Granted Patent B2

US 12,452,356 · App. 17/920,022 · Granted Oct 21, 2025

Inventors: Kenta Asakura (Tokyo, JP); Jungo Goto (Tokyo, JP); Tomoyuki Nishikawa (Tokyo, JP); Masato Yabe (Tokyo, JP)

Assignee: SONY GROUP CORPORATION

H04M1/247H04M1/72454

Abstract

Claims (39)

1. A communication apparatus including:

a display; and

control circuitry configured to:

display a first display associated with an application being used on the communication apparatus,

while displaying the first display:

monitor a signal strength associated with the application,

upon detecting that the signal strength associated with the application has dropped below a first predetermined threshold, automatically display a signal strength compass as a second display in a predetermined and moveable position on top of the first display, with a north position of the signal strength compass corresponding to a direction that a rear side of the communication apparatus is facing, and

while a user is moving the communication apparatus in a circle in a horizontal plane:

update the north position of the signal strength compass to correspond to a current direction that the rear side of the communication apparatus is facing,

measure a directional signal strength associated with application in the current direction that the rear side of the communication apparatus is facing,

display a progress bar on a perimeter of the circle corresponding movement of the communication apparatus in the circle in the horizontal plane,

superimpose, on the signal strength compass, information indicating a sector of the signal strength compass corresponding to a direction in which the measured directional signal strength exceeds a second predetermined threshold,

wherein the sector comprises an arc of 45 degrees or less.

2. The communication apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the control circuitry controls the display to hide the signal strength compass when the communication apparatus is kept, for a predetermined time, facing in the direction in which the measured directional signal strength exceeds the second threshold.

3. The communication apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein at least one of the first threshold and the second threshold is determined by the application being used on the communication apparatus.

4. The communication apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the predetermined and moveable position on top of the first display is set in advance by the user.

5. The communication apparatus according to claim 1 , further including a vibrator that vibrates with at least one of a vibration strength or a vibration pattern of that corresponds to the measured directional signal strength.

6. A method performed by a communication apparatus having a display and control circuitry, the method comprising:

displaying a first display associated with an application being used on the communication apparatus,

while displaying the first display:

monitoring a signal strength associated with the application,

upon detecting that the signal strength associated with the application has dropped below a first predetermined threshold, automatically displaying a signal strength compass as a second display in a predetermined and moveable position on top of the first display, with a north position of the signal strength compass corresponding to a direction that a rear side of the communication apparatus is facing, and

while a user is moving the communication apparatus in a circle in a horizontal plane:

updating the north position of the signal strength compass to correspond to a current direction that the rear side of the communication apparatus is facing,

measuring a directional signal strength associated with application in the current direction that the rear side of the communication apparatus is facing,

displaying a progress bar on a perimeter of the circle corresponding movement of the communication apparatus in the circle in the horizontal plane,

superimposing, on the signal strength compass information indicating a sector of the signal strength compass corresponding to a direction in which the measured directional signal strength exceeds a second predetermined threshold,

wherein the sector comprises an arc of 45 degrees or less.

7. A non-transitory computer product containing instructions that cause a communication apparatus to perform a method, the method comprising:

displaying a first display associated with an application being used on the communication apparatus,

while displaying the first display:

monitoring a signal strength associated with the application,

upon detecting that the signal strength associated with the application has dropped below a first predetermined threshold, automatically displaying a signal strength compass as a second display in a predetermined and moveable position on top of the first display, with a north position of the signal strength compass corresponding to a direction that a rear side of the communication apparatus is facing, and

while a user is moving the communication apparatus in a circle in a horizontal plane:

updating the north position of the signal strength compass to correspond to a current direction that the rear side of the communication apparatus is facing,

measuring a directional signal strength associated with application in the current direction that the rear side of the communication apparatus is facing,

displaying a progress bar on a perimeter of the circle corresponding movement of the communication apparatus in the circle in the horizontal plane,

superimposing, on the signal strength compass, information indicating a sector of the signal strength compass corresponding to a direction in which the measured directional signal strength exceeds a second predetermined threshold,

wherein the sector comprises an arc of 45 degrees or less.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (1)

References Cited (46)