PORTABLE ELECTRONIC DEVICE WITH IMPROVED CHEMICAL SAMPLING

• US 20140223996A1
• Filed: 01/22/2014
• Published: 08/14/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 01/31/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sensirion AG (Sensirion Holding AG)
• Original Assignee: Sensirion AG (Sensirion Holding AG)
• Inventors: MAYER, Felix, HUNZIKER, Pascal
• Granted Patent: US 9,606,094 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 73/31.01
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 33/0031 comprising two or more sensors, e.g. a sensor array
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 33/0075 for multiple spatially distributed sensors, e.g. for environmental monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/21 Combinations with auxiliary equipment, e.g. with clocks or memoranda pads
• 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

Abstract

A portable electronic device and a related methods are described using an integrated chemical sensor linked to a chemical sensor processing unit and being sensitive to the concentration of a component in a sample of air and one or more contextual sensors not including chemical, temperature and humidity sensors, wherein output from the contextual sensors is linked to a local or remote interpretation processor generating a constraint or correlation set transferred to the chemical sensor processing unit for use in determining a result of a chemical measurement as performed by the chemical sensor.

Claims

1. Portable electronic device enclosed in a housing with an integrated chemical sensor linked to a chemical sensor processing unit and being sensitive to the concentration of a component in a sample of air, further comprising one or more contextual sensors not including chemical, temperature and humidity sensors within the housing, wherein output from the contextual sensors is linked to a local or remote interpretation processor generating a constraint or correlation set transferred to the chemical sensor processing unit for determining a result of a chemical measurement as performed by the chemical sensor.

2. The portable electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the contextual sensor is selected from a group consisting of image capturing devices, sound capturing devices, electromagnetic wave antennae, infrared sensors, proximity sensors, location sensitive devices, orientation sensitive devices and motion sensitive devices.

3. The portable electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the interpretation processor includes a processor extracting signals from the contextual sensor output representative of an abstract object or event in the vicinity of the portable device at the time of a chemical measurement.

4. The portable electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the interpretation processor includes a processor for image, sound/speech, geographical location, motion, proximity, orientation or event recognition.

5. The portable electronic device according to claim 3, wherein the interpretation processor includes a processor located remotely from the device and linked through a telecommunication link to the device.

6. The portable electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the contextual sensor is linked to a pre-capture system for initiating signal capture and storage prior to the performance of a chemical measurement.

7. The portable electronic device according to claim 1, further including a precision unit for requesting constraints or correlations from a contextual sensor measurement.

8. The portable electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the chemical sensor comprises a metal-oxide sensing material.

9. The portable electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the chemical sensor is integrated onto a common substrate including CMOS circuitry.

10. The portable electronic device according to claim 1, being selected from a group comprising:

a mobile phone,

a handheld computer,

an electronic reader,

a tablet computer,

a game controller,

a pointing device,

a photo or a video camera,

a digital music player,

an electronic wrist watch,

a headset, and

a computer peripheral.

11. A method of operating a portable electronic device enclosed in a housing with an integrated chemical sensor linked to a chemical sensor processing unit and being sensitive to the concentration of a component in a sample of air and further comprising one or more contextual sensors not including chemical, temperature and humidity sensors within the housing, said method comprising the steps of linking output from the contextual sensors to a local or remote interpretation processor for generating a constraint or correlation set to be transferred to the chemical sensor processing unit and determining a result of a chemical measurement as performed by the chemical sensor using the constraint or correlation set.