LOW POWER SCAN FOR DEVICE WAKE UP AND UNLOCK

• US 20150346895A1
• Filed: 05/30/2014
• Published: 12/03/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 05/30/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: BOKMA, Louis W., O'CONNOR, Sean Erik
• Granted Patent: US 10,095,345 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3262 Power saving in digitizer or tablet
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04808 Several contacts: gestures triggering a specific function, e.g. scrolling, zooming, right-click, when the user establishes several contacts with the surface simultaneously; e.g. using several fingers or a combination of fingers and pen
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/041661 using detection at multiple resolutions, e.g. coarse and fine scanning; using detection within a limited area, e.g. object tracking window
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0446 using a grid-like structure of electrodes in at least two directions, e.g. using row and column electrodes
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text

Abstract

A low power can for device wake up and unlock is disclosed. The low power scan can include one or more algorithms used to detect a sequence and/or one or more gestures to wake up a processor and unlock the device for user interaction. A sequence and/or one or more gestures can be determined by a microcontroller and/or by a separate hardware component. The microcontroller can send a notification or a wake signal to the processor and/or switch the device from an idle to an active state. By detecting a sequence and one or more gestures in the microcontroller before powering on or waking up the processor, the amount of power consumed can be reduced and the battery life extended.

Claims

1. A method for switching a device from an idle state to an active state, the method comprising:

determining if a touch on a touch surface of the device is at least one of an object presence, tap, hold and swipe; and

when the touch is at least one of the object presence, tap, hold and swipe, generating a wake notification.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining if the touch on the touch surface of the device is at least one of the object presence, tap, hold and swipe comprises:

determining if the touch is a large body contact; and

discarding touch values corresponding to the touch when the touch is a large body contact.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein determining if the touch is a large body contact comprises:

determining a plurality of touch values corresponding to the touch;

summing a first number of first touch values, the first touch values being a subset of the plurality of touch values;

summing a second number of second touch values, the second touch values being a subset of the plurality of touch values;

determining if the summation of the first number of first touch values is greater than or equal to a first threshold value; and

determining if the summation of the second number of second touch values is greater than or equal to a second threshold value.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein determining if the touch on the touch surface of the device is at least one of an object presence, tap, hold and swipe comprises:

determining a touch threshold value;

determining if the touch is located in a center of the device; and

if the touch is determined to be located in the center of the device, determining if a touch value corresponding to the touch is greater than or equal to the touch threshold value.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein determining if the touch on the touch surface of the device is an object presence comprises:

determining a touch threshold value;

counting a number of touch values corresponding to the touch that is greater than or equal to the touch threshold value;

determining a pixel number threshold;

comparing the count to the pixel number threshold; and

determining if the touch is a small finger, large finger, or flat finger or thumb based on the comparison.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein determining if the touch on the touch surface of the device is an object presence comprises:

determining a touch threshold value;

summing a plurality of touch values for a number of touch values corresponding to the touch that is greater than or equal to the touch threshold value;

determining a density based on the summation; and

determining if the density is greater than a density of a finger and less than a density of a palm.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein determining if the touch on the touch surface of the device is a tap comprises:

determining a plurality of touch values for a plurality of frames corresponding to the touch;

storing the plurality of touch values for each frame in a frame history;

determining if the touch is the tap in a first frame; and

determining if the touch surface includes no touch in a second frame, the second frame following the first frame.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

determining if the touch is a tap in a third frame, the third frame following the second frame; and

determining if the touch surface includes no touch in a fourth frame, the fourth frame following the third frame.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein determining if the touch on the touch surface of the device is a hold comprises:

determining a plurality of touch values for a plurality of frames corresponding to the touch;

storing the plurality of touch values for each frame in a frame history;

determining if the touch is a tap in a first frame; and

determining if the touch in a second frame is same as the first frame.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising segmenting the touch surface into multiple regions, wherein the determination is based on at least one of an object presence, tap, hold and swipe for each region.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein determining if the touch on the touch surface of the device is a swipe comprises:

determining a plurality of touch values corresponding to the touch;

determining a touch pattern of the plurality of touch values; and

determining if the touch pattern corresponds to a swipe pattern.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising powering on a processor in response to the wake notification.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining if the touch is located in or near a center of a screen of the device; and

generating the wake notification if the touch is determined to be located in or near the center.

14. A device configured to switch from an idle state to an active state, the device comprising:

logic configured to determine if a touch on a touch surface of the device is at least one of an object presence, tap, hold and swipe, wherein the logic is further configured to generate a wake notification when the touch is at least one of the object presence, tap, hold and swipe.

15. The device of claim 14, wherein the logic is further configured to determine if the touch is a large body contact, and discarding touch values corresponding to the touch when the touch is a large body contact.

16. The device of claim 14, wherein the logic is further configured to segment the touch surface into multiple regions, wherein the determination is based on at least one of an object presence, tap, hold and swipe for each region.

17. The device of claim 14, wherein the logic is further configured to power on a processor in response to the wake notification.

18. The device of claim 14, wherein the logic further comprises:

determining if the touch is located in or near a center of a screen of the device; and

generating the wake notification if the touch is determined to be located in or near the center.

19. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions which, when executed by a computing device, causes the computing device to process user input, the instructions comprising:

determining if a touch on a touch surface of the device is at least one of an object presence, tap, hold and swipe; and

when the touch is at least one of an object presence, tap, hold and swipe, generating a wake notification.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 19, the instructions further comprising powering on a processor in response to the wake notification.