Unlocking a screen of a portable device

• US 9,245,099 B2
• Filed: 12/27/2013
• Issued: 01/26/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 12/27/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Vodafone Holding GmbH (Vodafone Group PLC)
• Original Assignee: Vodafone Holding GmbH (Vodafone Group PLC)
• Inventors: Hartmann, Norman
• Primary Examiner(s): Sarwar, Babar
• Application Number:
  US14/141,558
• Publication Number:
  US 20140187204A1
• Time in Patent Office: 760 Days
• Field of Search: 455/411, 455/450.1, 455/566, 455/574, 455/575.1, 455418-420
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1626 with a single-body enclosure integrating a flat display, e.g. Personal Digital Assistants [PDAs]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1694 the I/O peripheral being a single or a set of motion sensors for pointer control or gesture input obtained by sensing movements of the portable computer
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/316 by observing the pattern of computer usage, e.g. typical user behaviour
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/017 Gesture based interaction, e.g. based on a set of recognized hand gestures interaction based on gestures traced on a digitiser G06F3/04883
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0346 with detection of the device orientation or free movement in a 3D space, e.g. 3D mice, 6-DOF [six degrees of freedom] pointers using gyroscopes, accelerometers or tilt-sensors
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/67 by electronic means
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/12 including a sensor for measuring a physical value, e.g. temperature or motion

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method for unlocking a screen of a portable device, comprising the steps: detecting movement of the portable device using at least one sensor unit of the portable device; determining a position of the portable device based on data provided by the sensor unit; comparing the determined position with at least one predetermined position to determine whether the determined position relatively matches the predetermined position; and executing an unlock of the screen of said portable device if the determined position relatively matches the predetermined position. Further the present invention relates to a portable device, preferably for the use in a communication network, in particular a mobile network according to a GSM, GPRS and/or UMTS radio network standard, characterized in that said portable device is designed and/or adapted to at least partially carry out a method according to present invention.

Claims

1. A method for unlocking a screen of a portable device, comprising:

detecting movement of the portable device with at least one sensor unit of the portable device;

determining a position of the portable device based on data provided by the sensor unit;

comparing the determined position with at least one predetermined position to determine whether the determined position relatively matches the predetermined position; and

unlocking the screen of said portable device, when the determined position relatively matches the predetermined position;

characterized in that

detecting an input of the use of the portable device by pushing a button/key on an entry unit of the portable device, before the detecting of the movement of the portable device by the sensor unit is done and that

the detecting of the input by the user is done until the executing of the unlocking of the screen of the portable device is completed in terms of pushing and holding of the button/key on an entry unit of the portable device and in that

the determining of a position further comprises determining a direction of movement of the portable device based on data provided by the sensor unit and wherein the comparing of a predetermined position includes comparing the determined direction of the movement with a predetermined direction to determine whether the determined direction relatively matches the predetermined direction in order to execute the unlock of the screen of the portable device.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined position is configurable.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein said comparing comprises determining whether the determined position relatively matches the predetermined position for a predetermined time duration.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the predetermined time duration is configurable.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein detecting said direction of movement comprises detecting a rotation of the portable device around at least one of its axes of rotation (X, Y, Z), detecting a shaking of the portable device, or a combination thereof.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein detecting said direction of movement of the portable device comprises detecting a combination of at least two of the following actions:

holding the portable device in a fixed position;

moving the portable device in a direction;

rotating the portable device; and

shaking the portable device.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein detecting the direction of movement of the portable device includes detecting at least one of:

a combination of at least two different positions of the portable device;

movement of the portable device in at least two different directions;

at least two different rotations of the portable device;

or

at least two different shakings of the portable device.

8. The method according to claim 1, further comprising providing a cue to facilitate said unlocking of the screen of the portable device, said cue comprising one or more of a visual cue, an acoustic cue, or a tactile cue.

9. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

determining an antenna loss caused by a user operating the portable device;

comparing the determined antenna loss with a predetermined antenna loss to determine whether the determined antenna loss relatively matches the predetermined antenna loss; and

unlocking said screen when the determined antenna loss relatively matches the predetermined antenna loss and when the determined position relatively matches the predetermined position.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the sensor unit of the portable device comprises an accelerometer, a gyroscope, or a combination thereof.

11. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method is implemented with the operating system of said portable device.

12. A portable device for the use in a communication network in accordance with at least one of a GSM radio network standard, GPRS radio network standard, or UMTS radio network standard, wherein said portable device is configured to:

detect movement of the portable device with at least one sensor unit;

determine a position of the portable device based on data provided by the sensor unit;

compare the determined position with at least one predetermined position to determine whether the determined position relatively matches the predetermined position; and

unlock the screen of said portable device, when the determined position relatively matches the predetermined position;

characterized in that

detecting an input of the use of the portable device by pushing a button/key on an entry unit of the portable device, before the detecting of the movement of the portable device by the sensor unit is done and that

the detecting of the input by the user is done until the executing of the unlocking of the screen of the portable device is completed in terms of pushing and holding of the button/key on an entry unit of the portable device and in that

the determining of a position further comprises determining a direction of movement of the portable device based on data provided by the sensor unit and wherein the comparing of a predetermined position includes comparing the determined direction of the movement with a predetermined direction to determine whether the determined direction relatively matches the predetermined direction in order to execute the unlock of the screen of the portable device.