Acoustic navigation device and method of detecting movement of a navigation device
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A navigation device, comprising:
- an acoustic transmitter adapted to transmit an acoustic signal;
a first acoustic receiver adapted to receive the acoustic signal and located at a first fixed position with respect to the acoustic transmitter;
a measurement circuit coupled to an output of the acoustic receiver and adapted to determine a distance traversed by the navigation device as a function of time; and
a second acoustic receiver adapted to receive the acoustic signal and located at a second fixed position with respect to the acoustic transmitter,wherein the measurement circuit is further coupled to an output of the second acoustic receiver and adapted to determine a distance traversed by the navigation device as a function of time in both a first direction and a second direction different from the first direction, where the first and second directions span a two-dimensional space.
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Abstract
A navigation device for navigating a user interface of a processor-controlled device includes an acoustic transmitter adapted to transmit an acoustic signal, an acoustic receiver adapted to receive the acoustic signal and located at a fixed position with respect to the acoustic transmitter, and a measurement circuit coupled to an output of the acoustic receiver and adapted to determine a distance traversed by the navigation device as a function of time.
13 Citations
21 Claims
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1. A navigation device, comprising:
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an acoustic transmitter adapted to transmit an acoustic signal; a first acoustic receiver adapted to receive the acoustic signal and located at a first fixed position with respect to the acoustic transmitter; a measurement circuit coupled to an output of the acoustic receiver and adapted to determine a distance traversed by the navigation device as a function of time; and a second acoustic receiver adapted to receive the acoustic signal and located at a second fixed position with respect to the acoustic transmitter, wherein the measurement circuit is further coupled to an output of the second acoustic receiver and adapted to determine a distance traversed by the navigation device as a function of time in both a first direction and a second direction different from the first direction, where the first and second directions span a two-dimensional space. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9)
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- 2. The device of 1, further comprising a housing adapted to be moved by a human hand to navigate a user interface of a processor-based device.
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10. A navigation device, comprising:
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an acoustic transmitter adapted to transmit an acoustic signal; an acoustic receiver adapted to receive the acoustic signal and located at a fixed position with respect to the acoustic transmitter; and a measurement circuit coupled to an output of the acoustic receiver and adapted to determine a distance traversed by the navigation device as a function of time, wherein the acoustic transmitter is adapted to receive an electrical excitation signal and in response thereto to generate and transmit the acoustic signal having at least a first frequency; wherein the acoustic receiver is adapted to output an output electrical signal in response to the received acoustic signal, wherein the measurement circuit is adapted to measure a phase difference at the first frequency between the excitation electrical signal and the output electrical signal and to determine therefrom the distance traversed by the navigation device as a function of time, and wherein the measurement device comprises; a phase detector adapted to receive the excitation electrical signal and the output electrical signal and to output a phase difference signal corresponding to a phase shift between the excitation electrical signal and the output electrical signal, a low pass filter adapted to filter the phase difference signal from the phase detector; and an integrator adapted to integrate the filtered phase difference signal over time to output a signal indicating the distance traversed by the navigation device as a function of time. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method of navigating a user interface provided for a processor-controlled device, the method comprising:
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providing a navigation device including an acoustic transmitter and an acoustic receiver located at a fixed position with respect to the acoustic transmitter; transmitting an acoustic signal from the acoustic transmitter; receiving the acoustic signal at an acoustic receiver; and determining a distance traversed by a navigation device as a function of time as a result of a user moving the navigation device to indicate a desired action in the user interface, wherein the distance is determined based on a phase or time of arrival of the received acoustic signal, wherein the user navigates with the navigation device in free space without reference to any surface. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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Specification