Compu-TTY KA300TX Uživatelský manuál stáhnout pdf (Strana 18)

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7,170,404

B2

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Medicare

and

private

sector

commercial

health

care

mar

kets,

thus

offering

a

substantial

return

on

investment

for

our

nation’s

seniors.

Baby

boomers

may

break

an

already

strained

healthcare

delivery

system

unless

a

system

becomes

available

that

alloWs

for

home

monitoring,

thus

enabling

home

care

and

disease

management. While

it

is

economically

bene?cial

to

?nd

Ways

to

keep

seniors

With

chronic

ailments

out

of

the

hospital,

other

health

problems

could

also

bene?t

from

home

monitoring.

For

example,

asthma

is

a

chronic

in?ammatory

condition

Which

can

be

a

life-threatening

disease

if

not

properly

managed.

Nighttime

monitoring

can

Warn

a

patient

or parent

of

an

upcoming

attack

before

more

acute

symp

toms

appear.

Similarly,

obstructive

sleep

apnea

and

emphy

sema,

Which

occur

in

both

children

and

adults

in

large

numbers,

Would

bene?t

by

nighttime

monitoring.

There

is

a

need

for

equipment

and

services

that

can

inexpensively

monitor

health

signs

and

provide

appropriate

responses.

Computer

Applications

Very

sophisticated

monitoring

systems

include

computer

controlled

home

and

commercial

building

environmental,

safety

and

security

systems

that

provide

both

local

and

remote

signals

to

indicate

a

detected

status

or

alarm

condi

tion.

Implementing

these

systems

may

require

running

dedi

cated

Wire

throughout

a

building

While

connecting

sensors

and

controllers.

Various

other

types

of

installations,

includ

ing

ones

With

Wireless

radio

signal

communication

and

ones

using

existing

Wire

systems,

can

also

be

provided.

Despite

the

existing

systems,

there

is

still

the

need

for

a

simpli?ed,

sound-detecting,

remote

noti?cation

type

of

alarm

monitoring

that

requires

little

or

no

additional

hard

Ware

beyond

What

is

already

at

a location

Where

the

present

invention

is

to

be

used,

that

automatically

activates

and

deactivates

itself,

and

that

enables

a

remote

site

to

knoW

Whether

it

is

operating

properly.

There

is

a

need

for

more

cost

effective

alarm

monitoring

to

be

available

to

most

any

home

or

business

having

Wired

or

Wireless

Internet

access.

Acoustic

Alerting

Systems

Typically,

acoustic

alarms

comprise

a

continuous

modu

lating

Waveform,

a

repetitive

pulse

at

a

single,

or

near

single

tone

frequency,

or

a

repetitive

pulse

train

Where

the

pulses

are

at

a

single

tone

frequency.

Such

alarms

can

be

detected

by

electronic

receivers

and

identi?ed

utilizing

digital

acous

tic

signal

recognition technology.

HoWever,

the

existence

of

physical

structures

and

increasing

distance

betWeen

the

alarm

and

the

electronic

receiver

can

cause

signi?cant

distortion

of

modulated

and

pulsed

alarm

sounds

due

to

multipath

distortion.

Multipath

distortion

occurs

When

the

signals

take

different

paths

to

the

receiver.

Part

of

the

signal

may

go

nearly

straight

to

the

receiver,

and

another

part

of

the

same

signal

may

travel

a

different

direction

and

bounce

off

several

obstructions

before

reaching

the

receiver.

Since

portions

of

the

same

signal

reach

the

receiver

at

different

times,

distortion

occurs

Which

can

render

the acoustic

signal

unrecognizable

by

simple

digital

signal

processing

units.

Standard

alarm

signals

are

also

sensitive

to

random

noise.

Random

noise

particularly

interferes

With

identi?cation

of

standard

single

pulse

and

modulated

acoustic

alarm

signals.

Also,

the

intensity

of

an

acoustic

alarm

decreases

according

to

the

inverse

poWer

laW

so

that

it

decreases

proportional

to

the

square

of

the

distance

from

the

source.

Therefore,

it

is

often

necessary

to

sound

a

very loud

alarm

in

order

to

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

55

60

65

4

increase

the

signal

to

noise

ratio

and

to

prevent

false

positive

detections,

even

When

using

digital

signal

averaging

tech

niques.

Difficulties

also

occur

When

attempting

to

monitor

for

multiple

alarm

or

alert

conditions

and

then

distinguish

betWeen

the

monitored

acoustic

signals.

While

audible

alarms

are

readily

available

commercially,

they

are

often

not

distinguishable,

particularly

over

random

noise

and

the

effects

of

multipath

distortion.

While

signal

processing

techniques

are

continually

improving,

there

is

a

need

for

improved

acoustic

alarms

having

less

sensitivity

to

multi

path

distortion

and

having

improved

inherent

signal

to

noise

ratio

properties

alloWing

detection

at

longer

ranges.

There

is

also

a

need

for

acoustic

alarm

codes

that

are

uniquely

identi?able

using

standard

digital

processing

techniques.

SUMMARY

OF

THE

INVENTION

The

present

invention

provides

improved

devices

and

systems

for

monitoring

and

responding

to

emergency,

safety,

and

health

conditions

Which

meet

the

needs

described

above.

The

present

invention,

in

brief,

monitors

ambient

sound

to

detect

alarm

conditions

and

provide

appropriate

responses.

The

invention

utilizes

a

device,

preferably

a

bedside

device

and/or

a

personal

computer

and

can be

used

in

a

number

of

different

con?gurations

and

applications.

The

three

major

applications

utilizing

a

bedside

device

are

?re

alarm

detection,

safety

and

security

monitors,

and

health

monitors,

each

of

Which

is

summarized

separately

beloW.

Use

of

a

personal

computer

to

perform

many

of

these

functions

is

also

summarized

separately.

Fire

Alarm

Detection

Many

people,

especially

children

and

those

With

hearing

impairments,

do

not

aWaken

from

the

alarm

of

a

residential

smoke

detector.

A

method

of

this

invention

for

Waking

an

individual

in

response

to

an

audible

alarm

from

a

pre

existing

alarm

device

involves

the

folloWing

steps.

A

bed

side

alarm

unit

is

operated

Which

comprises

a

microphone

for

receiving

ambient

sounds

and

a

microprocessor

for

detecting

from

sounds

received,

an

alarm

signal

from

a

pre-existing

alarm

device.

In

response

to

detecting

an

alarm

signal,

the

unit

activates

a

Waking

device.

“Pre-existing

alarm

device”

refers

to

an

audible

alarm

device

that

is,

or

could

be,

already

used

to

provide

an

alarm.

For

example,

in

one

embodiment,

the

pre-existing

alarm

device

is

a

smoke

detector.

An

audible

alarm

from

the

smoke

detector

is

detected

using

the

bedside

unit

Which

controls

a

sWitch

for

supplying

poWer

to

a

Waking

device.

Upon

detection

of

the

smoke

detector

alarm,

the

unit

sWitches

on

a

supply

of

poWer

to

the

Waking

device,

thus

activating

it.

Examples

of

Waking

devices

include,

but

are

not

limited

to,

a

bedside

very loud (100

dB

or

greater)

audible

alert,

bed

shaking

device,

light

and

a

speaker

giving

verbal

instructions.

A

Waking

system

can

be

utilized

that

combines

tWo

or

more

Waking

devices.

In

other

embodiments,

the

sound

monitoring

unit

further

includes

a

communications

port.

The

unit

additionally

gen

erates

noti?cation

signals

When

a

smoke

detector

alarm

is

determined

and

uses

the

communications

port via

Wired

or

Wireless

means

to

send

the

signals

to

local

emergency

personnel,

or

to

a

monitoring

service,

preferably

an

Internet

site.

In

yet

another

embodiment,

motion

detectors are

used

to

determine

Whether

an

individual

remains

Within

the

room

after

a

smoke

detector

alarm

is

determined.

An

infrared

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