Apparatus and method for controlling portable terminal

• US 10,423,221 B2
• Filed: 08/30/2018
• Issued: 09/24/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 11/19/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Shim, Jung-hyun, Kim, Kee-eung, Kim, Hyun-jin, Park, Joon-ah, Lee, Ho-yeal, Lee, Hyun-jeong, Chang, Wook, Chung, Seung-nyang, Cho, Sung-jung
• Primary Examiner(s): Di Prisco, German Viana
• Application Number:
  US16/117,532
• Publication Number:
  US 20190025908A1
• Time in Patent Office: 390 Days
• 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 1/1684 Constructional details or arrangements related to integrated I/O peripherals not covered by groups G06F1/1635 - G06F1/1675
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1686 the I/O peripheral being an integrated camera
• 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 3/011 Arrangements for interaction with the human body, e.g. for user immersion in virtual reality blind teaching G09B21/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/724 User interfaces specially adapted for cordless or mobile telephones
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/7243 with interactive means for internal management of messages
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72442 for playing music files
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72448 with means for adapting the functionality of the device according to specific conditions
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72454 according to context-related or environment-related conditions
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72469 for operating the device by selecting functions from two or more displayed items, e.g. menus or icons
• 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

Abstract

Provided is an apparatus and method for controlling a portable terminal. The apparatus includes a contact sensing unit which senses an area of an external surface of the portable terminal contacted by a user as the user holds the portable terminal, a recognizing unit which recognizes a function mode of the portable terminal based on information about the contacted area sensed by the contact sensing unit, and a control unit which changes the portable terminal to a function mode recognized by the recognizing unit. Since a function mode of the portable terminal is controlled according to the way a user holds the portable terminal, convenience of changing a function mode of the portable terminal is provided through a single manipulation.

Claims

1. An apparatus for controlling a portable terminal, the apparatus comprising:

a sensor configured to sense a contact area of an external surface of the portable terminal contacted by a user as the user holds the portable terminal; and

at least one processor configured to;

determine a function mode of the portable terminal based on the sensed contact area and a stored recognition model that is updated, based on whether the determined function mode, after an execution of the function mode, was a function mode desired by the user; and

select a function mode of the portable terminal corresponding to the determined function mode.

2. A method for controlling a portable terminal, the method comprising:

sensing, by a sensor of the portable terminal, a contact area of an external surface of the portable terminal contacted by a user as the user holds the portable terminal;

determining, by at least one processor, a function mode of the portable terminal based on the sensed contact area and a stored recognition model that is updated based on whether the determined function mode, after an execution of the function mode, was a function mode desired by the user; and

selecting, by the at least one processor, a function mode of the portable terminal corresponding to the determined function mode.

3. A non-transitory computer readable recording medium storing a program to implement a method, the method comprising:

sensing, by a sensor of the portable terminal, a contact area of an external surface of the portable terminal contacted by a user as the user holds the portable terminal;

determining, by at least one processor, a function mode of the portable terminal based on the sensed contact area and a stored recognition model that is updated, based on whether the determined function mode, after an execution of the function mode, was a function mode desired by the user; and

selecting, by the at least one processor, a function mode of the portable terminal corresponding to the determined function mode.