METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR AN ENVIRONMENTAL AND BEHAVIORAL ADAPTIVE WIRELESS COMMUNICATION DEVICE

• US 20080036591A1
• Filed: 01/25/2007
• Published: 02/14/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 08/10/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Ray, Rajarshi
• Granted Patent: US 7,675,414 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/540
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/677 Preventing the dialling or sending of predetermined telephone numbers or selected types of telephone numbers, e.g. long distance numbers
• 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 2250/12 including a sensor for measuring a physical value, e.g. temperature or motion
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0258 controlling an operation mode according to history or models of usage information, e.g. activity schedule or time of day
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

Methods, devices, apparatus and systems are provided for adaptation of a wireless communication device based on current environmental conditions, historical environmental condition patterns and/or historical usage patterns. In this regard, the device senses such environmental conditions as light, sound, motion, temperature and the like and, automatically or at user discretion, adjusts functionality on the device that is affected by these conditions. Additionally, by determining environmental and usage patterns the device can adapt to the patterns by providing certain functionality and/or applications to the user at prescribed times of the day, week, month, etc. By being able to automatically adapt the functionality of a wireless communication device, the user of such a device experiences greater ease in using the device and an overall heightened user experience.

Claims

1. A method for adapting a wireless communication device, comprising:

detecting one or more environmental conditions at a wireless communication device;

determining if the one or more detected environmental conditions warrant adjustment to one or more wireless communication device functions; and

determining an adjustment action for the one or more wireless device functions if the one or more detected environmental conditions is determined to warrant adjustment.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising adjusting the one or more wireless communication device functions based on the determined adjustment action.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein detecting one or more environmental conditions further comprises detecting ambient light intensity at the wireless communication device.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the one or more wireless communication device functions are further defined as chosen from the group consisting of display brightness and display contrast.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein detecting one or more environmental conditions further comprises detecting an ambient noise level at the wireless communication device.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the one or more wireless communication device functions are further defined as chosen from the group consisting of ring tone volume, ring tone frequency, vibration intensity, vibration frequency and speaker volume.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein detecting one or more environmental conditions further comprises detecting wireless communication device motion.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the one or more wireless communication device functions are further defined as a voice-activated dialer function.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein detecting one or more environmental conditions further comprises detecting ambient temperature at the wireless communication device.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the one or more wireless communication device functions are further defined as chosen from the group consisting of a power-down function and a limited-use function.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein determining if the one or more detected environmental conditions warrant adjustment further comprises comparing the detected environmental conditions to one or more predetermined thresholds.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein determining if the one or more detected environmental conditions warrant adjustment further comprises implementing at least one of a heuristic simulation and predetermined algorithm to determine if adjustment is warranted.

13. The method of claim 2, wherein adjusting the one or more wireless communication device functions further comprises adjusting, automatically, the one or more wireless device functions based on the determined adjustment action.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein automatic adjustment of the one or more wireless device functions occurs based on user pre-configuration.

15. The method of claim 2, wherein adjusting the one or more wireless communication device functions further comprises determining if a user of the wireless communication device accepts the determined adjustment action.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein determining an adjustment action further defines the adjustment action as chosen from the group consisting of a function parameter alteration, a function activation and a function deactivation.

17. At least one processor configured to perform the actions of:

detecting one or more environmental conditions at a wireless communication device;

determining if the one or more detected environmental conditions warrant adjustment to one or more wireless communication device parameters; and

determining an adjustment action for the one or more wireless device parameters if the one or more detected environmental conditions is determined to warrant adjustment.

18. A computer program product, comprising:

a computer-readable medium comprising;

a first set of codes for causing a computer to detect one or more environmental conditions at a wireless communication device;

a second set of codes for causing the computer to determine if the one or more detected environmental conditions warrant adjustment to one or more wireless communication device parameters; and

a third set of codes for causing the computer to determine an adjustment action for the one or more wireless device parameters if the one or more detected environmental conditions is determined to warrant adjustment.

19. A wireless communication device, comprising:

a computer platform including a processor and a memory;

at least one sensor device in communication with the processor and operable for sensing an environmental condition; and

a function adjustment module stored in the memory and executable by the processor, wherein the function adjustment module comprises;

adjustment determination logic operable for determining if the sensed environmental condition warrants adjustment to one or more wireless communication device functions and determining an adjustment action for the one or more wireless device functions if the detected environmental condition is determined to warrant adjustment, and

adjustment logic operable for adjusting the one or more wireless communication device functions based on the determined adjustment action.

20. The wireless communication device of claim 19, wherein the at least one sensor device further comprises a photo sensor operable for sensing light intensity.

21. The wireless communication device of claim 20, wherein adjustment determination logic is further operable for determining if the sensed environmental condition warrants adjustment to one or more wireless communication device functions, which are chosen from the group consisting of display brightness and display contrast.

22. The wireless communication device of claim 19, wherein the at least one sensor device further comprises an audio level sensor operable for sensing noise level.

23. The wireless communication device of claim 22, wherein adjustment determination logic is further operable for determining if the sensed environmental condition warrants adjustment to one or more wireless communication device functions, which are chosen from the group consisting of ring tone volume, ring tone frequency, vibration intensity, vibration frequency and speaker volume

24. The wireless communication device of claim 19, wherein the at least one sensor device further comprises an accelerometer operable for sensing motion in the wireless communication device.

25. The wireless communication device of claim 24, wherein adjustment determination logic is further operable for determining if the sensed environmental condition warrants adjustment to a voice-activated dialer function.

26. The wireless communication device of claim 19, wherein the at least one sensor device further comprises a temperature sensor operable for sensing temperature.

27. The wireless communication device of claim 26, wherein adjustment determination logic is further operable for determining if the sensed environmental condition warrants adjustment to one or more wireless communication device functions, which are chosen from the group consisting of a power-down function and a limited-use function.

28. The wireless communication device of claim 19, wherein the adjustment determination logic is further operable for comparing a sensed environmental condition determining value to a predetermined threshold to determine if adjustment is warranted to one or more wireless communication device functions.

29. The wireless communication device of claim 19, wherein the adjustment determination logic is further operable for implementing a predetermined algorithm to determine if adjustment is warranted to one or more wireless communication device functions.

30. The wireless communication device of claim 19, wherein the adjustment logic is further operable to adjusting, automatically, the one or more wireless device parameters based on the determined adjustment action.

31. The wireless communication device of claim 30, wherein the adjustment logic is further operable to provide for automatic adjustment of the one or more wireless device parameters occurs based on user pre-configuration.

32. The wireless communication device of claim 19, wherein the adjustment logic is further operable for determining if a user of the wireless communication device accepts the determined adjustment action.

33. A wireless communication device, comprising:

means for detecting one or more environmental conditions at the wireless communication device;

means for determining if the one or more detected environmental conditions warrant adjustment to one or more wireless communication device parameters; and

means for determining an adjustment action for the one or more wireless device parameters if the one or more detected environmental condition is determined to warrant adjustment.

34. A method for adapting a wireless communication device, comprising:

logging user actions and temporal information associated with the user actions;

determining a usage pattern based on the logged user actions and the temporal information; and

determining at least one function adjustment based on the usage pattern.

35. The method of claim 34, further comprising adjusting at least one function of the wireless communication device based on the corresponding at least one function adjustment.

36. The method of claim 34, wherein logging user actions further comprises logging user actions chosen from the group consisting of communication calls made, communication calls received, applications accessed and functionality implemented.

37. The method of claim 34, further comprising logging geographic location information associated the user actions and wherein determining a usage pattern further comprises determining a usage pattern based on the logged user actions, the temporal information and the geographic location information.

38. The method of claim 34, further comprising logging environmental conditions associated with the user actions and wherein determining a usage pattern further comprises determining a usage pattern based on the logged user actions, the temporal information and the environmental conditions.

39. The method of claim 34, wherein determining at least one function adjustment further comprises determining at least one function adjustment chosen from the group consisting of function parameter adjustment, function activation and function deactivation.

40. The method of claim 34, wherein determining a usage pattern based on the logged user actions and the temporal information further comprises comparing the user actions to predetermined usage pattern thresholds to determine a usage pattern.

41. The method of claim 34, wherein determining a usage pattern based on the logged user actions and the temporal information further comprises implementing at least one of a heuristic simulation and a predetermined algorithm to determine a usage pattern.

42. The method of claim 35, wherein adjusting at least one function of the wireless communication device based on the corresponding at least one function adjustment further comprises adjusting, automatically, one or more functions associated with the usage pattern.

43. The method of claim 42, wherein adjusting, automatically, one or more functions further comprises adjusting, automatically based on user pre-configuration, one or more functions associated with the usage pattern.

44. The method of claim 35, further comprising proposing the one or more function adjustments to a device user for acceptance prior to adjusting the one or more functions, and wherein adjusting comprises adjusting based on a user acceptance of the proposed one or more functions.

45. At least one processor configured to perform the actions of:

logging user actions and temporal information associated with the user actions;

determining a usage pattern based on the logged user actions and the temporal information; and

determining at least one function adjustment based on the usage pattern.

46. A computer program product, comprising:

a computer-readable medium comprising;

a first set of codes for causing a computer to log user actions and temporal information associated with the user actions;

a second set of codes for causing the computer to determine a usage pattern based on the logged user actions and the temporal information; and

a third set of codes for causing the computer to determine at least one function adjustment based on the usage pattern.

47. A wireless communication device, comprising:

a computer platform including a processor and a memory;

a user action log stored in the memory operable for storing user actions and associated temporal information; and

a function adjustment module stored in the memory and executable by the processor, wherein the function adjustment module comprises;

usage pattern logic operable for determining a usage pattern based on the logged user actions and the temporal information,

adjustment determination logic operable for determining at least one function adjustment based on the usage pattern, and

adjustment logic operable to adjust at least one function of the wireless communication device based on the corresponding at least one function adjustment.

48. The wireless communication device of claim 47, wherein the user actions comprise at least one of a communication call made, a communication call received, an application accessed and a functionality implemented.

49. The wireless communication device of claim 47, further comprising a location determining device in communication with the processor and wherein the user action log further stores geographic location information associated with the user actions and wherein the usage pattern logic is further operable for determining a usage pattern based on the logged user actions, the temporal information and the geographic location information.

50. The wireless communication device of claim 47, further comprising one or more environmental sensing devices in communication with the process and wherein the user action log further stores one or more environmental conditions associated with a user action and wherein the usage pattern logic is further operable for determining a usage pattern based on the logged user actions, the temporal information and the environmental conditions.

51. The wireless communication device of claim 47, wherein the adjustment determination logic is further operable for determining at least one function adjustment chosen from the group consisting of function parameter adjustment, function activation and function deactivation.

52. The wireless communication device of claim 47, wherein the adjustment determination logic further comprises a predetermined algorithm and wherein the at least one function adjustment is based on the predetermined algorithm.

53. The wireless communication device of claim 47, wherein the adjustment logic is further operable to adjusting, automatically, one or more functions associated with the usage pattern.

54. The wireless communication device of claim 53, wherein adjustment logic is further operable for adjusting, automatically based on user pre-configuration, one or more functions associated with the usage pattern.

55. The wireless communication device of claim 47, wherein the adjustment logic is further operable for proposing the one or more function adjustments to a device user for acceptance prior to adjusting the one or more functions.

56. A wireless communication device, comprising:

means for logging user actions and temporal information associated with the user actions;

means for determining a usage pattern based on the logged user actions and the temporal information;

means for determining at least one function adjustment based on the usage pattern; and

means for adjusting at least one function of the wireless communication device based on the corresponding at least one function adjustment.

57. A method for adapting a wireless communication device, comprising:

detecting one or more environmental conditions at a wireless communication device;

logging the one or more environmental conditions and associated temporal information;

determining an environmental condition pattern based on the logged environmental conditions and the associated temporal information; and

determining at least one adjustment action based on the environmental condition pattern.

58. The method of claim 57, further comprising adjusting at least one function of the wireless communication device based on the corresponding at least one adjustment action.

59. The method of claim 57, wherein logging the one or more environmental conditions further comprises logging environmental conditions chosen from the group consisting of ambient light intensity, ambient noise level, ambient temperature and wireless device motion.

60. The method of claim 57, further comprising logging geographic location information associated with the environmental conditions and wherein determining an environmental condition pattern further comprises determining an environmental condition pattern based on the environmental conditions, the temporal information and the geographic location information.

61. The method of claim 57, wherein determining at least one adjustment action further comprises determining at least one adjustment action chosen from the group consisting of function parameter adjustment, function activation and function deactivation.

62. The method of claim 57, wherein determining an environmental condition pattern further comprises determining an environmental pattern based on at least one of a heuristic simulation, a predetermined algorithm and a comparison to a predetermined environmental pattern threshold.

63. The method of claim 57, wherein determining at least one adjustment action based on the environmental condition pattern further comprises determining the at least one adjustment action based on at least one of a heuristic simulation, a predetermined algorithm and a comparison to a predetermined environmental threshold.

64. The method of claim 57, wherein adjusting one or more functions associated with the usage pattern further comprises adjusting, automatically, one or more functions associated with the usage pattern.

65. The method of claim 64, wherein adjusting, automatically, one or more functions further comprises adjusting, automatically based on user pre-configuration, one or more functions associated with the usage pattern.

66. The method of claim 57, further comprises proposing the one or more function adjustments to a device user for acceptance prior to adjusting the one or more functions.

67. At least one processor configured to perform the actions of:

detecting one or more environmental condition at a wireless communication device;

logging the environmental conditions and associated temporal information;

determining an environmental condition pattern based on the logged environmental conditions and the associated temporal information; and

determining at least one adjustment action based on the environmental condition pattern.

68. A computer program product, comprising:

a computer-readable medium comprising;

a first set of codes for causing a computer to detect one or more environmental conditions at a wireless communication device;

a second set of codes for causing the computer to log the one or more environmental conditions and associated temporal information;

a third set of codes for causing the computer to determine an environmental condition pattern based on the logged environmental conditions and the associated temporal information; and

a fourth set of codes for causing the computer to determine at least one adjustment action based on the environmental condition pattern.

69. A wireless communication device, comprising:

a computer platform including a processor and a memory;

an environmental condition log stored in the memory operable for storing environmental conditions and associated temporal information; and

a function adjustment module stored in the memory and executable by the processor, wherein the environmental function adjustment module comprises;

environmental condition pattern logic operable for determining an environmental condition pattern based on the logged environmental conditions and the temporal information,

adjustment determination logic operable for determining at least one function adjustment based on the environmental condition pattern, and

adjustment logic operable for adjusting at least one function of the wireless communication device based on the corresponding at least one function adjustment.

70. The wireless communication device of claim 69, wherein the user actions comprise at least one of a communication call made, a communication call received, an application accessed and a functionality implemented.

71. The wireless communication device of claim 69, further comprising a location determining device in communication with the processor and wherein the environmental log further stores geographic location information associated with the environmental condition actions and wherein the environmental condition pattern logic is further operable for determining an environmental condition pattern based on the logged environmental conditions, the temporal information and the geographic location information.

72. The wireless communication device of claim 69, wherein the adjustment determination logic is further operable for determining at least one function adjustment chosen from the group consisting of function parameter adjustment, function activation and function deactivation.

73. The wireless communication device of claim 69, wherein the wherein adjustment determination logic comprises a predetermined algorithm, and wherein the at least one function adjustment is based on the predetermined algorithm.

74. The wireless communication device of claim 69, wherein the adjustment logic is further operable to adjusting, automatically, one or more functions associated with the usage pattern.

75. The wireless communication device of claim 74, wherein adjustment logic is further operable for adjusting, automatically based on user pre-configuration, one or more functions associated with the usage pattern.

76. The wireless communication device of claim 69, wherein the adjustment logic is further operable for proposing the one or more function adjustments to a device user for acceptance prior to adjusting the one or more functions.

77. A wireless communication device, the device comprising:

means for detecting one or more environmental conditions at a wireless communication device;

means for logging the one or more environmental conditions and associated temporal information;

means for determining an environmental condition pattern based on the logged environmental conditions and the associated temporal information; and

means for determining at least one adjustment action based on the environmental condition pattern.