Method and apparatus for terminal to determine approach of object

• US 9,310,486 B2
• Filed: 12/23/2013
• Issued: 04/12/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 06/24/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Honor Device Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Huawei Device Company Limited (Huawei Investment & Holding Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Guo, Lei
• Primary Examiner(s): Aminzay, Shaima Q
• Application Number:
  US14/139,006
• Publication Number:
  US 20140113686A1
• Time in Patent Office: 841 Days
• Field of Search: 455/566, 455/41.1, 455/41.2, 455/41.3, 455/550.1, 455/556.1, 455/556.2, 455/572, 455/575.1, 345/173, 345/156, 345/169, 345/170, 340/686.6, 257/428
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 17/04 Systems determining the presence of a target
• CPC Class Codes: H03K 17/941 using an optical detector H03K17/968 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H03K 17/9631 using a light source as part of the switch
• CPC Class Codes: H03K 17/9636 using a pulsed light source
• CPC Class Codes: H03K 2217/94026 Automatic threshold calibration; e.g. threshold automatically adapts to ambient conditions or follows variation of input
• CPC Class Codes: H03K 2217/94108 making use of reflection
• CPC Class Codes: H03K 2217/94116 increasing reliability, fail-safe
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/026 Details of the structure or mounting of specific components

Abstract

Embodiments of the present invention provide a method and an apparatus for a terminal to determine whether an object is approaching, wherein the method includes: reading, by an infrared receiver, a first infrared intensity value when an infrared emitting diode does not work, and reading, by the infrared receiver, a second infrared intensity value when the infrared emitting diode works; obtaining a first difference value between the second infrared intensity value and the first infrared intensity value as an intensity value of a reflected infrared ray; determining whether a second difference value between the intensity value of the reflected infrared ray and an infrared intensity threshold is greater than a preset second threshold; and determining that an object is approaching the terminal when the second difference value is greater than the preset second threshold value. The present invention enables each terminal to accurately determine whether there is an object approaching.

Claims

1. A method, executed by a terminal, for determining whether an object is approaching, comprising:

reading, by an infrared receiver, a first infrared intensity value when an infrared emitting diode is off;

reading, by the infrared receiver, a second infrared intensity value when the infrared emitting diode is on;

obtaining, for an intensity value of a reflected infrared ray, a first difference value between the second infrared intensity value and the first infrared intensity value;

determining whether a second difference value between the intensity value of the reflected infrared ray and an infrared intensity threshold that is stored by the terminal itself is greater than a preset second threshold; and

when the second difference value is greater than the preset second threshold, determining that an object is approaching the terminal;

wherein the stored infrared intensity threshold is the first difference value between the second infrared intensity value and the first infrared intensity value and is obtained when the infrared receiver and the infrared emitting diode are initially activated.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

comparing the intensity value of the reflected infrared ray and the infrared intensity threshold that is stored by the terminal; and

when the intensity value of the reflected infrared ray is smaller than the stored infrared intensity threshold, replacing the stored infrared intensity threshold with the intensity value of the reflected infrared ray as a new infrared intensity threshold, and saving the new infrared intensity threshold at the terminal.

3. A non-transitory computer readable medium including computer-executable instructions for execution on a terminal, which is configured to determine whether an object is approaching, such that when the computer-executable instructions are executed by the terminal a method is carried out comprising:

reading a first infrared intensity value when an infrared emitting diode is off and reading a second infrared intensity value when the infrared emitting diode is on;

obtaining a first difference value between the second infrared intensity value and the first infrared intensity value as an intensity value of a reflected infrared ray;

determining whether a second difference value between the intensity value of a reflected infrared ray and an infrared intensity threshold that is stored by the terminal itself is greater than a preset second threshold; and

determining when the second difference value is greater than the preset second threshold, that there is an object approaching the terminal;

wherein the stored infrared intensity threshold is the first difference value between the second infrared intensity value and the first infrared intensity value and is obtained during initial activation.

4. A non-transitory computer readable medium including computer-executable instructions for execution on a terminal, which is configured to determine whether an object is approaching, such that when the computer-executable instructions are executed by the terminal a method is carried out comprising:

reading when an infrared emitting diode of the terminal is activated an intensity value of a received infrared ray;

caching the intensity value of the received infrared ray;

reading when an additional infrared ray is received from the outside an intensity value of the additional infrared ray;

calculating a difference value between the intensity value of the additional infrared ray and the cached intensity value; and

determining, when the calculated difference value is greater than a preset threshold, that an object is approaching the terminal;

wherein the stored infrared intensity threshold is the first difference value between the second infrared intensity value and the first infrared intensity value and is obtained during initial activation.