METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CONTROLLING AN OUTPUT DEVICE OF A PORTABLE ELECTRONIC DEVICE

• US 20120113002A1
• Filed: 11/09/2010
• Published: 05/10/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 11/09/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Malikie Innovations Limited (Key Patent Innovations Limited)
• Original Assignee: Blackberry Limited
• Inventors: PLESTID, Thomas Leonard Trevor
• Granted Patent: US 8,619,030 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/158
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/012 Head tracking input arrangements
• 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 3/03 Arrangements for converting the position or the displacement of a member into a coded form
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/006 Details of the interface to the display terminal specific for a display terminal using a CRT G09G1/167; using a flat panel G09G3/2096; circuits for interfacing with colour displays G09G5/04

Abstract

According to embodiments described in the specification, a method and apparatus are provided for controlling an output device of a portable electronic device comprising a processor, a first motion sensor, a second motion sensor and an output device. The method comprises: receiving at the processor, from the first motion sensor, first motion data representing movement of an external object relative to the portable electronic device; receiving at the processor, from the second motion sensor, second motion data representing movement of the portable electronic device; generating, at the processor, third motion data based on the first and second motion data, the third motion data representing movement of the external object; and, controlling the output device based on the third motion data.

Claims

1. A method of controlling an output device of a portable electronic device comprising a processor, a first motion sensor, a second motion sensor and an output device, the method comprising:

receiving at the processor, from the first motion sensor, first motion data representing movement of an external object relative to the portable electronic device;

receiving at the processor, from the second motion sensor, second motion data representing movement of the portable electronic device;

generating, at the processor, third motion data based on the first and second motion data, the third motion data representing movement of the external object; and

,

controlling the output device based on the third motion data.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the third motion data comprises subtracting one of the first and second motion data from the other of the first and second motion data.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the output device comprises a display device, and wherein controlling the display device comprises updating a representation produced by the display device based on the third motion data.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the output device comprises a speaker, and wherein controlling the speaker comprises varying a volume of the speaker based on the third motion data.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein controlling comprises:

determining if the third motion data is representative of movement below a predetermined threshold; and

when the determination is affirmative, controlling the output device based on one of the first and second motion data, and when the determination is negative, controlling the output device based on the third motion data.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein generating third motion data comprises performing at least one of filtering and noise removal.

7. A portable electronic device comprising:

an output device;

a first motion sensor for generating first motion data representing movement of an external object relative to the portable electronic device;

a second motion sensor for generating second motion data representing movement of the portable electronic device;

a memory for maintaining first and second motion data; and

a processor interconnected with the first motion sensor, the second motion sensor and the memory, the processor configured to receive the first motion data and the second motion data;

the processor further configured to generate third motion data based on the first and second motion data, the third motion data representing movement of the external object;

the processor further configured to control the output device based on the third motion data.

8. The portable electronic device of claim 7, the processor further configured to generate the third motion data by subtracting one of the first and second motion data from the other of the first and second motion data.

9. The portable electronic device of claim 7, wherein the output device comprises a display device;

the processor further configured control the display device to update a representation produced by the display device based on the third motion data.

10. The portable electronic device of claim 7, wherein the output device comprises a speaker;

the processor further configured to control the speaker to vary a volume of the speaker based on the third motion data.

11. The portable electronic device of claim 7, the processor further being configured to determine if the third motion data is representative of movement below a predetermined threshold;

and when the determination is affirmative, to control the output device based on one of the first and second motion data; and

when the determination is negative, to control the output device based on the third motion data.

12. The portable electronic device of claim 7, the processor further configured to perform at least one of filtering and noise removal during generation of the third motion data.

13. The portable electronic device of claim 7, wherein the first motion sensor comprises a digital camera for receiving light from at least one light emitting diode affixed to the external object.

14. The portable electronic device of claim 7, wherein the second motion sensor comprises an accelerometer.

15. A computer readable storage medium for storing computer readable instructions for execution by a processor, the computer readable instructions implementing the steps of:

receiving at the processor, from the first motion sensor, first motion data representing movement of an external object relative to the portable electronic device;

receiving at the processor, from the second motion sensor, second motion data representing movement of the portable electronic device;

generating, at the processor, third motion data based on the first and second motion data, the third motion data representing movement of the external object; and

,

controlling the output device based on the third motion data.