SELF ADAPTING ALERT DEVICE

• US 20110077055A1
• Filed: 09/30/2009
• Published: 03/31/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 09/30/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Huwe, Ethan Larry, Pakula, Dave, Hill, Matthew, Dinh, Richard Hung Minh, Rothkopf, Fletcher
• Granted Patent: US 8,552,859 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/567
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/016 Input arrangements with force or tactile feedback as computer generated output to the user
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 23/00 Alarms responsive to unspecified undesired or abnormal conditions
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/016 Personal emergency signalling and security systems emergency non-personal manually actuated alarm activators G08B25/12
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 19/04 the ringing-current being generated at the substations
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 19/047 Vibrating means for incoming calls
• 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

Methods and apparatuses are disclosed that allow an electronic device to autonomously adapt one or more user alerts to the current operating environment of the electronic device. For example, some embodiments may include a method comprising providing a plurality of alert devices in an electronic device, determining an operating environment of the electronic device using a sensor of the electronic device, and actuating at least one of the plurality of alert devices that corresponds to the determined operating environment.

Claims

1. A method comprising the acts of:

providing a plurality of alert devices in an electronic device;

determining an operating environment of the electronic device using a sensor of the electronic device; and

actuating at least one of the plurality of alert devices that corresponds to the determined operating environment.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the act of determining the operating environment includes combining readings from multiple sensors of the electronic device.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one of the plurality of alert devices suited for the operating environment is a motor.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the sensor includes at least one accelerometer.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising the act of modifying a control signal of the motor in response to a measurement from the at least one accelerometer.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the motor causes the electronic device to vibrate at a target frequency that corresponds to the operating environment of the electronic device.

7. An electronic device that autonomously adjusts a user alert, the electronic device comprising:

a storage unit;

an error detector couple to the storage unit;

a sensor coupled to the error detector;

a motor controller coupled to the error detector; and

a motor coupled to the motor controller, wherein a reference value stored in the storage unit is varied to achieve a target frequency of the electronic device.

8. The electronic device of claim 7, wherein the sensor is an accelerometer.

9. The electronic device of claim 8, wherein values from the accelerometer are iteratively used by the electronic device to adjust the stored reference value.

10. The electronic device of claim 9, wherein the electronic device is a phone and the adjustment of the stored reference value occurs within an integer number of rings of the phone.

11. The electronic device of claim 7, wherein an initial reference value is stored in the storage unit that corresponds to an operating environment of the electronic device.

12. The electronic device of claim 11, wherein the operating environment is determined based upon a measurement from the sensor.

13. The electronic device of claim 11, wherein the operating environment is determined based upon minimizing an error signal from the error detector.

14. The electronic device of claim 7, wherein the target frequency is determined based upon the motor controller iteratively changing a control signal to the motor.

15. The electronic device of claim 7, further comprising a plurality of motors capable of being operated concurrently so as to achieve the target frequency.

16. A method of adjusting user alerts in an electronic device, the method comprising the acts of:

determining a current operating environment from a sensor of the electronic device;

storing an initial reference value corresponding to an initial target frequency of the electronic device in the current operating environment; and

in the event that the user alert is to be optimized, then the method further comprises the acts of modifying the initial reference value and storing measurements from the sensor.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising comparing at least two measurements from the sensor.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the user alert is a motor, the sensor is an accelerometer, and modifying the initial reference value includes operating the motor such that the target frequency of the electronic device is actively determined.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the electronic device is a phone and the target frequency of the phone is achieved within a single ring of the phone.

20. The method of claim 16, wherein the acts of modifying the reference value and storing measurements from the sensor further comprise the acts of:

increasing a control signal associated with a motor;

storing a first measurement from the sensor;

decreasing the control signal associated with the motor;

storing a second measurement from the sensor;

comparing the first and second measurements; and

determining whether to increase or decrease the control signal associated with the motor based upon the comparison.