IP Library › Granted Patent US 11,573,609
Granted Patent B2
US 11,573,609 · App. 17/332,434 · Granted Feb 7, 2023

Ambient illuminance and light geometry detection

Inventors: Nobuyuki Suzuki (Kirkland, WA); Mony Rith Chhen (Kent, WA); Wenfeng Liu (Woodinville, WA); Samu Matias Kallio (Redmond, WA); Kari Jussi Ropo (Redmond, WA); Mika Ylitalo (Seattle, WA)
Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC
G06F1/1677G01J1/4204G01J1/4228G09F9/301
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 11,573,609
App. No.
17/332,434
Granted
Feb 7, 2023
Kind
B2
Abstract

The ambient illuminance and light geometry detection system includes a computing process including receiving a hinge angle between two displays of a foldable computing device, illuminance values from illuminance sensors of the displays, and screen activity of each of the displays of the foldable computing device, determining foldable computing device posture information based at least in part on the hinge angle and the screen activity of each of the displays, determining a user facing display of the foldable computing device based at least in part on the device posture information and the screen activity of the displays, assigning differential weights to an illuminance value received from an illuminance sensor of the user facing display compared to an illuminance value received from an illuminance sensor of the non-user facing display and generating an aggregate weighted average illuminance by applying the differential weights to the illuminance values of each of the displays.

Claims (43)

1. A physical article of manufacture including one or more memory devices, encoding computer-executable instructions for executing on a computer system a computer process, the computer process comprising:

determining foldable computing device posture information based at least in part on a hinge angle between two displays of a foldable computing device and screen activity of each of the displays;

determining a user facing display of the foldable computing device based at least in part on the device posture information and the screen activity of the displays;

assigning differential weights to an illuminance value received from an illuminance sensor of the user facing display compared to an illuminance value received from an illuminance sensor of the non-user facing display;

generating an aggregate weighted average illuminance by applying the differential weights to the illuminance values of each of the displays; and

determining common voltage levels (VCO) for the pixels of at least one of the displays based at least in part on the aggregate weighted average illuminance.

2. The physical article of manufacture of claim 1 , wherein the computer process further comprises receiving the hinge angle between two displays of a foldable computing device and the screen activity of each of the displays of the foldable computing device.

3. The physical article of manufacture of claim 1 , wherein the computer process further comprises:

generating a ratio of the illuminance values received from illuminance sensors of the non-user facing display; and

determining an incident angle pair based at least in part on the ratio of the illuminance values and a sensor sensitivity model.

4. The physical article of manufacture of claim 3 wherein the sensor sensitivity model provides sensitivity of the illuminance values received from illuminance sensors to incident light angles for the sensors.

5. The physical article of manufacture of claim 3 , wherein the computer process further comprises scaling the illuminance values received from illuminance sensors using the incident light angles for the sensors.

6. The physical article of manufacture of claim 1 , wherein the screen activity of each of the displays identifies the type of activity for each of the displays of the foldable computing device.

7. The physical article of manufacture of claim 6 , wherein the screen activity of each of the displays identifies the level of activity for each of the displays of the foldable computing device for a predetermined time.

8. The physical article of manufacture of claim 6 , wherein assigning differential weights to illuminance values received from illuminance sensors further comprises assigning differential weights based at least in part on activity level of each of the displays.

9. A method, comprising:

receiving a hinge angle between two displays of a foldable computing device, illuminance values from illuminance sensors of the displays, and screen activity of each of the displays of the foldable computing device;

determining foldable computing device posture information based at least in part on a hinge angle between two displays of a foldable computing device and screen activity of each of the displays;

determining a user facing display of the foldable computing device based at least in part on the device posture information and the screen activity of the displays;

assigning differential weights to an illuminance value received from an illuminance sensor of the user facing display compared to an illuminance value received from an illuminance sensor of the non-user facing display;

generating an aggregate weighted average illuminance by applying the differential weights to the illuminance values of each of the displays; and

determining common voltage levels (VCO) for the pixels of at least one of the displays based at least in part on the aggregate weighted average illuminance.

10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising generating a luminance report for an operating system of the foldable computing device based at least in part on the aggregate weighted average illuminance.

11. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:

generating a ratio of the illuminance values received from illuminance sensors of the non-user facing display; and

determining an incident angle pair based at least in part on the ratio of the illuminance values and a sensor sensitivity model.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the sensor sensitivity model provides sensitivity of the illuminance values received from illuminance sensors to incident light angles for the sensors.

13. The method of claim 9 , wherein the screen activity of each of the displays identifies the type of activity for each of the displays of the foldable computing device.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the screen activity of each of the displays identifies the level of activity for each of the displays of the foldable computing device for a predetermined time.

15. A foldable computing device, comprising:

memory;

one or more processor units;

two displays movably attached to each other, each of the two displays including a light sensor to generate illuminance values;

an ambient illuminance report generator, stored in the memory and executable by the one or more processor units, the ambient illuminance report generator encoding computer-executable instructions on the memory for executing on the one or more processor units a computer process, the computer process comprising:

receiving a hinge angle between two displays of a foldable computing device and screen activity of each of the displays of the foldable computing device;

determining foldable computing device posture information based at least in part on a hinge angle between two displays of a foldable computing device and screen activity of each of the displays;

determining a user facing display of the foldable computing device based at least in part on the device posture information and the screen activity of the displays;

assigning differential weights to an illuminance value received from an illuminance sensor of the user facing display compared to an illuminance value received from an illuminance sensor of the non-user facing display;

generating an aggregate weighted average illuminance by applying the differential weights to the illuminance values of each of the displays; and

determining common voltage levels (VCO) for the pixels of at least one of the displays based at least in part on the aggregate weighted average illuminance.

16. The foldable computing device of claim 15 , wherein the computer process further comprises generating a ratio of the illuminance values received from illuminance sensors of the non-user facing display and determining an incident angle pair based at least in part on the ratio of the illuminance values and a sensor sensitivity model.

17. The foldable computing device of claim 16 , wherein the sensor sensitivity model provides sensitivity of the illuminance values received from illuminance sensors to incident light angles for the sensors.

18. The foldable computing device of claim 17 , wherein the computer process further comprises scaling the illuminance values received from illuminance sensors using the incident light angles for the sensors.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded May 27, 2021
From: SUZUKI, NOBUYUKI; CHHEN, MONY RITH; LIU, WENFENG; KALLIO, SAMU MATIAS; ROPO, KARI JUSSI; YLITALO, MIKA
To: MICROSOFT TECHNOLOGY LICENSING, LLC
Reel/Frame 056375/0424 →
Continuity (1)
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