Method and System for Correlating User/Device Activity with Spatial Orientation Sensors

• US 20080254822A1
• Filed: 04/12/2007
• Published: 10/16/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 04/12/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Symbol Technologies, LLC (Zebra Technologies Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Symbol Technologies, Inc. (Zebra Technologies Corporation)
• Inventors: Tilley, Patrick
• Granted Patent: US 8,099,124 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/550.1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1626 with a single-body enclosure integrating a flat display, e.g. Personal Digital Assistants [PDAs]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1684 Constructional details or arrangements related to integrated I/O peripherals not covered by groups G06F1/1635 - G06F1/1675
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1694 the I/O peripheral being a single or a set of motion sensors for pointer control or gesture input obtained by sensing movements of the portable computer
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3203 Power management, i.e. event-based initiation of a power-saving mode
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2200/1614 Image rotation following screen orientation, e.g. switching from landscape to portrait mode
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/017 Gesture based interaction, e.g. based on a set of recognized hand gestures interaction based on gestures traced on a digitiser G06F3/04883
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0346 with detection of the device orientation or free movement in a 3D space, e.g. 3D mice, 6-DOF [six degrees of freedom] pointers using gyroscopes, accelerometers or tilt-sensors
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/724 User interfaces specially adapted for cordless or mobile telephones
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/12 including a sensor for measuring a physical value, e.g. temperature or motion
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0254 detecting a user operation or a tactile contact or a motion of the device
• 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

A system and method for determining an operating mode for a mobile unit (“MU”), comprising defining a plurality of spatial regions, tracking at least one activity of the MU when the MU is oriented within the one of the plurality of spatial regions, determining an orientation of the mobile unit, and selecting the operating mode based on the at least one of the orientation and an activity of the MU when the MU is oriented within the one of the plurality of spatial regions.

Claims

1. A method for determining an operating mode for a mobile unit (“

MU”

), comprising;

defining a plurality of spatial regions;

tracking at least one activity of the MU when the MU is oriented within the one of the plurality of spatial regions;

determining an orientation of the mobile unit; and

selecting the operating mode based on the at least one of the orientation and an activity of the MU when the MU is oriented within the one of the plurality of spatial regions.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the tracking at least one user activity of the MU is performed by at least one sensor within the MU.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the at least one sensor includes one of a piezoelectric sensor, an optical switch, a multi-axis accelerometer, a pressure gauge, and a micro-electromechanical gyroscope.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the at least one operating mode of the MU is one of a speakerphone mode, a telephone-at-ear mode, a scanning mode, a power optimization mode, a lighting setting mode, an antenna selection mode, and an idle mode.

5. A method, comprising:

defining a plurality of spatial regions;

mapping each one of the plurality of spatial regions to at least one operating mode of a mobile unit (“

MU”

), the MU including at least one application component;

correlating an orientation of the MU with one of the plurality of spatial regions;

tracking at least one user activity of the MU within the one of the plurality of spatial regions;

assigning a score to the at least one user activity for the one of the plurality of spatial regions when the MU is oriented within the one of the plurality of spatial regions; and

based on the score, determining an optimized operating mode for the at least one application component of the MU when the MU is oriented within the one of the plurality of spatial regions.

6. The method according to claim 5, further comprising:

tracking a further user activity of the MU within the one of the plurality of spatial regions;

adjusting the score based on the further user activity; and

based on the score, determining a further optimized operating mode for the at least one application component of the MU when the MU is oriented within the one of the plurality of spatial regions.

7. The method according to claim 5, further comprising:

transmitting data gathered from the at least one application component of the MU to a central server.

8. The method according to claim 5, wherein the tracking at least one user activity of the MU is performed by at least one sensor within the MU.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein the at least one sensor includes one of a piezoelectric sensor, an optical switch, a multi-axis accelerometer, a pressure gauge, and a micro-electromechanical gyroscope.

10. The method according to claim 5, wherein the at least one application component of the MU is one of a speaker, a microphone, a scanner, an antenna, a display, a touch screen, a camera, a wireless communication interface, and a keypad.

11. The method according to claim 5, wherein the at least one operating mode of the MU is one of a speakerphone mode, a telephone-at-ear mode, a scanning mode, a power optimization mode, a lighting setting mode, an antenna selection mode, and an idle mode.

12. A mobile computing device comprising:

at least one application component for gathering data;

at least one sensor for tracking at least one user activity of the mobile computing device within at least one of a plurality of spatial regions, and for determining an orientation of the mobile computing device within the at least one of the plurality of spatial regions; and

a processor for assigning a score to the at least one user activity for the one of the plurality of spatial regions when the mobile computing device is oriented within the one of the plurality of spatial regions, and for determining an optimized operating mode based on the score for the at least one application component when the mobile computing device is oriented within the one of the plurality of spatial regions.

13. The mobile computing device according to claim 12, wherein the at least one sensor is one of a piezoelectric sensor, an optical switch, a multi-axis accelerometer, a pressure gauge, and a micro-electromechanical gyroscope.

14. The mobile computing device according to claim 12, wherein the at least one application component is one of a speaker, a microphone, a scanner, an antenna, a display, a touch screen, a camera, and a keypad.

15. The mobile computing device according to claim 12, wherein the optimized operating mode is one of a speakerphone mode, a telephone-at-ear mode, a scanning mode, a power optimization mode, a lighting setting mode, an antenna selection mode, and an idle mode.

16. The mobile computing device according to claim 12, wherein the data gathered from the at least one application component is transmitted to a central server.

17. A system, comprising:

a spatial region defining means defining a plurality of spatial regions;

a mapping means mapping each one of the plurality of spatial regions to at least one operating mode of a mobile unit (“

MU”

), the MU including at least one application component;

a correlating means correlating an orientation of the MU with one of the plurality of spatial regions;

a tracking means tracking at least one user activity of the MU within the one of the plurality of spatial regions;

an assigning means assigning a score to the at least one user activity for the one of the plurality of spatial regions when the MU is oriented within the one of the plurality of spatial regions; and

a determining means determining, based on the score, an optimized operating mode for the at least one application component of the MU when the MU is oriented within the one of the plurality of spatial regions.

18. The system according to claim 17, wherein the tracking means tracks a further user activity of the MU within the one of the plurality of spatial regions, wherein the assigning means adjusts the score based on the further user activity, and wherein the determining means determines, based on the score, a further optimized operating mode for the at least one application component of the MU when the MU is oriented within the one of the plurality of spatial regions.

19. The system according to claim 17, further comprising:

a transmitting means transmitting data gathered from the at least one application component of the MU to a central server.

20. The system according to claim 17, wherein the tracking means includes at least one sensor within the MU.

21. The system according to claim 20, wherein the at least one sensor is one of a piezoelectric sensor, an optical switch, a multi-axis accelerometer, a pressure gauge, and a micro-electromechanical gyroscope.

22. The system according to claim 17, wherein the at least one application component of the MU is one of a speaker, a microphone, a scanner, an antenna, a display, a touch screen, a camera, a wireless communication interface, and a keypad.

23. The system according to claim 17, wherein the at least one operating mode of the MU is one of a speakerphone mode, a telephone-at-ear mode, a scanning mode, a power optimization mode, a lighting setting mode, an antenna selection mode, and an idle mode.