Surface detection for mobile devices

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10609205-B2
Application number	US-201816235733-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 28, 2018
Priority date	Dec 28, 2018
Publication date	Mar 31, 2020
Grant date	Mar 31, 2020

Abstract

Technology for a mobile device is described. The mobile device can include a vibration motor operable to generate a vibration, and a sensor operable to capture a plurality of vibration signals that result from the vibration. The mobile device can provide the plurality of vibration signals to a model running on the mobile device. The model can include a plurality of predefined patterns that correspond to vibration signals produced by mobile devices residing on different surfaces. The mobile device can identify, using the model, a predefined pattern in the plurality of predefined patterns that substantially corresponds to the plurality of vibration signals based on a confidence level that exceeds a threshold. The mobile device can determine a type of surface on which the mobile device resides based on the predefined pattern identified using the model.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A controller in a mobile device, the controller comprising logic to:
receive a plurality of vibration signals that correspond to a vibration;
provide the plurality of vibration signals to a model, wherein the model includes a plurality of predefined patterns that correspond to vibration signals produced by mobile devices residing on different surfaces;
identify, using the model, a predefined pattern in the plurality of predefined patterns that substantially corresponds to the plurality of vibration signals based on a confidence level that exceeds a threshold; and
determine a type of surface on which the mobile device resides based on the predefined pattern identified using the model;
provide a plurality of training vibration signals to the model when a training vibration is generated for an additional type of surface;
apply, using the model, linear predictive coding (LPC) to the plurality of training vibration signals;
generate, using the model, an additional pattern that corresponds to the additional type of surface using the plurality of training vibration signals; and
train or test the model using the additional pattern that corresponds to the additional type of surface.

2. The controller of claim 1 , further comprising logic to:
modify a functionality of the mobile device based on the type of surface on which the mobile device resides; or
modify a user preference or setting based on the type of surface on which the mobile device resides.

3. The controller of claim 2 , further comprising logic to modify the functionality of the mobile device based on the type of surface to include one or more of: turning on or off a wireless module in the mobile device based on the type of surface, locking or unlocking the mobile device based on the type of surface, increasing or decreasing a volume of the mobile device based on the type of surface, turning on or off audio notifications for the mobile device based on the type of surface, or turning on or off vibratory notifications for the mobile device based on the type of surface.

4. The controller of claim 1 , further comprising logic to:
receive orientation information for the mobile device;
provide the orientation information to the model; and
identify, using the orientation information provided to the model, the predefined pattern in the plurality of predefined patterns that substantially corresponds to the plurality of vibration signals, wherein the predefined pattern further corresponds to a predefined type of orientation.

5. The controller of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of predefined patterns correspond to different surfaces on which the mobile device is potentially residing and account for whether the mobile device includes a case, the different surfaces including one or more of: a clothing surface, a container surface, a soft surface, a rigid surface, a hand surface, a leather surface, a wood surface or a paper surface.

6. The controller of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of vibration signals corresponds to an orientation and a position of the mobile device.

7. The controller of claim 1 , further comprising logic to determine the type of surface on which the mobile device resides when the mobile device is not being used by a user.

8. The controller of claim 1 , further comprising logic to determine the type of surface on which the mobile device resides when the mobile device is in an idle mode.

9. The controller of claim 1 , further comprising logic to receive the plurality of vibration signals in response to a trigger event that triggers the vibration, wherein the trigger event includes an incoming voice call at the mobile device or an incoming electronic message at the mobile device.

10. The controller of claim 1 , further comprising logic to execute on application that is configured to determine a composition of an object on which the mobile device resides based on the predefined pattern identified using the model.

11. The controller of claim 1 , wherein the model is a neural network or a machine learning model.

12. A mobile device, comprising:
a vibration motor operable to generate a vibration;
a sensor operable to capture a plurality of vibration signals that result from the vibration; and
one or more processors configured to:
provide the plurality of vibration signals to a model running on the mobile device, wherein the model includes a plurality of predefined patterns that correspond to vibration signals produced by mobile devices residing on different surfaces;
identify, using the model, a predefined pattern in the plurality of predefined patterns that substantially corresponds to the plurality of vibration signals based on a confidence level that exceeds a threshold;
determine a type of surface on which the mobile device resides based on the predefined pattern identified using the model;
provide a plurality of training vibration signals to the model when a training vibration is generated for an additional type of surface;
apply, using the model, linear predictive coding (LPC) to the plurality of training vibration signals;
generate, using the model, an additional pattern that corresponds to the additional type of surface using the plurality of training vibration signals; and
train or test the model using the additional pattern that corresponds to the additional type of surface.

13. The mobile device of claim 12 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:
modify a functionality of the mobile device based on the type of surface on which the mobile device resides; or
modify a user preference or setting based on the type of surface on which the mobile device resides.

14. The mobile device of claim 13 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to modify the functionality of the mobile device based on the type of surface to include one or more of: turning on or off a wireless module in the mobile device based on the type of surface, locking or unlocking the mobile device based on the type of surface, increasing or decreasing a volume of the mobile device based on the type of surface, turning on or off audio notifications for the mobile device based on the type of surface, or turning on or off vibratory notifications for the mobile device based on the type of surface.

15. The mobile device of claim 12 , wherein the vibration motor is configured to generate the vibration in response to a trigger event, wherein the trigger event includes an incoming voice call or an incoming electronic message.

16. The mobile device of claim 12 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to execute on application that is configured to determine a composition of an object on which the mobile device resides based on the predefined pattern identified using the model.

17. The mobile device of claim 12 , wherein the plurality of vibration signals corresponds to an orientation and a position of the mobile device.

18. The mobile device of claim 12 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to receive the model that includes the plurality of predefined patterns from a server.

19. The mobile device of claim 12 , further comprising:
a gyroscope operable to capture orientation information for the mobile device,
wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:
receive the orientation information for the mobile device;
provide the orientation information to the model running on the mobile device; and
identify, using the orientation information provided to the model, the prede

Assignees

• Intel Corp

Inventors

• Camacho Perez Jose
• Bernal Marin Miguel
• Carrillo Arevalo Mario Alfredo
• Cordourier Maruri Hector
• Cruz Vargas Jesus Adan
• Duenas De La Cruz Abraham
• Lopez Meyer Paulo
• Zamora Esquivel Julio

Classifications

• H04M19/047

  Vibrating means for incoming calls · CPC title

• G06N20/10

  using kernel methods, e.g. support vector machines [SVM] · CPC title

• G01B17/08 Primary

  for measuring roughness or irregularity of surfaces · CPC title

• G06N20/00

  Machine learning · CPC title

• G06N3/126

  Evolutionary algorithms, e.g. genetic algorithms or genetic programming · CPC title