Patent Publication Number: US-2013239200-A1

Title: Electronic device and method for operating locked touch screens

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     1. Technical Field 
     Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to user interfaces that employ touch-sensitive displays, and more particularly to a method for unlocking and dialing using the unlocked touch screens. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     Touch screens are popular for use as displays and user input devices on portable devices, such as mobile telephones and personal digital assistants (PDAs). One problem associated with using the touch screens on the portable devices is the unintentional activation or deactivation of functions due to unintentional contact with the touch screens. Thus, the touch screens on such devices, and/or applications running on such devices may be locked upon satisfaction of predefined lock conditions, such as ending an active call, or after a predetermined time of idleness has elapsed, or upon manual locking by a user. 
     Devices with the touch screens and/or applications running on such devices may be unlocked by, for example, slide to unlock. Such unlock procedure, however, has drawbacks, such as, unintentionally unlocking. In addition, in the locking condition, it is inconvenient to dial emergency telephone numbers, such as 112, 911. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a block diagram of one embodiment of an electronic device including a touch screen operating system. 
         FIG. 2  is a block diagram of one embodiment of function modules of the touch screen operating system in  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  illustrates a flowchart of one embodiment of a method for setting unlocking passwords. 
         FIG. 4  illustrates a flowchart of one embodiment of a method for operating locked touch screens including unlocking the locked touch screens and dialing using the locked touch screen. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     In general, the word “module”, as used herein, refers to logic embodied in hardware or firmware, or to a collection of software instructions, written in a programming language, such as, Java, C, or assembly. One or more software instructions in the modules may be embedded in firmware, such as in an EPROM. The modules described herein may be implemented as either software and/or hardware modules and may be stored in any type of non-transitory computer-readable medium or other storage device. Some non-limiting examples of non-transitory computer-readable media include CDs, DVDs, BLU-RAY, flash memory, and hard disk drives. 
       FIG. 1  is a block diagram of one embodiment of an electronic device  1  including a touch screen operating system  11 . The electronic device  1  may be, for example, a smart phone, a computer, or a personal digital assistant (PDA) that is installed with a touch screen  10 . The touch screen  10  is a multi-touch screen. The touch screen  10  includes a detection unit  100  and a control unit  101 . The detection unit  100  detects presences and location information of touch points within a display area on the touch screen  10 , and sends the location information of the touch points to the control unit  101 . The control unit  101  generates data as to the coordinates of the touch and then sends the coordinate to the touch screen operating system  11 . 
     The touch screen operating system  11  includes a plurality of function modules (see  FIG. 2  below), which include computerized code when executed to provide a method of unlocking the touch screen  10  and dialing using the touch screen  10  when the touch screen  10  is locked. 
     The electronic device  1  further includes a sensor  12 . After the touch screen  10  being locked, the electronic device  1  may enter into a sleep mode after a predetermined time of inactivity has elapsed. The sensor  12  detects whether an awaken condition of the electronic device  1  is triggered when the electronic device  1  is in the sleep mode. After the awaken condition is triggered, the electronic device  1  enters a locked working mode. The awaken condition may be triggered when a predetermined physical button of the electronic device  1  is pressed, for example. The electronic device  1  may further include an electronic clock  13 . 
     In addition, the electronic device  1  includes a processor device  14 . The processor device  14  may include a processor, a microprocessor, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), and a field programmable gate array (FPGA), for example. The processor device  14  may execute the computerized code of the function modules of the touch screen operating system  11  to realize functions of the touch screen operating system  11 . 
     Furthermore, the electronic device  1  includes a storage device  15 . The storage device  15  may include any type(s) of non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, such as a hard disk drive, a compact disc, a digital video disc, or a tape drive. The storage device  15  stores the computerized code of the function modules of the touch screen operating system  11 . 
       FIG. 2  is a block diagram of one embodiment of the function modules of the touch screen operating system  11 . In one embodiment, the function modules may include a password setting module  110 , a determination module  111 , a number generation module  112 , a comparison module  113 , a dialing module  114 , and an unlocking module  115 . The functions of the function modules  110 - 115  are illustrated in  FIG. 3  and  FIG. 4  and described below. 
       FIG. 3  illustrates a flowchart of one embodiment of a method for setting unlocking passwords. Depending on the embodiment, additional steps may be added, others removed, and the ordering of the steps may be changed. 
     In step S 10 , the password setting module  110  receives a password set by a user. In one embodiment, the password setting module  110  provides a password setting box to receive the password set by the user. 
     In step S 11 , the password setting module  110  determines if the set password includes any non-numeric character, such as, letters of the alphabet and punctuation symbol. In the present application, a valid password is composed of one or more Arabic numerals. Thus, if the set password includes any non-numeric character, step S 12  is implemented. Otherwise, if the set password only includes one or more Arabic numerals, step S 13  is implemented. 
     In step S 12 , the password setting module  110  prompts the user to set another password that should include one or more Arabic numerals. 
     In step S 13 , the password setting module  110  further determines if the set password set is identical to any emergency telephone number, such as 112, or 911, for example. If the set password is identical to any emergency telephone number, the above described step S 12  is implemented. Otherwise, if the set password is different from any emergency telephone number, step S 14  is implemented. In one embodiment, the storage device  15  may store all the emergency telephone numbers. The password setting module  110  matches the set password with the emergency telephone numbers stored in the storage device  15  to determine if the set password is identical to any emergency telephone number 
     In step S 14 , the password setting module  110  stores the password set by the user into the storage device  15 . 
       FIG. 4  illustrates a flowchart of one embodiment of a method for operating locked touch screens including unlocking the locked touch screens and dialing the locked touch screen. Depending on the embodiment, additional steps may be added, others removed, and the ordering of the steps may be changed. 
     In step S 20 , the determination module  111  determines whether an awaken condition of the electronic device  1  is triggered. In one embodiment, when the electronic device is in a sleep mode, and the sensor  13  detects the awaken condition of the electronic device  1 , and sends a trigger signal to the determination module  111  when the awaken condition is triggered. The awaken condition may be triggered when a predetermined physical button of the electronic device  1  is pressed. If the awaken condition of the electronic device  1  is triggered, step S 21  is implemented. Otherwise, until the awaken condition of the electronic device  1  is triggered, step S 20  is repeated. 
     In step S 21 , the electronic device  1  enters into a locked working mode, and the determination module  111  further determines if the touch screen  10  is touched within a first time period according to the electronic clock  13 . In one embodiment, the first time period may be 1 minute, and begins at the time of the awaken condition of the electronic device  1  is triggered. For example, when the awaken condition of the electronic device  1  is triggered at 9:00, the first time period may be from 9:00 to 9:01. As mentioned, the detection unit  100  of the touch screen  10  detects the presences and location information of touch points within a display area on the touch screen  10 , and the control unit  101  of the touch screen  10  generates data as to the coordinates of the touch points, and then sends the coordinates to the touch screen operating system  11 . The determination module  111  determines that the touch screen  10  is touched when receiving the data of the coordinates during the first time period, and then step S 23  is implemented. If the touch screen  10  is not touched within the first time period, in step S 22 , the electronic device  1  enters into the sleep mode again, and until a touch takes place, steps S 20  to S 22  are repeated. 
     In step S 23 , the number generation module  112  obtains a count of the touch points on the touch screen  10 . For example, if the user touches the touch screen  10  with five fingers, then the count of the touch points on the touch screen  10  is 5. 
     In step S 24 , the number generation module  112  generates a number according to the count of the touch points. For example, if the count of the touch points is 5, then the generated number is 5. The generated number can be stored into the storage device  15  temporarily. 
     In step S 25 , the number generation module  112  determines if the touch screen  10  is touched again within a second time period. The second time period may be 1 minute for example, and begins at the time when the user removes his fingers from the touch screen  10 . Steps S 23  to S 24  is repeated if the touch screen  10  is touched again within the second time period. Otherwise, step S 26  is implemented when the second time period has expired. 
     In step S 26 , the number generation module  113  generates a number queue according to the one or more generated numbers. In one embodiment, for example, if the first generated number is 1, the second generated number is 2, the third generated number is 3, the fourth generated number is 4, and the fifth generated number is 5, the number queue is “12345”. 
     In step S 27 , the comparison module  113  compares the number queue with the emergency telephone numbers to determine if the number queue is identical to an emergency telephone number. Step S 28  is implemented if the number queue is identical to an emergency telephone number. Otherwise, step S 29  is implemented if the number queue is different from any emergency telephone number. 
     In step S 28 , the dialing module  114  dials the emergency telephone number when the touch screen  10  of the electronic device  1  is locked. In addition, a physical or virtual button is provided in the electronic device  1  to hang-up mistaken dialing of the emergency number. 
     In step S 29 , the comparison module  113  compares the number queue with the password stored in the storage device  15  to determine if the number queue is identical to the password. If the number queue is different from the password, in step S 30 , the unlocking module  115  prompts the user that it is failed to unlock the touch screen  10  of the electronic device  1 . Otherwise, if the number queue is identical to the password, in step S 31 , the unlocking module  115  unlocks the touch screen  10  of the electronic device  1 . 
     It should be emphasized that the above-described embodiments of the present disclosure, particularly, any embodiments, are merely possible examples of implementations, merely set forth for a clear understanding of the principles of the disclosure. Many variations and modifications may be made to the above-described embodiment(s) of the disclosure without departing substantially from the spirit and principles of the disclosure. All such modifications and variations are intended to be included herein within the scope of this disclosure and the present disclosure and protected by the following claims.