TW201439742A - Electronics device with deep power conservation mode via direct or generated signal application and method for employing such an electronics device - Google Patents

Abstract

An electronics device includes a housing, a buttons electrical circuit block, at least one user operable button in operable communication with the buttons electrical circuit block, a microcontroller block, and a first-time-on (FTO) electrical circuit block. The FTO electrical circuit block is disposed within the housing and includes an activation node and a signal reception contact. In addition, the FTO electrical circuit block is configured to place the electronics device into a deep power conservation mode upon either the direct application of an electrical signal to the activation node by an external device (e.g., a manufacturing tester) or a deactivation signal received at the signal reception contact. The FTO electrical circuit block is also configured to terminate the deep power conservation mode and place the electronics device into a normal operating mode upon receiving a predetermined user triggered signal from the at least one user operable button. Moreover, the microcontroller block is configured to generate the deactivation signal received at the signal reception contact in response to an external command signal received by the microcontroller block.

Description

Electronic device with deep energy saving mode applied by direct or generated signal and method using the same

The present invention relates generally to electronic devices, and more particularly to consumer electronic devices and related methods.

In order to preserve battery life in consumer electronic devices, a plastic strip has traditionally been placed between the battery and its contacts, and the user has to remove the plastic strip before using the consumer electronics.

The present invention discloses an electronic device comprising: a housing; a button circuit block; at least one user operable button operatively communicating with the button circuit block; a microcontroller block; and a housing disposed in the housing One of the first open (FTO) circuit blocks, the FTO circuit block includes a start node and a signal receiving contact, and wherein the FTO circuit block is configured to directly apply an electrical signal to an external device to The enabling node or placing the electronic device in a deep power saving mode when the signal receiving contact receives a cancel enable signal, and wherein the microcontroller block is configured to respond to the microcontroller area The block receives an external command signal to generate the undo start signal received at the signal receiving contact; and wherein the FTO circuit block is also configured to receive a predetermined order from the at least one user operable button The deep power saving mode is terminated when the user triggers the signal and the electronic device is placed in a normal operating mode.

100‧‧‧Handheld test meter

102‧‧‧ display

104‧‧‧User interface button

106‧‧‧With 埠 connector

108‧‧‧USB interface

110‧‧‧Shell

112‧‧‧Battery

114‧‧‧First open (FTO) circuit block

116‧‧‧ button circuit block

118‧‧‧Power supply circuit block

120‧‧‧Microcontroller block

122‧‧‧Communication block

124‧‧‧Display Control Block

126‧‧‧ memory block

150‧‧‧Signal receiving contacts

400‧‧‧ method

410‧‧‧Steps

420‧‧ steps

430‧‧ steps

C37‧‧‧ capacitor

C107‧‧‧ capacitor

Q11‧‧‧P-FET transistor

Q12‧‧‧P-FET transistor

Q15‧‧‧N-FET transistor

Q16‧‧‧N-FET transistor

R26‧‧‧Resistors

R29‧‧‧Resistors

R91‧‧‧Resistors

R103‧‧‧Resistors

TP95‧‧‧ start node

VBAT‧‧‧Path/Signal

The novel features of the invention are set forth with particularity in the scope of the appended claims. A better understanding of the features and advantages of the present invention will be set forth in the <RTIgt; BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The principles of the present invention are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and in the drawings 2 is a simplified block diagram of various blocks of the handheld test meter of FIG. 1; FIG. 3 is a first open (FTO) circuit block (in the dashed line of FIG. 3) that can be employed in an embodiment of the present invention, and a button circuit area. Simplified combined electrical and block diagrams of blocks, power supply circuit blocks, microcontroller blocks, and batteries; and FIG. 4 depicts stages in a method of employing a handheld test meter in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention flow chart.

The detailed description below is read with reference to the drawings in which the same elements in the different drawings have the same number. The illustrations are not necessarily to scale, the illustrative embodiments are intended to be illustrative, and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. This detailed description illustrates the principles of the invention in the embodiments This description is made to enable a person skilled in the art to make and use the invention, and the invention is to be construed as being limited to the preferred embodiments of the invention.

As used herein, the terms "about" or "near" to any value or range mean an appropriate dimensional tolerance that allows a component or combination of components to function in the intent described herein.

Although a hand-held test meter for determining an analyte (such as glucose) in a body fluid sample (eg, a whole blood sample) with reference to an analytical test strip (eg, an electrochemical-based analytical test strip) will be described to illustrate the exemplary aspects of the present invention. Embodiments, but the present invention is applicable to any electronic device, particularly consumer electronic devices, including but not limited to: computers, printers, photocopiers, facsimile machines, mobile phones, toys, MP3 players, audio devices, televisions, Audio, radio, calculator, digital camera, GPS car electronics, kitchen appliances, players and recorders that use video media, such as DVDs, VCRs, or camcorders.

In general, a handheld test meter according to the present invention for use in assaying an analyte (eg, glucose) in a body fluid sample (eg, a whole blood sample) with an analytical test strip (eg, an electrochemical-based analytical test strip) includes : a housing, a button circuit block, and a button circuit block At least one user of the operational communication can operate the button, a microcontroller block, and a first-time-on (FTO) circuit block.

In such handheld testers, the FTO circuit block is disposed within the housing and includes a start node and a signal receiving contact. In addition, the FTO circuit block is configured to hold the hand when (i) directly applying an electrical signal to the initiating node by an external device (eg, a manufacturing tester) or (ii) receiving a deactivation enable signal at the signal receiving contact. The test meter is placed in deep energy saving mode. The FTO circuit block is also configured to terminate the deep power save mode and place the handheld test meter in the normal mode of operation when a predetermined user trigger signal is received from the at least one user operable button. In addition, the microcontroller block is configured to be generated at the signal receiving contact in response to an external command signal (eg, a software command signal generated by an automatic test equipment (ATE)) received by the microcontroller block. Received the cancellation start signal.

A hand-held test meter in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention is particularly advantageous because it has the flexibility and convenience of being configured to place it in a deep power saving mode via either of two techniques, both of which are ( i) directly applying an electrical signal to the FTO circuit block or (ii) receiving the generated undo start signal from the FTO circuit block. For example, if the technique of item (i) is attributable to the lack of ease of access to the initiating node in manufacturing, production testing, or elsewhere in the supply chain, the technique of item (ii) may be employed. For example, after the firmware update of the handheld test meter, the generated undo start signal can be used to conveniently and quickly place the handheld test meter in a deep power save mode. Since a two technique based on direct application of signals and based on generated signals is provided, a handheld test meter according to an embodiment of the present invention also refers to a handheld test meter having a deep power saving mode via direct or generated signal application.

In addition, the handheld test meter according to an embodiment of the present invention has the benefit that the end user (i.e., the medical professional demonstrating the handheld test meter or the patient operating the handheld test meter) cannot inadvertently activate the deep energy saving mode. Because the initiating node (also known as the test point) and the signal receiving contact (which may take any suitable form, including electrical traces/wiring) are both disposed within the housing and are less readily accessible to the end user. However, since the predetermined user-triggered signal can be generated by the normal operation of the end user's hand-held test meter, including, for example, simply turning on (starting) the handheld test meter by pressing the appropriate hand-held test meter button, the deep energy-saving mode The termination is simple, intuitive, and does not require exclusive actions on the end user side. In addition, the deep energy-saving mode allows for the transport and long-term storage of a handheld test meter with a sealed rechargeable battery in a charged state, and No harmful loss of charge. Therefore, once the deep energy saving mode is terminated, the handheld meter is ready to operate immediately (for example, testing and demonstration out of the box).

1 is a simplified top plan view of a handheld test meter 100 having a deep power saving mode, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 2 is a simplified block diagram of various blocks of the handheld test meter 100.

One skilled in the art, once aware of the disclosure, will understand that one example of a hand-held test meter that can be easily modified into a handheld test meter in accordance with the present invention is commercially available from LifeScan Inc. (Milpitas, California). OneTouch ^® Ultra ^® 2 Glucometer. Additional examples of hand-held test meters that can also be modified can be found in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2007/0084734 (published on Apr. 19, 2007) and No. 2007/0087397 (published on April 19, 2007). International Publication No. WO 2010/049669 (published on May 6, 2010), the entire contents of each of which is hereby incorporated by reference.

The handheld test meter 100 includes a display 102, a plurality of user interface buttons 104, a 埠 connector 106, a USB interface 108, and a housing 110 (see FIG. 1). Referring to FIG. 2, in particular, the handheld test meter 100 also includes a battery 112, a first open (FTO) circuit block 114, a button circuit block 116, a power supply circuit block 118, and a microcontroller block 120. A communication block 122, a display control block 124, a memory block 126, and other electronic components (not shown) for applying a test voltage to an analysis test strip (not shown) and also for measuring Electrochemical responses (eg, multiple test current values) and analytes based on electrochemical responses. To simplify the present description, the figures do not depict all such electronic circuits.

Display 102 can be, for example, a liquid crystal display or a bi-stable display that is configured to display a screen image. An example of a screen image may include glucose concentration, date and time, an error message, and a user interface indicating how the end user performs the test.

The strip connector 106 is configured to operatively interface to an analytical test strip (not shown), such as an electrochemical-based analytical test strip configured to determine glucose in a whole blood sample. Thus, the analytical test strip is configured to be operatively inserted into the strip connector 106. Analytical test strip can be any suitable analytical test strip including the electrochemical-based analytical test strip, such as available from LifeScan Inc. (Milpitas, California) OneTouch ® Ultra ® glucose test strip. Examples of analytical test strips can be found in U.S. Patent Nos. 5,708,247, 5,951,836, 6,241,862, 6,284,125, 6,413,410, 6,733,655, 7,112,265, 7,241,265, and 7,250,105. The entire contents of each of these are hereby incorporated by reference.

The USB interface 108 can be any suitable interface known to those skilled in the art. In addition, the USB interface 108 can be configured to charge the battery 112 of the handheld test meter 100 via the USB interface 108 using, for example, a charging technique well known to those skilled in the art. The USB interface 108 is essentially a passive component that is configured to power and provide a data line to the communication block 122 of the handheld test meter 100.

Once the analytical test strip is interfaced with the handheld test meter 100, or prior thereto, a body fluid sample (eg, a whole blood sample) is dosed into the sample receiving chamber of the analytical test strip. The analytical test strip can include an enzymatic reagent that selectively and quantitatively transforms the analyte into another predetermined chemical form. For example, an analytical test strip can include an enzyme reagent having ferricyanide and glucose oxidase such that glucose can be physically converted to an oxidized form.

Battery 112 can be any suitable battery including, for example, a rechargeable battery that is permanently sealed within housing 110. Power supply circuit block 118 includes, for example, a low dropout regulator (LDO) and voltage regulation circuit as is well known to those skilled in the art. The FTO circuit block 114 is described in detail below with reference to FIG. The memory block 126 of the handheld test meter 100 includes an appropriate algorithm for determining the analyte based on the electrochemical response of the analytical test strip.

3 is a simplified combination of a first open (FTO) circuit block 114 that may be employed in an embodiment of the present invention, along with a battery 112, a button circuit block 116, a power supply circuit block 118, and a microcontroller block 120. Sexual representation and block diagram.

The FTO circuit block 114 is configured to receive (i) an electrical signal directly from an external device to the initiating node (labeled TP95 in Figure 3) or (ii) received at the signal receiving contact 150 (see Figure 3). The hand-held test meter 100 is placed in deep power saving mode (also known as deep sleep mode) when the generated cancel signal is generated.

The external device that directly applies the electrical signal to the activation node can be, for example, a manufacturing tester that is also used to test the functionality of the handheld test meter during manufacture and before being shipped to the storage compartment. The undo enable signal (labeled "EN_PWR" in Figure 3) is generated by the microcontroller block 120 in response to an external command signal received by the microcontroller block 120 via, for example, the USB interface 108.

FTO circuit block 114 is also configured to receive a predetermined user trigger signal from at least one user operable button (labeled "ON_OK_BATTERY" in Figure 3) At this time, the deep power saving mode is terminated and the handheld test meter 100 is placed in the normal operating mode. The predetermined signal can be generated by any suitable button circuit block 116, for example, by the end user pressing the "OK" button shown in Figure 1 for at least two seconds. A suitable button circuit block is described in U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 61/359,236. However, once the disclosure is known, those skilled in the art will appreciate that, if desired, the deep energy saving mode of the handheld test meter of embodiments of the present invention may be terminated via other suitable techniques and configurations, and The handheld test meter is placed in normal operating mode. Such techniques and configurations include, for example, based on their technology and configuration of inserting external devices into the USB interface 108.

In the deep power saving mode, the handheld test meter 100 consumes less than approximately 15 nA of power because only the battery 112 itself passes through any naturally occurring battery discharge mechanism and briefly presses the button circuit block instead of the hand test when the button is pressed. Any other block (such as FTO circuit blocks, power supply blocks, microcontroller blocks, display control blocks, communication blocks, and memory blocks) is used to consume power.

Referring to Figure 3, the operation of FTO circuit block 114 will be described in greater detail. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the FTO circuit block of FIG. 3 is for illustrative purposes only, and the FTO circuit block used in the embodiment of the present invention may differ from the details of FIG.

When the handheld test meter 100 is in the deep power saving mode, both the P-FET transistor Q12 and the N-FET transistor Q16 are inactive, and thus are in a state called "off" or "off" state. The gate of the P-FET transistor Q11 is kept high (via resistor R91). Since the P-FET transistor Q11 is in the "off" state, the battery 112 is not connected to the power supply circuit block 118 via the path/signal labeled VBAT in FIG. 3, and the handheld test meter 100 is in the deep power save mode.

The activation node that places the handheld test meter 100 in a deep power saving mode with an electrical start signal applied directly thereto is labeled TP95 in FIG. Such an applied electrical enable signal can be, for example, a low level ground (GND) signal or other suitable signal that pulls down the gate of the N-FET transistor Q16, thereby undoing the startup of the P-FET transistor Q11 and The handheld test meter 100 is placed in a deep power saving mode. In such a deep power saving mode, the microcontroller block 120 is not powered and therefore cannot generate a high signal at the signal receiving contact 150 that may unintentionally pull the gate of the N-FET transistor Q16 high while disturbing the deep power saving mode. . In the deep power saving mode, resistor R103 is also used to avoid any unintentional leakage of the activatable N-FET transistor Q16.

As described above, the deep power saving mode can also be entered by receiving the cancel start signal at the signal receiving contact. In the embodiment of Figures 2 and 3, the transfer of the appropriate ATE command to the microcontroller block 120 (e.g., the ATE software command passed to the microcontroller block 120 via the communication block 122) is controlled by the microcontroller area. The generation of the block's deassertion enable signal EN_PWR (ie, pulling EN_PWR to a low level). Such a low level signal turns off (deactivates) the N-FET transistor Q16, thus undoing the startup of the P-FET transistor Q11 and placing the handheld test meter 100 in a deep power saving mode. The ATE signal can be any suitable ATE signal known to those skilled in the art and is designed to control (i.e., initiate) the generation of a deassertion signal by the microcontroller block. It is also noted that the microcontroller block can take any suitable form and include any suitable microcontroller circuit, such as the microcontroller part number MSP430F2618 available from Texas Instruments (Dallas, Texas, USA).

When a predetermined user trigger signal (i.e., signal ON_OK_BATTERY in FIG. 3) is applied from at least one user operable button to the gate of P-FET transistor Q12, the deep power save mode is exited. The P-FET transistor Q12 will thus be pulled low, connecting the voltage from the battery 112 via resistor R29 to the gate of the N-FET transistor Q15. Such a connection of battery 112 to N-FET transistor Q15 activates N-FET transistor Q15 and pulls the gate of P-FET transistor Q11 low, thereby providing power from battery 112 to power supply circuit block 118 and hand-held testing The remaining blocks are included, including the microcontroller block 120.

Once power is supplied to the microcontroller block 120, the microcontroller block 120 is organized to initialize the signal EN_PWR of FIG. 3 to a high level. This high level controller activates the N-FET transistor Q16, which also pulls the gate of the P-FET transistor Q11 low. When at least one user activated button is released, power is supplied to the handheld test meter 100 (i.e., not in the deep power save mode) because the FTO circuit block remains active due to the presence of the high level signal EN_PWR.

In the FTO circuit embodiment of FIG. 3, the combination of capacitor C107 and resistor R26 and the combination of resistor R29 and capacitor C37 are both configurations that act as low pass filters that prevent, for example, short signal spikes or The ESD spike unintentionally changes the state of the FTO circuit block.

In the deep power saving mode, in the case of pressing a button, the FTO circuit block 114 or other circuit blocks of the handheld test meter 100 do not consume power except for the button circuit block 116. Button circuit block 116 is configured to consume power only when a button is pressed (typically in the range of milliseconds to seconds (i.e., briefly) (duration)) to produce a predetermined user generated signal. press The button circuit block 116 thus consumes only a negligible amount of power. The only significant power consumption in the deep power saving mode is associated with the natural self-discharge of the battery 112 and any battery protection circuitry (not shown) included in the battery 112. During use, the FTO circuit block 114 is fully powered only for a few seconds required to terminate the deep power save mode by electrically connecting the battery 112 to the power supply circuit block 118. However, after the deep power save mode has been terminated and the microcontroller block 120 has asserted the high level EN_PWR signal, there will be a minimum constant power consumption of at least 20 μA or less through the resistor R103.

4 is a flow diagram depicting a stage of a method 400 for operating a handheld test meter configured to determine an analyte (such as glucose) in a unitary fluid sample (eg, a whole blood sample) in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The method 400 includes preparing a handheld test meter for at least one of storage and shipping prior to operation of the handheld test meter by the end user (see step 410 of FIG. 4). Directly applying an electrical signal to the start node of the first open (FTO) circuit block of the handheld test meter by (i) an external device (eg, a manufacturing tester employed in the process of a handheld test meter), or (ii) The signal is received at the signal receiving contact of the FTO circuit block to receive the undo start signal, and the handheld test meter is placed in the deep power saving mode to achieve the preparation.

The method 400 also includes, at step 420, receiving a predetermined user trigger signal from a user operable button of the handheld test meter based on the FTO circuit block, terminating the deep power save mode and placing the handheld test meter in the normal mode of operation, and then At step 430, the handheld tester is operated by the end user.

In a method according to an embodiment of the invention, the handheld test meter can be shipped from a handheld test meter manufacturing location, for example after the preparation step and before the termination step. Alternatively, a hand held test meter can be stored after the preparation step and before the termination step, if desired. Since the preparation step has placed the hand-held test meter in a deep power-saving mode, such transport and storage can occur over a relatively long period of time without the need for complete discharge of the battery contained in the handheld test meter.

If desired, the method according to an embodiment of the invention may further comprise the steps of: (i) applying a one-piece liquid sample to an electrochemical-based analytical test strip; (ii) measuring the electrochemical-based using the hand-held test meter An electrochemical response of one of the test strips is analyzed; and (iii) the analyte is determined based on the electrochemical response of the measurement.

Upon reading this disclosure, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the method 400 can be readily modified to incorporate any of the techniques, advantages, and characteristics of the handheld test meter in accordance with embodiments of the present invention and described herein.

While the preferred embodiment of the present invention has been shown and described herein, it is understood that Many variations, modifications, and substitutions will now occur to those skilled in the art without departing from the invention. It is to be understood that various alternatives to the embodiments of the invention described herein may be used to practice the invention. The scope of the invention is defined by the scope of the invention, which is intended to cover the scope of the invention.

It is important to note that although a reference test with an analytical test strip (eg, an electrochemical-based analytical test strip) for determining an analyte (such as glucose) in a body fluid sample (eg, a whole blood sample) will be referenced. Describe exemplary embodiments of the present invention, but the present invention is applicable to any electronic device, particularly consumer electronic devices, including but not limited to: computers, printers, photocopiers, facsimile machines, mobile phones, toys, MP3 players, Audio equipment, televisions, stereos, radios, calculators, digital cameras, GPS car electronics, kitchen appliances, players and recorders that use video media, such as DVDs, VCRs, or camcorders.

100‧‧‧Handheld test meter

102‧‧‧ display

104‧‧‧User interface button

106‧‧‧With 埠 connector

108‧‧‧USB interface

110‧‧‧Shell

Claims (20)

An electronic device comprising: a housing; a button circuit block; at least one user operable button operatively communicating with the button circuit block; a microcontroller block; and a first time disposed within the housing Opening (FTO) a circuit block, the FTO circuit block including a start node and a signal receiving contact, and wherein the FTO circuit block is configured to directly apply an electrical signal to the start node or by an external device Receiving, when the signal receiving contact receives a cancel enable signal, placing the electronic device in a deep power saving mode, and wherein the microcontroller block is configured to respond to receiving by the microcontroller block An external command signal generates the undo start signal received at the signal receiving contact; and wherein the FTO circuit block is also configured to receive a predetermined user trigger signal from the at least one user operable button The deep power saving mode is terminated and the electronic device is placed in a normal operating mode. The electronic device of claim 1, further comprising a communication block having at least one communication block input, and wherein the signal receiving contact is a communication block input. An electronic device as claimed in claim 2, wherein the communication block is configured to receive the external command and transmit it to the microcontroller block. For example, the electronic device of claim 2, wherein the communication block is a USB block. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the FTO circuit block comprises at least one low pass filter configured to prevent unintentional state changes within the FTO circuit. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the FTO circuit block is configured to perform a low leakage operation by operative integration of at least one resistor. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the external command signal is a software command signal generated by an automatic test equipment (ATE). The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the cancel start signal is a low level ground signal. The electronic device of claim 1, further comprising: a rechargeable battery disposed in the housing. The electronic device of claim 9, wherein the rechargeable battery is permanently sealed within the outer casing. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the electronic device is configured to consume less than approximately 15 nA of power in the deep energy saving mode. A method of using an electronic device, comprising the steps of: preparing the electronic device by at least one of storing and transporting before operation of an end user of an electronic device by directly applying an electric power through an external device Transmitting the signal to a start node of the first time (FTO) circuit block of the electronic device or receiving a cancel start signal at a signal receiving contact of the FTO circuit block to place the electronic device in a deep power saving mode Terminating the deep power saving mode and placing the electronic device in a normal operating mode based on the FTO circuit block receiving a predetermined user trigger signal from a user operable button of the electronic device; and by a terminal The user operates the electronic device. The method of claim 12, wherein the preparing step comprises: preparing an electronic device including a microcontroller block, the microcontroller block being configured to be received by the microcontroller block An external command signal generates the undo start signal received at the signal receiving input contact. The method of claim 13, wherein the preparing step comprises: receiving, by the signal receiving contact at the FTO circuit block, an undo signal generated by the microcontroller block Placed in a deep energy saving mode. The method of claim 13, wherein the external command signal is a software command signal generated by an automatic test equipment (ATE). The method of claim 13, wherein the undo start signal is a low level ground signal. The method of claim 12, wherein the signal receiving contact is a communication block input of one of the electronic devices. The method of claim 12, after the preparing step and before the terminating step, further comprising the step of transporting the electronic device from an electronic device manufacturing location. The method of claim 12, after the preparing step and before the terminating step, further comprising the step of storing the electronic device. The method of claim 12, wherein the terminating step occurs based on the FTO circuit block receiving a predetermined user trigger signal from a user operable button of the electronic device.