Biosensor Array Protocol Definition

This page is part of the Biosensor Array Project

This page describes how biometric data is formatted, identified and transmitted from the collection hardware to any system intended to consume that data. The biometric data is made available via one or more of the interfaces: USB, RS-232C serial or Bluetooth. Data is not polled but is instead transmitted, unsolicited, at regular intervals by the logic on the biosensor array itself. Each collection of data will be timestamped and will include all of the measurements made at that timestamp. Measurements are transmitted only when they have changed since the previous transmission.

The general format of a packet of biometric data is a collection of fields and a packet termination character. Each biometric packet is terminated by a single LF character. LF characters are not allowed anywhere else in the biometric packet. Each field within a biometric packet is terminated with a single vertical bar character and the vertical bar is not allowed within an individual field.

The list of fields in a biometric data packet are as follows:

1. a short unsigned integer indicating the version of the biosensor array
2. the number of seconds since the biosensor array was last reset, as a long, unsigned integer
3. a short unsigned integer indicating the number of sensor data fields contained in this packet
4. one or more sensor data fields, each of which consists of:
   1. a tiny unsigned integer ID number for the sensor
   2. a single comma character
   3. the numerical measurement for this sensor at this timestamp