Method and apparatus for electronic device unlocking

• US 9,697,805 B2
• Filed: 08/26/2015
• Issued: 07/04/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 08/26/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Hwang, Eui Hyeon
• Primary Examiner(s): Bibbins, Latanya
• Application Number:
  US14/835,945
• Publication Number:
  US 20160062591A1
• Time in Patent Office: 678 Days
• 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 21/31 User authentication
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04802 3D-info-object: information is displayed on the internal or external surface of a three dimensional manipulable object, e.g. on the faces of a cube that can be rotated by the user
• 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 3/04815 Interaction with a metaphor-based environment or interaction object displayed as three-dimensional, e.g. changing the user viewpoint with respect to the environment or object
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04886 by partitioning the display area of the touch-screen or the surface of the digitising tablet into independently controllable areas, e.g. virtual keyboards or menus
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/38 with means for controlling the display position

Abstract

An electronic device comprising: a sensor module for detecting a tilt of the electronic device; a touchscreen display; at least one processor configured to: control the display to display at least a part of a 3-dimensional (3D) object having a plurality of faces, each face comprising a respective plurality of elements; detect an unlocking pattern that is input using the object and a tilt value that identifies at least one value in an orientation of the electronic device that occurs while the unlocking pattern is being input; and at least partially unlock the electronic device based on the tilt value and the unlock pattern.

Claims

1. An electronic device comprising:

a sensor module configured to detect a tilt of the electronic device;

a touchscreen display;

at least one processor configured to;

control the display to display at least a part of a 3-dimensional (3D) object having a plurality of faces, each face comprising a respective plurality of elements;

detect an unlocking pattern that is input using the object and a tilt value that identifies at least one value in an orientation of the electronic device that occurs while the unlocking pattern is being input; and

at least partially unlock the electronic device based on the tilt value and the unlock pattern,

wherein the electronic device is at least partially unlocked when the detected unlocking pattern matches a registered unlocking pattern and the detected tilt pattern matches a registered tilt pattern,

wherein the at least one processor is further configured to disable an unlocking function of the electronic device for a time period in response to a threshold number of unsuccessful unlocking attempts being exceeded, and

wherein the at least one processor is further configured to change the threshold number of unsuccessful unlocking attempts based on a usage frequency of the detected tilt pattern; and

change the length of the time period based on the usage frequency of the detected tilt pattern.

2. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the registered unlocking pattern identifies a sequence of at least two elements located over at least one face of the object.

3. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the registered tilt value is selected based on a usage frequency associated with the registered tilt value from among a plurality of tilt value stored in a memory.

4. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the registered tilt value is obtained automatically by the at least one processor by using a machine learning algorithm.

5. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the registered unlocking pattern connects at least two elements of the object.

6. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein detected unlocking pattern includes at least two numbers which are discretely selected.

7. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to rotate the object in response to the electronic device being tilted.

8. The electronic device of claim 1, further comprising a memory storing a plurality of registered tilt values, wherein each registered tilt value in the plurality corresponds to a different grip state and the electronic device is unlocked when the detected tilt value matches a registered tilt value from the plurality that is associated with a current grip state of the electronic device.

9. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein at least partially unlocking the electronic device includes unlocking a first function of the electronic device while leaving a second function of the electronic device locked.

10. The electronic device of claim 9, wherein the first function is selected for unlocking based on the detected unlocking pattern being input via a face of the object that is associated with the first function.

11. A method for unlocking an electronic device, the method comprising:

displaying, on a display, at least a part of a 3-dimensional (3D) object having a plurality of faces, each face comprising a respective plurality of elements;

detecting, by the electronic device, an unlocking pattern that is input using the object and tilt value that identifies at least one value in an orientation of the electronic device that occurs while the unlocking pattern is being input;

at least partially unlocking the electronic device based on the tilt value and the unlock pattern;

disabling an unlocking function of the electronic device for a time period in response to a threshold number of unsuccessful unlocking attempts being exceeded;

changing the threshold number of unsuccessful unlocking attempts based on a usage frequency of the detected tilt pattern; and

changing the length of the time period based on the usage frequency of the detected tilt pattern,

wherein the electronic device is at least partially unlocked when the detected unlocking pattern matches a registered unlocking pattern and the detected tilt pattern matches a registered tilt pattern.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the registered unlocking pattern identifies a sequence of at least two elements located over at least one face of the object.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the registered tilt value is selected based on a usage frequency associated with the registered tilt value from among a plurality of tilt value stored in a memory.

14. The method of claim 11, further comprising rotating the object in response to the electronic device being tilted.

15. The method of claim 11, wherein:

at least partially unlocking the electronic device includes unlocking a first function of the electronic device while leaving a second function of the electronic device locked, and

the first function is selected for unlocking based on the detected unlocking pattern being input via a face of the object that is associated with the first function.