Multifactor Drive Mode Determination

• US 20150126170A1
• Filed: 12/12/2013
• Published: 05/07/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 11/06/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google Technology Holdings LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Motorola Mobility LLC (Lenovo Group Ltd.)
• Inventors: Iyer, Boby, Dottl, Gabriel J., Pandya, Atulkumar D.
• Granted Patent: US 10,212,269 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/418
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/6091 including a wireless interface
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72448 with means for adapting the functionality of the device according to specific conditions
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72454 according to context-related or environment-related conditions
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72457 according to geographic location
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72463 to restrict the functionality of the device
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/02 including a Bluetooth interface
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/10 including a GPS signal receiver
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/12 including a sensor for measuring a physical value, e.g. temperature or motion

Abstract

A system and method of determining whether a device user is driving provide an improved ability to switch between a normal mode and a driving mode with fewer false positives and false negatives. Bluetooth connectivity and motion sensor readings are fused to make the drive mode determination and to set the timing of nay switch. In an embodiment, Bluetooth devices correlated with driving are used to modify the confidence level and the decision threshold associated with sensor input. When a node having a driving correlation higher than a particular threshold is connected to a device, a lower threshold is applied to the motion sensor input for entering drive mode and a higher threshold is applied for exiting drive mode. Similarly, when a user device is not connected to any highly correlated node, default thresholds may be used for entering and exiting the drive mode.

Claims

1. A method of managing a drive mode in a mobile electronic device associated with a vehicle hosting a wireless node, the method comprising:

determining a status of the mobile device as driven or not driven based on a status of a connection between the mobile device and the wireless node, and based on physical data collected from a sensor hub at the device; and

switching into or out of the driving mode with a wait period if it is detected that the status of the mobile device has changed, wherein the wait period is derived based on the status of the connection between the mobile device and the wireless node.

2. The method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the physical data collected from the sensor hub at the device includes one or more of accelerometer data, gyroscopic data and GPS data.

3. The method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the wireless node is a Bluetooth node.

4. The method in accordance with claim 1, wherein determining the status of the mobile device as driven or not driven further comprises deriving a value based on the physical data and comparing the derived value to a threshold that is set based on the status of the connection.

5. The method in accordance with claim 1, wherein if the physical data indicates a walking motion, the wait period is set at a first period if the connection is dropped and walking continues and is set at a second period if the connection remains active and walking continues, and the first period is shorter than the second period.

6. The method in accordance with claim 5, wherein if the physical data indicates that the device is stationary and the connection is not dropped, the wait period is set at a third period greater than both the first period and the second period.

7. The method in accordance with claim 1, wherein determining a status of the mobile device as driven or not driven includes lowering a threshold for a driven to not driven transition if the connection is inactive, and lowering a threshold for a not driven to driven transition if the connection is active.

8. The method in accordance with claim 1, wherein neither the connection status nor the physical data is conclusive in determining a status of the mobile device as driven or not driven.

9. A mobile electronic device configured to selectively enter and exit a drive mode, the mobile device being associated with a vehicle hosting a wireless node, the mobile device comprising:

a sensor hub providing data from a plurality of physical data sensors;

a communications module to wireless connect to the wireless node; and

a processor configured to determine a status of the mobile device as driven or not driven based on a status of a connection between the mobile device and the wireless node, and based on the data provided by the sensor hub, wherein neither the status of a connection between the mobile device and the wireless node or the data provided by the sensor hub is conclusive of the status of the mobile device.

10. The mobile electronic device in accordance with claim 9, wherein the processor is further configured to switch into or out of the driving mode with a wait period if the status of the mobile device has changed, wherein the wait period is derived based on the status of the connection between the mobile device and the wireless node.

11. The mobile electronic device in accordance with claim 10, wherein the physical data collected from the sensor hub at the device includes one or more of accelerometer data, gyroscopic data and GPS data.

12. The mobile electronic device in accordance with claim 10, wherein the wireless node is a Bluetooth node.

13. The mobile electronic device in accordance with claim 10, wherein the processor is further configured to determine the status of the mobile device as driven or not driven further by deriving a value based on the physical data and comparing the derived value to a threshold that is set based on the status of the connection.

14. The mobile electronic device in accordance with claim 10, wherein if the physical data indicates a walking motion, the processor sets the wait period at a first period if the connection is dropped and walking continues and the processor sets the wait period at a second period if the connection remains active and walking continues, wherein the first period is shorter than the second period.

15. The mobile electronic device in accordance with claim 13, wherein if the physical data indicates that the device is stationary and the connection is not dropped, the processor sets the wait period at wait period at a third period greater than both the first period and the second period.

16. The mobile electronic device in accordance with claim 10, wherein the processor is configured to determine the status of the mobile device as driven or not driven by lowering a threshold for a driven to not driven transition if the connection is inactive, and lowering a threshold for a not driven to driven transition if the connection is active.

17. A method of entering a drive mode at a mobile electronic device when the device is carried in a vehicle having a Bluetooth node, wherein the drive mode causes the device to modify the manner in which it presents data to a user, the method comprising:

determining whether one or more physical sensors associated with the device indicate that the device is being carried in the vehicle;

determining whether the connectivity between the device and the Bluetooth node indicates that the device is in proximity to the vehicle; and

entering the drive mode at the mobile device if the one or more physical sensors indicate that the device is being carried in the vehicle and the connectivity between the device and the Bluetooth node indicates that the device is proximal to the vehicle, and otherwise weighting data associated with the physical sensors based on the connectivity between the device and the Bluetooth node to determine whether to enter the drive mode.

18. The method in accordance with claim 17, wherein entering or exiting the driving mode includes applying a wait period based on the status of the connection between the mobile device and the wireless node.

19. The method in accordance with claim 17, wherein the physical sensors include one or more of an accelerometer, a gyroscopic data and a GPS module.

20. The method in accordance with claim 18, wherein if the physical data indicates a walking motion, the wait period is set at a first period if the connection is inactive and walking continues, and is set at a second period if the connection remains active and walking continues, and the first period is shorter than the second period, and wherein if the physical data indicates that the device is stationary and the connection is active, the wait period is set at a third period greater than both the first period and the second period.