Nothing Special   »   [go: up one dir, main page]

WO2017010956A1 - A monitoring system - Google Patents

A monitoring system Download PDF

Info

Publication number
WO2017010956A1
WO2017010956A1 PCT/TR2016/000089 TR2016000089W WO2017010956A1 WO 2017010956 A1 WO2017010956 A1 WO 2017010956A1 TR 2016000089 W TR2016000089 W TR 2016000089W WO 2017010956 A1 WO2017010956 A1 WO 2017010956A1
Authority
WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
unit
cmu
sound
communication device
received
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/TR2016/000089
Other languages
French (fr)
Inventor
Izzet Fatih BIRBENLI
Original Assignee
Birbenli Izzet Fatih
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Birbenli Izzet Fatih filed Critical Birbenli Izzet Fatih
Publication of WO2017010956A1 publication Critical patent/WO2017010956A1/en

Links

Classifications

    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
    • A61B—DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION
    • A61B5/00—Measuring for diagnostic purposes; Identification of persons
    • A61B5/0002—Remote monitoring of patients using telemetry, e.g. transmission of vital signals via a communication network
    • A61B5/0015—Remote monitoring of patients using telemetry, e.g. transmission of vital signals via a communication network characterised by features of the telemetry system
    • A61B5/0022—Monitoring a patient using a global network, e.g. telephone networks, internet
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
    • A61B—DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION
    • A61B5/00—Measuring for diagnostic purposes; Identification of persons
    • A61B5/24—Detecting, measuring or recording bioelectric or biomagnetic signals of the body or parts thereof
    • A61B5/316—Modalities, i.e. specific diagnostic methods
    • A61B5/318—Heart-related electrical modalities, e.g. electrocardiography [ECG]
    • A61B5/33—Heart-related electrical modalities, e.g. electrocardiography [ECG] specially adapted for cooperation with other devices
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G16—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR SPECIFIC APPLICATION FIELDS
    • G16H—HEALTHCARE INFORMATICS, i.e. INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR THE HANDLING OR PROCESSING OF MEDICAL OR HEALTHCARE DATA
    • G16H40/00—ICT specially adapted for the management or administration of healthcare resources or facilities; ICT specially adapted for the management or operation of medical equipment or devices
    • G16H40/60—ICT specially adapted for the management or administration of healthcare resources or facilities; ICT specially adapted for the management or operation of medical equipment or devices for the operation of medical equipment or devices
    • G16H40/67—ICT specially adapted for the management or administration of healthcare resources or facilities; ICT specially adapted for the management or operation of medical equipment or devices for the operation of medical equipment or devices for remote operation
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
    • A61B—DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION
    • A61B5/00—Measuring for diagnostic purposes; Identification of persons
    • A61B5/0002—Remote monitoring of patients using telemetry, e.g. transmission of vital signals via a communication network
    • A61B5/0004—Remote monitoring of patients using telemetry, e.g. transmission of vital signals via a communication network characterised by the type of physiological signal transmitted
    • A61B5/0006—ECG or EEG signals
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
    • A61B—DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION
    • A61B5/00—Measuring for diagnostic purposes; Identification of persons
    • A61B5/0002—Remote monitoring of patients using telemetry, e.g. transmission of vital signals via a communication network
    • A61B5/0004—Remote monitoring of patients using telemetry, e.g. transmission of vital signals via a communication network characterised by the type of physiological signal transmitted
    • A61B5/0008—Temperature signals
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
    • A61B—DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION
    • A61B5/00—Measuring for diagnostic purposes; Identification of persons
    • A61B5/01—Measuring temperature of body parts ; Diagnostic temperature sensing, e.g. for malignant or inflamed tissue
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
    • A61B—DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION
    • A61B5/00—Measuring for diagnostic purposes; Identification of persons
    • A61B5/24—Detecting, measuring or recording bioelectric or biomagnetic signals of the body or parts thereof
    • A61B5/316—Modalities, i.e. specific diagnostic methods
    • A61B5/318—Heart-related electrical modalities, e.g. electrocardiography [ECG]

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to a monitoring system which enables to monitor people who need monitoring and care such as babies, elderly persons or patients by means of cameras, sound sensors, various sensors and over smart devices.
  • one of these units (particularly the unit with capability of receiving and transmitting sound, if one of them is provided with said capability) is placed at the environment where the person who needs monitoring and care such as baby, elderly person or patient is located and sounds are received from this environment and then they are transmitted to the other unit by using a short- range RF (Radio Frequency) communication technology.
  • RF Radio Frequency
  • these solutions which are not different than any radio system have two main problems.
  • One of them is that, continuous and uninterrupted sound broadcasting is made from the environment where a baby, elderly person or patient is located. This causes the signal emission in the environment to be continuous and uninterrupted as well and it can lead to various problems arising from electromagnetic signal emission for babies particularly.
  • the fact that power consumption is too high is another disadvantage of continuous and uninterrupted sound broadcasting. Power consumption required by the process of receiving and transmitting sound is made consistently and this either requires to replace, charge batteries of units too often or a necessity, to position it near a power socket by compromising on mobility and to use it without batteries, arises.
  • the baby walkie-talkies with two units users have to purchase both units, it is required to learn about the newly purchased units as a new device and to get used to using them; and it is not possible to connect more than one listener unit to a sound receiving and transmitting unit when it is desired to carry out monitoring by more than one people.
  • the fact that sound transmission from the listener units to the sound receiving and transmitting unit also causes the voice of the monitoring person not to be transmitted to the monitored person such as baby, patient, elderly person with the purpose of sedating, tranquilizing or informing.
  • Another solution used today is monitoring solutions which include video camera.
  • image of the monitored person is captured and broadcasted continuously and uninterruptedly in these solutions as well and this leads to the fact that problems are experienced in terms of power consumption, the monitoring person has to watch the video image continuously since no image processing process is performed on the image for interpretation and results in various usage deficiencies and problems.
  • Another deficient point of existing video and audio monitoring solutions is that they offer opportunity to evaluate the monitoring and care process only over image and sound and they are not configured to enable the use of another data.
  • the baby's body temperature (fever) or pulse/breathing rate may exceed a certain level and the monitoring person may miss that situation since there is no abnormality in voice or image despite the fact that this condition must be handled by the monitoring person.
  • a monitoring system and solution which listens to the sounds in the environment where the monitored person is located, carries out the processing for sorting out sound source, sound direction, sound level, ambient sounds by converting sound into digital data, can also take image from the environment where the monitored person is located, does not only perform emergency determinations on the basis of sound and image but also uses the data on the monitored person and received from the sensors in the environment for determining the emergency situation, has a central monitoring unit enabling to transmit the voice of the monitoring person to the monitored person as well, wherein the central monitoring unit initiates sound and image broadcasting not all the time but only when situations in accordance with pre-determined emergency situations occurs, thus level of signal emitted in the environment is reduced, the central monitoring unit can be managed by a smart device such as a smart phone or tablet, which also enables to carry out monitoring remotely and from everywhere where it is possible to
  • German patent application document no. DE202004014835 an application in the state of the art, discloses a device and system for monitoring and watching babies which listens to sounds in an environment and carries out transmission to the other party when the sound level exceeds a particular threshold value.
  • the United States patent application document no. US8314696 discloses a baby monitoring system comprising a baby unit and a parent unit.
  • the baby unit transmits sound signals to the parent unit by detecting the noise in the environment
  • the processor included in the parent unit generates a noise history by processing the sound signals, and it is ensured that the notification lights located on the parent unit are turned on according to this noise history.
  • the Turkish patent application document no. TR201103561 discloses an invention related to monitoring the conditions of human body. Particularly, this invention is related to monitoring movements of for example a baby's body in order to monitor breathing, heartbeat, body temperature and so on. In the said system, only body movements are monitored and no control process or monitoring is enabled related to sound and image.
  • the Turkish patent application document no. TR2006060808 discloses a body temperature and pulse monitoring system by means of RF (Radio Frequency) which is developed for monitoring body temperature and pulse particularly in new-born babies and children including adults and informing parents or users about the situation as a result of the fever going up instantly during sleep particularly in babies and children.
  • RF Radio Frequency
  • a sensor monitoring system is mentioned and it is stated that no image and sound monitoring and transmission is carried out. This causes the monitoring person (for example, parent) to miss the conditions - such as the fever of a baby does not go up but s/he wakes up and cries for fear - because they cannot be determined via sensors.
  • the Turkish patent application document no. TR201305605 discloses an electronic system recognizing baby voice which comprises: baby voice recognition element, touchscreen LCD/TFT display, audio output cable, speaker, microphone cable, microphone, remote audio, remote control buttons, RF/Bluetooth remote control, function buttons, internal microphone, internal speaker, mobile phone, internal microphone, microphone output connector elements within itself.
  • the said system essentially discloses a system which is developed so as to be mounted to baby cradles and it enables to make baby listen to a pre-recorded mother's voice from a speaker by listening to the voice of the baby and detecting when the baby cries or starts crying.
  • the wearable device called as smart sock which is included in the state of the art and described in the website with address of https://www.owletcare.com detects the oxygen ratio in baby's breath and blood and ensures that these information are transmitted to a mobile application installed on a smart phone over cloud.
  • the baby monitoring system which is included in the state of the art and described in the website with address of https://www.mimobaby.com discloses an apparatus which can be placed at top of a baby's wear and used with the purpose of getting information about conditions such as breathing, sleeping quality of a baby and listening to baby's voice.
  • a speech voice of the person such as a baby, patient, elderly person
  • Another objective of the present invention is to realize a monitoring system wherein a process of noise cancellation is carried out and background sounds are not taken into consideration in order to recognize the voice of the monitored person (such as a baby, patient, elderly person) in an environment clearly.
  • Another objective of the present invention is to realize a monitoring system which enables to notify a related mobile device about movement and health condition of the monitored person (such as a baby, patient, elderly person) according to the data received from the sensors, preferably located on a wear.
  • Another objective of the present invention is to realize a monitoring system wherein communication between the central unit and the smart phone included in thereof is provided over a central server and thus which enables "the person who will carry out monitoring to carry out monitoring remotely and without any distance limit (over Internet) as well and to be informed about abnormal situations.
  • Another objective of the present invention is to realize a monitoring system wherein information related to the sound, image and sensor data determined by the central monitoring unit are kept on the central server for statistical purpose; and which ensures that these statistical data are accessed by the monitoring person or another person responsible at any time and evaluation, alerting and notifying are carried out over these data.
  • Another objective of the present invention is to realize a monitoring system which enables to transmit the voice of the monitoring person (such as a baby, patient, elderly person) received over the smart device to the monitored person (such as a baby, patient, elderly person) over the central unit.
  • Another objective of the present invention is to realize a monitoring system which enables to activate various visual and audio alerts located on the central unit according to the commands issued by the monitoring person over the smart device and to transmit these visual and audio signals to the monitoring person.
  • Figure 1 is a top-level schematic block diagram of the inventive system.
  • FIG. 2 is a detailed schematic block diagram of the wearable sensor unit included within the inventive system.
  • FIG. 3 is a detailed schematic block diagram of the central monitoring unit included within the inventive system.
  • FIG. 4 is a detailed schematic block diagram of the smart communication device included within the inventive system.
  • Figure 5 is a drawing of an exemplary external view of the central monitoring unit included within the inventive system.
  • Figure 6 is a drawing of an exemplary external view of the wearable sensor unit included within the inventive system.
  • Figure 7 is an exemplary drawing of the smart communication device included within the inventive system and the user interface shown on the display of the smart communication device.
  • Electrocardiogram (ECG) sensor
  • Control unit-WSU
  • Audio output unit-SCD 502. Audio output unit-SCD
  • a system (1 ) for monitoring people such as baby, elderly person, patient remotely comprises:
  • At least one wearable sensor unit (2) which is designed to be worn by the monitored person (A) such as baby, elderly person, patient; and enables to obtain information related to the body of the monitored person (A);
  • At least one central monitoring unit (3) which is located in the environment where the monitored person (A) such as baby, elderly person, patient is located; and enables that data such as sound, image, information about environment are received and it is transmitted to the monitoring person (B) and the sound and commands received from the monitoring person (B) are received and processed;
  • the central monitoring unit (3) transmits the data from the wearable sensor unit (2) related to the body of the monitored person (A) and determined by itself with respect to the environment where the monitored person (A) is located, under various conditions;
  • At least one smart communication device (5) which enables the monitoring person (B) to receive and display the data that the central monitoring unit (3) receives from the wearable sensor unit (2) and determines by itself about the environment where the monitored person (A) is located and also to send his/her own voice and commands to the central monitoring unit (3); communicates with the central monitoring unit (3) directly or over a central server (4), upon being matched with the central monitoring unit (3);
  • At least one communication coverage extender (6) which enables to improve coverages of the communication technologies that the central monitoring unit (3) has, over the same commmuni cation technology or by converting communication technology ( Figure 1).
  • At least one accelerometer (201) which enables to measure acceleration
  • At least one gyroscope (202) which enables to sense 6-axis movement
  • At least one temperature sensor-WSU (203) which enables to measure the body temperature of the monitored person (A);
  • ECG electrocardiogram
  • At least one communication unit-WSU (205) which enables the wearable sensor unit (2) to communicate with the central monitoring unit (3) directly;
  • control unit-WSU which performs tasks of switching on/off the sensors located within the wearable sensor unit (2); converting the values received from these sensors into digital data; checking these digital data according to the pre-determined threshold values; in the event that these digital data or the digital data are below or above of the threshold values, managing the communication unit-WSU (205) in order that a warning related to this is transmitted to the central monitoring unit (3) and transmitting these digital data to the communication unit-WSU (205);
  • At least one indicator unit-WSU (208) which enables to indicate information related to the operating and fault status of the sensors and the communication unit-WSU (205) and the control unit-WSU (206) included within the wearable sensor unit (2) and the current power level and connection status of the power unit-WSU (207) ( Figure 2).
  • the power unit-WSU (207) is a unit which is included within the wearable sensor unit (2) and provides power to all elements needing power for operating. Since the said characteristic for providing power is apparent and for the purpose of not to cause confusion in the Figure 2, it is decided that emphasizing this characteristic is not necessary by taking out a single arrow from the element no. 207 for each element in the Figure 2. This explanation is made which is particularly stated in order that any person reading and evaluating this patent is mistaken such as considering the element no. 207 in the Figure 2 as an element which is not associated with the other elements.
  • At least one camera-CMU (301) which enables to display the environment where the monitored person (A) is located; at least one sound receiving unit-CMU (302) which enables to receive the sounds in the environment where the monitored person (A) is located;
  • At least one temperature sensor-CMU (303) which enables to determine the ambient temperature in the environment where the monitored person (A) is located;
  • At least one communication unit-CMU (304) which enables the central monitoring unit (3) to communicate with the wearable sensor unit (2) directly and also the smart communication device (5) directly or over the communication coverage extender (6) and/or the central server (4) as bidirectionally;
  • control unit-CMU which enables to process and evaluate the sensor data received from the wearable sensor unit (2), the sound data received from the sound receiving unit-CMU (302) and the images received from the camera-CMU (301 ), check them according to certain threshold values and decide for sending notification to the smart communication device (5) in certain circumstances directly or over the communication coverage extender (6) and/or the central server (4); performs the duty of a being management element for the elements within the central monitoring unit (3);
  • At least one real time clock (306) which carries out time measurement in order that the control unit-CMU (305) is induced so as to perform its tasks upon being induced periodically and shares these measurement information with the control unit-CMU (305);
  • At least one power unit-CMU (307) which is included within the central monitoring unit (3) and acts as a power source in order to provide power to the elements which need energy;
  • At least one memory-CMU (308) wherein essentially the data reaching the central monitoring unit (3) over the wearable sensor unit (2), the information of threshold values whereby these data will be evaluated, descriptive information about the smart communication device (5) that is authorized as being able to interact with the central monitoring unit (3) and/or the monitoring person (B), descriptive information about the central server (4) and the database (401 ) in cases of communicating with the central server (4), instructions having an effect on operation of the control unit-CMU (305) are kept;
  • At least one audio output unit-CMU (309) which enables to make the monitored person (A) listen to the pre-recorded sounds or the live sounds transmitted by the monitoring person (B) by means of the smart communication device (5);
  • At least one light signalling unit (310) which performs the duty of displaying light to the monitored person (A) in colours and orders that are pre-determined or determined by the monitoring person (B) by means of the smart communication device (5) at that moment; at least one light sensor (31 1) which enables to sense the ambient light level in the environment where the monitored person (A) is located; at least one indicator unit-CMU (312) which enables to display the operation and possible fault status of the elements included within the central monitoring unit (3) and the information about the power level and the connection status of the power unit-CMU (307);
  • At least one illumination light (313) which performs the duty of illuminating the environment in order that the camera-CMU (301) takes image clearly in the event that the environment where the monitored person (A) is located is dark;
  • At least one digital relative humidity meter (314) which measures the relative humidity value in the environment where the monitored person (A) is located ( Figure 3).
  • the power unit-CMU (307) is a unit which is included within the central monitoring unit (3) and provides power to all elements which need power for operating. Since the said characteristic for providing power is apparent and for the purpose of not to cause confusion in the Figure 3, it is decided that emphasizing this characteristic is not necessary by taking out a single arrow from the element no. 307 for each element in the Figure 3. This explanation is made which is particularly stated in order that any person reading and evaluating this patent is mistaken such as considering the element no. 307 in the Figure 3 as a element which is not associated with the other elements.
  • At least one display-SCD (501) which enables to display an interface - which ensures that all kinds of information and data received directly from the central monitoring unit (3) or by means of the communication coverage extender (6) and/or the central server (4) are displayed by the monitoring person (B) and commands related to the processes to be carried out on the wearable sensor unit (2) and the central monitoring unit (3) are given by the monitoring person (B) - to the monitoring person (B);
  • control unit-SCD (503) which enables elements within the smart communication device (5) to be managed in order that all processes about the data and the command exchange realized by the smart communication device (5) with the central monitoring unit (3) directly or over the central server (4) and the communication coverage extender (6) are carried out;
  • At least one communication unit-SCD (504) which is configured such that it will enable the smart communication device (5) to communicate with the central monitoring unit (3) directly or over the central server (4) and the communication coverage extender (6);
  • At least one sound receiving unit-SCD (505) which ensures that voice of the monitoring person (B) is received to be transmitted from the smart communication device (5) towards the central monitoring unit (3) as live or as to be transmitted later;
  • At least one memory-SCD (506) wherein the commands for the processes carried out by the control unit-SCD (503) related to the operation of the smart communication device (5); the interface elements about the interface displayed on the display-SCD (501); information such as descriptive information input by the monitoring person (B) and used in order that communication is realized between the smart communication device (5) and the central server (4), password are kept ( Figure 4).
  • the wearable sensor unit (2) comprises a sensor set which is designed so as to be worn by the monitored person (A) such as baby, patient, elderly person and enables to obtain information about the body of the monitored person (A); and elements which help this sensor set to operate.
  • the wearable sensor unit (2) is a wearable article which is featured such that the monitored person (A) can wear it and in a preferred embodiment of the invention, which is in the form of a band, made of preferably a one-piece and cotton etc. fabric, featured such that it can be worn and taken off easily and sensors can be added on thereof easily by sewing or inserting, and positioned on the chest area of the monitored person (A).
  • the wearable sensor unit (2) is also a unit which comprises flexible rubber parts in places where the sensor units are inserted.
  • the accelerometer (201 ) enables to measure acceleration in order to determine movements of the monitored person (A) such as sleeping/dormant state, breathing rate, fall, sudden straighten-up.
  • the gyroscope (202) acts as a sensor which enables to understand movements of the monitored person (A) such as sleeping/dormant state, breathing rate, turn, sleep laterally, fall.
  • the temperature sensor- WSU (203) is a sensor which enables to measure the body temperature of the monitored person (A).
  • the electrocardiogram (ECG) sensor (204) is a sensor which enables to determine the heart signals and the heart operating status of the monitored person (A).
  • the wearable sensor unit (2) has one or more metal surfaces contacting the body of the monitored person (A) in order that the temperature sensor- WSU (203) and the electrocardiogram (ECG) sensor (204) make the most accurate measurement.
  • the communication unit-WSU (205) is a unit which enables the wearable sensor unit (2) to communicate with the central monitoring unit (3) directly.
  • the communication unit-WSU (205) is a module which supports any close-range communication technology of the type whereby it can communicate with the central monitoring unit (3). While the communication unit-WSU (205) is a unit enabling the wearable sensor unit (2) to communicate with the central monitoring unit (3) by means of RF signals in one embodiment of the invention, it can be a unit enabling the wearable sensor unit (2) to communicate with the central monitoring unit (3) by means of Bluetooth signals in another embodiment of the invention.
  • the control unit-WSU (206) is a unit which performs tasks of switching on/off the sensors located within the wearable sensor unit (2); converting the values received from these sensors into digital data; managing the communication unit-WSU (205) in order that these digital data are transmitted to the central monitoring unit (3); and transmitting these digital data to the communication unit-WSU (205).
  • the control unit-WSU (206) is included in the wearable sensor unit (2) as a micro controller (MCU).
  • the control unit-WSU (206) checks the if the values received from the sensors included within the wearable sensor unit (2) and converted into digital data are above or below a certain threshold value or not by itself; and it does not make a continuous sensor value transfer to the central monitoring unit (3); in the event that the value received from any sensor is above or below certain threshold values, it only transfers the information and warning about this status to the communication unit-WSU (205) so as to be transmitted to the central monitoring unit (3) together with the sensor information and the sensor value.
  • These said threshold values are kept by the control unit-WSU (206).
  • the control unit-WSU (206) also, in one embodiment of the invention, maintains an EEPROM memory and in this memory, it can store the settings of the sensor units, settings about the communication to be performed by the central monitoring unit (3) and the data received from the sensors.
  • the control unit-WSU (206) is a unit which receives the acceleration value measured by the accelerometer (201) and uses it in order to determine movements of the monitored person (A) such as sleeping/dormant state, breathing rate, fall, sudden straighten-up.
  • the control unit-WSU (206) is a unit which receives the values measured by the gyroscope (202) as well and uses them in order to determine movements of the monitored person (A) such as sleeping/dormant state, breathing rate, turn, sleep laterally, fall.
  • the power unit-WSU (207) is a unit which acts as a power source that enables to meet power needs of all elements in need of energy such as the sensors and the communication unit-WSU (205) and the control unit-WSU (206) included within the wearable sensor unit (2).
  • the power unit-WSU (207) is included as button cell (wristwatch battery).
  • the indicator unit-WSU (208) is a unit which enables to indicate information related to the operating, connection and fault status of the sensors and the communication unit-WSU (205) and the control unit-WSU (206) included within the wearable sensor unit (2) and the current power level of the power unit-WSU (207).
  • the indicator unit-WSU (208), in one embodiment of the invention, consists of LED lights whereby operating, connection and fault status are stated with different colours.
  • the LED light flashing in green indicates that there is no problem in operating status whereas the LED light flashing in red indicates that there is a problem in operation of the related element.
  • the indicator unit-WSU (208) comprises a LED light which flashes in green when the power level of the power unit-WSU (207) is enough and flashes in red when the power level of the power unit-WSU (207) is weak.
  • the central monitoring unit (3) is a unit which is located in the environment where the monitored person (A) such as baby, elderly person, patient is located and ensures that data about sound, image, environment can be received and transmitted to the monitoring person (B) and the sound, image and commands received from the monitoring person (B) are received and processed.
  • the camera-CMU (301) is a unit which enables to display the environment where the monitored person (A) is located. In different embodiments of the invention, the camera-CMU (301) can be the one which takes black and white image or can take colour image. In one embodiment of the invention, the camera-CMU (301 ) can be the one which has night vision.
  • the sound receiving unit-CMU (302) is a unit which enables to receive the sounds in the environment where the monitored person (A) is located.
  • the sound receiving unit-CMU (302) comprises a plurality of microphones used for detecting the direction of the sound in the environment and preventing sounds (noise cancellation) except the voice of the monitored person (A).
  • the microphones within the sound receiving unit-CMU (302), in one preferred embodiment of the invention, are located such that they are placed on the side parts and the upper part in accordance with the purpose of direction detection and noise cancellation on the central monitoring unit (3).
  • Different sounds received from a plurality of microphones included within the sound receiving unit-CMU (302) are processed by a noise cancellation algorithm in the state of the art on the control unit-CMU (305) and it is ensured that the voice of the monitored person (A) is transmitted and understood clearly.
  • different sounds received from a plurality of microphones included within the sound receiving unit-CMU (302) are processed by sound processing algorithms in the state of the art on the control unit-CMU (305) and it is ensured that the direction of the voice of the monitored person (A) is determined.
  • the said processes for noise cancellation and determining sound direction are carried out by methods of GSC (Generalized Sidelobe Canceller), Wiener filter.
  • the temperature sensor-CMU (303) is a sensor which enables to determine the ambient temperature in the environment where the monitored person (A) is located.
  • the temperature sensor- CMU (303) contacts the ambient air by means of the metal surface thereof and measures the ambient temperature in this way.
  • the communication unit-CMU (304) is a unit which enables the central monitoring unit (3) to communicate with the wearable sensor unit (2) directly and also the smart communication device (5) directly or bidirectionally over the communication coverage extender (6) and/or the central server (4).
  • the communication unit-CMU (304) is a unit supporting only close-range communication. This close-range communication can be carried out over Bluetooth signals and RF signals.
  • the communication unit-CMU (304) is a unit which uses these technologies supporting close-range communication, it can communicate with the smart communication device (5) over Bluetooth directly or with a communication coverage extender (6) again over Bluetooth.
  • the communication unit-CMU (304) enables the central monitoring unit (3) to receive data from the sensors within the wearable sensor unit (2) by carrying out communication with the wearable sensor unit (2) over Bluetooth or RF signals in any case as well.
  • the communication unit-CMU (304) is also a unit which is configured to be able to establish connection over Wi-Fi signals.
  • the communication unit-CMU (304) can connect to Internet and thus the central server (4) over the communication coverage extender (6) of the central monitoring unit (3) or by connecting to a modem.
  • the communication unit-CMU (304) is also a unit which is configured to be able to use mobile communication network (such as GPRS, Edge, 3G, LTE) or network connection provided over fixed lines so as to enable the central monitoring unit (3) to connect to the central server (4) directly.
  • mobile communication network such as GPRS, Edge, 3G, LTE
  • network connection provided over fixed lines so as to enable the central monitoring unit (3) to connect to the central server (4) directly.
  • the control unit-CMU (305) is a unit which enables to make decision about processing and evaluating the sensor data received from the wearable sensor unit (2), the sound data received from the sound receiving unit-CMU (302) and the images received from the camera-CMU (301), controlling them according to certain threshold values and sending notification to the smart communication device (5) directly in certain circumstances or over the communication coverage extender (6) and/or the central server (4); performs duty of a management element for the elements within the central monitoring unit (3).
  • the control unit-CMU (305) is a CPU (Central Processing Unit) unit.
  • the control unit-CMU (305) is a unit which comprises the instructions that will enable to process and evaluate the sensor data received from the wearable sensor unit (2) or the warnings received from the wearable sensor unit (2), the sounds received from the sound receiving unit-CMU (302) and the images received from the central monitoring unit (3) and to manage the elements located on the central monitoring unit (3) and which performs its operation in accordance with these instructions.
  • the control unit-CMU (305) in one preferred embodiment of the invention, is a unit which is periodically invoked for some tasks such as evaluating the sensor values received from the wearable sensor unit (2), taking the power level status of the power unit-CMU (307), updating the indicator unit-CMU (312) and which carries out its processes at certain intervals.
  • the time information determined by the real time clock (306) is used for these periodical invokes.
  • the said real time clock (306) is a unit which carries out time measurement in order that the control unit-CMU (305) is induced so as to perform its tasks upon being induced periodically and shares these measurement information with the control unit- CMU (305).
  • control unit-CMU (305), within the central monitoring unit (3) is a unit which is configured to be able to perform tasks of:
  • the sound received from the sound receiving unit-CMU (302) and transformed into digital sound is a voice made by the monitored person (A), detecting whether this sound level is higher than a pre-determined sound level;
  • the emotion inferred is one of the pre-determined emotions (for example fear, panic) after the emotion detection process carried out over the digital sound received from the sound receiving unit-CMU (302), sending notification to the smart communication device (5) directly or over the communication coverage extender (6) and/or the central server (4) and starting sound transmission;
  • the pre-determined emotions for example fear, panic
  • the threshold values used by thereof during the tasks performed by the control unit-CMU (305) and the descriptive information relating to the smart communication device (5) to be communicated by compression algorithms are kept in the memory-CMU (308) and they are used upon being read by the control unit-CMU (305) from here.
  • control unit-CMU (305) uses a LPC (Linear Prediction Coding) based algorithm (for example, Speex algorithm) in order to compress the sound received from the sound receiving unit-CMU (302) after it is converted into digital data.
  • LPC Linear Prediction Coding
  • Speex algorithm Speex algorithm
  • control unit-CMU (305) sends each data to be sent to the smart communication device (5) directly or over the communication coverage extender (6) and/or the central server (4) by encrypting it.
  • All information and algorithms used by the smart communication device (5) during the tasks performed by thereof are configured such that they can be updated by the new versions thereof kept in the central server (4) by a command to be issued over the smart communication device (5) or upon being controlled periodically.
  • Process of adding new information and algorithms to the memory- CMU (308) and deleting the old ones is also carried out by the control unit-CMU (305).
  • the power unit-CMU (307) is a unit which is included within the central monitoring unit (3) and acts as a power source in order to provide power to the elements which need energy.
  • the power unit-CMU (307) is a rechargeable battery.
  • the power unit-CMU (307) is an adapter and power regulation unit which is fed from an electrical supply directly and enables the necessary power to be transmitted to the units within the central monitoring unit (3) properly.
  • the memory-CMU (308) is a unit wherein essentially the data reaching the central monitoring unit (3) over the wearable sensor unit (2), the information of threshold values whereby these data will be evaluated, descriptive information about the smart communication device (5) that is authorized as being able to interact with the central monitoring unit (3) and/or the monitoring person (B), descriptive information about the central server (4) and the database (401) in cases of communicating with the central server (4), instructions having an effect on operation of the control unit-CMU (305) are kept.
  • the memory-CMU (308) is a Flash ROM.
  • the audio output unit-CMU (309) is a unit which enables to make the monitored person (A) listen to the pre-recorded sounds or the sounds transmitted by the monitoring person (B) by means of the smart communication device (5) as live.
  • the audio output unit-CMU (309) is a speaker.
  • the light signalling unit (310) is a unit which performs the duty of displaying light to the monitored person (A) in colours and orders that are determined previously or determined by the monitoring person (B) by means of the smart communication device (5) at that moment.
  • the light sensor (31 1) is a unit which enables to sense the light level in the environment where the monitored person (A) is located.
  • the indicator unit-CMU (312) is a unit which enables to display the operation and possible fault status of the elements included within the central monitoring unit (3) and the information about the power level and the connection status of the power unit-CMU (307).
  • the indicator unit-CMU (312) consists of LED lights whereby operating and fault status are stated with different colours.
  • the LED light flashing in green indicates that there is no problem in operating status of the central monitoring unit (3) whereas the LED light flashing in red indicates that there is a problem in operation of the related element of the central monitoring unit (3).
  • indicator unit-CMU (312) comprises a LED light which flashes in green when the power level of the indicator unit-CMU (312) is enough and flashes in red when the power level of the indicator unit-CMU (312) is weak.
  • the indicator unit-CMU (312) is a unit which is included within the central monitoring unit (3) as a separate display.
  • the illumination light (313) is a unit which performs the duty of illuminating the environment in order that the camera-CMU (301) takes image clearly in the event that the environment where the monitored person (A) is located is dark.
  • the digital relative humidity meter (314) is a unit which measures the relative humidity value in the environment where the monitored person (A) is located. By means of the digital relative humidity meter (314), it is ensured that status such as the environment where the monitored person (A) is located is too dry or too damp are determined, in other words a determination can be made about the ambient air quality.
  • the central server (4) is a unit wherein the central monitoring unit (3) transmits the data from the wearable sensor unit (2) related to the body of the monitored person (A) and determined by itself with respect to the environment where the monitored person (A) is located, under various conditions.
  • the central server (4) when a connection request is received by the smart communication device (5), the central server (4) primarily detects for which central monitoring unit (3) does the smart communication device (5) request connection and then controls whether this smart communication device (5) has authority to connect to this central monitoring unit (3).
  • this authorization process can be carried out in different ways.
  • this authorization process can be carried out over the smart communication device (5) upon the monitoring person (B) registers on the central server (4) by a user name and password and indicates descriptive information about the central monitoring unit (3) during the registry.
  • This descriptive information about the central monitoring unit (3) can be information which is determined at random such as serial number such that it will be difficult to be guessed and which is present as added to the database (401) previously.
  • the said authorization process is carried out such that the displaying a QR code located on the central monitoring unit (3) by means of a camera which can be provided in the smart communication device (5) by the monitoring person (B); interpreting this displayed QR code on the smart communication device (5) or the central server (4); and recording this status in the database (401) upon the central monitoring unit (3) and the smart communication device (5) are matched by the central server (4).
  • the database (401 ) is the one wherein the data reaching the central server (4) are kept in an inquirable way and which is managed by the central server (4).
  • the database (401) is also a unit where the information required for the authorization process between the smart communication device (5) and the central monitoring unit (3) are kept.
  • All data relating to the status determined by the central monitoring unit (3) or determined according to the data received from the wearable sensor unit (2) are kept on the database (401) on the basis of the central monitoring unit (3) and these data can be used when historical data and data for statistical purpose are required.
  • the central server (4) determines an emergency status according to the data happened and received for a certain time.
  • the status determined by the central server (4) in this preferred embodiment of the invention are not instant warning notifications determined by the central monitoring unit (3) but they are the status which can be determined after the body temperature or heart beat/breath rate of the monitored person (A), for example who is monitored for 1 week, is exceeds a certain value more than a certain number.
  • the contact information relating to this medical institution and/or health personnel and the condition information to be controlled by the central server (4) before making this type of notification are also kept in the database (401).
  • the smart communication device (5) is a unit which enables the monitoring person (B) to receive and display the data received from the wearable sensor unit (2) of the central monitoring unit (3) and the data determined by itself about the environment where the monitored person (A) is located and also to send its own sound and commands to the central monitoring unit (3); communicates with the central monitoring unit (3) directly or over a central server (4), upon being matched with the central monitoring unit (3).
  • the smart communication device (5) is a smart phone.
  • the smart communication device (5) can be any smart communication device such as a tablet computer, smart television.
  • the smart communication device (5) is configured such that it can connect to Internet over mobile networks or fixed networks and thus communicate with the central server (4).
  • the smart communication device (5) is a communication device that is configured to support close-range communication technologies (for example Bluetooth, Bluetooth LE (Bluetooth Low Energy - Bluetooth 4.0)) for the cases where it can directly establish communication with the central monitoring unit (3).
  • the display-SCD (501) is a unit which enables to display an interface - which ensures that all kinds of information and data received directly from the central monitoring unit (3) or by means of the communication coverage extender (6) and/or the central server (4) are displayed by the monitoring person (B) and commands related to the processes to be carried out on the wearable sensor unit (2) and the central monitoring unit (3) are given by the to the monitoring person (B) - to the monitoring person (B).
  • the display-SCD (501) is a touchscreen display and it acts as an input unit in interaction of the monitoring person (B) with the graphical interface.
  • the audio output unit-SCD (502) is a unit which enables to make the monitoring person (B) to listen the sound data received directly from the central monitoring unit (3) or by means of the communication coverage extender (6) and/or the central server (4) and the warning sounds related to the notifications received from the central monitoring unit (3).
  • the audio output unit-SCD (502) is a speaker.
  • the audio output unit-SCD (502) can be a handset part enabling to hear sound as well.
  • the control unit-SCD (503) is a unit which enables elements within the smart communication device (5) to be managed in order that all processes about the data and the command exchange realized by the smart communication device (5) with the central monitoring unit (3) directly or over the central server (4) and the communication coverage extender (6) are carried out.
  • control unit-SCD (503) consists of a CPU and a graphical processor (GPU - Graphical Processing Unit) enabling to manage the displays to be performed on the display-SCD (501 ) too.
  • the communication unit-SCD (504) is a unit which is configured such that it will enable the smart communication device (5) to communicate with the central monitoring unit (3) directly or over the central server (4) and the communication coverage extender (6).
  • the sound receiving unit-SCD (505) is a unit which ensures that voice of the monitoring person (B) is received to be transmitted from the smart communication device (5) towards the central monitoring unit (3) as live or as to be transmitted later.
  • the memory-SCD (506) is a unit wherein the commands suitable to the processes carried out by the control unit-SCD (503) related to the operation of the smart communication device (5); the interface elements about the interface displayed on the display-SCD (501); information such as descriptive information input by the monitoring person (B) and used in order that communication is realized between the smart communication device (5) and the central server (4), password are kept.
  • the communication coverage extender (6) is a unit which enables to improve coverages of the connection technologies owned by the central monitoring unit (3) over the same connection technology or by converting connection technology.
  • the communication coverage extender (6) receives any close-range communication signal (for example Bluetooth signal) and emits it by repeating without not intervening the content of this signal that it received in accordance with the repeater feature.
  • the central monitoring unit (3) is enabled to make signal exchange throughout the range owned by the communication coverage extender (6) as well in addition to the signal emitting and receiving range owned by the central monitoring unit (3).
  • the same status also applies to the smart communication device (5).
  • the signal emitting and receiving range of the smart communication device (5) is also widened in the event that the Bluetooth signals emitted by the smart communication device (5) are received by the communication coverage extender (6).
  • the communication coverage extender (6) receives the content transmitted by any close-range communication signal (for example Bluetooth signal) and emits the same content to the environment by Wi- Fi signals; enables the smart communication device (5), which is connected to the Wi-Fi network relating to these Wi-Fi signals emitted, to receive the content over the same Wi-Fi network by means of these signals.
  • the communication coverage extender (6) is defined for the cases where it can carry out communication between the central monitoring unit (3) and the smart communication device (5) without using no central server (4).
  • the communication coverage extender (6) is configured such that it can also be used in cases where the communication between the central monitoring unit (3) and the smart communication device (5) is carried out over a central server (4).
  • the communication coverage extender (6) determines the content transmitted by this signal after it receives any close-range communication signal (for example Bluetooth signal or RF signal) and it enables that this content is transmitted to a modem and thus to the central server (4) by Wi-Fi signals. Thereby, it is ensured that the smart communication device (5) is enabled to make data exchange with the central monitoring unit (3) from anywhere where it can connect to the central server (4).
  • the communication coverage extender (6) determines the content transmitted by this signal after it receives any close-range communication signal (for example Bluetooth signal) and it directly sends this content to the central server (4) over network connection.
  • the communication coverage extender (6) is included in the system (1 ) as a unit which is configured to be able to use the mobile communication network (such as GPRS, Edge, 3G, LTE) or the network connection provided over fixed lines.
  • the communication coverage extender (6) is a unit which is placed a little away from the environment where the monitored person (A) is located and thus it is ensured that the central monitoring unit (3) reaches the communication coverage extender (6) by a weak signal emission, the essentially important signal emission is carried out by the communication coverage extender (6) and electromagnetic signal emission is carried out in the environment where the monitored person (A) is located as little and weak as possible.
  • process of transmitting sound and image in an environment to a related smart communication device (5) together with the information received from various sensors and processed is carried out.
  • processes of sending an alert notification to a related smart communication device (5) in the event that sound level in an environment exceeds a certain threshold value and in the event that motion is detected in the image received and starting transfer of sound and image is initiated towards smart communication device (5) only under this circumstance are carried out as well.
  • process of noise cancellation is also carried out in order to determine the voice of the monitored person (such as a baby, patient, elderly person) in an environment clearly. Thus, it is ensured that a clearer and qualified sound transmission is performed for the monitored person (B).
  • process of notify a related smart communication device (5) about movement and health condition of the monitored person (such as a baby, patient, elderly person) (A) according to the data received from the sensors, preferably located on a wear is carried out as well.
  • inventive system (1) processes of providing communication between the central monitoring unit (3) and the smart communication device (5) over a central server and thus enabling the monitoring person (B) to carry out monitoring remotely and without any distance limit as long as s/he can connect to the central server (4) are carried out as well.
  • inventive system (1 process of keeping information related to the sound, image and sensor data determined by the central monitoring unit (3) are kept on the central server (4) for statistical purpose is carried out as well.
  • inventive system (1) processes of accessing the statistical data kept on the central server (4) by the monitoring person (B) or another person responsible at any time and evaluation, alerting and notifying are carried out over these data are carried out as well.
  • process of transmitting the voice of the monitoring person (such as a baby, patient, elderly person) (B) received over the communication device (5) to the monitored person (such as a baby, patient, elderly person) (A) over the central monitoring unit (3) is carried out as well.
  • the monitoring person (B) it is possible for the monitoring person (B) to respond to the monitored person (A), for example a baby, in a soothing and calming way.
  • the inventive system (1) is configured such that it can be used in all scenarios for monitoring people who need monitoring and care such as babies, elderly persons or patients by means of close-range RF (Radio Frequency) communication technologies and over Internet according to the sensor data, the image and sound data. It is possible to develop a great variety of embodiments of the inventive system (1); it cannot be limited to the examples disclosed herein and it is essentially according to the claims.
  • RF Radio Frequency

Landscapes

  • Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
  • Biomedical Technology (AREA)
  • Public Health (AREA)
  • General Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
  • Medical Informatics (AREA)
  • Animal Behavior & Ethology (AREA)
  • Surgery (AREA)
  • Heart & Thoracic Surgery (AREA)
  • Molecular Biology (AREA)
  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Veterinary Medicine (AREA)
  • Biophysics (AREA)
  • Pathology (AREA)
  • Epidemiology (AREA)
  • Computer Networks & Wireless Communication (AREA)
  • Primary Health Care (AREA)
  • General Business, Economics & Management (AREA)
  • Business, Economics & Management (AREA)
  • Cardiology (AREA)
  • Alarm Systems (AREA)

Abstract

The present invention relates to a monitoring system (1) which enables to monitor people who need monitoring and care such as babies, elderly persons or patients by means of cameras, sound sensors, various sensors and over smart devices. The said system (1) comprises: wearable sensor unit (2), central monitoring unit (3), central server (4), database (401), smart communication device (5) and communication coverage extender (6).

Description

DESCRIPTION
A MONITORING SYSTEM Technical Field
The present invention relates to a monitoring system which enables to monitor people who need monitoring and care such as babies, elderly persons or patients by means of cameras, sound sensors, various sensors and over smart devices.
Background of the Invention
Today, there are various solutions which are developed for carrying out monitoring and care for people who need monitoring and care such as babies, elderly persons and patients without having to accompany these people continuously. These solutions are mostly carried out by listening to the sounds or continuously getting images from a camera, which is positioned at a place where the monitored person can be seen. Solutions that are included in the state of the art and aimed for listening to sounds are usually in the form of baby walkie-talkies which enable to make bidirectional or unidirectional sound transmission and consist of two units. In these baby walkie-talkie solutions, one of these units (particularly the unit with capability of receiving and transmitting sound, if one of them is provided with said capability) is placed at the environment where the person who needs monitoring and care such as baby, elderly person or patient is located and sounds are received from this environment and then they are transmitted to the other unit by using a short- range RF (Radio Frequency) communication technology. Thus, it is ensured in situations requiring attention (for example when a baby cries) that the monitoring person is informed about the situation and continues listening to the sound or goes to the environment where the monitored person is located.
Basically, these solutions which are not different than any radio system have two main problems. One of them is that, continuous and uninterrupted sound broadcasting is made from the environment where a baby, elderly person or patient is located. This causes the signal emission in the environment to be continuous and uninterrupted as well and it can lead to various problems arising from electromagnetic signal emission for babies particularly. The fact that power consumption is too high is another disadvantage of continuous and uninterrupted sound broadcasting. Power consumption required by the process of receiving and transmitting sound is made consistently and this either requires to replace, charge batteries of units too often or a necessity, to position it near a power socket by compromising on mobility and to use it without batteries, arises.
Another main problem of baby walkie-talkies with two units in the state of the art is that they only support short-range RF communication technologies and thus they sometimes lead to problem in terms of connection coverage and they experience quality deficiencies such as the sound cannot be transmitted clearly. Therefore, the monitoring person needs to be always located at a certain distance to the baby, elderly person or patient who is monitored and a genuine remote monitoring cannot be carried out. In addition to this, due to the fact that sound is usually received analogously and it is again transmitted analogously without carrying out any processing on thereof; cases such as discriminating other sounds in the environment, recognition of the sound, determining the direction of the sound, taking different actions according to the sound level are not possible in baby monitors with two units in the state of the art. Also, the fact that the monitoring person needs to listen the unit providing audio output continuously since no emergency case can be determined automatically according to the sound status of the monitored person and no transmission of warning about this emergency case can be made, also arises as another problem and usage difficulty of the baby monitors with two units in the state of the art.
Although some of the baby monitors with two units has the feature of voice activation, a process such as discriminating the sound in the environment cannot be carried out in this type of solutions and the sound level to activate the baby monitor is manually determined by the monitoring person. Process of determining ambient sound and sound level manually also lead to various problems such as being activated by minimum sound; being activated by another sound in the environment rather than the voice of the baby, elderly person or patient monitored; or not being activated by baby cry.
Moreover, for the baby walkie-talkies with two units, users have to purchase both units, it is required to learn about the newly purchased units as a new device and to get used to using them; and it is not possible to connect more than one listener unit to a sound receiving and transmitting unit when it is desired to carry out monitoring by more than one people. In some cases, the fact that sound transmission from the listener units to the sound receiving and transmitting unit also causes the voice of the monitoring person not to be transmitted to the monitored person such as baby, patient, elderly person with the purpose of sedating, tranquilizing or informing.
Another solution used today is monitoring solutions which include video camera. However, image of the monitored person is captured and broadcasted continuously and uninterruptedly in these solutions as well and this leads to the fact that problems are experienced in terms of power consumption, the monitoring person has to watch the video image continuously since no image processing process is performed on the image for interpretation and results in various usage deficiencies and problems. Another deficient point of existing video and audio monitoring solutions is that they offer opportunity to evaluate the monitoring and care process only over image and sound and they are not configured to enable the use of another data. For example, in cases where a baby monitored does not indicate any discomfort as cry or movement, the baby's body temperature (fever) or pulse/breathing rate may exceed a certain level and the monitoring person may miss that situation since there is no abnormality in voice or image despite the fact that this condition must be handled by the monitoring person. Considering the solutions developed and used for a baby, elderly person and patient who needs monitoring and care in the state of the art and the deficiencies and usage problems of these solutions; it is considered that there is a need for a monitoring system and solution which listens to the sounds in the environment where the monitored person is located, carries out the processing for sorting out sound source, sound direction, sound level, ambient sounds by converting sound into digital data, can also take image from the environment where the monitored person is located, does not only perform emergency determinations on the basis of sound and image but also uses the data on the monitored person and received from the sensors in the environment for determining the emergency situation, has a central monitoring unit enabling to transmit the voice of the monitoring person to the monitored person as well, wherein the central monitoring unit initiates sound and image broadcasting not all the time but only when situations in accordance with pre-determined emergency situations occurs, thus level of signal emitted in the environment is reduced, the central monitoring unit can be managed by a smart device such as a smart phone or tablet, which also enables to carry out monitoring remotely and from everywhere where it is possible to connect to Internet by means of a central server whereto the smart communication device and the central monitoring unit can connect. Patent application documents having the above-mentioned technical deficiencies and usage problems and included in the state of the art are mentioned below:
The German patent application document no. DE202004014835, an application in the state of the art, discloses a device and system for monitoring and watching babies which listens to sounds in an environment and carries out transmission to the other party when the sound level exceeds a particular threshold value.
The International patent application document no. WO2008129451, another application in the state of the art, discloses an invention which enables to detect human fall incidents by means of a wearable fall detection system.
The United States patent application document no. US7009520, another application in the state of the art, discloses a method and apparatus for remote baby monitoring. Within the said invention, a notification is sent as soon as the baby voice volume level in an environment exceeds a pre-determined threshold value and it is ensured that the person responsible for baby-care is warned.
The United States patent application document no. US8314696, another application in the state of the art, discloses a baby monitoring system comprising a baby unit and a parent unit. In the said baby monitoring system: the baby unit transmits sound signals to the parent unit by detecting the noise in the environment, the processor included in the parent unit generates a noise history by processing the sound signals, and it is ensured that the notification lights located on the parent unit are turned on according to this noise history.
The Turkish patent application document no. TR201103561, another application in the state of the art, discloses an invention related to monitoring the conditions of human body. Particularly, this invention is related to monitoring movements of for example a baby's body in order to monitor breathing, heartbeat, body temperature and so on. In the said system, only body movements are monitored and no control process or monitoring is enabled related to sound and image.
The Turkish patent application document no. TR200606088, another application in the state of the art, discloses a body temperature and pulse monitoring system by means of RF (Radio Frequency) which is developed for monitoring body temperature and pulse particularly in new-born babies and children including adults and informing parents or users about the situation as a result of the fever going up instantly during sleep particularly in babies and children. In the said system, only a sensor monitoring system is mentioned and it is stated that no image and sound monitoring and transmission is carried out. This causes the monitoring person (for example, parent) to miss the conditions - such as the fever of a baby does not go up but s/he wakes up and cries for fear - because they cannot be determined via sensors.
The Turkish patent application document no. TR201305605, another application in the state of the art, discloses an electronic system recognizing baby voice which comprises: baby voice recognition element, touchscreen LCD/TFT display, audio output cable, speaker, microphone cable, microphone, remote audio, remote control buttons, RF/Bluetooth remote control, function buttons, internal microphone, internal speaker, mobile phone, internal microphone, microphone output connector elements within itself. The said system essentially discloses a system which is developed so as to be mounted to baby cradles and it enables to make baby listen to a pre-recorded mother's voice from a speaker by listening to the voice of the baby and detecting when the baby cries or starts crying. Features such as transmission of bidirectional, real-time sound and image from mother to baby and mother to baby; transmission and processing of external and internal data; providing control and management of this apparatus inserted to the baby cradle remotely or over Internet by means of a smart phone or tablet are not included among functions of this defined system. The product called as "Withings - Smart Baby Monitor" which is included in the state of the art and described in the website with address of http://www.withings.com/us/baby-monitor.html discloses a baby monitoring device which is placed at a baby's room and used by means of a mobile application on a smart device.
The wearable device called as smart sock which is included in the state of the art and described in the website with address of https://www.owletcare.com detects the oxygen ratio in baby's breath and blood and ensures that these information are transmitted to a mobile application installed on a smart phone over cloud.
The baby monitoring system which is included in the state of the art and described in the website with address of https://www.mimobaby.com discloses an apparatus which can be placed at top of a baby's wear and used with the purpose of getting information about conditions such as breathing, sleeping quality of a baby and listening to baby's voice.
Summary of the Invention
An objective of the present invention is to realize a monitoring system which enables to transmit sound and image in an environment to a related smart device together with the information received from various sensors and processed. Another objective of the present invention is to realize a monitoring system which enables to send an alert notification to a related mobile device in the event that sound level in an environment exceeds a certain threshold value or motion is determined in the image received and ensures that transfer of sound and image is initiated towards mobile device only under this circumstance. Another objective of the present invention is to realize a monitoring system which enables to recognize a speech voice of the person (such as a baby, patient, elderly person) who is desired to be monitored in an environment and to send notification to a related smart device in case of recognizing such voice and to carry out sound transmission.
Another objective of the present invention is to realize a monitoring system wherein a process of noise cancellation is carried out and background sounds are not taken into consideration in order to recognize the voice of the monitored person (such as a baby, patient, elderly person) in an environment clearly.
Another objective of the present invention is to realize a monitoring system which enables to notify a related mobile device about movement and health condition of the monitored person (such as a baby, patient, elderly person) according to the data received from the sensors, preferably located on a wear.
Another objective of the present invention is to realize a monitoring system wherein communication between the central unit and the smart phone included in thereof is provided over a central server and thus which enables "the person who will carry out monitoring to carry out monitoring remotely and without any distance limit (over Internet) as well and to be informed about abnormal situations.
Another objective of the present invention is to realize a monitoring system wherein information related to the sound, image and sensor data determined by the central monitoring unit are kept on the central server for statistical purpose; and which ensures that these statistical data are accessed by the monitoring person or another person responsible at any time and evaluation, alerting and notifying are carried out over these data. Another objective of the present invention is to realize a monitoring system which enables to transmit the voice of the monitoring person (such as a baby, patient, elderly person) received over the smart device to the monitored person (such as a baby, patient, elderly person) over the central unit.
Another objective of the present invention is to realize a monitoring system which enables to activate various visual and audio alerts located on the central unit according to the commands issued by the monitoring person over the smart device and to transmit these visual and audio signals to the monitoring person.
Detailed Description of the Invention
"A Monitoring System" realized to fulfil the objectives of the present invention is shown in the figures attached, in which:
Figure 1 is a top-level schematic block diagram of the inventive system.
Figure 2 is a detailed schematic block diagram of the wearable sensor unit included within the inventive system.
Figure 3 is a detailed schematic block diagram of the central monitoring unit included within the inventive system.
Figure 4 is a detailed schematic block diagram of the smart communication device included within the inventive system.
Figure 5 is a drawing of an exemplary external view of the central monitoring unit included within the inventive system. Figure 6 is a drawing of an exemplary external view of the wearable sensor unit included within the inventive system.
Figure 7 is an exemplary drawing of the smart communication device included within the inventive system and the user interface shown on the display of the smart communication device.
The components illustrated in the figures are individually numbered, where the numbers refer to the following:
1. System
2. Wearable sensor unit
201. Accelerometer
202. Gyroscope
203. Temperature sensor- WSU
204. Electrocardiogram (ECG) sensor
205. Communication unit- WSU
206. Control unit-WSU
207. Power unit-WSU
208. Indicator unit-WSU
3. Central monitoring unit
301. Camera-CMU
302. Sound receiving unit-CMU
303. Temperature sensor-CMU
304. Communication unit-CMU
305. Control unit-CMU
306. Real time clock
307. Power unit-CMU 308. Memory-CMU
309. Audio output unit-CMU
310. Light signalling unit
31 1. Light sensor
312. Indicator unit-CMU
313. Illumination light
314. Digital relative humidity meter
4. Central server
401. Database
5. Smart communication device
501. Display-SCD
502. Audio output unit-SCD
503. Control unit-SCD
504. Communication unit-SCD
505. Sound receiving unit-SCD
506. Memory-SCD
6. Communication coverage extender
A. Monitored person
B. Monitoring person
In order that the system elements - which have the same names included in all three or any two of the wearable sensor unit (2), the central monitoring unit (3) and the smart communication device (5) - do not lead to any confusion in the detailed description of the invention, acronyms indicating in which unit they are included are added next to their names. These acronyms only have the aim of indicating in which unit the related unit is included and they do not have the aim of giving reference information such as numbering. What these abbreviations stand for are as follows:
WSU: Wearable sensor unit (2)
CMU: Central monitor unit (3)
SCD: Smart communication device (5)
A system (1 ) for monitoring people such as baby, elderly person, patient remotely comprises:
- at least one wearable sensor unit (2) which is designed to be worn by the monitored person (A) such as baby, elderly person, patient; and enables to obtain information related to the body of the monitored person (A);
at least one central monitoring unit (3) which is located in the environment where the monitored person (A) such as baby, elderly person, patient is located; and enables that data such as sound, image, information about environment are received and it is transmitted to the monitoring person (B) and the sound and commands received from the monitoring person (B) are received and processed;
- at least one central server (4) wherein the central monitoring unit (3) transmits the data from the wearable sensor unit (2) related to the body of the monitored person (A) and determined by itself with respect to the environment where the monitored person (A) is located, under various conditions;
- at least one database (401) wherein the data reaching the central server
(4) are kept in an inquirable way and which is managed by the central server (4);
at least one smart communication device (5) which enables the monitoring person (B) to receive and display the data that the central monitoring unit (3) receives from the wearable sensor unit (2) and determines by itself about the environment where the monitored person (A) is located and also to send his/her own voice and commands to the central monitoring unit (3); communicates with the central monitoring unit (3) directly or over a central server (4), upon being matched with the central monitoring unit (3);
at least one communication coverage extender (6) which enables to improve coverages of the communication technologies that the central monitoring unit (3) has, over the same commmuni cation technology or by converting communication technology (Figure 1).
The wearable sensor unit (2) included within the system (1) for monitoring people such as baby, elderly person, patient remotely comprises:
at least one accelerometer (201) which enables to measure acceleration;
at least one gyroscope (202) which enables to sense 6-axis movement;
at least one temperature sensor-WSU (203) which enables to measure the body temperature of the monitored person (A);
at least one electrocardiogram (ECG) sensor (204) which enables to determine the heart signals and the heart operating status of the monitored person (A);
at least one communication unit-WSU (205) which enables the wearable sensor unit (2) to communicate with the central monitoring unit (3) directly;
at least one control unit-WSU (206) which performs tasks of switching on/off the sensors located within the wearable sensor unit (2); converting the values received from these sensors into digital data; checking these digital data according to the pre-determined threshold values; in the event that these digital data or the digital data are below or above of the threshold values, managing the communication unit-WSU (205) in order that a warning related to this is transmitted to the central monitoring unit (3) and transmitting these digital data to the communication unit-WSU (205);
Figure imgf000015_0001
at least one indicator unit-WSU (208) which enables to indicate information related to the operating and fault status of the sensors and the communication unit-WSU (205) and the control unit-WSU (206) included within the wearable sensor unit (2) and the current power level and connection status of the power unit-WSU (207) (Figure 2).
The power unit-WSU (207) is a unit which is included within the wearable sensor unit (2) and provides power to all elements needing power for operating. Since the said characteristic for providing power is apparent and for the purpose of not to cause confusion in the Figure 2, it is decided that emphasizing this characteristic is not necessary by taking out a single arrow from the element no. 207 for each element in the Figure 2. This explanation is made which is particularly stated in order that any person reading and evaluating this patent is mistaken such as considering the element no. 207 in the Figure 2 as an element which is not associated with the other elements.
The central monitoring unit (3) included within the system (1) for monitoring people who need care and monitoring such as baby, elderly person, patient remotely comprises:
at least one camera-CMU (301) which enables to display the environment where the monitored person (A) is located; at least one sound receiving unit-CMU (302) which enables to receive the sounds in the environment where the monitored person (A) is located;
at least one temperature sensor-CMU (303) which enables to determine the ambient temperature in the environment where the monitored person (A) is located;
at least one communication unit-CMU (304) which enables the central monitoring unit (3) to communicate with the wearable sensor unit (2) directly and also the smart communication device (5) directly or over the communication coverage extender (6) and/or the central server (4) as bidirectionally;
at least one control unit-CMU (305) which enables to process and evaluate the sensor data received from the wearable sensor unit (2), the sound data received from the sound receiving unit-CMU (302) and the images received from the camera-CMU (301 ), check them according to certain threshold values and decide for sending notification to the smart communication device (5) in certain circumstances directly or over the communication coverage extender (6) and/or the central server (4); performs the duty of a being management element for the elements within the central monitoring unit (3);
at least one real time clock (306) which carries out time measurement in order that the control unit-CMU (305) is induced so as to perform its tasks upon being induced periodically and shares these measurement information with the control unit-CMU (305);
at least one power unit-CMU (307) which is included within the central monitoring unit (3) and acts as a power source in order to provide power to the elements which need energy;
at least one memory-CMU (308) wherein essentially the data reaching the central monitoring unit (3) over the wearable sensor unit (2), the information of threshold values whereby these data will be evaluated, descriptive information about the smart communication device (5) that is authorized as being able to interact with the central monitoring unit (3) and/or the monitoring person (B), descriptive information about the central server (4) and the database (401 ) in cases of communicating with the central server (4), instructions having an effect on operation of the control unit-CMU (305) are kept;
at least one audio output unit-CMU (309) which enables to make the monitored person (A) listen to the pre-recorded sounds or the live sounds transmitted by the monitoring person (B) by means of the smart communication device (5);
at least one light signalling unit (310) which performs the duty of displaying light to the monitored person (A) in colours and orders that are pre-determined or determined by the monitoring person (B) by means of the smart communication device (5) at that moment; at least one light sensor (31 1) which enables to sense the ambient light level in the environment where the monitored person (A) is located; at least one indicator unit-CMU (312) which enables to display the operation and possible fault status of the elements included within the central monitoring unit (3) and the information about the power level and the connection status of the power unit-CMU (307);
at least one illumination light (313) which performs the duty of illuminating the environment in order that the camera-CMU (301) takes image clearly in the event that the environment where the monitored person (A) is located is dark;
at least one digital relative humidity meter (314) which measures the relative humidity value in the environment where the monitored person (A) is located (Figure 3).
The power unit-CMU (307) is a unit which is included within the central monitoring unit (3) and provides power to all elements which need power for operating. Since the said characteristic for providing power is apparent and for the purpose of not to cause confusion in the Figure 3, it is decided that emphasizing this characteristic is not necessary by taking out a single arrow from the element no. 307 for each element in the Figure 3. This explanation is made which is particularly stated in order that any person reading and evaluating this patent is mistaken such as considering the element no. 307 in the Figure 3 as a element which is not associated with the other elements.
The smart communication device (5) included within the system (1) for monitoring people who need care and monitoring such as baby, elderly person, patient remotely comprises:
at least one display-SCD (501) which enables to display an interface - which ensures that all kinds of information and data received directly from the central monitoring unit (3) or by means of the communication coverage extender (6) and/or the central server (4) are displayed by the monitoring person (B) and commands related to the processes to be carried out on the wearable sensor unit (2) and the central monitoring unit (3) are given by the monitoring person (B) - to the monitoring person (B);
Figure imgf000018_0001
at least one control unit-SCD (503) which enables elements within the smart communication device (5) to be managed in order that all processes about the data and the command exchange realized by the smart communication device (5) with the central monitoring unit (3) directly or over the central server (4) and the communication coverage extender (6) are carried out;
at least one communication unit-SCD (504) which is configured such that it will enable the smart communication device (5) to communicate with the central monitoring unit (3) directly or over the central server (4) and the communication coverage extender (6);
at least one sound receiving unit-SCD (505) which ensures that voice of the monitoring person (B) is received to be transmitted from the smart communication device (5) towards the central monitoring unit (3) as live or as to be transmitted later;
at least one memory-SCD (506) wherein the commands for the processes carried out by the control unit-SCD (503) related to the operation of the smart communication device (5); the interface elements about the interface displayed on the display-SCD (501); information such as descriptive information input by the monitoring person (B) and used in order that communication is realized between the smart communication device (5) and the central server (4), password are kept (Figure 4).
The wearable sensor unit (2) comprises a sensor set which is designed so as to be worn by the monitored person (A) such as baby, patient, elderly person and enables to obtain information about the body of the monitored person (A); and elements which help this sensor set to operate.
The wearable sensor unit (2) is a wearable article which is featured such that the monitored person (A) can wear it and in a preferred embodiment of the invention, which is in the form of a band, made of preferably a one-piece and cotton etc. fabric, featured such that it can be worn and taken off easily and sensors can be added on thereof easily by sewing or inserting, and positioned on the chest area of the monitored person (A). In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the wearable sensor unit (2) is also a unit which comprises flexible rubber parts in places where the sensor units are inserted.
The accelerometer (201 ) enables to measure acceleration in order to determine movements of the monitored person (A) such as sleeping/dormant state, breathing rate, fall, sudden straighten-up.
The gyroscope (202) acts as a sensor which enables to understand movements of the monitored person (A) such as sleeping/dormant state, breathing rate, turn, sleep laterally, fall.
The temperature sensor- WSU (203) is a sensor which enables to measure the body temperature of the monitored person (A). The electrocardiogram (ECG) sensor (204) is a sensor which enables to determine the heart signals and the heart operating status of the monitored person (A).
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the wearable sensor unit (2) has one or more metal surfaces contacting the body of the monitored person (A) in order that the temperature sensor- WSU (203) and the electrocardiogram (ECG) sensor (204) make the most accurate measurement.
The communication unit-WSU (205) is a unit which enables the wearable sensor unit (2) to communicate with the central monitoring unit (3) directly. The communication unit-WSU (205) is a module which supports any close-range communication technology of the type whereby it can communicate with the central monitoring unit (3). While the communication unit-WSU (205) is a unit enabling the wearable sensor unit (2) to communicate with the central monitoring unit (3) by means of RF signals in one embodiment of the invention, it can be a unit enabling the wearable sensor unit (2) to communicate with the central monitoring unit (3) by means of Bluetooth signals in another embodiment of the invention.
The control unit-WSU (206) is a unit which performs tasks of switching on/off the sensors located within the wearable sensor unit (2); converting the values received from these sensors into digital data; managing the communication unit-WSU (205) in order that these digital data are transmitted to the central monitoring unit (3); and transmitting these digital data to the communication unit-WSU (205). In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the control unit-WSU (206) is included in the wearable sensor unit (2) as a micro controller (MCU).
The control unit-WSU (206), in one embodiment of the invention, checks the if the values received from the sensors included within the wearable sensor unit (2) and converted into digital data are above or below a certain threshold value or not by itself; and it does not make a continuous sensor value transfer to the central monitoring unit (3); in the event that the value received from any sensor is above or below certain threshold values, it only transfers the information and warning about this status to the communication unit-WSU (205) so as to be transmitted to the central monitoring unit (3) together with the sensor information and the sensor value. These said threshold values are kept by the control unit-WSU (206). The control unit-WSU (206) also, in one embodiment of the invention, maintains an EEPROM memory and in this memory, it can store the settings of the sensor units, settings about the communication to be performed by the central monitoring unit (3) and the data received from the sensors.
The control unit-WSU (206) is a unit which receives the acceleration value measured by the accelerometer (201) and uses it in order to determine movements of the monitored person (A) such as sleeping/dormant state, breathing rate, fall, sudden straighten-up. The control unit-WSU (206) is a unit which receives the values measured by the gyroscope (202) as well and uses them in order to determine movements of the monitored person (A) such as sleeping/dormant state, breathing rate, turn, sleep laterally, fall.
The power unit-WSU (207) is a unit which acts as a power source that enables to meet power needs of all elements in need of energy such as the sensors and the communication unit-WSU (205) and the control unit-WSU (206) included within the wearable sensor unit (2). In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the power unit-WSU (207) is included as button cell (wristwatch battery).
The indicator unit-WSU (208) is a unit which enables to indicate information related to the operating, connection and fault status of the sensors and the communication unit-WSU (205) and the control unit-WSU (206) included within the wearable sensor unit (2) and the current power level of the power unit-WSU (207). The indicator unit-WSU (208), in one embodiment of the invention, consists of LED lights whereby operating, connection and fault status are stated with different colours. In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, the LED light flashing in green indicates that there is no problem in operating status whereas the LED light flashing in red indicates that there is a problem in operation of the related element. Similarly, the indicator unit-WSU (208) comprises a LED light which flashes in green when the power level of the power unit-WSU (207) is enough and flashes in red when the power level of the power unit-WSU (207) is weak.
The central monitoring unit (3) is a unit which is located in the environment where the monitored person (A) such as baby, elderly person, patient is located and ensures that data about sound, image, environment can be received and transmitted to the monitoring person (B) and the sound, image and commands received from the monitoring person (B) are received and processed. The camera-CMU (301) is a unit which enables to display the environment where the monitored person (A) is located. In different embodiments of the invention, the camera-CMU (301) can be the one which takes black and white image or can take colour image. In one embodiment of the invention, the camera-CMU (301 ) can be the one which has night vision.
The sound receiving unit-CMU (302) is a unit which enables to receive the sounds in the environment where the monitored person (A) is located. In one preferred embodiment of the invention, the sound receiving unit-CMU (302) comprises a plurality of microphones used for detecting the direction of the sound in the environment and preventing sounds (noise cancellation) except the voice of the monitored person (A). The microphones within the sound receiving unit-CMU (302), in one preferred embodiment of the invention, are located such that they are placed on the side parts and the upper part in accordance with the purpose of direction detection and noise cancellation on the central monitoring unit (3).
Different sounds received from a plurality of microphones included within the sound receiving unit-CMU (302) are processed by a noise cancellation algorithm in the state of the art on the control unit-CMU (305) and it is ensured that the voice of the monitored person (A) is transmitted and understood clearly. In a similar way, different sounds received from a plurality of microphones included within the sound receiving unit-CMU (302) are processed by sound processing algorithms in the state of the art on the control unit-CMU (305) and it is ensured that the direction of the voice of the monitored person (A) is determined. In different embodiments of the invention, the said processes for noise cancellation and determining sound direction are carried out by methods of GSC (Generalized Sidelobe Canceller), Wiener filter. The temperature sensor-CMU (303) is a sensor which enables to determine the ambient temperature in the environment where the monitored person (A) is located. In one preferred embodiment of the invention, the temperature sensor- CMU (303) contacts the ambient air by means of the metal surface thereof and measures the ambient temperature in this way.
The communication unit-CMU (304) is a unit which enables the central monitoring unit (3) to communicate with the wearable sensor unit (2) directly and also the smart communication device (5) directly or bidirectionally over the communication coverage extender (6) and/or the central server (4). In one embodiment of the invention, the communication unit-CMU (304) is a unit supporting only close-range communication. This close-range communication can be carried out over Bluetooth signals and RF signals. In cases where the communication unit-CMU (304) is a unit which uses these technologies supporting close-range communication, it can communicate with the smart communication device (5) over Bluetooth directly or with a communication coverage extender (6) again over Bluetooth. The communication unit-CMU (304) enables the central monitoring unit (3) to receive data from the sensors within the wearable sensor unit (2) by carrying out communication with the wearable sensor unit (2) over Bluetooth or RF signals in any case as well.
In another embodiment of the invention, the communication unit-CMU (304) is also a unit which is configured to be able to establish connection over Wi-Fi signals. In this embodiment of the invention, the communication unit-CMU (304) can connect to Internet and thus the central server (4) over the communication coverage extender (6) of the central monitoring unit (3) or by connecting to a modem.
In one embodiment of the invention, the communication unit-CMU (304) is also a unit which is configured to be able to use mobile communication network (such as GPRS, Edge, 3G, LTE) or network connection provided over fixed lines so as to enable the central monitoring unit (3) to connect to the central server (4) directly.
The control unit-CMU (305) is a unit which enables to make decision about processing and evaluating the sensor data received from the wearable sensor unit (2), the sound data received from the sound receiving unit-CMU (302) and the images received from the camera-CMU (301), controlling them according to certain threshold values and sending notification to the smart communication device (5) directly in certain circumstances or over the communication coverage extender (6) and/or the central server (4); performs duty of a management element for the elements within the central monitoring unit (3). In one preferred embodiment of the invention, the control unit-CMU (305) is a CPU (Central Processing Unit) unit. The control unit-CMU (305) is a unit which comprises the instructions that will enable to process and evaluate the sensor data received from the wearable sensor unit (2) or the warnings received from the wearable sensor unit (2), the sounds received from the sound receiving unit-CMU (302) and the images received from the central monitoring unit (3) and to manage the elements located on the central monitoring unit (3) and which performs its operation in accordance with these instructions.
The control unit-CMU (305), in one preferred embodiment of the invention, is a unit which is periodically invoked for some tasks such as evaluating the sensor values received from the wearable sensor unit (2), taking the power level status of the power unit-CMU (307), updating the indicator unit-CMU (312) and which carries out its processes at certain intervals. The time information determined by the real time clock (306) is used for these periodical invokes. The said real time clock (306) is a unit which carries out time measurement in order that the control unit-CMU (305) is induced so as to perform its tasks upon being induced periodically and shares these measurement information with the control unit- CMU (305).
In one preferred embodiment of the invention, the control unit-CMU (305), within the central monitoring unit (3) is a unit which is configured to be able to perform tasks of:
compressing the digital image received from the camera-CMU (301) by using a compression algorithm in the state of the art;
converting the sound received from the sound receiving unit-CMU (302) into digital sound and compressing it by using a sound compressing algorithm in the state of the art;
evaluating the data received from the sensors within the wearable sensor unit (2);
in the event that the data received from the wearable sensor unit (2) are out of the pre-determined threshold values, determining what do these values stand for and then sending a notification with comprehensible characteristic to the smart communication device (5) directly or over the communication coverage extender (6) and/or the central server (4) by means of the communication unit-CMU (304);
- in case of receiving an alert stating that the value related to sensor is out of the pre-determined threshold values directly instead of raw sensor data from the wearable sensor unit (2), turning the alert into a meaningful text and transmitting it to the communication unit-CMU (304) so as to be sent to the smart communication device (5) directly or over the communication coverage extender (6) and/or the central server (4);
in the event that the temperature value received from the temperature sensor-CMU (303) is out of a pre-determined threshold value, interpreting this status and sending a notification about the status to the smart communication device (5) directly or over the communication coverage extender (6) and/or the central server (4) by means of the communication unit-CMU (304);
carrying out a noise cancellation process for the sound received from the sound receiving unit-CMU (302) in order to determine the sound of the monitored person (A) in a clearer way;
detecting and discriminating the direction of the sounds in order to recognize the sound received from a plurality of sound resources, if available, for the sound received from the sound receiving unit-CMU (302);
recognizing the sound received from the sound receiving unit-CMU (302) and transformed into digital sound and determining whether it is a sound made by the monitored person (A);
in the event of understanding that the sound received from the sound receiving unit-CMU (302) and transformed into digital sound is a voice made by the monitored person (A), detecting whether this sound level is higher than a pre-determined sound level;
making an inference over the sound received from the sound receiving unit-CMU (302) and transformed into digital sound relating to the emotion that the monitored person (A) has at that moment by means of a emotion detection algorithm in the state of the art;
in the event that the emotion inferred is one of the pre-determined emotions (for example fear, panic) after the emotion detection process carried out over the digital sound received from the sound receiving unit-CMU (302), sending notification to the smart communication device (5) directly or over the communication coverage extender (6) and/or the central server (4) and starting sound transmission;
in the event of detecting that a voice made by the monitored person (A) is higher than a pre-determined sound level, sending notification to the smart communication device (5) directly or over the communication coverage extender (6) and/or the central server (4) and starting continuously broadcasting the sound received from the sound receiving unit-CMU (302) and the image received from the camera- CMU (301) in a digital and compressed way by means of the communication unit-CMU (304);
if a movement (a moving object or movement of the monitored person (A) directly) is detected except a pre-determined value in the sequential images received from the camera-CMU (301), transmitting an alert relating to this situation to the smart communication device (5) and starting streaming of image and sound towards the smart communication device (5) in the event that the monitored person (A) requests;
in the event that a request is received from the smart communication device (5), sending the image and/or the sound received from the camera-CMU (301 ) and/or the sound receiving unit-CMU (302) to the smart communication device (5) directly or over the communication coverage extender (6) and/or the central server (4) without seeking for any threshold value status;
receiving data intended for the light level of the environment from the light sensor (31 1) and activating the illumination light (313), in order to enlighten the environment, in cases where the light level of the environment is below a certain level and it is required to take image from the camera-CMU (301) by evaluating this data;
updating the indicator unit-CMU (312) according to the operation and fault status of the elements within the central monitoring unit (3) and the case of being able to receive data from the sensors within the wearable sensor unit (2);
if it is planned to be realized in the event of receiving a request from the smart communication device (5) or in the event of any threshold value non-conformity for the sound and image previously, giving visual and audio warnings entertaining and soothing the monitored person (A) (for example a baby) from the light signalling unit (310) and the audio output unit-CMU (309) as specified in the memory- CMU (308);
in the event that the monitoring person (B) starts, ensuring that the voice of the monitoring person (B) is received from the smart communication device (5) directly or from the central server (4) by the communication unit-CMU (304) and the voice is broadcasted to the environment from the audio output unit-CMU (309), thus allocation of a bidirectional communication is realized between the central monitoring unit (3) and the smart communication device (5); in the event that the ambient relative humidity value received from the digital relative humidity meter (314) is above or below of a predetermined threshold value, interpreting this situation and sending a notification related to this situation to the smart communication device (5) directly or over the communication coverage extender (6) and/or the central server (4) by means of the communication unit-CMU (304).
The threshold values used by thereof during the tasks performed by the control unit-CMU (305) and the descriptive information relating to the smart communication device (5) to be communicated by compression algorithms are kept in the memory-CMU (308) and they are used upon being read by the control unit-CMU (305) from here.
In one preferred embodiment of the invention, the control unit-CMU (305) uses a LPC (Linear Prediction Coding) based algorithm (for example, Speex algorithm) in order to compress the sound received from the sound receiving unit-CMU (302) after it is converted into digital data.
In one preferred embodiment of the invention, the control unit-CMU (305) sends each data to be sent to the smart communication device (5) directly or over the communication coverage extender (6) and/or the central server (4) by encrypting it.
All information and algorithms used by the smart communication device (5) during the tasks performed by thereof are configured such that they can be updated by the new versions thereof kept in the central server (4) by a command to be issued over the smart communication device (5) or upon being controlled periodically. Process of adding new information and algorithms to the memory- CMU (308) and deleting the old ones is also carried out by the control unit-CMU (305).
The power unit-CMU (307) is a unit which is included within the central monitoring unit (3) and acts as a power source in order to provide power to the elements which need energy. In one preferred embodiment of the invention, the power unit-CMU (307) is a rechargeable battery. In another embodiment of the invention, the power unit-CMU (307) is an adapter and power regulation unit which is fed from an electrical supply directly and enables the necessary power to be transmitted to the units within the central monitoring unit (3) properly. The memory-CMU (308) is a unit wherein essentially the data reaching the central monitoring unit (3) over the wearable sensor unit (2), the information of threshold values whereby these data will be evaluated, descriptive information about the smart communication device (5) that is authorized as being able to interact with the central monitoring unit (3) and/or the monitoring person (B), descriptive information about the central server (4) and the database (401) in cases of communicating with the central server (4), instructions having an effect on operation of the control unit-CMU (305) are kept.
In one preferred embodiment of the invention, the memory-CMU (308) is a Flash ROM. The audio output unit-CMU (309) is a unit which enables to make the monitored person (A) listen to the pre-recorded sounds or the sounds transmitted by the monitoring person (B) by means of the smart communication device (5) as live. In one preferred embodiment of the invention, the audio output unit-CMU (309) is a speaker.
The light signalling unit (310) is a unit which performs the duty of displaying light to the monitored person (A) in colours and orders that are determined previously or determined by the monitoring person (B) by means of the smart communication device (5) at that moment.
The light sensor (31 1) is a unit which enables to sense the light level in the environment where the monitored person (A) is located.
The indicator unit-CMU (312) is a unit which enables to display the operation and possible fault status of the elements included within the central monitoring unit (3) and the information about the power level and the connection status of the power unit-CMU (307).
In one preferred embodiment of the invention, the indicator unit-CMU (312) consists of LED lights whereby operating and fault status are stated with different colours. In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, the LED light flashing in green indicates that there is no problem in operating status of the central monitoring unit (3) whereas the LED light flashing in red indicates that there is a problem in operation of the related element of the central monitoring unit (3). Similarly, indicator unit-CMU (312) comprises a LED light which flashes in green when the power level of the indicator unit-CMU (312) is enough and flashes in red when the power level of the indicator unit-CMU (312) is weak. In another embodiment of the invention, the indicator unit-CMU (312) is a unit which is included within the central monitoring unit (3) as a separate display.
The illumination light (313) is a unit which performs the duty of illuminating the environment in order that the camera-CMU (301) takes image clearly in the event that the environment where the monitored person (A) is located is dark.
The digital relative humidity meter (314) is a unit which measures the relative humidity value in the environment where the monitored person (A) is located. By means of the digital relative humidity meter (314), it is ensured that status such as the environment where the monitored person (A) is located is too dry or too damp are determined, in other words a determination can be made about the ambient air quality. The central server (4) is a unit wherein the central monitoring unit (3) transmits the data from the wearable sensor unit (2) related to the body of the monitored person (A) and determined by itself with respect to the environment where the monitored person (A) is located, under various conditions. In one preferred embodiment of the invention, when a connection request is received by the smart communication device (5), the central server (4) primarily detects for which central monitoring unit (3) does the smart communication device (5) request connection and then controls whether this smart communication device (5) has authority to connect to this central monitoring unit (3).
In order that the said authorization control process is made in the central server (4), an authorization process has to be carried out at first. In different embodiments of the invention, this authorization process can be carried out in different ways. For example, in one embodiment of the invention, this authorization process can be carried out over the smart communication device (5) upon the monitoring person (B) registers on the central server (4) by a user name and password and indicates descriptive information about the central monitoring unit (3) during the registry. This descriptive information about the central monitoring unit (3) can be information which is determined at random such as serial number such that it will be difficult to be guessed and which is present as added to the database (401) previously. In this embodiment of the invention, when a request for having authority about a central monitoring unit (3) is received from a smart communication device (5) as an additional step, it will be ensured that a warning indication is realized on the central monitoring unit (3) and a verification process is carried out on central monitoring unit (3) and the smart communication device (5) has an authorization on the central monitoring unit (3) only after this verification.
In another embodiment of the invention, the said authorization process is carried out such that the displaying a QR code located on the central monitoring unit (3) by means of a camera which can be provided in the smart communication device (5) by the monitoring person (B); interpreting this displayed QR code on the smart communication device (5) or the central server (4); and recording this status in the database (401) upon the central monitoring unit (3) and the smart communication device (5) are matched by the central server (4).
The database (401 ) is the one wherein the data reaching the central server (4) are kept in an inquirable way and which is managed by the central server (4). The database (401) is also a unit where the information required for the authorization process between the smart communication device (5) and the central monitoring unit (3) are kept.
All data relating to the status determined by the central monitoring unit (3) or determined according to the data received from the wearable sensor unit (2) are kept on the database (401) on the basis of the central monitoring unit (3) and these data can be used when historical data and data for statistical purpose are required.
In the database (401), there are also information relating to a person or institutions that can be accessed in the event that the central server (4) determines an emergency status according to the data happened and received for a certain time. The status determined by the central server (4) in this preferred embodiment of the invention are not instant warning notifications determined by the central monitoring unit (3) but they are the status which can be determined after the body temperature or heart beat/breath rate of the monitored person (A), for example who is monitored for 1 week, is exceeds a certain value more than a certain number. In this type of status, if it is required to make notification to various medical institutions or health personnel by the central server (4), the contact information relating to this medical institution and/or health personnel and the condition information to be controlled by the central server (4) before making this type of notification are also kept in the database (401).
The smart communication device (5) is a unit which enables the monitoring person (B) to receive and display the data received from the wearable sensor unit (2) of the central monitoring unit (3) and the data determined by itself about the environment where the monitored person (A) is located and also to send its own sound and commands to the central monitoring unit (3); communicates with the central monitoring unit (3) directly or over a central server (4), upon being matched with the central monitoring unit (3).
In one preferred embodiment of the invention, the smart communication device (5) is a smart phone. In different embodiments of the invention, the smart communication device (5) can be any smart communication device such as a tablet computer, smart television. The smart communication device (5) is configured such that it can connect to Internet over mobile networks or fixed networks and thus communicate with the central server (4). The smart communication device (5) is a communication device that is configured to support close-range communication technologies (for example Bluetooth, Bluetooth LE (Bluetooth Low Energy - Bluetooth 4.0)) for the cases where it can directly establish communication with the central monitoring unit (3). The display-SCD (501) is a unit which enables to display an interface - which ensures that all kinds of information and data received directly from the central monitoring unit (3) or by means of the communication coverage extender (6) and/or the central server (4) are displayed by the monitoring person (B) and commands related to the processes to be carried out on the wearable sensor unit (2) and the central monitoring unit (3) are given by the to the monitoring person (B) - to the monitoring person (B).
In one preferred embodiment of the invention, the display-SCD (501) is a touchscreen display and it acts as an input unit in interaction of the monitoring person (B) with the graphical interface.
The audio output unit-SCD (502) is a unit which enables to make the monitoring person (B) to listen the sound data received directly from the central monitoring unit (3) or by means of the communication coverage extender (6) and/or the central server (4) and the warning sounds related to the notifications received from the central monitoring unit (3). In one embodiment of the invention, the audio output unit-SCD (502) is a speaker. In another embodiment of the invention, the audio output unit-SCD (502) can be a handset part enabling to hear sound as well. The control unit-SCD (503) is a unit which enables elements within the smart communication device (5) to be managed in order that all processes about the data and the command exchange realized by the smart communication device (5) with the central monitoring unit (3) directly or over the central server (4) and the communication coverage extender (6) are carried out.
In one preferred embodiment of the invention, the control unit-SCD (503) consists of a CPU and a graphical processor (GPU - Graphical Processing Unit) enabling to manage the displays to be performed on the display-SCD (501 ) too.
The communication unit-SCD (504) is a unit which is configured such that it will enable the smart communication device (5) to communicate with the central monitoring unit (3) directly or over the central server (4) and the communication coverage extender (6).
The sound receiving unit-SCD (505) is a unit which ensures that voice of the monitoring person (B) is received to be transmitted from the smart communication device (5) towards the central monitoring unit (3) as live or as to be transmitted later.
The memory-SCD (506) is a unit wherein the commands suitable to the processes carried out by the control unit-SCD (503) related to the operation of the smart communication device (5); the interface elements about the interface displayed on the display-SCD (501); information such as descriptive information input by the monitoring person (B) and used in order that communication is realized between the smart communication device (5) and the central server (4), password are kept.
The communication coverage extender (6) is a unit which enables to improve coverages of the connection technologies owned by the central monitoring unit (3) over the same connection technology or by converting connection technology. In one embodiment of the invention, the communication coverage extender (6) receives any close-range communication signal (for example Bluetooth signal) and emits it by repeating without not intervening the content of this signal that it received in accordance with the repeater feature. With this status, the central monitoring unit (3) is enabled to make signal exchange throughout the range owned by the communication coverage extender (6) as well in addition to the signal emitting and receiving range owned by the central monitoring unit (3). The same status also applies to the smart communication device (5). The signal emitting and receiving range of the smart communication device (5) is also widened in the event that the Bluetooth signals emitted by the smart communication device (5) are received by the communication coverage extender (6). In one embodiment of the invention, the communication coverage extender (6) receives the content transmitted by any close-range communication signal (for example Bluetooth signal) and emits the same content to the environment by Wi- Fi signals; enables the smart communication device (5), which is connected to the Wi-Fi network relating to these Wi-Fi signals emitted, to receive the content over the same Wi-Fi network by means of these signals.
In the above-mentioned embodiments of the invention, the communication coverage extender (6) is defined for the cases where it can carry out communication between the central monitoring unit (3) and the smart communication device (5) without using no central server (4). However, as it can be seen in the embodiments of the invention hereinbelow, the communication coverage extender (6) is configured such that it can also be used in cases where the communication between the central monitoring unit (3) and the smart communication device (5) is carried out over a central server (4). In one embodiment of the invention, the communication coverage extender (6) determines the content transmitted by this signal after it receives any close-range communication signal (for example Bluetooth signal or RF signal) and it enables that this content is transmitted to a modem and thus to the central server (4) by Wi-Fi signals. Thereby, it is ensured that the smart communication device (5) is enabled to make data exchange with the central monitoring unit (3) from anywhere where it can connect to the central server (4).
In one embodiment of the invention, the communication coverage extender (6) determines the content transmitted by this signal after it receives any close-range communication signal (for example Bluetooth signal) and it directly sends this content to the central server (4) over network connection. In this embodiment of the invention, the communication coverage extender (6) is included in the system (1 ) as a unit which is configured to be able to use the mobile communication network (such as GPRS, Edge, 3G, LTE) or the network connection provided over fixed lines.
In one preferred embodiment of the invention, the communication coverage extender (6) is a unit which is placed a little away from the environment where the monitored person (A) is located and thus it is ensured that the central monitoring unit (3) reaches the communication coverage extender (6) by a weak signal emission, the essentially important signal emission is carried out by the communication coverage extender (6) and electromagnetic signal emission is carried out in the environment where the monitored person (A) is located as little and weak as possible.
With the inventive system (1), process of transmitting sound and image in an environment to a related smart communication device (5) together with the information received from various sensors and processed is carried out. With the inventive system (1), processes of sending an alert notification to a related smart communication device (5) in the event that sound level in an environment exceeds a certain threshold value and in the event that motion is detected in the image received and starting transfer of sound and image is initiated towards smart communication device (5) only under this circumstance are carried out as well.
With the inventive system (1 ), processes of recognizing a speech voice of the person (such as a baby, patient, elderly person) who is desired to be monitored in an environment and sending notification to the related smart mobile device (5) in case of recognizing such voice and performing sound transmission are carried out as well.
With inventive system (1 ), process of noise cancellation is also carried out in order to determine the voice of the monitored person (such as a baby, patient, elderly person) in an environment clearly. Thus, it is ensured that a clearer and qualified sound transmission is performed for the monitored person (B).
With the inventive system (1 ), process of notify a related smart communication device (5) about movement and health condition of the monitored person (such as a baby, patient, elderly person) (A) according to the data received from the sensors, preferably located on a wear is carried out as well.
With the inventive system (1), processes of providing communication between the central monitoring unit (3) and the smart communication device (5) over a central server and thus enabling the monitoring person (B) to carry out monitoring remotely and without any distance limit as long as s/he can connect to the central server (4) are carried out as well. With the inventive system (1 ), process of keeping information related to the sound, image and sensor data determined by the central monitoring unit (3) are kept on the central server (4) for statistical purpose is carried out as well. With the inventive system (1), processes of accessing the statistical data kept on the central server (4) by the monitoring person (B) or another person responsible at any time and evaluation, alerting and notifying are carried out over these data are carried out as well. With the inventive system (1), process of transmitting the voice of the monitoring person (such as a baby, patient, elderly person) (B) received over the communication device (5) to the monitored person (such as a baby, patient, elderly person) (A) over the central monitoring unit (3) is carried out as well. Thus, it is possible for the monitoring person (B) to respond to the monitored person (A), for example a baby, in a soothing and calming way.
With the inventive system (1 ), processes of activating various visual and audio alerts located on the central monitoring unit (3) according to the commands issued by the monitoring person (B) over the smart communication device (5) and transmitting these visual and audio signals to the monitoring person (A) are carried out as well.
The inventive system (1) is configured such that it can be used in all scenarios for monitoring people who need monitoring and care such as babies, elderly persons or patients by means of close-range RF (Radio Frequency) communication technologies and over Internet according to the sensor data, the image and sound data. It is possible to develop a great variety of embodiments of the inventive system (1); it cannot be limited to the examples disclosed herein and it is essentially according to the claims.

Claims

A system (1) for monitoring people such as baby, elderly person, patient remotely; comprising:
at least one wearable sensor unit (2) which is designed to be worn by the monitored person (A) such as baby, elderly person, patient; and enables to obtain information related to the body of the monitored person (A);
at least one central monitoring unit (3) which is located in the environment where the monitored person (A) such as baby, elderly person, patient is located;
at least one central server (4);
at least one database (401) wherein the data reaching the central server (4) are kept in an inquirable way and which is managed by the central server (4);
at least one smart communication device (5) which enables the monitoring person (B) to communicate with the central monitoring unit (3) reciprocally;
at least one communication coverage extender (6) which enables to improve coverages of the connection technologies owned by the central monitoring unit (3) over the same connection technology or by converting connection technology;
and characterized by
at least one wearable sensor unit (2) which enables to obtain information;
at least one central monitoring unit (3) which is located in the environment where the monitored person (A) such as baby, elderly person, patient is located; and enables that data such as sound, image, information about environment are received are received and it is transmitted to the monitoring person (B) and the sound and commands received from the monitoring person (B) are received and processed; at least one central server (4) wherein the central monitoring unit (3) transmits the data from the wearable sensor unit (2) related to the body of the monitored person (A) and determined by itself with respect to the environment where the monitored person (A) is located, under various conditions;
at least one smart communication device (5) which enables the monitoring person (B) to receive and display the data that the central monitoring unit (3) receives from the wearable sensor unit (2) and determines by itself about the environment where the monitored person (A) is located and also to send his/her own voice and commands to the central monitoring unit (3); communicates with the central monitoring unit (3) directly or over a central server (4), upon being matched with the central monitoring unit (3).
A system (1) according to Claim 1 , characterized by the wearable sensor unit (2) which is included within the system (1 ) for monitoring people such as baby, elderly person, patient remotely and comprising:
at least one accelerometer (201 ) which enables to measure acceleration;
at least one gyroscope (202) which enables to sense 6-axis movement;
at least one temperature sensor-WSU (203) which enables to measure the body temperature of the monitored person (A);
at least one electrocardiogram (ECG) sensor (204) which enables to determine the heart signals and the heart operating status of the monitored person (A); at least one communication unit-WSU (205) which enables the wearable sensor unit (2) to communicate with the central monitoring unit (3) directly;
at least one control unit-WSU (206) which performs tasks of switching on/off the sensors located within the wearable sensor unit (2); converting the values received from these sensors into digital data; checking these digital data according to the pre-determined threshold values; in the event that these digital data or the digital data are below or above of the threshold values, managing the communication unit-WSU (205) in order that a warning related to this is transmitted to the central monitoring unit (3) and transmitting these digital data to the communication unit-WSU (205);
at least one power unit-WSU (207) which acts as a power source that enables to meet power needs of all elements in need of energy such as the sensors and the communication unit-WSU (205) and the control unit-WSU (206) included within the wearable sensor unit (2);
at least one indicator unit-WSU (208) which enables to indicate information related to the operating and fault status of the sensors and the communication unit-WSU (205) and the control unit-WSU (206) included within the wearable sensor unit (2) and the current power level and connection status of the power unit-WSU (207).
A system (1) according to Claim 1, characterized by the central monitoring unit (3) which is included within the system (1) for monitoring people who need care and monitoring such as baby, elderly person, patient remotely and comprising:
at least one camera-CMU (301) which enables to display the environment where the monitored person (A) is located; at least one sound receiving unit-CMU (302) which enables to receive the sounds in the environment where the monitored person (A) is located;
at least one temperature sensor-CMU (303) which enables to determine the ambient temperature in the environment where the monitored person (A) is located;
at least one communication unit-CMU (304) which enables the central monitoring unit (3) to communicate with the wearable sensor unit (2) directly and also the smart communication device (5) directly or over the communication coverage extender (6) and/or the central server (4) as bidirectional ly;
at least one control unit-CMU (305) which enables to process and evaluate the sensor data received from the wearable sensor unit (2), the sound data received from the sound receiving unit-CMU (302) and the images received from the camera-CMU (301 ), check them according to certain threshold values and decide for sending notification to the smart communication device (5) in certain circumstances directly or over the communication coverage extender (6) and/or the central server (4); performs the duty of a being management element for the elements within the central monitoring unit (3);
at least one real time clock (306) which carries out time measurement in order that the control unit-CMU (305) is induced so as to perform its tasks upon being induced periodically and shares this measurement information with the control unit-CMU (305);
at least one power unit-CMU (307) which is included within the central monitoring unit (3) and acts as a power source in order to provide power to the elements which need energy;
at least one memory-CMU (308) wherein essentially the data reaching the central monitoring unit (3) over the wearable sensor unit (2), the information of threshold values whereby these data will be evaluated, descriptive information about the smart communication device (5) that is authorized as being able to interact with the central monitoring unit (3) and/or the monitoring person (B), descriptive information about the central server (4) and the database (401) in cases of communicating with the central server (4), instructions having an effect on operation of the control unit-CMU (305) are kept;
at least one audio output unit-CMU (309) which enables to make the monitored person (A) listen to the pre-recorded sounds or the live sounds transmitted by the monitoring person (B) by means of the smart communication device (5);
at least one light signalling unit (310) which performs the duty of displaying light to the monitored person (A) in colours and orders that are pre-determined or determined by the monitoring person (B) by means of the smart communication device (5) at that moment;
at least one light sensor (31 1 ) which enables to sense the ambient light level in the environment where the monitored person (A) is located; at least one indicator unit-CMU (312) which enables to display the operation and possible fault status of the elements included within the central monitoring unit (3) and the information about the power level and the connection status of the power unit-CMU (307);
at least one illumination light (313) which performs the duty of illuminating the environment in order that the camera-CMU (301 ) takes image clearly in the event that the environment where the monitored person (A) is located is dark;
at least one digital relative humidity meter (314) which measures the relative humidity value in the environment where the monitored person (A) is located.
A system (1 ) according to Claim 1 , characterized by the smart communication device (5) which is included within the system (1 ) for monitoring people who need care and monitoring such as baby, elderly person, patient remotely and comprising:
at least one display-SCD (501 ) which enables to display an interface - which ensures that all kinds of information and data received directly from the central monitoring unit (3) or by means of the communication coverage extender (6) and/or the central server (4) are displayed by the monitoring person (B) and commands related to the processes to be carried out on the wearable sensor unit (2) and the central monitoring unit (3) are given by the monitoring person (B) - to the monitoring person (B);
at least one audio output unit-SCD (502) which enables to make the monitoring person (B) to listen the sound data received directly from the central monitoring unit (3) or by means of the communication coverage extender (6) and/or the central server (4) and the alert sounds related to the notifications received from the central monitoring unit
(3) ;
at least one control unit-SCD (503) which enables elements within the smart communication device (5) to be managed in order that all processes about the data and the command exchange realized by the smart communication device (5) with the central monitoring unit (3) directly or over the central server (4) and the communication coverage extender (6) are carried out;
at least one communication unit-SCD (504) which is configured such that it will enable the smart communication device (5) to communicate with the central monitoring unit (3) directly or over the central server
(4) and the communication coverage extender (6);
at least one sound receiving unit-SCD (505) which ensures that voice of the monitoring person (B) is received to be transmitted from the smart communication device (5) towards the central monitoring unit (3) as live or as to be transmitted later; at least one memory-SCD (506) wherein the commands for the processes carried out by the control unit-SCD (503) related to the operation of the smart communication device (5); the interface elements about the interface displayed on the display-SCD (501 ); information such as descriptive information input by the monitoring person (B) and used in order that communication is realized between the smart communication device (5) and the central server (4), password is kept.
A system (1) according to Claim 1, characterized by the wearable sensor unit (2) which is featured such that the monitored person (A) can wear it and in the form of a band.
A system (1) according to Claim 1, characterized by the wearable sensor unit (2) which is a wearable article whereon sensors can be added by sewing or inserting and positioned on the chest area of the monitored person (A).
A system (1) according to Claim 1, characterized by the wearable sensor unit (2) which comprises flexible rubber parts in places where the sensor units are inserted.
A system (1 ) according to Claim 2, characterized by the wearable sensor unit (2) which has one or more metal surface contacting the body of the monitored person (A) in order that the temperature sensor- WSU (203) and the electrocardiogram (ECG) sensor (204) make the most accurate measurement.
A system (1 ) according to Claim 2, characterized by the communication unit- WSU (205) which enables the wearable sensor unit (2) to communicate with the central monitoring unit (3) by means of RF signals.
10. A system (1) according to Claim 2, characterized by the communication unit- WSU (205) which enables the wearable sensor unit (2) to communicate with the central monitoring unit (3) by means of Bluetooth signals.
11. A system (1) according to Claim 2, characterized by the control unit-WSU (206) which checks if the values received from the sensors included within the wearable sensor unit (2) and converted into digital data are above or below a certain threshold value or not by itself; and in the event that the value received from any sensor is above or below certain threshold values, it transfers the information and warning about this status to the communication unit-WSU
(205) so as to be transmitted to the central monitoring unit (3) together with the sensor information and the sensor value.
12. A system (1) according to Claim 2, characterized by the control unit-WSU (206) which receives the acceleration value measured by the accelerometer
(201) and uses it in order to determine movements of the monitored person (A) such as sleeping/dormant state, breathing rate, fall, sudden straighten-up.
13. A system (1) according to Claim 2, characterized by the control unit-WSU (206) which receives the values measured by the gyroscope (202) and uses them in order to determine movements of the monitored person (A) such as sleeping/dormant state, breathing rate, turn, sleep laterally, fall.
14. A system (1 ) according to Claim 2, characterized by the control unit-WSU (206) which maintains an EEPROM memory and can store the settings of the sensor units, settings about the communication to be performed by the central monitoring unit (3) and the data received from the sensors in this memory.
15. A system (1 ) according to Claim 2, characterized by the power unit-WSU (207) which is a button cell, watch battery.
16. A system (1) according to Claim 2, characterized by the indicator unit-WSU (208) which consists of LED lights whereby operating, connection and fault status are stated with different colours.
17. A system (1) according to Claim 3, characterized by the camera-CMU (301) which is a camera with night vision.
18. A system (1) according to Claim 3, characterized by the sound receiving unit-CMU (302) which comprises a plurality of microphones used for detecting, filtering out the direction of the sound in the environment and preventing sounds (noise cancellation) except the voice of the monitored person (A).
19. A system (1 ) according to Claim 16, characterized by the sound receiving unit-CMU (302) which has the microphones within thereof as placed on the side parts and/or the upper part in accordance with the purpose of direction detection and noise cancellation on the central monitoring unit (3).
20. A system (1) according to Claim 3, characterized by the control unit-CMU (305) which processes different sounds received from a plurality of microphones included within the sound receiving unit-CMU (302), by a noise cancellation algorithm.
21. A system (1) according to Claim 3, characterized by the control unit-CMU (305) which processes different sounds received from a plurality of microphones included within the sound receiving unit-CMU (302), by sound processing algorithms and determines and filters out the direction of the voice of the monitored person (A).
22. A system (1) according to Claim 3, characterized by the control unit-CMU (305) which is configured to be able to apply methods of GSC (Generalized Sidelobe Canceller) or Wiener filter for the processes of noise cancellation and determining sound direction.
23. A system (1) according to Claim 3, characterized by the communication unit- CMU (304) which can communicate with the smart communication device (5) over Bluetooth directly or with a communication coverage extender (6) again over Bluetooth.
24. A system (1) according to Claim 3, characterized by the communication unit- CMU (304) which carries out communication with the wearable sensor unit (2) over Bluetooth or RF signals.
25. A system (1) according to Claim 3, characterized by the communication unit- CMU (304) which is configured such that it can establish connection over Wi- Fi signals.
26. A system (1) according to Claim 3, characterized by the communication unit- CMU (304) which is configured such that it can establish connection over mobile communication networks (such as GPRS, Edge, 3G, LTE)
27. A system (1) according to Claim 3, characterized by the control unit-CMU (305) which is a CPU (Central Processing Unit) unit.
28. A system (1 ) according to Claim 3, characterized by the control unit-CMU (305) which comprises the instructions that will enable to process and evaluate the sensor data received from the wearable sensor unit (2) or the warnings received from the wearable sensor unit (2), the sounds received from the sound receiving unit-CMU (302) and the images received from the central monitoring unit (3) and to manage the elements located on the central monitoring unit (3) and which performs its operation in accordance with these instructions.
29. A system (1) according to Claim 3, characterized by the control unit-CMU (305) which is periodically invoked for some tasks such as evaluating the sensor values received from the wearable sensor unit (2), taking the power level status of the power unit-CMU (307), updating the indicator unit-CMU (312) and which carries out its processes at certain intervals.
30. A system (1) according to Claim 3, characterized by the control unit-CMU (305) which is configured to be able to perform tasks of:
compressing the digital image received from the camera-CMU (301) by using a compression algorithm in the state of the art;
converting the sound received from the sound receiving unit-CMU (302) into digital sound and compressing it by using a sound compressing algorithm in the state of the art;
evaluating the data received from the sensors within the wearable sensor unit (2);
in the event that the data received from the wearable sensor unit (2) are out of the pre-determined threshold values, determining what do these values stand for and then sending a notification with comprehensible characteristic to the smart communication device (5) directly or over the communication coverage extender (6) and/or the central server (4) by means of the communication unit-CMU (304);
- in case of receiving an alert stating that the value related to sensor is out of the pre-determined threshold values directly instead of raw sensor data from the wearable sensor unit (2), turning the alert into a meaningful text and transmitting it to the communication unit-CMU (304) so as to be sent to the smart communication device (5) directly or over the communication coverage extender (6) and/or the central server (4);
in the event that the temperature value received from the temperature sensor-CMU (303) is out of a pre-determined threshold value, interpreting this status and sending a notification about the status to the smart communication device (5) directly or over the communication coverage extender (6) and/or the central server (4) by means of the communication unit-CMU (304);
carrying out a noise cancellation process for the sound received from the sound receiving unit-CMU (302) in order to determine the sound of the monitored person (A) in a clearer way;
detecting and discriminating the direction of the sounds in order to recognize the sound received from a plurality of sound resources, if available, for the sound received from the sound receiving unit-CMU (302);
recognizing the sound received from the sound receiving unit-CMU (302) and transformed into digital sound and determining whether it is a sound made by the monitored person (A);
in the event of understanding that the sound received from the sound receiving unit-CMU (302) and transformed into digital sound is a voice made by the monitored person (A), detecting whether this sound level is higher than a pre-determined sound level;
making an inference over the sound received from the sound receiving unit-CMU (302) and transformed into digital sound relating to the emotion that the monitored person (A) has at that moment by means of a emotion detection algorithm in the state of the art;
in the event that the emotion inferred is one of the pre-determined emotions (for example fear, panic) after the emotion detection process carried out over the digital sound received from the sound receiving unit-CMU (302), sending notification to the smart communication device (5) directly or over the communication coverage extender (6) and/or the central server (4) and starting sound transmission;
in the event of detecting that a voice made by the monitored person (A) is higher than a pre-determined sound level, sending notification to the smart communication device (5) directly or over the communication coverage extender (6) and/or the central server (4) and starting continuously broadcasting the sound received from the sound receiving unit-CMU (302) and the image received from the camera- CMU (301) in a digital and compressed way by means of the communication unit-CMU (304);
if a movement (a moving object or movement of the monitored person (A) directly) is detected except a pre-determined value in the sequential images received from the camera-CMU (301), transmitting an alert relating to this situation to the smart communication device (5) and starting streaming of image and sound towards the smart communication device (5) in the event that the monitored person (A) requests;
in the event that a request is received from the smart communication device (5), sending the image and/or the sound received from the camera-CMU (301) and/or the sound receiving unit-CMU (302) to the smart communication device (5) directly or over the communication coverage extender (6) and/or the central server (4) without seeking for any threshold value status;
receiving data intended for the light level of the environment from the light sensor (31 1) and activating the illumination light (313), in order to enlighten the environment, in cases where the light level of the environment is below a certain level and it is required to take image from the camera-CMU (301) by evaluating this data;
updating the indicator unit-CMU (312) according to the operation and fault status of the elements within the central monitoring unit (3) and the case of being able to receive data from the sensors within the wearable sensor unit (2);
if it is planned to be realized in the event of receiving a request from the smart communication device (5) or in the event of any threshold value non-conformity for the sound and image previously, giving visual and audio warnings entertaining and soothing the monitored person (A) (for example a baby) from the light signalling unit (310) and the audio output unit-CMU (309) as specified in the memory- CMU (308);
in the event that the monitoring person (B) starts, ensuring that the voice of the monitoring person (B) is received from the smart communication device (5) directly or from the central server (4) by the communication unit-CMU (304) and the voice is broadcasted to the environment from the audio output unit-CMU (309), thus allocation of a bidirectional communication is realized between the central monitoring unit (3) and the smart communication device (5); in the event that the ambient relative humidity value received from the digital relative humidity meter (314) is above or below of a predetermined threshold value, interpreting this situation and sending a notification related to this situation to the smart communication device (5) directly or over the communication coverage extender (6) and/or the central server (4) by means of the communication unit-CMU (304).
31. A system (1) according to Claim 3, characterized by the memory-CMU (308) which keeps the threshold values used by thereof during the tasks performed by the control unit-CMU (305) and the descriptive information relating to the smart communication device (5) to be communicated by compression algorithms.
32. A system (1) according to Claim 3, characterized by the control unit-CMU (305) which uses a LPC (Linear Prediction Coding) based algorithm in order to compress the sound received from the sound receiving unit-CMU (302) after it is converted into digital data.
33. A system (1 ) according to Claim 3, characterized by the control unit-CMU (305) which sends each data to be sent to the smart communication device (5) directly or over the communication coverage extender (6) and/or the central server (4) by encrypting it.
34. A system (1) according to Claim 3, characterized by the memory-CMU (308) which keeps all information and algorithms - that are used by the smart communication device (5) during the tasks performed by the control unit- CMU (305) - such that they can be updated by the new versions thereof kept in the central server (4) by a command to be issued over the smart communication device (5) or upon being controlled periodically.
35. A system (1) according to Claim 3, characterized by the control unit-CMU (305) which carries out process of adding new information and algorithms to the memory-CMU (308) and deleting the old ones.
36. A system (1) according to Claim 3, characterized by the memory-CMU (308) which is Flash ROM.
37. A system (1) according to Claim 3, characterized by the indicator unit-CMU (312) which is located within the central monitoring unit (3) as a separate display.
38. A system (1) according to Claim 1, characterized by the central server (4) which, when a connection request is received by the smart communication device (5), primarily detects for which central monitoring unit (3) does the smart communication device (5) request connection and then controls whether this smart communication device (5) has authority to connect to this central monitoring unit (3).
39. A system (1) according to Claim 1, characterized by the database (401) wherein the information required for the authorization process between the smart communication device (5) and the central monitoring unit (3) are kept.
40. A system (1) according to Claim 1, characterized by the database (401) wherein all data relating to the status determined by the central monitoring unit (3) or determined according to the data received from the wearable sensor unit (2) are kept on the basis of the central monitoring unit (3) and such that they can be used when historical data and data for statistical purpose are required.
41. A system (1) according to Claim 1, characterized by the database (401) which keeps information relating to a person or institutions that can be accessed in the event that the central server (4) determines an emergency status according to the data happened for a certain time and received.
42. A system (1) according to Claim 1, characterized by the smart communication device (5) which is a smart phone.
43. A system (1) according to Claim 1 , characterized by the smart communication device (5) which is a tablet computer.
44. A system (1) according to Claim 1, characterized by the smart communication device (5) which is configured such that it can connect to Internet over mobile networks or fixed networks and thus communicate with the central server (4).
45. A system (1) according to Claim 1 , characterized by the smart communication device (5) which is a communication device that is configured to support close-range communication technologies (for example Bluetooth, Bluetooth LE (Bluetooth Low Energy - Bluetooth 4.0) ) for the cases where it can directly establish communication with the central monitoring unit (3).
46. A system (1) according to Claim 4, characterized by the smart communication device (5) which is a touch-screen display and acts as an input unit in interaction of the monitoring person (B) with the graphical interface.
47. A system (1) according to Claim 4, characterized by the control unit-SCD (503) which consists of a CPU and a graphical processor (GPU - Graphical
Processing Unit) enabling to manage the displays to be performed on the display-SCD (501 ) too.
48. A system (1) according to Claim 1 , characterized by the communication coverage extender (6) which receives any close-range communication signal and emits it by repeating without not intervening the content of this signal that it received in accordance with the repeater feature.
49. A system (1) according to Claim 1 , characterized by the communication coverage extender (6) which receives the content transmitted by any close- range communication signal (for example Bluetooth signal) and emits the same content to the environment by Wi-Fi signals; enables the smart communication device (5), that is connected to the Wi-Fi network relating to these Wi-Fi signals emitted, to receive the content over the same Wi-Fi network by means of these signals.
50. A system (1) according to Claim 1, characterized by the communication coverage extender (6) which determines the content transmitted by this signal after it receives any close-range communication signal and which enables that this content is transmitted to a modem and thus to the central server (4) by Wi-
Fi signals.
51. A system (1) according to Claim 1 , characterized by the communication coverage extender (6) which determines the content transmitted by this signal after it receives any close-range communication signal and it directly sends this content to the central server (4) over network connection.
52. A system (1) according to Claim 1 , characterized by the communication coverage extender (6) which is a unit configured to be able to use the mobile communication network (such as GPRS, Edge, 3G, LTE) or the network connection provided over fixed lines.
PCT/TR2016/000089 2015-07-15 2016-06-24 A monitoring system WO2017010956A1 (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
TR2015/08866 2015-07-15
TR201508866 2015-07-15

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
WO2017010956A1 true WO2017010956A1 (en) 2017-01-19

Family

ID=56851670

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
PCT/TR2016/000089 WO2017010956A1 (en) 2015-07-15 2016-06-24 A monitoring system

Country Status (1)

Country Link
WO (1) WO2017010956A1 (en)

Cited By (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE102019111549A1 (en) * 2019-05-03 2020-11-05 Reer Gmbh BABYPHONE, BABYPHONE SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR OPERATING A BABYPHONE
CN114209864A (en) * 2021-11-17 2022-03-22 北京小龙潜行科技有限公司 Intelligent bearing platform with pressure sensor
DE102021114821A1 (en) 2021-06-09 2022-12-15 ZiehBebe GmbH & Co. KG Monitoring and playback device for monitoring a child
US11922365B1 (en) 2021-08-16 2024-03-05 T-Mobile Usa, Inc. Smart-shipping container with security and communications capabilities
US12020202B2 (en) 2021-12-01 2024-06-25 T-Mobile Usa, Inc. Smart container and orchestration engine configured to dynamically adapt multi-carrier transport processes

Citations (11)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE202004014835U1 (en) 2003-04-09 2005-02-24 Reichert, Curt Monitoring device for babies/baby phone has radio equipment for monitoring/watching a person and an area with a noise transmitter and a signal receiver
US7009520B2 (en) 2000-09-22 2006-03-07 Burlington Basket Company Method, apparatus, and system for remote baby monitoring with additional functions
TR200606088U (en) 2006-11-01 2006-12-21 Polar Araştirma Danişmanlik Ve Strateji̇ Geli̇şti̇rme Merkezi̇ Anoni̇m Şi̇rketi̇ Rf body temperature and pulse tracking system in pediatric and adult
WO2008129451A1 (en) 2007-04-19 2008-10-30 Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. Fall detection system
TR201103561A2 (en) 2007-02-09 2011-05-23 Gregory John Gallagher Infant monitor
US8314696B2 (en) 2007-07-03 2012-11-20 Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. Baby monitoring systems
TR201305605A1 (en) 2013-05-10 2014-02-21
US20150087257A1 (en) * 2013-09-22 2015-03-26 Ricoh Company, Ltd. Mobile Information Gateway for Use in Emergency Situations or with Special Equipment
US20150105608A1 (en) * 2013-10-14 2015-04-16 Rest Devices, Inc. Infant Sleeping Aid and Infant-Bed Accessory
US20150157263A1 (en) * 2012-08-25 2015-06-11 Owlet Protection Enterprises Llc Wireless infant health monitor
US20150161876A1 (en) * 2013-12-10 2015-06-11 Sal Castillo Methods and systems for emergency alerts

Patent Citations (11)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US7009520B2 (en) 2000-09-22 2006-03-07 Burlington Basket Company Method, apparatus, and system for remote baby monitoring with additional functions
DE202004014835U1 (en) 2003-04-09 2005-02-24 Reichert, Curt Monitoring device for babies/baby phone has radio equipment for monitoring/watching a person and an area with a noise transmitter and a signal receiver
TR200606088U (en) 2006-11-01 2006-12-21 Polar Araştirma Danişmanlik Ve Strateji̇ Geli̇şti̇rme Merkezi̇ Anoni̇m Şi̇rketi̇ Rf body temperature and pulse tracking system in pediatric and adult
TR201103561A2 (en) 2007-02-09 2011-05-23 Gregory John Gallagher Infant monitor
WO2008129451A1 (en) 2007-04-19 2008-10-30 Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. Fall detection system
US8314696B2 (en) 2007-07-03 2012-11-20 Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. Baby monitoring systems
US20150157263A1 (en) * 2012-08-25 2015-06-11 Owlet Protection Enterprises Llc Wireless infant health monitor
TR201305605A1 (en) 2013-05-10 2014-02-21
US20150087257A1 (en) * 2013-09-22 2015-03-26 Ricoh Company, Ltd. Mobile Information Gateway for Use in Emergency Situations or with Special Equipment
US20150105608A1 (en) * 2013-10-14 2015-04-16 Rest Devices, Inc. Infant Sleeping Aid and Infant-Bed Accessory
US20150161876A1 (en) * 2013-12-10 2015-06-11 Sal Castillo Methods and systems for emergency alerts

Cited By (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE102019111549A1 (en) * 2019-05-03 2020-11-05 Reer Gmbh BABYPHONE, BABYPHONE SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR OPERATING A BABYPHONE
DE102021114821A1 (en) 2021-06-09 2022-12-15 ZiehBebe GmbH & Co. KG Monitoring and playback device for monitoring a child
US11922365B1 (en) 2021-08-16 2024-03-05 T-Mobile Usa, Inc. Smart-shipping container with security and communications capabilities
CN114209864A (en) * 2021-11-17 2022-03-22 北京小龙潜行科技有限公司 Intelligent bearing platform with pressure sensor
US12020202B2 (en) 2021-12-01 2024-06-25 T-Mobile Usa, Inc. Smart container and orchestration engine configured to dynamically adapt multi-carrier transport processes

Similar Documents

Publication Publication Date Title
KR101654609B1 (en) Remote Smart Monitoring System for Handicapped, Disabled and Elderly Living Alone and Method thereof
US9538959B2 (en) System and method for human monitoring
CA2788731C (en) A portable eeg monitor system with wireless communication
US10446017B1 (en) Smart personal emergency response systems (SPERS)
JP4706040B2 (en) Life crisis emergency call system
US20180055384A1 (en) System and method for non-invasive health monitoring
WO2017010956A1 (en) A monitoring system
KR20080013129A (en) Healthcare system and method for providing healthcare service
WO2018121246A1 (en) Wireless human body condition and behaviour monitoring alarm system
WO2017133576A1 (en) Electric bed
WO2018121244A1 (en) Wired system for monitoring and warning human body condition and behaviour
KR101489896B1 (en) Apparatus for Emergency Calling and Method thereof
JP6680563B2 (en) Watching system and watching method
JP2023099012A (en) alert system
KR20150061195A (en) Mobile Emergency Management System
CN109330574A (en) A kind of intelligent guarding system based on Internet of Things
KR20170121617A (en) Elderly people living alone monitoring system using IoT
GB2571128A (en) A wearable alarm device and a method of use thereof
KR102218006B1 (en) Management system for elderly people living alone based on ultra-wideband impluse-radio
CN108235536B (en) Intelligent lamp and somatosensory monitoring system
KR20210006200A (en) Silver Healthcare System using AMI Networks
KR20020024083A (en) Mobile health checker and method for checking health
KR20150004532A (en) A health monitoring pillow
TWI656502B (en) Method, apparatus and system for portable safety care
CN209770349U (en) Remote medical monitoring system based on Internet of things

Legal Events

Date Code Title Description
121 Ep: the epo has been informed by wipo that ep was designated in this application

Ref document number: 16758302

Country of ref document: EP

Kind code of ref document: A1

NENP Non-entry into the national phase

Ref country code: DE

32PN Ep: public notification in the ep bulletin as address of the adressee cannot be established

Free format text: NOTING OF LOSS OF RIGHTS PURSUANT TO RULE 112(1) EPC (EPO FORM 1205A DATED 18.04.2018)

122 Ep: pct application non-entry in european phase

Ref document number: 16758302

Country of ref document: EP

Kind code of ref document: A1