AUTOMATIC ANSWERING OF A MOBILE PHONE

• US 20130324194A1
• Filed: 08/08/2013
• Published: 12/05/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 02/18/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Sarin, Raman Kumar, Gonzalez Veron, Monica Estela, Hinckley, Kenneth Paul, Kumar, Sumit, Lau, James Kai Yu, Matthews, Joseph H. III, Park, Jae Pum
• Granted Patent: US 9,219,804 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/567
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/0202 Portable telephone sets, e.g. cordless phones, mobile phones or bar type handsets constructional features of telephone transmitters or receivers, e.g. of speakers or microphones H04M1/03
• 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 telephones including GPS signal receivers H04M2250/10
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/22 including a touch pad, a touch sensor or a touch detector digitizers for touch screens G06F3/041

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a mobile phone and a method for answering such a phone automatically without user input. In one embodiment, the mobile phone detects that a call is being received. A proximity sensor is then used to detect the presence of a nearby object. For example, this allows a determination to be made whether the mobile phone is within a pocket of the user while the phone is ringing. Then a determination is made whether the proximity sensor changes states. For example, if a user removes the phone from their pocket, the proximity sensor switches from detecting something proximal to detecting that the phone is no longer in the user'"'"'s pocket. Next, a determination is made whether the proximity sensor is again next to an object, such as an ear. If so, the mobile phone can be automatically answered without further user input.

Claims

1. A computer-readable storage having instructions thereon for executing a method of answering a mobile phone, the method comprising:

detecting that the mobile phone is receiving a call;

checking whether a proximity sensor detects a presence of a first object that is within a predetermined distance of the proximity sensor;

if the proximity sensor detects the presence of the first object, checking that the proximity sensor changes state to not detecting the presence of the first object;

if the proximity sensor changes state to not detecting the presence of the first object, checking whether the proximity sensor changes state to detecting another object, which is a second object, different than the first object; and

if the proximity sensor changes state to detecting the second object, then automatically answering the call.

2. The computer-readable storage of claim 1, wherein after the proximity sensor changes state to not detecting the presence of the first object, determining whether the pitch and roll of the mobile phone is within predetermined limits, and only checking whether the proximity sensor changes state to detecting the second object if the pitch and roll of the mobile phone is within the predetermined limits.

3. The computer-readable storage of claim 2, wherein the pitch and roll is determined using an accelerometer.

4. The computer-readable storage of claim 2, wherein the determining whether the pitch and roll is within the predetermined limits includes determining whether it is within the predetermined limits for a predetermined percentage of time.

5. The computer-readable storage of claim 1, further including detecting a user touch using a capacitive sensor and answering the call only if the user touch is detected.

6. The computer-readable storage of claim 1, wherein the proximity sensor is an infrared sensor.

7. The computer-readable storage of claim 2, wherein the pitch and roll are determined using a gyroscope.

8. The computer-readable storage of claim 2, further including dynamically modifying the predetermined limits based on user orientation.

9. The computer-readable storage of claim 2, further including learning from usage and modifying the predetermined limits based on characteristics of a user.

10. The computer-readable storage of claim 2, further including training the mobile phone to adjust the predetermined limits.

11. A computer-readable storage having instructions thereon for executing a method of answering a phone, the method comprising:

detecting that the phone is receiving a call;

checking, as a first check, whether a proximity sensor detects a presence of a first object while the call is being received;

if the proximity sensor detects the presence of the first object, checking, as a second check, that the proximity sensor changes state to not detecting the presence of the first object for at least a predetermined period of time;

if the proximity sensor, as the second check, changes state to not detecting the presence of the first object, then checking, as a third check, whether the proximity sensor changes to a state of detecting a second object; and

automatically answering the call if the first, second, and third checks all occur during a process of answering the call on the phone.

12. The computer-readable storage of claim 11, wherein after the proximity sensor changes state to not detecting the presence of the first object, determining whether a pitch and roll of the phone is within predetermined limits, and only checking whether the proximity sensor changes state to detecting the second object if the pitch and roll of the phone is within the predetermined limits.

13. The computer-readable storage of claim 12, further including determining whether the pitch and roll of the phone are within predetermined limits and, wherein automatically answering the call occurs only if the pitch and roll are within the predetermined limits.

14. The computer-readable storage of claim 12, wherein the pitch and roll are determined using an accelerometer.

15. The computer-readable storage of claim 12, wherein the pitch and roll are determined using a gyroscope.

16. The computer-readable storage of claim 12, further including detecting whether the pitch and roll are within the predetermined limits for a predetermined period of time.

17. The computer-readable storage of claim 11, further including detecting a user touch using a capacitive sensor and answering the call only if the user touch is detected.

18. The computer-readable storage of claim 11, wherein the proximity sensor is an infrared sensor.

19. A method for answering a mobile phone, comprising:

detecting that the mobile phone is receiving an incoming call;

detecting that the phone is in a pocket or handbag when the incoming call is received on the mobile phone using a proximity sensor;

if the proximity sensor detects that the mobile phone is in the pocket or handbag, detecting, while the incoming call is still being received, that the mobile phone is no longer in the pocket or handbag using the proximity sensor indicating that a user has removed the mobile phone from the pocket or handbag so as to answer the mobile phone;

in response to the detection that the mobile phone is no longer in the pocket or handbag, detecting that the mobile phone is within a predetermined distance to the user'"'"'s ear while the incoming call is still being received indicating that the user desires to answer the mobile phone; and

automatically answering the incoming call in response to the detection that the mobile phone is within the predetermined distance to the user'"'"'s ear.

20. The method of claim 19, further including detecting, using a capacitive sensor, that the user is touching the mobile phone while the incoming call is still being received and answering the incoming call only if the user'"'"'s touch is detected.