Display and keypad backlight management for portable electronic devices

• US 20020142808A1
• Filed: 03/30/2001
• Published: 10/03/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 03/30/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google Technology Holdings LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Motorola, Inc. (Motorola Solutions, Inc.)
• Inventors: Abbasi, Aamir A.
• Granted Patent: US 7,117,019 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/566
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/22 Illumination; Arrangements for improving the visibility of characters on dials
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0267 by controlling user interface components
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/027 by controlling a display operation or backlight unit
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

This invention is a portable electronic device (100) including a display (212), an input device (210), a lighting circuit (204), a light sensor (206) and a control circuit (208). The lighting circuit (204) includes a light source (214) to illuminate the display (212) and the input device (210). The light sensor (206) determines the ambient lighting conditions about the display (212) and/or the input device (210) and generates an ambient lighting signal based on the ambient lighting conditions. The control circuit (208) is coupled to the lighting circuit (204) and the light sensor (206) and has a delayed operation mode in which a first activation of the input device (210) illuminates the display (212) without performing any other operation of the device (100) and a second activation of the input device performs an operation of the device other than illuminating the display. The control circuit (208) of the portable electronic device (100) may receive a reverse bias signal generated by the lighting circuit (204) when incident with ambient lighting about the user interface (202) to supplement or eliminate the light sensor (206).

Claims

1. A portable electronic device comprising:

a user interface;

a lighting circuit including a light source to illuminate the user interface; and

a control circuit coupled to the lighting circuit, the control circuit having a delayed operation mode wherein a first activation of the user interface illuminates the user interface without performing any other operation of the device and a second activation of the user interface performs an operation of the device other than illuminating the user interface.

2. The portable electronic device of claim 1, wherein:

the control circuit has a delayed operation mode; and

the user interface includes a display and an input device wherein, during the delayed operation mode, a first activation of the input device illuminates the display without performing any other operation of the device and a second activation of the input device performs an operation of the device other than illuminating the display.

3. The portable electronic device of claim 1, further comprising a light sensor to determine ambient lighting conditions about the user interface and generate an ambient lighting signal based on the ambient lighting conditions.

4. The portable electronic device of claim 3, wherein the delayed operation mode is effective when the control circuit determines that the ambient lighting signal is below a minimum illumination level.

5. The portable electronic device of claim 3, wherein the lighting circuit illuminates the user interface for a particular duration when the ambient lighting signal is at a low level and the lighting circuit illuminates the user interface for a shorter duration when the ambient lighting signal is greater than the low level.

6. A portable electronic device comprising:

an input device;

a lighting circuit including a light source to illuminate the input device;

a light sensor being effective to determine ambient lighting conditions about the input device and generate an ambient lighting signal based on the ambient lighting conditions; and

a control circuit coupled to the light sensor and the lighting circuit, the control circuit receiving the ambient lighting signal from the light sensor and activating the lighting circuit to illuminate the input device based on the ambient lighting signal.

7. The portable electronic device of claim 6, wherein the control circuit has a delayed operation mode wherein a first activation of the input device illuminates the input device without performing any other operation of the device and a second activation of the input device performs an operation of the device other than illuminating the input device.

8. The portable electronic device of claim 7, wherein the delayed operation mode is effective when the control circuit determines that the ambient lighting signal is below a minimum illumination level.

9. The portable electronic device of claim 6, wherein the lighting circuit illuminates the input device for a particular duration when the ambient lighting signal is at a low level and the lighting circuit illuminates the input device for a shorter duration when the ambient lighting signal is greater than the low level.

10. The portable electronic device of claim 6, wherein:

the lighting circuit illuminates the input device for a minimum duration when the ambient lighting signal is at or above a maximum threshold level;

the lighting circuit illuminates the input device for a maximum duration when the ambient lighting signal is below a minimum threshold level; and

the lighting circuit illuminates the input device for an intermediate duration when the ambient lighting signal is below the maximum threshold level and at or above the minimum threshold level.

11. A portable electronic device comprising:

a user interface;

a lighting circuit including a light source to illuminate the user interface; and

a control circuit coupled to the lighting circuit, the control circuit receiving a reverse bias signal generated by the lighting circuit when incident with ambient lighting about the user interface and activating the lighting circuit to illuminate the user interface based on the ambient lighting.

12. The portable electronic device of claim 11, wherein:

the control circuit has a delayed operation mode; and

the user interface includes a display and an input device wherein, during the delayed operation mode, a first activation of the input device illuminates the display without performing any other operation of the device and a second activation of the input device performs an operation of the device other than illuminating the display.

13. The portable electronic device of claim 12, wherein the delayed operation mode is effective when the control circuit determines that the ambient lighting is below a minimum illumination level.

14. The portable electronic device of claim 11, wherein the lighting circuit illuminates the user interface for a particular duration when the ambient lighting is at a low level and the lighting circuit illuminates the user interface for a shorter duration when the ambient lighting is greater than the low level.

15. The portable electronic device of claim 11, wherein:

the lighting circuit illuminates the user interface for a minimum duration when the ambient lighting is at or above a maximum threshold level;

the lighting circuit illuminates the user interface for a maximum duration when the ambient lighting is below a minimum threshold level; and

the lighting circuit illuminates the user interface for an intermediate duration when the ambient lighting is below the maximum threshold level and at or above the minimum threshold level.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein:

the step of detecting a first activation includes the step of detecting a first activation of the input device;

the step of illuminating includes the step of illuminating the display in response to detecting the first activation without performing any other operation of the device;

the step of detecting a second activation includes the step of detecting a second activation of the input device; and

the step of performing includes the step of performing an operation of the device other than illuminating the display.

18. The method of claim 16 further comprising, before the step of detecting the first activation, the step of determining that the ambient lighting signal is below a minimum illumination level.

19. The method of claim 16, wherein the step of illuminating includes the steps of illuminating the user interface for a particular duration when the ambient lighting signal is at a low level and illuminating the user interface for a shorter duration when the ambient lighting signal is greater than the low level.

20. The method of claim 16, wherein the step of illuminating includes the steps of:

illuminating the user interface for a minimum duration when the ambient lighting signal is at or above a maximum threshold level;

illuminating the user interface for a maximum duration when the ambient lighting signal is below a minimum threshold level; and

illuminating the user interface for an intermediate duration when the ambient lighting signal is below the maximum threshold level and at or above the minimum threshold level.

16. A method of illuminating a user interface of a portable electronic device, the user interface including a display and an input device, the method comprising the steps of:

determining ambient lighting conditions about the user interface;

generating an ambient lighting signal based on the ambient lighting conditions; and

detecting a first activation of the user interface;

illuminating the user interface in response to detecting the first activation without performing any other operation of the device;

detecting a second activation of the user interface; and

performing an operation of the device other than illuminating the user interface.