Patent Application
20130190057
This invention relates to operating a mobile communication device engaged in a call.
It is now common for mobile devices such as mobile phones to store various utility applications such as note making applications, calendars and clocks. A user of a mobile device is able to use these applications to create and store messages, reminders, appointments etc. It is also increasingly common for mobile devices to contain sensors such as accelerometers, digital compasses and proximity sensors.
A first aspect of the invention provides a method comprising:
The method may further comprise, in response to receiving user content inputs, displaying entered note content in the form. The method may further comprise storing on the device the entered note content in association with a contact participating in the call. Alternatively, the method may further comprise, when the call is ended, saving on the device any currently displayed note content in association with a contact which was a participant in the call.
The method may further comprise, in response to the detected change in position, executing a note taking application to provide the form.
The method may further comprise commencing monitoring signals from one or more of a motion sensor, a positional sensor and an orientation sensor when the device engages in a call.
The method may further comprise comprising using a proximity sensor to detect the change in position.
The method may further comprise responding to the change in position by enabling a speaker mode of the device.
A second aspect of the invention provides apparatus, the apparatus being configured to detect a change in position of a mobile communication device from an ear adjacent position to an ear non-adjacent position whilst the device is engaged in a call, and in response to said detection to cause a form for allowing a user to enter a note to be displayed.
The apparatus may be further configured, in response to receiving user content inputs, to cause entered note content to be displayed in the form. The apparatus may be further configured to store on the device the entered note content in association with a contact participating in the call. Alternatively, the apparatus may be further configured, when the call is ended, to save on the device any currently displayed note content in association with a contact which was a participant in the call.
The apparatus may be further configured, in response to the detected change in position, to execute a note taking application stored on the device in order to provide the form.
The apparatus may be further configured, to activate one or more of a motion sensor, a positional sensor and an orientation sensor when the device engages in a call.
The apparatus may further comprise a proximity sensor configured to detect the change in position.
The apparatus may be further configured to enable a speaker mode of the device in response to the change in position.
A third aspect of the invention provides an apparatus comprising at least one processor; and
A fourth aspect of the invention provides apparatus, the apparatus comprising means for detecting a change in position of a mobile communication device from an ear adjacent position to an ear non-adjacent position whilst the device is engaged in a call, and means responsive to said detection to cause a form for allowing a user to enter a note to be displayed.
A fifth aspect of the invention provides a computer readable medium having stored thereon instructions for causing computing apparatus to perform a method comprising:
A sixth aspect of the invention provides a computer program, optionally stored on a medium, comprising instructions for causing computer apparatus to perform a method as recited above.
Embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
Referring firstly to
The mobile terminal 100 has a transceiver 106 connected to an antenna 108. These components allow the mobile terminal 100 to communicate over a cellular network (not shown). The mobile terminal 100 may be a mobile phone, smartphone, personal digital assistant (PDA), portable gaming device, portable media player (PMP) or any other mobile device capable of making and/or receiving cellular calls.
The mobile terminal 100 may have a touch sensitive display 117 comprising a display part 116 and a tactile interface 118. The mobile terminal may have hardware keys 120. The mobile terminal 100 also has a number of sensors, which may include a compass 110, a proximity sensor 112, an accelerometer 114 and a positioning receiver, such as a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver 115.
The mobile terminal 100 also has a memory 122 which may be a non-volatile memory such as read only memory (ROM) a hard disk drive (HDD) or solid state drive (SSD). The memory stores, amongst other things, an operating system 124 and a note taking application 126. The mobile terminal 100 may have a speaker 128 and a headphone jack 130.
The processor 102 and other components may be connected together via a system bus (not shown). The RAM 104 is used by the processor 102 for the temporary storage of data, for instance when controlling the operation of another hardware or software component or moving data between components.
The operating system 124 may comprise a number of software modules that control the basic operations of the mobile terminal 100 and which control the processor 102 to perform those operations and to instruct the other components. The note taking application 126 may be an individual program or a part of the operating system (i.e. a built in program). The note taking application 126 may run on the operating system 124. The note taking application 126 may take the form of a notepad. Software relating to the compass 110, proximity sensor 112, accelerometer 114, GPS receiver 115, touch sensitive display 117, hardware keys 120 and speaker 128 may form part of the operating system 124.
The touch sensitive display 117 and hardware keys 120 facilitate user inputs into the mobile terminal 100. The processor may be configured to receive inputs from the touch sensitive display 117 and hardware keys 120. The inputs are interpreted by the operating system 124, the note taking application 126, another software module or by a combination of these. The note taking application 126 may be configured to recognise inputs in the form of characters (letters, numbers etc.) as well as freeform drawings. In response to receiving inputs, the processor 102 is controlled by the operating system and/or one or more involved applications to act accordingly, for example by controlling the display of content on the display part 116 of the touch sensitive display 117.
The compass 110, proximity sensor 112 and accelerometer 114 may be used to detect and measure relative movement of the mobile terminal 100 and/or detect or infer the environment of the mobile terminal.
The proximity sensor 112 may be able to detect the proximity of any other object to the front face of the mobile terminal. For example, the proximity sensor 112 may use infrared radiation and detect the reflection of this radiation from a nearby object. This detection may be communicated via the processor 102 to the operating system 124, where a determination may be made that the mobile terminal 100 is in proximity to another object. In certain situations, for example when the mobile terminal is being used to make a call, the operating system 124 may control the processor 102 to disable the tactile interface part 118 of the touch sensitive display if it is determined that the mobile terminal 100 is in proximity to another object. In this way, the acting on unintentional inputs can be avoided. Additionally the display part 116 of the touch sensitive display 117 may also be disabled in this situation, such as to reduce power consumption.
The compass 110 may be a solid state compass comprising at least one magnetic field sensor. Compass operating software may form part of the operating system 124 and interprets signals from the compass hardware. The compass operating software may also utilise a positional reading obtained by the GPS receiver 115 to calibrate the compass 110.
The accelerometer 114 may be able to detect an orientation angle with respect to the Earth's surface. The accelerometer 114 may be able to detect acceleration in two or three dimensions. Software associated with the accelerometer 114 may be able to use the detected acceleration and deceleration to estimate an absolute distance travelled by the mobile terminal 100.
In operation a user may make or receive a call on the mobile terminal 100. The transceiver 106 and antenna 108, under instruction from the operating system 124, are controlled to communicate over a cellular network. While engaged in a call, any or all of the compass 110, proximity sensor 112 and accelerometer 114 may monitor the position and movement of the mobile terminal. They may be activated when a call is connected or may already be active. In one example the operating system 124 receives signals from the proximity sensor 112 and determines that the user has moved the mobile terminal to a position adjacent to (or touching) their head. The operating system 124 the controls the processor 102 to disable the tactile interface 118 of the touch sensitive display 117 so that the user does not accidentally cause inputs with their head/ears.
The operating system may also receive signals from the compass 110, proximity sensor 112 and accelerometer 114 from which a change in position of the mobile terminal from an ear adjacent position to an ear non-adjacent position can be determined or inferred. How this is achieved is explained further below with reference to
When the mobile terminal is determined by the operating system 124 to have moved from an ear adjacent position to an ear non-adjacent position, the display may be controlled by the note taking application 126 to change to that of
In any case, room on the display is made for a note entry form 210 provided by the note taking application 126. The note entry form allows a user to enter text, either by using a software or hardware keyboard or stylus. The note entry form 210 may also allow the user to input a drawing, using a stylus or finger. Inputs from the software or hardware keyboard or stylus are interpreted by the note taking application 126 which instructs the display 116 to display the characters or images. The note taking application 126 may comprise handwriting recognition software able to convert a stylus input into printed text. The note entry form 210 may be lined, as shown in
The note entry form 210 may occupy the majority of the area of the display, as shown in
Selection of the save note key 216 causes a signal to be sent to the note taking application 216 which causes any notes made in the note entry form 210 to be saved to the memory 122 of the mobile terminal 100. The note may be saved in association with the named contact 202 involved in the call. Once the note has been saved, the note taking application may cause a new, blank note entry form 210 to be displayed. In this way, a user can make several note entries related to the same call and save them separately. Although the keys 208, 214, 216 are described as software keys, they may additionally or alternatively be hardware keys assigned the same functions.
While the note entry form 2.10 is being displayed, if the user moves the mobile terminal from an ear non-adjacent position back to an ear adjacent position, the note taking application 216 may control the display to return to that shown in
The arrangement of information in
Referring now to
At step 304 it is determined whether the mobile terminal has been moved away from a user's ear. This detection may be accomplished in a number of ways, using inputs from any or all of the compass 110, proximity sensor 112 and accelerometer 114, or other sensors. In one embodiment, inputs from the proximity sensor 112 alone are used to detect the change in position. The proximity sensor can be used to detect a relative movement of the terminal with reference to a nearby object, in this case, the user's ear or head. The proximity sensor 112 may emit electromagnetic radiation and detect the amount of reflected radiation. Signals indicating any changes in the amount of reflected radiation are sent via the processor 102 to proximity sensor software running on the operating system 124, where a determination is made that the mobile terminal has been moved away from an object.
The compass 110, in conjunction with compass software running on the operating system 124, can detect the orientation and angular movement of the mobile terminal. When a user moves the mobile terminal 100 from their ear to a position in front of them, such that they are facing the screen, the compass measures a characteristic orientation change comprising an abrupt movement of at least 60 degrees but less than 180 degrees. In one embodiment, such a detection is used as a trigger for running the note taking application 126. However, this trigger has the possibility for false detections to be made, for example if the user abruptly changes their own orientation while holding the mobile terminal to their ear. Outputs from the accelerometer 114 may be used in conjunction with those from the compass 110. The accelerometer 114, in conjunction with accelerometer software running on the operating system 124, may detect the acceleration and deceleration of the mobile terminal 100 as its position is changed and may provide an estimate of the distance travelled by the mobile terminal. This information, when combined with the output of the compass 110, may give a more accurate picture of the movement of the mobile terminal.
The exact implementation of the position change sensing is not essential to the understanding or operation of the invention. Other known sensing techniques or techniques which have not yet been employed may be substituted for the above described technologies.
In any case, if no movement is detected at step 304 then the mobile terminal continues to operate in “Phone mode”. If movement is detected, then a note taking application 126 is started at step 306. Starting the note taking application may comprise the operating system 124 beginning or resuming execution of the note taking application, or if the application is already running, prioritising the note taking application processes.
At step 308 the display 116 is controlled by the note taking application 126 to display a note entry form 210 as described above with reference to
In
When a user wishes to retrieve the note, they may navigate on the mobile terminal 100 to the contact that participated in the call and find the note saved with that contact's other details. The user may also navigate to a list of recent calls from which any notes made during those calls can also be accessed. Additionally the memory 122 of the mobile terminal 100 may contain a dedicated note storage area where all of the user's notes can be found. If the note has been saved in association with a date entered into the note (for example, the note content 212 in
As previously described the user may manually cause a note to be saved by selecting a save note key 216 while the note entry form 210 is displayed, and may save several notes relating to a single call. Each of these notes is saved in association with the contact involved in the call and any note which is currently displayed when the call ends is auto-saved in the same manner.
At step 416 a call ended screen is displayed. Although this step is shown subsequently to step 414, the call ended screen may be displayed as soon as the call ends. The call ended screen may therefore be displayed before or during the saving of the note at step 414.
It will be appreciated that the above described embodiments are purely illustrative and are not limiting on the scope of the invention. Other variations and modifications will be apparent to persons skilled in the art upon reading the present application.
For instance, although the above describes a note taking application as being opened in response to detecting movement from an ear adjacent position to a non-ear adjacent position, the invention is applicable also to the provision of a calendar entry form, a word processing document, a drawing slate or other such form that allows user input.
Moreover, the disclosure of the present application should be understood to include any novel features or any novel combination of features either explicitly or implicitly disclosed herein or any generalization thereof and during the prosecution of the present application or of any application derived therefrom, new claims may be formulated to cover any such features and/or combination of such features.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1953/CHE/2010 | Jul 2010 | IN | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/FI2011/050557 | 6/13/2011 | WO | 00 | 3/6/2013 |
