Portable monitoring devices and methods of operating same   

Abstract: The present inventions, in one aspect, are directed to a portable monitoring device to calculate a number of stairs or flights of stairs traversed by a user, the portable monitoring device comprising (i) a motion sensor to detect motion of the user and, in response thereto, to generate data which is representative of motion of the user, (ii) an altitude sensor to detect a change in altitude of the user and, in response thereto, to generate data which is representative of the change in altitude of the user, and (iii) processing circuitry, coupled to the motion sensor and the altitude sensor, to calculate a number of stairs or flights of stairs traversed by the user using the data which is representative of motion of the user and the data which is representative of a change in altitude of the user. The portable monitoring device may include a housing having a physical size and shape that is adapted to couple to the body of the user.

This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/156,304, filed on Jun. 8, 2011, entitled “Portable Monitoring Devices and Methods of Operating Same” (still pending). This non-provisional application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/388,595, entitled “Portable Monitoring Devices and Methods of Operating Same”, filed Sep. 30, 2010, and U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/390,811, entitled “Portable Monitoring Devices and Methods of Operating Same”, filed Oct. 7, 2010; the contents of these U.S. Provisional Applications are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.

The present inventions relate to portable monitoring devices, and method of operating and controlling same, wherein the portable monitoring devices include an altitude sensor, motion sensor and processing circuitry to calculate, assess and/or determine calorie burn and/or other activity-related quantities of the user (for example, a human or non-human animal such as a dog, cat or horse). In these aspects, the present inventions employ the altitude sensor data and the motion sensor data to calculate, assess and/or determine the calorie burn and/or other activity-related quantities of the user (for example, number of steps and/or stairs, number of stair flights, elevation gain/loss from ambulatory and/or non-ambulatory locomotion, absolute elevation, elevation and/or activity points, activity intensity, distance traveled and/or pace, number of swim strokes and/or kicks, strokes per lap, lap time, pace and/or distance, number of pedal rotations of a bicycle, arm or wheel rotation of a wheelchair, heart rate, heart rate variability, respiration rate, stress levels, skin temperature, body temperature). In the following disclosure, use of the term “activity” includes sedentary and nonsedentary activities. As such, the present inventions also may be used to monitor activities related to sleeping, lying, sitting, and standing stationary and may provide corresponding metrics (for example, time asleep, the onset, duration, and number of awakenings while attempting to sleep, the time spent in various stages of sleep, sleep latency, sleep efficiency and other sleep quality parameters, the presence of sleep apnea and other diagnostic measures, time spent in a prone non-standing state, and resting heart rate).

In other aspects, the portable monitoring device of the present inventions may include a physiological sensor, in addition to the altitude sensor, motion sensor and processing circuitry. In these aspects, the present inventions employ the physiological sensor data, altitude sensor data and motion sensor data to calculate, assess and/or determine the calorie burn and/or such other activity-related quantities of the user.

In certain aspects the processing circuitry is partially or wholly disposed external to the portable monitoring device wherein the external processing circuitry receives partially processed or “raw” sensor data. Here, the external processing circuitry partially or wholly calculates, assesses and/or determines the calorie burn and/or other activity-related quantities of the user.

Notably, the present inventions also relate to techniques or methods of calculating, assessing and/or determining the calorie burn and/or other activity-related quantities of the user based on or using sensor data acquired by a portable monitoring device, for example, devices according to any of the of the present inventions.

SUMMARY

There are many inventions described and illustrated herein. The present inventions are neither limited to any single aspect nor embodiment thereof, nor to any combinations and/or permutations of such aspects and/or embodiments. Moreover, each of the aspects of the present inventions, and/or embodiments thereof, may be employed alone or in combination with one or more of the other aspects of the present inventions and/or embodiments thereof. For the sake of brevity, many of those permutations and combinations will not be discussed separately herein.

Importantly, this Summary may not be reflective of or correlate to the inventions protected by the claims in this or continuation/divisional applications hereof. Even where this Summary is reflective of or correlates to the inventions protected by the claims hereof, this Summary may not be exhaustive of the scope of the present inventions.

In a first aspect, the present inventions are directed to a portable monitoring device to calculate calorie burn or expenditure of a user wherein the portable monitoring device includes a housing having a physical size and shape that is adapted to couple to the body of the user. In this first aspect, the portable monitoring device includes a motion sensor to detect motion of the user and, in response, to generate data which is representative of motion of the user, and an altitude sensor to detect a change in altitude of the user and, in response, to generate data which is representative of the change in altitude of the user. The portable monitoring device may also include processing circuitry, coupled to the motion sensor and the altitude sensor, to (a) calculate data which is representative of a change in elevation of the user using (i) the data which is representative of motion of the user and (ii) the data which is representative of a change in altitude of the user, (b) calculate first calorie burn using the data which is representative of motion of the user, and (c) calculate second calorie burn by adjusting the first calorie burn based on data which is representative of a change in elevation of the user.

The portable monitoring device may also include a display, coupled to the processing circuitry, to output the second calorie burn.

In one embodiment, the processing circuitry of the portable monitoring device determines a change in elevation of the user when (i) the data which is representative of motion of the user exceeds a first threshold and (ii) the data which is representative of a change in altitude of the user exceeds a second threshold.

The processing circuitry may also calculate data which is representative of an accumulation of changes in elevation of the user by summing data which is representative of changes in elevation of the user in response to detecting a predetermined motion of the user based on the data which is representative of motion of the user. Here, the processing circuitry may calculate an altitude metric (for example, a number of stairs and/or a number of flights of stairs) using the data which is representative of the accumulation of changes in elevation of the user. A display, may output the altitude metric.

In another embodiment, the processing circuitry may also calculate data which is representative of an increase and/or decrease in elevation for a given time period using the data which is representative of a change in elevation of the user, and a display may output the data which is representative of (i) an increase and/or decrease in elevation for a given time period, and (ii) the second calorie burn.

Notably, the motion sensor, in one embodiment, may be a pedometer and the altitude sensor may be sampled based on data which is representative of determining a step by the user.

In another aspect, the present inventions are directed to a portable monitoring device to calculate calorie burn of a user, wherein the portable monitoring device includes a housing having a physical size and shape that is adapted to couple to the body of the user. The portable monitoring device again includes a motion sensor to detect motion of the user and, in response, to generate data which is representative of motion of the user, and an altitude sensor to detect a change in altitude of the user and, in response, to generate data which is representative of the change in altitude of the user. In this aspect, the processing circuitry (a) calculates data which is representative of a change in elevation of the user using (i) the data which is representative of motion of the user and (ii) the data which is representative of a change in altitude of the user, (b) calculates a speed of the user using the data which is representative of motion of the user, (c) calculates calorie burn using (i) the data which is representative of motion of the user, (ii) the data which is representative of a change in elevation of the user, and (iii) the speed of the user.

In one embodiment, the portable monitoring device also calculates an activity state of the user using the data which is representative of an ambulatory speed of the user, and calorie burn using (i) the data which is representative of motion of the user, (ii) the data which is representative of a change in elevation of the user, (iii) the speed of the user, and (iv) the activity state of the user. The processing circuitry may determine the activity state of the user based on data from the motion and/or altitude sensors, and/or based on input data or an input instruction.

In one embodiment, the processing circuitry correlates the data which is representative of a change in elevation of the user to a number of stairs and/or a number of flights of stairs. Indeed, the processing circuitry may calculate an altitude metric using the data which is representative of a change in elevation of the user. The altitude metric may include a number of stairs and/or a number of flights of stairs. A display, coupled to the processing circuitry, may output the altitude metric. Moreover, circuitry, coupled to the processing circuitry, may be employed to output data which is representative of: (i) the altitude metric and (ii) the calorie burn.

In another embodiment, the processing circuitry determines a change in elevation of the user when (i) the data which is representative of motion of the user exceeds a first threshold and (ii) the data which is representative of a change in altitude of the user exceeds a second threshold. The processing circuitry may also calculate data which is representative of an accumulation of changes in elevation of the user by summing data which is representative of changes in elevation of the user in response to detecting a predetermined motion of the user based on the data which is representative of motion of the user.

Indeed, in another embodiment, the processing circuitry may calculate data which is representative of an increase and/or decrease in elevation for a given time period using the data which is representative of a change in elevation of the user; and a display may output the data which is representative of an increase and/or decrease in elevation.

In another aspect, the present inventions are again directed to a portable monitoring having a motion sensor to detect motion of the user and, in response, to generate data which is representative of motion of the user, and an altitude sensor to detect a change in altitude of the user and, in response, to generate data which is representative of the change in altitude of the user. In this aspect, the processing circuitry calculates (a) data which is representative of a change in elevation of the user using (i) the data which is representative of motion of the user and (ii) the data which is representative of a change in altitude of the user, (b) an activity state of the user using the data which is representative of motion of the user, and (c) calorie burn using (i) the data which is representative of motion of the user, (ii) the activity state, and (iii) data which is representative of a change in elevation of the user. The housing of the portable monitoring device includes a physical size and shape that is adapted to couple to the body of the user.

Notably, the processing circuitry may determine the activity state of the user based on data from the motion sensor, data from the altitude sensor, input data and/or input instruction.

In one embodiment, the processing circuitry correlates the data which is representative of a change in elevation of the user to a number of stairs and/or a number of flights of stairs. In another embodiment, the processing circuitry further calculates an altitude metric (for example, a number of stairs and/or flights of stairs traversed by the user) based on the data which is representative of a change in elevation of the user and the data which is representative of motion of the user. Circuitry, coupled to the processing circuitry, may output data which is representative of: (i) the altitude metric and (ii) the calorie burn. Indeed, a display, coupled to the processing circuitry, may output the altitude metric and the calorie burn.

In yet another embodiment, the processing circuitry determines a change in elevation of the user when (i) the data which is representative of motion of the user exceeds a first threshold and (ii) the data which is representative of a change in altitude of the user exceeds a second threshold. The processing circuitry may calculate data which is representative of an accumulation of changes in elevation of the user by summing data which is representative of changes in elevation of the user in response to detecting a predetermined motion of the user based on the data which is representative of motion of the user.

The portable monitoring device may include a display, coupled to the processing circuitry. Here, the processing circuitry may calculate data which is representative of an increase and/or decrease in elevation for a given time period using the data which is representative of a change in elevation of the user and the data which is representative of motion of the user. The display outputs the data which is representative of an increase and/or decrease in elevation.

As stated herein, there are many inventions, and aspects of the inventions, described and illustrated herein. This Summary is not exhaustive of the scope of the present inventions. Indeed, this Summary may not be reflective of or correlate to the inventions protected by the claims in this or continuation/divisional applications hereof.

Moreover, this Summary is not intended to be limiting of the inventions or the claims (whether the currently presented claims or claims of a divisional/continuation application) and should not be interpreted in that manner. While certain embodiments have been described and/or outlined in this Summary, it should be understood that the present inventions are not limited to such embodiments, description and/or outline, nor are the claims limited in such a manner (which should also not be interpreted as being limited by this Summary).

Indeed, many other aspects, inventions and embodiments, which may be different from and/or similar to, the aspects, inventions and embodiments presented in this Summary, will be apparent from the description, illustrations and claims, which follow. In addition, although various features, attributes and advantages have been described in this Summary and/or are apparent in light thereof, it should be understood that such features, attributes and advantages are not required whether in one, some or all of the embodiments of the present inventions and, indeed, need not be present in any of the embodiments of the present inventions.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the course of the detailed description to follow, reference will be made to the attached drawings. These drawings show different aspects of the present inventions and, where appropriate, reference numerals illustrating like structures, components, materials and/or elements in different figures are labeled similarly. It is understood that various combinations of the structures, components, and/or elements, other than those specifically shown, are contemplated and are within the scope of the present inventions.

Moreover, there are many inventions described and illustrated herein. The present inventions are neither limited to any single aspect nor embodiment thereof, nor to any combinations and/or permutations of such aspects and/or embodiments. Moreover, each of the aspects of the present inventions, and/or embodiments thereof, may be employed alone or in combination with one or more of the other aspects of the present inventions and/or embodiments thereof. For the sake of brevity, certain permutations and combinations are not discussed and/or illustrated separately herein.

FIGS. 1A-1L are block diagram representations of exemplary portable monitoring devices, according to at least certain aspects of certain embodiments of the present inventions, wherein the portable monitoring devices, according to at least certain aspects of certain embodiments of the present inventions, include processing circuitry, one or more altitude sensors, one or more motion sensors and, in certain embodiments, one or more physiological sensors, one or more mode sensors, transmitter circuitry and/or receiver circuitry;

FIGS. 1M-1X are block diagram representations of exemplary portable monitoring devices, according to at least certain aspects of certain embodiments of the present inventions, wherein the portable monitoring devices, according to at least certain aspects of certain embodiments of the present inventions, include one or more motion sensors, and, in certain embodiments, may also include processing circuitry, transmitter circuitry and/or receiver circuitry, one or more physiological sensors, and one or more mode sensors;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram representation of processing circuitry to calculate, assess and/or determine the calorie burn of the user based on sensor data; the processing circuitry may include memory (for example, Flash memory, DRAM and/or SRAM) to store, for example, (i) sensor data and (ii) information which is representative of calorie burn—for example, cumulative and/or over time; notably, the processing circuitry may be discrete or integrated logic, and/or one or more state machines, processors (suitably programmed) and/or field programmable gate arrays (or combinations of the aforementioned); indeed, any circuitry (for example, discrete or integrated logic, state machine(s), processor(s) (suitably programmed) and/or field programmable gate array(s) (or combinations of the aforementioned)) now known or later developed may be employed to calculate, determine, assess and/or determine the calorie burn of the user based on sensor data;

FIGS. 3A and 3B are block diagram representations of exemplary motion sensors which include, for example, one or more accelerometers, gyroscopes, compasses, switches (for example, mechanical), piezoelectric film and/or pedometers to determine, calculate and/or detect one or more steps of the user; notably, the exemplary motion sensor may be incorporated in any of the exemplary portable monitoring devices;

FIG. 3C is a block diagram representation of one or more altitude sensor(s) that may be incorporated in the exemplary portable monitoring devices according to any of the exemplary embodiments of the present inventions;

FIGS. 4A-4D, 4F, 4H-4J, and 4M-4R are flowcharts of exemplary processes of calculating, obtaining, assessing and/or determining calorie burn of the user based on certain sensor data, according to certain aspects of the present inventions;

FIGS. 4E and 4G are flowcharts of exemplary processes for calculating, obtaining, assessing and/or determining other activity-related metrics including, for example, steps taken by the user based on certain sensor data, according to certain aspects of the present inventions;

FIGS. 4K and 4L are flowcharts exemplary of processes for calculating, obtaining, assessing and/or determining the activity state of the user (for example, walking or running on relative flat or level ground, traversing stairs, on an escalator or in an elevator, traversing a hill or the like), based on certain sensor data including the attitude sensor data and/or physiological sensor data, according to certain aspects of the invention; notably, hereinafter the activity state of the user may be indicated as the “user state”;

FIGS. 5A and 5B are block diagram representations of the motion sensor in combination with flowcharts of exemplary processes of calculating, obtaining, assessing and/or determining calorie burn of the user based on speed data, according to certain aspects of the present inventions;

FIG. 6 is an example of determining the activity state of the user by evaluating the altitude sensor data based on or using algorithms or processes generally illustrated in the flowchart of FIG. 4K wherein altitude data is depicted in the top panel and acceleration data is depicted in the bottom panel; in this exemplary data set and activity state determination, the walking segments are marked A, B, C and are determined by the pedometer function with each step marked as a red dot in the bottom panel; drawing indicator 1 identifies a period of altimeter measurement artifact that is disregarded because the user has not performed any steps; drawing indicator 2 identifies a period of walking that includes a 20 ft drop in apparent altitude due to motion artifact—this is disregarded because the user only walked four steps during this interval, so Δh/Δstep=−5 ft/step, which is likely not humanly possible under normal circumstances; drawing indicator 3 identifies a period of walking on stairs: 20 steps for a total height increase of 10 ft (Δh/Δstep=0.5 ft/step) and is used to update the appropriate activity metrics; drawing indicator 4 identifies a period of walking up an escalator: 24 steps over 32 ft (Δh/Δstep=1.3 ft/step) and is used to update the appropriate activity metrics, taking into account that the activity was partially assisted; drawing indicator 5 identifies a period of walking up a hill: 350 steps for a height increase of 33 ft (Δh/Δstep=0.1 ft/step) and is used to update the appropriate activity metrics;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram representation of one or more physiological sensor(s) to determine, sense, detect, assess and/or obtain information which is representative of physiological information of the user, according to at least certain embodiments of the present inventions; notably, the one or more physiological sensor(s) may be incorporated in and/or coupled to the exemplary portable monitoring devices (for example, physically, electrically and/or optically coupled, including wired and/or wirelessly coupled) according to at least certain embodiments of the present inventions;

FIGS. 8A-8G are flowcharts of exemplary processes or logic employed by the processing circuitry (for example, a state machine) to determine, estimate and/or calculate changes in altitude), according to certain aspects of the present inventions;

FIG. 8H is a flowchart of an exemplary process or logic to compute, estimate and/or determine a number of stair steps traversed by the user (for example, the number of upward stair steps), according to certain aspects of the present inventions; notably, in this exemplary embodiment, when ΔH-S and ΔH-t meet a first criteria, the processing circuitry determines, calculates and/or estimates an onset of the first step of the stair sequence;

FIGS. 9A-9D are flowcharts of exemplary processes of controlling, adjusting and/or determining a sampling frequency of the altitude sensor (FALT) based on or using data which is representative of motion of the user (for example, from a motion sensor of the portable monitoring device), according to certain aspects of the present inventions; notably FIG. 9D illustrates an embodiment of the portable monitoring device where sampling of the altitude sensor is determined or triggered based on or using step events detected by a motion sensor (for example, a pedometer), or a maximum time T between samples (whichever occurs first);

FIGS. 10A-10F are block diagram representations of exemplary user interfaces of the exemplary portable monitoring devices according to at least certain embodiments of the present inventions; in these exemplary illustrative embodiments, the user interface includes output mechanisms (for example, a display and/or speaker) and input mechanism (for example, switches, a microphone, and vibration and gesture recognition sensor(s), wherein the user may input data and/or commands); notably, any manner of and/or mechanism for outputting and/or inputting of data and/or commands (for example, responses to, for example, queries) are intended to fall within the scope of the present inventions;

FIGS. 11A and 11B are flowcharts of exemplary processes of calculating, obtaining, assessing and/or determining calorie burn and other activity-related metrics for the user based on, among other things, data from one or more mode sensors;

FIG. 12A is a block diagram representation of exemplary portable monitoring devices, according to at least certain aspects of certain embodiments of the present inventions, wherein the portable monitoring devices, according to at least certain aspects of certain embodiments of the present inventions, includes an altitude sensor and a motion sensor, and wherein the processing circuitry is external to the portable monitoring devices calculates or determines energy and/or calorie “burn” and/or other activity metrics due to activity of the user using altitude and motion sensor data; notably, other embodiments of the portable monitoring device of this aspect may also include one or more physiological sensors, one or more mode sensors, transmitter circuitry and/or receiver circuitry; for example, any portable monitoring device of the present inventions may employ or be implemented in any embodiment where the processing circuitry is disposed external to the portable monitoring device;

FIG. 12B is a block diagram representation of exemplary portable monitoring devices, according to at least certain aspects of certain embodiments of the present inventions, wherein the portable monitoring devices, according to at least certain aspects of certain embodiments of the present inventions, includes an altitude sensor, a motion sensor, and certain processing circuitry—wherein certain other processing circuitry is external to the portable monitoring devices and the processing circuitry, in combination, calculates or determines energy and/or calorie “burn” and/or other activity metrics due to activity of the user using altitude and motion sensor data; notably, other embodiments of the portable monitoring device of this aspect may also include one or more physiological sensors, one or more mode sensors, transmitter circuitry and/or receiver circuitry; for example, any portable monitoring device of the present inventions may employ or be implemented in any embodiment where the processing circuitry is disposed external to the portable monitoring device;

FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional representational view of an altitude sensing microelectromechanical system (MEMS) to sense, sample, determine and/or obtain altitude data, according to at least certain aspects of certain embodiments of the present inventions; notably, the altitude sensing MEMS of FIG. 13 may be incorporated in any of the exemplary portable monitoring devices of the present inventions;

FIG. 14 illustrates an exemplary gesture of the portable monitoring device that is mostly contained in the orthogonal plane to the gravitational vector which may be used as a user interface mechanism (e.g., to navigate a menu system);

FIGS. 15A-15C are block diagram representations of exemplary portable monitoring devices including energy storage device (for example, a battery and/or ultracapacitor(s)) and/or energy harvesting circuitry wherein energy acquired, obtained and/or generated by the energy harvesting circuitry is employed to immediately power the device or stored in energy storage device; according to at least certain embodiments of the present inventions;

FIGS. 16A and 16B illustrates different views of an exemplary embodiment of the portable monitoring device according to certain aspects of the present inventions; notably, exemplary physical specifications or dimensions (in millimeters) are outlined in connection with the top down and side views of FIG. 16A;

FIG. 16C illustrates an exemplary embodiment of the portable monitoring device of FIGS. 16A and 16B disposed on a base station; and

FIG. 17 illustrates, in exploded view form, an exemplary embodiment of the portable monitoring device of FIGS. 16A and 16B, according to certain aspects of the present inventions; notably, the sensors (for example, motion, altitude and/or physiological sensors) may be disposed on the main PCB.

Again, there are many inventions described and illustrated herein. The present inventions are neither limited to any single aspect nor embodiment thereof, nor to any combinations and/or permutations of such aspects and/or embodiments. Each of the aspects of the present inventions, and/or embodiments thereof, may be employed alone or in combination with one or more of the other aspects of the present inventions and/or embodiments thereof. For the sake of brevity, many of those combinations and permutations are not discussed separately herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

There are many inventions described and illustrated herein. In one aspect, the present inventions are directed to portable monitoring devices, and method of operating and controlling same, which monitor, calculate, determine and/or detect energy and/or calorie “burn” due to physical activity of the user (for example, a human or non-human animal) and/or other activity-related metrics. The portable monitoring devices of the present inventions include an altitude sensor, motion sensor and processing circuitry to calculate, assess and/or determine the calorie burn of the user and/or other activity-related metrics. (See, for example, FIG. 1A). In one embodiment, at least a portion of the portable monitoring device (including the one or more altitude sensors and/or motion sensors) is affixed to the user during operation wherein the housing of the device includes a physical size and shape that facilitates coupling to the user, for example, the body of the user (such as, for example, arm, wrist, angle, waist and/or foot) and allows the user to perform normal or typical user activities (including, for example, exercise of all kinds and type) without hindering the user from performing such activities. The portable monitoring device may include a mechanism (for example, a clip, strap and/or tie) that facilitates coupling or affixing the device to the user during such normal or typical user activities.

Briefly, during operation, the altitude sensor generates data which is representative of the altitude and/or changes in altitude of the user. The motion sensor generates data which is representative of motion of the user. The processing circuitry, using (i) data which is representative of the altitude and/or changes in altitude and (ii) data which is representative of the motion of the user, determines, calculates, assesses, estimates and/or detects energy and/or calorie “burn” of the user. (See, FIG. 2).

Notably, the processing circuitry may also calculate, assess, estimate and/or determine other activity-related metrics including, for example, (i) in the context of running/walking on level, substantially level, or relatively level ground, (a) number of steps, which may be categorized according to the number of steps associated with a user state, for example, walking, jogging and/or running, (b) distance traveled and/or (c) pace, (ii) in the context of running/jogging/walking/jumping on stairs, hills or ground having a grade of greater than, for example, about 3%, (a) number of stair and/or hill steps, which may be categorized, correlated or organized/arranged according to the number of stair and/or hill steps pertaining to, for example, the speed, pace and/or user state of the user (for example, walking, jogging and/or running), (b) number of flights of stairs, (c) ascent/descent distance on stairs and/or hills, (d) pace, (e) ascent/descent on elevators and/or escalators, (f) number of calories burned or expended by walking/running on stairs and/or hills and/or (g) quantify/compare the additional calories expended or burnt from stairs/hills relative to, versus or over level ground, (iii) in the context of swimming, number of strokes, time between strokes, leg kicks and similar metrics (variance of stroke time, mean stroke time, etc.), depth underwater, strokes per lap, lap time, pace and/or distance, (iv) in the context of using a bicycle, wheelchair, skateboard, skis, snowboard, ladder, etc., (a) ascent/descent distance traversed, (b) number of additional calories expended, (c) time of a downward “run” or upward “climb”, (d) number of calories expended, (e) number of pedal rotations, (f) arm or wheel rotation, (g) the grade of the surface, (h) pushes, kicks and/or steps. This list of activities (if applicable to the particular embodiment) is merely exemplary and is not intended to be exhaustive or limiting of the inventions to, for example, the precise forms, techniques, flow, and/or configurations disclosed.

The processing circuitry may be discrete or integrated logic, and/or one or more state machines, processors (suitably programmed) and/or field programmable gate arrays (or combinations thereof); indeed, any circuitry (for example, discrete or integrated logic, state machine(s), special or general purpose processor(s) (suitably programmed) and/or field programmable gate array(s) (or combinations thereof)) now known or later developed may be employed to calculate, determine, assess, estimate and/or determine the calorie burn of the user based on sensor data. In operation, the processing circuitry may perform or execute one or more applications, routines, programs and/or data structures that implement particular methods, techniques, tasks or operations described and illustrated herein. The functionality of the applications, routines or programs may be combined or distributed. Further, the applications, routines or programs may be implemented by the processing circuitry using any programming language whether now known or later developed, including, for example, assembly, FORTRAN, C, C++, and BASIC, whether compiled or uncompiled code; all of which are intended to fall within the scope of the present invention.

With reference to FIG. 3A, in one embodiment, the motion sensor may include an accelerometer and pedometer to assess the character of the motion/step and determine the number of user steps. In this embodiment, the output of the accelerometer is analyzed by the pedometer to assess the character of the motion/step and determine the number of user steps. With reference to FIG. 3B, in addition to the accelerometer(s), or in lieu thereof, the motion sensor may include one or more gyroscopes, piezofilms, contact switches, and all combinations thereof, with or without the pedometer. Moreover, motion as inferred through GPS, compasses, wireless methods such as proximity sensing to a reference position/device, and other non-inertial sensing approaches (and their combinations with the aforementioned inertial sensors) may also be employed alone or in conjunction with any of the other configurations and/or techniques. Indeed, all types of sensors and sensing techniques, whether now known or later developed, that generate data which is representative of motion of the user are intended to fall within the scope of the present inventions.

With reference to FIG. 3C, in one embodiment, the altitude sensor may include a pressure sensor (relative/differential or absolute), GPS, barometer, radar, ladar (i.e., laser detection and ranging), and/or infrared proximity sensor. The portable device may also employ wireless signal strength, visual landmark identification, or optical proximity sensing to a known reference position/device to provide data which is representative of elevation. In this regard, the altitude sensor provides data which is representative of the altitude and/or changes in altitude of the user. Indeed, all types of sensors and sensing techniques, whether now known or later developed, that generate data which is representative of the altitude and/or changes in altitude of the user are intended to fall within the scope of the present inventions.

As mentioned above, the processing circuitry employs (i) data which is representative of the altitude and/or changes in altitude and (ii) data which is representative of the motion of the user, to determine, calculate and/or detect energy and/or calorie “burn” of the user. (See, FIG. 2). In one embodiment, the processing circuitry implements algorithms and/or processes data based on the flowchart of FIG. 4A. For example, with reference to FIGS. 4A and 4B, the processing circuitry receives the motion sensor data and determines or calculates the calorie burn based on, for example, the character of the motion/step and the number of user steps. The processing circuitry, using the altitude sensor data, may adjust the calorie burn based on consideration or analysis of the data from the altitude sensor. In this regard, the processing circuitry may assess or determine the type of motion that produces/causes the altitude or change in altitude and, in response thereto, determine or calculate the user state—that is, activity state of the user which temporally coincides with the motion sensor data—for example, walking or running on relatively flat or level ground, traversing stairs, on an escalator or in an elevator, traversing a hill or the like. In response to the user state, the processing circuitry may generate an adjusted calorie burn. Here, the processing circuitry adjusts the calculated calorie burn with a factor that is based on the activity state of the user as determined by the altitude sensor data. Thus, the processing circuitry correlates the (i) data which is representative of the altitude and/or changes in altitude and (ii) data which is representative of the motion of the user, to determine or calculate energy and/or calorie “burn” of the user.

With reference to FIGS. 4C and 4D, in one embodiment, the processing circuitry evaluates (i) data which is representative of the altitude and/or changes in altitude and (ii) data which is representative of the motion of the user, to identify, determine or calculate the user state and, in response thereto, implement a user state specific algorithm or methodology to determine or calculate energy and/or calorie “burn” of the user. For example, where the processing circuitry evaluates such data to determine that the user is traversing a hill, the processing circuitry employs a “hill” specific algorithm to determine or calculate the energy and/or calorie “burn” using the (i) data which is representative of the altitude and/or changes in altitude and (ii) data which is representative of the motion of the user. In this way, the determination or calculation of the energy and/or calorie “burn” may be more accurate in that the specific or dedicated algorithm may employ considerations or features that are “unique” and/or specific to the associated activity; and, as such, the specific or dedicated algorithm may be tailored to the considerations or features that are “unique” and/or specific to the associated activity.

The processing circuitry may calculate, determine and/or estimate calorie consumption, burn and/or expenditure using any technique now known, described herein, and/or later developed. In one exemplary embodiment, the processing circuitry employs a calorie consumption technique that estimates consumption, burn and/or expenditure for walking, running, and lifestyle activities as follows.

Speed-Based Estimation, Calculation and/or Determination

In one embodiment, the processing circuitry may estimate calorie expenditure and activity level based on or using, partially or entirely, the ambulatory speed of the user. For example, with reference to FIG. 5A, in one embodiment, the calorie consumption, burn and/or expenditure is calculated, determined and/or estimated as a function of the speed of the user. Representative energy expenditure rates expressed as metabolic equivalents per minute (MET/min) at different speeds are provided in TABLE 1.

TABLE 1 Exemplary running and walking energy expenditure (MET/min) by speed Metabolic Equivalents Speed (mph) (MET/min) Running, 5.0 8.0 Running, 5.2 9.0 Running, 6.0 10.0 Running, 6.7 11.0 Running, 7.0 11.5 Running, 7.5 12.5 Running, 8.0 13.5 Running, 8.6 14.0 Running, 9 15.0 Running, 10.0 16.0 Running, 10.9 18.0 Walking, 1.86 1.5 Walking, 2.24 1.9 Walking, 2.61 2.4 Walking, 2.98 3.2 Walking, 3.36 4.0 Walking, 3.73 5.0 Walking, 4.10 6.4

In one embodiment, the speed of the user may be calculated, determined and/or estimated as the user\'s step count over a time epoch multiplied by one or more step lengths of the user (which may be programmed, predetermined and/or estimated (for example, based on attributes of the user (for example, height, weight, age, leg length, and/or gender))), which may be estimated, obtained (for example, from a look-up table or database) and/or interpolated from the MET table to obtain the user\'s energy expenditure. In one embodiment, step length may take one of two values that are indicative of a walking and a running step length dependent on the step frequency and/or acceleration characteristics of the user. In a preferred embodiment, step length may be described as a linear function of step frequency:

step length=A+B*step frequency, where A and B are parameters that may be associated with or calibrated to the user; notably, such parameters may be stored in memory in the portable monitoring device.

In another embodiment, step length may be described as a function of step frequency and characteristics of the user acceleration:

step length=A+B*step frequency+C*variance of acceleration, where A, B, and C are parameters that may be calibrated to the user; notably, such parameters may be stored in memory in the portable monitoring device.