Wearable device command regulation

• US 9,622,180 B1
• Filed: 12/23/2015
• Issued: 04/11/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 12/23/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Original Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Inventors: Zhou, Fu, Chheda, Miril, Yeung, Fai
• Primary Examiner(s): Mizrahi, Diane
• Application Number:
  US14/757,388
• Time in Patent Office: 475 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/385 Transceivers carried on the body, e.g. in helmets
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72412 using two-way short-range wireless interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0258 controlling an operation mode according to history or models of usage information, e.g. activity schedule or time of day
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 68/005 Transmission of information for alerting of incoming communication
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

Systems and methods for regulating alerts in a wearable device are disclosed. The alerts may be generated from a mobile device or a wearable device communicatively coupled to the mobile device. The system may include an alert storage module that receives alerts of various types, and generate a plurality of alert heaps each including respective one or more alerts. The system may determine for an alert a respective cost value associated with issuing a notification of the alert. The alert heaps may be merged to produce a cost-biased leftist heap including prioritized alerts based on the cost values of the alerts. The system may generate a queue of notification commands based on the prioritized alerts, and transmit the commands to the wearable device.

Claims

1. A system for regulating alerts received in a mobile device, the system comprising:

a mobile device comprising;

an alert storage module to receive alerts and generate a plurality of alert heaps each including respective one or more alerts;

a cost analyzer module to determine for an alert a respective cost value associated with issuing a notification of the alert;

an alert prioritizer module to merge the plurality of alert heaps to generate a cost-biased leftist heap including prioritized alerts at least based on the cost values of the alerts in the plurality of alert heaps;

a communicator module to receive alerts from a wearable device through a communication link, and to transmit the notification commands to the wearable device through the communication link; and

a command queue module coupled to the alert prioritizer module to generate notification commands based on the prioritized alerts.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the alert storage module is to generate an application alert heap, an operation system (OS) alert heap, and a sensor alert heap, the application alert heap including alerts associated with application of the mobile device, the OS alert heap including alerts generated by an OS of the mobile device;

and

wherein the alert prioritizer module is to generate the cost-biased leftist heap by merging two or more of the application alert heap, the OS alert heap, or the sensor alert heap.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the wearable device includes a battery status sensor to sense a status of a battery in the wearable device and generate a device battery status alert.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the wearable device includes a temperature sensor to sense temperature of the wearable device and generate a device temperature alert.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the wearable device is to communicate with the mobile device through a wireless connection including a Bluetooth low energy communication protocol.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the command queue module is to transmit the notification commands to the wearable device based on a battery level of the mobile device.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the command queue module is to:

withhold the transmission of the notification commands when the battery level of the mobile device falls below a threshold indicating low battery status; and

resume the transmission of the notification commands when the battery level of the mobile device is above the threshold.

8. The system of claim 6, wherein the command queue module is to transmit the notification commands to the wearable device further based on a hardware-specific constraint.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the notification commands include one or more of a device light notification command, a device haptic notification command, or a device audio notification command.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the cost analyzer module is to determine the respective cost value using a respective energy-indicated cost and a respective content-indicated cost;

wherein the respective energy-indicated cost indicates relative battery power consumption of issuing a notification of the corresponding alert; and

wherein the respective content-indicated cost indicates relative user preference to a content of the corresponding alert.

11. A method for regulating alerts received in a mobile device, the method comprising:

receiving alerts from a mobile device;

generating a plurality of alert heaps each including respective one or more alerts;

determining for an alert a respective cost value associated with issuing a notification of the alert;

generating a cost-biased leftist heap including prioritized alerts at least based on the cost values of the alerts in the plurality of alert heaps

generating a queue of notification commands based on the prioritized alerts;

establishing a communication link between the mobile device and a wearable device;

receiving one or more alerts from the wearable device through the communication link; and

transmitting the notification commands to the wearable device through the communication link.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein:

the plurality of alert heaps include an application alert heap, an operation system (OS) alert heap, and a sensor alert heap, the application alert heap including alerts associated with application of the mobile device, the OS alert heap including alerts generated by an OS of the mobile device; and

the cost-biased leftist heap is generated by merging two or more of the application alert heap, the OS alert heap, or the sensor alert heap.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the respective cost value is determined using a respective energy-indicated cost and a respective content-indicated cost;

wherein the respective energy-indicated cost indicates relative battery power consumption of issuing a notification of the corresponding alert; and

wherein the respective content-indicated cost indicates relative user preference to a content of the corresponding alert.

14. At least one non-transitory machine readable storage medium, comprising a plurality of instructions that, responsive to being executed with processor circuitry of a computing device, cause the computing device to:

receive alerts from a mobile device;

generate a plurality of alert heaps each including respective one or more alerts;

determine for an alert a respective cost value associated with issuing a notification of the alert;

generate a cost-biased leftist heap including prioritized one or more alerts at least based on the cost values of the alerts in the plurality of alert heaps

generate a queue of notification commands based on the prioritized alerts;

establish a communication link between the mobile device and a wearable device;

receive one or more alerts from the wearable device through the communication link; and

transmit the notification commands to the wearable device through the communication link.

15. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein:

the plurality of alert heaps include an application alert heap, an operation system (OS) alert heap, and a sensor alert heap, the application alert heap including alerts associated with application of the mobile device, the OS alert heap including alerts generated by an OS of the mobile device; and

the operations that generate the cost-biased leftist heap include operations that merge two or more of the application alert heap, the OS alert heap, or the sensor alert heap.

16. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein the operations that generate respective cost value include operations that generate a respective energy-indicated cost and a respective content-indicated cost;

wherein the respective energy-indicated cost indicates relative battery power consumption of issuing a notification of the corresponding alert; and

wherein the respective content-indicated cost indicates relative user preference to a content of the corresponding alert.