Abstract:
The invention relates to hand-held electronic devices that can have a spherical, cylindrical or other curved surface and an output display providing output visible on the curved surface. The interior region of the device can house receiver circuitry coupled to an antenna to enable reception of transmitted radio signals, display control circuitry, physical stimulus processing circuitry, a microprocessor, data storage memory, and a battery. Display and antenna configurations and data processing methods are also disclosed.

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The disclosure herein relates to the field of intelligent electronic devices having digital output display, such as mobile phones, personal digital assistants, and wireless information devices, and form factors related thereto. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Portable mobile device such as cell phones often have a substantially box-like rectangular form factor. One reason for this is that a rectangular form factor has been a convenient shape for manufacture and provides smooth faces that accommodate typical layouts of keyboards and flat display panels. In addition, the box-like interior is convenient for housing electronic components such as a battery, circuit board, antennas, and semiconductor chips. 
     A smartphone, music player, or other portable device fashioned using a box-like case typically has a planar LCD display along one face of the case for displaying information to a user. While typical planar displays are adequate for many purposes, they also include numerous limitations. For example, typical LCD displays only provides a single-directional, two-dimensional view along a limited area of the device. Some devices try to overcome this limitation by the use of multiple displays on different faces of the device. However, limitations remain with those designs too. In order to meet evolving user desires, improvements in mechanical and electronic designs are desired to provide for a greater variety of shapes and configurations of mobile devices. 
     SUMMARY 
     In general, in one aspect, implementations of the invention can take the form of a hand-held electronic device having an external casing with a curved surface. The device can be formed from a multitude of layers that have similarly curved surface configured such that the curved surfaces are aligned (i.e., they are proximate to each other). One of the layers may be used to form an output display that is visible when a user is looking at the curved surface of the external casing. Another layer may be a physical stimulus sensor (e.g., a touch sensor or a pressure sensor). The device can include circuitry and components within the casing such as a radio transceiver, battery, antenna, global positioning circuitry, gyroscope, magnetic directional sensor, rotational sensor, a microprocessor, data storage, imaging sensor, Bluetooth, audio amplifier and playback and other circuitry. Data stored in a memory device (e.g., RAM or ROM memory) can be used to program the device&#39;s microprocessor to process data from the receiver circuitry and other circuit elements such as the physical stimulus sensor and to display information on the output display based on the received date. The location of the displayed data is determined at least in part on date from the physical stimulus sensor. 
     In some implementations, the device may be a sphere shaped device—that is the entire exterior surface is curved into the shape of a sphere. A cylindrical shape as well as other device shapes such as conical and free-flowing surface shapes may be used. The display may be curved and sized to provide output on an entire surface of the device. For example, in a spherical implementation, the display may be configured to provide output over the entire surface area (or on a partial area such as a hemisphere of the casing). 
     In general, in another aspect, the invention includes an output display having numerous closely spaced segments with one or more antenna elements positioned in the spacing between at least some of the display segments. The apparatus may also include tuning circuitry actively and/or dynamically tuning the antenna. The tuning circuitry may include a radio frequency switch, radio frequency filtering circuit, an impedance tuner or other tuning circuitry. A processor connected to the tuning circuitry and to physical stimulus processing circuitry can be configured to adjust an operating characteristic of the antenna based on input from the physical stimulus processing circuitry. For example, the active antenna segments may be selected based on the devices orientation or a touch pattern (e.g., to reconfigure the antenna such that antenna segments in an area of a hand holding the device are not used and instead segments in a non-held area are in use). 
     In general, in another aspect, the invention includes a method of determining a display orientation in a hand held device having a physical display configuration that inhibits direct visibility of the entire display surface by a user. The method can include receiving input from a physical stimulus sensor selected such as a touch sensor, a pressure sensor and/or a gyroscope. An estimate can then be made of a portion of the display surface that is visible to a user. A display can then be rendered to a user based on the estimate of the portion of the display surface that is visible to the user. Input from the physical stimulus sensor may include, e.g., a touch input such as a motion of a finger across a surface of the hand held device. 
    
    
     
       DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIGS. 1A and 1B  are diagrams showing aspects of an implementation having a spherical shape.  FIG. 1C  is a circuit layout diagram.  FIG. 1A  is a Spherical Device Surface View.  FIG. 1B  is a Spherical Device Cross Section View.  FIG. 1C  is Circuit Board Logical View. 
         FIGS. 2A and 2B  are diagrams showing aspects of an implementation having a cylindrical shape.  FIG. 2A  is Cylindrical Device Exterior View.  FIG. 2B  is Cylindrical Device Cross Section Interior View. 
         FIG. 3  is an implementation having a spherical shape and centrally located mass. 
         FIG. 4  is an implementation having a cylindrical shape and mass located on a central axis. 
         FIGS. 5A and 5B  are implementations of a segmented display having antenna components.  FIG. 5A  is Segmented Display-Single Conductive Strip Antenna Configuration.  FIG. 5B  is Segmented Display Two Conductive Strip Antenna Configuration. 
         FIGS. 6A ,  6 B,  7 A,  7 B,  7 C illustrate exemplary positioning of optically-transparent antenna components.  FIG. 6A  is Dual Loop Antenna Configuration.  FIG. 6B  is Dual Dipole Antenna Configuration.  FIG. 7A  is Cylindrical Loop Antenna Configuration.  FIG. 7B  is Helical Loop Antenna Configuration.  FIG. 7C  is Multi-Segment Antenna Configuration. 
         FIG. 8  illustrates an adjustment of display positioning during rotational movement. 
         FIG. 9  is a flow chart detailing a display positioning adjustment algorithm. 
         FIG. 10  is an cylindrical implementation fashioned as a writing instrument. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     As the mobile device market grows, manufacturers are looking for ways to distinguish products and to enhance their usability so that they have greater appeal to consumers. Modern consumers want devices with unique industrial designs for aesthetic as well as functional reasons. In accordance with some implementations of the invention, technologies including flexible circuit boards, flexible displays, arbitrarily-shape batteries, and optically-transparent metallic films enable departure from conventional shapes and allow new form factors to be utilized. 
       FIGS. 1A and 2A  show exemplary spherical (i.e. ball-shaped)  100  and cylindrical  200  form factors for hand held electronic devices such as cell phone or wireless accessory. These form factors may be more aesthetically pleasing and can be engineered to be easy to handle and operate by a user. 
       FIG. 1B  is a cross sectional view of the spherical device  100  along a top-to-bottom meridian line.  FIG. 1B  shows an exemplary placement of electrical and mechanical components such as battery, display, circuit board, and antenna. Implementations may arrange components in a layered fashion adjacent the outer shell of the sphere. In the example embodiments, five layers are shown  101 - 105  (arranged from the outer-most first layer  101  to inner-most fifth layer  105 ). First layer  101  can be an optically-transparent non-metallic enclosing layer providing structural rigidity for the device and protecting interior layers and components. Example materials may include plastic, glass, or other optically transparent material. A second layer  102  provides for touch-sensitive input. Sensing layer  102  may be, e.g., a capacitive touch sensor array or other type of touch sensor. Preferably, touch sensing layer  102  will be an optically-transparent touch input device configured to sense one or more fingers touching the device. In addition, a third layer  103  can include an optically-transparent pressure sensor that enables users to sending commands to the device by squeezing the sphere with different squeezing-and-releasing interaction patterns. These squeeze-and-release interaction patterns can be combined with other sensors (e.g., accelerometer  106 , gyroscope  107  shown mounted on circuit board  108 ) and touch inputs  102  to improve user experience. A fourth layer  104  includes an optically-transparent antenna. The fifth layer  105  includes a display  105  arranged to provide for display along the outer surface of the sphere  100 . In some implementations, the display  105  can be made out of light-emitting devices including LEDs or can be a segmented arrangement of display elements as explained with respect to  FIGS. 5A and 5B . Other embodiments can use other existing technologies such as flexible display technologies. The display may be arranged such that information can be displayed on the full exterior surface of the sphere  100  or along a portion. The displayable information can be rotated around the surface so that information (e.g., song titles and pictures in a music device implementation) can be directly shared to people around the device. 
     Circuit board  108 ,  208  can be a multi-layer flexible circuit board. The circuit board may also be arranged, e.g., in a continuous cylindrical shape  108  or in a serpentine fashion  208  to provide for increase board size. Routing attachment points on each end of the circuit boards can be soldered directly or laminated together to provide electrical connectivity around the perimeter of the board. The board may also include conventional data processing circuitry such as a microprocessor  121  and ROM and RAM memory  122  as well as radio transceiver circuitry  123  (which could include, e.g., cellular, Bluetooth and 802.11 Wi-Fi transceivers)  FIG. 1C . 
     It should be understood that a substantially identical cross sectional view (not separately shown) would also exist for the cylinder  200  when bisected along a plane through the device  200  at the point indicated by, e.g., dotted line  210 . In another cross sectional view ( FIG. 2B ) the cylindrical implementation is shown bisected by a plane passing through the device at points indicated by lines  211 . Elements  201 - 209  of the cylindrical implementation  200  correspond to elements  101 - 109  of the spherical implementation  100 . 
     Implementations of the devices  100 ,  200  need not use the particular layer ordering described above and some layers may be eliminated or others added depending on relative transparencies, signal penetration, and structural or other needs. For example, in some cases, touch-sensitive input can be provided by forming sensing elements on an exterior surface of first layer  101 . As another example, the order of sensor layers  102  and  103  may be swapped to optimize performance of one of the sensors for specific application. In addition, sensor and antenna components can be co-located in one layer. This may be useful if the platform size is relatively small and it does not require an extremely fine resolution for touch and pressure sensors. 
     Ergonomics of the device  100 ,  200  can be enhanced based on the chosen weight distribution within the device. For example, the battery  109 ,  209  (a relatively heavy component) may be arranged to occupy half of the volume of the device thereby biasing the device to roll to a pre-determined resting orientation. Such a bias can prevent undesired rolling of the device due to its having a rounded form factor and can also help orient the display to a preferred hands-free resting position. 
     In some implementations, rather than a device with a pre-determined positional bias, a free rolling or adjustable positional bias is desired. Free-rolling can be enhanced by more evenly distributing weight within the cavity of the device. For example, as shown in  FIG. 3 , the battery can be composed of multiple cells which can be positioned within the device to more evenly distribute weight. If a uniform mass-distribution is desired, the mass center of the battery and components can be located at the center of the system as shown in  FIG. 4  with the circuit board  408  and electronic components arranged around the battery  409 . 
     Implementations may also include an adjustable positioning bias or a slow-roll bias. This can be provided for by using a liquid-channel layer.  FIG. 3  shows a liquid channel formed as an additional layer  310  which may, e.g., be between layers  104 - 150  or  204 - 205  of the device  100 ,  200 . The liquid channel can be partially filled with a viscous liquid  311  to slow down the rolling speed. A partially-filled liquid channel can also provide for an adjustable position bias when the device  100 ,  200  is placed at rest. For example, by holding the device in a particular position for a short time, the viscous liquid would settle in a bottom positing of the device thus setting a positioning bias. Liquid channels can be formed in a number of ways. For example, a meshed structure of channels or multiple narrow channels positioned around the structure can be used to control the speed of the free rolling case and its positioning. In devices including wireless communications, such as Bluetooth or cellular communications, this controllability of rolling speed may also be used to help reduce any Doppler frequency shift by reducing motion of the device. 
     Because of the curved display surfaces of the devices  100 ,  200 , the use of a conventional planar displays may not be practical. In some implementations, a flexible or a non-breakable display may be used. For example, companies are developing flexible displays that are constructed using Organic Light Emitting Diodes on a flexible substrate. However, such display technology may not be suitable for all implementations and other technologies are desired.  FIGS. 5A and 5B  show a segmented display technology that implementations can use. Note that the gaps between the segments are exaggerated for illustration purpose. The display  500  is composed of multiple closely spaced segments (e.g.,  501 - 510 ) that are flexibly interconnected (e.g., by mounting on a flexible substrate or by connecting the segments with a flexible conductor  515 ). The segments  501 - 510  of display  500  can be arranged to allow the display  501  to be rolled into a cylindrical form or fashioned into a spherical form. In a spherical form, the segments may be of varying shapes and sizes and rows and columns of the display  500  may have differing numbers of elements to allow the display to conform to a spherical shape. 
     Gaps (i.e., spaces  520 - 528 ,  530 - 32 ) between segments of the display  500  can be used as locations for elements of a slot antenna. A slot antenna can be formed of by a conductive strip  540  positioned in one or more of the spaces. For example conductive strip  540  is positioned in gap  524 .  FIG. 5B  shows another implementation having an antenna composed of multiple conductive stripes  540 - 541 . The implementation shown in  FIG. 5B  can be reconfigurable. For example, RF (radio frequency) switches, filtering circuit network, and/or impedance tuner circuitry  551  can be used to adjust the tuning of the antenna. In addition, angular rotation, touch pattern, and other information obtained from sensors  102 - 103 ,  106 - 107  can be used to determine tuning of the antennas.  FIGS. 6A and 6B  show additional views of exemplary antenna positions. In  FIG. 6A , a dual loop antenna including segments  601 - 602  is shown while  FIG. 6B  shows dual dipole antenna ( 603 ,  604 ) configurations.  FIGS. 7A-7C  show exemplary antenna configurations for a cylindrical implementation. The antenna may, e.g., by a single cylindrical loop  701 , a helical loop  702 , or composed of multiple segments  703 - 707 . Although implementations may position the antenna segments between segments of a display, such an implementation is not required. Depending on the configuration of the device  100 ,  200 , transparent or non-transparent antennas may be used. 
     If multiple piece-wise boards are considered in the system, antennas can be located anywhere between the center and outer radius of the system. This capability enables to have an improved re-configurable antenna designs that can minimize near-filed proximity effects degrading antenna performance. Using cylindrical or spherical forms may improve the directional response of the antenna allowing Omni-directional (or near isotropic) coverage. In addition, because these antennas use a bigger volume and/or larger radiation aperture than the conventional antenna designs in the cubical form-factor systems, these antennas generally have a wider operational bandwidth and/or improved radiation efficiency. 
       FIGS. 8 and 9  illustrate operations that can be used to control the display of information using the systems  100 ,  200 . Generally speaking, because a user may be viewing the systems  100 ,  200  at a variety of angles, an initial default viewing angle can be determined  901 . The default viewing angle may, e.g., simply assume an initial angle and viewing orientation. An updated viewing and display position can then be determined  902  based on sensor  102 - 103 ,  106 - 107  inputs. Upon reading sensor input, a determination is made  903  as to whether the input indicates a new display orientation. For example, a user may swipe a finger along a position on the surface of the device  100 ,  200  in a liner direction to indicate the preferred orientation for a line of text. Upon detection of the liner swipe, the device determines  903  if the swipe indicates a new display position and, if so, updates the display  104  and then continues reading sensor inputs  902 . As another example, pressure and touch points corresponding to a user&#39;s finger positions as well as input from a gyroscopic sensor can be determined and used to predict a viewing angle and position. In this case, user can rotate or shake the device. Then,—gyroscopic and/or acceleration sensors can help to detect the desired direction and/or position of information display. 
     Referring to  FIG. 8 , users can rotate displayed information on the screen with a predefined simple gesture when the system is in stationary mode. When user rolls the system, the stationary or rotating information on the screen can be sustainable in terms of rolling location at the display. This is optional function that user can choose. Accelerometer and/or gyro sensors can detect the rolling status. The angular rotation information obtained from these sensors can be used to adjust the display location in order to make the rotating information sustainable at the same vertical location of the stationary mode. As another example, a rolling motion may be read  902  as indicating a particular switch in display orientation. In some implementations, a rolling motion of the cylinder  200  can be used to indicate a scrolling of a page of display such that as the cylinder is rolled, lines of text roll off the display and new lines roll onto the display allowing a user to traverse and entire page of text. 
     Wireless circuitry can include, e.g., Bluetooth/WiFi circuitry allowing the device to be paired with a cellular phone or other Bluetooth/WiFi device. In such an implementation, a device  200  may be used for display purposes such as displaying incoming email messages, text messages, or incoming phone numbers. The devices  100 ,  200  may be combined with other mechanical components. For example, referring to  FIG. 10 , the body  200  of the device may be constructed in the proportions of a conventional pen and a ball point cartridge  1031  may be included to construct a pen with display capabilities that may be Bluetooth/WiFi paired to a phone. In other embodiments, stylus pen cartridge can be implemented for a pointing device or a pen use in digital input devices. In addition, optical pointing device (laser pointer) cartridge can also be implemented. 
     The antenna can support Bluetooth, WiFi, cellular network, near-field communication(NFC), and/or any emerging communication standard. In some cases, implementations can be configured as a communication/data-sharing hub, which can provide wireless communication connectivity between devices. Even in the case that devices only support a specific protocol (i.e. no direct communication is possible between other devices), the invented device can provide seamless communication by translating or converting one protocol to the other. 
     The invented device can provide an interesting and exciting data sharing mode. For example, user put the invented device on a table with the sharing mode turn on. Other users locate their devices close to the device. Then, data sharing process starts immediately. In some cases, data sharing indication can be displayed on one device or all the shared devices as a group with some unique visual, audio, and/or vibrational haptic signals. Bluetooth, WiFi, NFC, and/or other emerging communication protocol can be utilized to support this function. 
     The terms and descriptions used herein are set forth by way of illustration only and are not meant as limitations. For example, circuit components shown in  FIG. 1C  may be separate integrated circuits or one or more may be integrated with other components such as the processor  121  or implemented in whole or in part as software modules executed by the processor  121  or other processing circuitry. Those skilled in the art will recognize that many variations are possible within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the following claims, and their equivalents, in which all terms are to be understood in their broadest possible sense unless otherwise indicated.