Patent Publication Number: US-2015077371-A1

Title: Electronic device and method for unlocking the electronic device

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims priority to Taiwan Patent Application No. 102133761 filed on Sep. 18, 2013, the contents of which are incorporated by reference herein. 
     FIELD 
     The subject matter of the present disclosure relates to user interfaces for electronic devices, and particularly to an electronic device and a method for unlocking the electronic device. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Most electronic devices with touch screens (for example, smart phones) may be locked and unlocked using a slide operation on the touch screen. However, the slide operation can easily be observed, and thus data security cannot be ensured. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Implementations of the present disclosure will be described, by way of example only, with reference to the following drawings. The modules in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, the emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the present disclosure. Moreover, in the drawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding portions throughout the views. 
         FIG. 1  is a block diagram of one embodiment of an electronic device including an unlocking system. 
         FIG. 2  is a block diagram of one embodiment of an unlocking system included in the electronic device in  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3A ,  FIG. 3B  and  FIG. 3C  are diagrammatic views of one embodiment of setting the locking mode on a touch screen of the electronic device of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 4  is a flowchart of one embodiment of a method of setting a locking mode of the electronic device in  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 5  is a flowchart of one embodiment of a method for unlocking the electronic device of  FIG. 1 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The present disclosure, including the accompanying drawings, is illustrated by way of examples and not by way of limitation. It should be noted that references to “an” or “one” embodiment in this disclosure are not necessarily to the same embodiment, and such references can mean “at least one,” or “one or more. ” 
     In the present disclosure, “module,” refers to logic embodied in hardware or firmware, or to a collection of software instructions, written in a program language. In one embodiment, the program language can be Java, C, or assembly. One or more software instructions in the modules can be embedded in firmware, such as in an erasable programmable read only memory (EPROM). The modules described herein can be implemented as either software and/or hardware modules and can be stored in any type of non-transitory computer-readable media or storage medium. Non-limiting examples of a non-transitory computer-readable medium include CDs, DVDs, flash memory, and hard disk drives. 
       FIG. 1  is a block diagram of one embodiment of an electronic device including an unlocking system. In one embodiment, an electronic device  1  can be a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a notebook computer, or any other electronic device. The electronic device  1  includes, but is not limited to, an unlocking system  10 , a storage device  20 , at least one processor  30 , and a touch screen  40 . In one embodiment, the unlocking system  10  can preset a locking mode according to touch operations, and unlock the electronic device  1  when an unlocking mode generated by recognizing the touch operations matches the locking mode. 
     The at least one processor  30  executes one or more computerized codes and other applications of the electronic device  1  to provide functions of the unlocking system  10 . The storage device  20  can be a memory of the electronic device  1  or an external storage card, such as a smart media card or a secure digital card. The touch screen  40  can be a capacitive touch screen, a resistive touch screen or other types of touch screen supporting touch operations (including pressing operations) of a finger or a stylus, for example. 
       FIG. 2  is a block diagram of one embodiment of an unlocking system included in the electronic device in  FIG. 1 . In this embodiment, the unlocking system  10  can include a displaying module  100 , a detecting module  101 , a recording module  102 , a determination module  103 , a processing module  104 , and a confirmation module  105 . The modules  100 - 105  include computerized code in the form of one or more programs that are stored in the storage device  20 . The computerized code includes instructions that are executed by the at least one processor  30  to provide functions of the unlocking system  10 . 
     The display module  100  displays an unlocking interface on the touch screen  40  for a user to execute touch operations on the touch screen  40 . When the electronic device  1  is required to preset a locking mode, the user can execute touch operations of setting the locking mode (hereinafter referred to as “locking touch operations”) on the touch screen  40 . When the electronic device  1  is required to be unlocked, the user can execute touch operations of an unlocking mode (hereinafter referred to as “unlocking touch operations”) on the touch screen  40 . 
     In one embodiment, the unlocking interface can provide a first area for executing the locking/unlocking touch operations and a second area for displaying prompts corresponding to the locking/unlocking touch operations. The second area can include a plurality of virtual icons having preset shapes. For example, each of the virtual icons can be a shape of a sector, a ring, a sphere or a rectangle or any other types of shapes.  FIG. 3A ,  FIG. 3B , and  FIG. 3C  show diagrammatic views of one embodiment of setting the locking mode on a touch screen of the electronic device of  FIG. 1 . As shown in  FIG. 3A , the virtual icons can form a ring. The first area can be an area which is surrounded by the virtual icons on the touch screen  40 , and also can be any other predetermined area on the touch screen  40 . 
     In some embodiments, the virtual icons can be displayed with a first status initially when no touch operation is detected on the first area. After the first area is pressed by a finger or other object (e.g., a stylus) recognized by the touch screen  40 , first status of one or more virtual icons corresponding to touch time duration of the touch operation on the first area can be changed to be a second status. For example, the first status of the virtual icons can be a first color or a first color combination, and the second status of the virtual icons can be a second color or a second color combination. In other embodiment, the first status of the virtual icons can be a first shape, and the second status of the virtual icons can be a second shape. 
     In at least one embodiment, different ranges of the touch time duration can cause different virtual icons to be changed from the first status to the second status. And each virtual icon can correspond to a preset code. When status of one or more virtual icons are changed from the first status to the second status, a password corresponding to the changed virtual icons can be determined according to the preset codes of the changed virtual icons. 
     In one embodiment, the unlocking interface further includes a first virtual button and a second virtual button. The first virtual button and the second virtual button can be displayed on the unlocking interface when a user presses the first area on the touch screen  40  to preset the locking mode. The first virtual button can trigger a first command, and the second virtual button can trigger a second command. As shown in  FIG. 3A , the first virtual button can be a virtual button marked with “clear” and the second virtual button can be a virtual button marked with “ok” in  FIG. 3  A. 
     The detecting module  101  detects the locking/unlocking touch operations of on the first area from the touch screen  40 , and confirm touch time duration of each of the locking/unlocking touch operations. When the user use the finger or other tool (e.g., a stylus) to touch the first area on the touch screen  40 , the touch time duration is started to time. Once the finger or the other object leaves from the first area, the touch operation is determined to be released and the touch time duration is determined. In one embodiment, after confirming the touch time duration of each of the locking/unlocking touch operations, the detecting module  101  can further change the virtual icons from the first status to be the second status according to the touch time duration, for prompting the password of the touch operation for the user. 
     For example, as shown in  FIG. 3A , touch time duration of a first touch operation on the first area is determined to be 0.5 second, and a virtual icon labeled “1” is changed to be black. In  FIG. 3B , touch time duration of a second touch operation on the first area is determined to be 3 seconds, and virtual icons labeled “1”, “2”, “3”, “4” are changed to be black. 
     In  FIG. 3C , touch time duration of a third touch operation on the first area is determined to be 2 seconds, and virtual icons labeled “1”, “2”, “3” are changed to be black. 
     The recording module  102  records a password corresponding to each of the locking/unlocking touch operations according to the determined touch time duration of each of the locking/unlocking touch operations. For example, as shown in  FIG. 3B , if the virtual icons labeled “1”, “2”, “3”, “4” correspond to a preset code of 1, 2, 3, 4 respectively, the recording module  102  can record a password of “1234” corresponding to the second touch operation in  FIG. 3B . In one embodiment, when the locking touch operations are executed on the electronic device  1  to preset the locking mode, the recording module  102  records the passwords in a first position of the storage device  20 . When the unlocking touch operations are executed on the electronic device  1  to unlock the electronic device  1 , the recording module  102  records the passwords in a second position of the storage device  20  temporarily. 
     During presetting the lock mode, the determination module  103  determines whether the electronic device  1  receives a first command, and further determines whether the electronic device  1  receives a second command. In at least one embodiment, the first command is used to clear the recorded passwords in the first position, and the second command is used to confirm that the locking/unlocking touch operations have been finished. In one embodiment, if the first virtual button is triggered, the determination module  103  determines that the electronic device  1  receives the first command. If the second virtual button is triggered, the determination module  103  determines that the electronic device  1  receives the second command. 
     If the electronic device  1  receives the first command, the processing module  104  clears the recorded passwords in the first position and prompts the user to execute the locking touch operations again. In one embodiment, the processing module  104  displays a prompt message on the touch screen  40  or output an audio prompt using a speaker of the electronic device  1 . 
     If the electronic device  1  receives the second command, the confirmation module  105  confirms the locking mode by combining the recorded passwords according to a touch sequence of the locking touch operations 
     During the electronic device  1  executes the unlocking touch operations, the confirmation module  105  confirms the unlocking mode by combining the recorded passwords according to a touch sequence of the unlocking touch operations when the unlocking touch operation for the unlocking mode is determined to be finished. In one embodiment, the unlocking touch operations can be determined to be finished when no more touch operation is detected in a preset time duration (for example, 3 seconds). In other embodiment, the unlocking touch operations can be determined to be finished when a preset finished command is triggered. 
     The determination module  103  further determines whether the unlocking mode matches the locking mode. For example, when the recorded passwords in the locking mode is identical to the recorded passwords in the unlocking mode, the determination module  103  determines that the unlocking mode matches the locking mode. If the recorded passwords in the locking mode are different from the recorded passwords in the unlocking mode, the determination module  103  determines that the unlocking mode does not match the locking mode. 
     The processing module  104  unlocks the electronic device  1  when the unlocking mode is determined to match the locking mode. 
       FIG. 4  is a flowchart of one embodiment of a method of setting a locking mode of the electronic device in  FIG. 1 . Depending on the embodiment, additional blocks can be added, others removed, and the ordering of the blocks can be changed. In the embodiment, the method  400  is performed by execution of computer-readable software program codes or instructions by at least one processor of a computing device. The method  400  is provided by way of example, as there are a variety of ways to carry out the method. The method  400  described below can be carried out using the configurations illustrated in  FIG. 1-FIG .  2 , for example, and various elements of these figures are referenced in explaining method  400 . Each block shown in  FIG. 4  represents one or more processes, methods or subroutines, carried out in the method  400 . Additionally, the illustrated order of blocks is by example only and the order of the blocks can change according to the present disclosure. The example method  400  can begin at block  401 . 
     In block  401 , when the electronic device  1  requires to preset a locking mode for locking the electronic device  1 , the display module displays an unlocking interface on the touch screen  40  for a user to execute locking touch operations on the touch screen  40 . In one embodiment, the unlocking interface can include a first area for executing the touch operations and a second area including a plurality of virtual icons initially displayed with a first status. 
     In block  402 , the detecting module detects the locking touch operation of the locking mode on the first area from the touch screen  40 , and confirms a touch time duration of each of the lucking touch operations. In one embodiment, after confirming the touch time duration of each of the lucking touch operations, the detecting module further changes the virtual icons on the unlocking interface from the first status to the second status according to the touch time duration. 
     In block  403 , the recording module records a password corresponding to each of the locking touch operations in a first position of the storage device  20 . 
     In block  404 , the determination module determines whether the electronic device  1  receives a first command. In one embodiment, if a first virtual button in the unlocking interface is triggered, the determination module determines that the electronic device receives the first command. If the determination module determines that the electronic device  1  receives the first command, block  405  is implemented. If the determination module determines that the electronic device  1  does not receive the first command, block  406  is implemented. 
     In block  405 , the processing module clears the recorded passwords in the first position and prompts the user to execute the locking touch operations of setting the locking mode newly, and block  402  is implemented. 
     In block  406 , the determination module determines whether the electronic device  1  receives a second command. In one embodiment, if a second virtual button in the unlocking interface is triggered, the determination module determines that the electronic device receives the second command. If the determination module determines that the electronic device  1  receives the second command, block  407  is implemented. If the determination module determines that the electronic device  1  does not receive the second command, block  402  is implemented to receive a next locking touch operation. 
     In block  407 , the confirmation module confirms the locking mode by combining the recorded passwords in the first position according to a touch sequence of the locking touch operations. 
       FIG. 5  is a flowchart of one embodiment of a method for unlocking the electronic device of  FIG. 1 . Depending on the embodiment, additional blocks can be added, others removed, and the ordering of the blocks can be changed. In the embodiment, the method  500  is performed by execution of computer-readable software program codes or instructions by at least one processor of a computing device. The method  500  is provided by way of example, as there are a variety of ways to carry out the method. The method  500  described below can be carried out using the configurations illustrated in  FIG. 1-FIG .  2 , for example, and various elements of these figures are referenced in explaining method  500 . Each block shown in  FIG. 5  represents one or more processes, methods or subroutines, carried out in the method  500 . Additionally, the illustrated order of blocks is by example only and the order of the blocks can change according to the present disclosure. The example method  500  can begin at block  501 . 
     In block  501 , when the electronic device  1  requires to unlock the electronic device  1 , the display module displays the unlocking interface on the touch screen  40  for users to execute the unlocking touch operations of unlocking the electronic device  1 . 
     In block  502 , the detecting module detects the unlocking touch operations on the first area from the touch screen  40 , and confirms a touch time duration corresponding to each of the unlocking touch operations of the unlocking mode. In one embodiment, after confirming the touch time duration corresponding to each of the unlocking touch operations, the detecting module further changes the virtual icons on the unlocking interface from the first status to the second status according to the confirmed touch time duration. 
     In block  503 , the recording module records a password corresponding to each of the unlocking touch operations in a second position of the storage device  20 , and the confirmation module confirms the unlocking mode by combining the recorded passwords according to a touch sequence of the unlocking touch operations when the unlocking touch operation for the unlocking mode is determined to be finished. 
     In block  504 , the determination module determines whether the unlocking mode matches the locking mode. When the recorded passwords in the locking mode is identical to the recorded passwords in the unlocking mode, the determination module  103  determines that the unlocking mode matches the locking mode, and block  506  is implemented. If the recorded passwords in the locking mode are different from the recorded passwords in the unlocking mode, the determination module  103  determines that the unlocking mode does not match the locking mode, and block  505  is implemented. 
     In block  505 , the processing module clears the recorded passwords in the second position and prompts the user to execute the unlocking touch operations for unlocking the electronic device  1  newly, and block  502  is implemented. 
     In block  506 , the processing module unlocks the electronic device  1 , and the procedure ends. 
     All of the processes described above may be embodied in, and fully automated via, functional code modules executed by one or more general purpose processors such as the processor  30 . The code modules may be stored in any type of non-transitory readable medium or other storage device such as the storage device  20 . Some or all of the methods may alternatively be embodied in specialized hardware. Depending on the embodiment, the non-transitory readable medium can be a hard disk drive, a compact disc, a digital versatile disc, a tape drive, or other storage medium. 
     The described embodiments are merely examples of implementations, and have been set forth for a clear understanding of the principles of the present disclosure. Variations and modifications may be made without departing substantially from the spirit and principles of the present disclosure. All such modifications and variations are intended to be included within the scope of this disclosure and the described inventive embodiments, and the present disclosure is protected by the following claims and their equivalents.