Embedded data link and protocol

A method for effecting transmission between an RF transmitter coil and an RF receiver coil variably coupled to said transmitter coil, the inter-coil coupling between said receiver and transmitter coils varying between a predetermined maximum and a predetermined minimum dependent upon the specified range of separation between said coils, comprising the steps of applying to said transmitter coil an RF transmission signal, said RF transmission signal representing a first bit value by N successive cycles of an RF carrier signal and representing a second bit value by the suppression of RF carrier transmission for M successive cycles, and operating on the RF signal induced in said receiver coil by counting with a modulo N counting scheme successive cycles of the RF carrier that exceed a detection threshold and off-setting the count with respect to the start of the successive cycles that are to be counted, said offset being a function of said inter-coil coupling.

A method for effecting transmission between an RF transmitter coil and an RF receiver coil variably coupled to said transmitter coil, damping in said receiver coil varying between a predetermined maximum and a predetermined minimum dependent upon the specified range of separation between said coils, comprising the steps of applying to said transmitter coil an RF carrier signal, said RF carrier signal representing a first bit value by N successive cycles and representing a second bit value by the suppression of RF carrier transmission for M successive cycles;

• and operating on the RF signal induced in said receiver coil by counting modulo N, with a counting offset depending on the degree of inter-coil coupling, successive cycles of the RF carrier signal in the coil that exceed a threshold value.

A method for effecting transmission between an RF transmitter coil and an RF receiver coil coupled to said RF transmitter coil comprising the steps of applying to said RF transmitter coil an RF signal in which a 1 bit is represented by a predetermined number, greater than 2, of cycles of said RF signal and a 0 bit is represented by the absence of a predetermined number, greater than 2, of cycles of said RF signal;

• establishing the coupling between said coils such that when the separation of said coils is within prescribed limits the transmission of a single 0 bit between two 1 bits gives rise to at least one RF cycle in said RF receiver coil having an amplitude below a defined percentage of the amplitude of the received RF signal;
• and counting successive RF cycles in said RF receiver coil whose amplitudes exceed said percentage to decode received 0 and 1 bits.

A method for effecting transmission between an RF transmitter coil and an RF receiver coil coupled to said RF transmitter coil comprising the steps of applying to said RF transmitter coil an RF signal in which a 1 bit is represented by a predetermined number, greater than 2, of cycles of said RF signal, and a 0 bit is represented by the absence of a predetermined number, greater than 2, of cycles of said RF signal;

• slightly offsetting the tuning of said RF transmitter and receiver coils such that, during the transmission of a 0 bit, ringing current in said RF receiver coil changes phase so as to oppose the RF signal received for the next 1 bit giving rise to at least one RF cycle in said RF receiver coil having an amplitude below a defined percentage of the amplitude of the received RF signal;
• and counting successive RF cycles in said RF receiver coil whose amplitudes exceed said percentage to decode received 0 and 1 bits.

A cochlear implant system comprising:

• an internal stimulator having a receiver, and a plurality of electrodes for applying stimulation to the patient's aural nerve;
• and
• an external speech processor for receiving ambient sounds and for generating in response a plurality of processed signals, each processed signal including data defining a duration and at least one other characteristic of a corresponding stimulation signal, said processor including a transmitter for transmitting a sequence of data frames corresponding to each said processed signal, each frame including frame data defining said other characteristic and a frame duration defining the duration of the current stimulation signal.

A system comprising an RF transmitter and an RF receiver, said transmitter and said receiver both operating on frames having a predetermined format and representing both digital data and time-interval information;

• said RF transmitter including means for selectively generating and suppressing RF carrier cycles to represent digital data and to do so within a frame for an overall variable period representative of time-interval information, the RF carrier cycles representative of said digital data being embedded within the overall RF transmission representative of said time-interval information;
• and said RF receiver including means for detecting individual carrier cycles in the received RF transmission, means for decoding individually detected carrier cycles to derive digital data, and means for deriving time-interval information from the period required to detect all carrier cycles in the current frame.

A transmitter for transmitting variable-duration frames having a predetermined format and representing both digital data and time-interval information comprising means for selectively generating and suppressing RF carrier cycles to represent digital data, and means for transmitting the generated RF carrier cycles within a frame for a period representative of time-interval information, the RF carrier cycles representative of said digital data being embedded within the overall RF transmission representative of said time-interval information.

A method of transmitting successive frames, each frame having both analog and digital command information for selected utilization circuits, comprising the steps of transmitting in each frame the analog command information for a first respective utilization circuit and transmitting in each frame the digital command information for a second respective utilization circuit, wherein said second utilization circuit operates on the digital command information conveyed in the previous frame.

A method for effecting transmission between an RF transmitter and an RF receiver, said transmitter and said receiver both operating on frames having a predetermined format and representing both digital data and time-interval information, comprising the steps of controlling said RF transmitter to selectively generate and suppress RF carrier cycles to represent digital data and to do so within a frame for an overall variable duration representative of time-interval information, the RF carrier cycles representative of said digital data being embedded within the overall RF transmission representative of said time-interval information;

• and detecting in said RF receiver individual carrier cycles in the received RF transmission, decoding individually detected carrier cycles to derive digital data, and deriving time-interval information from the period required to detect all carrier cycles in the current frame.