Patent Document

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application claims priority of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/942,868, filed on Feb. 21, 2014, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference. 
     
    
     FIELD 
       [0002]    One embodiment is directed generally to haptic effects, and in particular to power management of devices that generate haptic effects. 
       BACKGROUND INFORMATION 
       [0003]    Portable/mobile electronic devices, such as mobile phones, smartphones, camera phones, cameras, personal digital assistants (“PDA”s), wearable devices, etc., typically include output mechanisms to alert the user of certain events that occur with respect to the devices. For example, a cell phone normally includes a speaker for audibly notifying the user of an incoming telephone call event. The audible signal may include specific ringtones, musical ditties, sound effects, etc. In addition, cell phones may include display screens that can be used to visually notify the users of incoming phone calls. 
         [0004]    In some mobile devices, kinesthetic feedback (such as active and resistive force feedback) and/or tactile feedback (such as vibration, texture, and heat) is also provided to the user, more generally known collectively as “haptic feedback” or “haptic effects”. Haptic feedback can provide cues that enhance and simplify the user interface. Specifically, vibration effects, or vibrotactile haptic effects, may be useful in providing cues to users of electronic devices to alert the user to specific events, or provide realistic feedback to create greater sensory immersion within a simulated or virtual environment. 
         [0005]    For a wearable device, tactile feedback is an ideal means for alerting and notifying users in a completely discreet and non-visual manner. Information about unread messages, appointments and location based notifications can be communicated via wearable technology because the tactile effects both inform users without requiring full attention, and do so without socially disruptive audio alerts or visual distraction. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0006]    One embodiment is a haptically-enabled system. The system retrieves a haptic effect definition in response to a request for a haptic effect and receives a power consumption management mode. The system modifies the haptic effect definition based at least in part on the power consumption management mode and converts the modified haptic effect definition into a haptic effect signal. The system then applies the haptic effect signal to a haptic output device, such as an actuator. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0007]      FIG. 1  is a block diagram of a haptically-enabled device/system in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0008]      FIG. 2  is a flow diagram of the functionality of the haptic effects with power management module of  FIG. 1  when providing haptic effects with power management in accordance with one embodiment. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0009]    One embodiment is a power management system for a haptically-enabled device. The system monitors energy consumption of the device and implements energy savings functionality when generating haptic effects. Therefore, the device can maintain a longer life between charges. 
         [0010]    As discussed above, many different haptically-enabled devices exist that include a haptic system that generates haptic effects. For many of these devices, especially non-mobile devices, the power consumption needed to generate haptic effects is largely irrelevant. However, power consumption, and battery life, are always a key concern in mobile devices. Longer life between charges is seen as very valuable by consumers. Even with mobile devices such as smartphones, where minimizing the power consumption associated with mobile device applications is a constant concern, the power consumption from haptic effects in relatively small. Studies have shown that under worst-case usage scenarios for a 24-hour period, typical haptic effects consume from 0.95 to 4.11 percent of the device battery capacity, depending on the use case. 
         [0011]    However, wearable devices generally have an increased need to reduce power consumption. Most wearable devices are expected to last many days or weeks between charges, as opposed to some smartphones that are expected to be charged nightly. As a consequence, wearable devices have a tight energy budget for generating haptic effects in view of a typically (e.g., ˜250 mAh) battery that is expected to work for up to 7 days between charges. Relative to smartphones, the haptic effects on a wearable device can potentially consume a large chunk of the power budget. 
         [0012]      FIG. 1  is a block diagram of a haptically-enabled device/system  10  in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. System  10  may be any type of mobile or non-mobile device that generates haptic effects. In the example of  FIG. 1 , system  10  is a wearable device in the form of a bracelet that can be used to monitor the user&#39;s heart rate, blood pressure, etc., track steps, distance, stairs climbed, calories burned and active minutes, or monitor the user&#39;s sleep. System  10  may include a display  13  and a touch surface  11  that recognizes touches, and may also recognize the position and magnitude of touches on the surface. 
         [0013]    System  10  includes a haptic feedback system that includes a processor or controller  12 . Coupled to processor  12  is a memory  20  and an actuator drive circuit  16 , which is coupled to an actuator  18 . Processor  12  may be any type of general purpose processor, or could be a processor specifically designed to provide haptic effects, such as an application-specific integrated circuit (“ASIC”). Processor  12  may be the same processor that operates the entire system  10 , or may be a separate processor. Processor  12  can decide what haptic effects are to be played and the order in which the effects are played based on high level parameters. In general, the high level parameters that define a particular haptic effect include magnitude, frequency and duration. Low level parameters such as streaming motor commands could also be used to determine a particular haptic effect. A haptic effect may be considered “dynamic” if it includes some variation of these parameters when the haptic effect is generated or a variation of these parameters based on a user&#39;s interaction. The haptic feedback system in one embodiment generates vibrations  30 ,  31  on system  10 . 
         [0014]    Processor  12  outputs the control signals to actuator drive circuit  16 , which includes electronic components and circuitry used to supply actuator  18  with the required electrical current and voltage (i.e., “motor signals”) to cause the desired haptic effects. System  10  may include more than one actuator  18 , and each actuator may include a separate drive circuit  16 , all coupled to a common processor  12 . Memory device  20  can be any type of storage device or computer-readable medium, such as random access memory (“RAM”) or read-only memory (“ROM”). Memory  20  stores instructions executed by processor  12 . Among the instructions, memory  20  includes a haptic effects with power management module  22  which are instructions that, when executed by processor  12 , generate drive signals for actuator  18  that provide haptic effects with power management, as disclosed in more detail below. Memory  20  may also be located internal to processor  12 , or any combination of internal and external memory. System  10  may further include a sensor (e.g., an accelerometer, heart rate sensor, etc.) coupled to processor  12  that generates input data. 
         [0015]    Although shown as a bracelet in  FIG. 1 , system  10  may be any other type of wearable device (e.g., armband, glove, jacket, vest, pair of glasses, shoes, belt, etc.). System  10  may also be a handheld device, such as a cellular telephone, personal digital assistant (“PDA”), smartphone, computer tablet/pad, gaming console, etc., or may be any other type of device that includes a haptic effect system that includes one or more actuators or other type of haptic effect output devices. In various embodiments, not all elements shown in  FIG. 1  are required for implementation. 
         [0016]    Actuator  18  may be, for example, an electric motor, an electro-magnetic actuator, a voice coil, a shape memory alloy, an electro-active polymer, a solenoid, an eccentric rotating mass motor (“ERM”), a linear resonant actuator (“LRA”), a piezoelectric actuator, a high bandwidth actuator, an electroactive polymer (“EAP”) actuator, an electrostatic friction display, or an ultrasonic vibration generator. In alternate embodiments, system  10  can include one or more additional actuators, in addition to actuator  18  (not illustrated in  FIG. 1 ). Actuator  18  is an example of a haptic effect output device configured to output haptic effects, such as vibrotactile haptic effects, electrostatic friction haptic effects, or deformation haptic effects, in response to a drive signal. 
         [0017]    In one embodiment, system  10  includes hardware/software that physically measures, and/or is configured with the necessary parameters, to determine the energy being used (i.e., “energy monitoring”) whenever the haptic system is energized and generating haptic effects. Known manners of monitoring energy usage can be used. In these embodiments, where energy monitoring is implemented, module  22  specifies an “energy budget.” The energy budget can be specified in the form of the following example power consumption management modes:
       (1) A required energy usage rate. For example, average Watts, mAh/day, etc.   (2) A required energy cap. For example, specifying that the haptic system is allocated 10 mAh to use specifically for haptics, from a certain time period onward, with no specific time limit, until another new allocation is received at some arbitrary later time.   (3) A time-based energy use profile. For example, a profile that specifies using 10 mAh from 6 am to 10 pm, and using 0 mAh (i.e., no power) from 10 pm to 6 am.   (4) A sensor-based energy use profile. For example, if an accelerometer is used to measure a wearable device&#39;s level of movement, to determine whether the wearer is sleeping, sedentary, active, or very active, the required energy budget could be specified as “unlimited energy when very active, 10 mAh/day when active, 5 mAh/day when sedentary, 1 mAh/day when sleeping”. Alternately, a wearable device with a light sensor could determine light/dark states and set different profiles for those states. Further, a wearable device with a heart rate sensor could set an energy use profile that depends on heart rate.       
 
         [0022]    In embodiments without the ability to monitor energy usage or in addition to the previously described embodiments, embodiments can provide haptic effect power management as the following example power consumption management modes:
       (1) Power level setting. For example, a power level setting of full/medium/low/off would affect the power used to generate tactile sensations. A “full” setting would use more power for a given haptic effect than medium, “medium” would use more power than “low”, and “off” would disable all haptic effects. A generated haptic effect would likely result in a slightly different sensation, based on the power level setting. The power level can be changed in one embodiment by modifying the magnitude parameter of the haptic effect.   (2) Usage limit setting. For example, module  22  can specify that “the total number of effects played during one 24 hour period is not to exceed 100”, or “the haptic system must not be energized more than 1 minute per day in total”, or “use full power for the first 120 seconds of haptic system use, followed by medium power for the next 120 seconds of haptic system use, followed by low power thereafter”.   (3) Battery level-mapped power level. In embodiments that have an accurate battery state of charge (“SoC”) measurement, the SoC can be periodically provided to the haptic system, and the haptic system energy budget can be mapped to power level. For example, “use full power when SoC is greater than 50%, use medium power when SoC is between 50% and 10%, and use low power when SoC is below 10%.”   (4) Processor activity-mapped limit. For example, the haptic energy budget can be adjusted based on the level of processor usage, where processor usage maps to power consumption. For example, “use 10 mAh/day when the processor is greater than 50% busy over a 10-minute period, use 2 mAh/day when the processor is less than 50% busy over a 10-minute period.”       
 
         [0027]    In one embodiment, module  22  can manage haptic effect energy usage based on historical usage data. For example, a target power budget of 10 mAh/day can be specified. A feature that allows usage data to override a daily budget can be enabled, that monitors usage over time, and determines that Monday and Wednesdays are heavy usage days at 15 mAh/day, but Tuesday, Thursday and Friday are light, at 5 mAh/day. This implementation allows the overage on Mon and Wed because the average energy usage over the week is 9 mAh/day. 
         [0028]      FIG. 2  is a flow diagram of the functionality of haptic effects with power management module  22  of  FIG. 1  when providing haptic effects with power management in accordance with one embodiment. In one embodiment, the functionality of the flow diagram of  FIG. 2  is implemented by software stored in memory or other computer readable or tangible medium, and executed by a processor. In other embodiments, the functionality may be performed by hardware (e.g., through the use of an application specific integrated circuit (“ASIC”), a programmable gate array (“PGA”), a field programmable gate array (“FPGA”), etc.), or any combination of hardware and software. 
         [0029]    At  202 , a haptic effect to be played is requested. The haptic effect can be requested in response to an event, such as a calendar event, an incoming telephone call, a heart rate exceeding a predetermined limit, etc. The event can be generated externally to system  10 , such as in response to a sensor input, or be generated internally. 
         [0030]    At  204 , the nominal haptic effect definition/behavior is retrieved. The nominal haptic effect definition is a defined haptic effect that typically would be provided in response to the request at  202  (i.e., before it is modified for power management purposes). The haptic effect definition can be defined by high level parameters such as magnitude, frequency and duration, or low level parameters. The nominal haptic effect definition can be pre-stored and retrieved, or generated on the fly. 
         [0031]    Module  22  receives the power consumption management mode from  220 . The power consumption management mode dictates the parameters of power management for haptic effects. Examples of power consumption management modes are disclosed above. Consistent with the received power consumption management mode, at  206  the nominal haptic effect definition received at  204  is modified. The modification can include a change in any of the levels of any of the parameters. 
         [0032]    In one embodiment, a change in a parameter level could be an effective change in demanded strength or magnitude, where the strength output of the haptic effect is increased or decreased based on the power management mode. In another embodiment, the modification can be an effective change in demanded effect duration, where time durations of haptic effects are shortened to decrease the perceived strength. The reason for a duration decrease may be one of fidelity, where someone at rest may be able to detect finer-grained and shorter effects compared to someone performing rigorous exercise, for example. Another embodiment could change the effective character of the haptic sensation via the modification of a parameter such as playback rate or modulation rate, where a haptic effect drive signal is modulated at a high frequency, or in some other more complex fashion. The net result is a change in the character of the resultant haptic sensation, with a goal of optimizing power usage based on whatever decision mechanism for power management is applicable (e.g., level of physical activity, state of battery charge, etc.). In another embodiment, a selection among a finite set of effect definitions (i.e., those effect definitions being themselves collections of parameters or other types of output data sequences) is performed, where the finite set of effect definitions could be defined such that they represent low, medium, and high power versions of the haptic effect, for example. 
         [0033]    At  208 , the revised haptic effect definition is converted to a haptic effect signal and applied to actuator  18  or any other haptic effect output device and in response the haptic effect is generated on system  10 . 
         [0034]    As disclosed, power consumption management modes are applied to haptic effect definitions in order to modify the definitions and manage the power consumption of generated haptic effects. As a result, the haptic effects can be provided at a reduced power consumption and prolong the time between charges for many types of haptically-enable devices. 
         [0035]    Several embodiments are specifically illustrated and/or described herein. However, it will be appreciated that modifications and variations of the disclosed embodiments are covered by the above teachings and within the purview of the appended claims without departing from the spirit and intended scope of the invention.

Technology Category: 3