USER IDENTIFICATION IN CELL PHONES BASED ON SKIN CONTACT

• US 20160198031A1
• Filed: 01/06/2016
• Published: 07/07/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 08/15/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Pratt, James, Everett, Sarah, Sullivan, Marc
• Granted Patent: US 9,628,600 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3203 Power management, i.e. event-based initiation of a power-saving mode
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3231 Monitoring the presence, absence or movement of users
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0861 using biometrical features, e.g. fingerprint, retina-scan cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication using biological data H04L9/3231
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/66 with means for preventing unauthorised or fraudulent calling verifying user identity or authority in secret or secure digital communications H04L9/32
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/67 by electronic means
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72448 with means for adapting the functionality of the device according to specific conditions
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/22 including a touch pad, a touch sensor or a touch detector digitizers for touch screens G06F3/041
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/06 Authentication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/065 Continuous authentication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0254 detecting a user operation or a tactile contact or a motion of the device
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0258 controlling an operation mode according to history or models of usage information, e.g. activity schedule or time of day
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/027 by controlling a display operation or backlight unit
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 10/00 Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

Screen time-outs on a portable electronic device can be customized based on user activity. In one aspect, a sensing component receives data from one or more sensors located on the portable electronic device, for example, skin conductivity sensors and determines whether the user is using the portable device, either actively or passively and also determines the identity of the user. A configuring component is employed to change one or more features or functions of the portable electronic device based on the information determined by the sensing component. In particular, the configuring component changes one of more features of the portable electronic device based on the preferences predefined by the identified user and device usage (active and passive usage).

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory that stores executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, facilitate performance of operations, comprising;

based on touch data received from a first sensor of a user equipment, determining that the user equipment is not being utilized by a first user;

in response to the determining that the user equipment is not being utilized by the first user, initiating a display time-out of the user equipment;

based on additional touch data received from the first sensor of the user equipment, determining that the user equipment is being utilized by an unauthorized second user; and

based on determining that the user equipment is being utilized by the unauthorized second user, adjusting a setting of the user equipment.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the setting of the user equipment is a security setting of the user equipment.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the operations further comprise:

granting a limited access to a feature of the user equipment in response to the adjusting the setting of the user equipment.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the operations further comprise:

initiating a display time-out protocol in response to granting the limited access.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the initiating the display time-out comprises modifying a brightness of a display screen of the user equipment.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the modifying the brightness comprises dimming the display screen in accordance with the display time-out protocol.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the display time-out protocol is based on preference data received during a setup procedure associated with the first user.

8. The user equipment of claim 1, wherein user identity data is associated with the first user, and wherein the user identity data is based on measurement data indicative of a body temperature of the first user.

9. A method, comprising:

verifying, by a mobile device comprising a processor, that the mobile device is not being utilized by a first user identity associated with a first user;

based on thermal data received from a sensor of the mobile device, determining, by the mobile device, that the mobile device is being utilized by a second user identity associated with a second user;

in response to the determining that the mobile device is being utilized by the second user identity, determining that the second user identity is not an authorized user identity; and

based on the determining that the second user identity is not the authorized user identity, restricting access to a feature of the mobile device in accordance with a preference of the first user identity.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the verifying comprises verifying based on a conductivity of skin of the first user.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the thermal data comprises data associated with a change in temperature.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein the restricting access to the feature comprises dimming a display screen of the mobile device.

13. The method of claim 9, wherein the preference of the first user is related to a security preference associated with a display screen time-out in response to determining that the second user identity is an unauthorized user identity.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the display screen time-out comprising dimming the display screen prior to a full display screen time-out.

15. A machine-readable storage medium, comprising executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, facilitate performance of operations, comprising:

based on first measurement data received from a first sensor of a communication device, verifying that the communication device is not being utilized;

based on second measurement data received from a second sensor of the communication device, determining first identity data that is indicative of a first user identity of the communication device;

based on third measurement data received from the second sensor of the communication device, determining second identity data that is indicative of a second user identity of the communication device, wherein the second user identity is an unauthorized user identity; and

in response to the determining the second identity data, restricting use of the communication device based on a setting preference of the first user identity.

16. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the setting preference is related to a security setting.

17. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the security setting comprises a vibration mode.

18. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein the security setting comprises a time-out period determined during a preference setup procedure implemented by the communication device.

19. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 18, wherein a mode of operation of the communication device is customized based on the first identity data during preference setup procedure.

20. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the determining the first identity data that is indicative of the first user identity comprises determining the first identity data based on salt level data associated with the first user identity.