VIBRATION BASED USER INPUT FOR MOBILE DEVICES

• US 20100085216A1
• Filed: 10/02/2008
• Published: 04/08/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 10/02/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Avago Technologies International Sales Pte Limited (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: LSI Corporation (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Inventors: MS, AJITH
• Granted Patent: US 8,477,463 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 341/20
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2200/1636 Sensing arrangement for detection of a tap gesture on the housing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/043 using propagating acoustic waves
• CPC Class Codes: H03K 17/94 characterised by the way in which the control signals are generated
• CPC Class Codes: H03K 2217/94005 activated by voice or sound

Abstract

A method, system, and apparatus of a vibration based user input for mobile devices are disclosed. In one embodiment, a method of controlling an electronic device includes receiving an impact signal, (e.g., a vibration generated by a user controlled impact with a surface mechanically coupled to a housing of the electronic device). The method further includes identifying a user command to the electronic device based on the impact signal, and performing a predesignated action (e.g., a mute, a power on, a power off, a volume increase, a volume decrease, a music track change, a call redirect, a call directed to voicemail, etc.) based on the user command. The user command may be identified using a number of user controlled impacts and an interval between a prior user controlled impact and a later user controlled impact.

Claims

1. A method of controlling an electronic device, comprising:

receiving an impact signal, wherein the impact signal is comprised of a vibration generated by at least one user controlled impact with a surface mechanically coupled to a housing of the electronic device;

identifying a user command to the electronic device based on the impact signal; and

performing a predesignated action based on the user command.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the user command is identified using at least one of a number of user controlled impacts and an interval between a prior user controlled impact and a later user controlled impact;

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising determining the predesignated action based on a context of the electronic device.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the user controlled impact occurs when a user causes a physical object to contact a second physical object above at least one of a threshold velocity and a threshold force.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the physical object is coupled to at least one of a user'"'"'s hand and a user'"'"'s foot, and the second physical object is mechanically coupled to a housing of the electronic device.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the first physical object is comprised of a user'"'"'s finger.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the second physical object is comprised of a housing of the electronic device.

8. The method of claim 4, further comprising distinguishing an impact signal from an other signal by a frequency of the vibration caused by the user controlled impact;

9. The method of claim 4, wherein the vibration receiver is a microphone.

10. The method of claim 4, wherein the user command is identified using at least one of a frequency, an amplitude, a signal duration, a frequency spectrum, a signal energy, a signal rising edge, a signal falling edge, a signal start, a signal end, a mechanically transmitted vibration, a duration between impacts, a number of impacts, and a device context to identify the impact signal as an impact command.

11. The method of claim 4 wherein the predesignated action is comprised of at least one of a mute, a power on, a power off, a volume increase, a volume decrease, a program end, a program beginning, a music track change, a call redirect, a call directed to voicemail, an instruction to transmit data, an advance to a next program, an instruction to receive data, an instruction to execute a mechanical action, an image capture, an auditory signal capture, a recording start, a recording end, a display change, an indicator light change, a sound generation, a vibration generation, a locking, an unlocking, a speakerphone control, an emergency call, and a car navigation instruction.

12. A system to control an electronic device, comprising:

a vibration sensing module to receive an impact signal comprised of a vibration generated by at least one user controlled impact with a surface mechanically coupled to the electronic device;

an interpretation module to identify the auditory impact signal as a command to the electronic device; and

a central processing module to execute a predesignated action based on the command.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the user command is identified using at least one of a number of user controlled impacts and an interval between a prior user controlled impact and a later user controlled impact.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the predesignated action executed by the central processing module is determined based on a context of the electronic device when the impact signal is received.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the impact signal is generated when a user causes a physical object to contact a second physical object above a threshold velocity.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the physical object is coupled to a user'"'"'s hand, and the second physical object is mechanically coupled to a housing of the electronic device.

17. A method, comprising:

forming a vibration sensing module in a electronic device to receive an impact signal comprised of a vibration generated by at least one user controlled impact with a surface mechanically coupled to a vibration receiver of the electronic device;

placing a differentiation module in the electronic device to identify the auditory impact signal as a command to the electronic device;

creating a translation module in the electronic device to translate the command into a binary number; and

forming a central processing module in the electronic device to execute a predesignated action based on the value of the binary number.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the user command is identified using at least one of a number of user controlled impacts and an interval between a prior user controlled impact and a later user controlled impact.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the central processing module determines the predesignated action based on a context of the electronic device when the vibration sensing module receives a vibration generated by at least one user controlled impact.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein the impact signal is generated when a user causes a physical object to contact a second physical object above a threshold velocity.