It looks like Samsung is moving right along with its multifunctional health technology platform. Samsung’s microprocessor division first introduced its multipurpose Bio-Processor at CES 2016, with the potential of providing core processing power for a wide range of new devices. A recent Federal Communications Commission listing of filings for FCC ID A3LSPatch3 reveals less about specific applications than it does about general direction and some electronic specifications. It appears the electronics giant is wisely playing this potentially powerful hand very close to the vest.
There are six exhibits in the FCC listing. The first exhibit is a letter of authorization naming Harvey Sun of DT&C Co., Ltd to act on the behalf of Samsung Electronics in the FCC application. A project and product certification representative authorization cover letter appoints SIEMIC, Inc., an engineering consulting firm in Milpitas, California, as the certification body for the project named Wearable Health Monitoring System, S-Patch3. Next, the company asks for permanent confidentiality for the project’s block diagram, schematics, operational description, and parts list. A second confidentiality request, this one short term for 180 days, asks to withhold from public disclosure the project’s user manual, internal photos, test setup photos, and external photos. So by early December 2017, or perhaps earlier, that information may be released to the public.
A product labeling requirement document indicates where labels will be placed and gives a first look at the product, which appears to be two flat pods connected by a covered wire. No scale is provided, but the description gives a clue to its size when it says, “The device is so small…” Device testing information states that it is a portable unit that transmits singularly rather than simultaneously at a maximum frequency of 2480 MHz within specified parameters. The last document shows the transmissions and emissions test results for the Wearable Health Monitoring System.
All of the above includes has zero information about the intended function or use case of the S-Patch3, but only about the factors that matter to the FCC. FDA documents, when available, will speak to the stated purpose and safety of the device. We can tell, however, that Samsung is moving ahead with a wearable health system and because some of the most informative information, like the users manual, is only going to be protected from disclosure for 180 days, that a major Samsung health tech product could be announced out before year’s end.
