Device for detecting a carrying case using orientation signatures

1. A device comprising:

at least one orientation sensor;

a memory storing one or more carrying-case insertion signatures; and,

a processor configured to:

receive output from the at least one orientation sensor as a function of time;

track an average of the time-dependent pattern and store at least a portion of the average in the memory as the one or more carrying-case insertion signatures when the time-dependent pattern matches the one or more carrying-case insertion signatures; and,

place the device in a carrying case mode when a time-dependent pattern in the output matches the one or more carrying-case insertion signatures.

2. The device of claim 1 , wherein the time-dependent pattern comprises an acceleration of the device as a function of time.

3. The device of claim 1 , wherein the memory further stores one or more carrying-case removal signatures and the processor is further configured to place the device in an out-of-carrying case mode when the time-dependent pattern in the output matches the one or more carrying-case removal signatures.

4. The device of claim 1 , wherein the at least one orientation sensor is configured to measure the orientation of the device in one or more directions, and the one or more carrying-case insertion signatures comprises a respective signature for each of the one or more directions.

5. The device of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to provision the one or more carrying-case insertion signatures at the memory by:

receiving input at an input device to begin monitoring the output from the at least one orientation sensor as a function of time; and,

storing the output from the at least one orientation sensor as a function of time at the memory as the one or more carrying-case insertion signatures.

6. The device of claim 1 , further comprising at least one sensor for determining one or more of a velocity and an acceleration of the device, and the processor is further configured to adjust a sampling rate of the at least one orientation sensor based on one or more of the velocity and the acceleration.

7. The device of claim 1 , further comprising one or more of a near field communication (NFC) reader and a short range RF (radio-frequency) reader and the processor is further configured to confirm carrying-case insertion when the time-dependent pattern in the output matches the one or more carrying-case insertion signatures and the one or more of the NFC reader and the short range RF reader detects one or more of an NFC tag and a short range RF tag.

8. The device of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to filter noise from the time-dependent pattern in the output.

9. The device of claim 1 , wherein the carrying case mode comprises one or more of: a sleep mode, a peek mode, and a quiet mode.

10. The device of claim 1 , wherein the orientation sensor comprises one or more of a gyroscope, an accelerometer, and a magnetometer.

11. A method comprising:

at a device comprising: at least one orientation sensor; a memory storing one or more carrying-case insertion signatures; and, a processor,

receiving output at the processor from the at least one orientation sensor as a function of time;

tracking an average of the time-dependent pattern; and storing at least a portion of the average in the memory as the one or more carrying-case insertion signatures when the time-dependent pattern matches the one or more carrying-case insertion signatures; and,

the processor placing the device in a carrying case mode a time-dependent pattern in the output matches the one or more carrying-case insertion signatures.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the time-dependent pattern comprises an acceleration of the device as a function of time.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein the memory further stores one or more carrying-case removal signatures and the method further comprises placing the device in an out-of-carrying case mode when the time-dependent pattern in the output matches the one or more carrying-case removal signatures.

14. The method of claim 11 , wherein the at least one orientation sensor is configured to measure the orientation of the device in one or more directions, and the one or more carrying-case insertion signatures comprises a respective signature for each of the one or more directions.

15. The method of claim 11 , further comprising provisioning the one or more carrying-case insertion signatures at the memory by:

receiving input at an input device to begin monitoring the output from the at least one orientation sensor as a function of time; and,

storing the output from the at least one orientation sensor as a function of time at the memory as the one or more carrying-case insertion signatures.

16. The method of claim 11 , wherein the device further comprises at least one sensor for determining one or more of a velocity and an acceleration of the device, and the method further comprises adjusting a sampling rate of the at least one orientation sensor based on one or more of the velocity and the acceleration.

17. The method of claim 11 , wherein the device further comprises one or more of a near field communication (NFC) reader and a short range RF (radio-frequency) reader and the method further comprises confirming carrying-case insertion when the time-dependent pattern in the output matches the one or more carrying-case insertion signatures and the one or more of the NFC reader and the short range RF reader detects one or more of an NFC tag and a short range RF tag.

18. The method of claim 11 , further comprising filtering noise from the time-dependent pattern in the output.

19. The method of claim 11 , wherein the carrying case mode comprises one or more of a sleep mode, a peek mode, and a quiet mode.

20. A computer program product, comprising a non-transitory computer usable medium having a computer readable program code adapted to be executed to implement a method comprising:

at a device comprising: at least one orientation sensor; a memory storing one or more carrying-case insertion signatures; and, a processor,

receiving output at the processor from the at least one orientation sensor as a function of time;

tracking an average of the time-dependent pattern; and storing at least a portion of the average in the memory as the one or more carrying-case insertion signatures when the time-dependent pattern matches the one or more carrying-case insertion signatures; and,

placing the device in a carrying case mode when the processor determines that a time-dependent pattern in the output matches the one or more carrying-case insertion signatures.