Article of personal protective equipment, communication system, and computer-implemented method of communication

A communication system comprising:

• an article of PPE, the article of PPE comprising:
• a plurality of first communication circuits corresponding to a plurality of communication channels;
• a first memory configured to store a plurality of data types;
• and
• a first controller communicably coupled to the plurality of first communication circuits and the first memory;
• and
• a plurality of external devices remote from the article of PPE, each of the plurality of external devices comprising at least one second communication circuit communicably coupled to at least one of the plurality of first communication circuits via the corresponding communication channel;
• wherein the first controller is configured to:
• receive one or more data signals, the one or more data signals having corresponding data types from the plurality of data types;
• determine a signal strength of each of the plurality of communication channels;
• generate available connections data for the plurality of communication channels based on the signal strength of each of the plurality of communication channels;
• determine the corresponding data types of the one or more data signals by comparing the one or more data signals with the plurality of data types stored in the first memory;
• determine one or more available communication channels from the plurality of communication channels based on the available connections data, wherein the one or more available communication channels are available to transmit the one or more data signals;
• select at least one available communication channel from the one or more available communication channels based on at least the corresponding data types of the one or more data signals;
• and
• select at least one first communication circuit from the plurality of first communication circuits corresponding to the at least one available communication channel, such that the at least one first communication circuit receives the one or more data signals and transmits the one or more data signals to one or more external devices from the plurality of external devices over the at least one available communication channel.

A computer-implemented method of communication, comprising:

• receiving one or more data signals, the one or more data signals having corresponding data types;
• obtaining available connections data for a plurality of communication channels based on a signal strength of each of the plurality of communication channels;
• determining one or more available communication channels from the plurality of communication channels based on the available connections data, wherein the one or more available communication channels are available to transmit the one or more data signals;
• creating a first list of the one or more available communication channels;
• if the first list of the one or more available communication channels comprises one available communication channel, transmitting the one or more data signals to one or more external devices over the one available communication channel;
• and
• if the first list of the one or more available communication channels comprises more than one available communication channel:
• determining the corresponding data types of the one or more data signals by comparing the one or more data signals with a plurality of data types stored in a memory;
• determining one or more incompatible available communication channels from the first list of the one or more available communication channels based on the corresponding data types of the one or more data signals, wherein the one or more incompatible available communication channels are not suitable for transmitting the corresponding data types of the one or more data signals;
• removing the one or more incompatible available communication channels from the first list of the one or more available communication channels to create a second list of one or more available communication channels;
• and
• transmitting the one or more data signals to the one or more external devices over the one or more available communication channels from the second list.