AUXILIARY FUNCTIONALITY CONTROL AND FINGERPRINT AUTHENTICATION BASED ON A SAME USER INPUT

• US 20140270414A1
• Filed: 03/15/2013
• Published: 09/18/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 03/15/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google Technology Holdings LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Motorola Mobility LLC (Lenovo Group Ltd.)
• Inventors: Slaby, Jiri, Ady, Roger W., Alameh, Rachid M., Phipps, Chad Austin
• Granted Patent: US 9,245,165 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 382/124
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/32 using biometric data, e.g. fingerprints, iris scans or voiceprints
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/36 by graphic or iconic representation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/03547 Touch pads, in which fingers can move on a surface
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/13 Sensors therefor

Abstract

A sensor structure (110) for a device includes both a fingerprint sensor (112) and one or more touch sensors (114). As a user input of the user moving his or her finger across the sensor structure is received, an appropriate auxiliary functionality operation as indicated by the pattern of movement is identified and performed. Additionally, during the same user input the fingerprint sensor senses fingerprint data identifying a fingerprint on the user'"'"'s finger, and an attempt is made to authenticate the user'"'"'s fingerprint. Thus, as the user provides a user input by moving his or her finger across the sensor structure, both an attempt is made to authenticate the user'"'"'s fingerprint based on fingerprint data sensed during the user input and the operation requested by the user input is performed.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving a user input of a finger moving across a sensor structure, the sensor structure including both a fingerprint sensor and a touch sensor adjacent to the fingerprint sensor;

performing auxiliary functionality of a device based on a pattern of movement of the finger across the sensor structure; and

authenticating a fingerprint of the finger based on fingerprint data sensed by the fingerprint sensor during the finger moving across the sensor structure.

2. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising determining the pattern of movement of the finger across the sensor structure based on the finger touching both the touch sensor and the fingerprint sensor while moving across the sensor structure.

3. The method as recited in claim 1, the fingerprint sensor comprising multiple sections, the method further comprising receiving an indication of the fingerprint data from one of the multiple sections of the fingerprint sensor, and receiving from another of the multiple sections of the fingerprint sensor an indication of the section of the fingerprint sensor touched while the finger is moving across the fingerprint sensor.

4. The method as recited in claim 3, further comprising dynamically assigning one or more of the multiple sections to sensing fingerprint data or sensing movement of the finger across the fingerprint sensor.

5. The method as recited in claim 4, the dynamically assigning further comprising dynamically assigning one or more of the multiple sections in response to contextual circumstances of receipt of the user input.

6. The method as recited in claim 1, the performing auxiliary functionality of the device comprising enabling one of multiple auxiliary functionality modules of the device in response to different patterns of movement, different ones of the multiple auxiliary functionality modules performing different operations for different auxiliary functionality.

7. The method as recited in claim 1, the performing auxiliary functionality of the device comprising enabling one of multiple auxiliary functionality modules of the device in response to contextual circumstances of receipt of the user input.

8. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the auxiliary functionality of the device comprises a volume control of the device in which the user input is used as volume control input.

9. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the auxiliary functionality of the device comprises game control, cursor control, zoom control, scroll control, menu control, photography control, or phone call control.

10. A device comprising:

an auxiliary functionality module configured to perform one or more auxiliary functionality operations based on a user input of a finger moving across a sensor structure, the sensor structure including a touch sensor adjacent to a fingerprint sensor; and

a fingerprint identification module configured to attempt to authenticate a fingerprint of the finger based on fingerprint data sensed by the fingerprint sensor during the same user input upon which performance of the one or more auxiliary functionality operations is based.

11. The device as recited in claim 10, the device including the sensor structure.

12. The device as recited in claim 10, the fingerprint sensor comprising multiple sections, one of the multiple sections sensing fingerprint data and another of the multiple sections sensing the finger moving across the fingerprint sensor.

13. The device as recited in claim 12, the one of the multiple sections sensing fingerprint data operating as a swipe fingerprint sensor that senses the fingerprint data as the finger is swiped across the one section.

14. The device as recited in claim 10, the fingerprint sensor comprising a swipe fingerprint sensor that senses the fingerprint data as the finger is swiped across the fingerprint sensor.

15. The device as recited in claim 10, the device further comprising an additional functionality module configured to perform one or more additional auxiliary functionality operations based on the user input, the user input comprising a pattern of movement of the finger moving across the sensor structure, and one of the auxiliary functionality module and the additional functionality module being configured to perform an auxiliary functionality operation based on the pattern of movement.

16. The device as recited in claim 10, the auxiliary functionality module comprising a volume control module, a game control module, a cursor control module, a zoom control module, a scroll control module, a menu control module, a photography control module, or a phone call control module.

17. The device as recited in claim 10, the device comprising a wireless phone.

18. A system comprising:

a sensor structure configured to sense a finger moving across the sensor structure, the sensor structure including a touch sensor adjacent to a fingerprint sensor;

an auxiliary functionality module configured to control auxiliary functionality of the system based on a pattern of movement of the finger across the sensor structure; and

a fingerprint identification module configured to attempt to authenticate a fingerprint of the finger based on fingerprint data sensed by the fingerprint sensor while the finger moves across the sensor structure.

19. The system as recited in claim 18, wherein one or more sections of the fingerprint sensor are assigned a function of fingerprint data sensing, and one or more sections of the fingerprint sensor are assigned a function of movement sensing.

20. The system as recited in claim 19, wherein the one or more sections of the fingerprint sensor that are assigned the function of fingerprint data sensing operate as a swipe fingerprint sensor that sense the fingerprint data as the finger is swiped across the one or more sections.

21. The system as recited in claim 18, the fingerprint sensor comprising a swipe fingerprint sensor that senses the fingerprint data as the finger is swiped across the fingerprint sensor.

22. The system as recited in claim 18, the auxiliary functionality module comprising a volume control module, a game control module, a cursor control module, a zoom control module, a scroll control module, a menu control module, a photography control module, or a phone call control module.

23. The system as recited in claim 18, the system further comprising an additional auxiliary functionality module configured to control additional auxiliary functionality of the system, one of the auxiliary functionality module and the additional auxiliary functionality module being enabled based on the pattern of movement of the finger across the sensor structure.