Patent Publication Number: US-2012032779-A1

Title: Method and apparatus for accessing content within a device

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     Many electronic devices may be capable of operating in a “locked” state, where the functions of the device are restricted or rendered inoperable. The locked state is typically intended to prevent misuse or inadvertent activation of the functions of the device. Generally, the locked state may be initiated automatically or as a result of receiving an input. In the locked state, certain functions of the device may be prohibited, for example, outgoing communications, certain input operations, and access to certain applications. The device may exit the locked state as a result of some operation, such as receiving a communication, or upon recognizing an input sequence. The input sequence typically involves pressing one or more keys of the device in sequence, for example, entering a passcode, personal identification code, “PIN” code, or a simple key sequence such as an “Unlock” and “Function” key. 
     Problems may arise if it is necessary to access content within the device and the unlock operation is difficult or forgotten. For example, at least one problem that can arise is if an owner forgets the unlock operation. In such a case, a legitimate or otherwise authorized access to content within the device is prohibited. As another example, a user, while authorized to use a particular device, may not know the unlock operation and thus be unable to operate the device and access the content therein. Using a mobile phone as a practical example, if there is a need to find a contact number urgently, several steps may be required to unlock the phone and retrieve the number to make the call. 
     It would be desirable to provide an alternative technique for accessing content within a device that addresses these and other problems. 
     SUMMARY 
     In an embodiment, an apparatus is disclosed including at least one processor and at least one memory including computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to determine that a character input has been recognized, determine that an audible word starting with the character has been recognized, and initiate an unlocking operation of the apparatus. 
     In an embodiment, a method is disclosed including determining that a character input has been recognized, determining that an audible word starting with the character has been recognized, and initiating an unlocking operation of the apparatus. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The embodiments presently disclosed herein are explained in the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein: 
         FIG. 1  illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary embodiment in the form of an apparatus; 
         FIG. 2  shows a flow diagram illustrating the operations of the apparatus; 
         FIG. 3  illustrates another exemplary embodiment in the form of a computing device; 
         FIG. 4  shows a flow diagram illustrating exemplary operations of the computing device; 
         FIGS. 5A and 5B  illustrate another exemplary embodiment in the form of a mobile communications device; 
         FIG. 6  in combination with  FIG. 7  illustrates exemplary operations of the mobile communications device; 
         FIG. 8  shows an exemplary embodiment where the mobile communications device  500  is configured to communicate with a mobile telecommunications network; and 
         FIG. 9  shows the operations of the mobile communications network in providing an access application as a service. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       FIG. 1  illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary embodiment in the form of an apparatus  100 . As a non-limiting example, the apparatus  100  may be an integrated circuit. Apparatus  100  includes a processor  105  and a memory  110  including computer program code  115 . The memory  110  and the program code  115  are configured to, with the processor  105 , cause the apparatus  100  at least to recognize a character input, recognize an audible word starting with the character, and unlock the apparatus  100 . The processor  105 , and the other processors disclosed in this application, may include one or more of a microprocessor, a digital signal processor, a special purpose computer chip, a field programmable gate array, a controller, an application specific integrated circuit, a computer or any suitable processor. The memory  110 , and the other memories disclosed in this application, may include any non-transitory computer readable medium, for example, one or more of a magnetic media, diskette, disk, computer hard drive, optical media, compact disk, digital versatile disk, semiconductor, read-only memory, random access memory, or any suitable program code storage medium. The memory  110  and the program code  115  may also be configured to, with the processor  105 , cause the apparatus  100  at least to determine that a character input has been recognized, determine that an audible word starting with the character has been recognized, and initiate an unlocking operation. The program code  115  may include an access application  120  configured to, with the processor  105 , cause the apparatus  100  to recognize a character input, recognize an audible word starting with the character, and unlock the apparatus  100 . Upon unlocking, the apparatus  100  may provide access to content associated with the recognized word. The access to content may include executing a function utilizing the associated content. 
     In the locked state, the apparatus  100  may have limited functionality but retains the ability to recognize a character input and an audible input. Upon recognizing the character input and an audible input comprising a word starting with the input character, the apparatus  100  unlocks, that is, at least gains the capacity to provide content related to the recognized word. Alternately, the apparatus  100  may achieve additional functionality in addition to the capacity to provide content related to the recognized word, or may become fully functional. The content related to the recognized word may include any relevant information as explained below. 
       FIG. 2  shows a flow diagram illustrating this process. In block  200 , the apparatus  100  detects that a character input has been received. In block  205  the apparatus  100  detects that an audible word staring with the character has been recognized, and in block  210 , the apparatus  100  initiates an unlocking operation. 
       FIG. 3  illustrates another exemplary embodiment in the form of a computing device  300 . Apparatus  100  may be included as part of this embodiment. Computing device  300  may be a personal computer, a tablet computer, touch pad device, Internet tablet, a laptop, desktop computer or any suitable computing device. Computing device  300  may be fixed or portable and typically includes a processor  305 , a memory  310  with computer program code  315 , and a user interface  320 . The user interface  320  may generally include user interface circuitry and the program code  315  may include user interface program code  335  for controlling the user interface  320 . The user interface generally includes one or more input devices  325  and one or more output devices  330 . The input and output devices may include one or more of a keyboard, a number of hard or soft keys, a display, a touch screen, or any other devices suitable for receiving input and for providing output. The input devices may also include a sound sensing device, for example, a microphone  350  for receiving audible input. The program code  315  includes an access application  340  for unlocking the computing device  300  and providing access to content within the device  300 . The program code may also include a speech recognition module for analyzing audible information collected by the microphone  350  and recognizing words occurring in the audible information. 
       FIG. 4  shows a flow diagram illustrating exemplary operations of the computing device  300 . In block  400 , the computing device recognizes a character input. As a non-limiting example, the character input may be received from the keyboard, touch screen, hard keys or other appropriate part of the input devices  325 . The character input may be any recognizable character and may be input using a single keystroke or a combination of keystrokes as required. In some instances, there may be multiple characters associated with a particular key. The character input may be achieved by pressing the key multiple times, thus cycling through the different characters associated with the particular key. Alternately, the computing device may consider each associated character as the input character and accept any word that starts with any of the associated characters. As a further alternative, pressing a specific key may initiate the access application and a subsequent key press may represent the character input. Still further, a key press that exceeds a preset time may be accepted as a character input. As yet another alternative, the character may be input by drawing a depiction of the character on the touch screen if the computing device  300  is so equipped. 
     In block  405 , the device recognizes an audible input. Generally, the audible input is received by microphone  350 . In block  410 , the access application analyses the audible input and determines if the audible input is a word starting with the input character. In one aspect of this embodiment, the speech recognition module  345  performs the analysis. In block  415 , upon recognizing that the audible input is a word starting with the input character, the access application  340  causes the computing device to unlock. 
     Upon causing the computing device to unlock, the access application causes the computing device to provide access to content associated with the recognized word, as shown in block  420 . Content may include any information that may be stored within the computing device, for example, in memory  310 . Content may also include any information that may be available to computing device, for example, from external sources. Content may further include one or more applications provided by the computing device. For example, an application may be associated with the recognized word and, upon recognizing an audible input as a word starting with the input character, the computing device may invoke or initialize the application. 
       FIG. 5A  illustrates another exemplary embodiment in the form of a mobile communications device  500 . The computing device  300  may be included as a part of the mobile communication device  500 . The mobile communications device  500  may be a mobile terminal, a cellular/mobile phone, a multimedia device, a personal communicator, a personal digital assistant, or any other suitable device. Mobile communications device  500  includes a user interface  540  with a display  505  and a keypad  510 . The keypad  510  may include any suitable input devices such as, for example, a multi-function/scroll key  515 , soft keys  520  and alphanumeric keys  530 . Mobile communications device  500  also includes an image capture device  535  such as a camera as a further input device. The display  505  may include a touch screen and a graphical user interface. The user interface may also include a microphone  550  and a speaker  555  for inputting and outputting speech and oral commands. 
       FIG. 5B  illustrates a block diagram of the mobile communications device  500 . As mentioned above, the device  500  includes a user interface  540  with a display  505  and a keypad  510 . The mobile communications device  500  also includes one or more processors  545  and memories  550  including computer program code  555  that further includes an access application  575 , similar to access application  340 , for detecting a character input and a word starting with the input character for unlocking the mobile communications device  500 . The mobile communications device  500  may also include a speech recognition module  535 , which may be part of or separate from access application  575 . The mobile communications device  500  may also include communication circuitry  560  for exchanging information with other devices. The communication circuitry  560  generally includes a receiver  565  and a transmitter  570  for network communication. The communication circuitry  560  is generally configured to allow the mobile communications device  500  to receive and send communications and messages, such as voice transmissions, text messages, chat messages, multimedia messages, still images, video and email, over a network, such as a wired or wireless network. 
       FIG. 6  in combination with  FIG. 7  illustrate exemplary operations of this embodiment. In block  600 , the mobile communications device  500  recognizes a character input. The character input may be received from the alphanumeric keys  530 , the display  505  if implemented as a touch screen, or other appropriate part of the user interface  540 . The character input may be any recognizable character and may be input using a single keystroke or a combination of keystrokes as described above. As an alternative, similar to computing device  300  above, the character may be input by drawing a depiction of the character on the display if the mobile communications device  500  is so equipped. In this example, the character input is provided as a press of the “B” key  705 . 
     In block  605 , the mobile communications device recognizes an audible input. In this embodiment, the audible input is received by microphone  550 . In block  610 , the access application  575  analyses the audible input and determines if the audible input is a word starting with the input character. In this embodiment, the speech recognition module  535  performs the analysis and the audible input is the spoken word “Bart.” In block  615 , upon recognizing that the audible input is a word starting with the input character, the access application  575  causes the mobile communications device to unlock. 
     In block  620 , upon causing the mobile communications device to unlock, the access application  575  causes the mobile communications device to provide access to content associated with the recognized word. As shown in the example illustrated in  FIG. 7 , the content associated with the character input “B,” in this case, a list of names, is provided on the display  505 . The list of names could be generated from a phonebook, a contact list, or any other source of information. The content associated with the word “Bart,” that is, the name “Bart Simpson”  710 , is highlighted on the display. 
     The content may include any information that may be stored within the mobile communications device, and any information that may be available to the mobile communications computing device, for example, from external sources. The content may further include one or more applications provided by the mobile communications device. For example, an application may be associated with the recognized word and, upon recognizing an audible input as a word starting with the input character, the mobile device may invoke or initialize the application. As another example, the mobile device may invoke a calendar application and show all appointments associated with the word “Bart” or initiate an appointment entry for “Bart.” As still another example, the mobile device may invoke a messaging application and initiate a message for “Bart.” 
       FIG. 8  shows an exemplary embodiment where the mobile communications device  500  is configured to communicate with a mobile telecommunications network  810  and the access application  575  is provided as a service by the mobile telecommunications network  810 . In addition to the mobile communication device  500 , other mobile terminals  800  may be connected to the mobile telecommunications network  810  through radio frequency (RF) links  802 ,  808  via base stations  804 ,  809 . The mobile telecommunications network  810  may be in compliance with any commercially available mobile telecommunications standard such as for example the global system for mobile communications (GSM), universal mobile telecommunication system (UMTS), digital advanced mobile phone service (D-AMPS), code division multiple access  2000  (CDMA2000), wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA), wireless local area network (WLAN), freedom of mobile multimedia access (FOMA) and time division-synchronous code division multiple access (TD-SCDMA). 
     The mobile telecommunications network  810  may be operatively connected to a wide-area network  820 , which may be the Internet or a part thereof. An Internet server  822  has data storage  824  and is connected to the wide area network  820 . The server  822  may host a worldwide web/wireless application protocol server capable of serving worldwide web/wireless application protocol content to the mobile terminal  500 . A mobile telecommunications network server  840  has a memory  845  and is also connected to the mobile telecommunications network  810  A public switched telephone network (PSTN)  830  may be connected to the mobile telecommunications network  810 , and one or more telephone terminals  832  may also be connected to the public switched telephone network  830 . The mobile terminal  500  may also be configured for communicating to a device  803  via a link  801 , including, for example, one or more of a piconet, Bluetooth™, USB, IEEE 802.11, RS-232, or any other suitable link. In this embodiment, the access application  575  may be located as computer program code in a non-transitory computer readable medium in the memory  845 . 
       FIG. 9  shows the operations of mobile communications network  810  in providing the access application  545  as a service. In block  900 , a request for initiation of the access application is generated at the mobile telecommunications device  500 . In block  905 , the request is communicated to the mobile telecommunications network server  840  though the mobile telecommunications network  810 . In block  910 , the access application may optionally be delivered or downloaded to the mobile device  500  and may operate as described above with respect to the mobile communication device embodiment. There may be a charge or fee for delivering the application. Alternately, as shown in block  915 , the access application  575  may be run from the mobile telecommunications network server  840 , where the memory  845  of the mobile telecommunications network server operates as the memory  550  of the mobile communication device  500  and provides the functions of the access application  575  over the mobile telecommunications network  810 . As a further alternative, the mobile communication device  500  and the mobile telecommunications network server  840  may share portions of the access application  575  where the mobile communication device  500  performs some operations and the mobile telecommunications network  810  performs other operations as appropriate given different operating conditions, for example, network traffic and computing power available at the communication device  500  and at the mobile telecommunications network server  810 . There may be a charge or fee for providing the application in whole or in part over the mobile telecommunications network  810 . 
     The four embodiments disclosed herein provide for initiating an unlocking operation in an expeditious manner, without executing an unlock operation that may be tedious or hard to remember. Once unlocked, the four disclosed embodiments provide immediate access to content related to the audible input. Using the mobile communications device as an example, the four disclosed embodiments eliminate a need to execute the unlocking procedure in order to access a number to make a call. In order to call a number from the locked phone, a user may simply press the key having the first letter of the contact name and then speak the contact name. The phone will automatically unlock and provide the information associated with the contact name. This advantageously reduces the steps required to unlock the phone, access contact information, and initiate a call. Recognition of the audible information is enhanced by providing the first character or a limited set of candidates for the first character by way of the initial character input. 
     As used in this application, the term ‘circuitry’ refers to all of the following: (a) hardware-only circuit implementations (such as implementations in only analog and/or digital circuitry) and (b) to combinations of circuits and software (and/or firmware), such as (as applicable): (i) to a combination of processor(s) or (ii) to portions of processor(s)/software (including digital signal processor(s)), software, and memory(ies) that work together to cause an apparatus, such as a mobile phone or server, to perform various functions) and (c) to circuits, such as a microprocessor(s) or a portion of a microprocessor(s), that require software or firmware for operation, even if the software or firmware is not physically present. 
     This definition of ‘circuitry’ applies to all uses of this term in this application, including in any claims. As a further example, as used in this application, the term “circuitry” would also cover an implementation of merely a processor (or multiple processors) or portion of a processor and its (or their) accompanying software and/or firmware. The term “circuitry” would also cover, for example and if applicable to the particular claim element, a baseband integrated circuit or applications processor integrated circuit for a mobile phone or a similar integrated circuit in server, a cellular network device, or other network device.” 
     It should be understood that the foregoing description is only illustrative of the present embodiments. Various alternatives and modifications can be devised by those skilled in the art without departing from the embodiments disclosed herein. Accordingly, the embodiments are intended to embrace all such alternatives, modifications and variances which fall within the scope of the appended claims.