Silent mobile device vibration

• US 9,779,717 B2
• Filed: 06/24/2016
• Issued: 10/03/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 04/24/2014
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Elwha LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: Elwha LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Inventors: Chan, Alistair K., Hyde, Roderick A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Gauthier, Gerald
• Application Number:
  US15/191,888
• Publication Number:
  US 20160307556A1
• Time in Patent Office: 466 Days
• Field of Search: 381 712, 381 718, 381424, 4554042, 4554122, 705 13
• CPC Class Codes: G10K 11/175 using interference effects; Masking sound
• CPC Class Codes: G10K 11/17821 characterised by the analysis of the input signals only
• CPC Class Codes: G10K 11/1783 handling or detecting of non-standard events or conditions, e.g. changing operating modes under specific operating conditions
• CPC Class Codes: G10K 11/17857 Geometric disposition, e.g. placement of microphones
• CPC Class Codes: G10K 11/17873 using a reference signal without an error signal, e.g. pure feedforward
• CPC Class Codes: G10K 2210/129 Vibration, e.g. instead of, or in addition to, acoustic noise
• CPC Class Codes: G10K 2210/3046 Multiple acoustic inputs, multiple acoustic outputs

Abstract

A mobile device vibrational sound system includes a processing circuit configured to activate a selectively vibratable element based on a triggering event, and control operation of a speaker to provide a mitigation sound configured to at least partially cancel a vibrational sound resulting from activation of the vibratable element.

Claims

1. A method of at least partially cancelling a vibrational sound created by a selectively vibratable element in a mobile device, comprising:

receiving a signal regarding a triggering event at a processing circuit; and

controlling, by the processing circuit, a speaker to provide a mitigation sound configured to at least partially cancel a vibrational sound created by a selectively vibratable element in a mobile device based on receipt of the signal and a location of the mobile device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the mitigation sound comprises a phase inverted representation of the vibrational sound.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the triggering event includes at least one of a text message, an email message, an incoming phone call, a reminder notification, a social media notification, and a photo message.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the mobile device includes at least one of a smartphone, a cellular phone, a tablet computer, a PDA, and a watch.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the speaker is configured to provide the mitigation sound in a direction selected by the processing circuit to interfere with and cause the at least partial cancellation of the vibrational sound.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the processing circuit is configured to select the direction by selecting at least one speaker from a plurality of speakers.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the processing circuit is configured to be operable in a first mode, a second mode, and a third mode.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein in the first mode, the processing circuit is configured to control operation of the speaker to provide the mitigation sound at a predetermined amplitude and duration.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the amplitude is based on an activation level of the selectively vibratable element.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the predetermined duration is based on an activation duration of the selectively vibratable element.

11. The method of claim 7, wherein in the second mode, the processing circuit is configured to control operation of the speaker to provide the mitigation sound based on the location of the mobile device.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the processing circuit is configured to determine the location of the mobile device based on at least one of a user input identifying the location and a utilization of a location positioning system.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the processing circuit includes a memory device configured to store a plurality of vibrational sounds for a plurality of locations of the mobile device.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the processing circuit determines a location specific mitigation sound for each location within the plurality of locations based on the vibrational sound for each location.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein the processing circuit includes a memory device configured to store a plurality of location specific mitigation sounds for the plurality of locations of the mobile device.

16. The method of claim 7, wherein in the third mode, the processing circuit is configured to control operation of the speaker to provide the mitigation sound based on sound wave characteristics of the vibrational sound.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the sound wave characteristics include at least one of an amplitude, a phase, and a frequency.

18. A method of at least partially cancelling a vibrational sound caused by the vibration of a mobile device, comprising:

receiving a vibrational sound based on vibration of a mobile device;

determining a mitigation sound based on the vibrational sound and a location of the mobile device, the mitigation sound configured to at least partially cancel the vibrational sound; and

providing the mitigation sound.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising receiving the vibrational sound by a microphone, the microphone configured to receive the vibrational sound in an acoustical format, convert the acoustical format of the vibrational sound into an electrical signal, and provide the electrical signal to a processing circuit of the mobile device.

20. The method of claim 18, further comprising providing the mitigation sound by a speaker controlled by the processing circuit, wherein the speaker is configured to provide the mitigation sound in a direction selected by the processing circuit to directly interfere with and cause the at least partial cancellation of the vibrational sound.

21. The method of claim 18, wherein the mitigation sound comprises a phase inverted representation of the vibrational sound.

22. The method of claim 18, wherein the mobile device is configured to vibrate based on reception of a triggering event.

23. The method of claim 18, further comprising providing the mitigation sound continuously based on the received vibrational sound.

24. The method of claim 18, further comprising receiving an input, and adjusting the mitigation sound based on the input.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein the adjustment includes at least one of an amplitude input, a phase input, and a frequency input.

26. The method of claim 18, wherein the partial cancellation includes reducing an audible level of the vibrational sound by at least fifteen percent.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein the audible level is a sound level of the vibrational sound at the mobile device.

28. A method of reducing sound created by a vibrating mobile device, comprising:

receiving a signal regarding a triggering event at a processing circuit;

activating, by the processing circuit, a selectively vibratable element in the mobile device based on the triggering event, the activation resulting in a generation of a vibrational sound;

determining a location of the mobile device; and

providing a mitigation sound based on the location, wherein the mitigation sound is configured to at least partially cancel the vibrational sound.

29. The method of claim 28, further comprising providing the mitigation sound by a speaker controlled by the processing circuit.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein the speaker is configured to provide the mitigation sound in a direction selected by the processing circuit to interfere with and cause at least partial cancellation of the vibrational sound.

31. The method of claim 30, wherein the processing circuit is configured to select the direction by selecting at least one speaker from a plurality of speakers.

32. The method of claim 28, wherein the processing circuit includes a memory device configured to store a plurality of vibrational sounds for a plurality of locations of the mobile device.

33. The method of claim 32, wherein the processing circuit is configured to determine the location of the mobile device from the plurality of locations based on a comparison of the vibrational sound and the stored vibrational sounds.

34. The method of claim 32, wherein the processing circuit determines a location specific mitigation sound for each location within the plurality of locations based on the vibrational sound for each location.

35. The method of claim 28, wherein the processing circuit is configured to determine the location of the mobile device based on at least one of a user input identifying the location of the mobile device and a utilization of a location positioning system.