PATENT DOCUMENT

Publication Number: US-10459677-B2
Application Number: US-201715616292-A
Country: US
Kind Code: B2

Title: Coordination of device operation on wireless charging surface

Abstract:
Portable electronic devices may be wirelessly charged while resting on a wireless charging surface of a wireless power transmitting device. The wireless power transmitting device may have an array of coils for transmitting wireless power. The portable electronic devices may have coils for receiving the transmitted wireless power. Magnetic sensors may be used in the portable electronic devices to sense magnetic fields produced by the wireless power transmitting device. The magnetic fields may be produced by permanent magnets, electromagnets that are separated from the coils, or coils in the array of coils. Sensors may also be used in the portable electronic devices and wireless power transmitting device such as sound sensors, light sensors, capacitive sensors, proximity sensors, and other sensors. These sensors may be used in measuring lateral position and orientation for the portable devices so that content may be displayed across multiple portable devices.

Claims:
What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A wireless power transmitting device having a wireless charging surface configured to provide wireless power respectively to at least a first electronic device and a second electronic device resting on the wireless charging surface, wherein the first electronic device and the second electronic device are configured to determine a first orientation of the first electronic device on the wireless charging surface and a second orientation of the second electronic device on the wireless charging surface based on an output received from the wireless power transmitting device, the wireless power transmitting device comprising:
 power transmitting circuitry having a coil array that is configured to transmit alternating current electromagnetic signals; 
 at least one component configured to supply the output; and 
 control circuitry configured to coordinate, at least in part, a content presentation on the first electronic device and the second electronic device, respectively, based at least on the first orientation and the second orientation. 
 
     
     
       2. The wireless power transmitting device of  claim 1  wherein the output comprises a magnetic field and wherein the at least one component comprises a magnet that produces the magnetic field. 
     
     
       3. The wireless power transmitting device of  claim 1  wherein the output comprises a magnetic field and wherein the at least one component comprises an electromagnet that is separate from the coil array. 
     
     
       4. The wireless power transmitting device of  claim 1  wherein the output comprises a magnetic field and wherein the at least one component comprises a coil in the coil array. 
     
     
       5. The wireless power transmitting device of  claim 1  wherein the output comprises a sound and wherein the at least one component comprises an audio transducer configured to produce the sound. 
     
     
       6. The wireless power transmitting device of  claim 1  wherein the control circuitry is further configured to coordinate the content presentation by providing a first device identifier from the first electronic device to the second electronic device and by providing a second device identifier from the second electronic device to the first electronic device and wherein the first electronic device and the second electronic device use the first device identifier and the second device identifier to communicate. 
     
     
       7. The wireless power transmitting device of  claim 1  wherein the control circuitry is further configured to coordinate the content presentation by designating the first electronic device as a master device that displays content and that wirelessly transmits the content and by designating the second electronic device as a slave device that receives the transmitted content and that displays the received transmitted content. 
     
     
       8. The wireless power transmitting device of  claim 1  wherein the first orientation and the second orientation comprise a first angular orientation and a second angular orientation and wherein the wireless power transmitting device comprises a coil in the coil array that is configured to supply a wireless signal that the first electronic device and the second electronic device are configured to sense to determine a first lateral position of the first electronic device on the wireless charging surface and a second lateral position of the second electronic device on the wireless charging surface. 
     
     
       9. The wireless power transmitting device of  claim 8  wherein the output comprises a magnetic field and wherein the at least one component is configured to produce the magnetic field. 
     
     
       10. A wireless power transmitting device having a wireless charging surface configured to provide wireless power to at least a first electronic device and a second electronic device resting on the wireless charging surface, respectively, the wireless power transmitting device comprising:
 power transmitting circuitry having a coil array that is configured to transmit alternating current electromagnetic signals to the first electronic device and the second electronic device; 
 at least one component configured to gather an input from the first electronic device and the second electronic device, respectively; and 
 control circuitry configured to:
 determine, using the gathered input, a first orientation of the first electronic device on the wireless charging surface and a second orientation of the second electronic device on the wireless charging surface; and 
 coordinate, at least in part, a content presentation on the first electronic device and the second electronic device, respectively, based at least on the first orientation and the second orientation. 
 
 
     
     
       11. The wireless power transmitting device of  claim 10  wherein the component comprises a microphone configured to:
 determine the first orientation using a sound received from the first electronic device; and 
 determine the second orientation using a sound received from the second electronic device. 
 
     
     
       12. The wireless power transmitting device of  claim 10  wherein the at least one component comprises coils in the coil array that are configured to receive magnetic signals from coils in the first electronic device and the second electronic device. 
     
     
       13. The wireless power transmitting device of  claim 10  wherein the control circuitry is further configured to coordinate the content presentation by providing a first device identifier from the first electronic device to the second electronic device and by providing a second device identifier from the second electronic device to the first electronic device. 
     
     
       14. The wireless power transmitting device of  claim 13  wherein the control circuitry is further configured to coordinate the content presentation by designating the first electronic device as a master device that supplies content and by designating the second electronic device as a slave device that receives and displays at least part of the content supplied by the master device. 
     
     
       15. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon that, when executed by a computing device, cause the computing device to perform the following operations comprising:
 gathering a device identifier associated with a first wireless power receiving device placed on a wireless charging surface; 
 providing the device identifier associated with the first wireless power receiving device to a second wireless power receiving device placed on the wireless charging surface; and 
 coordinating display of content on the second wireless power receiving device based at least on the device identifier associated with the first wireless power receiving device. 
 
     
     
       16. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 15 , wherein the coordinating display further comprises:
 displaying a first portion of the content on the first wireless power receiving device and causing the display of a second portion of the content on the second wireless power receiving device. 
 
     
     
       17. A wireless power transmitting device having a wireless charging surface configured to provide wireless power to at least a first electronic device and a second electronic device resting on the wireless charging surface, respectively, the wireless power transmitting device comprising:
 power transmitting circuitry having a coil array that is configured to transmit alternating current electromagnetic signals to the first electronic device and to the second electronic device; and 
 control circuitry configured to:
 gather a device identifier associated with the first electronic device, and 
 provide the device identifier associated with the first electronic device to the second electronic device, wherein content displayed on the first electronic device and the second electronic device is coordinated based at least on the device identifier associated with the first electronic device. 
 
 
     
     
       18. The wireless power transmitting device of  claim 17 , wherein the control circuitry is further configured to:
 gather an additional device identifier associated with the second electronic device; and 
 provide the additional device identifier associated with the second electronic device to the first electronic device, wherein the content displayed on the first electronic device and the second electronic device is coordinated based at least on the additional device identifier associated with the second electronic device. 
 
     
     
       19. The wireless power transmitting device of  claim 17 , wherein the first electronic device and the second electronic device are configured to determine a first orientation of the first electronic device on the wireless charging surface and a second orientation of the second electronic device on the wireless charging surface based on an output received from the wireless power transmitting device, the wireless power transmitting device further comprising at least one component configured to supply the output. 
     
     
       20. The wireless power transmitting device of  claim 19  wherein the output comprises a magnetic field and wherein the at least one component comprises an electromagnet that is separate from the coil array. 
     
     
       21. The wireless power transmitting device of  claim 19  wherein the output comprises a magnetic field and wherein the at least one component comprises a coil in the coil array. 
     
     
       22. The wireless power transmitting device of  claim 19  wherein the output comprises a sound and wherein the at least one component comprises an audio transducer configured to produce the sound. 
     
     
       23. The wireless power transmitting device of  claim 19  wherein the control circuitry is further configured to coordinate display of the content by designating the first electronic device as a master device that displays the content and that wirelessly transmits the content and by designating the second electronic device as a slave device that receives the transmitted content and that displays the received transmitted content. 
     
     
       24. The wireless power transmitting device of  claim 19  wherein the first orientation and the second orientation comprise a first angular orientation and a second angular orientation, respectively, and wherein the wireless power transmitting device comprises a coil in the coil array that is configured to supply a wireless signal that the first electronic device and the second electronic device are configured to sense to determine a first lateral position of the first electronic device on the wireless charging surface and a second lateral position of the second electronic device on the wireless charging surface. 
     
     
       25. The wireless power transmitting device of  claim 24  wherein the output comprises a magnetic field and wherein the at least one component is configured to produce the magnetic field. 
     
     
       26. A wireless power receiving device configured to receive wireless power from a wireless power transmitting device while the wireless power receiving device is placed on a wireless charging surface of the wireless power transmitting device, the wireless power receiving device comprising:
 wireless power receiving circuitry configured to receive the wireless power; 
 control circuitry coupled to the wireless power receiving circuitry and configured to receive a device identifier associated with an additional wireless power receiving device placed on the wireless charging surface of the wireless power transmitting device; and 
 a display coupled to the control circuitry, wherein the control circuitry is configured to display content on the display based at least on the received device identifier associated with the additional wireless power receiving device. 
 
     
     
       27. The wireless power receiving device defined in  claim 26 , wherein the control circuitry is configured to receive the device identifier from the wireless power transmitting device. 
     
     
       28. The wireless power receiving device defined in  claim 26 , wherein the wireless power receiving device is configured to determine a first orientation of the wireless power receiving device and a second orientation of the additional wireless power receiving device based on an output received from the wireless power transmitting device. 
     
     
       29. The wireless power receiving device defined in  claim 28 , wherein the output comprises a magnetic field produced by the wireless power transmitting device. 
     
     
       30. The wireless power receiving device of  claim 28  wherein the output comprises a sound produced by the wireless power transmitting device. 
     
     
       31. The wireless power receiving device of  claim 28  wherein the control circuitry is configured to operate as a master device that displays the content and that wirelessly transmits the content to the additional wireless power receiving device.

Description:
This application claims the benefit of provisional patent application No. 62/377,269, filed Aug. 19, 2016, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. 
    
    
     FIELD 
     This relates generally to wireless systems, and, more particularly, to systems in which devices are wirelessly charged. 
     BACKGROUND 
     In a wireless charging system, a wireless charging surface may wirelessly transmit power to a portable electronic device that is placed on the surface. The portable electronic device may receive the wirelessly transmitted power and may use this power to charge an internal battery or to power the device. In some situations, multiple devices may be placed on a wireless charging surface. 
     SUMMARY 
     Portable electronic devices may be wirelessly charged while resting on a wireless charging surface of a wireless charging surface (e.g., a wireless charging device such as a wireless charging mat, wireless charging puck, wireless charging stand, wireless charging table, or other wireless power transmitting device). The wireless power transmitting device may have an array of coils for transmitting wireless power. The portable electronic devices may have coils for receiving the transmitted wireless power. 
     Magnetic sensors may be used in the portable electronic devices to sense magnetic fields produced by the wireless power transmitting device. The magnetic fields may be produced by permanent magnets, by electromagnets that are separate from the coils, or by coils in the array of coils. Other sensors may also be used in the portable electronic devices and wireless power transmitting device such as sound sensors, light sensors, capacitive sensors, proximity sensors, force sensors, and other sensors. Magnetic sensors and other sensors may be used in measuring lateral position and orientation for the portable devices. For example, sensor readings may be used to determine the relative position and orientation of a pair of devices on a wireless charging surface and to determine the relative position of each of the pair of devices relative to the wireless charging surface. Gyroscopes may be used to track changes in rotational orientation as devices are moved. 
     A wireless power transmitting device may obtain device identifiers from some or all of the devices on the wireless charging surface. These identifiers may then be shared among compatible devices on the wireless charging surface so that the devices may wirelessly communicate with each other. Once paired, wireless devices on the charging surface may be assigned master and slave roles. A master device may wirelessly stream content to one or more slave devices. The relative positions and orientations of the devices on the wireless charging surface may be used in coordinating the presentation of content on the displays of the devices. In this way, a video from a master device or other source may be split into halves each of which is displayed on a respective device or content such as a screen saver or document may stretch across multiple devices on a charging surface. Information on the relative position and angular orientation of each device on the charging surface may be taken into account so that the content is displayed appropriately. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic diagram of an illustrative wireless charging system in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view of an illustrative portable electronic device in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 3  is a diagram of an illustrative portable electronic device on a wireless charging surface in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 4  is a flow chart of illustrative operations involved in gathering information on the location and orientation of portable electronic devices relative to a wireless charging surface in and each other accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIGS. 5 and 6  are diagrams showing how the display of video or other content may be coordinated across multiple devices on a wireless charging surface while taking into account information on the relative lateral position and rotational orientation of the devices in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 7  is a flow chart of illustrative operations involved in coordinating the operation of multiple portable electronic devices on a common wireless charging surface in accordance with an embodiment. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     A wireless power system may have a wireless power transmitting device such as a wireless charging mat, wireless charging puck, wireless charging stand, wireless charging table, or other wireless power transmitting equipment. The wireless power transmitting device may have one or more coils that are used in transmitting alternating-current electromagnetic signals to wireless power receiving devices. An array of coils may be formed under a wireless charging surface. The wireless power transmitting device may wirelessly transmit power to the wireless power receiving devices when the wireless power receiving devices are resting on the wireless charging surface. The wireless power receiving devices may be portable electronic devices. 
     Components in the wireless power transmitting equipment and components in the wireless power receiving devices may determine the location and orientation of wireless power receiving devices relative to the wireless charging surface and each other. Using information on the relative position and angular orientation of the wireless power receiving devices, coordinated action may be taken. For example, a screen saver, video, image, document, or other content may be displayed across multiple receiving devices. Each receiving device may display a respective portion of the content. If, as an example, receiving devices are adjacent to each other, a first half of the content may be displayed on a first of the receiving devices and a second half of the content that is adjacent to the first half may be displayed on a second of the receiving devices. In illustrative configurations in which the first and second devices are misaligned with respect to each other and/or are spaced apart from each other, the first and second devices may be used to display respective first and second smaller portions of a single large image or other visual content (as an example). 
     Sensors and other components may be provided in the wireless power transmitting device and/or the wireless power receiving devices. These sensors and other components may be used in identifying the positions and orientations of the wireless power receiving devices. For example, the sensors and other components may be used to identify information that represents the location and/or orientation of each wireless power receiving device relative to the wireless power transmitting device and/or relative to each other. Content may then be displayed on the wireless power receiving devices based on the relative position and/or orientation between the wireless power receiving devices, based on the relative position and/or orientation between one or both wireless power receiving devices and the power transmitting device, and/or based on other information gathered using the sensors and other components. 
     An illustrative wireless power system (wireless charging system) is shown in  FIG. 1 . As shown in  FIG. 1 , wireless power system  8  may include a wireless power transmitting device such as wireless power transmitting device  12  and may include one or more wireless power receiving devices  10 . 
     Power transmitting device  12  may be a stand-alone power adapter (e.g., a wireless charging mat, puck, stand, table, or other device that includes power adapter circuitry mounted under a planar dielectric layer that serves as a wireless charging surface), may be a wireless charging device that is coupled to a power adapter or other equipment by a cable, may be a portable device, may be equipment that has been incorporated into furniture, a vehicle, or other system, or may be other wireless power transfer equipment. Illustrative configurations in which wireless power transmitting device  12  is a wireless charging device with a wireless charging surface may sometimes be described herein as an example. 
     Each power receiving device  10  in system  8  may be a portable electronic device such as a wristwatch, a cellular telephone, a laptop computer, a tablet computer, or other electronic equipment. Power transmitting device  12  may be coupled to a wall outlet (e.g., a source of alternating-current voltage), may have a battery such as battery  38  for supplying power, and/or may have another source of power. Power transmitting device  12  may have an AC-DC power converter such as power converter  40  for converting AC power from a wall outlet or other power source into DC power. DC power may be used to power control circuitry  42  and other circuitry in device  12 . During operation, a controller in control circuitry  42  may use power transmitting circuitry  34  and one or more coils such as coil array  36  in circuitry  34  to transmit alternating current electromagnetic signals  48  to device  10  and thereby convey wireless power to power receiving circuitry  46  of device  10 . Power transmitting circuitry  34  may have switching circuitry (e.g., transistors) that are turned on and off based on control signals provided by control circuitry  42  to create AC current signals through one or more coils in coil array  36 . As the AC currents pass through coil array  36 , alternating-current electromagnetic fields (signals  48 ) are produced that are received by corresponding coil(s)  14  of power receiving circuitry  46  in receiving device  10 . When the alternating-current electromagnetic fields are received by coil  14 , corresponding alternating-current currents and voltages are induced in coil  14 . Rectifier circuitry  16  in circuitry  46  may convert received AC signals (received alternating-current currents and voltages associated with wireless power signals) from coil(s)  14  into DC voltage signals for powering device  10 . The DC voltages may be used in powering components in device  10  such as a display, touch sensor components, wireless circuits, audio components, and other components (e.g., input-output devices  22  and/or control circuitry  20 ) and may be used in charging an internal battery in device  10  such as battery  18 . 
     Devices  12  and  10  may include control circuitry  42  and  20 . Control circuitry  42  and  20  may include storage such as read-only memory, random-access memory, hard drive storage, flash drive storage, removable storage medium, or other computer-readable media and may include processing circuitry such as microprocessors, power management units, baseband processors, digital signal processors, microcontrollers, and/or application-specific integrated circuits with processing circuits. Control circuitry  42  and  20  may be configured to execute instructions for implementing desired control and communications features in system  8  (e.g., arrangements in which information is gathered on device positions and/or orientations, in which information is exchanged on device identifiers and other identifying information, arrangements in which content is streamed and otherwise conveyed between equipment in system  8 , etc.). 
     Device  12  and/or device  10  may communicate wirelessly using in-band or out-of-band communications. Devices  10  and  12  may, for example, have wireless transceiver circuitry in control circuitry  42  and  20  that allows wireless transmission of signals between devices  10  and  12  (e.g., using antennas, using coils  36  and  14 , etc.). 
     Device  12  and device(s)  10  may include components that can be used in determining the lateral positions and angular orientations of devices  10  relative to the charging surface of device  12  and/or each other. As shown in  FIG. 1 , for example power transmitting device  12  may include magnets and other components  44  (e.g., audio transducers, wireless circuitry, sensors, etc.) and device  10  may include input-output devices  22 . Using this circuitry, device  12  may gather signals from devices  10  and devices  10  may gather signals from device  12 . Devices  10  and/or  12  may then process this information individually and/or together to determine how devices  10  are located and oriented relative to device  12  and/or to each other. 
     Components  44  may include components that supply signals such as permanent magnets, electromagnets that are separate from coil array  36 , electromagnets formed from one or more coils in array  36 , audio output devices such as speakers and other audio transducers, antennas for transmitting electromagnetic signals for use in time-of-flight measurements, metal strips for creating capacitance signals (electric field perturbations) that may be monitored by a touch sensor in input-output devices  22 , light sources such as light-emitting diodes for emitting light that is measured by light sensors in devices  22 , and/or other output components. Components  44  may also include components that measure signals (e.g., microphones, antennas, magnetic sensors, capacitive touch sensors, light sensors, force sensors, etc.). 
     Input-output devices  22  may include an orientation sensor such as accelerometer  24 , a magnetic sensor such as compass  26 , an angular velocity sensor such as gyroscope  28  (e.g., a gyroscope that control circuitry  20  can use to track changes in the angular orientation of device  10  due to movement of device  10  by a user, microphones  30 , antennas, force sensors, and other sensors for measuring signals from components  44  and other circuitry associated with device  12 . The sensors and other signal measuring components of devices  22  may also make measurements on the environment surrounding devices  12  and  10 . Input-output devices  22  may include components for producing output signals such as display  50  (e.g., a touch screen display), capacitive sensor  51  (e.g., a capacitive touch sensor in display  50 , a separate capacitive touch sensor, one or more capacitive sensor buttons, or one or more other capacitive sensors), speakers  32 , electromagnets (e.g., electromagnets associated with speakers  32 , stand-alone electromagnets, and/or electromagnet(s) formed by coil(s)  14 ), antennas, light sources, etc. 
     A perspective view of an illustrative portable electronic device is shown in  FIG. 2 . As shown in  FIG. 2 , device  10  may include a housing such as housing  66 . Housing  66  may have a rectangular footprint (outline when viewed from above) or may have any other suitable shape. Housing  66  may be formed from metal, plastic, fiber-composite materials, glass, and/or other dielectric and/or conductive materials. 
     Display  50  may be mounted in housing  66 . Display  50  may include an array of pixels  52  for displaying images for a user. Display  50  may be an organic light-emitting diode display, a liquid crystal display, or other suitable display. If desired, display  50  may be a touch sensitive display having a capacitive touch sensor overlapping the pixel array formed from pixels  52 . For example, display  50  may have a capacitive touch sensor with an array of capacitive touch sensor electrodes  54  formed from indium tin oxide or other transparent conductive material. Electrodes  54  may overlap pixels  52 . 
     Device  10  may include speakers  32  in ear speaker port  56  and, at an opposing end of housing  66 , in speaker port  64 . Microphones  30  may be located in speaker port  56 , speaker port  64 , and/or microphone port  62 . Display  50  may have a cover layer with an opaque masking layer under an inactive border region. Windows  60  may be formed in the opaque masking layer and may be associated with an ambient light sensor, a light-based proximity sensor having an infrared transmitter and corresponding infrared detector for measuring reflected infrared light, and a camera (e.g., a digital image sensor). Menu button  58  and other buttons may be used to gather user button press input. Device  10  may also include other components (see, e.g., input-output devices  22  of  FIG. 10 ). 
     A top view of an illustrative wireless power transmitting device  12  is shown in  FIG. 3 . As shown in  FIG. 3 , an array of coils  36  may be formed under charging surface  70 . When it is desired to receive wireless power from device  12 , a user may place one or more devices  10  on surface  70 . Due to the presence of coils  36  and one or more overlapping coils  14  in device  10 , wireless power may be conveyed between device  12  and devices such as device  10 . 
     To coordinate the playback of visual content on the displays of multiple portable devices, it may be desirable to gather information on the location of each of devices  10 . This may be accomplished by transmitting signals from device  12  that are measured by each device  10  and/or by transmitting signals from each device  10  that are measured by device  12 . 
     As an example, device  12  may include components  44  that emit signals such as components  72 . Components  72  may be located at the corners of surface  70 , may be formed in an array across surface  70 , may be formed along the edges of surface  70 , and/or may be arranged in other patterns in device  12 . Components  72  may include permanent magnets and/or electromagnets for emitting permanent magnetic fields that are sensed by compass  26 . Compass  26  may also measure magnetic fields generated by one or more of coils  36  (e.g., when those coils  36  are used as electromagnets). If desired, components  72  may include antennas that emit electromagnetic signals that are processed to make time-of-flight position and/or orientation measurements. Components  72  may also be light-emitting diodes or other light sources that emit light, speakers or other audio output devices that emit sound (e.g., ultrasonic tones or other ultrasonic signals, etc.), may be haptic devices that emit vibrations, and/or may be other devices that emit signals for measurement by input-output devices  22  of devices  10 . If desired, device  12  may include a pattern of metal strips or other passive devices that are detectable (via fringing electric fields) using the array of capacitive touch sensor electrodes  54  in each device  10 . 
     As another example, device  12  may include sensing components  74  for making measurements on signals emitted by device  10  for use in determining position and/or orientation information. Device  10  may, for example, have antennas that emit electromagnetic signals that antennas in components  74  sense to make time-of-flight measurements. Device  10  may also emit ultrasonic tones (e.g., a pair of unique tones using respective speakers at opposing ends of device  10  such as at port  56  and port  64 ) that are detected using microphones in components  74 . Components  74  may, in general, include light sensors for measuring light from devices  10 , antennas, magnetic sensors, force sensors, microphones, touch sensors, proximity sensors, and/or other sensors. 
     If desired, coils  36  and/or coil  14  may be used in gathering information on position and/or orientation. As an example, coils  36  may be used as magnetic sensors. Device  10  may emit magnetic fields that are detected using coils  36 . The magnetic fields may be emitted by coil  14 , by electromagnets such as speaker coils in speakers  32 , and/or by other magnetic field emitting devices. In some configurations, signals emitted by coils  36  may be detected by coil  14 . For example, device  12  may systematically emit signals through each of coils  36  in a known search pattern. Device  10  can determine the location of coil  14  on the coil array of coils  36  (i.e., the position of device  10  in lateral coordinates X-Y on charging surface  70 ) by monitoring when coil  14  detects the systematically emitted signals (sometimes referred to as “pings”). Coil  14 , speakers  32 , and/or other electromagnetic signal source in device  10  can also emit magnetic signals that are detected using coil array  36  to determine the position and/or orientation of device  10 . Orientation may, if desired, be tracked in real time using a gyroscope in device  10 . 
     Position information in system  8  may be gathered and processed to produce portable device position data using any suitable coordinate system. For example, the position of each device  10  may be gathered using a Cartesian X-Y coordinate system that is referenced to the location of charging surface  70 . Device orientation information may be gathered by measuring the amount of angular rotation A of device  10  with respect to a fixed axis (e.g., angle A of  FIG. 3  represents the amount of clockwise angular rotation of longitudinal axis  78  of device  10  with respect to fixed vertical axis Y, which is aligned with the vertical left and right edges of wireless charging surface  70  in the  FIG. 3  example). By gathering information on the X-Y position and angular orientation (angle A) of each device  10  on charging surface  70  of device  12  (e.g., in translational XY coordinates and in angular coordinate A), the equipment of system  8  may identify the relative position and/or orientation of devices  10  with respect to device  12  (charging surface  70 ) and with respect to each other. This information may then be used in coordinating the operation of devices  12  and  10 . For example, media playback operations can be coordinated so that different portions of a video or other visual content can be presented simultaneously on each of multiple devices, accounting for the different respective positions and angular orientations of devices  10  relative to each other and/or device  12  so that the content is not distorted (e.g., so that the one portion of displayed content is not angled at a non-zero angle with respect to another portion of the displayed content). 
       FIG. 4  is a flow chart of illustrative operations that may be used in system  8  to determine device locations and take suitable action. 
     At step  80 , lateral device positions (e.g., the locations on surface  70  in XY coordinates) may be determined. For example, control circuitry  42  and  20  may use the signal emitting components and signal sensing components of system  8  (e.g., components  44 , input-output devices  22 , coils  36 , coil(s)  14 , etc.) to determine the lateral position of each device  10 . With one illustrative arrangement, control circuitry  42  uses each of coils  36  to emit a known signal (a “ping”) while coil  14  is used by control circuitry  20  to monitor for incoming signals. Based on knowledge of the location of the coil  36  that emits the ping signal when coil  14  detects an incoming signal, the location of device  10  (i.e., the location at which coil  14  overlaps the pinging coil  36 ) can be determined. Information on device location can be stored in devices  10  and/or device  12  or other suitable equipment. 
     After determining the XY position of each device  10  by determining which of coils  36  is overlapped by the coil  14  of that device  10 , control circuitry  42  and/or  20  may use components  44  and other components (e.g., input-output devices  22 ) in system  10  to determine the angular orientation of devices  10  at step  82 . Examples of techniques that may be used in determining angular device orientation include emitting magnetic fields with coils  36 , permanent magnets, and/or electromagnets at known locations in device  12  (e.g., permanent magnets that establish a magnetic field aligned with the Y axis or other axis that can serve as a reference direction, electromagnets or coils that are actuated in sequence to support triangulation operations, etc.) and detecting these fields using a compass in each device  10 , using antennas in device  12  to emit signals that are detected and processed to determine orientation (e.g., using time-of-flight techniques), emitting acoustic signals such as ultrasonic signals with device  12  that are detected using microphones in devices  10  (e.g., to support acoustic triangulation), emitting vibrations in device  12  that are detected using force sensors or other sensors in devices  10 , detecting the locations of metal strips  76  with capacitive touch sensor electrodes on displays  50  in devices  10 , emitting light from known positions in device  12  that is detected using light sensors in devices  10 , and/or other techniques for emitting signals with device  12  and determining the orientation of devices  10  by measuring these signals with devices  10 . Additional examples of techniques that may be used in determining angular device orientation involve emitting signals with devices  10  that are detected using sensors in device  12 . For example, devices  10  may emit magnetic fields using speaker coils and/or coils  14  or other magnetic-field-generating components and these signals can be detected using magnetic sensors in device  12  or coils  36  in device  12 , devices  10  can emit light from known locations that is measured using light detectors in device  12 , device  12  may use touch sensor electrodes or other sensor array structures to detect the locations of housing  66  on surface  70 , devices  10  may emit ultrasonic tones or other sound and microphones in device  12  can measure these signals, and/or other signals can be generated by devices  10  and measured using sensors in device  12 . If desired, the operations of block  82  may produce sufficient information to identify both the angular orientation of each device  10  and the XY position of each device  10 . In this type of situation, the use of the electromagnetic ping signals produced during the operations of block  80  may be omitted (as an example). 
     During the operations of blocks  80  and  82 , position and orientation information may be gathered that specifies where devices  10  are located relative to each other and relative to charging surface  70 . If, for example, device  10  determines that a first of devices  10  is located at a first location relative to device  12  and determines that a second of devices  10  is located at a second location relative to device  12 , both the locations of each device  10  relative to device  12  and the locations of devices  10  relative to each other will have been obtained. Information on relative and/or absolute XY position and device angular orientation may be exchanged between devices wirelessly and may be maintained on one or more of devices  10  and/or on device  12 . This information may then be used in taking appropriate coordinated action with multiple devices  10  (block  84 ). 
     As an example, consider a media playback scenario. One of devices  10  may serve as a master device and one or more additional devices (e.g., a single additional device) may serve as a slave device. A user may supply manual input (e.g., a touch input, voice command, etc.) to select a desired master device and/or an automatic process running on a device in system  8  may select the master device automatically. A user may also supply input to direct a master device to display a video, a screen saver, a document, a menu screen or other operating system screen, an image, or other visual content on multiple devices  10 . When displaying visual content in this way, the position and orientation of each of devices  10  may be taken into account so that content is not distorted (e.g., so that content is not displayed at different angular orientations on different devices). For example, a first portion of a video may be displayed on a first device  10  and a second portion of a video may be displayed on a second device  10  that is adjacent to the first device. If the orientation of the second device is flipped by 180° (e.g., so that the adjacent devices are aligned tops to bottoms instead of tops to tops and bottoms to bottoms), the second portion of the video may likewise be flipped by 180°, so that a user can view the video correctly on the first and second devices. During the operations of block  84 , devices  10  and device  12  can communicate to share position and orientation information, to share information on which device is a master and which is a slave (e.g., to allow device  12  to name one of devices  10  such as the initial device  10  to communicate with device  12  as the master), to exchange device identifiers to support device-to-device wireless media streaming operations (e.g., wireless local area network device identifiers such as Bluetooth® identifiers, peer-to-peer WiFi® identifiers, other device identifiers, etc.), and to otherwise coordinate device operations. 
       FIGS. 5 and 6  are diagrams showing how the presentation of content across multiple devices  10  can be adjusted based on device position and orientation. In the example of  FIG. 5 , device  10 A and device  10 B are located adjacent to each other on wireless charging surface  70 . The top of device  10 A is aligned with the bottom of device  10 B and vice versa. Information on the positions of devices  10 A and  10 B may be used to confirm that devices  10 A and  10 B are adjacent and to confirm that device  10 A is right-side up and device  10 B is upside down. After establishing a master device among devices  10 A and  10 B (e.g., after establishing device  10 A as a master device and  10 B as a slave device), the master device ( 10 A) may display a first half of a video (or other content)  90  on display  50 A. The master device  10 A may also stream the entire video or the second half of the video  90  (or other content) to device  10 B so that device  10 B may display the second half of the video (or other content) on display  50 B. Devices  10 A and/or  10 B may know the position and orientation of devices  10 A and  10 B, so that the video (or other content) on device  10 B can be inverted during playback (so that the video or other content on device  10 B appears to be seamlessly extended from device  10 A). 
       FIG. 6  shows how content  90  may be displayed across two devices (devices  10 A and  10 B) that are not adjacent to each other and that do not have the same angular orientation. If desired, video may be streamed from device  10 A or otherwise provided to devices  10 A and  10 B in a configuration in which the four corners of the video content are aligned respectively with the four corners of surface  70  (as an example). In this type of scenario, the display of each portable device on surface  70  may serve as a window into the streamed content. A first subset of the video or other content may be displayed on display  50 A in an orientation and position that is aligned with surface  70  and a second subset of the video or other content may be displayed on display  50 B in an orientation and position that is aligned with surface  70 . A user may move devices  10 A and  10 B to different portions of charging surface  70  and/or may add additional devices in order to view additional portions of the content. 
     Illustrative operations that may be performed by devices  12  and  10  in gathering position and orientation information and in presenting content on devices  10  based on this information are shown in  FIG. 7 . 
     During the operations of block  100 , device  12  may communicate with each device  10  to gather device identifiers for devices  10 . The device identifiers may be, for example, Bluetooth® identifiers, WiFi® device identifiers, or other suitable device identifiers. 
     During the operations of block  102 , device  12  may assign a master role to one of devices  10  (e.g., the first device  10  to communicate with device  12 ) and may assign a slave role to another of devices  10  (or to multiple slave devices  10 ). If desired, a user may be presented with an on-screen menu option on one or more of devices  10  or may otherwise be provided with an opportunity to supply input to change the master and slave assignments of devices  10 . 
     During the operations of block  104 , the device identifiers may be distributed by device  12  to each of devices  10  and devices  10  may be instructed to pair with each other (e.g., using Bluetooth® or WiFi® pairing, etc.). Devices  10  may pair during the operations of block  106 . If position and orientation information has not previously been gathered, device  12  and devices  10  may identify the positions and orientations of devices  10 , as described in connection with the operations of  FIG. 4 . This information may then be distributed among devices  12  and  10 . 
     During the operations of block  108 , devices  10  may be operated in a coordinated fashion. For example, the master device may display a video or other media item on the display of that master device and may wirelessly stream or otherwise distribute another portion of the video or other media item to one or more slave devices on charging surface  70  (e.g., a paired slave device). The known position and orientation of each device (e.g., the position and orientation information gathered during the operations of  FIG. 4 ) may be used in determining which portions of the video or other item should be displayed on each device, as described in connection with the illustrative examples of  FIGS. 5 and 6 . If desired, touch screen functionality, device-to-device communications functions, and/or other device functions may likewise be coordinated among multiple devices based on the known position and orientation information of devices  10 . For example, a user may place multiple devices  10  on charging surface  70  and may supply touch gesture input across the touch sensors on the displays of each of these multiple devices. Files and other information may be exchanged between adjacent devices (e.g., by swiping a file icon in the direction of an adjacent receiving device). The use of position and orientation information to display screen savers, video, and other visual content (e.g., still images, text for documents, etc.) across the displays of multiple devices  10  in a coordinated fashion is merely illustrative. 
     The operations of devices  12  and  10  of system  8  (e.g., the operations of  FIG. 4  and  FIG. 7 ) may be performed by control circuitry  42  and/or  20 . During operation, this control circuitry (which may sometimes be referred to as processing circuitry, processing and storage, computing equipment, a computer, etc.) may be configured to perform the methods of  FIGS. 4 and 7  (e.g., using dedicated hardware and/or using software code running on hardware in system  10  such as control circuitry  42  and/or  20 ). The software code for performing these methods, which may sometimes be referred to as program instructions, code, data, instructions, or software, may be stored on non-transitory (tangible) computer readable storage media in control circuitry  42  and/or  20  such as read-only memory, random-access memory, hard drive storage, flash drive storage, removable storage medium, or other computer-readable media and may be executed on processing circuitry such as microprocessors and/or application-specific integrated circuits with processing circuits in control circuitry  42  and/or  20 . 
     The foregoing is merely illustrative and various modifications can be made to the described embodiments. The foregoing embodiments may be implemented individually or in any combination.

Metadata:
Filing Date: 20170607
Publication Date: 20191029
Grant Date: 20191029
Priority Date: 20160819
Inventors: PATEL, PARIN
Assignee: APPLE INC
CPC Classifications: [{"code": "H02J50/90", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H02J50/10", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04W4/80", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04W4/026", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G06F3/1423", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H02J50/90", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H02J50/40", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H02J50/90", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04W4/026", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04W4/80", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04W4/026", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G06F3/1423", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H02J50/90", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04W4/80", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H02J50/40", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04W4/026", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H02J50/10", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G06F3/1423", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H02J50/10", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H02J50/10", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}]
Family ID: 61191671