# US 10,480,941 B2 · Reconfigurable sensor unit for electronic device

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- Number: US 10,480,941 B2
- Document ID: US10480941B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 16/284,448
- Filed: 2019-02-25
- Published: 2019-06-20
- Granted: 2019-11-19
- Earliest claimed: 2015-02-26
- Assignees: STMicroelectronics S.r.l.
- Applicants: STMicroelectronics, Inc.
- Inventors: Mahesh Chowdhary; Sankalp Dayal
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10480941B2

## CPC

- G01C 19/32: Indicating or recording means specially adapted for rotary gyroscopes
- G01C 19/5776: Signal processing not specific to any of the devices covered by groups G01C19/5607 - G01C19/5719
- G01P 15/18: in two or more dimensions
- G01C: MEASURING DISTANCES, LEVELS OR BEARINGS; SURVEYING; NAVIGATION; GYROSCOPIC INSTRUMENTS; PHOTOGRAMMETRY OR VIDEOGRAMMETRY (measuring liquid level G01F; radio navigation, determining distance or velocity by use of propagation effects, e.g. Doppler effects, propagation time, of radio waves, analogous arrangements using other waves G01S)
- G01P: MEASURING LINEAR OR ANGULAR SPEED, ACCELERATION, DECELERATION, OR SHOCK; INDICATING PRESENCE, ABSENCE, OR DIRECTION, OF MOVEMENT (measuring or recording blood flow A61B5/02, A61B8/06; monitoring speed or deceleration of electrically-propelled vehicles B60L3/00; vehicle lighting systems adapted to indicate speed B60Q1/54; determining position or course in navigation, measuring ground distance in geodesy or surveying G01C; combined measuring devices for measuring two or more variables of movement G01C23/00; measuring velocity of sound G01H; measuring velocity of light G01J7/00; measuring direction or velocity of solid objects by reception or emission of radiowaves or other waves and based on propagation effects, e.g. Doppler effect, propagation time, direction of propagation, G01S; measuring speed of nuclear radiation G01T; measuring acceleration of gravity G01V; {measuring or recording the speed of trains B61L23/00; speed indicators incorporated in motor vehicles B60K35/00; measuring frequency or phase G01R; traffic control G08G})

## Abstract

A sensor chip is mounted on a PCB and electrically connected to a SOC mounted on the PCB via at least one conductive trace. The sensor chip includes configuration registers storing and outputting configuration data, and a PLD receiving digital data. The PLD performs an extraction of features of the digital data in accordance with the configuration data, and the configuration data includes changeable parameters of the extraction. A classification unit processes the extracted features of the digital data so as to generate a context of an electronic device into which the sensor chip is incorporated relative to its surroundings, the processing being performed in using a processing technique operating in accordance with the configuration data. The configuration data also includes changeable parameters of the processing technique. The classification unit outputs the context to data registers for storage.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A sensor chip mounted on a printed circuit board (PCB) and electrically coupled to a system on chip (SoC) mounted on the PCB via at least one conductive trace, the sensor chip comprising:
configuration registers configured to store and output configuration data;
a programmable logic device (PLD) configured to receive digital data, the PLD further configured to perform an extraction of features of the digital data in accordance with the configuration data, the configuration data comprising changeable parameters of the extraction;
a classification circuit configured to process the extracted features of the digital data so as to generate a context of an electronic device into which the sensor chip is incorporated relative to its surroundings, the processing being performed using a processing technique operating in accordance with the configuration data, wherein the configuration data further comprises changeable parameters of the processing technique; and
data registers, wherein the classification unit is configured to output the context to the data registers for storage.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The sensor chip of claim 1, further comprising computed feature registers storing the extracted features of the digital data.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The sensor chip of claim 1, wherein the changeable parameters of the extraction comprise which features of the digital data are selected to extract.

### Claim 4 (depends on 3)

The sensor chip of claim 3, wherein the features of the digital data selected to extract include at least one of mean acceleration, radian acceleration, number of acceleration peaks, number of zero crosses, peak acceleration values, linear acceleration values, energy in bands, mean of roll, pitch, and yaw, variance of roll, pitch, and yaw, mean of linear acceleration, variance of linear acceleration.

### Claim 5 (depends on 3)

The sensor chip of claim 3, wherein the configuration data contains parameters for operating the sensor chip between a low power consumption mode and a high power consumption mode; wherein in the low power consumption mode, the PLD extracts a first subset of features of the digital data; wherein in the high power consumption mode, the PLD extracts at least a second subset of features of the digital data, the second subset containing more features of the digital data than the first subset; and wherein the PLD is configured to selectively switch between the low power consumption mode and the high power consumption mode.

### Claim 6 (depends on 5)

The sensor chip of claim 5, wherein the PLD is configured to operate in the low power consumption mode until at least one of the extracted features exceeds a threshold, and to operate in the high power consumption mode for a period of time thereafter.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The sensor chip of claim 1, further comprising:
a MEMS sensor configured to generate a plurality of analog data outputs;
a selection circuit receiving the plurality of analog data outputs and configured to pass a selected one of the plurality of analog data outputs; and
an analog to digital converter configured to convert the selected one of the plurality of analog data outputs to the digital data.

### Claim 8 (depends on 7)

The sensor chip of claim 7, further comprising a charge pump configured to boost the selected one of the plurality of analog data outputs prior to conversion by the analog to digital converter.

### Claim 9 (depends on 7)

The sensor chip of claim 7, wherein the MEMS sensor contains at least an accelerometer and a gyroscope; and wherein the plurality of analog data outputs includes analog accelerometer data output and analog gyroscope data output.

### Claim 10 (depends on 9)

The sensor chip of claim 9, wherein the plurality of analog data outputs also includes analog output data from an external source.

### Claim 11 (depends on 10)

The sensor chip of claim 10, wherein the analog output data from the external source includes at least one of analog light sensor output data, analog magnetometer output data, analog barometer output data, analog microphone output data, analog proximity sensor output data.

### Claim 12 (depends on 7)

The sensor chip of claim 7, wherein the selection circuit selects different ones of the plurality of analog data outputs to pass in accordance with the configuration data; and wherein the configuration data also includes a selection change rate for the selection circuit.

### Claim 13 (depends on 12)

The sensor chip of claim 12, wherein the plurality of analog data outputs includes analog data outputs from the MEMS sensor in addition to analog data outputs from an external source; and wherein the selection change rate comprises a first selection change rate for the analog data outputs from the MEMS sensing unit and a second selection change rate for the analog data outputs from the external source, with the second selection change rate being lesser than the first selection change rate.

### Claim 14 (depends on 1)

The sensor chip of claim 1, further comprising a digital filter configured to filter the digital data prior to extraction of the features by the PLD in accordance with a digital filtering technique, the filtering being performed in accordance with the configuration data, wherein the configuration data further comprises changeable parameters of the digital filtering technique.

### Claim 15 (depends on 14)

The sensor chip of claim 14, wherein the changeable parameters of the digital filtering technique include which digital filtering technique is performed and/or which coefficients are used by the digital filtering technique.

### Claim 16 (depends on 1)

The sensor chip of claim 1, further comprising a bus interface configured to receive the context from the data registers and to facilitate transmission of the context from the data registers to another device.

### Claim 17 (depends on 16)

The sensor chip of claim 16, wherein the bus interface comprises an Inter-Integrated Circuit (I2C) bus interface.

### Claim 18 (depends on 1)

The sensor chip of claim 1, wherein the PLD is configured to ignore digital data falling outside of a given range when extracting the features of the digital data, in accordance with the configuration data; and wherein the configuration data also includes the given range.

### Claim 19 (depends on 1)

The sensor chip of claim 1, wherein the classification circuit comprises an arithmetic logic unit (ALU) circuit.

### Claim 20 (depends on 1)

The sensor chip of claim 1, wherein the PLD comprises an arithmetic logic unit (ALU) circuit.

### Claim 21 (depends on 1)

The sensor chip of claim 1, wherein the context of the electronic device relative to its surroundings comprises at least one of a mode of locomotion of a user carrying the electronic device, a position of the electronic device on the body of the user, and a gesture in which the electronic device has been moved.

### Claim 22 (depends on 21)

The sensor chip of claim 21, wherein the gesture in which the electronic device has been moved comprises at least one of raising the electronic device into position for screen viewing, shaking the electronic device, double tapping the electronic device, rotating the electronic device, and swiping the electronic device in at least one direction.

### Claim 23

An electronic device, comprising:
a printed circuit board (PCB) having at least one conductive trace thereon;
a system on chip (SoC) mounted on the PCB and electrically coupled to the at least one conductive trace; and
a sensor chip mounted on the PCB in a spaced apart relation with the SoC and electrically coupled to the at least one conductive trace such that the sensor chip and SoC are electrically coupled;
wherein the sensor chip comprises:
configuration registers configured to store and output configuration data;
a MEMS sensor configured to generate a plurality of analog data outputs;
a selection circuit receiving the plurality of analog data outputs and configured to pass a selected one of the plurality of analog data outputs;
an analog to digital converter configured to convert the selected one of the plurality of analog data outputs to digital data;
a programmable logic device (PLD) configured to receive the digital data, the PLD further configured to perform an extraction of features of the digital data in accordance with the configuration data, the configuration data comprising changeable parameters of the extraction; and
a classification circuit configured to process the extracted features of the digital data so as to generate a context of an electronic device into which the sensor chip is incorporated relative to its surroundings, the processing being performed using a processing technique operating in accordance with the configuration data, wherein the configuration data further comprises changeable parameters of the processing technique.

### Claim 24 (depends on 23)

The electronic device of claim 23, further comprising computed feature registers storing the extracted features of the digital data.

### Claim 25 (depends on 23)

The electronic device of claim 23, wherein the changeable parameters of the extraction comprise which features of the digital data are selected to extract.

### Claim 26 (depends on 25)

The electronic device of claim 25, wherein the features of the digital data selected to extract include at least one of mean acceleration, radian acceleration, number of acceleration peaks, number of zero crosses, peak acceleration values, linear acceleration values, energy in bands, mean of roll, pitch, and yaw, variance of roll, pitch, and yaw, mean of linear acceleration, variance of linear acceleration.

### Claim 27 (depends on 25)

The electronic device of claim 25, wherein the configuration data contains parameters for operating the PLD between a low power consumption mode and a high power consumption mode; wherein in the low power consumption mode, the PLD extracts a first subset of features of the digital data; wherein in the high power consumption mode, the PLD extracts at least a second subset of features of the digital data, the second subset containing more features of the digital data than the first subset; and wherein the PLD is configured to selectively switch between the low power consumption mode and the high power consumption mode.

### Claim 28 (depends on 27)

The electronic device of claim 27, wherein the PLD is configured to operate in the low power consumption mode until at least one of the extracted features exceeds a threshold, and to operate in the high power consumption mode for a period of time thereafter.

### Claim 29 (depends on 23)

The electronic device of claim 23, further comprising a charge pump configured to boost the selected one of the plurality of analog data outputs prior to conversion by the analog to digital converter.

### Claim 30 (depends on 23)

The electronic device of claim 23, wherein the selection circuit selects different ones of the plurality of analog data outputs to pass in accordance with the configuration data; and wherein the configuration data also includes a selection change rate for the selection circuit.

### Claim 31 (depends on 23)

The electronic device of claim 23, further comprising a digital filter configured to filter the digital data prior to extraction of the features by the PLD in accordance with a digital filtering technique, the filtering being performed in accordance with the configuration data, wherein the configuration data further comprises changeable parameters of the digital filtering technique.

### Claim 32 (depends on 31)

The electronic device of claim 31, wherein the changeable parameters of the digital filtering technique include which digital filtering technique is performed and/or which coefficients are used by the digital filtering technique.

### Claim 33 (depends on 23)

The electronic device of claim 23, wherein the PLD is configured to ignore digital data falling outside of a given range when extracting the features of the digital data, in accordance with the configuration data; and wherein the configuration data also includes the given range.

### Claim 34 (depends on 23)

The electronic device of claim 23, wherein the classification circuit comprises an arithmetic logic unit (ALU) circuit.

### Claim 35 (depends on 23)

The electronic device of claim 23, wherein the PLD comprises an arithmetic logic unit (ALU) circuit.