Adaptive control of a personal electronic device responsive to a micro-impulse radar

• US 20120276849A1
• Filed: 07/29/2011
• Published: 11/01/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 04/29/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: The Invention Science Fund I, L.L.C. (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: Searete LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Inventors: Hyde, Roderick A., Kare, Jordin T., Wood, Lowell L. Jr.
• Granted Patent: US 9,103,899 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/41.2
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/003 Bistatic radar systems; Multistatic radar systems
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/0209 Systems with very large relative bandwidth, i.e. larger than 10 %, e.g. baseband, pulse, carrier-free, ultrawideband
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/04 Systems determining presence of a target based on relative movement of target G01S13/56
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/50 Systems of measurement based on relative movement of target
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/867 Combination of radar systems with cameras
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/88 Radar or analogous systems specially adapted for specific applications electromagnetic prospecting or detecting of objects, e.g. near-field detection, G01V3/00
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/886 for alarm systems alarms with electrical actuation G08B13/22
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/003 Transmission of data between radar, sonar or lidar systems and remote stations
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/411 Identification of targets based on measurements of radar reflectivity G01S7/415 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/412 based on a comparison between measured values and known or stored values

Abstract

A personal electronic device is configured to be adaptively controlled responsive to data from a micro-impulse radar (MIR).

Claims

1. A device, comprising:

a personal electronic device including a logic circuit; and

at least one micro-impulse radar operatively coupled to the personal electronic device and configured to probe one or more regions near the personal electronic device to produce micro-impulse radar data;

wherein the logic circuit is configured to provide at least one operating parameter for the personal electronic device responsive to the micro-impulse radar data.

2. The device of claim 1, wherein the personal electronic device includes a cellular phone, a smart phone, a personal data assistant, a pager, a tablet computer, a netbook, a notebook computer, or a combination thereof.

3. The device of claim 1, wherein the micro-impulse radar is operatively coupled to the personal electronic device via an exposed interface.

5. The device of claim 1, wherein at least a portion of the micro-impulse radar is located inside the personal electronic device.

6. The device of claim 1, wherein the micro-impulse radar is configured to probe one or more selected subsets of the one or more regions.

7. The device of claim 1, wherein the micro-impulse radar is configured to probe one or more selected directions from the micro-impulse radar.

8. The device of claim 1, wherein the one or more regions near the personal electronic device correspond one or more regions probed by the micro-impulse radar.

9. The device of claim 1, wherein the one or more regions near the personal electronic device correspond one or more regions not visible from the personal electronic device.

14. The device of claim 1, wherein the personal electronic device further comprises:

a user interface operatively coupled to the logic circuit.

16. The device of claim 14, wherein the personal electronic device is configured to output a representation of one or more operating parameters selected or changed responsive to micro-impulse radar data from the micro-impulse radar.

17. The device of claim 1, wherein the logic circuit is further configured to analyze the micro-impulse radar data.

21. The device of claim 1, wherein the logic circuit is configured to determine from the micro-impulse radar data when a user is positioned to interact with the personal electronic device.

24. The device of claim 21, wherein the personal electronic device further comprises:

a communication interface operatively coupled to the logic circuit;

wherein the logic circuitry is configured to suspend alerts for incoming messages across the communication interface when the personal electronic device is in a conference setting.

25. The device of claim 21, wherein the logic circuit is configured to determine when a user is not positioned to interact with the personal electronic device.

26. The device of claim 25, wherein the personal electronic device further comprises:

a communication interface operatively coupled to the logic circuit;

wherein the logic circuit is configured suspend alerts when the user is not positioned to interact with the personal electronic device.

27. The device of claim 25, wherein the personal electronic device further comprises:

a communication interface operatively coupled to the logic circuit;

wherein the logic circuit is configured to process incoming data according to no-answer conditions when the user is not positioned to interact with the personal electronic device.

28. The device of claim 1, wherein the personal electronic device further comprises:

a communication interface operatively coupled to the logic circuit and configured to communicate with a remote resource on a communication network.

41. The device of claim 1, wherein the micro-impulse radar data includes information related to a motion of one or more objects in the one or more regions.

42. The device of claim 1, wherein the micro-impulse data includes information related to one or more physiological parameters of one or more persons in the one or more regions.

43. The device of claim 1, wherein the micro-impulse data includes spectral information corresponding to the one or more regions.

44. The device of claim 1, wherein the personal electronic device further comprises:

one or more second sensors operatively coupled to the logic circuit;

wherein the logic circuit is configured to select one or more operating parameters for the personal electronic device responsive to data or signals from the one or more second sensors and responsive to the micro-impulse radar data.

4. (canceled)

10-13. -13. (canceled)

15. (canceled)

18-20. -20. (canceled)

22-23. -23. (canceled)

29-40. -40. (canceled)

45. (canceled)

46. A method, comprising:

operating a micro-impulse radar operatively coupled to a personal electronic device to produce micro-impulse radar data; and

at least conditionally performing one or more logic functions to provide at least one operating parameter for the personal electronic device responsive to the micro-impulse radar data.

47. The method of claim 46, wherein the personal electronic device includes a cellular phone, a smart phone, a personal data assistant, a pager, a tablet computer, a netbook, a notebook computer, or a combination thereof.

48. The method of claim 46, further comprising:

transmitting the micro-impulse radar data to the personal electronic device via an exposed interface.

51. The method of claim 46, wherein operating the micro-impulse radar includes probing one or more regions located peripheral to the personal electronic device.

52. The method of claim 51, wherein operating the micro-impulse radar includes probing one or more selected subsets of the one or more regions.

53. The method of claim 51, wherein operating the micro-impulse radar includes probing one or more of a plurality of selected directions from the micro-impulse radar.

58. The method of claim 46, further comprising:

receiving user input via a user interface of the personal electronic device.

63. The method of claim 46, further comprising:

outputting data or information corresponding to the micro-impulse radar data to a user via a user interface.

66. The method of claim 46, further comprising:

analyzing the micro-impulse radar data to extract one or more parameters.

67. The method of claim 46, further comprising:

comparing the micro-impulse data or one or more parameters extracted from the micro-impulse radar data to one or more criteria; and

determining whether to output data or select operating parameters responsive to the comparison.

69. The method of claim 67, wherein the one or more parameters and the one or more criteria each include at least one of body size, body mass, height, body shape, posture, body permittivity, carried articles, detectable body ornamentation, a characteristic movement, a heart rate, an intracyclic heartbeat characteristic, breathing rate, a rate or magnitude of inhalation, a rate or magnitude of exhalation, a tremor of all or part of a body, an intracyclic breathing characteristic, a location of a user relative to the personal electronic device, a location of a plurality of persons relative to the personal electronic device, a position of the user relative to one or more regions peripheral to the personal electronic device, a position of a plurality of persons relative to one or more regions peripheral to the personal electronic device, a speed of the personal electronic device, a location of a motor vehicle operating position relative to the personal electronic device, or a location of the motor vehicle operating position relative to the user.

74. The method of claim 46, wherein at least conditionally performing one or more logic functions responsive to the micro-impulse radar data includes suspending alerts for incoming messages across a communication interface when the personal electronic device is in a conference setting.

77. The method of claim 46, further comprising:

analyzing the micro-impulse radar data to determine or infer an environment of the personal electronic device.

78. The method of claim 46, further comprising:

transmitting data corresponding to the micro-impulse radar data to a remote resource; and

receiving, from the remote resource, one or more personal electronic device operating parameters.

92. The method of claim 46, further comprising:

operating one or more second sensors to receive second sensor data or signals.

94. The method of claim 92, wherein the one or more second sensors includes one or more of a microphone, a camera, a motion sensor, an accelerometer, a magnetic field sensor, an electronic compass, a gyroscope, a gravitational field sensor, a global positioning system receiver, a capacitive sensor, a microswitch, a light sensor, an infrared sensor, a radio frequency sensor, a millimeter wave sensor, a microwave sensor, or a vibration sensor.

49-50. -50. (canceled)

54-57. -57. (canceled)

59-62. -62. (canceled)

64-65. -65. (canceled)

68. (canceled)

70-73. -73. (canceled)

75-76. -76. (canceled)

79-91. -91. (canceled)

93. (canceled)

95-144. -144. (canceled)

145. A system, comprising:

a network resource configured to receive micro-impulse radar data from one or more personal electronic devices and including a logic circuit configured to perform one or more logical operations to produce at least one parameter that is a function of the micro-impulse radar data; and

a communications circuit configured to operatively couple one or more personal electronic devices to the network resource, each personal electronic device being operatively coupled to at least one micro-impulse radar, and each personal electronic device being configured to transmit the micro-impulse radar data to the network resource.

146-179. -179. (canceled)

180. A method for determining an environment of a personal electronic device, comprising:

receiving micro-impulse radar data from one or more personal electronic devices; and

storing or transmitting second data including one or more operating parameters corresponding to the received micro-impulse radar data.

181. The method of claim 180, wherein receiving the micro-impulse radar data and storing or transmitting the second data is performed by a network resource operatively coupled to the one or more personal electronic devices across a communication network.

182. The method of claim 180, wherein the one or more personal electronic devices include one or more cellular phones, smart phones, tablet computers, pagers, or a combination thereof.

183. The method of claim 180, wherein the each of the one or more personal electronic devices is operatively coupled to at least one micro-impulse radar.

184. The method of claim 180, further comprising:

analyzing the micro-impulse radar data from the one or more personal electronic devices.

198. The method of claim 180, further comprising:

receiving sensor data from the one or more personal electronic devices.

199. The method of claim 198, further comprising:

analyzing the sensor data; and

selecting the second data including at least one parameter responsive to the micro-impulse radar data and the second data.

200. The method of claim 198, wherein the sensor data includes data from one or more second sensors operatively coupled to the one or more personal electronic devices.

201. The method of claim 200, wherein the one or more second sensors includes, for at least a subset of the one or more personal electronic devices, one or more of a microphone, a camera, a motion sensor, an accelerometer, a magnetic field sensor, an electronic compass, a gyroscope, a gravitational field sensor, a global positioning system receiver, a capacitive sensor, a microswitch, a light sensor, an infrared sensor, a radio frequency sensor, a millimeter wave sensor, a microwave sensor, or a vibration sensor.

202. The method of claim 180, wherein the second data includes at least one network parameter, and further comprising:

determining the at least one network parameter responsive to the micro-impulse radar data analysis.

204. The method of claim 202, wherein the at least one network parameter includes a network call admission parameter as a function of a number, proportion, projected number, or projected proportion of the one or more personal electronic devices assigned a restricted network access parameter.

211. The method of claim 202, wherein the at least one network parameter includes a network switching parameter.

212. The method of claim 202, wherein the at least one network parameter includes a network forwarding parameter.

213. The method of claim 180, wherein the micro-impulse radar data from a particular personal electronic device includes information indicative of an identity characteristic of at least one person;

wherein analyzing the micro-impulse radar data from the one or more personal electronic devices includes determining or inferring a likelihood of a particular person being proximate a particular personal electronic device; and

wherein the second data includes at least one parameter is a function of the likelihood.

217. The method of claim 213, further comprising:

at least conditionally performing one or more logic functions responsive to the micro-impulse radar data, including selecting one or more operating parameters responsive to the identity characteristic.

219. The method of claim 217, wherein storing or transmitting the second data includes transmitting to the particular personal electronic device at least one parameter selected to unlock or enable operation of the personal electronic device.

220. The method of claim 217, wherein providing one or more operating parameters responsive to the identity characteristic further comprises:

correlating the data corresponding to the information indicative of the identity characteristic to the identity characteristic by accessing a look-up table, database, or algorithm.

221. The method of claim 213, wherein information indicative of an identity characteristic includes at least one of body size, body mass, height, body shape, posture, body permittivity, carried articles, detectable body ornamentation, a characteristic movement, a heart rate, an intracyclic heartbeat characteristic, breathing rate, a rate or magnitude of inhalation, a rate or magnitude of exhalation, a tremor of all or part of a body, an intracyclic breathing characteristic, or an intercyclic breathing characteristic, a function thereof, or a function of two or more thereof.

222. The method of claim 213, further comprising:

comparing the information indicative of an identity characteristic to previous information associated with the identity characteristic.

226. The method of claim 180, wherein storing or transmitting second data includes outputting data corresponding to the micro-impulse radar data.

185-197. -197. (canceled)

203. (canceled)

205-210. -210. (canceled)

214-216. -216. (canceled)

218. (canceled)

223-225. -225. (canceled)

227-275. -275. (canceled)