APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING PORTABLE TERMINAL

• US 20140306885A1
• Filed: 06/26/2014
• Published: 10/16/2014
• 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
• Granted Patent: US 10,108,255 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/156
• 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 comprising:

a contact sensing unit to identify a contact information based at least in part on a contact sensed at least one outer surface of the apparatus; and

a control unit configured to perform operations comprising;

determining holding information in relation with a user holding an apparatus, the holding information comprising at least one of contact information or motion information;

analyzing, based on the holding information, a plurality of recognition models so as to select a recognition model associating the holding information with a function mode of the electronic device, the plurality of recognition models comprising information for recognizing the contact information and information for recognizing the motion information; and

providing one or more functions according to the function mode corresponding to the recognition model.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the plurality of recognition models comprises a first recognition model comprising the information for recognizing the contact information and a second recognition model comprising the information for recognizing the motion information.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising,

a motion sensing unit to identify the motion information.

4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the motion sensing unit comprises at least one of an inertial sensor, an acceleration sensor or a gyroscope sensor.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the contact sensing unit comprises:

a first sensor disposed within a display area; and

a second sensor disposed outside the display area,

wherein the contact information is generated using at least one of the first sensor or the second sensor.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the recognition model is determined based at least in part on a number of times the function mode is operated in relation with the holding information.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:

an external device sensing unit to generate an attachment information corresponding to an external device in relation with the apparatus.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the analyzing comprises:

analyzing, based on the attachment information, the plurality of recognition models so as to select a recognition model associating the attachment information with a function mode of the electronic device.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise:

updating the recognition model based on a user input indicating a desirability of the user in relation to the function mode.

10. A method comprising:

determining holding information in relation with a user holding an electronic device, the holding information comprising at least one of contact information or motion information;

analyzing, based on the holding information, a plurality of recognition models so as to select a recognition model associating the holding information with a function mode of the electronic device, the plurality of recognition models comprising information for recognizing the contact information and information for recognizing the motion information; and

operating the electronic device according to the function mode corresponding to the recognition model.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the plurality of recognition models comprises a first recognition model comprising the information for recognizing the contact information and a second recognition model comprising the information for recognizing the motion information.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the determining comprises:

determining the contact information based at least in part on a contact sensed at least one outer surface of the electronic device.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the determining comprises:

determining the motion information based at least in part on a motion of the electronic device, detected via one or more sensors.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein the analyzing comprises:

determining attachment information based at least in part on whether an external device is attached or detached to the electronic device; and

selecting the recognition model based at least in part on the holding information and the attachment information.

15. The method of claim 10, wherein the analyzing comprises:

determining whether an earphone is attached to the electronic device; and

selecting, based on the determination that the earphone is attached, a function mode in related with the earphone based at least in part on a recognition model associating the earphone with the function mode.

16. The method of claim 10, wherein the recognition model comprises a stochastic model.

17. The method of claim 10, wherein the recognition model is determined based at least in part on a number of times the function mode is operated in relation with the holding information.

18. The method of claim 10, wherein the operating comprises:

operating the electronic device according to at least one of a message service mode, a multimedia mode, a camera mode, a left-hand mode or a right-hand mode or a function thereof as the function mode.

19. The method of claim 10, wherein the updating comprises:

requesting the user to confirm whether the function mode is a function mode desired by the user.

20. A non-transitory machine-readable storage device storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:

determining holding information in relation with a user holding an electronic device;

analyzing, based on the holding information, a plurality of recognition models, so as to select a recognition model associating the holding information with a function mode of the electronic device; and

operating the electronic device according to the function mode corresponding to the recognition model.