Robust step detection using low cost mems accelerometer in mobile applications, and processing methods, apparatus and systems

Abstract

A system () for pedestrian use includes an accelerometer () having multiple electronic sensors; an electronic circuit () operable to generate a signal stream representing magnitude of overall acceleration sensed by the accelerometer (), and to electronically correlate a sliding window () of the signal stream with itself to produce peaks at least some of which represent walking steps, and further operable to electronically execute a periodicity check () to compare different step periods for similarity, and if sufficiently similar then to update () a portion of the circuit substantially representing a walking-step count; and an electronic display () responsive to the electronic circuit () to display information at least in part based on the step count. Other systems, electronic circuits and processes are disclosed.