# US 2021/0278482 A1 · Method and apparatus for triage of electronic items using magnetic field detection > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2021/0278482 A1 - Document ID: US20210278482A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 17/207,203 - Filed: 2021-03-19 - Published: 2021-09-09 - Earliest claimed: 2014-02-03 - Assignees: Innovaura Corporation - Applicants: Innovaura Corporation - Inventors: C. MacGill LYNDE; Derek PLATT; Christopher A. WIKLOF; Alan CORWIN; Ronald SCHOENBERG - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20210278482A1 ## CPC - G01R 33/0023: {Electronic aspects, e.g. circuits for stimulation, evaluation, control; Treating the measured signals; calibration (G01R33/0017 takes precedence)} - G09G 3/006: {Electronic inspection or testing of displays and display drivers, e.g. of LED or LCD displays (testing individual LED's G01R31/2635; testing lamps G01R31/44; testing of optical features of LCD displays G02F1/1309)} - G01R 31/2825: {in household appliances or professional audio/video equipment (testing LAN's H04L43/50; testing TV systems H04N17/00; testing loudspeakers H04R29/00)} - G01R 33/0094: {Sensor arrays} - G01R 33/072: {Constructional adaptation of the sensor to specific applications} - G06T 7/70: Determining position or orientation of objects or cameras (camera calibration G06T7/80) - H04B 17/0085: {using test signal generators} - G01R 33/0206: {Three-component magnetometers} - G06F 3/14: Digital output to display device {; Cooperation and interconnection of the display device with other functional units} - G09G 2330/08: Fault-tolerant or redundant circuits, or circuits in which repair of defects is prepared - G01R: MEASURING ELECTRIC VARIABLES; MEASURING MAGNETIC VARIABLES (indicating correct tuning of resonant circuits H03J3/12) - G09G: ARRANGEMENTS OR CIRCUITS FOR CONTROL OF INDICATING DEVICES USING STATIC MEANS TO PRESENT VARIABLE INFORMATION (arrangements for transferring data between digital computers and displays G06F3/14; static indicating arrangements comprising an association of a number of separate sources or light control cells G09F9/00; static indicating arrangements comprising integral associations of a number of light sources H01J, H01K, H10H, H05B33/12; scanning, transmission or reproduction of documents or the like, e.g. facsimile transmission, details thereof H04N1/00) - G06T: IMAGE DATA PROCESSING OR GENERATION, IN GENERAL - H04B: TRANSMISSION - G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N) ## Abstract An electronic circuit triage device diagnoses functionality of various electronic circuits of an electronic device. The electronic circuit triage device detects whether an electronic circuit is functioning properly by measuring a magnetic field pattern associated with the electronic circuit and comparing the magnetic field pattern to an expected magnetic field pattern. A magnetic sensor array includes non-packaged magnetic sensors disposed on a substrate. The non-packaged magnetic sensors can include bare dice, in one embodiment. In another embodiment, the magnetic sensors are formed directly on the substrate, such as by printing conductive traces on the substrate. In another embodiment, a magnetic sensor array includes a magnetic field converter configured to launch received magnetic fields along an axis corresponding to a magnetic sensor maximum sensitivity. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A method, comprising: receiving an electronic device on a test platform of an electronic circuit triage system; measuring a magnetic field pattern from the electronic device; comparing the measured magnetic field pattern to one or more reference magnetic field patterns; determining a condition of the electronic device based on the comparison of the measured magnetic field pattern to the one or more reference magnetic field patterns; and outputting an indication of the condition to a user. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving, into the electronic circuit triage system, a model designation for the electronic device; and fetching the one or more reference magnetic field patterns in accordance with the model designation. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The method of claim 2, wherein the model designation identifies a make or model of the electronic device. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) The method of claim 3, wherein the electronic device is a mobile phone. ### Claim 5 (depends on 2) The method of claim 2, wherein the one or more reference magnetic field patterns include a plurality of reference magnetic field patterns. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein each reference magnetic field pattern corresponds to a nominal condition, a condition requiring repair, a condition corresponding to disablement of an electronic device subsystem, a condition requiring battery charging, or a condition indicating battery degradation. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising: capturing one or more reference images of the electronic device; and determining an orientation and a location of the electronic device relative to the test platform; wherein comparing the measured magnetic field pattern to the one or more reference magnetic field patterns includes compensating for the orientation and the location of the electronic device relative to the test platform. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising: transmitting a signal to the electronic device to attempt to cause the electronic device to enter one or more activated states; wherein measuring the magnetic field pattern from the electronic device includes measuring the magnetic field pattern while the electronic device is in each of the one or more activated states. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving a selection of a component of the electronic device for testing, wherein the one or more reference images correspond to the selected component. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The method of claim 9, wherein the selected component includes one or more of: a battery of the electronic device; a battery charging circuit of the electronic device; a memory of the electronic device; a display of the electronic device; and a power management system of the electronic device. ### Claim 11 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the outputting the indication of the condition to the user includes displaying the indication on the display of the electronic circuit triage system. ### Claim 12 An electronic circuit triage system, comprising: a test platform configured to receive an electronic device; one or more arrays of magnetic sensors collectively positioned and configured to sense magnetic field characteristics indicative of a magnetic field pattern from the electronic device when the electronic device is positioned on the test platform; and a microprocessor coupled to the magnetic sensor and configured to compare the magnetic field pattern to one or more reference magnetic field patterns and to diagnose a condition of the electronic device based on a comparison of the magnetic field pattern to the one or more reference magnetic field patterns. ### Claim 13 (depends on 12) The electronic circuit triage system of claim 12, further comprising a memory configured to store the one or more reference magnetic field patterns, wherein the microprocessor is configured to access the one or more reference magnetic field patterns from the memory. ### Claim 14 (depends on 13) The electronic circuit triage system of claim 13, further comprising a user interface configured to receive a model designation indicating a model of the electronic device and to output a condition of the electronic device to a user. ### Claim 15 (depends on 14) The electronic circuit triage system of claim 14, wherein the microprocessor selects the one or more reference magnetic field patterns based on the model designation. ### Claim 16 (depends on 15) The electronic circuit triage system of claim 15, wherein the user interface receives a selection of a component of the electronic device, wherein the one or more reference magnetic field patterns are selected by the microprocessor based on the selected component and the model designation. ### Claim 17 (depends on 14) The electronic circuit triage system of claim 14, wherein the microprocessor is configured to execute computer instructions to interrogate and receive signals indicative of the magnetic field pattern from the magnetic sensors. ### Claim 18 (depends on 17) The electronic circuit triage system of claim 17, wherein the microprocessor is configured to: generate the magnetic field pattern based on indications of magnetic field strengths and directions from the one or more arrays of magnetic sensors, diagnose the condition of the electronic device by inferring the condition of the electronic device by selecting a best fit between the magnetic field pattern and the one or more reference magnetic field patterns; and output the inferred condition to the user via the user interface. ### Claim 19 A method for performing triage on an electronic device, comprising: receiving into a test system from an interface a model designator for an electronic device; fetching one or more reference magnetic field patterns corresponding to the electronic device; receiving the electronic device on a test platform; measuring a magnetic field pattern proximate to and relative to the electronic device; comparing the measured magnetic field pattern to the one or more reference magnetic field patterns; inferring a condition of the electronic device as a function of a correspondence of the measured magnetic field pattern to the one or more reference magnetic field patterns; and outputting the inferred condition to a user. ### Claim 20 (depends on 19) The method of claim 19, wherein the one or more reference magnetic field patterns comprises a plurality of reference magnetic field patterns. ### Claim 21 (depends on 19) The method of claim 19, wherein each reference magnetic field pattern corresponds to a nominal condition, a condition requiring repair, a condition corresponding to disablement of an electronic device subsystem, a condition requiring battery charging, or a condition indicating battery degradation. ### Claim 22 (depends on 19) The method of claim 19, further comprising: capturing an image of the electronic device; and determining an orientation and location of the electronic device relative to the test platform; wherein comparing the measured magnetic field pattern to the one or more reference magnetic field patterns includes compensating for the orientation and location of the electronic device relative to the test platform. ### Claim 23 (depends on 19) The method of claim 19, further comprising: transmitting a signal to the electronic device to attempt to cause the electronic device to enter one or more activated states; wherein measuring the magnetic field pattern proximate to and relative to the electronic device includes measuring the magnetic field pattern while the electronic device is in each of the one or more activated states. ### Claim at position 24 24-103. (canceled)