Patent Application
20240214022
Various aspects of this disclosure generally relate to wireless communication and strategies to maintain or improve throughput, detection of a human body part in close proximity to a transmitting antenna, and management of transmissions when a human body part is in close proximity to a transmitting antenna.
According to a first aspect of the disclosure, many computing devices (e.g. laptops, tablet computers, etc.) conventionally have one or more antennas placed at a side of the device (e.g. along a housing, next to a keyboard, etc.). This placement is beneficial, in that it helps to design a narrow bezel display and/or increases an active area of the display. This placement can, however, be disadvantageous because such antennas are placed at areas where a user's hand or other body part are likely to be. For example, an antenna can be blocked (e.g. partially or completely obscured) by a human hand during typing or by a human body, such as while the device is resting on a user's lap. Such blocking of the one or more antennas may cause wireless throughput reduction or result in no appreciable signal being sent and/or received by the respective antenna. Moreover, if a transmit antenna is within a certain proximity to a human body part, then the transmitter is subject to human safety compliance restrictions, which may generally be referred to as Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) regulations. Throughout this document SAR will be used to connote the exposure of a human body part to radiating energy from an antenna. A SAR regulation will be used to connote a legal limit for SAR exposure. Conventionally, if a SAR value exceeds a regulatory limit, then a transmitter power back-off is required, which causes low throughput or may even turn off the transmitter that limits the user experience.
According to a second aspect of the disclosure, products including wireless transmitters that may operate near human bodies are required to ensure that the overall rate at which energy is absorbed per unit mass by a human body when exposed to the transmitted radio frequency (RF) electromagnetic field is within a regulated limit (e.g., they must comply with SAR regulations). To comply with SAR regulations, laptops, smartphones, and other devices are required to limit their maximum Tx power when in a “SAR condition” (e.g., when a transmit antenna is within a certain proximity of a human body part).
The SAR condition may be detected either through a dedicated body proximity sensor (referred to herein as a “SAR sensor” or a “proximity sensor”) near the transmitting antenna. These proximity sensors, however, increase cost and therefore may be omitted from a design. In such circumstances, for example, the platform may set the SAR state (e.g., whether a power back-off is required) based on the platform configuration (e.g., by defining that the platform may be in a SAR state when it is in “tablet mode”, or in other lid-to-base platform configurations) and the antenna location(s). It is desired to identify one or more sensing devices that are an alternative or supplement to a proximity sensor (e.g. a capacitive proximity sensor, an inductive proximity sensor) to detect when the device is in a SAR state.
According to a third aspect of the disclosure, the placement of proximity sensors around antennas conventionally consumes significant available space within the device. As the number of transmit antennas increases, a non-negligible amount of space within a computing device will be dedicated to SAR sensors. Furthermore, the addition of such SAR sensors increases expense. It is desired to reduce the space and/or cost of adding SAR sensors to a computing device.
According to a fourth aspect of the disclosure, computing devices conventionally meet SAR regulations by reducing the transmit power for a SAR-affected antenna. It is desired to identify a device that enables compliance with SAR regulations for a SAR-affected antenna without the need to reduce transmit power.
According to a fifth aspect of the disclosure, computing devices conventionally meet SAR requirements by reducing transmit power. This impairs wireless communications, in particular in the wide area network context. It is desired to maintain most or all transmit power for the network (e.g., for a wireless wide area network, for a wireless local area network), while protecting a human body part in a vicinity of a transmit antenna from energy in excess of the applicable regulations.
According to a sixth aspect of the disclosure, a SAR event conventionally causes a reduction in antenna transmit power, and thus results in reduced throughput. Conventionally, devices then check for quality of service (e.g., bandwidth, latency, received signal strength indicator, quality of service indicators) by initiating a fresh network scan. Based on the results of this network scan, the device decides whether to switch between available antennas to improve throughput. This results in a latency, as a fresh network scan must conventionally be completed and new quality of service information must conventionally be obtained before a decision about switching antennas can be made. This latency can be a few milliseconds to a few seconds, based on the network conditions. It is desired to decide whether to perform an antenna switch without incurring this latency.
According to a seventh aspect of the disclosure, various steps may be taken to improve throughput during a SAR event. Computing devices (e.g. laptops, tablets, etc.) often support both Wi-Fi and WWAN connectivity. The Wi-Fi and WWAN antennas may be placed at different locations with nearby proximity sensors to detect a SAR event and control the transmit power accordingly. Usually, the SAR event is managed by a reduction of antenna transmit power, which results in a decreased throughput. With the decreased throughput, the current methods attempt to improve Quality of Service (QoS) (e.g. bandwidth, latency, received signal strength indicator (RSSI), etc.) with a fresh network scan, which may result in a decision to switch between available networks. This causes a latency, since a fresh network scan must be completed, and new QoS data should be obtained for a network switching decision. The latency can be in the order of few milliseconds to few seconds, based on the network conditions.
To avoid risk of exceeding SAR regulatory constraints, the false alarm probability of body proximity sensors (BPS) (also referred to herein as proximity sensors), in some platforms, may lead to unjustified false proximity detections, and thus to reduction of transmission power. This unjustified reduction of transmission power may lead to noticeable and unnecessary loss in the wireless networking performance of the device.
Use of a BPS that relies on wireless technology signaling may negatively affect user experience, due to network disconnections during the sensing periods. To reduce the false alarm probability, the body proximity sensor may sense multiple times, which can lead to increased traffic latency and potentially to such periods of network disconnection that lead to degraded user experience.
The body proximity flow senses body proximity based on changes in some parameter as compared to its value in condition that is reliably known as without body proximity. Without online ability to reliably identify such a condition, the system needs to rely on data captured during testing. This leads to extra time to the duration of the production of each unit and with that to increased costs and complexities in production and in system flows.
Many computing devices use multiple input multiple output (MIMO) technology, which consists of multiple wireless streams that are simultaneously or concurrently transmitted between antennas. In computing devices, antenna design has physical constraints that affect the radiofrequency networking performance for different device orientations. Users typically have no indication of constraints or suboptimal conditions resulting from orientation issues, and they may suffer from poor wireless performance if the computing device is not at its best orientation. For example, a user may choose to close the user's laptop lid while working in docking station mode, which may significantly impact wireless transmission and reception rates. These orientation based problems may be improved by changes to the device's orientation.
In the drawings, like reference characters generally refer to the same parts throughout the different views. The drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead generally being placed upon illustrating the exemplary principles of the disclosure. In the following description, various exemplary embodiments of the disclosure are described with reference to the following drawings, in which:
The following detailed description refers to the accompanying drawings that show, by way of illustration, exemplary details and embodiments in which aspects of the present disclosure may be practiced.
The word “exemplary” is used herein to mean “serving as an example, instance, or illustration”. Any embodiment or design described herein as “exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments or designs.
Throughout the drawings, it should be noted that like reference numbers are used to depict the same or similar elements, features, and structures, unless otherwise noted.
The phrase “at least one” and “one or more” may be understood to include a numerical quantity greater than or equal to one (e.g., one, two, three, four, [ . . . ], etc.). The phrase “at least one of” with regard to a group of elements may be used herein to mean at least one element from the group consisting of the elements. For example, the phrase “at least one of” with regard to a group of elements may be used herein to mean a selection of: one of the listed elements, a plurality of one of the listed elements, a plurality of individual listed elements, or a plurality of a multiple of individual listed elements.
The words “plural” and “multiple” in the description and in the claims expressly refer to a quantity greater than one. Accordingly, any phrases explicitly invoking the aforementioned words (e.g., “plural [elements]”, “multiple [elements]”) referring to a quantity of elements expressly refers to more than one of the said elements. For instance, the phrase “a plurality” may be understood to include a numerical quantity greater than or equal to two (e.g., two, three, four, five, [ . . . ], etc.).
The phrases “group (of)”, “set (of)”, “collection (of)”, “series (of)”, “sequence (of)”, “grouping (of)”, etc., in the description and in the claims, if any, refer to a quantity equal to or greater than one, i.e., one or more. The terms “proper subset”, “reduced subset”, and “lesser subset” refer to a subset of a set that is not equal to the set, illustratively, referring to a subset of a set that contains less elements than the set.
The term “data” as used herein may be understood to include information in any suitable analog or digital form, e.g., provided as a file, a portion of a file, a set of files, a signal or stream, a portion of a signal or stream, a set of signals or streams, and the like. Further, the term “data” may also be used to mean a reference to information, e.g., in form of a pointer. The term “data”, however, is not limited to the aforementioned examples and may take various forms and represent any information as understood in the art.
The terms “processor” or “controller” as, for example, used herein may be understood as any kind of technological entity that allows handling of data. The data may be handled according to one or more specific functions executed by the processor or controller. Further, a processor or controller as used herein may be understood as any kind of circuit, e.g., any kind of analog or digital circuit. A processor or a controller may thus be or include an analog circuit, digital circuit, mixed-signal circuit, logic circuit, processor, microprocessor, Central Processing Unit (CPU), Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), Digital Signal Processor (DSP), Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), integrated circuit, Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), etc., or any combination thereof. Any other kind of implementation of the respective functions, which will be described below in further detail, may also be understood as a processor, controller, or logic circuit. It is understood that any two (or more) of the processors, controllers, or logic circuits detailed herein may be realized as a single entity with equivalent functionality or the like, and conversely that any single processor, controller, or logic circuit detailed herein may be realized as two (or more) separate entities with equivalent functionality or the like.
Throughout this disclosure, reference is made to one or more processors that perform various actions based on proximity sensor data. In some configurations, these actions may be performed by a SAR controller, which may be a circuit configured to perform actions for compliance with SAR regulations. In performing these actions, the SAR controller may perform the actions itself, or in other cases, the SAR controller may instruction one or more other controllers or processors to perform the actions. For example, the SAR controller may instruct a processor in a baseband modem to transmit data at a certain transmit power. In other exemplary configurations, the actions described herein may be perform by the radiofrequency transmission processors (e.g., one or more processors in the baseband modem, one or more processors in the transceiver, etc.). In other exemplary configuration, the actions described herein may be performed by one or more application processors.
As used herein, “memory” is understood as a computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable medium) in which data or information can be stored for retrieval. References to “memory” included herein may thus be understood as referring to volatile or non-volatile memory, including random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), flash memory, solid-state storage, magnetic tape, hard disk drive, optical drive, 3D XPointTM, among others, or any combination thereof. Registers, shift registers, processor registers, data buffers, among others, are also embraced herein by the term memory. The term “software” refers to any type of executable instruction, including firmware.
Unless explicitly specified, the term “transmit” encompasses both direct (point-to-point) and indirect transmission (via one or more intermediary points). Similarly, the term “receive” encompasses both direct and indirect reception. Furthermore, the terms “transmit,” “receive,” “communicate,” and other similar terms encompass both physical transmission (e.g., the transmission of radio signals) and logical transmission (e.g., the transmission of digital data over a logical software-level connection). For example, a processor or controller may transmit or receive data over a software-level connection with another processor or controller in the form of radio signals, where the physical transmission and reception is handled by radio-layer components such as RF transceivers and antennas, and the logical transmission and reception over the software-level connection is performed by the processors or controllers. The term “communicate” encompasses one or both of transmitting and receiving, i.e., unidirectional or bidirectional communication in one or both of the incoming and outgoing directions. The term “calculate” encompasses both ‘direct’ calculations via a mathematical expression/formula/relationship and ‘indirect’ calculations via lookup or hash tables and other array indexing or searching operations.
When computing devices wirelessly transmit radiofrequency signals, energy in the form of electromagnetic waves is emitted from the corresponding one or more transmitting antennas. Although most people are constantly surrounded by at least some amount of energy from radiofrequency transmissions, such energy may be especially concentrated very close to the transmitting antenna (e.g. within a few centimeters from the antenna, within a few millimeters from the transmitting antenna, within a millimeter of the transmitting antenna). This energy may be absorbed by a human body part in close proximity to the antenna. The absorption of energy is increasingly a concern with the rise in the number of antenna per device, and also with the increasing use of higher-energy wavelengths (e.g. shorter wavelengths/higher frequencies, millimeter wavelengths, etc.). The absorption of such energy may be defined by a Specific Absorption Rate (SAR), which may be described as the power absorbed by mass of tissue and is thus often referred to in Watts per kilogram (W/kg). Various jurisdictions have imposed regulations to limit the SAR exposure. These regulations represent upper boundaries for SAR exposure, with which manufacturers must comply. The principles and methods disclosed herein are not specific to any particular jurisdiction or its particular Watt/kilogram maximum, nor to the particulars of how such SAR limit is to be measured in a given jurisdiction. Instead, the principles and methods disclosed herein may be applied to comply with SAR regulations in any jurisdiction.
Generally, however, there are conventionally two methods to address the SAR regulatory requirements. A first method is to use physical proximity detection (e.g. a proximity sensor) and corresponding circuit (e.g. an integrated circuit, a sensor on chip (SOC), a processor, etc.) to detect a user's body part in close proximity to an antenna and to take various steps to reduce the transmit power accordingly. A second method is to perform time averaging SAR (TA-SAR), which assumes less than maximum transmit power and/or less than constant transmission. In TAS, the transmission power is averaged (e.g. over a rolling window), and this average must fall beneath a regulatory threshold.
Whatever the method of calculation, user devices are required to comply with the applicable SAR regulations for the given jurisdiction. Practically speaking, this often means that the devices must identify when a human body part is within close proximity to a transmit antenna (after a few centimeters, the energy absorption diminishes significantly) and must take steps to limit the transmit power of the affected antenna so as to ensure that regulatory requirements are satisfied. Ideally, this is also performed in such a manner that link quality is unaffected or is impaired as little as possible.
According to the first aspect of the disclosure, when holding a computing device (e.g., in particular a handheld device, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, etc.), one or more antennas may be partially or completely obstructed by a user's body part. This partial or complete obstruction may result in decreased antenna throughput arising from corresponding poor antenna performance and/or transmit power reduction to comply with applicable SAR regulations. A device and method are disclosed herein that limit the unwanted effects of such a partial or complete antenna obstruction by generating a user alert to remove user's body part from a vicinity of the antenna.
A computing device may be configured with one or more proximity sensors, which may be configured to detect a proximity of a human body part in a vicinity of the device. Because the composition and functional principles of a proximity sensor are generally beyond the scope of this disclosure, a detailed recitation of the elements and functions of a proximity sensor will not be included at this juncture. It will suffice to include that the term proximity sensor, as used herein, is generally understood to mean a device that is able to contactlessly detect a human body part in a vicinity of the sensor. Such proximity sensors may be, for example, capacitive proximity sensors that are configured to generate an electrical field and the presence of objects within the electrical field can be detected based on measured changes in the corresponding capacitance. Alternatively or additionally, proximity sensors may be or include induction sensors, in which a magnetic field is generated by an inductor, and the presence of objects within a vicinity of the sensor can be detected based on changes in the magnetic field resulting from eddy currents. Although these may be the primary forms of proximity sensors, other devices may measure or detect a state that is indirectly associated with a presence of a human body part in a vicinity of the device, and these sensors may also function as proximity sensors for the purposes of this disclosure. This may include, for example, one or more accelerometers, which may be able to distinguish, based on sensing of movement, whether a device is resting on a table or on a user's lap. Alternatively or additionally, the proximity sensor may include an antenna and/or a baseband modem, which may be configured to detect a proximity of a human body part based on radiofrequency signals reflects from the body part and received at the antenna. Alternatively or additionally, certain image sensors may be used as a proximity sensor, as the image sensors (or the image sensors coupled with one or more processors for image processing) may detect the presence of a human body part within an image and may use one or more landmarks to detect a distance between the human body part and an antenna. Unless otherwise stated, any reference to a proximity sensor or a BPS herein may refer to any of the above sensor types, or to any sensor that is capable of detecting a human body part within close proximity to an antenna.
Returning to the first aspect of the disclosure, a proximity sensor may detect the presence of a human body part near an antenna. When the proximity sensor detects the human body part within a specific proximity of the sensor, the device may trigger a transmission power back off, which may be necessary to comply with certain SAR regulations.
This is a growing problem, since many devices have antennas along the sides of the device, such as in the keyboard area, or otherwise in places in which the user is likely to place the user's hands or arms. Moreover, the user may rest the device on the user's lap or other parts of the user's body, thereby placing the body in close proximity to antennas located close to the device's housing.
Of particular note, and as is evident from at least the devices in
A user receiving such a user alert may then choose to move the user's hand away from the antenna to achieve improved throughput and connectivity, or the user may disregard the user alert and continue to maintain the user's hand or body part in its current location. That is, the addition of a user alert does not, in and of itself, change the transmission power or settings, nor does the alert require the user to make any particular accommodations. Rather, the user may receive the alert as additional information and an educational message, and the user may proceed however the user wishes with respect to the location of the user's hands or body part.
In a first configuration, a computing device may generate a user alert as described herein based on proximity sensor data. That is, the device may include a proximity sensor, which may be configured to generate proximity sensor data, representing a proximity of a user's hand or body part to the sensor or antenna. When the proximity sensor data are outside of a range, the device may generate the user alert as described herein. When the proximity sensor data are within the range, the device may understand that a user's hand or body parts are not within close proximity to the sensor, and may not generate the user alert. Generally, these proximity sensors are placed in close proximity to an antenna, such that a close proximity to the proximity sensor represents a close proximity to the antenna.
In some circumstances, however, it may be impossible or undesirable to rely on a proximity sensor (e.g., a capacitive proximity sensor, an inductive proximity sensor) to detect the presence of a human body part for SAR compliance. For example, such sensors may include the materials costs of the underlying device, may complicate assembly, may interfere with other sensors, or otherwise be suboptimal. As an alternative, it may be possible to select a signal quality to serve as a proxy for human body part proximity. For example, a sudden, otherwise unexplained reduction in received signal strength may indicate the presence of a human body part in close proximity to the antenna, since the human body part would partially shield the antenna and thus result in diminished received signal strength.
To that end, whether alternatively or additionally to the above information related to the first configuration, and, according to a second configuration, the computing device may detect the close proximity of a user' hand or body part based on a received signal characteristic. The received signal characteristic may be any signal characteristic, but may include, for example, a received signal strength indicator (RSSI). In a typical wireless network protocol, the user device will repeatedly and frequently measure the received signal strength. The receive signal strength may fluctuate somewhat but is generally expected to remain relatively constant, when other variables, such as movement are excluded. Thus, a sudden decrease in a receive signal strength may be understood as a proxy for an antenna obstruction, such as a user's hand or body part. In this manner, the computing device may generate the user alert when the RSSI suddenly degrades. The RSSI is routinely measured by the corresponding baseband modem, and thus is a value that can be readily available to the SAR circuitry. A decaying RSSI may be a proxy for a user's body part coming in close proximity to an antenna, since the body part will obstruct or obscure the antenna's reception.
Upon the user placing the user's hand or body part within close proximity to the antenna at 702, the sensor hub 704 detects obstruction of the antenna and notifies the BIOS about the obstruction and device mode 750. The BIOS may store information pertaining to the user alert, such as in a distributed shared memory 752. The wireless configuration control driver 708 may notify the bios of the antenna information and device mode information 756. Additionally or alternatively to the steps described above, the baseband modem 716 may inform the net adapter driver 714 about the detected RSSI for the given antenna 764. The net adapter driver 714 may provide an unsolicited response of RSSI information to the antenna manager 710. The wireless configuration control driver 708 may provide the antenna manager 710 with information about the antenna obstacle, the antenna, and/or the device details. The antenna manager 710 may generate the user notification 760. The user interface application 712 may inform the antenna manager 710 that the antenna obstacle is still present 762. If the user chooses not to remedy the obstruction in response to the user alert, the antenna manager 710 may apply new SAR table values, which are passed to the net adapter driver 714. The net adapter driver 714 may notify the baseband modem 716 of the SAR reduction.
The computer device may further include a haptic alert device 822; wherein the user alert is a haptic alert; and wherein generating the user alert includes the processor controlling the haptic alert device to generate the user alert. The haptic alert device may be configured to generate a vibration of one or more parts of the computing device.
According to a second aspect of the disclosure, some tablet devices such as laptops or certain tablet computers include two portions that are connected via a connector (e.g. a hinge or other connecting member), thereby permitting the portions to move with respect to one another. For example, a laptop's screen portion may be moveable relative to its keyboard portion. Similarly, a dual-screen tablet computer may have a first screen portion that is moveable relevant to its second screen portion.
With respect to SAR regulations, and because many devices will have at least one antenna in the first housing portion, and at least one antenna in the second portion, the distance between the at least one antenna and the at least one second antenna may change depending on the configuration of the first housing portion to the second portion. When the first housing portion and the second portion are configured such that these two antennas are in close proximity to one another, the resulting SAR calculation may be affected. That is, a body part may be within a close proximity to both the first antenna, and the second antenna, thereby resulting in the body part being exposed to up to twice as much energy. In this situation, the SAR calculations must take into account this increased exposure (e.g. the exposure from both antennas).
Of note for this exemplary configuration, the computing device includes a first antenna 906 on its first housing portion 902 and a second antenna 908 on its second portion 904. The first antenna 906 and the second antenna 908 may be sufficiently far from one another when the computing device is laid flat that a human body part could not simultaneously be exposed to relevant magnitudes of energy (e.g. with respect to SAR regulations) from both antennas. However, as the device becomes folded upon itself, as depicted in
Conventionally, devices may rely on positioning sensors, such as sensors to detect whether a laptop's lid is open or closed and/or to determine whether such antennas may be in close proximity. Although this can be an effective way to check for this double SAR exposure, computing devices generally require at least one calibration to coordinate the positioning sensor (e.g. lid open or lid closed) data with a proximity of antennas on differing portions. This calibration may be time consuming, expensive, or otherwise undesired.
Instead of relying on positioning sensors for the double-antenna SARs calculation as described above, the proximity of two antennas (optionally there may be more than two antennas) may be detected via detection of radiofrequency leakage. Specifically, the computing device may measure the antenna isolation (e.g. measure radiofrequency leakage or radiofrequency transmission from one antenna of the computing device that is received by another antenna of the computing device) between two antennas and detect, based on the measured isolation, whether the distance between antennas is <5 cm, so as to require consideration of both antennas in evaluating a SAR condition.
In a practical example, a computing device may have both wireless wide area network (WWAN) and wireless local area network (WLAN) modems and may have a WWAN antenna in one portion of the computing device and a WLAN antenna in another portion of the computing device. The computing device may be configured to determine on a WWAN antenna a radiofrequency leakage from a WLAN antenna, or vice versa. Based on the detected magnitude of radiofrequency leakage, the computing device may determine a proximity of the WWAN antenna to the WLAN antenna. For this, the device may utilize, for example, a look up table, in which a value of detected radiofrequency leakage is associated with a distance between antennas. The values in this look up table may be specific to the device or model of the device, since this depends on the placement of each corresponding antenna relative to the connector (e.g. the hinge). This also depends on the transmit power of the transmitting antenna.
In a first configuration of the second aspect of the disclosure, the computing device may be configured to perform a radiofrequency leakage scan after any state change. For this purpose, a state change may be any change indicative of a possible change in position of the first housing portion relative to the second portion. This may be, for example, a change in a position sensor (e.g. a hinge sensor), or a change in other sensor data (e.g. accelerometer, etc.). After each state change, the computing device may initiate a power transmission on each transmit capable antenna and measure the resulting RSSI on all possible receive antennas (e.g., assuming different frequencies for signals transmitted by the device and signals received by the device, the received power (corresponding to RSSI) is generally also correspondingly reduced). Based on these measurements, the computing device may decide whether the distance between the transmit and receive antenna is within a critical range that would require consideration of the both antennas' outputs for SAR compliance. This critical range may be, for example, less than 5 cm, less than 4 cm, less than 3 cm, less than 2 cm, or less than 1 cm.
If a critical range is detected, the computing device may initiate a multiple radio SAR state. In this case, the device may optionally shorten transmissions over the WLAN and WWAN, may move WWAN transmissions to WLAN where possible, or may omit WWAN transmission. If a critical range is detected, the device may transmit with reduced power.
In a second configuration of the second aspect of the disclosure, the computing device may be configured to operate in a passive mode. In this configuration, the device may measure radiofrequency leakage during a next regular transmission. In this case, a regular transmission is a transmission that would otherwise be scheduled, such as a user data transmission to the network or a transmission that would otherwise normally occur in the course of maintaining a network connection (e.g. Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH), Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH), etc.) In this configuration, the computing device may need to assume a multi-SAR state (e.g. a state in which at least two antennas are within close proximity such that they both contribute to the applicable SAR regulations for a human body part) between the state change and the next regular transmission.
Should the antenna of the first housing portion and the antenna of the second portion be WWAN and WLAN antennas, respectively, or vice versa, accurate and reliable measurement of the isolation between WWAN antenna and WLAN antenna requires transmission and reception in overlapping frequency bands, e.g., Band 46 (5150-5925 MHz) and the 5 GHz unlicensed ISM band used by Wi-Fi.
Modern PC platforms would normally include up to four WWAN (e.g., LTE and 5G-New Radio) antennas, two of which support both Uplink and Downlink, i.e., Tx/Rx antennas, while the other two antennas are used for Downlink only, i.e., Rx antennas. The following table depicts a typical WWAN antenna configuration in PC.
In an active sensing configuration, the WWAN main antenna could be set to transmit in Band 46, while measuring the RSSI at the Wi-Fi antennas at same frequency. However, the second WWAN transmit/receive antenna MIMO3 might not support Band 46 (e.g., if no UL MIMO or transmit antenna diversity in Band 46) and can transmit only up to 4990 MHz, i.e., there is no frequency overlap with Wi-Fi 5 GHz unlicensed band. In this case, the WWAN antenna could be set to transmit at 4990 MHz, and the RSSI at the Wi-Fi antennas could still be accurately measured by setting Wi-Fi LO to 5180 MHz and the Wi-Fi receive to a special wideband mode, which is normally designed for transmit self-calibrations, thereby allowing receipt of the WWAN transmitted signal at 4990 MHz. This assumes that the Wi-Fi antenna, radiofrequency front-end filter, and radiofrequency integrated circuit (e.g., the low noise amplifier) are sufficiently wideband to pass this frequency, which is normally the case.
According to a third aspect of the disclosure, proximity sensors can be etched and deposited into the chassis of a computing device rather than placing ready-made sensors or sensors otherwise independent of the chassis in the device. In this manner, a sensing pattern is etched and deposited into the computing device's chassis (e.g. housing, cover). This sensing pattern creates a capacitive plate on the existing chassis, and this capacitive plate is connected to a SAR controller (e.g. a SAR integrated circuit (IC), a SAR System on Chip (SOC), etc.). For a non-metal chassis, the pattern can be etched in inner layers and low cost connections (e.g. Pogo connections) may connect the capacitive plate to the SAR controller. For a metal chassis, the sensor pattern may be etched into an inner layer of the chassis, a dielectric material may be deposited onto the etched area, and then metal may be deposited onto the dielectric material in the sensor pattern, so as to create controlled capacitance between the pattern etched and chassis. In so doing, a capacitive smart sensor pad for human or object detection may be generated.
According to a fourth aspect of the disclosure, and in conventional implementation of cellular modems, transmissions typically take places through a dedicated antenna and thereby continuously exposes the same portion of the human body (e.g. the same human body part, the same portion of the human body part) to electromagnetic radiation from transmissions. This results in a rise in temperature of the exposed body area. Regulatory SAR limits include different measurement distances for the head and other body parts. The body SAR needs to be measured at 0 mm distance, whereas the head SAR will be measured at 10 mm distance. This fourth aspect of the disclosure makes use of this 10 mm distance concept. By allowing the radiating element to move 10 mm farther from body, the radiofrequency exposure to the corresponding human body tissue is reduced. The principles and methods disclosed with respect to the fourth aspect make use of proximity detection along with a hardware function that increases the distance between the transmitting antenna and the relevant human body part.
This fourth aspect of the disclosure relies on proximity sensor data from a proximity sensor (this may be a conventional proximity sensor, any proximity sensor or proximity sensor as disclosed herein, or any other proximity sensor) to detect the computing device's proximity to human body. When the transmission power is more than the SAR threshold power limit and the proximity detects the presence of a human body, the hardware mechanism is activated and the device chassis and radiating element will be lifted away from the body. In an optional configuration, this lifting is 10 mm or greater than 10 mm. In this manner, the radiofrequency exposure to the human body is reduced without reducing the transmit power. By maintaining transmit power (e.g. by not reducing transmit power), the wireless link is preserved and the link instability associated with reduced transmit power is preserved.
The hardware structure as disclosed herein reduces SAR exposure and enhances the airflow to the computing device, thereby also including the benefit that it improves the device's thermal regulation. When the transmit power increases outside of a range (e.g. beyond a threshold) and human proximity is detected using a proximity sensor, the mechanical structure will lift the system from the base (lap). In one configuration, the lifting may be by 10 to 20 mm, by 5 mm to 15 mm, or by 10 mm to 15 mm. In so doing, dynamic power may be reduced to levels that no longer require power backoff or other strategies to reduce energy emission from a given antenna, which helps to maintain the wireless link.
The computer device may be configured to extend and retract the base relative to the chassis based on information derived from one or more proximity sensors. For example, one or more proximity sensors may be located within the chassis in a vicinity of one or more corresponding antennas. As described herein throughout, the one or more proximity sensors are configured to detect a proximity of a human body part within a vicinity of the sensor. These one or more proximity sensors may be mounted on or near a lower portion of the chassis, such that they will detect a human body part when the chassis is placed on a user's lap, such as is common for operation of a laptop. A processor may receive the proximity sensor data and control the motor to extend or retract the base with respect to the chassis. That is, when a human body part (e.g. a lap) is detected in close proximity to the proximity sensor, the processor may control the motor to extend the base away from the chassis, so as to increase the space between the corresponding one or more antennas and the human body part. In this manner, sufficient distance can be introduced between the one or more antennas and the human body part so as to protect the human body part from radiation absorption without the need for power backoff or alternatively with only minimal or modest power backoff. Conversely, when the one or more proximity sensors detect no human body part within close proximity to the one or more proximity sensors, the processor may control the motor to retract the base with respect to the chassis, such that a bottom portion of the chassis is flush or nearly flush with a bottom portion of the base.
In an optional configuration, the processor may be configured to take into account the transmit power of the one or more antennas (e.g. the one or more antennas mounted at or near a bottom side of the chassis) in deciding whether to extend the base away from the chassis. In this configuration, and upon the one or more proximity sensors detecting the presence of a human body part in close proximity to the one or more proximity sensors, the processor may evaluate the current transmit power for the one or more corresponding antennas. If the transmit power is already reduced (e.g. during a power backoff), and the base is retracted, the processor may opt not to extend the base, as no extension would be necessary in light of the power backoff. If, however, the one or more proximity sensors detect a human body part within close proximity to the one or more proximity sensors, and if no power backoff has been initiated, the processor may control the motor to extend the base away from the chassis.
In accordance with this fourth aspect of the disclosure, a computing device may include a chassis, including an opening, configured to receive a base; the base, arranged in the opening, and configured to move relative to the chassis; a proximity sensor, configured to detect a human body part and to generate proximity sensor data representing a distance between the proximity sensor and the human body part; and a processor, configured to control an actuator to move the base relative to the chassis based on the proximity sensor data. The computing device may include the actuator. The actuator may include the motor and cam assembly depicted in
According to a fifth aspect of the disclosure, a damper may be used to directionally dampen energy from a transmitting antenna so as to protect a human body part in close proximity to the antenna while maintaining transmit power (e.g. while avoiding a power back off). As described above, SAR regulations impose limits on energy radiated from an antenna in close proximity to a human body part. Conventional approaches for satisfying the relevant SAR requirements typically involve a reduction of transmit power (e.g. power back off). Rather than reducing the transmit power, a damper can be placed between the transmitting antenna and an area where a user's body part would rest. In this manner, energy emanating from the antenna may be dampened between the antenna and the human body part, while remaining undampened in other directions. This may be achieved using either of two configurations.
In the first configuration, one or more ferroelectric materials (referred to herein as the “ferroelectric sheet”) may be placed in close proximity to the computing device's antenna. The ferroelectric sheet may include multiple layers of ferroelectric material, each layer having a different dielectric constant. The dielectric properties of the ferroelectric sheet may be controlled using a DC bias voltage, such as when the human body part comes in close proximity to the antenna. The ferroelectric sheet has multiple dielectric values due to the DC bias voltage, and this in turn scatters antenna radiation away from the human body part while not blocking the radiations in other directions. The ferroelectric sheet may include layers of ferroelectric materials with different dielectric constants.
In a normal scenario, when the human body part is not in close proximity to the computing device's antenna, the ferroelectric sheet is kept in an unbiased state. In this condition, the relative permittivity of the ferroelectric sheet is lower than 4. Accordingly, the ferroelectric sheet is essentially “transparent” to the electromagnetic radiation originating from computing device's antenna located under the sheet. In other words, the ferroelectric sheet has little, if any, effect on the radiation pattern or magnitude of the energy emanating from the transmitting antenna.
In a scenario in which the human body comes in close proximity to the laptop's antenna, however, the SAR sensor detects the human proximity to the antenna and triggers the application of a DC bias voltage to the ferroelectric sheet. This DC bias voltage may be generated, for example, using a DC bias generator. The DC bias voltage may be applied to metal parts of the antenna which generate an electric field surrounding ferroelectric sheet. The ferroelectric sheet is then biased due to the electric field. Its permittivity increases in a staggered fashion due to stacking of ferroelectric materials of different permittivity values. This causes the ferroelectric sheet to scatter the radiation from the antenna away from the human body. Antenna radiation still occurs and remains unaffected in other directions away from the human body.
In a second configuration according to the fifth aspect of the disclosure, graded dielectric material may be used instead of the ferroelectric sheet to dampen the energy emitted from the transmitting antenna. In this manner, dielectric material of different electrical properties such as different dielectric constants (dK) and dielectric losses scatters the near electromagnetic field and thus avoids creating a hotspot where the electromagnetic energy would otherwise be concentrated. This reduces the SAR value and thereby fosters compliance with the relevant SAR requirement.
In the alternative configuration in which the multiple dielectric materials are used instead of the ferroelectric materials, the computing device may include a housing; an antenna; a radiofrequency signal dampener, including a dielectric material, between the housing and the antenna. The radiofrequency signal dampener may include a plurality of regions, each region of the plurality of regions having a different dielectric constant. The plurality of regions may be arranged adjacently to one another in a single layer.
A SAR event (e.g. a user's body part partially or completely obscuring an antenna) can result in significant transmit power reductions. For example, a user's coming in close proximity to any of the antennas in the a device (e.g. whether WLAN or WWAN) will trigger a SAR event, which may often result in a power reduction of 50% or more. When the antenna power is reduced, the Quality of Service (QoS) is correspondingly reduced. In this situation, it may be preferable to switch to another network that has a better QoS than the network whose transmit power has been reduced due to a SAR event and therefore suffers from lower QoS.
However, this switching will conventionally not occur until the next fresh network scan, during which the device finds out that another network with better QoS is available. Although wireless devices are configured to perform network scans periodically, this periodic scan and selection of the new network adds a few milliseconds to a few seconds of delay, during which time the device can suffer from network outage and/or connection failure. Obviously, this leads to poor user experience.
According to this sixth aspect of the disclosure, and upon occurrence of a SAR event, the device may switch to an alternative available network before performing a network scan. An integrated sensor hub (ISH) can handle the SAR events and inform the wireless software (SW) framework which antenna (e.g., WLAN or WWAN) caused the SAR event. With this information, the wireless SW framework decide to switch to a different network.
In this sixth aspect of the disclosure, however, procedures are disclosed for the computing device to switch to a new network without first waiting until a network scan is performed.
In the conventional method for network switching, a computing device may have an active network connection data transfer in a first network. During this active network connection, a SAR event occurs on an antenna for the first network. Resulting from the SAR event, the computing device begins a SAR power reduction for the transmit antenna encountering the SAR event. Thereafter, the computing device performs a fresh network scan and QoS calculation and, based on the results of the network scan (e.g. based on the QoS from the network scan), the computing device decides to switch to second network. Although the computing device has been able remain SAR compliant and has ultimately changed the network to a network whose antennas are not suffering a SAR event, the computing device has experienced significant latency in the network switching event.
In the network switching method according to the sixth aspect of the disclosure, the computing device has an active network connection and data transfer on a first network when it experiences a SAR event on an antenna for the first network. Because of the underlying SAR regulations, the computing device immediately begins a SAR power backoff for the affected antenna. Instead of waiting to perform the network scan, however, the computing device estimates the new effective QoS of the first network with the reduced antenna TX power. The computing device already has stored in memory the QoS for the other networks available during the last network scan. Therefore, the computing device will compare the estimated QoS of the first network during the SAR event with the stored QoS results from the last network scan. If a second network has a higher stored QoS from the last network scan, then the computing device will switch to the second network. The second device can then optionally perform a fresh network scan and QoS calculation, such as for correction.
Additionally or alternatively, hysteresis can be added to avoid continuous switching between the networks. By so doing, the computing device may be configured to recognize its first network as a network having an impaired QoS due to a SAR event and may be configured not to switch back to the first network until at least after the next network scan (e.g. depending on the QoS from the next network scan). Similarly, the device may be optionally configured to remain on the second network until after completion of the network scan and/or unless the QoS from the second network degrades or is estimated to have degrades (e.g. based on a SAR event).
In a further optional configuration that may be combined with any other optional configuration according to the sixth aspect of the disclosure, the computing device may be configured to incorporate battery status in the network switching decision. In this manner, the computing device may determine an availability of battery resource (e.g. an available charge, a voltage measurement from the battery, a percent of available battery resources, an estimated time of usage available, or otherwise), and may consider this battery resource in deciding whether to switch to the second network. For example, if the first network is a WLAN (e.g. Wi-Fi) network, and the second network is a WWAN (e.g. 5G) network, the second network would be expected to require significantly more power and thus represent a greater burden on the available battery resources. Accordingly, the computing device may be configured to postpone switching to the second network until another network scan is performed. Alternatively or additionally, the computing device may select an alternative network (e.g. a third network) having a greater QoS than the estimated QoS of the first network, but also having a lower QoS than the second network, if the third network is understood to represent a lower power burden to the computing device.
In a further optional configuration that may be combined with any other optional configuration according to the sixth aspect of the disclosure, the computing device may consider latency tolerance levels from content/workloads in selecting a second network. In this manner, the computing device may be configured to determine a latency tolerance of its current workloads and take this determination into considering in proceeding with the network switch. For example, the computing device may be performing a voice call or video game streaming other latency intolerant event. In this manner, the computer device may be configured, where possible, to select an available second network before completing the net network scan, as described herein. Conversely, if the computing device is performing only latency tolerant workflows, the computing device may be configured to perform a new network scan before switching networks.
Additionally or alternatively, each of the first signal parameter, the second signal parameter, and the third signal parameter may be a quality of service value or a value representing a quality of service value. If the proximity sensor data is outside of the range, and the third signal parameter is greater than the second signal parameter, the processor may be configured to control a baseband modem to send the wireless signal over the first antenna. In an optional configuration, the first antenna may be configured to send or receive a wireless signal according to a wireless local area network protocol and the second antenna is configured to send or receive a wireless signal according to a wireless wide area network protocol; or the first antenna is configured to send or receive a wireless signal according to a wireless wide area network protocol and the second antenna is configured to send or receive a wireless signal according to a wireless local area network protocol. Alternatively or additionally, each of the first antenna and the second antenna may be configured to send or receive a wireless signal according to a wireless local area network protocol; or each of the first antenna and the second antenna may be configured to send or receive a wireless signal according to a wireless wide area network protocol. The computing device may be configured to perform a network scan for a wireless network corresponding to the first antenna after sending the wireless signal over the first antenna.
According to the seventh aspect of the disclosure, data from a proximity sensor may be combined with other sensor data to reduce the probability of a false positive detection of a human body part.
A proximity sensor being used to detect a human body part must be capable of rendering zero, or as close to zero as possible, false-negative detections of a human body part, as a false-negative detection could result in violation of the applicable SAR regulations. Conversely, the proximity sensor must be capable of operating with as close to zero as possible false positive results, as a false positive unnecessarily disrupts the regular network procedures. In accordance with a first configuration of the seventh aspect of the disclosure, proximity sensor data may be combined with data from one or more other sensors to reduce the probability of a false positive detection.
In this first configuration, available independent body proximity sensors may be used to reduce the false alarm probability of the wireless based body proximity sensor in SAR limited platforms. The proximity sensors as disclosed herein with respect to the seventh aspect of the disclosure may include, but are not limited to, capacitive proximity sensors, inductive proximity sensors, wireless transmission based proximity sensors (e.g. a baseband modem configured to detect proximity from reflected radiofrequency signals from a human body part or object), or any other type of proximity sensor that may detect the presence of a human body part. Upon sensing body proximity, the proximity sensor may be configured to further consider other sensor data. This other sensor data may include, but is not limited to, platform orientation and/or ultra wide band (UWB) positioning sensors, which will be referred to herein collectively with respect to the seventh aspect of the disclosure as secondary sensors. Any of these secondary sensors may be excessively sensitive (e.g. may generate a false positive result), which, again, is to be avoided where possible.
The probability of a false positive may be reduced by requiring both a positive detection of a human body part by the proximity sensor and by one or more secondary sensors. In other words, the detection of a human body part may be based on the joint probability that the human body part is detected both by the proximity sensor and the secondary sensor. Because the probability of a false positive for each of the proximity sensor and the secondary sensor is less than one, the joint probability represents a multiplication of the two probabilities, resulting in a joint probability far less than any of the individual probabilities of the proximity sensor and the secondary sensor.
In a hypothetical example, a set of four sensors has the following probabilities of false positives, [0.3, 0.2, 0.1, 0.4], and the following probabilities for false negatives, [0.0, 0.0, 0.02, 0.03]. By conditioning sensor one's results with those of sensor two, the probability of a false positive can be reduced to: 0.3*0.2=0.06, while maintaining probability of a false negative of 0.
By using all of the sensors with the same scheme, the sensors can be used to detect for detection. The joint probability of a false positive of sensor one and sensor two is 0.3*0.2, or 0.06. If all sensors are considered, then the probability of a false negative becomes 1-(1-0)*(1-0)*(1-0.02)*(1-0.03)=0.0494. The probability of false positive is 0.3*0.2*0.1*0.4=0.0024. This probability for a false negative is likely unacceptably high for a SAR regulatory scheme.
Generally, the probability of false negative is: 1—multiplication of all detection probabilities, and the probability of false positive is: multiplication of all false alarms The availability of multiple sensors will help optimize the balance between the 2 probabilities.
According to the second configuration of the eighth aspect of the disclosure, multiple independent body proximity sensors can be used to minimize the latency and network disconnection periods due to proximity sensor activity. The availability of additional sensors that are excessively sensitive, allows for a compromise on false positives when justified per scenario. In this case, the processor for detecting human body proximity may rely on other sensors/inputs and reduce the number of measurements. If other sensors can reliably indicate no body proximity, the sensing of body proximity using a proximity sensor can be avoided. For example, if a non-proximity sensor states that the device is connected to a docking station, then the proximity sensor need not attempt to detect a human body part in close proximity to an antenna, as a human is very unlikely to place a body part within a close proximity to an antenna when the computing devices docked. The detection activity can thus be avoided if another sensor indicates that the device is docked.
Upon relevant system/platform changes, the end sensors are ordered according to the false-negative detection probabilities, from lowest to highest; and the following vectors are updated: order_of_sensors indices: [Sensor_id_1, Sensor_id_2, . . . , Sensor_id_N]; false_negative_vector=[p_fn_1, p_fn_2, . . . , p_fn_N]; and false_alarm_vector=[p_fp_1, p_fp_2, . . . , p_fp_N] 2904. Thereafter, alternative overall false-negative detection and false positive combinations are generated 2906. In this manner, the alternative n=Sensor_id_1, Sensor_id_2, . . . , Sensor_id_k, 1<=n<=N; false_negative_probability[n]=1-multiplication of (1-p_fn_i) for all 1<=i<=n, and the false_positive_probability[n]=multiplication of p_fp_i for all 1<=i<=n. A fusion for averaging m is selected 2908. The best combination of false_negative_probability and false_positive_probability is selected. As such, false_negative_probability_vector[m]=Selected false_negative_probability, false_positive_probability_vector[m]=Selected false_positive_probability, and fusion_vector[m]=Selected index of fusion allowing best combination. Finally, the fusion and probabilities over the entire set of M averaging alternatives are selected 2910. The best combination k over M averaging configuration is selected with Final_false_negative_probability=false_negative_probability_vector[k], Final_false_positive_probability=false_positive_probability_vector[k], and Final_fusion=Fusion_vector[k].
In a third configuration according to the eighth aspect of the disclosure, such sensors can be used as platform orientation and UWB sensors during system operation to reliably identify platform states that are known to be without body proximity and trigger capturing of the proximity sensor parameters. It is acceptable to use such sensors, even if they are not optimized for the system performance, due to increased probability of false alarms vs. the sensor they will trigger.
At this juncture, a list of potential sensors along with their sensor data, relevant antennas, and fusing implications will be discussed.
First, a Wi-Fi-based proximity sensor may indicate human tissue closer than a target distance from the Wi-Fi antennas. There must be a separate sensing for each antenna.
The solution could enable using this identification only if sufficient period elapsed from the last generation of reference BPS parameter. A processor measures voltage standing wave ratio or return loss is measured based on the Wi-Fi transmissions. These are expected to be impacted by the voltage standing wave ratio or return loss at the antenna. This is based on changes in the antenna voltage standing wave ratio or complex return loss and/or the transmission path's distortion coefficients. This may be performed on each antenna relevant to a particular sensor. This may be fused during a periodic Wi-Fi network disconnection for a number of milliseconds. For UWB or a Radiohead sensor, this may be waived with increased false positives or may help reduce false positives.
This may be utilized with an integrated sensor hub for platform orientation. In this manner, the angle of the screen or lid relative to the base is reflected in the sensor data. Using the Hall effect, the sensors indicate the angle of the lid based on a magnetic effect. The data reflect the stability of the platform's location and may be utilized with an accelerometer or gyrometer. This may be performed with all antennas in the platform and may help reduce false positives.
This may also be performed using Wi-Fi sensing of a dynamic environment. In this manner, the sensor senses changes in a channel between two station antennas.
This may also be performed utilizing UWB, which may operate at approximately 8 GHz and operates with a limited sensing range but without loading the Wi-Fi system. This may be fused with a Wi-Fi-based proximity sensor, which would be expected to reduce false positives. Alternatively, it may be utilized alone, but would be expected to render at least some false positives.
Alternatively this may be used with a WWAN SAR sensor, which may be configured to operate in a millimeter wave and sub-6 bands. In the sub-6 band, there is functionally one sensor for each antenna, and to sensors can operate concurrently. In the millimeter wave band, there is functionally one sensor per antenna, but the operation is mutually exclusive. This may be combined with a Wi-Fi proximity sensor, which may help to reduce false positives.
Alternatively this may be combined with a WWAN BPS. Human tissue may be closer than the target distance from Wi-Fi antennas separately. The sensor may be utilized with near antenna capacitive sensors which may be connected to a Radiohead.
Alternatively, a Bluetooth based return loss estimation sensor may be utilized. In this manner, the device measures the voltage standing wave ratio or return loss in a Bluetooth design based on Bluetooth transmissions. It may be possible to have independent Bluetooth based body parts sensors based on changes in Bluetooth measured voltage standing wave ratio or return loss versus the value at free space. Based in changes in the antenna voltage standing wave ratio or complex return loss and/or the transmission path's distortion coefficients, the sensor data may be obtained. This adds diversity to the return loss estimations and the sensing decision while allowing balance of sensing activities between Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.
In an optional configuration, the computing device 3000 may be configured such that the first sensor 3002 has a first probability of false positive results; wherein the second sensor 3004 has second probability of false positive results; and wherein the probably of a false positive result of both the first sensor 3002 and the second sensor 3004 is lower than either the first probability or the second probability.
In another optional configuration, and optionally in conjunction with any other configuration in the above two paragraphs, operating according to the first operational mode may include reducing an amount of energy emitted from an antenna in a vicinity to the detected human body part. Similarly, operating according to the second operational mode may include not reducing an amount of energy emitted from an antenna in a vicinity to the detected human body part. In this manner, wherein operating according to the second operational mode may include transmitting from an antenna in a vicinity to the detected human body part at full power.
The second sensor 3102 may be configured to detect an orientation of a screen of the computing device relative to another portion of the computing device. The processor 3106 may be configured to control the first sensor to operate according to the first operational mode when the second sensor detects that the screen is open relative to a keyboard. The processor may be configured to control the first sensor to operate according to the second operational mode when the second sensor detects that the screen is closed relative to a keyboard.
The second sensor 3104 may be configured to detect whether the computing device 3100 is connected to a docking station. In this manner, the processor 3106 may be configured to control the first sensor 3102 to operate according to the first operational mode when the second sensor 3104 detects that the computing device 3100 is connected via the docking station. The processor 3106 may be configured to control the first sensor 3102 to operate according to the second operational mode when the second sensor 3104 detects no connection between the computing device 3100 and a docking station.
The first sensor 3102 operating according to the first operational mode may include the first sensor 3102 discontinuing detection of the human body part in a vicinity. Alternatively or additionally, the first sensor 3102 operating according to the second operational mode may include the first sensor 3102 operating to detect the human body part in the vicinity.
The first sensor 3102 operating according to the first operational mode may include the first sensor 3102 detecting the human body part in the vicinity according to a first detection schedule. The first sensor 3102 operating according to the second operational mode may include the first sensor 3102 detecting the human body part in the vicinity according to a second detection schedule. In this manner, the first detection schedule may be less frequent than the second detection schedule.
The second sensor 3104 may include a baseband modem 3108 and may be configured to detect a human body part based on reflection of a radiofrequency signal from the human body part to an antenna connected to the baseband modem 3108.
The processor 3206 operating according to the first operational mode may include the processor 3206 controlling a circuit to reduce energy emitted from an antenna in a vicinity of the first sensor. The processor 3206 operating according to the second operational mode may include the processor 3206 controlling a circuit (e.g. a baseband modem, a transmit power manager) to transmit from the antenna in the vicinity of the first sensor at full power.
The processor 3206 operating according to the second operational mode may include the processor 3206 not controlling the circuit to reduce energy emitted from an antenna in a vicinity of the first sensor.
The first sensor 3202 may be a capacitive or inductive proximity sensor. The second sensor 3204 may instead be configured to detect a human body part based on radiofrequency signals reflected from the human body part. The second sensor 2306 may include a baseband modem 3206, configured to detect a proximity of a human body part based on a reflection of a radiofrequency signal from the human body part. The second sensor 3204 may be configured to detect a position of a lid or a screen of the computing device relative to another portion of the computing device.
Many computing devices already have various sensors for sensing a variety of states or contexts that are at least not directly related to proximity of a human body part. These may include, but are not limited to sensors as platform orientation and UWB. Although these sensors do not directly sense the presence of a human body part in close proximity to an antenna, they may provide information that can be understood as a proxy (e.g. a substitute for) information about a proximity of a human body part. That is, these sensors can often detect states which would exclude or at least make very unlikely the presence of a human body part in close proximity to an antenna.
For the purposes of this aspect of the disclosure, these additional sensors whose data may be understood as a proxy for proximity of a human body part may be understood as secondary sensors. A list of possible secondary sensors and their relevant attributes is found in at least paragraphs [0113] through [0120] of this disclosure.
In light of this, it may be acceptable to use secondary sensors for body part detection, or at least exclusion of body parts in close proximity to an antenna, even if the secondary sensors are not optimized for detection of a human body part.
In this manner, a baseband modem (e.g. whether for transmission in a WWAN or WLAN network) may be used to detect the proximity of the human body part in close proximity to an antenna based on reflection of radiofrequency signals from the human body part. Similarly, a Bluetooth receiver may be used for this purpose. Additionally or alternatively, sensors regarding whether a computing device is open or closed (e.g. whether the lid is open or closed) may serve as a proxy for the presence of a human body part. That is, if the lid is closed, the screen may be no longer visible, and it may therefore be assumed that the device is not being operated by a human user. As an extension of this, when the screen is dark or in standby mode, it may also be assumed that the device is not operated by a human user. Additionally or alternatively, accelerometer data may be used as a proxy for the presence of a human user. That is, when a device is placed on a human lap, and accelerometer is sensitive enough to detect even small movements associated with the human user, whereas when the device is placed on a table or other stable surface, the accelerometer will not generally detect such movements, and it can be assumed that the device is not resting on a human lap.
In one configuration, and given the probability of a false positive result from a proximity sensor (e.g. a capacitive or inductive proximity sensor), a positive detection of a human body part within close proximity to a proximity sensor may be cross-referenced with sensor information from any of the sensors described in paragraphs [0113] through [0120] above. The absence of a detection of a human body part in close proximity to the device by any of the sensors described in these paragraphs may indicate the presence of a false positive detection by the proximity sensor.
Additionally or alternatively, the proximity sensor may be switched off or placed in a standby mode during periods in which any of the sensors described above in paragraphs [0113] through [0120] do not detect a human body part within close proximity to the computing device or detect no human body part in close proximity to the computing device. In this manner, the capacitive or inductive proximity sensors may not provide sensor data to a controller or processor for SAR compliance during periods in which other sensors detect no human being in close proximity to the device. In this manner, sensor data traffic may be reduced, thereby reducing data congestion and battery consumption.
Additionally or alternatively, and should a proximity sensor be placed in standby mode or otherwise switched off, a processor may switch on the proximity sensor, place the proximity sensor in an active mode, or otherwise begin processing sensor data from the proximity sensor following a predetermined duration after a last detection from a secondary sensor that a human being is not in close proximity to the device.
Wireless communication of a computing device (e.g. a user device, a laptop, a tablet computer, etc.) may be improved with changes in device orientation relative to the access point or base station. According to this ninth aspect of the disclosure, a computing device may direct a user to change the computing device's orientation (e.g. swivel left or right, etc.) or screen orientation (change angle of screen) to obtain an improved signal.
The computing device may be configured to detect any of a plurality of indicators of wireless performance. These may be or include RSSI and data rate/throughout. As a general concept, a low data rate may indicate a problem of device orientation. A low data rate coupled with a strong signal (e.g. a strong RSSI) may be further indicative of suboptimal device orientation.
Computing device may be configured to implement an orientation correction process, in which a user is prompted to make one or more changes in the device's orientation, and the user is instructed when an improved orientation is achieved. The orientation correction procedure may be triggered by detection of a suboptimal orientation. In this manner, the device may detect a reduced or lower-than-expected throughput and initiate the orientation correction procedure as a means to improve the throughput. In an optional configuration, the device may detect reduced or lower-than-expected throughput based on a combination of strong signal strength (e.g. RSSI) and low throughput. Alternatively or additionally, the orientation correction procedure may be triggered by user request. At any time during usage, a user (e.g. a user who is dissatisfied with the quality of experience) may initiate an orientation correction procedure. Alternatively or additionally, the orientation correction procedure may be triggered based on an elapsed duration from the last orientation correction procedure. In this manner, the computing device may be configured to perform the orientation correction procedure periodically to ensure correct orientation. The period for the orientation correction procedure may be any duration without limitation. In an optional configuration, the period for the orientation correction procedure may be every five minutes, every ten minutes, every fifteen minutes, every half hour, every hour, or otherwise. Alternatively or additionally, the orientation correction procedure may be triggered by an ambient temperature change. The channel for the radiofrequency signal depends at least in part on the ambient temperature, and significant changes in temperature may result in sufficient change to the channel that a previously acceptable orientation has become undesirable. Accordingly, the orientation correction procedure may begin upon determination that an ambient temperature has changed beyond a predetermined threshold. Alternatively or additionally, the orientation correction procedure may be triggered when the computing device encounters significant movement, followed by a period of no movement. The significant movement may indicate a change in orientation, resulting in the device coming to rest in an orientation that is untested and potentially suboptimal.
The orientation correction procedure may include the computing device issuing a request for a user to change the computing device's orientation relative to an access point. This may include a change in orientation of the device itself, such as turning the device, swiveling the device, or moving the device to another location. Alternatively or additionally, the orientation correction procedure may include a change in the lid's (e.g. the monitor's) orientation, such as an angle of opening relative to the keyboard. It is noted that any such change in angle of opening relative to the keyboard will also result in a change of orientation relative to the access point.
The request for the user to change the computing device's orientation may be in any form without limitation. In one configuration, the user may receive a text based request, such as in the computing device's screen. Alternatively or additionally, the request may be a visual request, such as a request based on icons, pictographs, or otherwise. Alternatively or additionally, the request may be an auditory request, such as with spoken words, music, signal tones, or otherwise. Alternatively or additionally, the request may be a visual request such as the illumination of a light. Alternatively or additionally, the request may be a haptic request, such as a vibration.
Upon a change in orientation of the computing device, the wireless channel quality may be measured. Measurement of the wireless channel quality may include, but not be limited to, current receive rate, current transmit rate, beacon RSSI and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), receive channel estimation over current network data messages (RSSI, MSC, SNR), transmit channel estimation data based on feedback to transmit sounding messages, receive channel estimation data based on received sounding messages, or any of these.
The computing device may optionally be configured to report a result of the measurements following the change in orientation. In this manner, the user may receive feedback as to whether the change in orientation has improved throughput, detriment in throughput, or been neutral relative to throughput. This feedback may be provided to the user via an on-screen message or image, sound, lights or other visual cues, or a haptic response.
Alternatively or additionally, the principles and methods described herein with respect to optimization of device orientation may be applied to optimization of access point antennas. In a Wi-Fi configuration, a wireless access point may include multiple antennas, and these antennas may be configured to be adjusted by a user. The orientation optimization principles described herein may be applied to the antennas of an access point, such that a user is prompted to change orientation of one or more antennas of the access point, and the user receives feedback (e.g. such as on the user's computer) regarding a result in the change of position of the antennas. This may be carried out by software installed on the user's computing device, which may be configured to measure signal strength and/or throughput as described herein above following a change in orientation of the access point's antennas, and to report the results of this change in orientation to the user via the user's computing device.
The user alert may include any of a text alert displayed on a screen of the computing device; an image displayed on the screen of the computing device; an auditory alert; a haptic alert, or any of these.
The computing device may optionally include an artificial neural network 3406, which may be configured to receive data from the interface. In this manner, determining whether the first indicator satisfies a first condition and the second indicator satisfies a second condition may include determining whether the first indicator satisfies a first condition and the second indicator satisfies a second condition using the artificial neural network. The artificial neural network may be stored on a storage medium within the computing device or may optionally be stored on a storage medium remote from the device, such as in a server, a cloud server, etc.
The processor 3404 may be further configured to control the circuit to generate the user alert to change an orientation of the computing device periodically. The processor 3404 may be further configured to control the circuit to generate the user alert to change an orientation of the computing device at user request. The processor 3404 may be further configured to control the circuit to generate the user alert to change an orientation of the computing device following a period in which the computing device is stationary.
Alternatively or additionally, the computing device may include 3402 an interface to a radiofrequency circuit; and a processor 3404 coupled to the interface and configured to determine from data received from the interface a first indicator if the first indicator satisfies a first condition, control a circuit to generate a user alert to change an orientation of one or more antennas of a wireless access point. The processor 3404 may be configured to determine a second indicator from the data received from the interface. The processor may be configured to control the circuit to generate a user alert to change the orientation of the one or more antennas of the wireless access point only if both the first indicator and the second indicator satisfy a second condition.
The processor may be further configured to control the circuit to generate the user alert to change an orientation of the one or more antennas of the wireless access point periodically. The processor may be further configured to control the circuit to generate the user alert to change an orientation of the one or more antennas of the wireless access point at user request.
While the above descriptions and connected figures may depict components as separate elements, skilled persons will appreciate the various possibilities to combine or integrate discrete elements into a single element. Such may include combining two or more circuits for form a single circuit, mounting two or more circuits onto a common chip or chassis to form an integrated element, executing discrete software components on a common processor core, etc. Conversely, skilled persons will recognize the possibility to separate a single element into two or more discrete elements, such as splitting a single circuit into two or more separate circuits, separating a chip or chassis into discrete elements originally provided thereon, separating a software component into two or more sections and executing each on a separate processor core, etc.
Further aspects of the disclosure will be described by way of example.
In Example 1, a computing device including: an interface to a radiofrequency circuit; a processor coupled to the interface and configured to: receive proximity data representing a proximity of an obstructive object to the antenna; determine whether the proximity data are within a range; and if the proximity data are within the range, generate a user alert.
In Example 2, the computing device of claim 1, further including the radiofrequency circuit, configured to send or receive a wireless signal over an antenna.
In Example 3, the computing device of claim 2, further including the antenna.
In Example 4, the computing device of any one of claims 1 to 3, further including a proximity sensor, configured to generate the proximity data.
In Example 5, the computing device of any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the obstructive object includes a human body part.
In Example 6, the computing device of any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the obstructive object includes a metal object.
In Example 7, the computing device of claim 1, further including a baseband modem, configured to determine a signal strength of a wireless signal received on the antenna; wherein the proximity data are, or are derived from, the signal strength.
In Example 8, the computing device of any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the computing device further includes a display; wherein the user alert is a visual alert; and wherein generating the user alert includes the processor controlling the display to display the user alert.
In Example 9, the computing device of any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the computing device further includes an illumination device; wherein the user alert is a visual alert; and wherein generating the user alert includes the processor controlling the illumination device to generate the user alert.
In Example 10, the computing device of claim 9, wherein the illumination device is a light emitting diode.
In Example 11, the computing device of any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the computing device further includes a speaker; wherein the user alert is an auditory alert; and wherein generating the user alert includes the processor controlling the speaker to sound the user alert.
In Example 12, the computing device of any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein the computer device further includes a haptic alert device; wherein the user alert is a haptic alert; and wherein generating the user alert includes the processor controlling the haptic alert device to generate the user alert.
In Example 13, the computing device of claim 12, wherein the haptic alert device is configured to generate a vibration of one or more parts of the computing device.
In Example 14, the computing device of any one of claims 1 to 13, wherein the processor is further configured to not generate the user alert if the proximity sensor data are within the range.
In Example 15, a non-transitory computer readable medium including instructions which, if executed, cause one or more processors to: receive proximity data representing a proximity of an obstructive object to an antenna; determine whether the proximity data are within a range; and if the proximity data are within the range, generate a user alert.
In Example 16, the non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein the obstructive object includes a human body part.
In Example 17, the non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15 or 16, wherein the obstructive object includes a metal object.
In Example 18, the non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein the instructions are further configured to cause the one or more processors to determine a signal strength of a wireless signal received on the antenna; wherein the proximity data are, or are derived from, the signal strength.
In Example 19, the non-transitory computer readable medium of any one of claims 15 to 18, wherein the user alert is a visual alert; and wherein generating the user alert includes the processor controlling the display to display the user alert.
In Example 20, the non-transitory computer readable medium of any one of claims 15 to 19, user alert is a visual alert; and wherein generating the user alert includes the processor controlling the illumination device to generate the user alert.
In Example 21, the non-transitory computer readable medium of any one of claims 15 to 20, wherein the user alert is an auditory alert; and wherein generating the user alert includes the processor controlling the speaker to sound the user alert.
In Example 22, the non-transitory computer readable medium of any one of claims 15 to 21, wherein the user alert is a haptic alert; and wherein generating the user alert includes the processor controlling the haptic alert device to generate the user alert.
In Example 23, the non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 22, wherein the haptic alert device is configured to generate a vibration of one or more parts of the computing device.
In Example 24, the non-transitory computer readable medium of any one of claims 15 to 23, wherein the instructions are further configured to cause the one or more processors to not generate the user alert if the proximity sensor data are within the range.
In Example 25, a computing device including: an interfacing means for connecting to a radiofrequency circuit; a processing means coupled to the interface and for: receiving proximity data representing a proximity of an obstructive object to the antenna; determining whether the proximity data are within a range; and if the proximity data are within the range, generating a user alert.
In Example 26, a method including: receiving proximity data representing a proximity of an obstructive object to an antenna; determining whether the proximity data are within a range; and if the proximity data are within the range, generating a user alert.
In Example 27, a computing device, including: a first housing portion, including a first antenna; a second portion, including a second antenna; a moveable joint, configured to permit the first housing portion to move relative to the second portion; one or more processors, configured to determine a signal characteristic of a wireless signal sent from the first antenna and received on the second antenna.
In Example 28, the computing device of claim 27, further including: a first baseband modem, configured to send the wireless signal over the first antenna; and a second baseband, configured to determine the signal characteristic of the received wireless signal.
In Example 29, the computing device of claim 27 or 28, wherein the signal characteristic is a received signal strength of the wireless signal.
In Example 30, the computing device of any one of claims 27 to 29, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to determine whether to reduce (e.g., whether it is required to reduce) a maximum transmit power on the first antenna and/or on the second antenna based on the signal characteristic.
In Example 31, the computing device of any one of claims 27 to 30, wherein if the signal characteristic is outside of a range, the one or more processors are further configured to reduce a maximum transmit power on the first antenna and/or on the second antenna.
In Example 32, the computing device of any one of claims 27 to 31, wherein if the signal characteristic is outside of a range, the one or more processors are further configured to reduce a total maximum transmit power on the first antenna and on the second antenna beneath a threshold; and wherein if the signal characteristic is with the range, the one or more processors are further configured to permit the total maximum transmit power on the first antenna and on the second antenna to be above the threshold.
In Example 33, the computing device of any one of claims 27 to 32, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to determine a distance between the first antenna and the second antenna based on the signal characteristic.
In Example 34, the computing device of any one of claims 27 to 33, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to determine an angle of the first housing portion relative to the second portion at the moveable joint based on the signal characteristic.
In Example 35, the computing device of any one of claims 27 to 34, wherein the first antenna is configured to transmit according to a wide area network protocol, and wherein the second antenna is configured to transmit according to a local area network protocol; or wherein the first antenna is configured to transmit according to the local area network protocol, and wherein the second antenna is configured to transmit according to the wide area network protocol.
In Example 36, the computing device of any one of claims 27 to 35, wherein the first antenna is configured to transmit within a first frequency range, and wherein the second antenna is configured to receive with a second frequency range, not overlapping the first frequency range; and wherein the second antenna is configured to receive the wireless signal sent within the first frequency range.
In Example 37, the computing device of claim 36, wherein the local area network protocol is a protocol according to the Wi-Fi Alliance and/or the one or more standards according to the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers 802.11.
In Example 38, a computing device including: a first housing portion, including a first antenna; a second portion, including a second antenna; a moveable joining means for permitting the first housing portion to move relative to the second portion; one or more processing means for determining a signal characteristic of a wireless signal sent from the first antenna and received on the second antenna.
In Example 39, a computing device including: a chassis, including an inner portion and an outer portion; a metal film, deposited on the inner portion of the chassis; and a controller, configured to determine a proximity of an object near the outer portion based on an electrical charge at the metal film.
In Example 40, the computing device of claim 39, wherein if the detected proximity is outside of a range, the controller is configured to operate according to a first operational mode; and wherein if the detected proximity is within the range, the controller is configured to operate according to a second operational mode.
In Example 41, the computing device of claim 40, further including an antenna in a vicinity of the metal film; wherein operating according to a first operational mode includes controlling a baseband modem to limit a transmission power at the antenna to less than a maximum transmission power; and wherein operating according to the second operational mode includes controlling the baseband modem to permit transmission on the antenna at the maximum transmission power.
In Example 42, the computing device of any one of claims 39 to 41, wherein the chassis is primarily composed of a dielectric material; wherein the metal film is a first metal film; further including a dielectric film deposited on the first metal film, and a second metal film deposited on the dielectric film.
In Example 43, the computing device of claim 42, wherein determining the proximity of an object near the outer portion based on an electrical charge at the metal film includes determining the proximity of the object based on the electrical charge of the first metal film relative to the second metal film.
In Example 44, the computing device of any one of claims 39 to 42, wherein the chassis is composed primarily of metal; further including a dielectric layer between the chassis and the metal film.
In Example 45, the computing device of claim 44, wherein determining the proximity of an object near the outer portion based on an electrical charge at the metal film includes determining the proximity of the object based on the electrical charge of the metal film relative to chassis.
In Example 46, the computing device of any one of claims 39 to 45, wherein the controller is electrically conductively connected to the metal film.
In Example 47, the computing device of any one of claims 39 to 46, wherein determining the proximity of an object near the outer portion based on an electrical charge at the metal film includes determining a voltage of the metal film relative to a reference voltage.
In Example 48, the computing device of any one of claims 39 to 47, wherein determining the proximity of an object near the outer portion based on an electrical charge at the metal film includes determining a capacitance of the metal film relative to the chassis or a second metal film.
In Example 49, a method of manufacturing a proximity sensor including: depositing a metal film on an inner portion of a chassis; and determining a proximity of an object near the outer portion based on an electrical charge at the metal film.
In Example 50, the method of claim 49, further including, if the detected proximity is outside of a range, operating according to a first operational mode; and if the detected proximity is within the range, operating according to a second operational mode.
In Example 51, the method of claim 50, wherein operating according to the first operational mode includes controlling a baseband modem to limit a transmission power at the antenna to less than a maximum transmission power; and wherein operating according to the second operational mode includes controlling the baseband modem to permit transmission on the antenna at the maximum transmission power.
In Example 52, the method of any one of claims 49 to 51, wherein the chassis is primarily composed of a dielectric material; wherein the metal film is a first metal film; further including depositing a dielectric film deposited on the first metal film, and depositing a second metal film deposited on the dielectric film.
In Example 53, the method of claim 52, wherein determining the proximity of an object near the outer portion based on an electrical charge at the metal film includes determining the proximity of the object based on the electrical charge of the first metal film relative to the second metal film.
In Example 54, the method of any one of claims 49 to 52, wherein the chassis is composed primarily of metal; further including depositing a dielectric layer between the chassis and the metal film.
In Example 55, the method of claim 54, wherein determining the proximity of an object near the outer portion based on an electrical charge at the metal film includes determining the proximity of the object based on the electrical charge of the metal film relative to chassis.
In Example 56, the method of any one of claims 49 to 55, wherein the controller is electrically conductively connected to the metal film.
In Example 57, the method of any one of claims 49 to 56, wherein determining the proximity of an object near the outer portion based on an electrical charge at the metal film includes determining a voltage of the metal film relative to a reference voltage.
In Example 58, the method of any one of claims 49 to 57, wherein determining the proximity of an object near the outer portion based on an electrical charge at the metal film includes determining a capacitance of the metal film relative to the chassis or a second metal film.
In Example 59, a computing device, including: a chassis, including an opening, configured to receive a base; the base, arranged in the opening, and configured to move relative to the chassis; a proximity sensor, configured to detect a human body part and to generate proximity sensor data representing a distance between the proximity sensor and the human body part; and a processor, configured to control an actuator to move the base relative to the chassis based on the proximity sensor data.
In Example 60, the computing device of claim 59, further including the actuator.
In Example 61, the computing device of claim 59 or 60, wherein the base is configured to move into and out of the chassis.
In Example 62, the computing device of any one of claims 59 to 61, wherein the base includes a top side and a bottom side; wherein the top side faces an interior of the chassis and the bottom side is opposite the top side; and wherein, in a recessed position, the base is configured to rest relative to the chassis such that the bottom side is essentially parallel with an outer surface of the chassis.
In Example 63, the computing device of any one of claims 59 to 62, wherein controlling the actuator to move the base relative to the chassis based on the proximity sensor data includes determining whether the proximity sensor data are outside of a range, and if the proximity sensor data are outside of the range, controlling the actuator to move the base away from the chassis.
In Example 64, the computing device of claim 63, further including if the proximity sensor data are within the range, controlling the actuator to move the base toward the chassis.
In Example 65, the computing device of any one of claims 59 to 64, wherein the processor is configured to control the actuator to increase a distance between an antenna of the computing device and a user body part based on the proximity sensor data.
In Example 66, a computing device, including: a chassis, including an opening, configured to receive a distance increasing means; the distance increasing means, arranged in the opening, for increasing distance between the chassis and a user by moving relative to the chassis; a proximity sensing means for detecting a human body part and to generate proximity sensor data representing a distance between the proximity sensor and the human body part; and a processor, configured to control an actuator to move the base relative to the chassis based on the proximity sensor data.
In Example 67, the computing device of claim 66, further including the actuator.
In Example 68, the computing device of claim 66 or 67, wherein the distance increasing means is configured to move into and out of the chassis.
In Example 69, the computing device of any one of claims 66 to 68, wherein the distance increasing means includes a top side and a bottom side; wherein the top side faces an interior of the chassis and the bottom side is opposite the top side; and wherein, in a recessed position, the distance increasing means is configured to rest relative to the chassis such that the bottom side is essentially parallel with an outer surface of the chassis.
In Example 70, the computing device of any one of claims 66 to 69, wherein controlling the actuator to move the distance increasing means relative to the chassis based on the proximity sensor data includes determining whether the proximity sensor data are outside of a range, and if the proximity sensor data are outside of the range, controlling the actuator to move the distance increasing means away from the chassis.
In Example 71, the computing device of claim 70, further including if the proximity sensor data are within the range, controlling the actuator to move the distance increasing means toward the chassis.
In Example 72, the computing device of any one of claims 66 to 71, wherein the processor is configured to control the actuator to increase a distance between an antenna of the computing device and a user body part based on the proximity sensor data.
In Example 73, a method including: detect a human body part and to generate proximity sensor data representing a distance between the proximity sensor and the human body part; and controlling an actuator to move a base of a computing device relative to a chassis based on the proximity sensor data to include a distance between the chassis and a user.
In Example 74, a computing device including: a housing; an antenna; a ferroelectric sheet between the housing and the antenna; and a processor, configured to control a circuit to apply a direct current biasing voltage to the antenna based on proximity sensor data.
In Example 75, the computing device of claim 74, further including the proximity sensor, configured to generate proximity sensor data representing a proximity of a human body part to the proximity sensor.
In Example 76, the computing device of claim 74 or 75, wherein the ferroelectric sheet includes a plurality of layers, and wherein each layer of the plurality of layers has a different dielectric constant.
In Example 77, the computing device of any one of claims 74 to 76, wherein the processor is further configured to determine whether the proximity sensor data are outside of a range, and if the proximity sensor data are outside of the range, the processor is configured to control the circuit to generate the bias voltage on the antenna based on proximity sensor data.
In Example 78, the computing device of claim 77, wherein if the proximity sensor data are within the range, the processor is configured to control the circuit to not generate the electrical charge on the ferroelectric sheet based on proximity sensor data.
In Example 79, a computing device including: a housing; an antenna; a radiofrequency signal dampening means, for dampening a radiofrequency signal, between the housing and the antenna.
In Example 80, the computing device of claim 79, wherein the radiofrequency signal dampening means includes a plurality of regions, each region of the plurality of regions having a different dielectric constant.
In Example 81, the computing device of claim 80, wherein the plurality of regions are arranged adjacently to one another in a single layer.
In Example 82, a computing device including: a housing; an antenna; a ferroelectric dampening means, for selectively dampening a radiofrequency signal, between the housing and the antenna; and a processor, configured to control a circuit to apply a direct current biasing voltage to the antenna based on proximity sensor data.
In Example 83, the computing device of claim 82, further including the proximity sensor, configured to generate proximity sensor data representing a proximity of a human body part to the proximity sensor.
In Example 84, the computing device of claim 82 or 83, wherein the ferroelectric dampening means includes a plurality of layers, and wherein each layer of the plurality of layers has a different dielectric constant.
In Example 85, the computing device of any one of claims 82 to 84, wherein the processor is further configured to determine whether the proximity sensor data are outside of a range, and if the proximity sensor data are outside of the range, the processor is configured to control the circuit to generate the bias voltage on the antenna based on proximity sensor data.
In Example 86, the computing device of claim 85, wherein if the proximity sensor data are within the range, the processor is configured to control the circuit to not generate the electrical charge on the ferroelectric sheet based on proximity sensor data.
In Example 87, a computing device including: a housing; an antenna; a radiofrequency signal dampener, including a dielectric material, between the housing and the antenna.
In Example 88, the computing device of claim 87, wherein the radiofrequency signal dampener including a plurality of regions, each region of the plurality of regions having a different dielectric constant.
In Example 89, the computing device of claim 88, wherein the plurality of regions are arranged adjacently to one another in a single layer.
In Example 90, a computing device including: a first antenna; a second antenna; a memory, configured to store a first signal parameter corresponding to the first antenna and a second signal parameter corresponding to the first antenna; a proximity sensor, configured to detect a proximity of a human body part near the first antenna and to generate proximity sensor data representing the detected proximity of the human body part; and a processor, wherein if the proximity sensor data is outside of a range, the processor is configured to determine a third signal parameter corresponding to the first antenna, and if the second signal parameter is greater than the third signal parameter, the processor is configured to control a baseband modem to send a wireless signal over the second antenna.
In Example 91, the computing device of claim 90, wherein the processor determining the third signal parameter includes the processor determining the third signal parameter based on the first signal parameter and the proximity sensor data.
In Example 92, the computing device of claim 91, wherein the processor determining the third signal parameter based on the first signal parameter and the proximity sensor data includes the processor determining the third signal parameter based on the first signal parameter and the proximity sensor data from a look up table.
In Example 93, the computing device of any one of claims 90 to 92, wherein if the proximity sensor data is outside of the range, and if the third signal parameter is less than the second signal parameter, the processor is configured to control the baseband modem to send the wireless signal over the second antenna before performing a network scan for a radio access technology corresponding to the second antenna.
In Example 94, the computing device of any one of claims 90 to 93, wherein if the proximity sensor data is outside of the range, and if the third signal parameter is less than the second signal parameter, the processor is configured to control the baseband modem to send the wireless signal over the second antenna before performing an additional quality of service calculation for the second antenna.
In Example 95, the computing device of any one of claims 90 to 94, wherein each of the first signal parameter, the second signal parameter, and the third signal parameter is a quality of service value.
In Example 96, the computing device of any one of claims 90 to 94, wherein each of the first signal parameter, the second signal parameter, and the third signal parameter is a value representing a quality of service value.
In Example 97, the computing device of any one of claims 90 to 96, wherein if the proximity sensor data is outside of the range, and the third signal parameter is greater than the second signal parameter, the processor is configured to control a baseband modem to send the wireless signal over the first antenna.
In Example 98, the computing device of any one of claims 90 to 97, wherein the first antenna is configured to send or receive a wireless signal according to a wireless local area network protocol and the second antenna is configured to send or receive a wireless signal according to a wireless wide area network protocol; or wherein the first antenna is configured to send or receive a wireless signal according to a wireless wide area network protocol and the second antenna is configured to send or receive a wireless signal according to a wireless local area network protocol.
In Example 99, the computing device of any one of claims 90 to 97, wherein each of the first antenna and the second antenna are configured to send or receive a wireless signal according to a wireless local area network protocol; or wherein each of the first antenna and the second antenna are configured to send or receive a wireless signal according to a wireless wide area network protocol.
In Example 100, the computing device of any one of claims 90 to 99, wherein the computing device is configured to perform a network scan for a wireless network corresponding to the first antenna after sending the wireless signal over the first antenna.
In Example 101, a non-transitory computer readable medium, including instructions which, if executed, cause one or more processors to: storing in a memory a first signal parameter corresponding to a first antenna and a second signal parameter corresponding to a first antenna; detecting a proximity of a human body part near the first antenna and to generate proximity sensor data representing the detected proximity of the human body part; if proximity sensor data is outside of a range, determine a third signal parameter corresponding to the first antenna, and if the second signal parameter is greater than the third signal parameter, control a baseband modem to send a wireless signal over the second antenna.
In Example 102, the non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 101, wherein determining the third signal parameter includes determining the third signal parameter based on the first signal parameter and the proximity sensor data.
In Example 103, the non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 102, wherein determining the third signal parameter based on the first signal parameter and the proximity sensor data includes determining the third signal parameter based on the first signal parameter and the proximity sensor data from a look up table.
In Example 104, the non-transitory computer readable medium of any one of claims 101 to 103, wherein if the proximity sensor data is outside of the range, and if the third signal parameter is less than the second signal parameter, the instructions are further configured to cause the one or more processors to control the baseband modem to send the wireless signal over the second antenna before performing a network scan for a radio access technology corresponding to the second antenna.
In Example 105, the non-transitory computer readable medium of any one of claims 101 to 104, wherein if the proximity sensor data is outside of the range, and if the third signal parameter is less than the second signal parameter, the instructions are further configured to cause the one or more processors to control the baseband modem to send the wireless signal over the second antenna before performing an additional quality of service calculation for the second antenna.
In Example 106, the non-transitory computer readable medium of any one of claims 101 to 105, wherein each of the first signal parameter, the second signal parameter, and the third signal parameter is a quality of service value.
In Example 107, the non-transitory computer readable medium of any one of claims 101 to 105, wherein each of the first signal parameter, the second signal parameter, and the third signal parameter is a value representing a quality of service value.
In Example 108, the non-transitory computer readable medium of any one of claims 101 to 107, wherein if the proximity sensor data is outside of the range, and the third signal parameter is greater than the second signal parameter, the instructions are further configured to cause the one or more processors to control a baseband modem to send the wireless signal over the first antenna.
In Example 109, the non-transitory computer readable medium of any one of claims 101 to 108, wherein the first antenna is configured to send or receive a wireless signal according to a wireless local area network protocol and the second antenna is configured to send or receive a wireless signal according to a wireless wide area network protocol; or wherein the first antenna is configured to send or receive a wireless signal according to a wireless wide area network protocol and the second antenna is configured to send or receive a wireless signal according to a wireless local area network protocol.
In Example 110, the non-transitory computer readable medium of any one of claims 101 to 108, wherein each of the first antenna and the second antenna are configured to send or receive a wireless signal according to a wireless local area network protocol; or wherein each of the first antenna and the second antenna are configured to send or receive a wireless signal according to a wireless wide area network protocol.
In Example 111, the non-transitory computer readable medium of any one of claims 101 to 110, wherein the instructions are further configured to cause the one or more processors to perform a network scan for a wireless network corresponding to the first antenna after sending the wireless signal over the first antenna.
In Example 112, a method, including: if proximity sensor data is outside of a range, determine a third signal parameter corresponding to the first antenna, and if the second signal parameter is greater than the third signal parameter, control a baseband modem to send a wireless signal over the second antenna.
In Example 113, the method of claim 112, wherein determining the third signal parameter includes determining the third signal parameter based on the first signal parameter and the proximity sensor data.
In Example 114, the method of claim 113, wherein determining the third signal parameter based on the first signal parameter and the proximity sensor data includes determining the third signal parameter based on the first signal parameter and the proximity sensor data from a look up table.
In Example 115, the method of any one of claims 112 to 114, further including, if the proximity sensor data is outside of the range, and if the third signal parameter is less than the second signal parameter, controlling the baseband modem to send the wireless signal over the second antenna before performing a network scan for a radio access technology corresponding to the second antenna.
In Example 116, a computing device, including: a first sensor, configured to detect the presence of a human body part in a vicinity and to generate a first sensor signal representing the detected presence of the human body part; a second sensor, configured to detect the presence of the human body part within the vicinity; and to generate a second sensor signal representing the detected presence of the human body part; and a processor; wherein, if the first sensor signal and the second sensor signal indicate a detected presence of a human body part in the vicinity, the processor is configured to operate according to a first operational mode; and wherein, if either the first sensor signal or the second sensor signal indicates no detected presence of a human body part in the vicinity, the processor is configured to operate according to a second operational mode.
In Example 117, the computing device of claim 116, wherein the first sensor is a capacitive or inductive proximity sensor.
In Example 118, the computing device of claim 116 or 117, wherein the second sensor includes a baseband modem, configured to detect the presence of a human body by detecting reflected radiofrequency signals from the human body part.
In Example 119, the computing device of any one of claims 116 to 118, wherein the first sensor has a first probability of false positive results; wherein the second sensor has second probability of false positive results; and wherein the probably of a false positive result of both the first sensor and the second sensor is lower than either the first probability or the second probability.
In Example 120, the computing device of any one of claims 116 to 119, wherein operating according to the first operational mode includes reducing an amount of energy emitted from an antenna in a vicinity to the detected human body part.
In Example 121, the computing device of any one of claims 116 to 120, wherein operating according to the second operational mode includes not reducing an amount of energy emitted from an antenna in a vicinity to the detected human body part.
In Example 122, the computing device of any one of claims 116 to 121, wherein operating according to the second operational mode includes transmitting from an antenna in a vicinity to the detected human body part at full power.
In Example 123, a non-transitory computer readable medium including instructions which, if executed, cause one or more processors to: detect the presence of a human body part in a vicinity and to generate a first sensor signal representing the detected presence of the human body part; detect the presence of the human body part within the vicinity; and to generate a second sensor signal representing the detected presence of the human body part; wherein, if the first sensor signal and the second sensor signal indicate a detected presence of a human body part in the vicinity, the instructions are configured to cause the processor to operate according to a first operational mode; and wherein, if either the first sensor signal or the second sensor signal indicates no detected presence of a human body part in the vicinity, the instructions are configured to cause the processor to operate according to a second operational mode.
In Example 124, the non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 123, wherein the first sensor is a capacitive or inductive proximity sensor.
In Example 125, the non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 123 or 124, wherein the second sensor includes a baseband modem, configured to detect the presence of a human body by detecting reflected radiofrequency signals from the human body part.
In Example 126, the non-transitory computer readable medium of any one of claims 123 to 125, wherein the first sensor has a first probability of false positive results; wherein the second sensor has second probability of false positive results; and wherein the probably of a false positive result of both the first sensor and the second sensor is lower than either the first probability or the second probability.
In Example 127, the non-transitory computer readable medium of any one of claims 123 to 126, wherein operating according to the first operational mode includes reducing an amount of energy emitted from an antenna in a vicinity to the detected human body part.
In Example 128, the non-transitory computer readable medium of any one of claims 123 to 127, wherein operating according to the second operational mode includes not reducing an amount of energy emitted from an antenna in a vicinity to the detected human body part.
In Example 129, the non-transitory computer readable medium of any one of claims 123 to 128, wherein operating according to the second operational mode includes transmitting from an antenna in a vicinity to the detected human body part at full power.
In Example 130, a computing device, including: a first sensor, configured to detect a human body part in a vicinity; a second sensor, configured to generate a second sensor signal representing the detected state; and a processor, configured to control the first sensor to operate in either a first operational mode or a second operational mode based on the second sensor signal.
In Example 131, the computing device of claim 130, wherein the second sensor is configured to detect an orientation of a screen of the computing device relative to another portion of the computing device.
In Example 132, the computing device of claim 131, wherein the processor is configured to control the first sensor to operate according to the first operational mode when the second sensor detects that the screen is open relative to a keyboard.
In Example 133, the computing device of claim 131 or 132, wherein the processor is configured to control the first sensor to operate according to the second operational mode when the second sensor detects that the screen is closed relative to a keyboard.
In Example 134, the computing device of any one of claims 130 to 133, wherein the second sensor is configured to detect whether the computing device is connected to a docking station.
In Example 135, the computing device of claim 134, wherein the processor is configured to control the first sensor to operate according to the first operational mode when the second sensor detects that the processing device is connected according to the docking station.
In Example 136, the computing device of claim 134 or 135, wherein the processor is configured to control the first sensor to operate according to the second operational mode when the second sensor detects no connection between the computing device and a docking station.
In Example 137, the computing device of any one of claims 130 to 136, wherein the first sensor operating according to the first operational mode includes the first sensor discontinuing detection of the human body part in a vicinity.
In Example 138, the computing device of any one of claims 130 to 137, wherein the first sensor operating according to the second operational mode includes the first sensor operating to detect the human body part in the vicinity.
In Example 139, the computing device of any one of claims 130 to 137, wherein the first sensor operating according to the first operational mode includes the first sensor detecting the human body part in the vicinity according to a first detection schedule; wherein the first sensor operating according to the second operational mode includes the first sensor detecting the human body part in the vicinity according to a second detection schedule; and wherein the first detection schedule is less frequent than the second detection schedule.
In Example 140, the computing device of any one of claims 130 to 139, wherein the second sensor includes a baseband modem and is configured to detect a human body part based on reflection of a radiofrequency signal from the human body part to an antenna connected to the baseband modem.
In Example 141, a computing device, including: a first sensor, configured to detect whether a human body part is present in a vicinity and to generate first sensor data representing the detection of whether the human body part is present in the vicinity; a second sensor, configured to detect a state of the computing device and to generate a second sensor data representing the detected state; and a processor, wherein, during a first time instance in which the second sensor detects the state of the computing device, the processor is configured to store in a memory the first sensor data of the first time instance; wherein the processor is configured to operate according to a first operational mode if a difference between first sensor data of a second time instance and the stored first sensor data of the first time instance is outside of a range; wherein the processor is configured to operate according to a second operational mode if a difference between first sensor data of a second time instance and the stored first sensor data of the first time instance is within the range.
In Example 142, the computing device of claim 141, wherein the processor operating according to the first operational mode includes the processor controlling a circuit to reduce energy emitted from an antenna in a vicinity of the first sensor.
In Example 143, the computing device of claim 141 or 142, wherein the processor operating according to the second operational mode includes the processor controlling the circuit to transmit from the antenna in the vicinity of the first sensor at full power.
In Example 144, the computing device of any one of claims 141 to 143, wherein the processor operating according to the second operational mode includes the processor not controlling the circuit to reduce energy emitted from an antenna in a vicinity of the first sensor.
In Example 145, the computing device of claim 141 or 144, wherein the first sensor is a capacitive or inductive proximity sensor.
In Example 146, the computing device of claim 141 or 145, wherein the second sensor includes a baseband modem, configured to detect a proximity of a human body part based on a reflection of a radiofrequency signal from the human body part.
In Example 147, the computing device of claim 141 or 146, wherein the second sensor is configured to detect a position of a lid or a screen of the computing device relative to another portion of the computing device.
In Example 148, a non-transitory computer readable medium, including instructions which, if executed, cause one or more processors to: receive first sensor data representing a detected human body part in a vicinity; receive a second sensor signal representing a detected state; and control a first sensor to operate in either a first operational mode or a second operational mode based on a second sensor signal.
In Example 149, the non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 148, wherein the second sensor is configured to detect an orientation of a screen of the computing device relative to another portion of the computing device.
In Example 150, the non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 149, wherein the instructions are further configured to cause the one or more processors to control the first sensor to operate according to the first operational mode when the second sensor detects that the screen is open relative to a keyboard.
In Example 151, the non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 149 or 150, wherein the instructions are further configured to cause the one or more processors control the first sensor to operate according to the second operational mode when the second sensor detects that the screen is closed relative to a keyboard.
In Example 152, the non-transitory computer readable medium of any one of claims 148 to 151, wherein the second sensor is configured to detect whether the computing device is connected to a docking station.
In Example 153, the non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 152, wherein the instructions are further configured to cause the one or more processors control the first sensor to operate according to the first operational mode when the second sensor detects that the processing device is connected according to the docking station.
In Example 154, the non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 152 or 153, wherein the instructions are further configured to cause the one or more processors control the first sensor to operate according to the second operational mode when the second sensor detects no connection between the computing device and a docking station.
In Example 155, the non-transitory computer readable medium of any one of claims 148 to 154, wherein the first sensor operating according to the first operational mode includes the first sensor discontinuing detection of the human body part in a vicinity.
In Example 156, the non-transitory computer readable medium of any one of claims 148 to 155, wherein the first sensor operating according to the second operational mode includes the first sensor operating to detect the human body part in the vicinity.
In Example 157, the non-transitory computer readable medium of any one of claims 148 to 155, wherein the first sensor operating according to the first operational mode includes the first sensor detecting the human body part in the vicinity according to a first detection schedule; wherein the first sensor operating according to the second operational mode includes the first sensor detecting the human body part in the vicinity according to a second detection schedule; and wherein the first detection schedule is less frequent than the second detection schedule.
In Example 158, the non-transitory computer readable medium of any one of claims 148 to 157, wherein the second sensor includes a baseband modem and is configured to detect a human body part based on reflection of a radiofrequency signal from the human body part to an antenna connected to the baseband modem.
In Example 159, a non-transitory computer readable medium, including instructions which, if executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to: detect via a first sensor whether a human body part is present in a vicinity and to generate first sensor data representing the detection of whether the human body part is present in the vicinity; detect via a second sensor a state of the computing device and to generate a second sensor data representing the detected state; wherein, during a first time instance in which the second sensor detects the state of the computing device, the instructions are further configured to cause the one or more processors store in a memory the first sensor data of the first time instance; wherein the instructions are further configured to cause the one or more processors operate according to a first operational mode if a difference between first sensor data of a second time instance and the stored first sensor data of the first time instance is outside of a range; wherein the instructions are further configured to cause the one or more processors operate according to a second operational mode if a difference between first sensor data of a second time instance and the stored first sensor data of the first time instance is within the range.
In Example 160, the non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 159, wherein operating according to the first operational mode includes controlling a circuit to reduce energy emitted from an antenna in a vicinity of the first sensor.
In Example 161, the non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 159 or 160, wherein the processor operating according to the second operational mode includes controlling the circuit to transmit from the antenna in the vicinity of the first sensor at full power.
In Example 162, the non-transitory computer readable medium of any one of claims 159 to 161, wherein the processor operating according to the second operational mode includes not controlling the circuit to reduce energy emitted from an antenna in a vicinity of the first sensor.
In Example 163, the non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 159 or 162, wherein the first sensor is a capacitive or inductive proximity sensor.
In Example 164, the non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 159 or 163, wherein the second sensor includes a baseband modem, configured to detect a proximity of a human body part based on a reflection of a radiofrequency signal from the human body part.
In Example 165, the non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 159 or 164, wherein the second sensor is configured to detect a position of a lid or a screen of the computing device relative to another portion of the computing device.
In Example 166, a computing device, including: an interface to a radiofrequency circuit; a processor coupled to the interface and configured to: determine from data received from the interface a first indicator; if the first indicator satisfies a first condition, control a circuit to generate a user alert to change an orientation of the computing device.
In Example 167, the computing device of claim 166, wherein the processor is configured to determine a second indicator from the data received from the interface; and wherein the processor is configured to control the circuit to generate a user alert to change the orientation of the computing device only if both the first indicator and the second indicator satisfy a second condition.
In Example 168, the computing device of claim 166 or 167, wherein the first indicator is a signal strength of a signal received at an antenna connected to the interface, and the first condition is a signal strength above a first threshold.
In Example 169, the computing device of claim 167 or 168, wherein the second indicator is a data rate of a signal received at an antenna connected to the interface, and the second condition is a data rate below a second threshold.
In Example 170, the computing device of any one of claims 166 to 169, wherein the user alert includes any of a text alert displayed on a screen of the computing device; an image displayed on the screen of the computing device; an auditory alert; a haptic alert, or any of these.
In Example 171, the computing device of any one of claims 166 to 170, further including an artificial neural network, configured to receive data from the interface; wherein determining whether the first indicator satisfies a first condition and the second indicator satisfies a second condition includes determining whether the first indicator satisfies a first condition and the second indicator satisfies a second condition using the artificial neural network.
In Example 172, the computing device of any one of claims 166 to 171, wherein the processor is further configured to control the circuit to generate the user alert to change an orientation of the computing device periodically.
In Example 173, the computing device of any one of claims 166 to 172, wherein the processor is further configured to control the circuit to generate the user alert to change an orientation of the computing device at user request.
In Example 174, the computing device of any one of claims 166 to 173, wherein the processor is further configured to control the circuit to generate the user alert to change an orientation of the computing device following a period in which the computing device is stationary.
In Example 175, a computing device, including: an interface to a radiofrequency circuit; a processor coupled to the interface and configured to: determine from data received from the interface a first indicator; if the first indicator satisfies a first condition, control a circuit to generate a user alert to change an orientation of one or more antennas of a wireless access point.
In Example 176, the computing device of claim 175, wherein the processor is configured to determine a second indicator from the data received from the interface; and wherein the processor is configured to control the circuit to generate a user alert to change the orientation of the one or more antennas of the wireless access point only if both the first indicator and the second indicator satisfy a second condition.
In Example 177, the computing device of claim 175 or 176, wherein the first indicator is a data rate of a signal received at an antenna connected to the interface, and the first condition is a data rate below a second threshold.
In Example 178, the computing device of claim 176 or 177, wherein the second indicator is a signal strength of a signal received at an antenna connected to the interface, and the second condition is a signal strength above a first threshold.
In Example 179, the computing device of any one of claims 175 to 178, wherein the user alert includes any of a text alert displayed on a screen of the computing device; an image displayed on the screen of the computing device; an auditory alert; a haptic alert, or any of these.
In Example 180, the computing device of any one of claims 175 to 179, further including an artificial neural network, configured to receive data from the interface; wherein determining whether the first indicator satisfies a first condition and the second indicator satisfies a second condition includes determining whether the first indicator satisfies a first condition and the second indicator satisfies a second condition using the artificial neural network.
In Example 181, the computing device of any one of claims 175 to 180, wherein the processor is further configured to control the circuit to generate the user alert to change an orientation of the one or more antennas of the wireless access point periodically.
In Example 182, the computing device of any one of claims 175 to 181, wherein the processor is further configured to control the circuit to generate the user alert to change an orientation of the one or more antennas of the wireless access point at user request.
In Example 183, a non-transitory computer readable medium, including instructions which, if executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to: determine from data received from an interface to a radiofrequency circuit a first indicator; if the first indicator satisfies a first condition, control a circuit to generate a user alert to change an orientation of the computing device.
In Example 184, a non-transitory computer readable medium, including instructions which, if executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to: determine from data received from the interface a first indicator; if the first indicator satisfies a first condition, control a circuit to generate a user alert to change an orientation of one or more antennas of a wireless access point.
It is appreciated that implementations of methods detailed herein are demonstrative in nature, and are thus understood as capable of being implemented in a corresponding device. Likewise, it is appreciated that implementations of devices detailed herein are understood as capable of being implemented as a corresponding method. It is thus understood that a device corresponding to a method detailed herein may include one or more components configured to perform each aspect of the related method.
All acronyms defined in the above description additionally hold in all claims included herein.
