of the wake sensor or the wake circuit, interaction by a user with the sensing device, wake the sensing device so that the sensing device processor is configured to receive output data from the at least one sensor; 
 receive from the at least one sensor a signal indicative of one or more health or fitness parameter values detected by the at least one sensor; 
 process the received signal to calculate a health and fitness parameter value; 
 display, on a display of the sensing device, the calculated health and fitness parameter value; 
 format the calculated health and fitness parameter value to a numeric value in an input device compliant protocol with a system interrupt request having a high system priority; 
 output, to the first communications component, the numeric value in the input device compliant protocol with the system interrupt request having the high system priority, for transmission by the first communications component to a second communications component of the remote processing device. 
   
     
     
         2 . The sensing device of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one of the wake circuit or the wake sensor comprises one of a pressure sensor, vibration sensor, or accelerometer. 
     
     
         3 . The sensing device of  claim 1 , wherein the memory storing computer instructions to establish a communications link between the sensing device and the remote processing device comprises the memory storing computer instructions to establish a communication according to a short-range wireless communications protocol between the sensing device and the remote processing device. 
     
     
         4 . The sensing device of  claim 1 , wherein the remote processing device comprises one of a personal computer, a mobile telephone, a tablet computer, a wearable processing device, a smart watch, or a fitness band. 
     
     
         5 . The sensing device of  claim 1 , wherein the memory contains further computer instructions, that when executed by the sensing device processor, cause the sensing device processor to:
 cause the sensing device to enter a standby mode during periods of non-use; and   wake the sensing device responsive to sensing, by the at least one of the wake sensor or the wake circuit, interaction by a user with the sensing device when the sensing device is in the standby mode.   
     
     
         6 . The sensing device of  claim 1 , wherein said at least one sensor comprises an electrode configured to detect an impedance of a body of the user; and
 wherein the memory contains further computer instructions, that when executed by the sensing device processor, cause the sensing device processor to calculate, based upon the detected impedance, one or more of a Body Mass Index (BMI), a body water percentage, a body fat percentage, a body muscle percentage, and bone mass of the body.   
     
     
         7 . The sensing device of  claim 1 , wherein the input device compliant protocol comprises a Human Interface Device (HID) compliant protocol. 
     
     
         8 . The sensing device of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one sensor is configured to output an analog signal, and wherein the sensing device further comprises an analog to digital converter (ADC) configured to convert the analog signal to a digital signal that is provided to the sensing device processor. 
     
     
         9 . The sensing device of  claim 1 , wherein the memory contains further computer instructions, that when executed by the sensing device processor, cause the sensing device processor to:
 send a first power signal to the first communications component to power off the first communications component at a time when the at least one sensor is measuring the at least one parameter; and   send a second power signal to the first communications component to power on the first communications component at a time when the processor is sending the processed information to the communications component.   
     
     
         10 . A system for remote monitoring of a health and fitness parameter comprising:
 a sensing device comprising:
 at least one sensor configured to measure at least one health and fitness parameter; 
 a sensing device processor to process the measured health and fitness parameter and convert the measured health and fitness parameter to a numeric value in an input device compliant protocol with a system interrupt request having a high system priority; 
 a first communications component configured to transmit the numeric value in the input device compliant protocol with the system interrupt request having the high system priority; and 
 at least one of a wake sensor or a wake circuit configured to wake the sensing device responsive to sensing interaction by a user with the sensing device; 
   a networked computing device comprising:
 a second communications component in communication with the first communications component of the sensing device and a local network; and 
 a memory storing a software application comprising instructions which, when executed by a networked computing device processor, cause the networked computing device to:
 receive from the sensing device via the second communications component a numeric value representative of the health and fitness parameter in the input device compliant protocol with the system interrupt request having the high system priority; and 
 output, to the second communications component, the numeric value in the input device compliant protocol with the system interrupt request having the high system priority, for transmission by the second communications component to a gateway connected between the local network and an internetwork connected to one or more remote stations. 
 
   
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein, responsive to the sensing device being woken by the at least one of the wake sensor or the wake circuit, the sensing device is configured to:
 connect the first communications component of the sensing device to the second communications component of the networked computing device; and   measure, with the at least one sensor, the at least one health and fitness parameter;   process, by the sensing device processor, the measured health and fitness parameter and convert the measured health and fitness parameter to a numeric value in an input device compliant protocol with a system interrupt request having a high system priority;   transmit, to the networked computing device by the first communications component, the numeric value in the input device compliant protocol with the system interrupt request having the high system priority.   
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the sensing device is further configured to perform at least one validation on the numeric value representative of the at least one health and fitness parameter before transmitting the numeric value to the networked computing device. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the sensing device being configured to connect the first communications component to the second communications component comprises the sensing device being configured to establish a pairing in accordance with a BLUETOOTH protocol between the first communications component of the sensing device and the second communications component of the networked computing device. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the networked computing device is further configured by the software application to transmit the numeric value to the one or more remote stations via the local network, the gateway, and the internetwork. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the sensing device comprises a weight scale and the health and fitness parameter comprises one of a body weight, a body mass index value, a body fat percentage, and a body water percentage of the user. 
     
     
         16 . A method of providing a health and fitness parameter value from a sensing device to a remote processing device comprising the steps of:
 waking the sensing device responsive to detection, of interaction by a user, by at least one of a wake sensor or a wake circuit of the sensing device;   responsive to waking the sensing device:
 detecting, by at least one sensor of the sensing device, one or more health or fitness parameter values and output a signal indicative of the detected values; 
 receiving, at a sensing device processor of the sensing device, the signal output by the sensor; 
 processing, by the sensing device processor, the output signal to calculate a health and fitness parameter value; 
 formatting, by the sensing device processor, the calculated health and fitness parameter value to a numeric value in an input device compliant protocol with a system interrupt request having a high system priority; 
 providing, by the sensing device processor, the input device compliant protocol health and fitness parameter value with the system interrupt having the high system priority to a first communications component of the sensing device; and 
 transmitting, by the first communications component, the numeric value in the input device compliant protocol with the system interrupt request having the high system priority, to a networked computing device comprising a second communications component in communications with the first communications component and a local network; 
   receiving, by a networked computing device processor configured by a software application stored in a memory of the networked computing device, the numeric value representative of the health and fitness parameter in the input device compliant protocol with the system interrupt request having the high system priority transmitted by the first communications component; and   transmitting, by the networked computing device processor configured by the software application stored in the memory of the networked computing device, by the second communications component of the networked computing device to the remote processing device, via a gateway connected between the local network and an internetwork connected to the remote processing device, the numeric value representative of the health and fitness parameter in the input device compliant protocol with the system interrupt request having the high system priority.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , further comprising, responsive to the sensing device being woken by the at least one of the wake sensor or the wake circuit, connecting the first communications component to the second communications component of the networked computing device by establishing a pairing according to a BLUETOOTH protocol between the first communications component and the second communications component. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the sensing device comprises a weight scale and the health and fitness parameter comprises one of a body weight, a body mass index value, a body fat percentage, and a body water percentage of the user; and
 wherein waking the sensing device responsive to detection, of interaction by the user, by the at least one of the wake sensor or the wake circuit of the sensing device comprises waking the sensor from a standby mode entered into by the sensing device processor during periods of non-use.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 16 , further comprising:
 sending a first power signal to the first communications component to power off the first communications component at a time when the at least one sensor is measuring the at least one parameter; and   sending a second power signal to the first communications component to power on the first communications component at a time when the sensing device processor is sending the processed information to the communications component.   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 16 , further comprising performing at least one validation on the numeric value representative of the at least one parameter before transmitting the numeric value to the networked computing device.