Method and apparatus for activating a function of an electronic device
AssigneeGoogle Technology Holdings LLC
InventorsHong Zhao, Michael F. Olley, Mark F. Valentine
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method and apparatus for activating a function of the electronic device is disclosed herewith. The method includes detecting a first input by a motion sensor. Further, the method activates a touch sensor of the electronic device in response to detecting the first input. The method then detects a second input by the motion sensor within a predetermined time period from the first input. Next, the method determines, in response to detecting the second input, whether contact has occurred at the touch sensor and activates a function of the electronic device in response to determining that contact has occurred at the touch sensor when the second input is detected.
Claims17
A method comprising:
- receiving, by at least one processor of an electronic device, from a first sensor of the electronic device, a first interrupt signal indicating that the first sensor detected a first sensor input;
- responsive to receiving the first interrupt signal, activating, by the at least one processor, a second sensor of the electronic device that detects intentional and unintentional user inputs;
- receiving, by the at least one processor, from the first sensor, a second interrupt signal indicating that the first sensor detected a second sensor input;
- determining, by the at least one processor, based on the first interrupt signal and the second interrupt signal, that the second sensor has detected an intentional user input that activates a function of the electronic device;
- and
- responsive to determining that the second sensor has detected the intentional user input and responsive to determining that a respective quantity of data stored by a data buffer associated with at least one of the first sensor or the second sensor satisfies a respective quantity threshold, activating, by the at least one processor, the function of the electronic device.
An electronic device comprising:
- a first sensor configured to generate a respective interrupt signal in response to detecting sensor inputs;
- at least one second sensor that, when activated, is configured to detect intentional and unintentional user inputs;
- at least one respective data buffer;
- and
- a microcontroller configured to:
- receive, from the first sensor, a first interrupt signal indicating that the first sensor detected a first sensor input;
- responsive to receiving the first interrupt signal, activate the at least one second sensor of the electronic device;
- receive, from the first sensor, a second interrupt signal indicating that the first sensor detected a second sensor input;
- determine, based on the first interrupt signal and the second interrupt signal, that the at least one second sensor has detected an intentional input that activates a function of the electronic device;
- and
- responsive to determining that that the at least one second sensor has detected the intentional input and responsive to determining that a quantity of data stored by the data buffer satisfies a quantity threshold, activate the function of the electronic device.
A computing device comprising:
- a motion sensor;
- a touch sensor;
- a data buffer associated with the touch sensor;
- and
- at least one processor configured to:
- receive, from the motion sensor, a first interrupt signal indicating that the motion sensor detected a first tap input;
- responsive to receiving the first interrupt signal, activate the touch sensor;
- receive, from the motion sensor, a second interrupt signal indicating that the motion sensor detected a second tap input;
- determine, based on the first interrupt signal and the second interrupt signal, that a contact has occurred at the touch sensor;
- and
- responsive to determining that that the contact has occurred at the touch sensor and responsive to determining that a quantity of touch data stored by the data buffer satisfies a quantity threshold, activate the function of the computing device.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.