Apparatus and method for reducing power consumption in physiological condition monitors

An apparatus capable of receiving a signal representative of at least one physiological condition of a person in which data about said signal is stored in a memory data storage device, the apparatus comprising:

• a memory data storage device capable of operating in a high power mode when data is being written to said memory data storage device and capable of operating in a low power mode when inactive;
• a receiver capable of being coupled to an antenna and capable of receiving a signal representative of at least one physiological condition of a person;
• a processor unit coupled to said receiver capable of receiving incoming data in the form of a signal representative of at least one physiological condition of a person and capable of writing said incoming data to said memory data storage device;
• a controller coupled to said memory data storage device and capable of writing to said memory data storage device and coupled to said processor unit and capable of receiving said incoming data from said processor unit;
• and
• a first low power buffer coupled to said controller, wherein said controller stores said incoming data in said first low power buffer until a predetermined amount of incoming data has been accumulated in said first low power buffer and wherein said controller transfers said accumulated predetermined amount of incoming data to said memory data storage device in a single data transfer.

A method of reducing power consumption in an electronic data storage system in a physiological condition monitor comprising the steps of:

• placing a memory data storage device in a physiological condition monitor in a low power mode of operation;
• storing data in a first low power buffer when said memory data storage device is in a low power mode of operation until a predetermined amount of data has been stored in said first low power buffer;
• placing said memory data storage device in a high power mode of operation;
• and
• transferring said predetermined amount of data to said memory data storage device when said memory data storage device is in a high power mode of operation.

A method of reducing power consumption in a flash memory data storage system in a physiological condition monitor comprising the steps of:

• placing a flash memory data card in a physiological condition monitor in a low power mode of operation;
• storing data in a first low power buffer when said flash memory data card is in a low power mode of operation until a specified amount of data has been stored in said first low power buffer;
• placing said flash memory data card in a high power mode of operation;
• and
• transferring said specified amount of data to said flash memory data card when said flash memory data card is in a high power mode of operation.

An apparatus capable of evaluating movement of a body relative to an environment, said apparatus comprising:

• a sensor, associable with said body, that senses accelerative phenomena of said body;
• a processor, associated with said sensor, that processes said sensed accelerative phenomena as a function of at least one accelerative event characteristic to thereby determine whether said evaluated body movement is within environmental tolerance;
• a memory data storage device capable of operating in a high power mode when data is being written to said memory data storage device and capable of operating in a low power mode when inactive;
• a data acquisition device coupled to said processor capable of receiving from said processor incoming data from said sensor to be written to said memory data storage device;
• a controller coupled to said memory data storage device capable of writing data to said memory data storage device and coupled to said data acquisition device capable of receiving incoming data from said data acquisition device;
• and
• a first low power buffer coupled to said controller, wherein said controller stores said incoming data in said first low power buffer until a predetermined amount of incoming data has been accumulated in said first low power buffer and wherein said controller transfers said accumulated predetermined amount of incoming data to said memory data storage device in a single data transfer.

A method of reducing power consumption in an electronic data storage system in an apparatus capable of evaluating movement of a body relative to an environment of the type comprising:

• a sensor, associable with said body, that senses accelerative phenomena of said body;
• a processor, associated with said sensor, that processes said sensed accelerative phenomena as a function of at least one accelerative event characteristic to thereby determine whether said evaluated body movement is within environmental tolerance;
• a memory data storage device capable of operating in a high power mode when data is being written to said memory data storage device and capable of operating in a low power mode when inactive;
• a data acquisition device coupled to said processor capable of receiving from said processor incoming data from said sensor to be written to said memory data storage device;
• a controller coupled to said memory data storage device capable of writing data to said memory data storage device and coupled to said data acquisition device capable of receiving incoming data from said data acquisition device;
• and
• a first low power buffer coupled to said controller, wherein said controller stores said incoming data in said first low power buffer until a predetermined amount of incoming data has been accumulated in said first low power buffer and wherein said controller transfers said accumulated predetermined amount of incoming data to said memory data storage device in a single data transfer, wherein said method comprises the steps of:
• placing said memory data storage device is a low power mode of operation;
• storing data in said first low power buffer when said memory data storage device is in a low power mode of operation until a predetermined amount of data has been stored in said first low power buffer;
• placing said memory data storage device in a high power mode of operation;
• and
• transferring said predetermined amount of data to said memory data storage device when said memory data storage device is in a high power mode of operation.