Hybrid hardware/firmware multi-axis accelerometers for drop detect and tumble detect
First Claim
1. A portable computing device, comprising:
- a plurality of accelerometers; and
an embedded controller coupled to the plurality of accelerometers, wherein the embedded controller is configured to change the portable computing device from a first state to a second state when a predetermined condition is detected by at least one of the plurality of accelerometers.
12 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A portable computing device with hybrid hardware/firmware accelerometers for drop and tumble detect is disclosed. In one embodiment, a portable computing device can include: (i) a plurality of accelerometers; and (ii) an embedded controller coupled to the plurality of accelerometers, where the embedded controller can change the portable computing device from a first state to a second state when a predetermined condition is detected by at least one of the plurality of accelerometers. The predetermined condition can include a dropping, tumbling, or free fall situation. Also, the first state can be an active state, while the second state can be a protective state, such as where a hard drive is shut down, for example.
76 Citations
20 Claims
-
1. A portable computing device, comprising:
-
a plurality of accelerometers; and
an embedded controller coupled to the plurality of accelerometers, wherein the embedded controller is configured to change the portable computing device from a first state to a second state when a predetermined condition is detected by at least one of the plurality of accelerometers. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
-
-
6. The portable computing device of 1, wherein each of the plurality of accelerometers comprises a 3-axis accelerometer.
-
15. A method of protecting a portable computing device, the method comprising:
-
determining a vector magnitude using at least one accelerometer in the portable computing device;
indicating a predetermined condition when the vector magnitude is less than a predetermined threshold for at least a predetermined number of samples; and
using an embedded controller coupled to the at least one accelerometer to change the portable computing device from a first state to a second state. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19)
-
-
20. A means for protecting a portable computing device, the means comprising:
-
means for determining a vector magnitude using at least one accelerometer in the portable computing device;
means for indicating a predetermined condition when the vector magnitude is less than a predetermined threshold for at least a predetermined number of samples; and
means for using an embedded controller coupled to the at least one accelerometer to change the portable computing device from a first state to a second state.
-
Specification