Dynamic Computation Offloading for Low-Power Wearable Health Monitoring Systems

IEEE Trans Biomed Eng. 2017 Mar;64(3):621-628. doi: 10.1109/TBME.2016.2570210. Epub 2016 May 18.

Abstract

Objective: The objective of this paper is to describe and evaluate an algorithm to reduce power usage and increase battery lifetime for wearable health-monitoring devices.

Methods: We describe a novel dynamic computation offloading scheme for real-time wearable health monitoring devices that adjusts the partitioning of data processing between the wearable device and mobile application as a function of desired classification accuracy.

Results: By making the correct offloading decision based on current system parameters, we show that we are able to reduce system power by as much as 20%.

Conclusion: We demonstrate that computation offloading can be applied to real-time monitoring systems, and yields significant power savings.

Significance: Making correct offloading decisions for health monitoring devices can extend battery life and improve adherence.

MeSH terms

  • Algorithms*
  • Electric Power Supplies*
  • Equipment Design
  • Equipment Failure Analysis
  • Information Storage and Retrieval / methods*
  • Mobile Applications*
  • Monitoring, Ambulatory / instrumentation*
  • Monitoring, Ambulatory / methods*
  • Smartphone / instrumentation*
  • Telemedicine / instrumentation
  • Telemedicine / methods
  • Wireless Technology / instrumentation