Active protection system
First Claim
1. An apparatus comprising:
- a sensor which outputs an acceleration signal in relation to an acceleration state of a device;
a circuit which processes the acceleration signal in relation to a configuration control input indicative of an operational environment in which the device is operated, wherein said circuit filters the acceleration signal to provide a filtered acceleration signal and wherein said filtering is adaptively modified in relation to the configuration control input; and
a protection mechanism which configures the device in relation to said processing of the acceleration signal by the circuit.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Method and apparatus for actively protecting a device from damage due to an impact or other acceleration condition. An active protection system is provided with a sensor which outputs an acceleration signal in relation to an acceleration state of the device. A circuit processes the acceleration signal in relation to a configuration control input indicative of an operational environment in which the device is operated, and a protection mechanism configures the device in relation to the processed acceleration signal. A configuration control module preferably supplies the configuration control input as a user selectable or host input. Preferably, protection mechanism places the device in a protective state to protect against damage due to an imminent impact, such as from a free fall condition. The processing preferably comprises adaptive filtering of the acceleration signal and the application of one or more thresholds to detect said imminent impact.
61 Citations
18 Claims
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1. An apparatus comprising:
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a sensor which outputs an acceleration signal in relation to an acceleration state of a device; a circuit which processes the acceleration signal in relation to a configuration control input indicative of an operational environment in which the device is operated, wherein said circuit filters the acceleration signal to provide a filtered acceleration signal and wherein said filtering is adaptively modified in relation to the configuration control input; and a protection mechanism which configures the device in relation to said processing of the acceleration signal by the circuit. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. An apparatus comprising:
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a sensor which outputs an acceleration signal in relation to an acceleration state of a device; and first means for configuring the device in relation to the acceleration signal and a configuration control input indicative of a selected operational environment in which the device is operated, wherein the first means selectively filters the acceleration signal and selectively applies a threshold to said filtered acceleration signal. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11)
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12. A method comprising:
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providing an acceleration signal in relation to an acceleration state of a device; adaptively filtering the acceleration signal in relation to a configuration control input indicative of an operational environment in which the device is operated; and configuring the device in relation to said adaptively filtering step. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A method comprising:
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providing a plurality of acceleration signal axial components in relation to an acceleration state of a device; and detecting a free fall state of the device in relation to respective changes in phase of at least two of said acceleration signal axial components, the detecting step comprising generating a composite acceleration signal from said plurality of acceleration signal axial components, and detecting the free fall state in relation to a magnitude of the composite acceleration signal when the magnitude of the composite acceleration signal is determined to be near 1 g, a first one of the plurality of acceleration signal axial components crosses a threshold T in a first polarity direction, and a second one of the plurality of acceleration signal axial components crosses the threshold T in a second opposite polarity direction. - View Dependent Claims (18)
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Specification