# US 2014/0194102 A1 · Intelligent muting of a mobile device > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2014/0194102 A1 - Document ID: US20140194102A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 13/737,312 - Filed: 2013-01-09 - Published: 2014-07-10 - Earliest claimed: 2013-01-09 - Assignees: Lenovo (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. - Inventors: Bradley Park Strazisar; Toby John Bowen; Scott Edwards Kelso; John Weldon Nicholson; Steven Richard Perrin; Matthew Price Roper; Song Erin Wang; Jianbang Zhang - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20140194102A1 ## CPC - H04M 1/6008: {in the transmitter circuit} - H04M 1/72454: according to context-related or environment-related conditions - H04M 1/72463: to restrict the functionality of the device - H04M 2250/12: including a sensor for measuring a physical value, e.g. temperature or motion - H04M: TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION (circuits for controlling other apparatus via a telephone cable and not involving telephone switching apparatus G08) ## Abstract A device includes a transceiver, a microphone, a sensor, and a controller coupled to receive signals from the sensor and to place the device into a mute mode when the signals from the sensor are indicative of a user action to reduce transmission of the user's voice. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A device comprising: a transceiver; a microphone to capture a user's voice; a sensor; and a controller coupled to receive signals from the sensor and to place the device into a mute mode when the signals from the sensor are indicative of a user action to reduce transmission of the user's voice via the transceiver. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The device of claim 1 wherein the sensor comprises a gyroscope. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The device of claim 2 wherein the signals indicative of a user action to reduce transmission of the user's voice correspond to a rate of change of an angular rotation of the device of at least a selected amount. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The device of claim 1 wherein the sensor signals are indicative of at least one or more of a user moving the device away from the user's mouth and a user holding a hand over a microphone of the device. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The device of claim 1 wherein the sensor further comprises: an accelerometer to provide signals indicative of the device being moved, wherein a movement of at least a selected distance is indicative of a user moving the device away from the user's mouth; and a microphone proximity sensor indicative of a microphone being moved away from the user's mouth. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The device of claim 1 wherein the sensor comprises multiple sensors to sense angular position of the device, angular rate of change, and user distance from the microphone, and wherein signals from the sensors are fused together to provide an indication of whether to place the device in the mute mode. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The device of claim 1 wherein the microphone provides a distance signal indicative of a distance of a user's mouth from the device, and wherein the controller uses the distance signal to override placing the device in a mute mode when the device is detected as having been rotated, but is still within a selected distance of the user's mouth. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The device of claim 1 wherein the microphone comprises an array of microphones providing at least one or more of a time difference of arrival information and triangulation information corresponding to the user's voice. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The device of claim 1 wherein the controller operates to detect a spoken command by a user indicating to mute the device and to unmute the device. ### Claim 10 A method comprising: sensing movement of a device while a call being hosted by the device is in progress; placing the device in a mute mode if the sensed movement exceeds a selected amount of movement; and unmuting the device if the sensed movement is indicative of a user moving the device back to their mouth. ### Claim 11 (depends on 10) The method of claim 10 wherein the movement is angular rotation indicative of a user moving the device away from their mouth. ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) The method of claim 11 wherein sensing movement of the device comprises: sensing angular position of the device; sensing angular rate of change of the device; sensing user distance from the microphone; and providing an indication of whether to place the device in the mute mode as a function of a combination of two or more of the sensed angular position, sensed angular rate of change, and sensed user distance from the microphone. ### Claim 13 (depends on 10) The method of claim 10 and further comprising: determining a distance of an origin of a user's voice via a microphone array; and overriding muting of the device based on the determined distance. ### Claim 14 (depends on 10) The method of claim 10 wherein the movement is a distance as measured by an accelerometer. ### Claim 15 (depends on 10) The method of claim 10 wherein the movement is an angular rotation, a distance, and a movement representative of a microphone being moved away from a user's voice. ### Claim 16 (depends on 10) The method of claim 10 and further comprising providing at least one or more of time difference of arrival information and triangulation information to determine a distance of a user's voice from a microphone array on the device. ### Claim 17 A computer readable storage device having instructions to cause a mobile device to perform a method, the method comprising: sensing movement of a device while a call being hosted by the device is in progress; placing the device in a mute mode if the sensed movement exceeds a selected amount of movement indicative of a user moving the device away from their mouth; and unmuting the device if the sensed movement is indicative of a user moving the device back to their mouth. ### Claim 18 (depends on 17) The computer readable storage device of claim 17 wherein the movement is angular rotation. ### Claim 19 (depends on 17) The computer readable storage device of claim 17 wherein sensing movement of the device comprises: sensing angular position of the device; sensing angular rate of change of the device; sensing user distance from the microphone; and fusing together signals from the sensing to provide an indication of whether to place the device in the mute mode. ### Claim 20 (depends on 17) The computer readable storage device of claim 17, wherein the method further comprises: determining a distance of an origin of a user's voice via a microphone array; and overriding muting of the device based on the determined distance.