Electronic device with proximity sensor

Abstract

The invention relates to an electronic device with a proximity sensor. An electronic device may include a proximity sensor and a display. Specifically, when the device is close to the user's head, the display may be deactivated. However, the proximity sensor may operate through or near the display and may detect the user's finger. Thus, in order to distinguish between the user's fingers and head, a motion sensor, such as an inertial measurement unit (IMU), may be used. For example, the position, acceleration, and rate of rotation of the device may be measured by the IMU, and a machine learning algorithm may take the position, acceleration, and rate of rotation as inputs to determine whether the proximity sensor is triggered by the user's fingers or head. In response to determining that the proximity has been triggered by the head, the display may be deactivated. Alternatively, in response to determining that the proximity sensor has been triggered by the finger, the display may remain on.

Description

[0001] This application claims priority to U.S. Patent Application No. 18 / 671,116 filed on May 22, 2024, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63 / 581,534 filed on September 8, 2023, which applications are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety. Technical Field

[0002] The present invention generally relates to electronic devices, including electronic devices having sensors. Background Art

[0003] Electronic devices such as laptop computers, cell phones, and other equipment are sometimes provided with various components that can be adjusted based on sensor measurements. Summary of the invention

[0004] An electronic device may include a proximity sensor and a display. Specifically, it may be desirable to deactivate the display when the device is near a user's head (e.g., the user has brought the device to their head to make a phone call) to prevent erroneous inputs on the display. However, the proximity sensor may operate by or near the display, and may also be triggered by the user's finger (or other external object, such as a stylus) when the user interacts with the display.

[0005] To distinguish between the user's head and fingers, a motion sensor, such as an inertial measurement unit (IMU), can be used. For example, the position, acceleration, and rotation rate of the device can be measured by the IMU. A machine learning algorithm can use the position, acceleration, and rotation rate as input to determine whether the proximity sensor is triggered by the user's finger or head.

[0006] In response to determining that the proximity has been triggered by the user's head, the display may be deactivated, such as by deactivating a touch sensor and / or pixel array of the display. Alternatively, in response to determining that the proximity sensor has been triggered by a finger, the display (e.g., touch sensor and / or pixel array) may remain turned on.

[0007] Other sensor information such as ambient light measurements and / or touch sensor measurements may also be used to determine whether the proximity sensor has been triggered by the user's finger (or other external object) or the user's head. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0008] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of an illustrative electronic device with a display and sensor components according to some embodiments.

[0009] Figure 2 is a perspective view of an electronic device with a display and a proximity sensor according to some embodiments.

[0010] Figure 3 is a side view of an electronic device with a proximity sensor operated through a display layer according to some embodiments.

[0011] FIG. 4A to FIG. 4C Graphs of illustrative relationships over time between position, acceleration, and rotation rate of an electronic device when the proximity sensor is triggered by a user's finger and when the proximity sensor is triggered by a user's head, respectively, according to some embodiments.

[0012] Figure 5 is a diagram of illustrative proximity and motion sensor components for determining whether a proximity sensor is triggered by a finger or a head, according to some embodiments.

[0013] Figure 6 is a diagram of illustrative steps that may be used to determine whether a proximity sensor is triggered by a finger or a head, according to some embodiments.

[0014] Figure 7 is a flow chart of illustrative method steps that may be used to determine whether a proximity sensor was triggered by a finger or a head, according to some embodiments. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0015] Electronic devices such as cellular phones, tablet computers, and wearable devices may have displays. It may be desirable to include a proximity sensor in an electronic device to sense when a user holds the device against their head (e.g., to make a phone call) and to turn off / deactivate the display when the device is against the user's head. However, the proximity sensor may be near or below the display. Thus, the proximity sensor may detect not only when the device is against the user's head, but also when an external object such as a user's finger is near the proximity sensor (e.g., when the user is interacting with the display). Therefore, it may be desirable to determine whether the proximity sensor is triggered by the user's head or by a finger or other external object.

[0016] To determine whether the proximity sensor was triggered by the head or other external object, a motion sensor such as an inertial measurement unit (IMU) may take measurements both before and after the proximity sensor is triggered. For example, the IMU may take repeated measurements at a given frequency when the electronic device is turned on, thus providing data before and after the proximity sensor is triggered.

[0017] IMU data from the time period just before the proximity sensor is triggered can be used to determine whether the proximity sensor is triggered by the user's head or by another object. In response to determining that the proximity sensor is triggered by the user's head, the display can be turned off / deactivated to prevent unintentional touch input to the display. Alternatively, in response to determining that the proximity sensor is triggered by an external object (such as a user's finger), the display can remain on to allow the user to continue to interact with the display.

[0018] Figure 1 An exemplary electronic device of the type that may be provided with a proximity sensor and a display is shown in . Electronic device 10 may be a computing device such as a laptop computer, a computer monitor including an embedded computer, a tablet computer, a cellular phone, a media player, or other handheld or portable electronic device, a smaller device (such as a wristwatch device or other device worn on a user's wrist), a hanging device, a headset or earpiece device, a device embedded in glasses or other equipment worn on a user's head, or other wearable or miniature device, a television, a computer display that does not include an embedded computer, a gaming device, a navigation device, an embedded system (such as a system in which electronic equipment with a display is installed in an information kiosk or a car), equipment that implements the functionality of two or more of these devices, or other electronic equipment.

[0019] like Figure 1 As shown, the electronic device 10 may have a controller 16 (also referred to herein as a control circuit). The controller 16 may include storage and processing circuits for supporting the operation of the device 10. The storage and processing circuits may include storage devices, such as hard disk drive storage devices, non-volatile memory (e.g., flash memory or other electrically programmable read-only memory configured to form a solid-state drive), volatile memory (e.g., static or dynamic random access memory), etc. The processing circuit in the controller 16 can be used to control the operation of the device 10. The processing circuit may be based on one or more microprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors, baseband processors, power management units, audio chips, application-specific integrated circuits, etc. The controller 16 may include communication circuits for supporting wired and / or wireless communications between the device 10 and external equipment. For example, the controller 16 may include wireless communication circuits, such as cellular phone communication circuits and wireless local area network communication circuits. The communication circuit may include one or more antennas that send and / or receive data or other information from an external source.

[0020] Input-output devices 12 may be used to allow data to be supplied to device 10 and to allow data to be supplied from device 10 to external devices. Input-output devices 12 may include buttons, joysticks, scroll wheels, trackpads, keypads, keyboards, microphones, speakers, audio generators, vibrators, cameras, light-emitting diodes and other status indicators, displays, data ports, etc. A user may control the operation of device 10 by supplying commands through input-output devices 12, and may receive status information and other output from device 10 using the output resources of input-output devices 12.

[0021] Input-output devices 12 may include one or more displays, such as display 14. Display 14 may be a touch screen display including a touch sensor for acquiring touch input from a user (e.g., a user's finger, a stylus, or other input device), or display 14 may be insensitive to touch. The touch sensor of display 14 may be based on an array of capacitive touch sensor electrodes, an acoustic touch sensor structure, a resistive touch component, a force-based touch sensor structure, a light-based touch sensor, or other suitable touch sensor arrangements. Display 14 may include any desired display technology and may be an organic light emitting diode (OLED) display, a liquid crystal display (LCD), a micro-LED display, or any other desired type of display.

[0022] Sensor 18 may include a light-based proximity sensor, a capacitive proximity sensor, a magnetic proximity sensor, an ultrasonic proximity sensor, a photoelectric proximity sensor, a magnetic sensor (e.g., a magnetometer or compass), an inertial measurement sensor, an accelerometer or other motion sensor, a force sensor, a touch sensor, a temperature sensor, a pressure sensor, a microphone, a radio frequency sensor, a three-dimensional image sensor, an ambient light sensor, a camera, a light-based position sensor (e.g., a lidar sensor), and / or other sensors. If desired, sensor 18 may include one or more of each of these sensors. A battery in device 10 may store power for powering display 14, sensor 18, and other components of device 10.

[0023] Figure 2 A perspective view of an illustrative electronic device of the type that may include a proximity sensor and a display is shown in FIG. Figure 2In the example of , device 10 includes a display, such as display 14 mounted in housing 22. Display 14 may be a liquid crystal display, an electrophoretic display, an organic light emitting diode display, or other display having an array of light emitting diodes (e.g., a display including pixels having diodes formed from crystalline semiconductor dies), may be a plasma display, may be an electrowetting display, may be a display based on microelectromechanical systems (MEMs) pixels, or may be any other suitable display. Display 14 may have a pixel array 26 that extends across some or all of the front face F and / or other external device surfaces of device 10. The pixel array may be rectangular or may have another suitable shape. Display 14 may be protected using a display cover layer (e.g., a transparent front housing layer) such as a layer of transparent glass or light-transmitting plastic, sapphire, or another transparent layer. The display cover layer may overlap pixel array 26.

[0024] Housing 22, which may sometimes be referred to as an enclosure or housing, is formed of plastic, glass, ceramic, fiber composite materials, metal (e.g., stainless steel, aluminum, etc.), other suitable materials, or combinations of any two or more of these materials. Housing 22 and display 14 may separate an interior area of ​​device 10 from an exterior area surrounding device 10. Housing 22 may be formed using a unitary configuration in which a portion or all of housing 22 is machined or molded into a single structure, or may be formed using multiple structures (e.g., an internal frame structure, one or more structures forming an exterior housing surface, etc.).

[0025] Pixels 26 may cover substantially the entire front face of device 10, or display 14 may have an inactive area (e.g., a notch, a recessed area, an island rectangular area, or other area) without pixels 26. The inactive area may be used to accommodate openings for speakers and windows for optical components (such as one or more image sensors, ambient light sensors, optical proximity sensors, three-dimensional image sensors (such as structured light three-dimensional image sensors), and / or camera flashes, etc.). In an exemplary configuration, pixels 26 may extend above front surface F of device 10 and may overlap with proximity sensor 30. In this type of arrangement, proximity sensor 30 may detect whether an external object (e.g., a user's face or finger) is in close proximity to display 14 by operating through display 14. Alternatively, proximity sensor 30 may be in an inactive area of ​​display 14.

[0026] Device 10 may also include speaker 31. Speaker 31 may be surrounded by pixels 26 of display 14 or may be formed in an inactive area of ​​display 14. As an example, speaker 31 may produce audio for a user when the user is using device 10 to make a phone call, listen to voicemail, and / or interact with a virtual assistant.

[0027] In operation, display 14 may be turned on (activated). When a user brings device 10 to their head to listen to audio from speaker 31, it may be desirable to turn off (deactivate) display 14 to prevent erroneous touches on the display. For example, the touch sensor of display 14 and / or the pixel array of display 14 may be turned off (and / or a portion of the touch sensor and / or pixel array may be turned off). Thus, proximity sensor 30 may be used to determine the presence of the user's head. However, other external objects such as the user's finger, stylus or other objects may be detected by proximity sensor 30, such as when the user is interacting with display 14. Therefore, in order to determine whether proximity sensor 30 has detected the user's head or another object, measurements from an inertial measurement unit (IMU) in device 10 may be used. Specifically, data from the IMU may be used, such as position, acceleration and / or rotation data from just before the proximity sensor is triggered. If proximity sensor 30 is triggered by the user's head, display 14 may be deactivated. If proximity sensor 30 is triggered by another object (such as the user's finger), display 14 may remain activated.

[0028] Although a user's finger is described throughout as triggering the proximity sensor 30, this is merely exemplary. In general, the proximity sensor 30 may detect any suitable external object, such as a stylus.

[0029] although Figure 2 The electronic device 10 is shown as a cellular phone, but this arrangement is only exemplary. Generally speaking, the electronic device 10 can be any electronic device. For example, the device 10 can be a wearable device, such as a wristwatch device or a head-mounted device.

[0030] Regardless of the device type of device 10 , proximity sensor 30 may be an optical proximity sensor. Figure 3 An illustrative example of an electronic device with an optical proximity sensor is shown in FIG.

[0031] like Figure 3 As shown, proximity sensor 30 in device 10 may operate through layer 32. As examples, layer 32 may include a transparent layer of device 10, such as a transparent cover layer overlapping the display, a layer having a transparent opening, and / or one or more display layers. In some illustrative examples, proximity sensor 30 may operate through the display (e.g., layer 32 may be Figure 1 and Figure 2 Display 14) operation.

[0032] In operation, proximity sensor 30 may emit light 36, such as using a light emitting diode or other light source. Light 36 may be infrared light, near infrared light, or other suitable light. Light 36 may be reflected from external object 34 as light 38. Proximity sensor 30 may detect light 38 after it passes through layer 32, such as using a photodetector that is sensitive to the wavelengths of light 36 and 38. Specifically, by determining the amount of time between proximity sensor 30 emitting light 36 and detecting light 38, control circuitry in device 10 may determine the proximity of external object 34.

[0033] Although the proximity sensor 30 Figure 3 In the figure, the proximity sensor 30 is shown as an optical proximity sensor, but this is only exemplary. In general, the proximity sensor 30 can be a light-based proximity sensor, a capacitive proximity sensor, a magnetic proximity sensor, an ultrasonic proximity sensor, a photoelectric proximity sensor, or another suitable proximity sensor.

[0034] External object 34 may be a user's head, a user's finger, or other external object. In some embodiments, if external object 34 is the user's head (e.g., if the user has brought device 10 to their head / ear), it may be desirable to disable the display in device 10 (e.g., Figure 1 and Figure 2 14), while if the external object is a user's finger or another external object, the display is kept on / activated.

[0035] To determine whether external object 34 is the user's head or another external object, data from other sensors in device 10 may be used during the period of time just before proximity sensor 30 detected object 34. In some exemplary embodiments, data from one or more motion sensors such as an inertial measurement unit (IMU) may be used. An IMU may include one or more accelerometers, gyroscopes, magnetometers, and / or other motion sensors. FIG. 4A to FIG. 4C An illustrative example of IMU data that may indicate whether the user has brought device 10 to their head (and the display should be deactivated) is shown in FIG.

[0036] like Figure 4A As shown, the graph 40 includes a curve 42. Curve 42 is an electronic device (such as Figures 1 to 3 10 (e.g., housing 22 of device 10) over time. The exemplary position of the device housing over time may be a relative device position in a vertical direction (e.g., Z direction) and / or one or more horizontal directions (e.g., X and / or Y directions). In other words, changes in curve 42 may be changes in the relative position of the device housing relative to itself.

[0037] Time period 44 may correspond to a time period during which a user has touched the display with their finger or another external object (such as a stylus). Specifically, time period 44 may span 1 / 4 second, 1 / 2 second, 3 / 4 second, 1 second, or other time period before proximity sensor 30 has detected a finger or other external object. As shown in graph 40, the relative position of device 10 may remain relatively constant during time period 44.

[0038] On the other hand, time period 46 may correspond to a time period during which the user has raised the electronic device to their head (e.g., to make a phone call). Specifically, time period 46 may span 1 / 4 second, 1 / 2 second, 3 / 4 second, 1 second, or other time period before proximity sensor 30 has detected the user's head. In time period 46, the relative position of device 10 may change more than in time period 44. For example, the user may have to raise the device vertically to their head, and this change in distance may be measured by the IMU during time period 46. Therefore, the change in the relative position of device 10 in the time period just before the proximity sensor is triggered may indicate whether the user has touched the display with their finger or brought the device to their head.

[0039] Figure 4B Another illustrative example of IMU data that can be used to distinguish between a user's fingers and the device being raised to the user's head is shown in FIG. Figure 4B As shown, graph 48 includes curve 50. Curve 50 is an electronic device (such as Figures 1 to 3 4. An illustrative relationship of the acceleration of device 10 over time for a proximity sensor 10. In time period 44, the electronic device may have a small acceleration, which may indicate that the user has touched the display with their finger or other object. In contrast, in time period 46, the electronic device may have a large acceleration, which may indicate that the user has raised the device to their head. Specifically, the user may accelerate the device when raising it to their head, and the acceleration of the device may be measured by the IMU during time period 46. Thus, a change in the acceleration of device 10 in the time period just before the proximity sensor is triggered may indicate whether the user has touched the display with their finger or brought the device to their head.

[0040] Figure 4C A third illustrative example of IMU data that can be used to distinguish between a user's fingers and the device being raised to the user's head is shown in FIG. Figure 4C As shown, graph 52 includes curve 54. Curve 54 is an electronic device (such as Figures 1 to 34. An illustrative relationship of the rotation rate of device 10) over time for a proximity sensor. In time period 44, the electronic device may have a small rotation rate, which may indicate that the user has touched the display with their finger or other object. In contrast, in time period 46, the electronic device may have a large rotation rate, which may indicate that the user has raised the device to their head. Specifically, the user may rotate the device while raising it to their head, and the rotation rate of the device may be measured by the IMU during time period 46. Therefore, the rotation rate of device 10 in the time period just before the proximity sensor is triggered may indicate whether the user has touched the display with their finger or brought the device to their head.

[0041] Figure 4A , Figure 4B and Figure 4C The relationship between the position, acceleration and / or rotation and time of the device can be directly determined from the IMU measurement, or can be calculated from the IMU data. For example, the position of the device can be determined from multiple position measurements of the electronic device (for example, it can include a rolling average of the position measurements, it can include a standard deviation of the position measurements, etc.). The acceleration of the device can be based on the rolling average of the acceleration measurements. The rotation rate of the device can be determined from the gyroscope in the IMU, and the relationship between the rotation rate over time can be based on the rolling average of the acceleration measurements. However, these examples are merely illustrative. In general, any IMU data and / or other motion sensor data can be used to determine whether the sensed external object is a user's finger or head in any suitable manner.

[0042] Regardless of the IMU data used, Figure 5 The illustrative schematic diagram 56 in FIG. 5 shows how proximity information 58 can be obtained from the proximity sensor 30 and how motion information 60 can be obtained from the IMU 62. Specifically, the proximity sensor 30 can respond to detecting an external object (e.g., Figure 3 The proximity sensor 30 may generate a signal when an external object 34 is close enough to the proximity sensor 30 (e.g., within a predetermined threshold).

[0043] The IMU 62 may be responsive to devices such as Figures 1 to 3 The IMU 62 may generate a signal based on the movement of the device 10 (e.g., the movement of the housing of the device). The IMU 62 may include one or more accelerometers, gyroscopes, and / or magnetometers to measure the movement of the device. The motion signal and the proximity signal may be analog or digital signals and may form motion data and proximity data, respectively.

[0044] Sensor analysis 64 may analyze the signals / data generated by proximity sensor 30 and IMU 62. Specifically, a controller such as controller 16 ( Figure 1 ) can determine when the proximity sensor 30 is triggered (e.g., when the proximity sensor 30 detects the presence of an external object). In response to the triggering of the proximity sensor 30, the controller can analyze the motion data generated by the IMU 62 within a time period just before the proximity sensor 30 is triggered (such as a time period of 0.25s, 0.5s, 0.75s, 1s, or 1.5s) to determine whether the detected external object is a user's finger or the user's head.

[0045] To make this determination, a machine learning algorithm may be used to correlate the motion data from the IMU 62 with whether the proximity sensor 30 was triggered by the user's finger or the user raising the device to their head. For example, a gradient boosted tree algorithm, a random forest algorithm, a decision tree algorithm, a support vector machine algorithm, a multi-layer perceptron algorithm, a convolutional neural network algorithm, or other suitable machine learning algorithm may be used to determine the detected external object based on the data from the IMU. Any number of features from the IMU data (or other sensor data) may be used to train the machine learning algorithm and make this determination. In some illustrative examples, the position, acceleration, and rotation rate of the device may be used, such as, for example FIG. 4A to FIG. 4C To train the algorithm, sample changes in position, acceleration, and / or rotation rate (and / or other characteristics) when the proximity sensor is covered by a finger and when the device is raised to the user's head can be used.

[0046] After the algorithm is trained with these sample features, the algorithm can be used to determine whether the proximity sensor is covered by a finger or whether the device is raised to the user's head based on the device's position, acceleration, and rotation rate (and / or other inputs). In other words, a finger / display determination 66 can be made. The finger / display determination 66 can be a determination of whether an external object sensed by the proximity sensor is a finger (such as a Figure 2 The controller can also determine whether the sensed external object is a finger above the display 14 and proximity sensor 30 (e.g., as opposed to the user holding the device to their head). In this way, the controller can determine whether the sensed external object is the user's finger or other object, or whether the user has brought the phone to their head.

[0047] Although finger / display determination 66 is described as determining whether a finger has triggered proximity sensor 30 , this is exemplary only. In general, finger / display determination may determine whether any suitable external object, such as a stylus, has triggered proximity sensor 30 .

[0048] Appropriate action may be taken based on the determination 66. Specifically, if it is determined that the user has brought the device to their head, the display may be disabled (e.g., Figure 1 14). Doing so can reduce erroneous touch inputs that can occur when a user holds the device against their head / face. To deactivate the display, the controller (or other suitable circuitry) can disable a touch sensor (or portion of a touch sensor) in the display, can turn off the display (e.g., stop an array of pixels (or portion of a pixel array) of the display from emitting light), or can otherwise deactivate one or more functions of the display. In contrast, if it is determined that the proximity sensor has been triggered by a user's finger or other external object, the display can remain on (e.g., display pixels can continue to emit light and the touch sensor can remain enabled) to allow user input and other interactions with the display. In this way, the display can remain on even when the proximity sensor detects a user's finger, thereby allowing for more seamless interaction with the electronic device.

[0049] Figure 6 An illustrative diagram illustrating the process of determining whether a proximity sensor is triggered by a finger (or other object) or by a device held to a user's head is shown in FIG. Figure 6 As shown, process 68 may begin with a determination 70 of whether the device is already at the user's head (e.g., based on a recent determination using process 68), whether a proximity sensor is covered / triggered (e.g., based on a proximity sensor such as Figure 2 and Figure 3 The process may proceed to a finger determination 76. Otherwise, the device (e.g., a controller in the device) may wait until these determinations have been made before proceeding to the finger determination 76.

[0050] Although Figure 6 It is shown that all three determinations 70, 72 and 74 need to be made before the process proceeds to the finger determination 76, but this is only exemplary. In general, any one or more of the determinations 70, 72 and / or 74 (and / or other suitable determinations) may be made before proceeding to the finger determination 76.

[0051] Finger determination 76 may use a machine learning algorithm to correlate motion data from an IMU in the electronic device with whether the proximity sensor was triggered by the user's finger or the user lifting the device to their head. For example, a gradient boosted tree algorithm, a random forest algorithm, a decision tree algorithm, a support vector machine algorithm, a multi-layer perceptron algorithm, a convolutional neural network algorithm, or other suitable machine learning algorithm may be used to determine detected external objects based on data from the IMU. Any number of features from the IMU data may be used to train the machine learning algorithm and make this determination. In some illustrative examples, the position, acceleration, and rotation rate of the device may be used, such as FIG. 4A to FIG. 4C To train the algorithm, sample changes in position, acceleration, and / or rotation rate (and / or other characteristics) when the proximity sensor is covered by a finger and when the device is raised to the user's head can be used.

[0052] After the algorithm is trained with these sample features, the algorithm can be used to determine whether the proximity sensor is covered by a finger or whether the device is raised to the user's head based on the device's position, acceleration, and rotation rate (and / or other inputs). In other words, a finger determination 76 can be made. The finger determination 76 can be a determination of whether an external object sensed by the proximity sensor is a finger (such as a finger). Figure 2 The controller can also determine whether the sensed external object is a finger above the display 14 and proximity sensor 30 (e.g., as opposed to the user holding the device to their head). In this way, the controller can determine whether the sensed external object is the user's finger or other object, or whether the user has brought the phone to their head.

[0053] Although finger determination 76 is described as determining whether a finger has triggered proximity sensor 30 , this is merely exemplary. In general, finger determination 76 may determine whether any suitable external object, such as a stylus, has triggered proximity sensor 30 .

[0054] If it is determined that the external object that triggered the proximity sensor is a finger (or other external object such as a stylus), process 68 may keep the display on, as indicated by block 78. In other words, the display pixels may continue to emit light, and the touch sensor may remain enabled to allow user input and other interactions with the display.

[0055] Alternatively, if it is determined that the external object is not a finger, a second algorithm may be used to perform head-out finger detection 80. Specifically, head-out finger detection 80 may determine whether the user has briefly moved the device away from their head to interact with the display. Head-out finger detection 80 may be similar to finger determination 76, and may use motion data from the IMU to determine whether the user is using their finger to briefly interact with the display (e.g., using a machine learning algorithm). If it is determined that the user is attempting to briefly interact with the display, the process 68 may continue to keep the display on, as indicated by block 78.

[0056] Alternatively, if it is determined that the user is not briefly attempting to interact with the display using their fingers, it may be determined that the user is holding the device to their head (e.g., to make a phone call), and the display may be turned off / deactivated, as indicated by block 82. For example, a touch sensor (or a portion of a touch sensor) in the display may be deactivated, the display may be completely turned off (e.g., a pixel array (or a portion of a pixel array) of the display may stop emitting light), or one or more functions of the display may be otherwise deactivated. In this way, when it is determined that the user has raised the phone to their head, the display may be turned off / deactivated, and erroneous touch inputs that might otherwise occur may be reduced or eliminated.

[0057] although Figure 5 and Figure 6 The use of proximity information (e.g., data from proximity sensor 30) and motion information (e.g., motion data from IMU 62) has been shown and described, but other sensor information may be used to determine whether a proximity sensor was triggered based on a user's finger or in response to the device being raised to the user's head. In general, data from other sensors may be used in conjunction with the motion data if desired. For example, motion sensor data, ambient light sensor data, display touch sensor data, and / or other desired data may be used to determine whether a proximity sensor has been triggered by a user's finger or head.

[0058] As an illustrative example, ambient light sensor measurements may be lower when the device is held against the user's head (e.g., the ambient light sensor may be at least partially covered, thereby reducing the amount of ambient light reaching the sensor) than when the user is touching the display. Thus, ambient light sensor measurements may be used in conjunction with IMU data to determine whether the display should remain on or be deactivated.

[0059] Alternatively or additionally, a display touch sensor may be used. Specifically, when a user holds a phone to their head (e.g., to make a phone call), the display touch sensor may receive touch input corresponding to the shape of the user's ear. In contrast, when the user is only interacting with the display, the display touch sensor may receive touch input having a smaller area. Thus, the display touch sensor measurements may be used in conjunction with the IMU data and / or ambient light sensor measurements to determine whether the display should remain on or disabled.

[0060] Regardless of the sensor used to determine whether an external object has triggered the proximity sensor, exemplary steps for making that determination and for adjusting the display based on that determination are described in Figure 7 Shown in.

[0061] like Figure 7 As shown in method 81 of , at step 83, one or more sensors in the electronic device may collect sensor measurements. The sensors may include proximity sensors, IMUs, ambient light sensors, touch sensors, and / or other desired sensors. The sensor measurements may be analog or digital signals and may form sensor data. In some embodiments, sensor data may be collected continuously (e.g., at regular frame rate intervals) while the electronic device is turned on. Alternatively, sensor measurements may be collected during specific time intervals. In an exemplary embodiment, data from a proximity sensor (e.g., Figure 5 proximity sensor 30) and proximity data from an IMU (e.g., Figure 5 The motion data of the IMU 62).

[0062] At step 84, the sensor measurements / data may be analyzed. For example, a controller such as controller 16 ( Figure 1 ) can analyze the proximity data and the motion data. Specifically, the controller can first determine whether the proximity sensor has been triggered. In other words, the controller can determine whether the external object is within a threshold proximity of the proximity sensor.

[0063] In response to determining that the proximity sensor has been triggered by an external object, the controller may further analyze the data to determine whether the proximity sensor was triggered in response to the user lifting the device to their head (as opposed to simply touching the display). Specifically, the controller may use a machine learning algorithm to correlate motion data from an IMU in the electronic device with whether the proximity sensor was triggered by the user's finger or the user lifting the device to their head. For example, a gradient boosted tree algorithm, a random forest algorithm, a decision tree algorithm, a support vector machine algorithm, a multilayer perceptron algorithm, a convolutional neural network algorithm, or other suitable machine learning algorithm may be used to determine a detected external object based on data from the IMU. Any number of features from the IMU data may be used to train the machine learning algorithm and make this determination. In some illustrative examples, the position, acceleration, and rotation rate of the device may be used, such as FIG. 4A to FIG. 4C To train the algorithm, sample changes in position, acceleration, and / or rotation rate (and / or other characteristics) when the proximity sensor is covered by a finger and when the device is raised to the user's head can be used.

[0064] After the algorithm is trained with these sample features, the algorithm can be used to determine whether the proximity sensor is covered by a finger or whether the device is raised to the user's head based on the device's position, acceleration, and rotation rate (and / or other inputs). In this way, the controller can determine whether the sensed external object is the user's finger or other object, or whether the user has brought the phone to his head.

[0065] At step 86, if the proximity sensor has been triggered by the user's head (e.g., if it has been determined that the user has brought the device to their head), the controller (or other circuitry) may proceed to step 88 and turn off the display. For example, a touch sensor (or portion of a touch sensor) in the display may be disabled, the display may be completely turned off (e.g., a pixel array (or portion of a pixel array) of the display may stop emitting light), or one or more functions of the display may be otherwise disabled. In this way, when it is determined that the user has raised the phone to their head, the display may be turned off / disabled, and erroneous touch inputs that might otherwise occur may be reduced or eliminated.

[0066] Alternatively, if it is determined that the proximity sensor has been triggered by the user touching the display with their finger or other external object (e.g., the user has not raised the device to their head), the display may remain on at step 90. In other words, the display pixels may continue to emit light, and the touch sensor may remain enabled to allow user input and other interactions with the display. In this way, the display may remain on even when the proximity sensor detects the user's finger, allowing for more seamless interaction with the electronic device.

[0067] According to one embodiment, an electronic device is provided, comprising: a housing; a display located in the housing and comprising a touch sensor and a pixel array configured to emit an image; a proximity sensor located in the housing, the proximity sensor being configured to be triggered in response to the approach of an external object; an inertial measurement unit located in the housing, the inertial measurement unit being configured to measure movement of the housing; and a controller located in the housing, the controller being configured to determine, based on the movement of the housing, whether the proximity sensor is triggered in response to a finger or in response to the housing being held to a head.

[0068] According to another embodiment, the controller is further configured to deactivate the display in response to determining that the proximity sensor has been triggered in response to the housing being held to the head.

[0069] According to another embodiment, the controller is configured to deactivate the display by deactivating a touch sensor in the display.

[0070] According to another embodiment, the controller is further configured to deactivate the display by turning off at least a portion of an array of pixels in the display.

[0071] According to another embodiment, the controller is further configured to keep the pixel array and the touch sensor turned on in response to determining that the proximity sensor has been triggered in response to a finger.

[0072] According to another embodiment, the inertial measurement unit is configured to measure the position of the housing, the acceleration of the housing, and the rotation rate of the housing.

[0073] According to another embodiment, the controller is configured to determine whether the proximity sensor has been triggered in response to a finger or in response to the housing being held to the head based on the position of the housing, the acceleration of the housing, and the rotation rate of the housing.

[0074] According to another embodiment, the controller is configured to use a machine learning algorithm that uses the position of the housing, the acceleration of the housing, and the rotation rate of the housing as inputs to determine whether the proximity sensor has been triggered in response to a finger or in response to the housing being held to the head.

[0075] According to another embodiment, the proximity sensor is below the display.

[0076] According to another embodiment, the proximity sensor is an optical proximity sensor.

[0077] According to another embodiment, the controller is further configured to keep the pixel array and the touch sensor turned on in response to determining that the proximity sensor has been triggered in response to a finger.

[0078] According to another embodiment, the inertial measurement unit includes an accelerometer, a gyroscope, and a magnetometer.

[0079] According to one embodiment, a method for operating an electronic device having a display, a proximity sensor, and an inertial measurement unit is provided, the method comprising: acquiring proximity sensor measurements using the proximity sensor and acquiring motion sensor measurements using the inertial measurement unit; detecting an external object using the proximity sensor; in response to detecting the external object, determining whether the external object is a user's finger or the user's head based on the motion sensor measurements; and in response to determining that the external object is the user's head, deactivating the display.

[0080] According to another embodiment, determining whether the external object is a user's finger or the user's head based on motion sensor measurements includes inputting the position of the electronic device, the acceleration of the electronic device, and the rotation rate of the electronic device into a machine learning algorithm.

[0081] According to another embodiment, the method includes training a machine learning algorithm based on known correlations between the position of the electronic device, the acceleration of the electronic device, and the rotation rate of the electronic device and whether the external object is a user's finger or the user's head.

[0082] According to another embodiment, deactivating the display includes deactivating a touch sensor and a pixel array of the display.

[0083] According to another embodiment, the method includes maintaining a touch sensor and a pixel array of the display turned on in response to determining that the external object is a finger of the user.

[0084] According to one embodiment, an electronic device is provided, comprising: a housing; a display located in the housing; a proximity sensor located in the housing, the proximity sensor being configured to be triggered in response to an external object; a motion sensor located in the housing, the motion sensor being configured to measure movement of the housing; and a controller located in the housing, the controller being configured to determine whether the proximity sensor has been triggered in response to a user's finger or in response to the user's head based on movement of the housing, and the controller being configured to deactivate the display in response to determining that the proximity sensor has been triggered in response to the user's head.

[0085] According to another embodiment, the motion of the housing includes a position of the housing, an acceleration of the housing, and a rotation rate of the housing.

[0086] According to another embodiment, the motion sensor includes an inertial measurement unit including an accelerometer, a gyroscope, and a magnetometer.

[0087] The foregoing is merely illustrative and various modifications may be made to the embodiments described. The foregoing embodiments may be implemented independently or in any combination.

Claims

1. An electronic device, comprising: shell; a display located in the housing and comprising a touch sensor and an array of pixels configured to emit an image; a proximity sensor disposed in the housing, the proximity sensor being configured to be triggered in response to an approach of an external object; an inertial measurement unit located in the housing, the inertial measurement unit configured to measure movement of the housing; and A controller is located in the housing, wherein the controller is configured to determine whether the proximity sensor has been triggered in response to a finger or in response to the housing being held to a head based on the movement of the housing. 2 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to deactivate the display in response to determining that the proximity sensor has been triggered in response to the housing being held to the head. 3 . The electronic device of claim 2 , wherein the controller is configured to deactivate the display by deactivating the touch sensor in the display. 4 . The electronic device of claim 3 , wherein the controller is further configured to deactivate the display by turning off at least a portion of the pixel array in the display. 5 . The electronic device of claim 4 , wherein the controller is further configured to keep the pixel array and the touch sensor turned on in response to determining that the proximity sensor has been triggered in response to the finger. 6 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the inertial measurement unit is configured to measure a position of the housing, an acceleration of the housing, and a rotation rate of the housing.

7. An electronic device according to claim 6, wherein the controller is configured to determine whether the proximity sensor has been triggered in response to the finger or in response to the housing being held to the head based on the position of the housing, the acceleration of the housing, and the rotation rate of the housing.

8. An electronic device according to claim 7, wherein the controller is configured to use a machine learning algorithm that uses the position of the housing, the acceleration of the housing, and the rotation rate of the housing as inputs to determine whether the proximity sensor has been triggered in response to the finger or in response to the housing being held to the head.

9. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the proximity sensor is below the display.

10. The electronic device of claim 9, wherein the proximity sensor is an optical proximity sensor.

11. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the controller is further configured to keep the pixel array and the touch sensor turned on in response to determining that the proximity sensor has been triggered in response to the finger.

12. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the inertial measurement unit comprises an accelerometer, a gyroscope, and a magnetometer.

13. A method of operating an electronic device having a display, a proximity sensor, and an inertial measurement unit, the method comprising: collecting proximity sensor measurements using the proximity sensor and collecting motion sensor measurements using the inertial measurement unit; detecting an external object using the proximity sensor; In response to detecting the external object, determining whether the external object is a finger of a user or a head of the user based on the motion sensor measurements; as well as In response to determining that the external object is the head of the user, the display is deactivated.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein determining whether the external object is the finger of the user or the head of the user based on the motion sensor measurement results comprises inputting the position of the electronic device, the acceleration of the electronic device, and the rotation rate of the electronic device into a machine learning algorithm.

15. The method according to claim 14, further comprising: The machine learning algorithm is trained based on known correlations between the position of the electronic device, the acceleration of the electronic device, and the rotation rate of the electronic device and whether the external object is the finger of the user or the head of the user.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein deactivating the display comprises deactivating a touch sensor and a pixel array of the display.

17. The method according to claim 16, further comprising: In response to determining that the external object is the finger of the user, the touch sensor and the pixel array of the display are kept turned on.

18. An electronic device, comprising: shell; a display, the display being located in the housing; a proximity sensor located in the housing, wherein the proximity sensor is configured to be triggered in response to an external object; a motion sensor located in the housing, wherein the motion sensor is configured to measure motion of the housing; and a controller located in the housing, wherein the controller is configured to determine, based on the movement of the housing, whether the proximity sensor has been triggered in response to a user's finger or in response to a user's head, and wherein the controller is configured to deactivate the display in response to determining that the proximity sensor has been triggered in response to the user's head.

19. The electronic device of claim 18, wherein the motion of the housing comprises a position of the housing, an acceleration of the housing, and a rotation rate of the housing.

20. The electronic device of claim 19, wherein the motion sensor comprises an inertial measurement unit including an accelerometer, a gyroscope, and a magnetometer.

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