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US 8,046,023 B2Granted
Mobile communication device with direction indicator
AssigneeSony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB
InventorsStefan Sorensson, Martin Wezowski
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A mobile communication device includes a processor to identify a direction related to the geo-positioning signals; a display including a pre-defined shape to indicate the direction related to the geo-positioning signals, where the pre-defined shape is exhibited when an optical property of the pre-defined shape is altered; and a power source to supply voltage to the pre-defined shape, where the optical property of the pre-defined shape is altered by a burst of voltage.
Claims19
A mobile communication device, comprising:
- a receiver to receive geo-positioning signals for the mobile communication device and for a selected target;
- a display including a plurality of pre-defined shapes to indicate a direction related to the geo-positioning signals;
- a power source to selectively supply voltage to one or more of the plurality of pre-defined shapes to alter an optical property of the one or more of the plurality of pre-defined shapes to indicate a direction;
- and
- a processor to:
- identify a direction related to the geo-positioning signals, where the direction related to the geo-positioning signals is a direction from the mobile communication device to the selected target,
- cause the power source to supply a burst of voltage to alter the state of one of the plurality of indicators to visibly indicate an approximate direction to the selected target,
- cause the power source to remove the supplied burst of voltage, where the visible indication of the direction to the target remains visible after the supplied burst of voltage is removed,
- monitor the geo-spatial position of the target to detect movement of the target, and
- cause, based on detecting movement of the target, the power source to supply another burst of voltage to alter the state of another one of the plurality of indicators to visibly indicate an updated approximate direction to the selected target, where the visible indication of the updated direction to the target remains visible after the supplied other burst of voltage is removed.
7 more elements
A method performed by a mobile device, the method comprising:
- receiving a request for a direction to a target;
- determining a geo-spatial position of the mobile device;
- determining a geo-spatial position of the target;
- indicating on the mobile device an approximate direction from the mobile device to the target, where the indicating comprises supplying power to display a direction indicator to the target on a surface of the mobile device;
- removing the supplied power to the display, where the direction indicator remains exhibited when the power is removed;
- detecting, after the removing the supplied power, a change to the geo-spatial position of the target;
- and
- supplying, based on detecting the change, additional power to remove the display of the direction indicator to the target and to display a different direction indicator to the target that remains exhibited when the power is removed.
5 more elements
A mobile device, comprising:
- means for receiving a request for direction to a target;
- means for determining a geo-spatial position of the mobile device;
- means for determining a geo-spatial position of the target;
- means for supplying power to display an indicator on the mobile device, where the indicator provides an approximate direction from the mobile device to the target;
- means for removing the power to the display, where the indicator remains displayed after the power is no longer provided;
- means for detecting a change in the geo-spatial position of the target;
- means for providing additional power to alter, based on input from the means for detecting the change, the display of the indicator on the mobile device, where the indicator remains altered after the additional power is no longer provided;
- and
- means for displaying at least one identifier for the target that is configured to remain exhibited after the power and the additional power are no longer provided.
6 more elements
A mobile communication device, comprising:
- a housing;
- a power supply contained within the housing;
- a location identification device to transmit and receive geo-spatial position information;
- a rear cover secured to the housing and operatively connected to the power supply, the rear cover comprising a display including a plurality of indicators that toggle between a substantially transparent state and a substantially reflective state, where the display consumes power only when the state of one of the plurality of indicators is changed;
- and
- a processor to:
- receive a request for a direction to a target,
- apply power to alter the state of one of the plurality of indicators to indicate an approximate direction to the target based on the location of the target and the geo-spatial position information,
- remove power after altering the state of the one of the plurality of indicators, where the one of the plurality of indicators continue to indicate an approximate direction to the target after the power is removed,
- monitor a geo-spatial position of the target, and
- apply power to change the state of the one of the plurality of indicators when the geo-spatial position of the target changes with respect to the mobile communication device to an extent that the one of the plurality of indicators no longer indicates the approximate direction to the target.
8 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.