METHOD OF CONTROLLING A DEVICE IMPLEMENTING THE SAME

• US 20150087332A1
• Filed: 12/19/2012
• Published: 03/26/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 12/20/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Koninklijke Philips N.V.
• Original Assignee: Koninklijke Philips N.V.
• Inventors: Pijl, Marten Jeroen, Fulton, Paul Michael, Baldus, Heribert
• Granted Patent: US 10,142,790 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/456.1
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1118 Determining activity level
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/34 Power consumption
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/49 whereby the further system is an inertial position system, e.g. loosely-coupled
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/019 Energy consumption
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/027 using movement velocity, acceleration information
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

There is provided a method of controlling a device that comprises a receiver and a movement sensor, the method comprising (a) deactivating the receiver; (b) while the receiver is deactivated, analyzing measurements from the movement sensor to determine a measure of the distance the device has moved from a first location; and (c) in the event that it is determined from the measurements from the movement sensor that the device has moved from the first location by more than a threshold distance, activating the receiver and using the receiver to obtain a second measurement of the location of the device.

Claims

1. A method of controlling a device that comprises a receiver and a movement sensor, the method comprising:

(a) deactivating the receiver;

(b) while the receiver is deactivated, analyzing measurements from the movement sensor to determine a measure of the distance the device has moved from a first location; and

(c) in the event that it is determined from the measurements from the movement sensor that the device has moved from the first location by more than a threshold distance, activating the receiver and using the receiver to obtain a second measurement of the location of the device;

characterized in that step (b) comprises;

analyzing the measurements from the movement sensor to determine the total acceleration experienced by the device at a particular sampling instant; and

accumulating the determined total acceleration at the particular sampling instant with the total acceleration determined for each preceding sampling instant following the sampling instant at which the first location was determined;

and wherein step (c) comprises;

comparing the accumulated total acceleration to a threshold; and

determining that the device has moved from the first location by more than a threshold distance if the accumulated total acceleration exceeds the threshold.

5. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the step of analyzing the measurements from the movement sensor to determine the total acceleration experienced by the device comprises determining the power of the acceleration.

10. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the receiver is a satellite positioning system receiver.

11. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first location corresponds to the last measurement of the location of the device prior to deactivating the receiver in step (a).

12. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein, after obtaining a second measurement of the location of the device in step (c), the method comprises:

(d) repeating steps (a), (b) and (c) using the second measurement of the location of the device as the first location.

13. A method as claimed in claim 12, wherein step (c) further comprises using the receiver to obtain a measurement of the speed or velocity of the device, and adapting the threshold distance based on the measurement of the speed or velocity of the device.

14. A computer program product comprising computer-readable code embodied therein, the code being configured such that, on execution by a suitable computer or processor, the computer or processor performs the method as claimed in claim 1.

2. (canceled)

3. (canceled)

4. (canceled)

6. (canceled)

7. (canceled)

8. (canceled)

17. A device as claimed in claim 8, wherein the processor is configured to analyze the measurements from the movement sensor to determine the power of the acceleration.

18. A device as claimed in claim 8, wherein the receiver is a satellite positioning system receiver.

19. A device as claimed in claim 8, wherein the first location corresponds to the last measurement of the location of the device prior to the deactivation of the receiver.

20. A device as claimed in claim 8, wherein the processor is configured to deactivate the receiver and repeat (iii) and (iv) using the second measurement of the location of the device as the first location after obtaining a second measurement of the location of the device in (iv).

21. A device as claimed in claim 20, wherein the processor is configured to use the receiver to obtain a measurement of the speed or velocity of the device, and to adapt the threshold distance based on the measurement of the speed or velocity of the device.

9. (canceled)

15. (canceled)

16. A device, comprising:

a receiver for obtaining measurements of the location of the device;

a movement sensor for measuring the movements of the device; and

a processor that is configured to;

(i) receive measurements from the movement sensor,

(ii) selectively activate and deactivate the receiver,

(iii) analyze the measurements from the movement sensor while the receiver is deactivated to determine a measure of the distance the device has moved from a first location, and

(iv) in the event that it is determined from the measurements from the movement sensor that the device has moved from the first location by more than a threshold distance, activate the receiver such that the receiver obtains a second measurement of the location of the device;

characterized in that the processor is configured to analyze the measurement from the movement sensors to determine a measure of the distance the device has moved from a first location by;

analyzing the measurements from the movement sensor to determine the total acceleration experienced by the device at a particular sampling instant; and

accumulating the determined total acceleration at the particular sampling instant with the total acceleration determined for each preceding sampling instant following the sampling instant at which the first location was determined;

and wherein the processor is configured to determine from the measurements from the movement sensor that the device has moved from the first location by more than a threshold distance by;

comparing the accumulated total acceleration to a threshold; and

determining that the device has moved from the first location by more than a threshold distance if the accumulated total acceleration exceeds the threshold.