Mobile terminal and method of operating the same

• US 9,986,086 B2
• Filed: 07/15/2015
• Issued: 05/29/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 07/31/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Kim, Yun-jung
• Primary Examiner(s): Afshar, Kamran
• Assistant Examiner(s): Kim, Minjung
• Application Number:
  US14/800,103
• Publication Number:
  US 20160036965A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,049 Days
• 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: H04M 1/67 by electronic means
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/724094 Interfacing with a device worn on the user's body to provide access to telephonic functionalities, e.g. accepting a call, reading or composing a message
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72412 using two-way short-range wireless interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72463 to restrict the functionality of the device
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/724631 by limiting the access to the user interface, e.g. locking a touch-screen or a keypad
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/12 including a sensor for measuring a physical value, e.g. temperature or motion telephones including GPS signal receivers H04M2250/10
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/70 Services for machine-to-machine communication [M2M] or machine type communication [MTC]

Abstract

A mobile terminal and a method of operating the mobile terminal are provided. The mobile terminal includes a sensor configured to sense a motion of the mobile terminal, and a communication interface configured to receive, from a wearable device corresponding to the mobile terminal, information of a motion of the wearable device, the motion of the wearable device being sensed during a time period from a start time requested by the mobile terminal. The mobile terminal further includes a controller configured to determine whether the motion of the mobile terminal and the motion of the wearable device have a correlation of a level or greater, and unlock the mobile terminal, in response to the controller determining that the motion of the mobile terminal and the motion of the wearable device have the correlation of the level or greater.

Claims

1. A mobile terminal comprising:

a display configured to display a received notification message regarding at least one application installed on the mobile terminal, when the mobile terminal is in a locked state;

a sensor configured to sense a motion of the mobile terminal;

a communication interface configured to transmit, to a wearable device corresponding to the mobile terminal, a request for information of a motion of the wearable device and to receive, from the wearable device, the information of the motion of the wearable device and information indicating a state of the wearable device, the motion of the wearable device being sensed during a time period; and

a controller configured to;

determine whether a correlation between a direction of the motion of the mobile terminal and a direction of the motion of the wearable device is greater than a threshold;

change a state of the mobile terminal from the locked state, in which a screen of the mobile terminal is deactivated or a lock screen is displayed by the mobile terminal, to an unlocked state in response to determining that the correlation between the direction of the motion of the mobile terminal and the direction of the motion of the wearable device is greater than the threshold and in response to determining that the state of the wearable device is an unlocked state according to the received information indicating the state of the wearable device; and

automatically execute the at least one application related to the notification message in the unlocked state, when the state of the mobile terminal is changed from the locked state to the unlocked state based on the direction of the motion of the wearable device and the state of the wearable device,

wherein the controller is further configured to recognize that the wearable device is within a distance range from the mobile terminal, and

wherein the display is configured to display a message notifying that the mobile terminal may be unlocked if the motion of the mobile terminal and the motion of the wearable device are the same or similar, in response to the controller recognizing that the wearable device is within the distance range.

2. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein the sensor is further configured to sense the motion of the mobile terminal during a time period identical to the time period during which the motion of the wearable device is sensed.

3. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein the controller is further configured to determine whether the motion of the mobile terminal and a motion set in advance have a correlation greater than a threshold, and

the communication interface is further configured to transmit, to the wearable device, the request for the information of the motion of the wearable device, in response to the controller determining that the motion of the mobile terminal and the motion set in advance have the correlation greater than the threshold.

4. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein the controller is further configured to control the mobile terminal to perform an operation corresponding to an operation that the wearable device is performing, in response to the controller determining that the direction of the motion of the mobile terminal and the direction of the motion of the wearable device have the correlation greater than the threshold.

5. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein the communication interface is further configured to receive, from the wearable device, information of content that the wearable device is reproducing, in response to the controller determining that the direction of the motion of the mobile terminal and the direction of the motion of the wearable device have the correlation greater than the threshold, and

the controller is further configured to control the mobile terminal to reproduce the content based on the information of the content.

6. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein the communication interface is further configured to receive, from the wearable device, information of a web page that the wearable device is displaying, in response to the controller determining that the direction of the motion of the mobile terminal and the direction of the motion of the wearable device have the correlation greater than the threshold, and

the display is further configured to display the web page based on the information of the web page.

7. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein the communication interface is further configured to receive, from the wearable device, information of a call the wearable device is connecting, in response to the controller determining that the direction of the motion of the mobile terminal and the direction of the motion of the wearable device have the correlation greater than the threshold, and

the controller is further configured to control the mobile terminal to connect the call based on the information of the call.

8. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein the communication interface is further configured to receive, from the wearable device, information of an application corresponding to a message the wearable device receives, in response to the controller determining that the direction of the motion of the mobile terminal and the direction of the motion of the wearable device have the correlation greater than the threshold, and

the controller is further configured to control the mobile terminal to execute the application based on the information of the application.

9. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein the information of the motion of the wearable device comprises a direction, a size, and a velocity of a movement of the wearable device.

10. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to magnify or reduce the information on the motion of the wearable device by a predetermined ratio.

11. A method of operating a mobile terminal, the method comprising:

receiving a notification message regarding at least one application installed on the mobile terminal, when the mobile terminal is in a locked state;

displaying the notification message regarding the at least one application;

sensing a motion of the mobile terminal;

requesting, by transmitting a request to a wearable device corresponding to the mobile terminal, information of a motion of the wearable device;

receiving, from the wearable device corresponding to the mobile terminal, the information of the motion of the wearable device and information indicating a state of the wearable device, the motion of the wearable device being sensed during a time period;

determining whether a correlation between a direction of the motion of the mobile terminal and a direction of the motion of the wearable device is greater than a threshold;

changing a state of the mobile terminal from the locked state, in which a screen of the mobile terminal is deactivated or a lock screen is displayed by the mobile terminal, to an unlocked state, in response to the determining that the correlation between the direction of the motion of the mobile terminal and the direction of the motion of the wearable device is greater than the threshold and in response to determining that the state of the wearable device is an unlocked state according to the received information indicating the state of the wearable device; and

automatically executing the at least one application related to the notification message in the unlocked state, when the state of the mobile terminal is changed from the locked state to the unlocked state based on the direction of the motion of the wearable device and the state of the wearable device,

wherein the method further comprises;

recognizing that the wearable device is within a distance range from the mobile terminal, and

displaying a message notifying that the mobile terminal may be unlocked if the motion of the mobile terminal and the motion of the wearable device are the same or similar, in response to the recognizing that the wearable device is within the distance range.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the sensing comprises sensing the motion of the mobile terminal during a time period identical to the time period during which the motion of the wearable device is sensed.

13. The method of claim 11, further comprising determining whether the motion of the mobile terminal and a motion set in advance have a correlation greater than a threshold,

wherein the requesting comprises requesting, from the wearable device, the information of the motion of the wearable device, in response to the determining that the motion of the mobile terminal and the motion set in advance have the correlation greater than the threshold.

14. The method of claim 11, further comprising performing an operation corresponding to an operation that the wearable device is performing, in response to the determining that the direction of the motion of the mobile terminal and the direction of the motion of the wearable device have the correlation greater than the threshold.

15. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

receiving, from the wearable device, information of content that the wearable device is reproducing, in response to the determining that the direction of the motion of the mobile terminal and the direction of the motion of the wearable device have the correlation greater than the threshold; and

reproducing the content based on the information of the content.

16. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

receiving, from the wearable device, information of a web page that the wearable device is displaying, in response to the determining that the direction of the motion of the mobile terminal and the direction of the motion of the wearable device have the correlation greater than the threshold; and

displaying the web page based on the information of the web page.

17. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

receiving, from the wearable device, information of a call the wearable device is connecting, in response to the determining that the direction of the motion of the mobile terminal and the direction of the motion of the wearable device have the correlation greater than the threshold; and

connecting the call based on the information of the call.

18. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

receiving, from the wearable device, information of an application corresponding to a message the wearable device receives, in response to the determining that the direction of the motion of the mobile terminal and the direction of the motion of the wearable device have the correlation greater than the threshold; and

executing the application based on the information of the application.

19. A mobile terminal comprising:

a display configured to display a received notification message regarding at least one application installed on the mobile terminal, when the mobile terminal is in a locked state;

a sensor configured to sense an input for unlocking the mobile terminal, and a motion of the mobile terminal;

a communication interface configured to;

transmit, to a wearable device corresponding to the mobile terminal, a request for a motion of the wearable device, in response to the sensor sensing the input; and

receive, from the wearable device, information of the motion of the wearable device and information indicating a state of the wearable device, the motion of the wearable device being sensed during a time period; and

a controller configured to;

determine whether a correlation between a direction of the motion of the mobile terminal and a direction of the motion of the wearable device is greater than a threshold;

change a state of the mobile terminal from the locked state, in which a screen of the mobile terminal is deactivated or a lock screen is displayed by the mobile terminal, to an unlocked state, in response to determining that the correlation between the direction of the motion of the mobile terminal and the direction of the motion of the wearable device is greater than the threshold and in response to determining that the state of the wearable device is an unlocked state according to the received information indicating the state of the wearable device; and

automatically execute the at least one application related to the notification message in the unlocked state, when the state of the mobile terminal is changed from the locked state to the unlocked state based on the direction of the motion of the wearable device and the state of the wearable device,

wherein the controller is further configured to recognize that the wearable device is within a distance range from the mobile terminal, and

wherein the display is configured to display a message notifying that the mobile terminal may be unlocked if the motion of the mobile terminal and the motion of the wearable device are the same or similar, in response to the controller recognizing that the wearable device is within the distance range.

20. The mobile terminal of claim 19, wherein the input comprises a hold and a lift of the mobile terminal.

21. The mobile terminal of claim 19, wherein the sensor is further configured to sense the motion of the mobile terminal during a time period identical to the time period during which the motion of the wearable device is sensed.

22. The mobile terminal of claim 19, wherein the request includes information indicating the time period comprising a start time and an end time.