|Publication number||US7126471 B2|
|Application number||US 10/951,451|
|Publication date||Oct 24, 2006|
|Filing date||Sep 27, 2004|
|Priority date||Sep 27, 2004|
|Also published as||US20060071782|
|Publication number||10951451, 951451, US 7126471 B2, US 7126471B2, US-B2-7126471, US7126471 B2, US7126471B2|
|Inventors||Osman Ahmed, Martin Glšnzer, Maximilian Fleischer, Peter Gulden|
|Original Assignee||Siemens Aktiengesellschaft|
|Export Citation||BiBTeX, EndNote, RefMan|
|Patent Citations (5), Referenced by (24), Classifications (10), Legal Events (5)|
|External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, Espacenet|
Cross-reference is made to co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/951,450, entitled “Cage Telemetry Module and System”, filed Sep. 27, 2004, and to co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/952,236, entitled “Cage Telemetry System Using Intermediate Transponders”, filed Sep. 27, 2004.
The present invention relates generally to cage telemetry systems, and more particularly, systems for remotely obtaining sensor and/or location information for one or more cages.
Research facilities such as universities and other research laboratories often maintain large numbers of animal cages. For relatively small animals, such as rodents, cages may be arranged in racks having several rows and columns of cages. Provision is made for humane conditions for animal safety. To ensure such humane conditions, it is desirable to monitor the conditions in the cage. It is also important to be able to identify cages and animals to ensure proper care and procedures are carried out with the appropriate animal.
One issue that arises from such an arrangement is the location of particular animals and cages within a room that may contain several racks, each with a number of rows and columns of cages. Different animals are employed in a variety of experiments, typically by a variety of researchers. Researchers from time to time must locate a particular animal cage and remove the cage from the rack so that the animal within the cage may be observed or tested. At times, several researchers may be working with several cages.
While the cages may be labeled to allow a researcher to identify a particular cage, the researcher must locate the cage among the various racks, rows and columns. An effort can be made to require assign positions of cages within racks, so that a cage identification can be associated with its location, similar to a library book shelving system. However, it is often impractical or at least inconvenient to require specific shelving location requirements of the cages. The movement of racks, human error and expedience can thwart efforts to maintain a strict cage location scheme.
Moreover, it can be necessary for a cages location to be changed to improve a particular condition, such as temperature or air flow for the animal within the cage. At times, movement to another rack or merely to another location within the same rack can improve the animal's conditions. With a strict “hard-coded” cage location scheme, such a change can require moving an animal out of one cage and into another, which is not always practical.
Accordingly, one solution is to allow for flexible cage location. To attempt to track the location of the cages within the racks, a paper log or computer log may be maintained. In such a log, a researcher that replaces a cage within a rack may log the rack number, and possibly the row and location of the cage. A research that desires to locate a particular cage consults the log to determine the latest location of the cage. While this system allows for flexible cage location, it still consumes researcher time noting and recording cage locations within the log. The log may become cumbersome and difficult to use, and is always subject to human error.
In some cases, an emergency condition may exist with a particular animal that requires immediate intervention. If the cage has been mislocated, or mislogged, the animal's life may be unnecessarily endangered.
Accordingly, there is a need for a more reliable method of cage location in a laboratory environment that allows for convenient relocation of cages. There is a further need for such a system that can readily assist researchers in locating a particular cage within a space that contains one or more racks of cages.
The present invention addresses the above-described need, as well as others, by providing a location system and method that determines the two-dimensional location of an object by determining distance-related information between each of two points and the object, which may be an animal cage module, using RF communications. The invention also calculates the two-dimensional location based on the distance related information. Using such a system, the location of an animal cage among a rack of cages, or other grouping of animal cages, may be obtained relatively quickly.
An embodiment of the invention is a system for generating information identifying a two-dimensional location of objects in within a space. The system includes a plurality of wireless modules and first and second transceiver systems. Each of the plurality of wireless modules corresponds to one of the objects. The first and second radio transceiver systems are spaced apart by a predetermined distance and are disposed proximate the space. The first and second radio transceiver systems are operable to selectively transmit a signal to select wireless module, receive a response signal from the select wireless module, and generate first information based on a detected relationship between the selective transmission and the receipt of the response signal. The system further includes a device operable to calculate a two-dimensional location of the select wireless module based on the first information generated by the first radio transceiver system and the first information generated by the second radio transceiver system.
Preferably, the objects are cages, and the wireless modules are disposed on, in or around each cage. The cages may suitably be arranged in rows and columns in a rack, such that the two-dimensional location identifies the row and column of the cage within the rack.
Another embodiment of the invention is a method of generating information identifying a two-dimensional location of objects in within a space. The method includes transmitting from a first location a first signal having a parameter corresponding to a first object of a plurality of objects within the space, receiving a first responsive signal from the first object and determining first distance information based on a relationship between the first signal and the first responsive signal. The method also includes transmitting a from a second location a second signal having a parameter corresponding to the first object, receiving a second responsive signal from the first object, and determining second distance information based on a relationship between the second signal and the second responsive signal. The method further includes determining a two-dimensional location of the first object within the space based on the first distance information and the second distance information.
The above described features and advantages, as well as others, will become more readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art by reference to the following detailed description and accompanying drawings.
The cage data system 100 also includes a rack data transponder 110 associated with the first rack 102 and a rack data transponder 112 associated with the second rack 104. The first rack 102 is further divided into a first array 120 of cages 106 and a second array 122 of cages 106 arranged back to back. Similarly, the second rack 104 is divided into a first array 124 of cages 106 and a second array 126 of cages 106 arranged back to back. It will be appreciated that other embodiments will have additional racks, each rack preferably including a corresponding rack transponder and one or two arrays of cages.
As a consequence, each cage 106 and its corresponding wireless module 108 are associated with the rack on which they are located. Each cage 106 and its corresponding wireless module 108 are further associated with an the array of that rack. By way of example, the exemplary cage 106 a, which is associated with the wireless module 108 a, is located in the first array 120 of the first rack 102. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the wireless modules 108 are operable to generate sensor information and location information, and communicate such information using wireless communications. However, it will be appreciated that at least some advantages over prior art systems may be realized in systems having wireless modules 108 that generate only location information or only sensor information in accordance with the present invention.
In particular, in the embodiment described herein, each wireless module 108 includes an RF transceiver circuit and at least one sensor device (See e.g. the RF circuit 302 and the sensor module 308 of
Each wireless module 108 is operable to communicate sensor data to the rack data transponder 110 or 112 of the rack 102 or 104 on which the wireless module 108 is located. Thus, for example, the exemplary wireless module 108 a communicates sensor data to the rack transponder 110 of the first rack 102.
The location information generated by each wireless module 108 relates to the position of the wireless module 108 within its rack. To this end, each array 120, 122, 124 and 126 of each rack 102 and 104 includes radio location transceiver systems that cooperate with each wireless module 108 to determine the location of the wireless module 108 within its array.
By way of example, the first rack 102 includes first and second radio location transceiver systems 114 and 116 spaced apart by a predetermined distance, and disposed proximate the first array 120. Each of the first and second radio location transceiver systems 114 and 116 are operable to selectively transmit a signal to a select one of the wireless modules 108, and receive a response signal from the select wireless module 108. Each of the first and second radio location transceiver systems 114 and 116 are further operable to generate distance-related information based on characteristics of the transmitted and responsive signal. Such distance-related information of the first and second transceiver systems 114 may then be used to identify the location of the select cage's communication module 108 within the array 120.
Each other array 122, 124 and 126 has a similar set of radio location transceiver systems that operate in the same manner as the radio location transceivers 114 and 116
An explanation of how distance information from the first and second transceiver systems 114 and 116 is used to identify the location of a cage 106 within the array 120 is provided in connection with
Consider an operation in which the location of the cage 106 3,1 within the array 120 is desired. Assume that the location transceiver 114 determines that the wireless module 108 3,1 of cage 106 3,1 is at a distance d1 away, and the location transceiver 116 determines that the wireless module 108 3,1 is at a distance d2 away. The arc ad1 represents all points in the array 120 that are at a distance of d1 from the first location transceiver 114, and the arc ad2 represents all points in the array 120 that are at a distance of d2 from the second location transceiver 116. The point ad12 represents the unique intersection point of the arcs ad1 and ad2, and thus represents the location of the wireless module 108 3,1 and the cage 106 3,1. Thus, by determining the intersections of the arcs within the array 120 which have the determined distances from each of the first and second location transceivers 114 and 116, the location of a cage 106 x,y may readily be determined.
Referring again to
Referring again to the general description of the cage data system 100 of
The wireless hub 128 is further operable to receive requests for cage information (location and/or sensor data) from a wireless personal wireless device (PWD) 134, such as a personal data assistant.
The embodiment of the cage system 100 described herein preferably has at least three basic functions. The first function of the cage system 100 is to log and monitor sensor data associated with each of the cages 106 (and gathered by the corresponding wireless modules). The second function is to automatically determine the location of a specific cage, i.e. the cage 106 a, within the cage system 100. The third function of the cage system 100 is to respond to requests for cage sensor data.
In operation, the cage system 100 monitors and logs sensor data of the cages 106 in the following manner. The sensor device(s) of each wireless module 108 sense one or more conditions (i.e. temperature, humidity, CO2 concentration, etc.) on an ongoing basis. Each wireless module 108 from time to time transmits sensed condition data (sensor data) to the wireless hub 128. To this end, the wireless module 108 preferably transmits the sensor data to its corresponding rack transponder. For example, the wireless module 108 a, which is located on the first rack 102, transmits sensor data to the first rack transponder 110. The rack transponder (e.g. the rack transponder 110) retransmits the data to the wireless hub 128. The wireless hub 128 then stores the data locally, and/or provides the data to the work station 132. The work station 132 preferably maintains the data and makes the data available on a display screen or the like. The work station 132 may further create a log of historical conditions if desirable.
It will be appreciated that in an alternative embodiment, the wireless modules 108 may communicate directly with the wireless hub 128. However, it is desirable to employ the intermediate rack transponders to reduce the need for long antennae and/or greater transmission power in the wireless modules 108.
In the second operation, the wireless hub 128 may receive a request to obtain location information for one of the wireless modules 108, for example, the wireless module 108 a. Such a request may be originated at the PWD 134, which transmits a request for the location of the cage 106 a and/or the corresponding wireless module 108 a to the wireless hub 128. Alternatively, an operator may originate such a request at the work station 132 (or other entity connected to the LAN 130).
Regardless of the origination, the wireless hub 128 transmits a location request signal to the radio location transceivers of the array that corresponds to the module 108 for which location information is requested. Thus, in the exemplary operation described herein, the wireless hub 128 transmits the location request signal pertaining to the module 108 a to the transceivers 114 and 116 of the array 120.
It will be appreciated that the wireless hub 128 must at some point obtain information identifying the array 120 in which the module 108 a is located. Such information may be obtained in multiple ways. In a first method, the wireless hub 128 may request that all radio location transceivers of all arrays 120, 122, 124 and 126 attempt to locate the module 108 a. Only the radio location transceivers of the appropriate array 120 should be able to give a viable answer because those of the arrays 122, 124 and 126 would not be able to locate the wireless module 108 a. Even if the radio location transceiver of another array could pick up a stray signal and thus generate distance information, the location transceivers that generate distance information representative of the least distance can be identified as the appropriate set of radio location transceivers. Alternative, the rack on which a particular wireless module 108 is located may be determined by the rack transponders 110 and 112. To this end, each of the rack transponders 110 and 112 may poll the wireless modules 108 to determine which modules 108 are located in its rack. Once the rack of the module 108 a is known, then the location request may be sent to only those sets of location transceivers that are in the appropriate rack for the module.
In any event, the radio location transponders 114 and 116 then transmit a radio location signal to the subject wireless module 108 a responsive to the request from the wireless hub 128. In particular, the first radio transceiver 114 transmits a first radio location signal having a parameter unique to the wireless module 108 a. The unique parameter may suitably be a unique frequency, phase shift, digital code or a unique combination of elements. The wireless module 108 a is configured to respond only to location signals including that unique parameter. In this manner, only one wireless module 108 a responds to the radio location signal, even though all of the communication modules 108 in the array 120 would at least nominally receive the signal.
The wireless module 108 a then transmits the response to the first radio location transceiver 114. The first radio location transceiver 114 employs one or more techniques to determine a distance value based on the transmission of the radio location signal and the receipt of the responsive signal. One such method involves a radar-type technique which is describe below in connection with
The second radio location transceiver 116 also transmits a location signal with the parameter unique to the wireless module 108 a and receives a responsive signal. The second radio location transceiver 116 similarly generates its own distance information.
In accordance with the present embodiment, the first and second location transceivers 114 and 116 transmit the distance information to the wireless hub 128, preferably through the rack transponder 110. The wireless hub 128 uses the two distances to determine the array location, employing the method described above in connection with
The third general feature of the system 100 is to provide sensor data responsive to a request. In one operation, the work station 134 generally maintains sensor data for all the cages 106 as described above. Accordingly, an operator may request current sensor information for any of the cages 106 by formulating a query to the work station 134. To this end, the work station 134 may suitable have a front end and data handling capability similar to that of the INSIGHT™ model workstation, which is typically used as a data server for HVAC and other building systems, and which is available from Siemens Building Technologies, Inc. of Buffalo Grove, Ill.
In some cases it is preferable to obtain current sensor data from the wireless modules 108 themselves instead of obtaining the sensor data maintained by the work station 132. In some embodiments, for example, the work station 132 may not maintain sensor data as it is received, but rather further processes or filters the data. The operation of requesting data from the sensor modules 108 is known as “polling” the wireless modules 108.
In the exemplary embodiment described herein, the wireless hub 128 is operable to receive polling requests via wireless signals from the PWD 134. A polling request preferably includes information identifying the cage and the type of sensor data requested. Alternatively, a polling request may only identify the cage, in which case all of the current sensor data of the identified cage is requested.
Consider an example in which the PWD 134 generates a polling request for sensor data from the cage 106 a of
It will be appreciated that the work station 134 or other devices, not shown, connected to the LAN 130 may generate similar polling requests that are satisfied through the wireless hub 128 in the same manner.
The above operations provide significant advantages over prior art methods of tracking the location of cages and/or obtaining data regarding certain conditions of the cages in a multiple cage environment. It will be appreciated that some advantages of the invention will be realized in a system in which the sensor data monitoring and/or polling operations are available even if the automatic cage location operation is not incorporated. Similarly, some of the advantages of the invention may be realized in a cage system that only incorporates the cage location operation and not the sensor telemetry operations described above.
It is noted also that by employing individual data transponders 110, 112, on each rack 102, 104, the wireless modules 108 have reduced antenna requirements and/or reduced transmission power requirements. As a consequence, the wireless modules 108 may have a smaller physical size. The smaller sized wireless modules 108 advantageously have less impact on the size requirements of the cages 106. By contrast, if large, high power RF transceiver circuits were employed, the size of the cages 106 may have to be significantly enlarged. Moreover, the heat generated by such high power circuits could adversely affect the animals within the cages 106.
To further reduce power and size requirements, it is preferable if the sensors used on the wireless modules 106 incorporate MEMs technology. Moreover, to reduce power requirements, it is preferable if the wireless modules 108 limit the number of sensor data transmissions. In the embodiment described herein, the sensor modules 108 include filters that actively determine whether enough change has occurred in a particular sensed condition to justify a transmission to the wireless hub 128 (i.e. through its corresponding rack transponder).
It will be appreciated that in the present embodiment, the elements 302, 304, 306 and 308 may all be connected using conductive interconnects 309 that are formed on the semiconductor substrate 301. Such conductive interconnects 309 may suitably be metallic interconnects or traces and/or polysilicon conductors, that are formed on the substrate 301 using known techniques.
In general, the RF circuit 302 is operable to communicate using local wireless communication protocols such as Bluetooth, or other short-range wireless protocols. In the embodiment described herein, the RF circuit 302 is operable to communicate data signals to and from a wireless transponder such as the transponder 110 of
The antenna 408 is operable to radiate signals generated by the radar transponder system 402 and/or the RF data transmitter 404, and is further operable to receive externally-generated signals and, if appropriate, pass the signals on to the radar transponder system 402 and/or the RF data receiver 406. In the embodiment described herein, the frequency modulated continuous wave radar transponder system 402 employs a different operating frequency than the data transmitter 404 and data receiver 406. Accordingly, the RF circuit 302 also includes a first diplexer 410 coupled between the antenna that passes only those signals in the operating band of the radar transponder system 402 between the antenna 408 and the radar transponder system 402, and passes only those signals in the operating band of either the data transmitter 404 or the data receiver 406 to a data communication line 412. The data communication line 412 further connects to a second diplexer 413 that separates received RF data signals (in a first subband) from transmitted RF data signals (in a second subband). The second diplexer 413 is operably connected to provide the first subband signals from the data communication line 412 to the RF data receiver 406, and provide second subband signals from the RF data transmitter 404 to the communication line 412.
The RF data receiver 406 is a circuit operable to receive Bluetooth, or other types of short range RF signals. In some cases, the data receiver 406 is further operable to convert the signal energy of the incoming RF signal into bias energy that may be used to recharge the batteries, or other energy storage device of the power management circuit 304. In any event, the RF data receiver 406 is preferably operable to frequency-convert and demodulate received RF signals, and to provide the resulting baseband data signals to the processing circuit 306 via receiver output 416. Suitable receivers having the above-described qualities are known in the art.
Similarly, the RF data transmitter 404 is operable to transmit Bluetooth, or other types of short range RF signals. The RF data transmitter 404 is operable to modulate data signals received from the processing circuit 306 via transmitter input 414. The RF data transmitter 404 is further operable to frequency-convert the modulated data signals to the appropriate channel transmission frequency, if conversion is necessary. Suitable transmitters having the above-described qualities are known in the art. The RF data transmitter 404 is operable to provide the frequency-converted data signals to the antenna 408 via the diplexers 410, 413 and the communication line 412.
The frequency modulated continuous wave (FMCW) radar transponder system 402 includes a bandpass filter 418, a high frequency oscillator 420, a clock circuit 422, and a control circuit 424. In general, the clock circuit 422 drives the oscillator 420 to be switched on an off at a signature or unique frequency for the wireless module 300. Thus, each wireless module 108 of the system 100 of
The oscillator 420 is configured to be excitable by a received signal that is quasi-phase coherent with the clocking signal. Thus, only received signals that are coherent to the clock signal frequency of the clock circuit 422 will excite the oscillator 420. The bandpass filter 418 is configured to reduce the noise due to modulation by-products of the switching clocking signal. The control circuit 424 is a feedback control circuit that regulates the oscillator 420 to its signature frequency. The above described FMCW radar transponder system 402 circuit is designed to work with compatible base station, which in the embodiment described herein, is the radio location transceiver 900 of
It will be appreciated that the RF circuit 302 of
Referring again to
The processing circuit 306 is operable to generally obtain data from the sensor module 308, filter it, and prepare the data for transmission. The processing circuit 306 is further operable to process data or information received from the RF data receiver 404 of the RF circuit 302.
The digital signal processor 502 includes a data input 506 which is operably connected to receive digital sensor data from the sensor module 308, a power input 508 which is operably connected to the battery of the power management circuit 304, a communication input 510 and a communication output 512. The communication input 510 is operably connected to the RF data receiver 406 (via receiver output 416) of the RF circuit 302, and the communication output 512 is operably connected to the RF data transmitter 404 (via transmitter input 414) of the RF circuit 302.
The DSP 502 is operable to obtain measurement values from sensor module 308 via the data input 508 and then perform a filtering operation on the measurement values. The DSP 502 is further operable to determine whether to cause the RF circuit 302 to transmit a signal to an external device based at least in part on the filtering operation. The filtering operation in a first embodiment includes performing an averaging function of each type of measurement value to filter out any spurious noise or aberrational momentary measurements obtained in the sensor module 308. The averaging function may be a weighted running average, a simple running average, or the like.
It will be appreciated that if the sensor module 308 is configured to measure multiple different conditions, such as temperature, humidity and the like, then the DSP 502 performs the filtering operation for measurement values of each condition separately. Thus, the DSP 502 filters temperature measurement values, filters humidity measurement values, and so forth.
In order to determine whether to transmit any of the filtered measurement values, the DSP 502 determines whether a filtered measurement value differs by more than a predetermined threshold from the previously transmitted value. In other words, if the current filtered value does not differ significantly from the last value transmitted, then the DSP 502 does not transmit the new data, thereby decreasing the number of transmissions to conserve power.
In step 606, the resulting filtered measurement value AVE is compared to a reference value REF. Typically, the value REF is the most recent filtered measurement value that was transmitted to the external data server (e.g. work station 132) via the RF circuit 302. In any event, the result different DIFF is equal to the absolute value of the difference between REF and AVE.
In step 608, the DSP 502 determines if DIFF exceeds a predetermined hysteresis threshold TH. If not, then the DSP 502 proceeds to step 610 and no value is caused to be transmitted externally. If so, however, then the DSP 502 proceeds to step 612 and causes the value AVE to be transmitted via the RF circuit 302. To this end, the DSP 502 provides a data signal that includes information representative of the value AVE to the communication output 512.
It will be appreciated that it may be advantageous to transmit all other measurement values in step 612. In particular, as long as one measurement value must be transmitted because of a notable change, there is relatively little power cost in transmitting the other measurement values as well. Thus, even if the other measurement values have not changed significantly, they may be transmitted if at least one has changed significantly. For example, if the temperature measurement value AVE differs from the reference temperature value REF by more than the threshold TH, it may be advantageous to transmit the other filtered values (e.g. humidity and/or gas levels) even if those other filtered values do not differ from their reference values.
In any event, in step 612, the DSP 502 causes at least the measurement value AVE to be transmitted externally, for example, to the wireless hub 128 via the rack transponder. In this manner, the work station 132 is kept up to date with the most current sensor values of each cage 106, with reduced power strain on the individual communication modules 108.
Referring again to
In step 610, which is executed after either step 608 or step 614 as described above, the DSP 502 awaits a new measurement value. The measurement period (time between measurements) may vary based on user preference. However, the measurement period should balance the need for relatively frequent updates for animal safety, particularly in light of the filter tap number N, with the need for limiting power consumption.
In addition to the above functions of
Referring generally to
MEMS sensors capability of measurement temperature, humidity, CO2, and NH3 are known in the art. Such sensors are typically formed having a ceramic base and an active MEMs structure, and often include semiconductor components that generate values based on the mechanical or other property of the active MEMS structure. In accordance with the present invention, the semiconductor components or regions of the MEMS sensors 702, 704, 706 and 708 are formed in the silicon substrate 301, and the ceramic base and active MEMS structures are attached to the silicon substrate 301 using flip chip bonding technology.
It can be readily appreciated that the drain region 814 and source region 812 may be implanted or otherwise formed in the semiconductor substrate 301 of the wireless module 300. The sensitive layer 808 and metallization layers 804, which are supported on the ceramic substrate 802, are placed in position and then ceramic substrate 802 is mounted on the silicon substrate 301 using polymer flip chip bonds 806. It will be appreciated that both gas sensors 706 and 708, as well as the temperature sensor 702 and humidity sensor 704, may be formed on the same ceramic substrate 802 which is then flip chip bonded to the substrate 301 of the wireless module 300.
Another suitable construction of multiple MEMS sensors on a single silicon substrate is shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,471,853 to Moscaritolo, issued Oct. 29, 2002, which is incorporated herein by reference.
The use of MEMS sensors 702, 704, 706, and 708 greatly reduces the size and power consumption of the overall sensor module 308 as compared to a sensor module that uses conventional sensor devices. The operation of the wireless module 300 is describe with general reference to
Under normal circumstances, each of the MEMS sensors 702, 704, 706 and 708 will provide measurement values to the DSP 502 via the driver circuit 710 in an ongoing basis. As described above, the DSP 502 filters each sensor value to derive a filtered temperature measurement value, a filtered humidity measurement value, a filtered CO2 measurement value, and a filtered NH3 measurement value. (See step 604 of
To transmit the signal, the DSP 502 causes a data signal to be generated that includes information representative of the one or more filtered measurement values. The DSP 502 provides the generated data signal to the data transmitter 404 of the RF circuit 302 via the communication output 510. The data transmitter 404 modulates the data signal onto a first RF signal, and then converts the frequency of the first RF signal to a suitable communication channel frequency. The converted RF signal propagates through diplexer 413, which is configured to pass signals having the signal band of the converted RF signal between the RF data transmitter 404 and the communication line 412. The converter RF signal further propagates through the diplexer 413, which is configured to pass signals having the signal band of the converted RF signal between the communication line 412 and the antenna 408. The signal radiates from the antenna 408 to a corresponding receiver in the rack transponder (e.g. rack transponder 110 or 112). The rack transponder relays the signal to the room hub 128.
As discussed further above, sensor data may also be pulled from the sensor data. In other words, another device within the telemetry system 100 may generate a polling request for the wireless module 300. As also discussed above, the wireless module 300 receives the polling requests through the rack transponder (e.g. rack transponder 110 or 112). The received polling request is in the form of an RF signal modulated with digital data representative of the request. The antenna 408 receives the signal, which has a signal band configured to pass through the diplexers 410 and 413 to the receiver 406. The receiver 406 demodulates or otherwise obtains a data signal representative of the request from the RF signal and provides the data signal to the DSP 502 through the communication input 510. The DSP 502 processes the request, and provides one or more of the current filtered measurement values (value AVE calculated in step 604 of
It is noted that the wireless module 300 may receive other control signals in the same manner as the polling request described above. Such other control signals may include filter parameter adjustments, alarm threshold changes, or hysteresis threshold adjustments, among other things. Filter parameters may include the number of samples used in averaging, known as the filter tap number. Other parameters may include the weighting of the taps, or other parameters of other types of filters.
Operation of the wireless module 300 in the location operation described above in connection with
The FMCW radar base station circuit 902 is a device configured to transmit and receive FMCW radar signals and generate distance information based on the transmitted and received signals. Such devices are known, and a suitable one for use with the FMCW radar circuit 402 of the wireless module 108 is shown and described in PCT/DE02/04098.
The directional antenna 904 is arranged such that it radiates RF signals and receives RF signals only from a limited “field of vision”, name, along its corresponding array of cages 106.
The communication circuit 906 is a circuit that is operable to communicate with the wireless hub 128 either directly or via a rack transponder such as the rack trasponders 110 or 112 of
As discussed above, two radio location transceivers which may each have the structure of the transceiver 900 are allocated to each array of cage 106. Thus, referring to
Referring again to
If, however, a wireless module 300 receives an FMCW radar signal that is intended for that module, the signal will be received by the antenna 408 and will cause excitation of the oscillator 420 because of the coherence between the received signal and the switching frequency of the clock circuit 422. The excitation of the oscillator 420 results in the transmission of a responsive location RF signal via the antenna 408.
Referring again to
The wireless hub 128 may use any of a variety of methods to communicate with the multiple transponders 110 and 112 of the system 100 while avoiding interfering transmissions. In some environments, as many as ten or twenty racks (and corresponding transponders) may be present. In such a case, the RF communication circuit 1002 of the wireless hub 128 must employ some method of avoiding loss of data due to multiple simultaneous transmissions. This may be accomplished in many ways. For example, the RF communication circuit 1002, under the control of the processing circuit 1004, may execute a schedule in which it systematically and sequentially polls each transponder (e.g. transponders 110 and 112) for any messages generated by the wireless modules 108 and/or radio location transceivers (e.g. transceivers 114 and 116). Time slots in the schedule may also be allocated for transmitting data to the transponders and for receiving requests from PWD devices such as the PWD device 134. Alternatively, the wireless hub 134 may contain a separate RF communication circuit for communicating with PWD devices.
The processing circuit 1004 generally controls the operation of the RF communication circuit 1002, and further processes sensor data and location data received from the RF communication circuit 1002. The processing circuit 1004 further generates messages necessary to carry out polling requests, location requests, and parameter changes for the wireless modules 108. Such messages are provided to the RF communication circuit 1002 for transmission to the appropriate rack transponder.
The LAN interface 1006 may suitably include a standard Ethernet card or other interface circuit that enables communication with other devices connected to a LAN. Thus, the LAN interface 1006 receives messages from other devices (e.g. work station 132) and provides the messages to the processing circuit 1004. Such messages may include, for example, polling requests, module/cage location requests, and requests to change parameters on one or more of the wireless modules 108. The LAN interface 1006 further conveys data messages that are generated by the processing circuit 1004 to other devices on the LAN, such as the work station 132. Such data messages may include sensor data and location data that is obtained in the manner described above.
It will be appreciated that the LAN interface 1006 may include a wired LAN connection such as an Ethernet card or the like, or may include a circuit operable to communicated on a wireless LAN. Alternative embodiments may employ an interface to other types of computer networks to enable communication with other computers using network protocols.
The processing circuit 1104 is operable to store message received from either the wireless hub 128 or wireless modules, and coordinate retransmission of such messages as necessary. The processing circuit 1104 is further operable to receive distance information from the radio location transceivers and forward the information to the wireless hub 128.
The sensor driver module 1200 is shown in schematic form of discrete elements, including integrate circuits and jumpers. However, those of ordinary skill in art may readily form integrated circuits directly into a semiconductor substrate such as the substrate 301, and provide electronic switches and connectors in a semiconductor substrate instead of jumpers. The sensor driver module 1200 is further arranged to multiple operational modes. In one mode, the sensor driver module 1200 measures the variation in the source-drain current of the suspended gate FET of
It will be appreciated that those of ordinary skill in the art may readily devise their own sensor driver modules capable of carrying out such either or both of such operations either independently or based on the schematic diagram of the module 1200 of
The output circuit 1208 compares the value current to two output threshold values, HIGH and LOW, to determine whether the value CURRENT is above both threshold values, between the two threshold values, or below the two threshold values. The output circuit 1208 thus generates a two bit output that is representative of three different levels of the value CURRENT. Such an output circuit 1208 could be used as a direct digital input to the processing circuit.
The output circuit 1206 provides a filtered DC level output which also measures the variation in the value CURRENT.
The sensor driver module 1200 contains a reference generation circuit 1202. The reference generation circuit 1202 provides, among other things, a reference voltage REF that is used by each of the output circuits 1206 and 1208 for comparison against the value CURRENT. In the output circuit 1206, the value CURRENT is compared to the value REF by a first differential amplifier 1228. For the output circuit 1208, the thresholds HIGH and LOW are derived from the value REF by a resistive divider 1210.
The reference generation circuit 1202 also includes the elements necessary to operate in the other mode in which the gate-voltage is regulated. In such a case, the output 1230 of the reference generation circuit 1202 provides the regulation voltage that is indicative of gas presence.
As discussed above, those of ordinary skill in the art may readily devise their own driver circuits having generally the features of converting suspended gate FET operational parameters into readable DC voltage levels or binary values. The circuit of
It will be appreciated that the above described embodiments are merely illustrative, and that those of ordinary skill in the art may readily devise their own adaptations and implementations that incorporate one or more of the inventive aspects described herein and fall within the spirit and scope thereof. It will further be appreciate that while the cage modules 108 and 300 are described in connection with animal cages, such devices used in accordance with one or more of the inventive aspects described herein may be used in other environments.
It will further be appreciated that although the term “wireless” is used to describe the wireless module 108 and 300, suitable modules incorporating at least some of the advantages of the present invention may still include some wiring. The term wireless as used herein means having the capability to perform at least some communication using so-called wireless techniques, in other words, radio communications. The term wireless is not intended to describe a condition of having a complete absence of wires.
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|U.S. Classification||340/539.13, 119/455, 119/712, 340/573.3, 340/573.1|
|International Classification||G08B1/08, G08B23/00, A01K1/02|
|Mar 28, 2005||AS||Assignment|
Owner name: SIEMENS AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT, GERMANY
Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNORS:GLANZER, MARTIN;FLEISCHER, MAXIMILIAN;GULDEN, PETER;REEL/FRAME:016403/0879;SIGNING DATES FROM 20050118 TO 20050218
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Owner name: SIEMENS INDUSTRY, INC.,GEORGIA
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