IP Library › Granted Patent US 9,342,973

Granted Patent B2

US 9,342,973 · App. 14/267,936 · Granted May 17, 2016

Fall event handling method and mobile electronic device using the same

Inventors: Chuan-Yu Tseng (Taoyuan County, TW); Chun-Hung Chen (Taoyuan County, TW)

Assignee: HTC Corporation

G08B21/18 H04W4/14

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Quick Facts

Patent No.: US 9,342,973
App. No.: 14/267,936
Granted: May 17, 2016
Kind: B2

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Abstract

The present disclosure proposes a method of handling a fall event for use by a handheld mobile electronic device, and a handheld mobile electronic device using the same method. Accordingly, the handheld mobile electronic device first detects a fall event. In response to the fall event determined to have exceeded a predetermined distance, the device would detect whether the device has moved or has experienced a pressure variation within a time period after the fall event has ended. If the result is negative, the device would activate an alarm and transmit a notification related to the fall event.

Claims (37)

1. A method of handling a fall event of a mobile electronic device comprising:

determining whether a falling distance of the mobile electronic device exceeds a predetermined distance;

detecting a sensor variation of the mobile electronic device within a predetermined time period after the falling distance of the mobile electronic device is determined to exceed the predetermined distance; and

activating an alarm and/or transmitting a notification related to the fall event based on the detected sensor variation of the mobile electronic device.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of activating the alarm based on the sensor variation further comprises:

determining whether the sensor variation of the mobile electronic device is greater than a non-zero predetermined variation threshold within a predetermined time period after the falling distance of the mobile electronic device is determined to exceed the predetermined distance; and

activating the alarm after the sensor variation of the mobile electronic device is determined to be not greater than the non-zero predetermined variation threshold within the predetermined time period.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the step of determining whether the sensor variation of the mobile electronic device is greater than the non-zero predetermined variation threshold within the predetermined time period after the falling distance of the mobile electronic device is determined to exceed the predetermined distance further comprises:

determining whether the sensor variation of the mobile electronic device is greater than the non-zero predetermined variation threshold within the predetermined time period after a Z-component movement of the mobile electronic device is determined to exceed a speed threshold.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the step of determining whether the sensor variation of the mobile electronic device exceeds the non-zero predetermined variation threshold within the predetermined time period after the falling distance of the mobile electronic device is determined to exceed the predetermined distance further comprises:

determining whether the sensor variation of the mobile electronic device is greater that the non-zero predetermined variation threshold within the predetermined time period when the fall event has ceased.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the fall event has ceased when the Z-component movement of the handheld mobile electronic device is zero after the mobile electronic device has fallen beyond the specific distance.

6. The method of claim 2 , wherein the predetermined time period is between 25˜30 seconds.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the sensor variation of the mobile electronic device comprises at least one of a pressure sensor variation of the mobile electronic device and an acceleration sensor variation of the mobile electronic device.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the alarm comprises at least one of a sound alarm, a vibration alarm, and a visual alarm of the mobile electronic device.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the notification related to the fall event comprises at least one of an email notification, an instant message notification, a short message service (SMS) message, a multimedia message service (MMS) message, and a paging message related to the fall event.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the falling distance is measured by using one of an accelerometer, a pressure sensor and an altimeter.

11. A handheld mobile electronic device comprising:

a sensor array or hub comprising a sensor;

a transmitter for transmitting data; and

a processor coupled to the sensor array or hub and the wireless transmitter and is configured for:

determining whether a falling distance of the mobile electronic device exceeds a predetermined distance through the sensor;

activating an alarm and/or transmitting a notification related to the fall event through the transmitter based on the detected sensor variation of the sensor.

12. The device of claim 11 , wherein the processor is configured for activating the alarm based on the sensor variation further comprises:

13. The device of claim 12 , wherein the processor is configured for determining whether the sensor variation of the mobile electronic device is greater than the non-zero predetermined variation threshold within the predetermined time period after the falling distance of the mobile electronic device is determined to exceed the predetermined distance further comprises:

14. The device of claim 12 , wherein the processor is configured for determining whether the sensor variation of the mobile electronic device exceeds the non-zero predetermined variation threshold within the predetermined time period after the falling distance of the mobile electronic device is dete lined to exceed the predetermined distance further comprises:

15. The device of claim 14 , wherein the fall event is determined by the processor to have ceased when the Z-component movement of the handheld mobile electronic device is zero after the mobile electronic device has fallen beyond the specific distance which is at.

16. The device of claim 12 , wherein the predetermined time period is between 25˜30 seconds.

17. The device of claim 11 , wherein the sensor variation of the mobile electronic device comprises at least one of a pressure sensor variation of the mobile electronic device and an acceleration sensor variation of the mobile electronic device.

18. The device of claim 11 , wherein the alarm comprises at least one of a sound alarm, a vibration alarm, and a visual alarm of the mobile electronic device.

19. The device of claim 11 , wherein the notification related to the fall event comprises at least one of an email notification, an instant message notification, a short message service (SMS) message, a multimedia message service (MMS) message, and a paging message related to the fall event.

20. The device of claim 11 , wherein the falling distance is measured by using one of an accelerometer, a pressure sensor and an altimeter.

Assignments (1)

ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded May 15, 2014

From: TSENG, CHUAN-YU; CHEN, CHUN-HUNG

To: HTC CORPORATION

Reel/Frame 032891/0367 →

Continuity (1)

Related Publication 20150317893A1 · Nov 5, 2015