PROMPTING MOVEMENT OF A DEVICE TOWARDS A STRONGER SIGNAL

• US 20160189495A1
• Filed: 07/25/2013
• Published: 06/30/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 07/25/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Empire Technology Development LLC (Allied Inventors Management, LLC)
• Original Assignee: Empire Technology Development LLC (Allied Inventors Management, LLC)
• Inventors: Zuo, Quan, Yin, Xuefeng
• Granted Patent: US 9,858,775 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 6/00 Tactile signalling systems, e.g. personal calling systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/3833 Hand-held transceivers
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 17/318 Received signal strength
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 17/336 Signal-to-interference ratio [SIR] or carrier-to-interference ratio [CIR]
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/0608 Antenna selection according to transmission parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/0814 based on current reception conditions, e.g. switching to different antenna when signal level is below threshold
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0823 Errors, e.g. transmission errors
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/16 Threshold monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/08 Testing, supervising or monitoring using real traffic

Abstract

In an example embodiment, a gyro system attached to or integrated in a wireless communication device may be configured to generate physical force to prompt movement towards a stronger signal that indicates a direction in which the wireless communication device should be positioned or moved to improve the wireless communication quality.

Claims

1. A method implemented on a wireless communication device, comprising:

monitoring a channel to capture a first reading of channel quality of a wireless communication signal;

determining that the first reading of channel quality of the wireless communication signal is below a quality threshold;

in response to the first reading of channel quality of the wireless communication signal is being determined to be below the quality threshold;

estimating a direction in which a second reading of channel quality of the wireless communication signal is estimated to be stronger than the first reading;

activating a physical force in the wireless communication device in the estimated direction; and

deactivating the physical force after activating the physical force.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the estimated direction indicates a direction in which the second reading of the channel quality of the wireless communication signal at least meets the quality threshold.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein determining comprises determining that a bit error rate (BER) of a wireless communication link associated with the wireless communication device is greater than a BER threshold.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein determining comprises determining that a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of a wireless communication link associated with the wireless communication device is less than an SNR threshold.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining that the wireless communication device is held by a user; and

in response to the wireless device being determined to be held by the user, enabling an electro-mechanical component in the wireless communication device to generate the physical force in response to determining that the first reading of channel quality of the wireless communication signal is below the quality threshold.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein deactivating comprises:

disabling the physical force in response to at least one of a plurality of termination conditions being met, wherein the plurality of termination conditions include;

the first reading of channel quality of the wireless communication signal is determined to be above the quality threshold,

no user response is detected for at least a particular duration with respect to movement of the wireless communication device,

the wireless communication device is determined to not be held by a user, and

the user initiates a halt of a component of the wireless communication device that generates the physical force.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein activating comprises selectively activating a torque generation device in the wireless communication device that produces a torque or a vibration indicative of the estimated direction.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

determining a posture of the wireless communication device; and

initializing the torque generation device with information representing the posture of the wireless communication device.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein estimating comprises

estimating a direction to move the wireless communication device based at least in part on a previous orientation of the wireless communication device, information related to a condition of the channel, or both.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the estimated direction includes a first direction, the method further comprising:

monitoring the communication channel to capture the second reading of channel quality of the wireless communication signal after activating the physical force; and

in response to the second reading of channel quality of the wireless communication signal being below the quality threshold;

estimating a second direction in which a third reading of channel quality of the wireless communication signal is estimated to be stronger than the second reading; and

generating another physical force or a different physical force.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

monitoring channel quality of the wireless communication signal during a first duration;

monitoring spatial information related to a physical position of the wireless communication device during the first duration;

recording the spatial information during the first duration;

recording the channel quality of the wireless communication signal during the first duration; and

associating the recorded spatial information and the recorded channel quality of the wireless communication signal;

wherein estimating the direction comprises;

evaluating the channel quality of the wireless communication signal and associated spatial information from the first duration; and

estimating the direction in which the second reading of channel quality of the wireless communication signal is estimated to be stronger than the first reading based at least in part on the evaluated channel quality of the wireless communication signal and associated spatial information from the first duration.

12. A wireless communication device, comprising:

a processor configured to;

receive, at a first time, a parameter to indicate wireless communication quality with respect to the wireless communication device,

based on the received parameter, evaluate the wireless communication quality to determine that the wireless communication quality is below a quality threshold, and

generate an activation signal in response to the wireless communication quality is being determined to be below the quality threshold; and

a torque generation device, coupled to the processor, wherein the torque generation device is configured to generate a torque in a first direction in response to the activation signal, wherein the generated torque indicates an estimated direction to move the wireless communication device to improve the wireless communication quality.

13. The wireless communication device of claim 12, wherein the torque generation device comprises one or more gyro micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS).

14. The wireless communication device of claim 12, wherein the parameter comprises a bit error rate (BER) or a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of a wireless communication link associated with the wireless communication device.

15. The wireless communication device of claim 12, wherein the processor is further configured to:

receive information related to a previous orientation of the wireless communication device or a condition of a wireless communication channel used by the wireless communication device; and

estimate a direction to move the wireless communication device based on at least the received information.

16. The wireless communication device of claim 12, wherein the processor is further configured to:

receive the parameter, at a second time after the first time;

determine that the wireless communication quality is below the quality threshold based on the parameter received at the second time; and

in response to the wireless communication quality being below the quality threshold, generate the activation signal that activates the torque generation device to generate the torque in the first direction or in a second direction different from the first direction.

17. The wireless communication device of claim 12, wherein the processor is further configured to:

deactivate the torque generation device after a termination condition is met, wherein the termination condition comprises one or more of;

the wireless communication quality is determined to be above the quality threshold,

no user response is detected for at least a particular duration with respect to movement of the wireless communication device,

the wireless communication device is determined to not be held by a user, and

the user initiates a halt of the torque generation device of the wireless communication device that generates the torque.

18. The wireless communication device of claim 12, further comprising:

a proximity sensor, coupled to the processor, wherein the proximity sensor is configured to;

detect that the wireless communication device is held by a user, and

generate a proximity signal to indicate the detection,

wherein the processor is further configured to receive the proximity signal from the proximity sensor, evaluate the proximity signal, and generate the activation signal in response to the wireless communication quality being determined to be below the quality threshold based on the evaluated proximity signal.

19. The wireless communication device of claim 12, further comprising:

an accelerometer, coupled to the processor, wherein the accelerometer is configured to generate an accelerometer signal to indicate a posture of the wireless communication device,

wherein the processor is further configured to initialize the torque generation device based on the accelerometer signal.

20. The wireless communication device of claim 12, further comprising:

a position-information device, coupled to the processor, wherein the position-information device is configured to provide spatial information related to operation of the wireless communication device over a first duration,

wherein the processor is further configured to;

monitor the wireless communication quality during the first duration,

monitor the spatial information related to a physical position of the wireless communication device during the first duration,

record the spatial information over the first duration,

record the wireless communication quality over the first duration,

associate the recorded spatial information and the recorded wireless communication quality,

estimate a second direction to move the wireless communication device in response to the activation signal, for which the processor is configured to;

evaluate the wireless communication quality and associated spatial information from the first duration, and

estimate the second direction to move the wireless communication device to improve the wireless communication quality base at least in part on the evaluated wireless communication quality and associated spatial information from the first duration, and

generate the activation signal that activates the torque generation device to generate the torque in the second direction.

21. The wireless communication device of claim 20, wherein the position-information device comprises a gyroscope or a global positioning system (GPS) device.

22. A wireless communication device, comprising:

a proximity sensor configured to;

detect that the wireless communication device is held by a user, and

generate a proximity signal to indicate that the wireless communication device has been detected to be held by the user;

an accelerometer configured to generate an accelerometer signal to indicate a posture of the wireless communication device;

a torque generation device configured to receive an activation signal and to generate a torque in a first direction in response to the activation signal;

a processor coupled to the proximity sensor, the accelerometer, and the torque generation device, wherein the processor is configured to;

receive a parameter to indicate wireless communication quality with respect to the wireless communication device,

based on the parameter, determine that the wireless communication quality is below a quality threshold, and

in response to the wireless communication quality being determined to be below the quality threshold, generate the activation signal based on the accelerometer signal and the proximity signal.

23. The wireless communication device of claim 22, wherein the torque generation device comprises one or more gyro micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS).

24. The wireless communication device of claim 22, wherein the parameter comprises a bit error rate (BER) or a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of a wireless communication link associated with the wireless communication device.

25. The wireless communication device of claim 22, wherein the processor is further configured to:

receive information related to a previous orientation of the wireless communication device or a condition of a wireless communication channel used by the wireless communication device; and

estimate a direction to move the wireless communication device based at least in part on the received information.

26. The wireless communication device of claim 22, wherein the processor is further configured to:

receive an update of the parameter;

determine that the wireless communication quality is below the quality threshold based on the received update of the parameter; and

in response to the wireless communication quality being below the quality threshold, generate the activation signal that activates the torque generation device to generate the torque in the first direction or in a second direction different from the first direction.

27. The wireless communication device of claim 22, wherein the processor is further configured to:

deactivate the torque generation device after at least one of a plurality of termination conditions is met, including;

the wireless communication quality is determined to be above the quality threshold,

no user response is detected for at least a particular duration with respect to movement of the wireless communication device,

the wireless communication device is determined to not be held by a user, and

the user initiates a halt of the torque generation device of the wireless communication device that generates the torque.

28. The wireless communication device of claim 22, wherein the processor is further configured to initialize the torque generation device based on the accelerometer signal.

29. The wireless communication device of claim 22, further comprising:

a position-information device, coupled to the processor, wherein the position-information device is configured to provide spatial information related to the wireless communication device over a first duration,

wherein the processor is further configured to;

capture the wireless communication quality over the first duration,

associate the spatial information with the captured wireless communication quality to provided associated information,

determine, at least in part on the associated information, a second direction to move the wireless communication device to improve the wireless communication quality, and

generate the activation signal that activates the torque generation device to generate the torque in the second direction.

30. The wireless communication device of claim 29, wherein the position-information device comprises a gyroscope or a global positioning system (GPS) device.

31. The wireless communication device of claim 25, wherein the processor configured to estimate the direction to move the wireless communication device is further configured to determine to turn, rotate, raise, lower, or twist the wireless communication device.