Electronic Device with a Plurality of Sound Acquisition Units for Operating under Different Operating Modes

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2017177299-A1
Application number	US-201615373310-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Dec 8, 2016
Priority date	Dec 18, 2015
Publication date	Jun 22, 2017
Grant date	—

Abstract

An electronic device comprising a display unit operable under different operating modes based on a structure of the display unit, and first and second sound acquisition units that acquire sound in a first or second operating mode based on a first or second structure of the display unit. Also provided is a method for controlling an electronic device comprising steps of determining whether a display unit is in a first or second mode, where the display unit is in the first mode when all parts on the display unit are on a same plane, and in the second mode when at least two parts on the display unit are not on the same plane; controlling a first sound acquisition unit to work when the display unit is in the first mode; and controlling a second sound acquisition unit to work when the display unit is in the second mode.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . An electronic device, comprising:
a body; a display unit arranged with respect to the body, the display unit being operable under a plurality of operating modes based on a structure of the display unit; and a first sound acquisition unit arranged with respect to a first end of the body, a second sound acquisition unit arranged with respect to a second end of the body and a third sound acquisition unit arranged with respect to a third end of the body, the first, second and third ends of the body being different ends and the second and third ends of the body being opposite ends;
wherein:
at least the first sound acquisition unit and one of the second and third acquisition units (second/third acquisition units) acquire sound in a first operating mode of the display unit based on a first structure of the display unit; and
at least one of the second and third acquisition units acquire sound in a second operating mode of the display unit based on a second structure of the display unit.

2 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the first structure of the display unit is a planar structure and the second structure of the display unit is a non-planar structure.

3 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein in the first operating mode of the display unit, at least one of the first and second/third acquisition units functions as a voice acquisition unit and the other of the first and second/third acquisition units functions as a noise acquisition unit for noise suppression.

4 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein in the second operating mode of the display unit, at least one of the second and third acquisition units functions as a voice acquisition unit and the other of the second and third acquisition units functions as a noise acquisition unit for noise suppression.

5 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein when a sound pickup direction of the first sound acquisition unit and a sound pickup direction of the second sound acquisition unit satisfy a first relative position relationship, a sound signal acquired by the first sound acquisition unit and a sound signal acquired by the second sound acquisition unit cause no interference to each other.

6 . The electronic device of claim 1 , further comprising:
a control unit, arranged on the body, and configured to determine whether the display unit is in the first operating mode or the second operating mode; wherein when the display unit is in the first operating mode, the control unit controls the first sound acquisition unit to work, and when the display unit is in the second operating mode, the control unit controls the second sound acquisition unit to work.

7 . The electronic device of claim 6 , wherein the control unit is further configured to, when the display unit is in the second operating mode, control the third sound acquisition unit to work, and control the first sound acquisition unit to be disabled, such that the second sound acquisition unit coordinates with the third sound acquisition unit to perform noise reduction for sound signals.

8 . The electronic device of claim 7 , wherein the control unit is further configured to, when the display unit is in the second operating mode, control the second sound acquisition unit to work as the primary acquisition unit, and control the third sound acquisition unit to work as the secondary acquisition unit.

9 . The electronic device of claim 1 , further comprising:
a detection unit configured to detect whether the first sound acquisition unit and the second sound acquisition unit satisfy a predetermined relative position; and a control unit configured to determine that the display unit is in the first operating mode when it is detected that the first sound acquisition unit and the second sound acquisition unit satisfy the predetermined relative position, and determine that the display unit is in the second operating mode when it is detected that the first sound acquisition unit and the second sound acquisition unit do not satisfy the predetermined relative position.

10 . The electronic device of claim 9 , wherein the detection unit comprises a first gyroscope arranged in a vicinity of the first sound acquisition unit, and a second gyroscope arranged in a vicinity of the second sound acquisition unit.

11 . The electronic device of claim 1 , further comprising:
a first electron induction unit arranged at the first end of the body; and a second electron induction unit arranged at a fourth end opposite to the first end of the body; wherein the control unit is configured to determine that the display unit is in the first operating mode when the first electron induction unit is not coupled to the second electron induction unit, and determine that the display unit is in the second operating mode when the first electron induction unit is coupled to the second electron induction unit.

12 . The electronic device of claim 1 , where the display unit is a flexible display unit.

13 . A method for controlling an electronic device, comprising steps of:
determining whether a display unit on a body of the electronic device is in a first mode or in a second mode, wherein when the display unit is in the first mode, all parts on the display unit are on a same plane, and when the display unit is in the second mode, at least two parts on the display unit are not on the same plane; controlling a first sound acquisition unit to work when the display unit is in the first mode; and controlling a second sound acquisition unit to work when the display unit is in the second mode.

14 . The method of claim 13 , wherein determining whether the display unit is in the first mode or in the second mode comprises:
detecting whether the first sound acquisition unit and the second sound acquisition unit satisfy a predetermined relative position; determining that the display unit is in the first mode when it is detected that the first sound acquisition unit and the second sound acquisition unit satisfy the predetermined relative position; and determining that the display unit is in the second mode when it is detected that the first sound acquisition unit and the second sound acquisition unit do not satisfy the predetermined relative position.

15 . The method of claim 14 , wherein detecting whether the first sound acquisition unit and the second sound acquisition unit satisfy a predetermined relative position comprises:
recording a first current coordinate value of a first gyroscope arranged in a vicinity of the first sound acquisition unit; recording a second current coordinate value of a second gyroscope arranged in a vicinity of the first sound acquisition unit; and comparing the first current coordinate value with a previously recorded first coordinate value of the first gyroscope and comparing the second current coordinate value with a previously recorded second coordinate value of the second gyroscope to form a difference between coordinate values.

16 . The method of claim 13 , wherein determining whether the display unit is in the first mode or in the second mode comprises:
detecting whether a first electron induction unit arranged at the first end is coupled to a second electron induction unit arranged at a fourth end of the body, wherein the first end is opposite to the fourth end; and determining that the display unit is in the first mode when the first electron induction unit is not coupled to the second electron induction unit, and determining that the display unit is in the second mode when the first electron induction unit is coupled to th

Assignees

• Lenovo Beijing Ltd

Inventors

• Li Bin
• Shen Wenjing

Classifications

• H04R1/406

  microphones · CPC title

• G06F3/0346

  with detection of the device orientation or free movement in a three-dimensional [3D] space, e.g. 3D mice, 6-DOF [six degrees of freedom] pointers using gyroscopes, accelerometers or tilt-sensors · CPC title

• G10K11/1784

  Physics · mapped topic

• G06F3/167 Primary

  Audio in a user interface, e.g. using voice commands for navigating, audio feedback · CPC title

• G10K2210/3036

  Modes, e.g. vibrational or spatial modes · CPC title