Patent Publication Number: US-2007099574-A1

Title: Electronic Device Capable of Operating According to Detection of Environmental Light

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      1. Field of the Invention  
      The present invention relates to an electronic device capable of operating a function according to detection of light, and more particularly, to an electronic device capable of controlling a function whether a wavelength of a reflective light received by detecting a reflective proximity sensor is identical to a wavelength of light emitted by the reflective proximity sensor and according to a detection result of variation of the environmental light.  
      2. Description of the Prior Art  
      In highly developed information communication systems in the modern information society, electronic devices are widely utilized in every area. For instance, the utilization of a convenient and lightweight mobile phone device has become a common means of communication in our daily life; users can easily exchange and share information, experiences, and opinions through the convenience of the mobile phone device. The development and usage of mobile phones has increased tremendously. This has directly resulted in an increase in production of mobile phones and of course, a correspondingly large increase in the development, design, and production, of mobile phone related products. The trend in mobile phone design continues as it has been since the mobile phones inception. The mobile phone is increasingly becoming smaller in size; therefore, enabling a user to enjoy their mobile phone (e.g., or any other portable electronic device) with more ease. However, an important issue of portable electronic device design is to provide power saving scheme for a highly functional mobile phone so that the stand-by time can be extended.  
      However the current wireless handheld electronic device such as a mobile phone and a personal digital assistant (PDA) mobile phone, sometimes have keypads where one or more keys on the keypad may be accidentally pressed. For example, the keypad of the electronic device may be triggered unintentionally and inappropriately when it is placed inside a pocket of a pair of trousers or inside a shoulder handbag. When the mobile phone is activated (i.e., changed state from a sleep or stand-by state to an active or ready-to-use state), it is very possible that a call is made. A second example of unwanted and rouge mobile phone operation is data being sent (i.e., transmitted). This causes unnecessary power consumption as the phone is being switched from a stand-by mode to a calling mode. Additionally, a severe security risk exists whereby confidential data may be transmitted unintentionally.  
      A current keylock mechanism is utilized by the electronic device to prevent this very problem and it works something like this. By pressing a combination of buttons, the user is able to manually lock the keypad. Later, when it is desired that the mobile phone be required to perform a call or perform some other functions, the user then presses the identical combination of buttons to unlock the keypad. Please refer to UK patent GB2314739: Disabling Key Scanning Operation in a Mobile Phone, by Samsung Electronics for additional information. However, the way of proceeding to resolve the unintentional state changes of the mobile phone (e.g., from stand-by to calling mode) does offer inconvenience to the user. The unlocking process requires the user to press a plurality of keypad keys located on the mobile phone&#39;s keypad and to do so in the exact same combination as locking the keypad. Entering the combination of buttons (i.e., keys) can be very inconvenient to the mobile phone user. Subsequently, an automatic keylock function was developed; where a user can define a set timer. Should the user wish to place the mobile phone in a locked state then the user initiates a timer sequence. The keypad will then automatically be locked when the time sequence reaches an expiration value. In other words, after a predetermined time passes, the mobile phone automatically enters a time-out (i.e., after a set/predetermined) idle time, the keypad is automatically locked. For additional information please refer to Korean patent KR2000044370: Method for Automatically Locking Keypads in Cellular Phone, by Samsung Electronics, and German patent DE10235546: Automatic Keypad Unlocking Device for Mobile Telephones Operated on the Basis of Several Key Inputs Set to Lock or Unlock the Keypad, by Agere System. But if the automatic keylock function is being utilized, under any circumstances, even when the mobile phone is not placed inside the pants pocket or in the handbag and is not required to be locked, the keypad will still be automatically locked after a set time. This causes an inconvenience to the user as they will be required to enter the keypad unlocking sequence by entering the same combination of buttons that were utilized when the locking mode was defined (i.e., established). In conclusion, the current automatic keylock mechanism does not satisfy the user&#39;s needs, and there is no unlocking mechanism present.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      An embodiment of the claimed invention discloses an electronic device capable of operating a function according to detection of environmental light. The electronic device comprises a reflective proximity sensor for emitting light and detecting whether a wavelength of a reflective light received by the reflective proximity sensor is identical to the wavelength of the light emitted by the reflective proximity sensor, an optical sensor for sensing variation of the environmental light, and a controller coupled to the reflective proximity sensor and the optical sensor for controlling the operation of the electronic device according to the detection result of the reflective proximity sensor and the detection result of the optical sensor.  
      Another embodiment of the claimed invention discloses a method of controlling an electronic device to execute a corresponding function according to the detection of environmental light. The method comprises emitting light, detecting whether a wavelength of a reflective light received is identical to a wavelength of the light emitted, detecting variation of the environmental light, and controlling the electronic device to execute the corresponding function according to a detection result of the wavelengths of the reflective light and the light emitted and the variation of the environmental light.  
      These and other objectives of the present invention will no doubt become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment that is illustrated in the various figures and drawings. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       FIG. 1  illustrates an external view of an electronic device of the present invention.  
       FIG. 2  illustrates a functional block diagram of an electronic device of the present invention.  
       FIG. 3  illustrates a flowchart of an electronic device executing corresponding functions according to a result of light detection.  
       FIG. 4  illustrates a diagram of an electronic device being disposed within and remaining inside a handbag. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
      Please refer to  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2 .  FIG. 1  illustrates an external view of an electronic device  10  of the present invention.  FIG. 2  illustrates a functional block diagram of an electronic device  10  of the present invention. The electronic device  10  can be a mobile phone or a personal digital assistant (PDA). In fact, the spirit of the present invention is not limited by the example offered here. The electronic device  10  includes a housing  12  for containing internal components, a controller  14  for controlling operations of the electronic device  10 , a keypad  16  coupled to the controller  14  for inputting control command by a user, a loudspeaker  17  coupled to the controller  14  for converting the signal transmitted from the controller into sound waves and for outputting sound transmitted from a far end or a ring tone of the mobile phone in a wireless manner, and a vibrator  18  coupled to the controller  14  for prompting the user that there is an incoming call or short text message when the mobile phone is in a vibration mode.  
      Furthermore, the electronic device  10  further includes a reflective proximity sensor  20 , at least an optical sensor  22 , and a counter  24 . The reflective proximity sensor  20  is installed on the housing  12  and coupled to the controller  14  for emitting light and detecting whether a wavelength of a reflective light received by the reflective proximity sensor is identical to a wavelength of the light emitted by the reflective proximity sensor, wherein the reflective proximity sensor  20  is a micro reflective proximity sensor, and the light can be infrared; the optical sensor is installed on the housing  12  and coupled to the controller  14  for sensing variation of environmental light, the optical sensor can be a CDS optical sensor; the counter is installed in the housing  12  and is coupled to the controller  14  for counting a waiting time and generating a count result.  
      Please refer to  FIG. 3 .  FIG. 3  illustrates a flowchart of an electronic device  10  executing corresponding functions according to a result of light detection. The method of the present invention includes the following steps:  
      Step  100 : start;  
      Step  102 : a reflective proximity sensor  20  detects whether a received wavelength of a reflective light is identical to a wavelength of the light emitted, output a first activation signal to a controller  14 ;  
      Step  104 : output a second activation signal to the controller  14  when variation of the environmental light detected by an optical sensor  22  is greater than a predetermined value;  
      Step  106 : output a third activation signal to the controller  14  when a count result by a counter  24  is greater than a predetermined time;  
      Step  108 : control the electronic device  10  to execute corresponding function when the controller  14  receives the first activation signal, the second activation signal, and the third activation signal; and  
      Step  110 : end.  
      For example, please refer  FIG. 4 .  FIG. 4  illustrates a diagram of an electronic device  10  being disposed within and remaining inside a handbag  26 . When the electronic device  10  is disposed within and remained inside a handbag or a pants pocket (i.e., the pockets of a pair of trousers), light emitted from the reflective proximity sensor  20  will be reflected by surrounding objects also disposed within the handbag  26 , and the reflective proximity sensor  20  will output a first activation signal to the controller  14  that the wavelength of the reflective light detected is identical to the wavelength of the light emitted; as the electronic device  10  is being disposed within in the handbag  26  (i.e., remains in the shoulder handbag), the environmental light of the electronic device  10  changes from bright to dim instantly, as the optical sensor  22  can detect the variation of the environment ambient light increases instantly, if the variation is greater than the predetermined value, then a second activation signal is outputted to the controller  14 . The predetermined value can be set according to any requirement, which means that if the sensing result of the optical sensor  22  is required to be more sensitive (a small change in light variation is read as the electronic device  10  is being put into the shoulder handbag  26 ), and the predetermined value can be set to be smaller; if the sensing result of the optical sensor  22  is not required to be sensitive (only a great change in light variation is interpreted as the electronic device  10  is being put into the shoulder handbag  26 ), and the predetermined value can be set to be greater; furthermore, a waiting time is established at the time the two conditions of the above-mentioned are calculated, then the counter  24  can be utilized for outputting a third activation signal to the controller when the count result is greater than a predetermined time. The controller  14  will only control the electronic device  10  to execute the corresponding functions after the controller  14  receives the first activation signal, the second activation signal, and the third activation signal. In other words, the electronic device  10  will only execute the corresponding functions if the three conditions of the reflective light received by the reflective proximity sensor  20 , the optical sensor  22  detecting the variation of the environmental light increases instantly, and the condition of exceeding the predetermined time are all satisfied. If any one of these three conditions is not satisfied, the electronic device  10  will not execute the corresponding functions. The three conditions of the above-mentioned have to be established to prevent erroneous conditions where the electronic device  10  executes the corresponding functions when in fact the need does not exist. The three conditions of the above-mentioned have further been established as needing to take place concurrently for the electronic device  10  to execute the corresponding functions. If only the condition of the reflective light received by the reflective proximity sensor  20  is considered, and not the variation of the environmental light, or if the electronic device  10  is only covered by other objects and not placed inside the shoulder handbag  26 , there may be an error as the reflective proximity sensor  20  is unable to receive the reflected light; furthermore if only the condition of the variation of the environmental light is considered, and the reflective proximity sensor  20  is not considered, there may be an error as variation of the environmental light increases instantly as the user walks from a bright outdoor location into a dim indoor location. Therefore when the qualified duration of the conditions in step  102  and step  104  are greater than the predetermined time, the controller  14  will control the electronic device  10  to execute a corresponding function. In addition, step  102 , step  104 , and step  106  can be executed simultaneously.  
      In step  108 , the controller  14  controls the electronic device  10  to execute corresponding function, which the electronic device is being controlled to execute a keylock function on the keypad  16 , in this way the user would not accidentally press the keypad  16  and result in a call being made or data being sent out, which leads to unnecessary power consumption as the phone is switched from a stand-by mode to a calling mode; or which the electronic device  10  is being controlled to execute a volume increase function on the loudspeaker  17 , this way even though the electronic device  10  is left in the shoulder handbag or the pants pocket, the user can hear the ring tone of incoming calls or text messages; or which the electronic device  10  is being controlled to execute a switch function of switching the vibration mode corresponding to the vibrator  18  to the ring mode corresponding to the loudspeaker, this way even though the electronic device  10  is originally in the vibration mode and is disposed in the handbag or the pants pocket, the user can hear the ring tone of the incoming calls or text messages after the switch function is executed.  
      The installation of the location and the number of the reflective proximity sensor  20  and the optical sensor  22  of the present invention can be set according to the requirement at hand, for example, if the determination of the reflective proximity sensor  20  must maintain a very high level of accuracy, then a plurality of reflective proximity sensors  20  can be installed at various locations of the electronic device  10  to reduce error caused by objects covering the electronic device  10  in a single direction; however, in doing so, cost will need to be considered.  
      When the electronic device  10  is removed from the handbag or the pants pocket, one or both conditions from step  102  and step  104  are removed, and the counter condition is also removed, it can be determined that the electronic device  10  is being removed from the handbag or the pants pocket, the controller  14  can be set to disengange all corresponding functions executed by the electronic device  10 , for example, unlocking the keypad  16 , the broadcast volume of the loudspeaker  17  is set to its original settings, or switching the ring mode back to the vibration mode.  
      If the present invention is applied to a mobile phone, a baseband processor that executes wireless communication functions can be used to replace the controller  14 . For example, an ADIN signal end of the baseband processor can receive a voltage signal transmitted from the optical sensor  22 , and the voltage signal is being processed by the baseband processor to obtain a corresponding light signal; and a pulse width modulation (PWM) signal end of the baseband processor can output a signal in a PWN manner to control the reflective proximity sensor  20  to emit infrared rays, and the result of the reflective light detected by the reflective proximity sensor  20  can be inputted through a GPIO signal end of the baseband processor to the baseband processor for processing. In this way, no additional processor is required to be installed within the mobile phone to execute the operation of the present invention, hence cost can be reduced.  
      In comparison to the prior art, the method and the electronic device of the present invention controls the operation of the electronic device according to whether the reflective light is being received and the detection result of the variation of the environment light, in this way even when the electronic device is covered by objects, the electronic device will not mistakenly determine that it has been placed inside a handbag or a pants pocket. Instant increase in variation of the environmental light as the user walks from a bright outdoor into a dim indoor would also not cause the electronic device to make false determination. Therefore the present invention can accurately determine whether the electronic device is being placed into the handbag or the pants pocket, as the present invention can provide a keylock or unlock mechanism to suit the user&#39;s requirement.  
      Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerous modifications and alterations of the device and method may be made while retaining the teachings of the invention. Accordingly, the above disclosure should be construed as limited only by the metes and bounds of the appended claims.