METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR TERMINAL TO DETERMINE APPROACH OF OBJECT

• US 20140113686A1
• Filed: 12/23/2013
• Published: 04/24/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 06/24/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Honor Device Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Huawei Device Company Limited (Huawei Investment & Holding Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: GUO, Lei
• Granted Patent: US 9,310,486 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/566
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 17/04 Systems determining the presence of a target
• CPC Class Codes: H03K 17/941 using an optical detector H03K17/968 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H03K 17/9631 using a light source as part of the switch
• CPC Class Codes: H03K 17/9636 using a pulsed light source
• CPC Class Codes: H03K 2217/94026 Automatic threshold calibration; e.g. threshold automatically adapts to ambient conditions or follows variation of input
• CPC Class Codes: H03K 2217/94108 making use of reflection
• CPC Class Codes: H03K 2217/94116 increasing reliability, fail-safe
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/026 Details of the structure or mounting of specific components

Abstract

Embodiments of the present invention provide a method and an apparatus for a terminal to determine whether an object is approaching, wherein the method includes: reading, by an infrared receiver, a first infrared intensity value when an infrared emitting diode does not work, and reading, by the infrared receiver, a second infrared intensity value when the infrared emitting diode works; obtaining a first difference value between the second infrared intensity value and the first infrared intensity value as an intensity value of a reflected infrared ray; determining whether a second difference value between the intensity value of the reflected infrared ray and an infrared intensity threshold is greater than a preset second threshold; and determining that an object is approaching the terminal when the second difference value is greater than the preset second threshold value. The present invention enables each terminal to accurately determine whether there is an object approaching.

Claims

1. A method, executed by a terminal, for determining whether an object is approaching, comprising:

reading, by an infrared receiver, a first infrared intensity value when an infrared emitting diode does not work;

reading, by the infrared receiver, a second infrared intensity value when the infrared emitting diode works;

obtaining, for an intensity value of a reflected infrared ray, a first difference value between the second infrared intensity value and the first infrared intensity value;

determining whether a second difference value between the intensity value of the reflected infrared ray and an infrared intensity threshold that is stored by the terminal itself is greater than a preset second threshold; and

when the second difference value is greater than the preset second threshold, determining that an object is approaching the terminal.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

comparing the intensity value of the reflected infrared ray and the infrared intensity threshold that is stored by the terminal; and

when the intensity value of the reflected infrared ray is smaller than the stored infrared intensity threshold, replacing the stored infrared intensity threshold with the intensity value of the reflected infrared ray as a new infrared intensity threshold, and saving the new infrared intensity threshold at the terminal.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the stored infrared intensity threshold is the difference between the second infrared intensity value and the first infrared intensity value and is obtained when a proximity optical sensor is initially activated.

4. An apparatus for a terminal to determine whether an object is approaching, comprising:

an infrared receiver, configured to read a first infrared intensity value when an infrared emitting diode does not work and to read a second infrared intensity value when the infrared emitting diode works;

an obtaining module, configured to obtain a first difference value between the second infrared intensity value and the first infrared intensity value as an intensity value of a reflected infrared ray;

a judging module, configured to determine whether a second difference value between the intensity value of a reflected infrared ray and an infrared intensity threshold that is stored by the terminal itself is greater than a preset second threshold; and

a first determining module, configured to, when the second difference value is greater than the preset second threshold, determine that there is an object approaching the terminal.

5. The apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising:

a comparing module, configured to compare the intensity value of the reflected infrared ray and the infrared intensity threshold that is stored by the terminal, and when the intensity value of the reflected infrared ray is smaller than the stored infrared intensity threshold, replace the stored infrared intensity threshold with the intensity value of the reflected infrared ray as a new infrared intensity threshold and save the new infrared intensity threshold in the terminal.

6. The apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the stored infrared intensity threshold is the first difference value between the second infrared intensity value and the first infrared intensity value and is obtained when a proximity optical sensor is initially activated.

7. The apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the apparatus is a mobile phone, and the mobile phone further comprises:

a case, a circuit board, a processor, a touchscreen, an infrared proximity sensor, a radio frequency circuit, a microphone, a loudspeaker, and a power supply, wherein

the touchscreen is placed on the case, the infrared proximity sensor is disposed under the touchscreen, the circuit board is placed in a space enclosed by the case, and the processor and the radio frequency circuit are disposed on the circuit board;

the processor comprises all or a part of the modules or units, and the processor is configured to process data input through the touchscreen and the infrared proximity sensor, and to output a result of the processed data through the touchscreen;

the radio frequency circuit is configured to establish communication between the mobile phone and a wireless network, so as to send and receive data between the mobile phone and the wireless network;

the microphone is configured to collect sound and convert the collected sound into sound data;

the loudspeaker is configured to resolve sound data received by the mobile phone from the wireless network through the radio frequency circuit to a sound and to play the sound for a user; and

the power supply is configured to supply power to each circuit or device of the mobile phone.

8. An apparatus for a terminal to determine whether an object is approaching, comprising:

a reading module, configured to, when an infrared emitting diode of the terminal is activated, receive an infrared ray from outside, to read an intensity value of the received infrared ray, and to cache the intensity value of the received infrared ray;

a calculating module, configured to, when an additional infrared ray is received from the outside, read an intensity value of the additional infrared ray, and calculate a difference between the intensity value of the additional infrared ray and the cached intensity value; and

a second determining module, configured to, when the calculated difference value is greater than a preset second threshold, determine that an object is approaching the terminal.

9. The apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the apparatus is a mobile phone, and the mobile phone further comprises:

a case, a circuit board, a processor, a touchscreen, an infrared proximity sensor, a radio frequency circuit, a microphone, a loudspeaker, and a power supply, wherein

the touchscreen is placed on the case, the infrared proximity sensor is disposed under the touchscreen, the circuit board is placed in a space enclosed by the case, and the processor and the radio frequency circuit are disposed on the circuit board;

the processor comprises all or a part of the modules or units, and the processor is configured to process data input through the touchscreen and the infrared proximity sensor, and to output a result of the processed data through the touchscreen;

the radio frequency circuit is configured to establish communication between the mobile phone and a wireless network, so as to send and receive data between the mobile phone and the wireless network;

the microphone is configured to collect sound and convert the collected sound into sound data;

the loudspeaker is configured to resolve sound data received by the mobile phone from the wireless network through the radio frequency circuit to a sound and to play the sound for a user; and

the power supply is configured to supply power to each circuit or device of the mobile phone.