Methods and apparatuses for operating a portable device based on an accelerometer

• US 8,698,744 B2
• Filed: 04/06/2010
• Issued: 04/15/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 10/02/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Wehrenberg, Paul J., Leiba, Aaron, Williams, Richard C., Falkenburg, David R., Gerbarg, Louis G., Chang, Ray L.
• Primary Examiner(s): Sasinowski, Andrew
• Application Number:
  US12/755,280
• Publication Number:
  US 20100188331A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,470 Days
• Field of Search: 345156-158, 345163-164, 345167-169, 345/173
• US Class Current: 345/158
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1605 Multimedia displays, e.g. with integrated or attached speakers, cameras, microphones
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1616 with folding flat displays, e.g. laptop computers or notebooks having a clamshell configuration, with body parts pivoting to an open position around an axis parallel to the plane they define in closed position
• 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 1/1694 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 1/1698 the I/O peripheral being a sending/receiving arrangement to establish a cordless communication link, e.g. radio or infrared link, integrated cellular phone details of antennas disposed inside a computer H01Q1/2266
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2200/1614 Image rotation following screen orientation, e.g. switching from landscape to portrait mode
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2200/1636 Sensing arrangement for detection of a tap gesture on the housing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2200/1637 Sensing arrangement for detection of housing movement or orientation, e.g. for controlling scrolling or cursor movement on the display of an handheld computer
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/016 Input arrangements with force or tactile feedback as computer generated output to the user
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0346 with detection of the device orientation or free movement in a 3D space, e.g. 3D mice, 6-DOF [six degrees of freedom] pointers using gyroscopes, accelerometers or tilt-sensors
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04845 for image manipulation, e.g. dragging, rotation, expansion or change of colour
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0485 Scrolling or panning
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/162 Interface to dedicated audio devices, e.g. audio drivers, interface to CODECs
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/165 Management of the audio stream, e.g. setting of volume, audio stream path
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/167 Audio in a user interface, e.g. using voice commands for navigating, audio feedback

Abstract

Methods and apparatuses for operating a portable device based on an accelerometer are described. According to one embodiment of the invention, a movement of a portable device is detected using an accelerometer attached to the portable device. An orientation of the portable device after the movement is determined based on movement data provided by the accelerometer. It is determined whether the portable device is held by a user after the movement based on the movement data provided by the accelerometer. Locations of the hands of the user for holding the portable device are determined based on the orientation of the portable device. At least one interface that is not within the predicted locations of the hands of the user is activated.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

detecting a movement of a portable device using an accelerometer attached to the portable device;

determining an orientation of the portable device after the movement based on movement data provided by the accelerometer;

determining whether the portable device is held by a user after the movement based on the movement data provided by the accelerometer;

predicting locations of the hands of the user for holding the portable device based on the orientation of the portable device; and

activating at least one interface that is not within the predicted locations of the hands of the user.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

activating at least one interface of the portable device that is best suitable for given the determined orientation; and

optionally deactivating at least one interface of the portable device that is less suitable for the given determined orientation.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising deactivating at least one interface that is within the predicted locations.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one interface includes one or more wireless transceiver.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

activating at least one wireless transceiver that communicates with relatively strong signals; and

optionally deactivating at least one wireless transceiver that communicates with relatively weak signals.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one interface includes one or more speakers.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising driving at least one speaker to have a best sound effect given the determined orientation of the portable device after the movement.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one interface includes one or more cameras.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one interface includes one or more microphones.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one interface includes one or more video output interfaces.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the portable device is one of a laptop computer, a tablet PC, a PDA (personal digital assistant), a cellular phone, a personal communicator, and a media player.

12. A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium having machine-executable instructions stored therein, which when executed by a machine, cause the machine to perform a method, the method comprising:

detecting a movement of a portable device using an accelerometer attached to the portable device;

determining an orientation of the portable device after the movement based on movement data provided by the accelerometer;

determining whether the portable device is held by a user after the movement based on the movement data provided by the accelerometer;

predicting locations of the hands of the user for holding the portable device based on the orientation of the portable device; and

activating at least one interface that is not within the predicted locations of the hands of the user.

13. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein the method further comprises:

activating at least one interface of the portable device that is best suitable for given the determined orientation; and

optionally deactivating at least one interface of the portable device that is less suitable for the given determined orientation.

14. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein the method further comprises deactivating at least one interface that is within the predicted locations.

15. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein the at least one interface includes one or more wireless transceiver.

16. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the method further comprises:

activating at least one wireless transceiver that communicates with relatively strong signals; and

optionally deactivating at least one wireless transceiver that communicates with relatively weak signals.

17. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein the portable device is one of a laptop computer, a tablet PC, a PDA (personal digital assistant), a cellular phone, a personal communicator, and a media player.

18. A portable device, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory for storing executable instructions, which when executed from the memory, cause the processor to perform operations, including detecting a movement of a portable device using an accelerometer attached to the portable device, determining an orientation of the portable device after the movement based on movement data provided by the accelerometer, determining whether the portable device is held by a user after the movement based on the movement data provided by the accelerometer, predicting locations of the hands of the user for holding the portable device based on the orientation of the portable device, and activating at least one interface that is not within the predicted locations of the hands of the user.

19. The portable device of claim 18, wherein the operations further comprise:

activating at least one interface of the portable device that is best suitable for given the determined orientation; and

optionally deactivating at least one interface of the portable device that is less suitable for the given determined orientation.

20. The portable device of claim 18, wherein the operations further comprise deactivating at least one interface that is within the predicted locations.

21. The portable device of claim 18, wherein the at least one interface includes one or more wireless transceiver.

22. The portable device of claim 21, wherein at least one wireless transceiver that communicates with relatively strong signals is activated, and wherein at least one wireless transceiver that communicates with relatively weak signals is optionally deactivated.

23. The portable device of claim 18, wherein the portable device is one of a laptop computer, a tablet PC, a PDA (personal digital assistant), a cellular phone, a personal communicator, and a media player.