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Skyaid Watch Functions  updated 10/12/02

Function summary:
- Automatic call if heart rate is suspicious and wearer does not cancel the call
- Manual call in case of other emergency 
- Call information includes Skyaid Watch GPS location
- Voice mail  

1 Measure blood pulse rate without use of any external sensor, such as a chest strap.
 1A) Automatically adjust sense system to measure pulse rate the user's wrist
 1B) Desirable to sense the pulse on the bottom of the wrist,
       which is the opposite side of the wrist from where a watch is normally kept.
 1C) Wrist band must keep Skyaid Watch in same position on wrist so as to measure pulse.
        this might be covered by patent # 5,912,865  
 1D) Measure pulse rate infrequently so as to minimize power consumption. Perhaps 1/60sec.

2 Do computation:
  2A) Determine pulse rate
  2B) Determine when pulse has stopped or is too fast (fibrillation is approx 300/ minute)
  2C) Determine pulse rate variability (see #13C)

3 Send radio alarm automatically if 2B:
 3A) No external radio antenna - but antenna can be built into the wristband
 3B) Continue to transmit every few seconds - so the Skyaid Watch can be located.
 3C) Meteor burst communication.  (Note: cell-phone technology has poor coverage, especially inside of buildings) 
 3D) Expect that radio transmitter will consume low battery power (except for voice-mail)
      - will need to transmit only about 100 bits every few seconds.
 3E) Provide an option to disable the radio alarm resulting from #2B.  
      - A person who establishes a "living will" may state that they do not want to be revived.

4 Wearer can test that Skyaid Watch works
  4A) User initiates test - transmission inside a building, etc.
      This also aids in estimating the distance - as well as direction.
         - Note: Low power consumption - need to receive only while sending an alarm.
       And, while sending an alarm, receiver will be on only about 1% of the time.
  4B) Automatic periodic testing by the Skyaid Watch itself - perhaps once a month.

5 'Panic buttons’ on the Skyaid Watch to call for emergency assistance
     - Buttons must be operable while one arm is disabled, such as by a stroke or injury.

6  Ambient conditions
  6A) Waterproof, or at least water resistant
       - perhaps voice-mail not functional if watch was recently wet.
  6B) Can be dropped without damage
  6C) Operate and display in full daylight as well as complete darkness (#18)

7  Low false alarm rate:
 7A) Skyaid Watch must know when it is on a wrist. This might require additional sensors. 
       Cannot have automatic alarms when the Skyaid Watch is off the wrist.
 7B) Watch beeps before and during transmission of most radio alarms. 
       - this allows the user to cancel the request.
 7C) May not want Skyaid Watch to beep for some types of alarms - e.g. crime in progress.

8 Power consumption: minimize the need to recharge. 
 Watch must indicate when there is insufficient power to transmit the next alarm or voice-mail
      - Note: may require recording the of amount of power already consumed.
      - Voice-mail operation (#15) will probably consume most of the power
      - Might be able to use solar energy instead of a battery provided a capacitor can be used
      - Power storage might be with a ultracapacitor  by http://www.powercache.com/
              Their 5 Farad capacitor occupies  1.7 x 2.4 x 0.46 cm (0.67 x 0.95 x 0.18")
                 It costs less than $4 and has an acceptable leakage time of 40 days to 1/2 voltage
                One capacitor is able to supply 1 amp at 2.5 volts for about 20 watt seconds (C*V*V)
                      which would TX for 200 seconds @ 0.1 watt, for talk time of 11*200 = 36 minutes
                      this does not include the power needed for GPS, voice encoding, receiving, etc.

9  Use by elderly:
  9A) Skyaid Watch beep frequency is low enough that the elderly can hear it.
       - vibration instead of beeping is a possible option if it does not take too much size or power.
  9B) Skyaid Watch beep must be loud enough to be heard.

10 Variety of models anticipated over 10 years:
 10A) Models for men, women, infants, etc.
 10B) Models may be needed for people with dark skin color 
         -the blue light which may be used to monitor pulse may not go thru dark skin
 10C) Models for different languages/characters (Japanese, Arabic, etc.)
 10D) Models for different fashion styles (gold, stainless steel, etc,)

11 Weight: less than 150 grams, including watchband which might contain the antenna.

12 Width of watch: less than 5 cm

13 Display options:
 13A) Time, alarm, etc.
 13B) Pulse rate
 13C) Heart rate variability (HRV) is low - display with optional beeping 
          - low variability in pulse-to-pulse rate indicates possible heart problems
     - optionally transmit an aid request as the person may be asleep
 13D) Pulsing indicator to indicate Skyaid Watch is operating correctly
 13E) Indicate (visual and sound) that alarm has been sent and estimate of time till aid arrives
 13F) GPS Location

14  Global Positioning System (GPS):  probable supplier = http://snaptrack.com
  14A) Measure location only when needed: automatic or when wearer sends an alarm
  14B) Power normally turned off to GPS section
  14C) Take measurement in less than 1 minute unless GPS signal strength is extremely weak.
  14D) Second measurement need to be taken to confirm EMS will arrive at current location 
            (make sure that the wearer is not in a moving vehicle)

15  Voice mail option (may not be water-proof)
  15A) Microphone
  15B) Speaker - may have to hold the Skyaid Watch near the ear
  15C) Voice commands to record message, set message destination, etc, 
       15C1) Different versions for different languages
       15C2) Optional use of buttons/voice for all voice-mail operation

16  Delayed request for help
  Skyaid Watch might be used by people with seizures. 
    When a person feels that a seizure might be coming on, he could 'arm' the Skyaid Watch. 
    If the seizure does not occur he can disarm the Skyaid Watch.  
    If the seizure does occur and the person does not disarm the Skyaid Watch, it will call for help.

17  Use by people with poor vision
  Option to have larger characters - perhaps even scroll the character across the screen.
  Consider using built-in voice to speak the time, etc.

18  Use by the blind or in the dark
    The blind should have enough acoustic feedback to operate the Skyaid Watch (beep or voice)
    The alarm should be able to be activated in the dark by anyone

Additional Skyaid Watch Details/Options

The Skyaid Watch would be designed to minimize false alarms. It would, for example, beep for 10 seconds before sending out a message, and would allow cancellation of recent messages sent accidentally.

This watch would not violate the wearer's privacy. No location information would be sent except when Skyaid Watch requests emergency help. Exceptions would be for those which would be worn by Alzheimer's patients and perhaps children.

Skyaid Watch registration would probably include name, sex, age, links to medical history, pacemaker, etc.

In addition to the "panic button", the Skyaid Watch should have some pre-set messages so that the correct 'second responders' can be alerted before the first responder arrives.  Second responders include: police, fire, and ambulance.

Skyaid Watch could be used in hospitals. Even in hospitals sudden cardiac arrests that go unnoticed usually result in death.

Skyaid Watch research mode - before full operational - get data periodically via radio (need to change battery more often during the test) or daily download via computer.  Need to research heart rate variability just after stroke and just before sudden infant death (SIDS)

ReliefBand - a wristwatch to stop nausea - this might be a function to add to the Skyaid Watch  

Encoded Voice data rate: 8,000 samples per second can be parametrically encoded to 1,200 bits per second. There is voice only 60% of the time in telephone conversations (2-way or 1-way?), for a net 720 bits per second.  Add about 20% for forward error correction.  If we can transmit 10,000 bits per second, then 11 seconds (10,000/720*1.2) of voice will be transmitted in 1 second.

Photocell recharge: Solar radiation = solar constant = 1360 watts/sq meter = 0.136 watts/sq cm
    Full sun = 0.1 watt (3 cm of solar cell and 20% efficiency)
    Thus recharge the 10 watt sec of capacitor with full sun in about 100 seconds = 2 minutes
    Perhaps office lighting is 0.1% of full sun, so would take 2000 minutes to fully recharge
       but could use very bright light (headlight, etc) to recharge it
       Light concentrator such as a 3.3 cm (1.4") frenel lens would multiply light intensity about 5X

Option - Meteor burst augmented with BLAST technology, which was invented by Bell Labs.
BLAST uses multiple antennas to typically increase the number of bits per second with same bandwidth and power.
Skyaid Watch will instead use BLAST to decrease power consumption with same bits transmitted per second and same bandwidth.
A 40 db decrease in power transmission by the Skyaid Watch appears possible when there are 6 antennas in different locations near the base station. There would no reduction in transmission power by the BLAST base station as there is no possibility of Skyaid Watch antennas in different locations.