1. A system adapted to link an infant who is wearing a diaper and is sleeping at a local site with a monitoring station located at an external site attended by a caretaker for the infant, said system functioning to alert the caretaker in the event the infant has ceased to breathe or has a fever or is crying; said system comprising:
A. a module mountable on the infant to engage a surface thereon which as the infant breathes moves rhythmically in and out, the surface being at a temperature that depends on the internal body temperature of the infant said module including:
(a) a first sensor responsive to movement of said surface to yield a corresponding pulsatory signal;
(b) a second sensor responsive to changes in said surface temperature to produce a signal which varies accordingly;
(c) a third sensor responsive to said crying sounds to produce a corresponding audio signal, and
(d) a microwave transmitter whose carrier is modulated by the first, second and third sensor signals whereby radiated from the module is the modulated microwave carrier; and
B. a monitoring station at said external site, said station including:
(a) means including a receiver which intercepts and demodulates the radiated carrier and acts to recover the pulsatory signal, the varying signal and the audio signal; and
(b) means responsive to the recovered signals to activate respective alarms and thereby alert the caretaker in the event of an interruption in the pulsatory signal indicating that the infant has ceased to breathe, or in the event the infant has a fever or cries.
2. A system as set forth in claim 1, in which the module is mounted in a diaper worn by the infant.
3. A system as set forth in claim 1, in which said diaper has a waist section that engages the belly, and the module is integrated with the waist section.
4. A system as set forth in claim 1, in which the diaper has a waist section and the module is coated with a layer of pressure-sensitive adhesive so that the module can be adhered to this section.
5. A system as set forth in claim 1, in which the module is attached to a band looped about the infant’s chest.
6. A system as set forth in claim 1, in which the first sensor is a piezoelectric element.
7. A system as set forth in claim 1 in which the second sensor is a thermistor.
8. A system as set forth in claim 1, in which the third sensor is a microphone.
9. A system as set forth in claim 1, in which the means at the station which activates the alarm for the signal from the first sensor includes a microprocessor adapted to time the duration of the interruption of the signal and to activate the alarm when the duration of the interruption exceeds a predetermined brief interval.
10. A system as set forth in claim 8, in which the interval is about 2.5 seconds.
11. A system as set forth in claim 1, in which the alarm for the cessation of breathing includes an audio oscillator modulated to produce a siren-like sound.
12. A system as set forth in claim 1, in which the means at the station which activates the alarm for body temperature is adapted to activate this alarm only when the body temperature approaches a fever level.
13. A system as set forth in claim 1, in which the means at the station which, activates the alarm for crying sounds activates this alarm only when the crying of the infant is at a bawling level.
14. A system as set forth in claim 1, in which the sensor signals are applied through a multiplexer to said transmitter to prevent intermixing of the sensor signals modulating the carrier.
15. A system as set forth in claim 14, in which the demodulated carrier signals at the station are fed through a multiplexer to recover the sensor signals.
16. A system adapted to link an infant wearing a diaper to a monitoring station attended by a caretaker for the infant so as to alert the caretaker should the infant cease to breath, or has a fever, or is crying; said system comprising:
A. a module mountable on the diaper so as to engage a surface of the infant which moves in and out as the infant breathes and which rises in temperature when the infant has a fever, said module being exposed to sounds when the infant is crying;
B. a first sensor included in the module responsive to movement of the surface to provide a first signal indicative of breathing or an interruption thereof;
C. a second sensor included in the module responsive to the temperature of the surface to provide a second signal indicative of a fever;
D. a third sensor included in the module responsive to said sounds to provide a third signal indicative of crying, and
E. a transmitter included in the module to convey the first, second and third signals to said monitoring station.
17. A system as set forth in claim 16 in which said transmitter is a microwave transmitter whose carrier is modulated by said signals, and said monitoring station includes a microwave receiver to demodulate said carrier to recover said signals, and means associated with the receiver to alert the attendant when the signals indicate that the infant has ceased to breathe, or has a fever, or is crying.
18. A module attachable to a diaper worn by an infant to engage a surface of the infant which moves in and out as the infant breathes, which rises in temperature when the infant has a fever and is exposed to sounds when the infant is crying, said module comprising:
A. a first sensor responsive to movement of the surface to provide a first signal indicative of breathing or an interruption thereof;
B. a second sensor responsive to the temperature of the surface to provide a second signal indicative of a fever;
C. a third sensor responsive to said sounds to provide a third signal indicative of crying; and
D. a transmitter to transmit the first, second and third signals to a monitoring station.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A controller for controlling dimming of a light-emitting diode (LED) light source, said controller comprising:
a control terminal operable for providing a driving signal to control a control switch coupled to said LED light source, thereby controlling said dimming of said LED light source; and
dimming control circuitry coupled to said control terminal and operable for generating said driving signal according to a plurality of operations of a power switch that transfers an alternating-current (AC) signal, said dimming control circuitry operable for adjusting said driving signal by counting a plurality of waves of said AC signal to control said dimming of said LED light source.
2. The controller of claim 1, wherein said AC signal comprises an AC voltage provided by an AC power source.
3. The controller of claim 1, wherein said dimming control circuitry counts said waves of said AC signal by counting a plurality of pulses of a clock signal.
4. The controller of claim 3, wherein said dimming control circuitry compares a periodic signal indicative of said AC signal with a voltage reference to generate said clock signal.
5. The controller of claim 1, wherein said dimming control circuitry adjusts a dimming signal by counting said waves of said AC signal to adjust said driving signal.
6. The controller of claim 5, wherein said dimming control circuitry controls said dimming signal from a first preset level to a second preset level when a result of said counting of said waves exceeds a predetermined number.
7. The controller of claim 5, wherein said dimming control circuitry comprises:
a trigger monitoring unit operable for monitoring said power switch and generating a pulse in response to a detection of said operations of said power switch; and
a dimmer coupled to said trigger monitoring unit and operable for counting said waves to adjust said dimming signal based on said pulse.
8. The controller of claim 7, wherein if said trigger monitoring unit generates a first pulse based on said operations, said first pulse enables said counting of said waves to adjust said dimming signal to a level, and wherein if said trigger monitoring unit generates a second pulse based on said operations, said second pulse disables said counting of said waves to maintain said dimming signal at said level.
9. The controller of claim 5, wherein said dimming signal comprises a reference signal, and wherein said controller controls said dimming of said LED light source by comparing said reference signal with a monitoring signal indicative a current flowing through said LED light source.
10. The controller of claim 5, wherein said dimming signal comprises a pulse-width modulation (PWM) signal, and wherein said controller controls said dimming of said LED light source according to said PWM signal and a pulse signal.
11. The controller of claim 1, wherein said operations of said power switch comprise turning off said power switch followed by turning on said power switch within a predefined time interval.
12. A method for controlling dimming of a light-emitting diode (LED) light source, said method comprising:
transferring an alternating-current (AC) signal through a power switch;
generating a driving signal according to a plurality of operations of said power switch;
adjusting said driving signal by counting a plurality of waves of said AC signal to control said dimming of said LED light source; and
controlling a control switch coupled to said LED light source by said driving signal.
13. The method of claim 12, wherein said adjusting of said driving signal comprises:
comparing a periodic signal indicative of said AC signal with a voltage reference to generate a clock signal; and
counting said waves of said AC signal by counting a plurality of pulses of said clock signal.
14. The method of claim 12, wherein said adjusting of said driving signal comprises:
adjusting a dimming signal by counting said waves of said AC signal to adjust said driving signal.
15. The method of claim 14, wherein said adjusting of said driving signal comprises:
controlling said dimming signal from a first preset level to a second preset level when a result of said counting of said waves exceeds a predetermined number.
16. The method of claim 14, wherein said generating of said driving signal comprises:
enabling said counting of said waves to adjust said dimming signal to a level if a first pulse is generated based on said operations; and
disabling said counting of said waves to maintain said dimming signal at said level if a second pulse is generated based on said operations.
17. A system for powering a light-emitting diode (LED) light source, said system comprising:
conversion circuitry operable for receiving an alternating-current (AC) signal through a power switch and providing regulated power to said LED light source; and
dimming control circuitry coupled to said conversion circuitry and operable for generating a dimming signal according to a plurality of operations of said power switch and adjusting said dimming signal by counting a plurality of waves of said AC signal, wherein dimming of said LED light source is controlled according to said dimming signal.
18. The system of claim 17, wherein said conversion circuitry comprises:
an alternating-current to direct-current (ACDC) converter for converting AC power to DC power; and
a DCDC converter coupled to said ACDC converter and for converting said DC power to said regulated power by controlling a control switch in series with said LED light source according to said dimming signal.
19. The system of claim 17, wherein said dimming control circuitry compares a periodic signal indicative of said AC signal with a voltage reference to generate a clock signal and counts said waves of said AC signal by counting a plurality of pulses of said clock signal.
20. The system of claim 17, wherein said dimming control circuitry controls said dimming signal from a first preset level to a second preset level when a result of said counting of said waves exceeds a predetermined number.