Patent ID: 8493220

Claim:
A method for detecting light sleep or arousal of a sleeping subject, comprising the steps of: operating an electronic device to perform the following sub-steps, said device being a portable electronic communication device or a portable data processing device, said device including i) a microphone to capture sound signals, ii) an alarm part to perform an awakening alarm function, iii) a power supply provided with sufficient capacity for operating said device over a predetermined operation time, iv) a memory, and v) a processor to operate the device, a) adaptively analysing the sound signals captured by the microphone both prior to a predetermined awakening-time window and during the awakening-time-window, wherein the analysis is executed more frequently during the awakening-time-window or a level of analysis changes for the awakening-time-window, the analyzing of the sound signals including an analysis of an amplitude of the sound signals, and at least one of the group consisting of spectral content of the sound signals, duration of the sound signals, and a distribution of the sound signals, and b) performing the awakening alarm function within the awakening-time-window when the analysis of the sound signals produced by movements of the subject during the awakening-time-window indicates ongoing light sleep or arousal from sleep, or that the end of the awakening-time-window is reached.