Abstract:
A portable communications device includes a transceiver module and a cover detachably installed on the transceiver module. The cover contains magnetic media disposed on the cover, the magnetic media emitting a magnetic flux for identifying the cover. The transceiver module includes a magnetic sensor for measuring the magnetic flux emitted by the magnetic media and generating a corresponding output signal and a control circuit for receiving the output signal from the magnetic sensor and determining an identification of the cover based on the received output signal.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION  
       [0001]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0002]     The present invention relates to a portable communications device, and more specifically, to a method for identifying a detachable cover of a portable communications device and adjusting a configuration of the device according to the identified cover.  
         [0003]     2. Description of the Prior Art  
         [0004]     Covers for portable communications devices, such as mobile phones, are crucial to the overall design of the portable communications devices. Furthermore, since consumers prefer to change the appearance of their mobile phones, it is now common to find mobile phones with swappable covers. For example, the Motorola® C330 series of mobile phones has three swappable covers with different shapes and textures that are used to cover the circuitry (such as the transceiver module) of the mobile phone. With this setup, users can easily and freely change the cover of the mobile phone without concern for the internal hardware or software of the mobile phone.  
         [0005]     Please refer to  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2 .  FIG. 1  is a perspective diagram of a portable communications device  10  according to the prior art.  FIG. 2  is a perspective diagram of a front cover  20 A and a rear cover  20 B of the portable communications device  10 .  FIG. 1  shows the front cover  20 A assembled with the rear cover  20 B whereas  FIG. 2  shows the front cover  20 A and the rear cover  20 B separately. For convenience, the front cover  20 A and the rear cover  20 B will collectively be referred to as a cover  20 . The front cover  20 A contains a transparent lens  22  for allowing a display screen to be seen through the lens  22 . In addition, the front cover  20 A contains a plurality of input keys  24  for inputting signals to the portable communications device  10 .  
         [0006]     Please refer to  FIG. 3 .  FIG. 3  is a perspective diagram of a transceiver module  40  of the portable communications device  10 . The front cover  20 A and the rear cover  20 B can be respectively installed on front and rear sides of the transceiver module  40 , thereby enclosing the transceiver module  40  between the front cover  20 A and the rear cover  20 B. The transceiver module  40  contains a display  42  such as an LCD display and a plurality of key sensors  44  for receiving input from the plurality of input keys  24 .  
         [0007]     Covers  20  now come with a variety of different designs, and the design of the cover  20  may be a part of the theme of the phone. For example, as part of a sports theme, a surface of the cover  20  may have pictures of sports equipment on it. When a user swaps the cover of the portable communications device  10 , the user may also wish to change the Man-Machine Interface (MMI) attributes of the portable communications device  10  to match the theme of the new cover  20 . Unfortunately, the user will has to manually change the MMI attributes of the portable communications device  10  after swapping the cover  20  because the transceiver module  40  cannot automatically detect the identification of the cover  20 .  
       SUMMARY OF INVENTION  
       [0008]     It is therefore a primary objective of the claimed invention to provide a portable communications device that can detect the identification of a cover in order to solve the above-mentioned problems.  
         [0009]     According to the claimed invention, a portable communications device includes a transceiver module and a cover detachably installed on the transceiver module. The cover contains magnetic media disposed on the cover, the magnetic media emitting a magnetic flux for identifying the cover. The transceiver module includes a magnetic sensor for measuring the magnetic flux emitted by the magnetic media and generating a corresponding output signal and a control circuit for receiving the output signal from the magnetic sensor and determining an identification of the cover based on the received output signal.  
         [0010]     It is an advantage of the claimed invention that the portable communications device is able to detect the identification of the cover and automatically configure the MMI attributes of the portable communications device for each cover used.  
         [0011]     These and other objectives of the claimed invention will no doubt become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment, which is illustrated in the various figures and drawings. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS  
       [0012]      FIG. 1  is a perspective diagram of a portable communications device according to the prior art.  
         [0013]      FIG. 2  is a perspective diagram of a front cover and a rear cover of the portable communications device.  
         [0014]      FIG. 3  is a perspective diagram of a transceiver module of the portable communications device.  
         [0015]      FIG. 4  is a diagram of a portable communications device according to the present invention.  
         [0016]      FIG. 5  is a graph showing a relationship between measured magnetic flux and a corresponding output voltage produced by the magnetic sensor.  
         [0017]      FIG. 6  is a functional block diagram of the portable communications device according to the present invention.  
         [0018]      FIG. 7  is a flowchart illustrating the present invention method of identifying the cover and updating MMI attributes of the portable communications device according to the identity of the cover. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0019]     Please refer to  FIG. 4 .  FIG. 4  is a diagram of a portable communications device  100  according to the present invention. Like the prior art portable communications device  10 , the present invention portable communications device  100  contains a transceiver module  140  enclosed between a front cover  120 A and a rear cover  120 B. For convenience, the front cover  120 A and the rear cover  120 B will collectively be referred to as a cover  120 . The portable communications device  100  contains magnetic media  122  installed on the cover  120  for providing unique identification for each cover  120 . A magnetic sensor  142  is disposed on the transceiver module  140  for sensing the magnetic flux produced by the magnetic media  122  and generating a corresponding output voltage signal.  
         [0020]     In the preferred embodiment shown in  FIG. 4 , the magnetic media  122  is a magnet, and the magnetic media  122  is disposed on an inside surface of the front cover  120 A. Magnetic powder can also be used instead of a magnet, as is well known by those skilled in the art. The magnetic sensor  142  is preferably formed on a printed circuit board (PCB) within the transceiver module  140 . For best results, the magnetic sensor  142  should be as close to the magnetic media  122  as possible for accurately measuring the magnetic flux produced by the magnetic media  122 . Please note that the locations of the magnetic media  122  and the magnetic sensor  142  shown in  FIG. 4  are merely used as examples. The magnetic media  122  can be disposed anywhere on the cover  120  of the portable communications device  100 , and the magnetic sensor  142  can be disposed anywhere on the transceiver module  140 .  
         [0021]     Please refer to  FIG. 5 .  FIG. 5  is a graph showing a relationship between measured magnetic flux B (measured in mT) and a corresponding output voltage V out  (measured in V) produced by the magnetic sensor  142 . The magnetic sensor  142  is preferably a linear Hall effect sensor, and the output voltage V out  is an analog output voltage that is proportional to the magnetic flux B measured perpendicular through the magnetic sensor  142 . The slope of the line shown in  FIG. 5  is dependent on the sensitivity of the magnetic nsensor  142 . Moreover, a quiescent voltage V OQ  is a voltage level that the magnetic sensor  142  outputs when no magnetic field is present (i.e. B=0 mT).  
         [0022]     In order for the magnetic media  122  to be used as an identification of the cover  120 , each different type of cover  120  must contain magnetic media  122  with a unique magnetic flux value. For example, suppose that point P 1  in  FIG. 5  represents a first cover placed on the transceiver module  140 . A measured magnetic flux value is denoted by B 1  and the corresponding analog output voltage is denoted by V 1 . Point P 2  represents a second cover placed on the transceiver module  140  instead of the first cover. Point P 2  has a magnetic flux value of B 2  and a corresponding analog output voltage of V 2 . Because each cover  120  used in the present invention produces different output voltages in the magnetic sensor  142 , the transceiver module  140  is able to identify each cover  120  by simply measuring the magnetic flux produced by the magnetic media  122  of the cover  120 . Once the cover  120  has been identified by the transceiver module  140 , the transceiver module  140  can customize settings of the portable communications device  100  according to the identification of the cover  120 .  
         [0023]     Please refer to  FIG. 6 .  FIG. 6  is a functional block diagram of the portable communications device  100  according to the present invention. After the magnetic sensor  142  measures the magnetic flux of the magnetic media  122  formed on the cover  120 , the magnetic sensor  142  transmits the analog output voltage to a controller  144  of the transceiver module  140 . The controller  144  is used for controlling operations of the transceiver module  140 . After receiving the analog output voltage from the magnetic sensor  142 , the controller  144  determines the identity of the cover  120  by comparing the analog output voltage value to a list of voltage values for known covers  120 . The controller  144  then searches a Man-Machine Interface (MMI) database  146  for MMI attributes corresponding to the identified cover  120 . The controller  144  can then configure input and output (I/O) devices  148  to match the settings specified in the MMI database  146 . For example, the MMI database  146  can customize audio and visual settings of the portable communications device  100  in a theme corresponding to each cover  120 .  
         [0024]     Please refer to  FIG. 7 .  FIG. 7  is a flowchart illustrating the present invention method of identifying the cover  120  and updating MMI attributes of the portable communications device  100  according to the identity of the cover  120 . Steps contained in the flowchart will be explained below.  
         [0025]     Step  200 : Start;  
         [0026]     Step  202 : A new cover  120  is placed onto the transceiver module  140  of the portable communications device  100 ;  
         [0027]     Step  204 : The magnetic sensor  142  measures the magnetic flux of the magnetic media  122 ;  
         [0028]     Step  206 : The controller  144  determines the identification of the cover  120  based on the analog output voltage outputted from the magnetic sensor  142 ;  
         [0029]     Step  208 : According to the identification of the cover  120 , the controller  144  searches the MMI database  146  for MMI attributes corresponding to the identified cover  120 ;  
         [0030]     Step  210 : The transceiver module  140  is configured with the MMI attributes read from the MMI database  146 ; and  
         [0031]     Step  212 : End.  
         [0032]     The present invention is well suited for any portable communications device, such as a mobile phone, which has a detachable cover that can be swapped with other covers. In addition to MMI attributes, any attribute that can be customized according to the identification of the cover falls within the scope of the present invention.  
         [0033]     In contrast to the prior art portable communications device  10  in which users had to manually update MMI attributes after swapping the cover  20  of the portable communications device  10 , the present invention portable communications device  100  is capable of identifying the cover  120  and updating the MMI attributes automatically. Users can freely swap the covers of portable communications devices and completely update the theme of the portable communications devices without configuring additional settings.  
         [0034]     Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerous modifications and alterations of the device 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.