Transcutaneous analyte sensor

1. A sensor system for measuring an analyte concentration in a host, the sensor system comprising:

a sensor comprising at least one electrode;

a receiver; and

sensor electronics configured to measure the analyte concentration in the host when the sensor is implanted therein, wherein the sensor electronics comprise a data sampling portion in data communication with the at least one electrode, wherein the data sampling portion comprises an analog portion configured to measure the current flowing at the at least one electrode and to convert the current measurement to digital values representative of the current, wherein the digital values are acquired at a predetermined time interval, and wherein the sensor electronics comprise a transmitter portion for wirelessly transmitting a signal indicating a level of the analyte in the host at a programmable transmission interval to the receiver, wherein the programmable transmission interval is a multiple of the predetermined time interval, and wherein the programmable transmission interval is selectable by a user using a user interface of the receiver.

2. The sensor system of claim 1 , wherein the predetermined time interval is programmable at an interval between about 2 and 512 seconds.

3. The sensor system of claim 1 , wherein the transmission interval is programmable between about 2 seconds and about 850 minutes.

4. The sensor system of claim 1 , wherein the sensor electronics are configured to measure the current flow in at least a picoAmp range.

5. The sensor system of claim 1 , wherein the sensor electronics comprise an ASIC, wherein the ASIC comprises the data sampling portion.

6. The sensor system of claim 1 , wherein the data sampling portion comprises a current-to-frequency converter.

7. The sensor system of claim 1 , further comprising a digital filter configured to smooth the digital values.

8. The sensor system of claim 1 , wherein the transmitter portion is configured to build and transmit a data packet, wherein the data packet comprises a plurality of bits, wherein at least some of the plurality of bits include at least one digital value representative of the current.

9. The sensor system of claim 8 , wherein the at least one digital value comprises a filtered digital value.

10. The sensor system of claim 8 , wherein the at least some of the plurality of bits further include sensor identification information.

11. The sensor system of claim 8 , wherein the at least some of the plurality of bits further include error detection.

12. The sensor system of claim 8 , wherein the at least some of the plurality of bits further include error correction.

13. The sensor system of claim 1 , the transmitter portion is configured to build and transmit a data packet, wherein the data packet comprises a plurality of bits, wherein at least some of the plurality of bits include at least one digital value representative of the current, wherein the at least some of the plurality of bits further include sensor identification information.

14. The sensor system of claim 1 , wherein the transmitter portion is configured to build and transmit a data packet, wherein the data packet comprises a plurality of bits, wherein at least some of the plurality of bits include at least one digital value representative of the current, wherein the at least some of the plurality of bits further include error detection.

15. The sensor system of claim 1 , wherein the transmitter portion is configured to build and transmit a data packet, wherein the data packet comprises a plurality of bits, wherein at least some of the plurality of bits include at least one digital value representative of the current, wherein the at least some of the plurality of bits further include error correction.

16. The sensor system of claim 1 , wherein the sensor electronics are configured to verify the identification information encoded with the data packet.

17. The sensor system of claim 1 , further comprising a receiver configured to perform error correction on the received data packet.

18. The sensor system of claim 1 , wherein the sensor is a glucose sensor.

19. The sensor system of claim 1 , wherein the sensor is configured to physically electrically contact with the sensor electronics.

20. The sensor system of claim 1 , wherein the receiver is configured to determine glucose information corresponding to the sensor signal, and wherein the receiver is configured to output the glucose information.

21. The sensor system of claim 1 , wherein the sensor electronics are configured to encode the si nals prior to transmission, and wherein the receiver is configured to decode the encoded signals received from the transmitter.

22. The sensor system of claim 21 , wherein the receiver is configured to perform non-iterative decoding techniques on the signals.

23. The sensor system of claim 21 , wherein the receiver is configured to perform iterative decoding techniques on the signals.

24. The sensor system of claim 1 , wherein the receiver performs a Cyclic Redundancy Check to verify data integrity upon receipt of the transmitted signals.

25. The sensor system of claim 1 , wherein the transmitter portion is configured to build and transmit a data packet, wherein the data packet comprises a plurality of bits, wherein at least some of the plurality of bits include at least one of a sensor ID code, status code and a calibration code.

26. The sensor system of claim 1 , wherein the predetermined time interval is programmed to be programmable after the sensor electronics have been manufactured.

27. The sensor system of claim 1 , wherein the multiple is greater than one.

28. The sensor system of claim 1 , wherein the selectable programmable transmission interval is designed to reduce battery consumption.

29. The sensor system of claim 1 , wherein the selectable programmable transmission interval is designed to increase timeliness of reporting sensor values.

30. The sensor system of claim 1 , wherein the transmission interval is programmable in the sensor electronics.

31. The sensor system of claim 1 , wherein the transmission interval is programmable at an interval between about 2 seconds and 10 minutes.

32. The sensor system of claim 1 , wherein the transmission interval is programmable at an interval between about 30 seconds and 5 minutes.

33. The sensor system of claim 1 , wherein the predetermined time interval is programmable within the sensor electronics.

34. The sensor system of claim 27 , wherein the multiple is less than 100.