Method and apparatus for operating electronic device based on environmental information

• US 10,511,932 B2
• Filed: 11/18/2016
• Issued: 12/17/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 11/20/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Joo, Jae-Seok, Park, Jeong-Min, Kim, Tae-Ho
• Primary Examiner(s): Wathen, Brian W
• Assistant Examiner(s): Dang, Hung H
• Application Number:
  US15/355,796
• Publication Number:
  US 20170146970A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,124 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/042 using digital processors G05B19/05 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/23227 Environment conditions affect execution of program
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/021 Services related to particular areas, e.g. point of interest [POI] services, venue services or geofences
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

A method and apparatus for operating an electronic device based on environmental information are provided. The electronic device includes sensors functionally connected to the electronic device; and at least one processor configured to: receive, at least one sensor of the sensors, environmental information corresponding to a surrounding area of the electronic device, determine a risk level based on the environmental information, perform a first function if the risk level satisfies a first condition, and perform a second function if the risk level satisfies a second condition different from the first condition.

Claims

1. An electronic device comprising:

a first sensor configured to obtain location information of the electronic device;

a plurality of second sensors; and

at least one processor configured to;

receive, from an external electronic device, environmental information corresponding to a predefined area,

identify, a first risk type of the predefined area and a first risk level associated with the first risk type of the predefined area, based on the environmental information,

in response to identifying that a part of the predefined area has a second risk level equal to or higher than a reference risk level of the first risk type, determine a first geo-fence related to the first risk type using location information corresponding to the part of the predefined area, based on the identified first risk type of the part of the predefined area, and

in response to identifying that the electronic device enters the first geo-fence by using location information of the electronic device obtained from the first sensor, obtain sensing data from at least one sensor associated with the first risk type from among the plurality of second sensors.

2. The electronic device of claim 1,

wherein the environmental information includes risk type information about dust, fine dust, micro dust, ozone, ultraviolet light, temperature, atmospheric pressure, humidity, disasters, diseases, or accidents associated with the predefined area.

3. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the environmental information includes location information, map information, text information, or geo-fence information corresponding to the predefined area.

4. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:

in response to identifying that the part of the predefined area has the second risk level equal to or higher than the reference risk level of the first risk type, perform a first function, and

in response to identifying that another part of the predefined area having a third risk level is lower than the reference risk level of the first risk type, perform a second function.

5. The electronic device of claim 4, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to perform the first function to:

obtain the location information of the electronic device by the first sensor,

determine a positional relationship between the electronic device and the first geo-fence, and

control the at least one sensor associated with the first risk type from among the plurality of second sensors according to the positional relationship between the electronic device and the first geo-fence.

6. The electronic device of claim 5, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:

compare map information included in the environmental information with reference map information,

obtain location information corresponding to a first part of the predefined area using a result of the comparison of the map information, and

determine the first geo-fence using the location information corresponding to the first part of the predefined area.

7. The electronic device of claim 5, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:

analyze a sentence structure of text information included in the environmental information,

obtain location information corresponding to a second part of the predefined area using a result of the analysis of the sentence structure, and

determine the first geo-fence using the location information corresponding to the second part of the predefined area.

8. The electronic device of claim 5, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:

determine the first geo-fence using geo-fence information included in the environmental information.

9. The electronic device of claim 5, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to perform the first function to:

determine an operating cycle of the at least one sensor associated with the first risk type from among the plurality of second sensors according to the positional relationship between the electronic device and the first geo-fence, and

obtain the sensing data from the at least one sensor according to the operating cycle.

10. The electronic device of claim 5, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to perform the first function to:

determine sensing sensitivity of the at least one sensor associated with the first risk type from among the plurality of second sensors according to the positional relationship between the electronic device and the first geo-fence, and

obtain the sensing data from the at least one sensor according to the sensing sensitivity.

11. The electronic device of claim 5, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to perform the first function to:

determine whether at least a portion of a second geo-fence is within a predetermined range of the first geo-fence, or the first geo-fence and the second geo-fence are overlapped, and

determine a third geo-fence by combining the first geo-fence and a range of the second geo-fence.

12. The electronic device of claim 5, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to perform the first function to:

modify a time period for detecting the environmental information based on the positional relationship between the electronic device and the first geo-fence.

13. The electronic device of claim 4, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to perform the first function to:

determine a state of the electronic device by using one or more sensors associated with the state of the electronic device from among the plurality of sensors,

determine whether the one or more sensors are able to perform a sensing operation according to the state of the electronic device, and

provide a notification corresponding to the determination of whether the sensing operation is performed according to a location of the electronic device.

14. The electronic device of claim 4, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to perform the first function to:

obtain biometric information of a user using at least one biometric sensor from among the plurality of sensors, and

adjust a range of the first geo-fence according to the biometric information.

15. The electronic device of claim 14, wherein the biometric information includes identification information, physical information, health information, disease information, exercise information, activity information, or stress information.

16. The electronic device of claim 1, further comprising:

an interface configured to transmit the sensing data to the external electronic device if the sensing data is obtained from the at least one sensor associated with the first risk type from among the plurality of second sensors.

17. The electronic device of claim 4, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to perform the second function to:

determine whether there is a predetermined geo-fence, and

if the predetermined geo-fence exists, adjust a range of the predetermined geo-fence based on the third risk level, or release the predetermined geo-fence.

18. A method for controlling an electronic device comprising:

receiving, from an external electronic device, environmental information corresponding to a predefined area;

identifying, a first risk type of the predefined area and a first risk level associated with the first risk type of the predefined area, based on the environmental information;

in response to identifying that a part of the predefined area has a second risk level equal to or higher than a reference risk level of the first risk type, determining a first geo-fence related to the first risk type using location information corresponding to the part of the predefined area, based on the identified first risk type of the part of the predefined area; and

in response to identifying that the electronic device enters the first geo-fence by using location information of the electronic device obtained from a first sensor of the electronic device, obtaining sensing data from at least one sensor associated with the first risk type from among a plurality of second sensors of the electronic device.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

in response to identifying that the part of the predefined area has the second risk level equal to or higher than the reference risk level of the first risk type, performing a first function, and

in response to identifying that another part of the predefined area having a third risk level is lower than the reference risk level of the first risk type, performing a second function.