Multifactor drive mode determination

• US 10,212,269 B2
• Filed: 12/12/2013
• Issued: 02/19/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 11/06/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google Technology Holdings LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Technology Holdings LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Iyer, Boby, Dottl, Gabriel J, Pandya, Atulkumar D
• Primary Examiner(s): Appiah, Charles
• Assistant Examiner(s): Zhang, Edward
• Application Number:
  US14/103,899
• Publication Number:
  US 20150126170A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,895 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/6091 including a wireless interface
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72448 with means for adapting the functionality of the device according to specific conditions
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72454 according to context-related or environment-related conditions
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72457 according to geographic location
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72463 to restrict the functionality of the device
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/02 including a Bluetooth interface
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/10 including a GPS signal receiver
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/12 including a sensor for measuring a physical value, e.g. temperature or motion

Abstract

A system and method of determining whether a device user is driving provide an improved ability to switch between a normal mode and a driving mode with fewer false positives and false negatives. Bluetooth connectivity and motion sensor readings are fused to make the drive mode determination and to set the timing of nay switch. In an embodiment, Bluetooth devices correlated with driving are used to modify the confidence level and the decision threshold associated with sensor input. When a node having a driving correlation higher than a particular threshold is connected to a device, a lower threshold is applied to the motion sensor input for entering drive mode and a higher threshold is applied for exiting drive mode. Similarly, when a user device is not connected to any highly correlated node, default thresholds may be used for entering and exiting the drive mode.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

determining, by a mobile device, a first status of the mobile device, wherein the first status is one of driven or not driven;

collecting, by the mobile device, sensor data generated by one or more sensors of the mobile device;

determining, by the mobile device and based on a status of a connection between the mobile device and a wireless node and the sensor data, a second status of the mobile device as driven or not driven, wherein the sensor data includes one or more of accelerometer data, gyroscopic data and global positioning system data, and wherein the wireless node is a Bluetooth node;

determining, by the mobile device, whether the second status of the mobile device is different from the first status of the mobile device; and

responsive to determining that the second status of the mobile device is different from the first status of the mobile device and after a wait period has elapsed, switching, by the mobile device, into or out of a driving mode of operation of the mobile device, wherein a duration of the wait period is based on the status of the connection between the mobile device and the wireless node, and wherein the duration of the wait period is greater when the status of the connection between the mobile device and the wireless node indicates that the connection remains active than when the status of the connection between the mobile device and the wireless node indicates that the connection is dropped.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the second status of the mobile device as driven or not driven further comprises:

determining, by the mobile device and based on the sensor data, a value; and

comparing, by the mobile device, the value to a threshold that is set based on the status of the connection.

3. The method of claim 1,

wherein, if the sensor data indicates a walking motion:

the wait period is set at a first duration if the status of the connection indicates that the connection is dropped and walking continues, and

the wait period is set to a second duration if the status of the connection indicates that the connection remains active and walking continues, and

wherein the first duration is shorter than the second duration.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein, if the sensor data indicates that the device is stationary and the status of the connection indicates that the connection is not dropped, the wait period is set at a third duration greater than both the first duration and the second duration.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the second status of the mobile device includes lowering a threshold for a driven to not driven transition if the connection is inactive, and lowering a threshold for a not driven to driven transition if the connection is active.

6. A mobile electronic device comprising:

one or more sensors;

a network communications module that wirelessly connects the mobile electronic device to a wireless node; and

a processor configured to;

determine a first status of the mobile electronic device, the first status being one of driven or not driven, based on a status of a connection between the mobile device and the wireless node, wherein the sensor data generated by the one or more sensors includes one or more of accelerometer data, gyroscopic data and global positioning system data, and wherein the wireless node is a Bluetooth node,

determine, based on a status of a wireless connection between the mobile electronic device and the wireless node and sensor data generated by the one or more sensors after the processor determines the first status, a second status of the mobile electronic device as driven or not drive,

determine whether the second status of the mobile device is different from the first status of the mobile device, and

responsive to determining that the second status is different from the first status and after a wait period, switch the mobile electronic device into or out of a driving mode of operation, wherein a duration of the wait period is based on the status of the connection between the mobile electronic device and the wireless node, and wherein the duration of the wait period is greater when the status of the connection between the mobile device and the wireless node indicates that the connection remains active than when the status of the connection between the mobile device and the wireless node indicates that the connection is dropped.

7. The mobile electronic device of claim 6, wherein the processor is further configured to determine the second status of the mobile device by at least deriving a value based on the sensor data and comparing the derived value to a threshold that is set based on the status of the connection.

8. The mobile electronic device of claim 6,

wherein, if the sensor data indicates a walking motion, the processor sets the wait period to:

a first duration if the connection is dropped and walking continues; and

a second duration if the connection remains active and walking continues, and

wherein the first period is shorter than the second period.

9. The mobile electronic device of claim 8, wherein, if the physical data indicates that the device is stationary and the connection is not dropped, the processor sets the wait period to a third duration greater than both the first duration and the second duration.

10. The mobile electronic device of claim 6, wherein the processor is configured to determine the second status of the mobile device by at least lowering a threshold for a driven to not driven transition if the connection is inactive, and lowering a threshold for a not driven to driven transition if the connection is active.

11. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium encoded with instructions that, when executed, cause one or more processors of a mobile device to:

determine a first status of the mobile device, wherein the first status is one of driven or not driven;

collect sensor data generated by one or more sensors of the mobile device;

determine, based on a status of a connection between the mobile device and a wireless node and the sensor data, a second status of the mobile device as driven or not driven, wherein the sensor data includes one or more of accelerometer data, gyroscopic data and global positioning system data;

determine whether the second status of the mobile device is different from the first status of the mobile device; and

responsive to determining that the second status of the mobile device is different from the first status of the mobile device and after a wait period has elapsed since determining that the second status of the mobile device is different from the first status of the mobile device, switch the mobile device into or out of operating in a driving mode of operation of the mobile device, wherein a duration of the wait period is based on the status of the connection between the mobile device and the wireless node, and wherein the duration of the wait period is greater when the status of the connection between the mobile device and the wireless node indicates that the connection remains active than when the status of the connection between the mobile device and the wireless node indicates that the connection is dropped.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein the instructions further cause the one or more processors to:

determine, based on the sensor data, a value; and

compare the value to a threshold that is set based on the status of the connection.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 11,

wherein, if the sensor data indicates a walking motion:

the wait period is set at a first duration if the status of the connection indicates that the connection is dropped and walking continues, and

the wait period is set to a second duration if the status of the connection indicates that the connection remains active and walking continues, and

wherein the first duration is shorter than the second duration.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein, if the sensor data indicates that the device is stationary and the status of the connection indicates that the connection is not dropped, the wait period is set at a third duration greater than both the first duration and the second duration.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein the instructions further cause the one or more processors to:

if the connection is inactive, lower a threshold for a driven to not driven transition; and

if the connection is active, lower a threshold for a not driven to driven transition.