Radio Frequency Sensing in Television Environments.

Abstract

Techniques are provided for performing radio frequency (RF) sensing to determine a television user's viewing status. This may be used to determine the user's behavior during content playback (e.g., whether the user is watching the content), which may be used as a data point to determine the user's level of interest in the content. Using the television user's status, embodiments may provide additional or alternative functionality, such as powering down and / or powering up the television. Furthermore, RF sensing may be performed by existing television hardware, such as a Wi-Fi transceiver, thus providing RF sensing capabilities to the television at little or no additional cost.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates generally to object or motion detection, and more particularly to the use of radio frequency (RF) sensing of objects or motion in a television environment. [Background technology]

[0002] With the ever-increasing sophistication of televisions, consumers can stream content from a plethora of content providers. Content providers can further customize content based on user profile information and behavior. However, despite today's sophistication of televisions, collection of user behavior is often limited to viewing history and input during playback (pause, rewind, fast forward, etc.). These crude mechanisms are general to all viewers and provide little information to the content provider. And, while televisions can incorporate cameras to view user behavior during playback, such integration increases the cost of these televisions and can raise privacy concerns for consumers. Summary of the Invention [Means for solving the problem]

[0003] The embodiments described herein address these and other problems by providing RF sensing to determine the status of a television user. This can be used to determine the user's behavior while playing content (e.g., whether the user is watching the content), which can be used as a data point to determine the user's level of interest in the content. Using the television user's status, embodiments can provide additional or alternative functionality, such as powering down and / or powering up the television. Furthermore, RF sensing can be performed by existing television hardware, such as a Wi-Fi transceiver, thus providing RF sensing capabilities to the television at little or no additional cost.

[0004] An exemplary method of radio frequency (RF) sensing of a television user according to the present disclosure includes transmitting a first RF signal with one or more wireless transceivers. The method also includes receiving a first reflected RF signal with the one or more wireless transceivers, the first reflected RF signal including a reflection of the first RF signal from one or more objects. The method also includes determining first channel state information (CSI) of one or more wireless channels from the received first reflected RF signal. The method also includes determining status information based on the first CSI, where the status information may include information regarding a viewing status of the television user. The method also includes performing an action with the television based on the status information.

[0005] An exemplary device for radio frequency (RF) sensing of a television user according to the present disclosure includes one or more wireless transceivers, a memory, and one or more processing units communicatively coupled to the one or more wireless transceivers and the memory. The one or more processing units are configured to transmit a first RF signal with the one or more wireless transceivers. The one or more processing units are also configured to receive a first reflected RF signal with the one or more wireless transceivers, the first reflected RF signal may include a reflection of the first RF signal from one or more objects. The one or more processing units are also configured to determine a first channel state information (CSI) of one or more wireless channels from the received first reflected RF signal. The one or more processing units are also configured to determine status information based on the first CSI, the status information may include information regarding a viewing status of the television user, and may perform an action with the television based on the status information.

[0006] Another exemplary device for radio frequency (RF) sensing of a television user according to the present disclosure includes means for transmitting a first RF signal. The device also includes means for receiving a first reflected RF signal, which may include a reflection of the first RF signal from one or more objects. The device also includes means for determining first channel state information (CSI) of one or more wireless channels from the received first reflected RF signal. The device also includes means for determining status information based on the first CSI, where the status information may include information regarding a viewing status of the television user. The device also includes means for performing an action with the television based on the status information.

[0007] An exemplary non-transitory computer-readable medium according to the present disclosure stores instructions for radio frequency (RF) sensing of a television user. The instructions include code for transmitting a first RF signal with one or more wireless transceivers. The instructions also include code for receiving a first reflected RF signal with one or more wireless transceivers, the first reflected RF signal may include a reflection of the first RF signal from one or more objects. The instructions also include code for determining a first channel state information (CSI) of one or more wireless channels from the received first reflected RF signal. The instructions also include code for determining status information based on the first CSI, the status information may include information regarding a viewing status of the television user. The instructions also include code for performing an action with the television based on the status information. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example radio frequency (RF) sensing system capable of performing RF sensing in a television environment. [Diagram 2] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an exemplary television environment. [Diagram 3] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an exemplary television environment. [Figure 4A] FIG. 2 illustrates a television user in a television environment from the television's perspective, according to one embodiment. [Figure 4B] FIG. 2 illustrates a television user in a television environment from the television's perspective, according to one embodiment. [Figure 4C] FIG. 2 illustrates a television user in a television environment from the television's perspective, according to one embodiment. [Diagram 5] 4 is a flow chart illustrating a process for determining a television user's interest in content presented by a television, according to one embodiment. [Figure 6A]1A-1C illustrate various ways in which user interests may be recorded, according to various embodiments. [Figure 6B] 1A-1C illustrate various ways in which user interests may be recorded, according to various embodiments. [Figure 6C] 1A-1C illustrate various ways in which user interests may be recorded, according to various embodiments. [Figure 7] 11 is a flowchart illustrating a process for powering down a television based on information obtained from RF sensing, according to one embodiment. [Figure 8] 1 is a flowchart illustrating a process for powering up a television based on information obtained from RF sensing, according to one embodiment. [Figure 9] 9 is a flow diagram illustrating a method 900 of RF sensing of a television user, according to one embodiment. [Figure 10] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of one embodiment of a computer system that can be utilized in the embodiments described herein. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0009] According to some exemplary implementations, like reference numbers in various figures refer to like elements. In addition, multiple instances of an element may be indicated by a first number for that element followed by a letter or a hyphen and a second number. For example, multiple instances of element 110 may be indicated as 110-1, 110-2, 110-3, etc. or as 110a, 110b, 110c, etc. When referring to such an element using only the first number, any instance of that element should be understood (e.g., element 110 in the previous example would refer to elements 110-1, 110-2, and 110-3 or elements 110a, 110b, and 110c).

[0010] The following description is directed to several implementations for the purpose of describing the inventive aspects of the present disclosure. However, those skilled in the art will readily recognize that the teachings herein may be applied in many different ways. Some examples in the present disclosure may be based on wireless local area network (WLAN) communication according to the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 wireless standard, including those identified as Wi-Fi technology. However, the implementations described may be based on, for example, the IEEE 802.11 standard, the Bluetooth standard, code division multiple access (CDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), GSM / General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), Enhanced Data GSM Environment (EDGE), Terrestrial Based Radio (TETRA), Wideband-CDMA (W-CDMA), Evolutionary Data Optimized (EV-DO), 1xEV-DO, EV-DO Rev A, EV-DO Rev B. may be implemented in any device, system, or network capable of transmitting and receiving radio frequency (RF) signals according to any communications standard, such as High Speed ​​Packet Access (HSPA), High Speed ​​Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), High Speed ​​Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA), Evolved High Speed ​​Packet Access (HSPA+), Long Term Evolution (LTE), AMPS, or any of other known signals used to communicate within wireless, cellular, or Internet of Things (IoT) networks, such as systems utilizing technologies of 3G, 4G, 5G, 6G, or further implementations thereof.

[0011] As used herein, an "RF signal" comprises an electromagnetic wave that carries information through space between a transmitter (or transmitting device) and a receiver (or receiving device). As used herein, a transmitter may transmit a single "RF signal" or multiple "RF signals" to a receiver. However, the receiver may receive multiple "RF signals" corresponding to each transmitted RF signal due to the propagation characteristics of RF signals through a multipath channel. The same transmitted RF signal on different paths between the transmitter and receiver may be referred to as a "multipath" RF signal.

[0012] As mentioned above, RF signals can be used in RF sensing. RF signals with relatively high frequencies, such as 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, or 6 GHz (commonly used in WLAN implementations), have wavelengths small enough to provide a resolution capable of detecting the presence of an object (e.g., based on the volume occupied by the object and / or the movement performed by the object) and identifying the object. Furthermore, such RF sensing can be implemented by existing Wi-Fi / IEEE802.11 / WLAN transceivers used for communication. Therefore, RF sensing can be implemented with little or no additional cost to televisions with these types of existing transceivers. RF sensing can even be implemented in televisions already in the field by firmware updates. However, RF sensing can be achieved by additional or alternative transceivers. For example, according to some embodiments, the transceiver may be located in a separate device that is communicatively coupled to the television (referred to herein as a "connected device"), such as a set-top box, a television streaming device (e.g., a ROKU®, a Google Chromecast™ device, an Amazon Fire TV®, etc.), a video game system, etc.

[0013] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an exemplary RF sensing system 105 capable of performing RF sensing in a television environment as described herein. Briefly, the RF sensing system 105 uses one or more RF signals, including one or more waveforms, sequences, or packets, to determine the presence and / or movement of an object. This can be done by using the RF signals for channel acquisition, and by performing channel estimation to obtain a channel impulse response (CIR), a channel frequency response (CFR), and / or other forms of channel state information (CSI) indicative of the presence and / or movement of an object. CSI indicates aspects of an RF signal, such as multipath, reflections, and signal strength of each path. More broadly, CSI may represent, for example, the combined effects of scattering, fading, and power attenuation over distance. According to some embodiments, channel estimation used in the form of a wireless communication system may be used to obtain the CSI. (In wireless communication, CSI is used to properly demodulate and decode received packets.) Thus, embodiments may leverage existing channel estimation techniques and may be leveraged to obtain CSI for RF sensing purposes.

[0014] More specifically, the RF sensing system 105 can obtain CSI associated with the RF signal 112 reflected from the object 110. According to some embodiments, the RF sensing system 105 can use the CSI to calculate a distance and an angle of arrival corresponding to the reflected signal received by the Rx antenna 120. For example, the RF sensing system 105 can determine the distance by calculating a time of flight for the reflected signal based on the difference between a leakage signal (not shown) and the reflected signal. In a further example, the RF sensing system 105 can utilize an antenna array (e.g., the RX antenna 120) to receive the reflected signal and determine the angle of arrival by measuring the difference in receive phase at each element of the antenna array.

[0015] As described in more detail below, the RF sensing system 105 can use the distance and / or angle of arrival corresponding to the reflected signal to detect the presence or movement of an object (e.g., a television user) in a location and / or a user's head orientation, eye orientation, body position, etc.

[0016] In some embodiments, the RF sensing system 105 may utilize artificial intelligence or machine learning algorithms to perform motion detection, object classification, head / eye orientation detection, and / or body localization. In some examples, the machine learning techniques may include supervised machine learning techniques that utilize neural networks, linear and logistic regression, classification trees, support vector machines, any other suitable supervised machine learning techniques, or any combination thereof. For example, a data set of sample RF sensing data may be selected for training the machine learning algorithm or artificial intelligence.

[0017] The RF sensing techniques described herein may be performed regardless of their association with a Wi-Fi network. For example, RF sensing system 105 may utilize its Wi-Fi transmitter and Wi-Fi receiver to perform the RF sensing described herein when the RF sensing is not associated with any access point or Wi-Fi network.

[0018] The RF sensing system 105 may include a standalone device or may be integrated into a television or a connected device. For example, the RF sensing system 105 may be integrated into a WLAN radio of a television or connected device. Exemplary components of an electronic device including an RF sensing system are shown in FIG. 10 and described in more detail below. As described in more detail below, some embodiments may be implemented such that an RF signal is transmitted by one device and received by another device.

[0019] Generally speaking, with respect to the function of the RF sensing system 105 of FIG. 1, the RF sensing system 105 may detect an object 110 by generating an RF signal (e.g., including one or more pulses) transmitted by one or more Tx antennas 115 that reflects off the object 110 and is received by one or more Rx antennas 120. The received signal may then be processed by the RF sensing system 105 using digital signal processing (DSP) techniques (including leakage cancellation) to determine the presence and / or range of the object. The process of transmitting, receiving, and processing the signal is generally referred to herein as an RF sensing "scan." As described in more detail herein, the frequency or period of the scan may vary depending on the type of transmission mode (e.g., low-resolution or high-resolution scanning), but may often be several times per second.

[0020] In some embodiments, the RF sensing system 105 may have multiple Rx antennas 120. For example, WLAN radios typically have 2-4 antennas. In such embodiments, the CSI received at the different Rx antennas 120 may be used to determine angular information (e.g., by using Rx beamforming, determining angular information phase differences, etc.). In some implementations, an embodiment with two antennas achieves, for example, an angular granularity of 10°-15°, and an embodiment with four antennas achieves a granularity of 2°-3°. Furthermore, in some other embodiments, the RF sensing system 105 may have multiple Tx antennas 115. For example, WLAN radios typically have 2-4 antennas. In such embodiments, the phases of the Tx antennas may be configured to transmit the RF signal in a beam pointing in a direction. In some implementations, an embodiment with two Tx antennas achieves, for example, an angular granularity of 10°-15°, and an embodiment with four Tx antennas achieves a granularity of 2°-3°. Changes in the CSI over time (e.g., from one scan to the next) indicate motion of the object 110, where the changes may include changes in the amplitude or phase of the CSI. Additionally or alternatively, the changes may include changes in metrics extracted and / or estimated from the CSI, such as the time of flight and angle of each reflection path. Thus, the RF signals may be used to determine the location, volume, and movement of the object.

[0021] This functionality of the RF sensing system 105 is made possible through the use of the processing unit 125, memory 130, multiplexer (mux) 135, Tx processing circuitry 140, and Rx processing circuitry 145. The RF sensing system 105 may include additional components not shown, such as a power source, a user interface, or an electronic interface. However, it should be noted that these components of the RF sensing system 105 may be rearranged or otherwise modified in alternative embodiments depending on the desired functionality. Additionally, as used herein, the terms "transmit circuitry," "Tx circuitry," or "Tx processing circuitry" refer to any circuitry utilized to create and / or transmit RF signals. Similarly, the terms "receive circuitry," "Rx circuitry," or "Rx processing circuitry" refer to any circuitry utilized to detect and / or process RF signals. Thus, the terms "transmit circuitry" and "receive circuitry" may include not only the Tx processing circuitry 140 and the Rx processing circuitry 145, respectively, but also the mux 135 and the processing unit 125. In some embodiments, the processing unit 125 may constitute at least a portion of a modem and / or a wireless communication interface (e.g., wireless communication interface 1033 of FIG. 10 described below). In some embodiments, two or more processing units may be used to perform the functions of the processing unit 125 described herein. Additionally, although the Tx antenna 115 and the Rx antenna 120 are shown as separate antennas, some embodiments may use the same antenna or antennas for transmission and reception.

[0022] The Tx processing circuit 140 and the Rx processing circuit 145 may comprise subcomponents for generating and detecting RF signals, respectively. As one skilled in the art will appreciate, the Tx processing circuit 140 may therefore include a pulse generator, a digital-to-analog converter (DAC), a mixer (for upmixing the signal to a transmit frequency), one or more amplifiers (for feeding the transmission via the Tx antenna 115), and the like. The Rx processing circuit 145 may have similar hardware for processing the detected RF signals. In particular, the Rx processing circuit 145 may comprise an amplifier (for amplifying the signal received via the Rx antenna 120), a mixer for downconverting the received signal from the transmit frequency, an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) for digitizing the received signal, and a pulse correlator that provides a matched filter for the pulses generated by the Tx processing circuit 140. The Rx processing circuit 145 may therefore use the correlator output as a CIR, which may be processed by the processing unit 125 (or other circuitry), for example, for leakage cancellation. Other processing of the CSI obtained from the RF signals may also be performed, such as object detection, range, motion, direction of departure (DoD) or direction of arrival (DoA) estimation.

[0023] It should be noted that the characteristics of the transmitted RF signal 112 may vary depending on the technology utilized. As previously mentioned, the techniques provided herein may be applicable to WLAN technologies, which typically operate at 2.4, 5, and 6 GHz, but may include frequencies ranging from 900 MHz to 60 GHz. (Although some embodiments may utilize RF frequencies outside this range.) This includes, for example, frequencies utilized by the 802.11ad Wi-Fi standard (which operates at 60 GHz). RF sensing may be performed in the same frequency band as communication, so hardware may be utilized for both communication and RF sensing. For example, one or more of the components of the RF sensing system 105 shown in FIG. 1 may be included in a television's wireless modem (e.g., a Wi-Fi or 5G modem). Although, embodiments may utilize the RF sensing system 105 independently of any such means of communication. As discussed above, for example, some embodiments may utilize an ultra-wideband (UWB) transceiver. The described techniques for RF sensing may utilize various types of RF signals, such as Zadoff sequences, symbols such as Long Training Field (LTF) of Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM), for channel acquisition to determine the presence and / or movement of the object 110. Since the RF sensing system may be capable of sending RF signals for communication (e.g., using 802.11 communication technology), the embodiments may leverage the channel estimation used in the communication to obtain CSI for performing RF sensing, as provided herein. In Wi-Fi, channel estimation may be performed by using Legacy Long Training Field (L-LTF) and High Throughput (HT) / Very High Throughput (VHT) / High Efficiency Long Training Field (HE-LTF) in the communication packet preamble. The embodiments may use a similar approach, for example, by using a known transmission signal for channel estimation. Thus, the RF signal may include the same wireless pulses and / or packets used for channel estimation in the communication.

[0024] As mentioned above, embodiments herein are directed to RF sensing in a television environment that allows the television (and / or connected devices) to provide additional functionality, such as determining user interest in the television's content, automatically powering up the television and / or automatically powering down the television, while avoiding the privacy concerns, hardware costs, and power consumption that the use of a camera can entail.

[0025] 2 is a perspective view of an exemplary television environment 200 illustrating how RF sensing may be used to detect one or more television users 210-1, 210-2 (collectively and generally referred to herein as television users 210), according to one embodiment. Here, a first transceiver 220, which may include an RF sensing system 105 integrated into the circuitry of the television 230, may transmit RF signals that reflect off objects within the television environment 200 and are received by a second transceiver 240 (shown as a media streaming device plugged into the television 230). The location of the first transceiver 210 is shown with a dotted line indicating an exemplary location behind the display of the television, and the first transceiver 210 may be housed within the television. A processor or computer communicatively coupled to the first transceiver 210 and the second transceiver 240, such as a processor internal to the television 230, may coordinate the timing of the transmission and reception of the RF signals. The first transceiver 210 and the second transceiver 240 may be communicatively linked to and / or incorporated within electrical hardware of the television 230. As previously mentioned, exemplary electrical hardware is shown in FIG. 10 and described in more detail below.

[0026] As a specific example of how the first television user 210-1 is detected, a portion of the RF signal traveling along the RF signal path 250 reflects from the first television user 210-1. These RF signal reflections are received by the second transceiver 240. As previously described, these reflections may be identified within the captured RF sensing data, such as CSI, and used to determine the presence of the television user 210-1 by comparing the RF sensing data (including the captured CSI and / or information derived therefrom) to previously obtained RF sensing data in which the television user 210-1 is not present (e.g., from CSI captured during a calibration procedure). For example, the presence of a human user may be determined based on CSI-derived information indicating the detection of a human-sized object (based on one or more dimensions of the object), the detection of which may be verified during calibration as a human user. Additionally or alternatively, the movement of the first television user 210-1 may be detected by determining changes in continuously captured RF sensing data (e.g., from successive scans). Such changes may include, for example, changes in the amplitude of the CSI, the phase of the CSI, the angle extracted from the CSI, the time of flight extracted from the CSI, the Doppler extracted from the CSI, or any combination thereof. Furthermore, RF sensing data of RF signals having multiple spatial streams and / or relatively high bandwidth may be used to determine objects and / or smaller movements and / or finer details than RF sensing data of RF signals having fewer spatial streams and / or relatively lower bandwidth.

[0027] It may be noted that the configuration shown in Figure 2 is provided as a non-limiting example. Additionally or alternatively, a second transceiver 240 outside the television may transmit an RF signal and the first transceiver 210 may receive a reflected RF signal. Alternative configurations may have multiple transceivers outside the television 230, multiple transceivers within the television 230, or any combination of internal / external transceivers. Additionally, although generally described herein as a "transceiver," alternative embodiments may utilize transmitters and / or receivers in the manner described herein.

[0028] FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an exemplary television environment 300 similar to FIG. 2, illustrating how RF sensing may be performed according to another embodiment. Here, rather than having separate transceivers, the television 230 has a single transceiver 310. In this embodiment, the transceiver 310 includes the RF sensing system 105 and may perform the functions of both the first transceiver 210 and the second transceiver 220 of FIG. 2, transmitting and receiving RF signals, and processing RF signals reflected from the television user 210-1 traveling along the RF signal path 330 (as well as processing signals reflected from other objects). As one skilled in the art will appreciate, because the transceiver 310 may perform both transmitting and receiving functions simultaneously, the transceiver 310 may implement leakage mitigation and / or similar algorithms to help minimize interference between the transmitting and receiving functions. Thus, in the television environment 200 of FIG. 2, channel acquisition (between the first transceiver 210 and the second transceiver 240) may be used to acquire CSI and perform RF sensing, while in the television environment 300 of FIG. 3, a single transceiver 310 can acquire CSI and perform RF sensing.

[0029] Whether in a single transceiver environment (e.g., television environment 300 of FIG. 3) or in a multi-transceiver environment (e.g., television environment 200 of FIG. 2), determining the presence of a first television user 210-1 and distinguishing the first television user 210-1 from a second television user 210-2 and other objects may be accomplished in part through calibration and filtering. For example, the television 230 may recognize reflections of RF signals from the television user 210 (e.g., at the location where they are watching the television 230) and guide an authorized user (e.g., a user authorized to change television settings and / or possibly manage the television) to perform transceiver calibration to ignore reflections of RF signals from other objects (pets, tablets, chairs, etc.). After calibration, RF sensing may be performed by comparing RF sensing data (e.g., CSI) from the reflections of RF signals to RF sensing data acquired during calibration to identify the presence of the television user 210. Additional details related to calibration are provided with reference to Figures 4A-4C.

[0030] 4A-4C are diagrams of a television user 210 in the television environment 200 of FIG. 2 from the perspective of a television 230 (not shown). As mentioned above, the television 230 may not be equipped with a camera, and therefore the television may not "see" the television user 210 in the manner shown in FIG. 4A-4C. However, as mentioned above, RF sensing in the manner described herein may enable the determination of movement, the presence of one or more television users 210 and other objects in the television environment, and the status or state of one or more television users 210. This may be done by leveraging information obtained during a calibration process.

[0031] During calibration, the television may guide the television user 210 and / or other authorized users (e.g., using an on-screen menu) through a process in which RF sensing data such as CSI or CIR is acquired while the television user 210 is in a viewing position at a viewing location. For example, FIG. 4A shows a situation similar to FIG. 2, where two users 210-1 and 210-2 are sitting on a couch with their heads facing the television. During calibration, which may be performed for one user at a time, the television user 210 may be sitting in / near these locations in a similar position. The RF sensing data, including the CSI or information derived therefrom (e.g., volumetric information of the television user 210), may then be compared to corresponding RF sensing data from the CSI acquired at a subsequent time to determine whether the user is in a desired location and / or in a desired position at a subsequent time.

[0032] Calibration may entail capturing CSI from users at a variety of different locations and in a variety of different positions. For example, individual television users 210 may be asked to sit in the various positions where they normally watch television. This may enable the television (or other device performing RF sensing) to identify instances during subsequent operations where one or more television users 210 are watching television (e.g., as in FIG. 4A ) and ignore television users in scenarios such as that shown in FIG. 4B where television user 210-3 is in a different location.

[0033] Embodiments may further identify situations such as that shown in FIG. 4C where the television user 210-4 is in a location where he or she may be viewing the television, but is not in a position that indicates he or she is viewing the television. Here, for example, the television user's head is turned sideways, and thus the attention of the television user 210-4 may not be directed to the content being shown by the television. According to some embodiments, these situations may be detected by simply detecting differences in RF sensing data while the television user 210-4 is in this position and corresponding RF sensing data from the CSI obtained during calibration (while the television user 210-4 was in a "gaze position" watching the TV, similar to the position of the television user 210 in FIG. 4A). As mentioned above, such data may include, for example, measurements of multipath, reflections and signal strength for each path. A variance in one or more of these measurements that exceeds a threshold amount (e.g., a certain percentage) from corresponding measurements obtained during calibration while the television user 210-4 was in a "gaze position" may result in a determination that the user is not in a gaze position. Additionally or alternatively, according to some embodiments, the calibration may include RF sensing data obtained from the CSI of the television user 210-4 in various "not gaze" positions (e.g., head to the side or down) that indicate the television user 210-4 is not watching television, and situations such as the situation shown in FIG. 4C may be identified based on comparing the RF sensing data (now) obtained from the CSI with RF sensing data from the CSI obtained while the television user 210-4 was not in a gaze position.

[0034] However, it may be noted that while some embodiments may have a calibration process in which CSI is acquired while the television user 210 is in various positions (e.g., gaze and non-gaze positions) at various locations, other embodiments may leverage crowdsourcing and / or machine learning to capture a minimum amount of CSI. That is, a service provider (e.g., a TV manufacturer) may acquire CSI information from thousands or millions of television users 210. Using this information, the service provider may develop processing algorithms that can "extrapolate" information from the minimum set of CSI. For example, using CSI from thousands of television users 210 in "gaze" and "non-gaze" positions, the service provider may train a machine learning algorithm to identify the "non-gaze" positions of the television user based on the basic "gaze" positions of the television user acquired during calibration. The machine learning algorithm may then be used in televisions (or other devices) that are manufactured later and / or propagated to televisions (or other devices) in the field via firmware updates over the Internet.

[0035] As previously shown with respect to FIG. 1, RF sensing is based on the reflection of RF signals from the surface of an object. Based on the reflection at various angles (azimuth and elevation) and range, the location and volume of the object can be determined. As described above, this can be used to determine whether the television user 210 is at a particular location, as well as to determine whether the television user is in a position that indicates that he is watching television. Higher resolution implementations can obtain higher resolution RF scans that can obtain additional information. For example, implementations operating at 5 GHz or 6 GHz may be able to determine the dimensions of the television user's head, torso, and limbs from the captured CSI. For example, implementations using 60 GHz may be able to determine the eye position of the television user. As such, calibration may entail additional steps. For example, in an embodiment using 60 GHz, calibration may entail capturing CSI while the television user 210 is looking towards the television, and optionally capturing CSI while the television user 210 is looking away from the television.

[0036] The RF sensing data, including the CSI and / or information extracted from the captured CSI (e.g., volumetric information, eye tracking information, etc.), may be stored (e.g., locally by the television and / or in the cloud by the service provider) in a user profile. Because the RF sensing data of different television users 210 may be distinguishingly different, it may be used to identify the television user 210 and to distinguish the television user 210 from other objects such as pets. Calibration and setup of different user profiles for different users may be used to enable the television or connected device to identify the television user 210 using RF sensing. Creation of a new user profile may be initiated by an authorized user (e.g., upon detecting a new unidentified television user at the television viewing location via RF sensing) and / or prompted by the television.

[0037] Each user profile may include information that allows a television (or other RF sensing device) to identify the user. This may therefore include RF sensing data, including captured CSI (e.g., from the RF sensing calibration performed when the user profile was initially generated) or information derived therefrom, such as volumetric information. Volumetric information may include total volume information (e.g., height, width, etc.) and / or the volumes of various parts of the user (e.g., head, torso, arms, legs, etc.), as well as the locations of these volumes. However, since RF sensing may be capable of sensing more than just volume to identify television users, other types of information used to detect and / or identify television users may be stored. For example, RF sensing may be capable of sensing respiration rates for different users, which may be used, for example, as additional points of data by which television users may be identified. Moreover, for high frequency embodiments (e.g., 60 GHz and above), certain facial features (eyes, nose, mouth, cheeks, etc.) may be identified and identification algorithms may be used to recognize the television user's face and distinguish it from the faces of other television users. The user profile may further include information about the television environment, such as a preferred sitting location of the user with respect to the television environment. The user profile may include a preferred or normal pose in which the user watches television, such as sitting, lying down, etc. As mentioned above, when RF sensing is later performed (e.g., in the manner described in the embodiments shown in Figures 5 and 7-9), RF sensing data obtained during RF sensing may be compared to corresponding RF sensing data from the user profile to identify the television user.

[0038] In addition, the user profile may include information provided by the user and / or information about the user collected by the RF sensing device and / or the service provider. For example, while generating a user profile for a new user, the television may guide the new user through an on-screen menu that allows the user to input various preferences. According to some embodiments, for example, the on-screen menu may include a series of questions whose answers may indicate the user's preferences. Moreover, these preferences may affect not only the initial television content (movies, TV shows, etc.), but also advertising content.

[0039] According to some embodiments, some user accounts may include child accounts. For example, by using a password to initiate a user profile generation process, an authorized (adult) user may generate a user profile for a child, providing similar information as provided in the generation of a user profile for an adult. However, the authorized user may additionally indicate (e.g., using a non-screen menu item such as a checkbox, radio button, etc.) that the new user is a child. Thus, the television may allow the authorized user to set content filtering, screen time limits, etc., on the child's user account. In subsequent use of the television, if the television senses that the child is using RF sensing, the television may then implement filtering in the absence of an adult and / or in some cases when the adult does not give permission (e.g., does not enter a password) to view content that is restricted for viewing by children.

[0040] Once a user profile is generated, the functionality of the television may be customized to accommodate the preferences of one or more users who use the television. For example, using RF sensing, one or more users may be identified and on-screen menus may be customized to provide curated content based on the user preferences. If more than one user is identified, the content may be based on the preferences of the multiple users (e.g., providing content and / or other menu options that may satisfy the preferences for all users). Accordingly, menus and content may be customized for each user and / or combination of users.

[0041] As mentioned above, the service provider can obtain information from many (thousands, millions, etc.) TVs to perform crowdsourcing based on information provided by users. (Such crowdsourcing may be performed, for example, after receiving permission to do so from individual users, and in compliance with applicable laws and regulations regarding protecting consumer information, etc.) Using information obtained from users regarding their preferences and demographic information (gender, age, country / state / city of residence, etc.), the service provider may be able to determine trends among various demographics for various types of content. These trends may then be used to provide suggestions for new content to television users within those demographics.

[0042] As described in various embodiments below, a television (or a connected RF sensing device) may perform RF sensing scans at various times to detect the presence of a television user and, optionally, to gauge the television user's interest in content shown by the television. A user profile may store RF sensing data acquired during a setup process in which RF sensing is calibrated for a particular television user. Detection of a user may occur when new RF sensing data acquired during subsequent use of the television matches (e.g., within a threshold degree of similarity based on a similarity metric such as sum of absolute differences (SAD)) with the stored RF sensing data of the user profile. If the new RF sensing data is within a threshold degree of similarity with stored RF sensing data from multiple user profiles, the user having stored RF sensing data that most closely matches the new RF sensing data may be the detected user.

[0043] Comparing and matching the new RF sensing data to the stored RF sensing data may be done in any of a variety of ways depending on the desired functionality. In some embodiments, for example, one or more "features" may be extracted from the acquired CSI, e.g., an acquired 2D CSI map, which may include the information discussed above (e.g., volume, respiration rate, facial features, etc.). These features may be derived from the CSI, such as 2D Angle of Arrival (AoA) and Time of Flight (ToF) data, or similar data. Distances between the measured features of the new RF sensing data and corresponding features from the stored RF sensing data may be determined, and a similarity learning algorithm may be used to generate a similarity score. The determination of whether a match exists may be based on whether the similarity score exceeds a threshold.

[0044] The threshold for the similarity score may be set to minimize the false alarm rate while maintaining a high successful detection rate. According to some embodiments, there may be multiple thresholds to determine whether the similarity score indicates a match (e.g., above a higher threshold similarity value), a mismatch (e.g., below a lower threshold similarity value), or more tests are needed to confirm (e.g., the similarity score falls between the higher and lower threshold similarity values). According to some initial results, embodiments have been found to achieve a false detection rate of 1 in 100,000 or less for face recognition over 99% of the time.

[0045] Other embodiments may use still other techniques to match the new RF sensing data with the stored RF sensing data. In some embodiments, for example, where processing power allows, machine learning may be used by feeding the difference between the CSI of the new RF sensing data and the CSI of the stored RF sensing data to a machine learning algorithm to determine if a match exists. Additionally or alternatively, filtering may be used to filter out uninteresting reflections and focus on paths reflected by television users. Interpolation may then be used to recover finer resolution reflections, etc.

[0046] The stored RF sensing data may be improved over time depending on the desired functionality. Subsequent calibrations may be obtained periodically and / or based on trigger events. In some embodiments, when a user is detected by matching new RF sensing data with stored RF sensing data from the user profile, values ​​in the stored RF sensing data may be updated based on values ​​from the new RF sensing data (e.g., averaged over time). In this manner, the RF sensing data may be updated to ensure accurate data is stored for the user and to help accommodate possible changes in the user, such as a child growing over time. In some embodiments, the television or connected RF sensing device may prompt the user to confirm the user's identity (e.g., via an interactive television menu) before updating the RF sensing data stored in the user's profile. (e.g., "Alice detected, confirm.") In some embodiments, such additional confirmations and calibrations may occur until a threshold amount of time (e.g., several weeks) has passed following an initial calibration for the user profile to help ensure accuracy in the RF sensing data stored in the user profile.

[0047] The ability to perform RF sensing in the manner described above and shown in Figures 1-4C can enable a television to provide functionality related to object detection and / or motion detection that may otherwise require cameras that are not only more expensive but may also compromise the privacy of the television user.

[0048] One such function is detection of television user interest. Content is more highly rated when it captures the interest of the user. Thus, presenting content that the user shows interest in is more highly rated not only by consumers but also by content providers, including advertisers. With this in mind, RF sensing may be performed during playback of particular content by the television to determine the level of interest one or more users have in the content being presented by the television. This information may be used locally by the television and / or remotely by the content provider as feedback to enable the television / content provider to provide content of interest to the television user.

[0049] FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating a process for determining a television user's interest in content screened by a television, according to one embodiment. As with other figures provided herein, FIG. 5 is provided as a non-limiting example. Alternative embodiments may add, omit, rearrange, and / or otherwise modify operations shown in FIG. 5. RF sensing provided in the process shown in FIG. 5 may be provided by an RF sensing system such as shown in FIG. 1, which may be used in one or more transceivers such as shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3. An implementation of the process shown in FIG. 5 may be performed by one or more processing units of a television or connected device. A processor (e.g., a processing unit) and other example components of a television / connected device are shown in FIG. 10 and described below.

[0050] The process may begin at block 510, where a determination is made whether certain content is being played by the television, where certain content may include any content for which a user interest is determined. For example, advertisements and other content such as technical reports may include content for which a user interest is determined. The type of content may be user selectable (e.g., in a user menu) and may vary based on desired functionality, user preferences, etc.

[0051] The determination of what type of playback is detected may be made based on metadata about the media being played. For example, a video for video on demand (VOD) may include metadata including title, genre, etc. Additionally or alternatively, embodiments may include explicit data fields by which such videos may be flagged for user interest determination. For advertisements in a live data stream, a digital "cue tone" in the data stream may indicate a period in the stream during which an advertisement may be played. In response to the cue tone, the television may play the advertisement from an advertisement buffer and / or retrieve the advertisement in real time from an advertisement server. If an advertisement is the type of content for which user interest is determined, some embodiments may include, as part of the process of playing the advertisement, performing the functions of FIG. 5 by proceeding to the functions of block 520.

[0052] At block 520, the function includes performing high resolution ("hi-res") RF sensing. In the current implementation, low resolution ("low-res") RF sensing is a mode of RF sensing that captures CSI at a relatively low frequency (e.g., periodicity of 100 ms or more, alternatively 500 ms or more, alternatively 1 s or more, etc.), a relatively low bandwidth (e.g., 20 MHz or less or 40 MHz or less), and / or a relatively few spatial streams (e.g., a single spatial stream). Depending on the frequency / bandwidth / number of spatial streams used, low resolution RF sensing may only be capable of motion detection, while some embodiments may be capable of detecting television users and / or other objects. In contrast, high resolution RF sensing is an RF sensing mode in which CSI may be captured at a relatively high frequency (e.g., periodicity of 1 ms or less, alternatively 2 ms or less, alternatively 50 ms or less, etc.), a relatively high bandwidth (e.g., 80 MHz or more, or 160 MHz or more), and / or an increased number of spatial streams (e.g., two or more) compared to the number used in low resolution detection. Therefore, high resolution RF sensing (e.g., in the manner performed in block 520 of FIG. 5) may be able to detect movement and / or objects with greater accuracy than low resolution detection. For example, high resolution detection can determine the position of a user, including seating position / pose, head orientation, etc. Moreover, for embodiments using sufficiently high frequencies, high resolution detection can determine the eye position of one or more television users.

[0053] At block 530, the function includes determining the interest of one or more television users in the segment of content based on the high resolution RF sensing. As described above, high resolution RF scanning may be used to determine the location and position of one or more television users. By comparing the RF sensing data (CSI or information extracted therefrom) with corresponding data for users in "not-gaze" and "gaze" positions, a television or other electronic device performing RF sensing can determine a level of interest. For example, multiple scans may be performed (e.g., several times per second) for a given segment of content. If the RF sensing data from most of the scans during the segment matched the RF sensing data obtained during a calibration in which the television user was in the "not-gaze" position (and / or did not match the RF sensing data obtained during a calibration in which the television user was in the "gaze" position), it may be determined that the user is not interested in that segment of content. Alternatively, if it is determined that a television user "gazed" a segment of content for X% of the scan, the television user may be determined to exhibit X% interest in that segment of content. Additional ways in which user interest may be determined and recorded are provided below.

[0054] At block 540, the television or other electronic device performing RF sensing determines whether the particular content identified at block 510 is still playing. If so, the processes at blocks 520 and 530 may be repeated for each segment of content until the content has finished playing. Once the content has finished playing, the result may be recorded, as shown in block 550.

[0055] The manner in which the results of RF sensing to determine television user interests are recorded can vary depending on the desired functionality. Figures 6A-6C are diagrams illustrating various ways in which user interests may be recorded, according to various embodiments.

[0056] FIG. 6A illustrates a first type of viewing log 600-A according to one embodiment. In this embodiment, an entry is created that summarizes viewing interest in the content across all segments of the content. In the particular example illustrated in FIG. 6A, the content may include a 30-second advertisement divided into 30 1-second segments. The viewing log 600-A provides a cumulative summary in which the number of segments (seconds) in which the television user was determined to be in a "gaze" position is summed, and the sum is included in the entry for that television user. This process is repeated for each detected television user. Depending on the desired functionality, a new viewing log 600 may be generated for each item of content and / or a composite viewing log may include entries for multiple items of content.

[0057] FIG. 6B illustrates a second viewing log 600-B similar to viewing log 600-A illustrated in FIG. 6A. However, rather than including a "duration of interest" summary (contained in viewing log 600-A) over which segments of the content are summed, viewing log 600-B includes a "maximum portion of interest" field (as identified by a start time and end time within the content) that identifies the longest continuous segment of the content during which the respective television user was determined to be in a "gaze" position. This may be particularly useful in determining which portion of the content maintained the television user's interest the longest. Alternative embodiments may indicate, for example, a "maximum portion of disinterest" that indicates the longest continuous portion of the content during which the respective television user was not in a "gaze" position.

[0058] FIG. 6C illustrates a third viewing log 600-C that shows an even more comprehensive log than either viewing log 600-A or viewing log 600-B. Here, viewing log 600-C includes, for each television user, an indication of whether the respective television user was determined to be "attentive" to each segment of content. In particular, for each segment, attentiveness is indicated with a binary indicator (e.g., "not attentive" may be indicated as a "0" and "attentive" may be indicated as a "1"). This formation of user interest logging therefore provides a comprehensive record of the time that a user is indicating interest or disinterest in the content being shown by the television. In an alternative embodiment, the log may provide even more granular detail by indicating, for each segment, the percentage or number of scans that the television user was determined to be "attentive to."

[0059] It may be noted that the viewing log 600 shown in Figures 6A-6C is provided as a non-limiting example. Alternate embodiments may record the interests of television users in any of a variety of alternative ways, depending on the desired functionality.

[0060] Returning to Figure 5, the blocks shown with dotted lines indicate optional functionality that may be included within the process. For example, in block 560, the functionality may include soliciting post-content input from one or more television users watching playback of the content on a television. This functionality may include, for example, whether the television users are determined to indicate at least a threshold level of interest in the content. The solicited user input may indicate the user's interest in a particular content and / or type of content.

[0061] For example, if it is determined that the television user was in a "gaze" position for at least a threshold percentage (e.g., 95%) of the duration of the vehicle advertisement, the television may provide one or more prompts to the user (e.g., via an on-screen menu, audio / voice prompts, etc.) to determine how the vehicle advertisement was received. Exemplary prompts may include asking the television user to indicate whether the vehicle advertisement suited the user, whether the television user is interested in receiving more advertisements regarding a particular vehicle within the vehicle advertisement (or a type of vehicle or vehicles in general, etc.), and / or whether the television user is interested in receiving more information regarding a particular vehicle within the vehicle advertisement. In the latter case, if the vehicle user indicates that they would like more information, the television may show additional advertisements, provide a website and / or phone number regarding the vehicle on the screen, and / or open a web browser to a site that includes the sales location, advertising promotions, and / or other details regarding the vehicle.

[0062] At block 570, the process may optionally include sending the results to a remote device. That is, according to some embodiments, the television or a connected RF sensing device may be connected to the Internet or other data communication network, which may enable it to send information regarding the interests of the television user to a remote service provider, such as the television manufacturer, content provider, advertising provider, etc. For example, this information may include any recorded information regarding the user interests (e.g., as shown in the viewing log 600 of FIGS. 6A-6C) along with an identification of the corresponding item of content. Depending on the desired functionality, this information may be sent when the content completes playing (or even during playback, as shown below) or may be sent in batches (e.g., sending information regarding the viewed content accumulated hourly, daily, weekly, etc.). As a result, customized content may be provided to the television. For example, in the case of advertisements, the ad server may send more customized advertisements to the television, which the television may store in a buffer and play during the time periods between playing other content reserved for advertisements (e.g., advertisement-supported content). In this way, the buffer can be refreshed with advertisements that more closely match the preferences of the television viewer.

[0063] It may be noted that in alternative embodiments, the functions in blocks 550-570 may be performed as RF sensing is occurring. That is, the recording, requesting interest, and sending results may occur in real-time as content is being played, in addition to, or as an alternative to, performing these functions after playback. In such an embodiment, the television and / or remote service may adjust to user interests in real-time and may change content accordingly, if desired.

[0064] According to some embodiments, RF sensing may be used to provide additional or alternative functionality, examples of two such functionality are shown in Figures 7 and 8.

[0065] FIG. 7 is a flow chart illustrating a process of powering down a television based on information obtained from RF sensing, according to one embodiment. As with other figures provided herein, FIG. 7 is provided as a non-limiting example. Alternative embodiments may add, omit, rearrange, and / or otherwise modify operations shown in FIG. 7. The RF sensing provided in the process shown in FIG. 7 may be provided by an RF sensing system such as shown in FIG. 1, which may be incorporated into one or more transceivers such as shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3. An implementation of the process shown in FIG. 7 may be performed by one or more processing units of a television or other electrical device, such as the electrical device shown in FIG. 10 and described below.

[0066] The process shown in FIG. 7 may be initiated during content playback by the television and may be compatible with the process shown in FIG. 5 (and the process shown in FIG. 8 described below). For example, the process of FIG. 5 may be executed during an advertisement or other content for which a content provider may desire to obtain user interest. However, the process of FIG. 7 may be a process executed by default when not executing the process of FIG. 5. Additionally, a television or other electrical device executing these processes may perform optimizations, for example, by using RF sensing data obtained in one process in another process. As a particular example, RF sensing data obtained from high resolution RF sensing in block 520 may eliminate the need to perform low resolution RF sensing in block 710. Other such optimizations may occur when executing these (and possibly other) RF sensing processes in parallel.

[0067] The function in block 700 includes performing low-resolution RF sensing. As mentioned above, low-resolution RF sensing may include a form of RF sensing that captures CSI at a relatively low frequency (e.g., periodicity of 100 ms or more, alternatively 500 ms or more, alternatively 1 s or more, etc.), a relatively low bandwidth (e.g., 20 MHz or less or 40 MHz or less), and / or a relatively few spatial streams (e.g., a single spatial stream). Because of its relatively low resolution, RF sensing may not be able to identify a particular television user in some embodiments, but RF sensing may still be able to detect the movement and / or presence of a television user in a certain location, which may be sufficient to perform the function of the power down process of FIG. 7. Moreover, low-resolution RF sensing consumes less power than high-resolution RF sensing, so low-resolution RF sensing may be preferred in most cases. However, alternative embodiments may perform high-resolution RF sensing. This may be the case when a television or another RF sensing device performing the functions of FIG. 7 is performing RF sensing in parallel to other functions, as described above.

[0068] At block 720, the RF sensing data is analyzed to determine whether a user or motion is detected. As previously described, the RF sensing data may include CSI and / or data derived therefrom. Changes in the RF sensing data during successive scans may indicate motion, and the low-resolution RF sensing data may be capable of detecting a person-sized object in the location where the television viewing occurs (which may be predetermined based on one or more user profiles, particularly from the RF sensing data contained within the user profile). As such, a comparison of the RF sensing data with corresponding RF sensing data stored within the user profile may not be necessary to perform user / motion detection.

[0069] If a user or motion is detected, the process may continue to perform low-resolution RF sensing (at block 710). If a user or motion is not detected, the process may optionally perform the function at block 730 by performing high-resolution RF sensing. This high-resolution RF sensing may be performed to confirm the presence or absence of a television user. This additional confirmation may be performed to determine the presence of a user, for example, in embodiments where low-resolution sensing is only capable of providing motion detection (without detecting the presence of a motionless user). This may help prevent instances where a user is motionless but still watching television.

[0070] If the function at block 730 is performed, the process may additionally perform the function at block 740, where a determination is made whether a gazing user is detected based on the RF sensing data acquired at block 730. If a gazing user is detected, the process may return to the function at block 710 again by performing low-resolution RF sensing. Otherwise, if a gazing user is not detected (e.g., the user is not gazing, the user is not present, etc.), the process may proceed to block 750.

[0071] The function in block 750 includes determining whether a threshold time has elapsed. If the threshold time has not elapsed, the process returns again to performing low-resolution RF sensing in block 710. According to some embodiments, a delay period, which may be user configurable, may elapse before low-resolution RF sensing is repeated. This function may help ensure that the television does not power down sooner than normal. According to some embodiments, this time threshold may be set to a time period long enough to allow the television user to temporarily leave the room (e.g., to get a snack, go to the bathroom, etc.) or return from a non-attended state (e.g., in a sleep position), but short enough to allow the television to proceed to power down without leaving the television on for too long a time when it is clear that the television user will not be watching the television continuously. According to some embodiments, this threshold may be configurable by the television user himself (e.g., via an on-screen menu).

[0072] If the threshold amount of time has passed, the process may optionally proceed to function at block 760 by saving the position in the playback. This may allow a television user to subsequently resume playback at the position in a television program, movie, etc. where playback stopped before powering down the television. In some embodiments, the position in the playback may be saved in the profile of one or more television users most recently identified using RF sensing. This may allow one or more users to subsequently resume playback, while other television users (who may be presumed not to be interested in resuming playback at the saved position) may not be given that option.

[0073] The process may then proceed to perform the function at block 770 by powering down the television. Here, "powering down" the television may include powering off the television, or simply powering down the television to a low power state (which the television may be able to subsequently power up in a manner described below with respect to FIG. 8). If the process of FIG. 7 is performed by a transceiver or a connected device (e.g., a set-top box or streaming device) of the television, powering down the television may include sending a signal to an application processor or central processing unit of the television to power down the television. For example, additionally or alternatively, a connected device that may provide video output via a High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) or Universal Serial Bus (USB) may stop providing video output. This may be an additional or alternative indicator to powering down the television.

[0074] FIG. 8 is a flow chart illustrating a process for powering up a television based on information obtained from RF sensing, according to one embodiment. As mentioned above, this function may be performed in conjunction with one or both functions of the processes illustrated in FIG. 5 and FIG. 7. As with other figures provided herein, FIG. 8 is provided as a non-limiting example, and alternative embodiments may add, omit, rearrange, and / or possibly modify the operations illustrated in FIG. 8. As with the processes illustrated in FIG. 5 and FIG. 7, the RF sensing provided in the process illustrated in FIG. 8 may be provided by an RF sensing system such as that shown in FIG. 1, which may be incorporated into one or more transceivers such as those shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3. An implementation of the process illustrated in FIG. 8 may be performed by one or more processing units of an electrical device, such as the electrical device illustrated in FIG. 10 and described below.

[0075] Here, the process may begin with a function of block 810 where low-resolution RF sensing is performed. Similar to the low-resolution RF sensing in block 710 of FIG. 7, the low-resolution RF sensing here may be used to detect the movement and / or presence of a television user. However, unlike the RF sensing in block 710 of FIG. 7, the low-resolution RF sensing is performed while the television is powered down (e.g., in a low-power state relative to an active state in which the television is showing content). For many embodiments, this may mean that the power budget for performing the low-resolution RF sensing in block 810 may be particularly low (whether performed by the television's own internal circuitry or by a connected device that may draw power from the television or may itself have a tight power budget). Accordingly, the low-resolution RF sensing performed in block 810 may be customized to fit the power requirements of such a budget. This may mean, for example, performing RF sensing at a resolution low enough to meet the budget, and also performing scans with a scan period, bandwidth, and / or number of streams sufficient to detect the movement and / or presence of a television user.

[0076] At block 820, a determination is made whether movement and / or presence of any television user is detected from the RF sensing data obtained from the RF sensing scan performed at block 810. If not, the process may return to the function at block 810 to continue performing low-resolution RF sensing. A delay period, possibly user configurable, may elapse before low-resolution RF sensing is repeated. Otherwise, if movement and / or presence of a television user is detected, the process may proceed to the function at block 830.

[0077] At block 830, the function includes performing high resolution RF sensing. Similar to the function of block 730 of FIG. 7, the high resolution scanning performed at block 830 of FIG. 8 can be used to ascertain whether a television user, or even a particular television user, has been detected. According to some embodiments, this function can help reduce the likelihood of a "false positive" detection of a user / motion due to low resolution sensing that powers up the television. Such instances can include, for example, motion due to a pet or a cleaning robot, detection of a television user (e.g., as shown in FIG. 4B) in a location not used for watching television, detection of a television user (e.g., as shown in FIG. 4C) in a non-gaze position, and / or detection of another person (without a corresponding user profile).

[0078] Further, according to some embodiments, the automatic power-up feature of FIG. 8 may be a user-configurable setting that may be activated on a per-user basis. Moreover, in addition to or as an alternative to powering up the television by being in a gaze position (e.g., as shown in FIG. 4A), the television user may configure a unique "power-up" pose for powering up the television. This may be done, for example, by allowing the user to select a pose (e.g., which may involve a selected position and / or orientation of the user's head, torso, arms, legs, etc.) during configuration of the user's profile that is used to automatically power up the television, among other things, and during calibrating the RF sensor for detecting that pose by capturing RF sensing data while the user is in that pose. Furthermore, depending on the desired functionality, the user may further select a particular location (e.g., a seated location in the room in which the television is located) at which the "power-up" pose may be performed, thereby further reducing the chance that the television is inadvertently automatically powered up. Thus, the high resolution RF sensing performed in block 830 can be used to identify a particular television user and, based on a user profile saved for the television user, to determine whether the user has selected the automatic power up feature and / or whether the user is in a user pre-set “power up” pause.

[0079] At block 840, the function includes determining whether an attentive television user is detected. As discussed above, this may include determining whether the television user has selected the automatic power up feature and / or is in a personalized / customized "power up" pose. If not, the process may return to the function of block 810 to continue performing low resolution RF sensing. If detected, the process may proceed to the function of block 850 to power up the television. Here, "power up" includes changing the television from a powered down or low power state (where the display, circuitry, and / or other television components may be deactivated or in standby mode) to an active state in which content may be played.

[0080] When the television is powered up, the process may include performing the functions shown in block 860 and block 870 or 880. The function in block 860 includes determining whether a playback position for previously viewed content has been saved. Depending on the desired functionality, the playback position may be saved for a particular user or set of users, as described above. For such an embodiment, block 860 may include determining whether a playback position has been saved for a particular user or set of identified users, which may be identified in block 840. As described above, the position in playback may be saved automatically, such as in block 760 in the process shown in FIG. 7. For example, by implementing these functions in the processes shown in FIG. 7 and FIG. 8, the television may save a position in the playback of the content according to the process of FIG. 7 and power down when the television user falls asleep (and therefore is not moving and / or not in a gaze position), and then turn back on and resume playback at the saved position after detecting that the television user has returned to a gaze state.

[0081] Additionally or alternatively, the television may automatically save the position when a user or set of users stops playback and powers down the television (e.g., which may be a feature the user can select in the television settings), or when a user / set of users manually selects to save a position in playback (e.g., by interacting with an on-screen menu). If the playback position has been saved, the television may resume playback, as shown in block 870. If the playback position has not been saved, a user menu may be provided to the user, as shown in block 880.

[0082] As described above, RF sensing can identify a user or set of users watching television so that content and / or menus can be customized based on the preferences of the identified users. Since one or more users can be identified in block 840, the menu provided in block 880 can be customized in this manner. For example, if only children are identified, a children's menu can be provided. According to some embodiments, if an adult television user is identified via RF sensing and / or an authorized password is entered, the menu can revert from the children's menu to the normal menu.

[0083] FIG. 9 is a flow diagram illustrating a method 900 of RF sensing of a television user, according to one embodiment. The operations illustrated in the blocks of FIG. 9 may be performed by a television or connected device using one or more transceivers operating as an RF sensing system in the manner described above. Exemplary components of a television or connected device that may perform the operations of FIG. 9 are illustrated in FIG. 10 and described in more detail below. Alternative embodiments may differ from method 900 by adding, omitting, combining, and / or reconfiguring the illustrated operations and / or by performing operations simultaneously. Method 900 describes a general process of RF sensing of a television user, encompassing many of the embodiments described above. Thus, method 900 may be considered a method by which at least some aspects of the processes illustrated in FIGS. 5, 7, and 8 and described above may be implemented.

[0084] At block 910, the method includes transmitting a first RF signal with one or more wireless transceivers. As described in the above embodiment, the television environment may have one or more transceivers, each of which may include an RF sensing system 105 (or at least a portion thereof). The one or more transceivers may comprise one or more wireless radios capable of transmitting and receiving RF signals using a WLAN standard (e.g., IEEE 902.11 / Wi-Fi) and may be used by the television and / or connected devices for WLAN communication in addition to RF sensing. As such, the first RF signal may include communication packets utilized by a WLAN standard (e.g., IEEE 802.11). As previously mentioned, the embodiments herein may leverage existing techniques for channel estimation to obtain CSI for use in RF sensing. For example, two iterations of a long training sequence may be used for channel estimation, as described above in the IEEE 802.11 standard. Additionally or alternatively, the one or more transceivers may comprise UWB transceivers.

[0085] The means for performing the functions of block 910 may comprise a processing unit 1010, a bus 1005, a working memory 1035, a communication subsystem 1030, a wireless communication interface 1033, an RF sensing system 105, and / or other components shown in Figure 10 and described below. The additional means may include a Tx antenna 115, a Tx processing circuit 140, a mux 135, a processing unit 125, a memory 130, and / or other components of the RF sensing system 105 as shown in Figure 1 and described above.

[0086] At block 920, the function includes receiving, with one or more wireless transceivers, a first reflected RF signal that includes a reflection of the first RF signal from one or more objects. For example, if there are multiple television users, the one or more objects may include (among other things) multiple television users. Other objects may include pets, furniture, etc. that may be ignored by the television or connected device. As noted in the above embodiments, the transceiver that receives the first reflected RF signal may be the same transceiver that transmits the RF signal (e.g., as shown in FIG. 3) or may be a different transceiver (e.g., as shown in FIG. 2). Thus, according to some embodiments of the method 900, the one or more wireless transceivers may comprise a single wireless transceiver located at a single location. Alternatively, a first wireless transceiver of the one or more wireless transceivers transmits the first RF signal and a second wireless transceiver of the one or more wireless transceivers receives the first reflected RF signal, the first wireless transceiver being located at a different location than the second wireless transceiver. In embodiments in which two or more transceivers are used, one or more processors internal and / or external to the television may coordinate the transmission and reception of RF signals. Additionally or alternatively, the transceivers may communicate with each other (e.g., in accordance with a governing wireless standard) to coordinate the transmission and reception of RF signals.

[0087] The means for performing the functions of block 920 may comprise a processing unit 1010, a bus 1005, a working memory 1035, a communication subsystem 1030, a wireless communication interface 1033, an RF sensing system 105, and / or other components shown in Figure 10 and described below. The additional means may include an Rx antenna 120, an Rx processing circuit 145, a mux 135, a processing unit 125, a memory 130, and / or other components of the RF sensing system 105 as shown in Figure 1 and described above.

[0088] The functions in block 930 include determining a first CSI of one or more wireless channels from the received first reflected RF signal. As described above, this may be determined using channel estimation techniques of the governing wireless standard for one or more wireless transceivers receiving the reflected RF signal. Moreover, as further described above, the reflected RF signal may be received by multiple antennas and / or multiple times. Thus, in some embodiments, this may enable the determination of direction as well as the presence of motion or objects. This may depend on how the RF signal is transmitted and received (e.g., using low-resolution or high-resolution detection).

[0089] The means for performing the functions of block 930 may comprise a processing unit 1010, a bus 1005, a working memory 1035, a communication subsystem 1030, a wireless communication interface 1033, an RF sensing system 105, and / or other components shown in Figure 10 and described below. The additional means may include a processing unit 125, a memory 130, and / or other components of the RF sensing system 105 as shown in Figure 1 and described above.

[0090] At block 940, the function includes determining status information based on the first CSI, the status information including information regarding the viewing status of the television user. The viewing status of the television user may include, for example, the presence or absence of any television user or a particular television user in a particular area of ​​the television environment. The viewing status of the television user may include, for example, the identity of the television user present in the television environment in terms of association with a particular user profile. In some aspects, the viewing status of the television user may include a state of movement, a head orientation, an eye orientation, a seating position, or a pose, or any combination thereof. Additionally, at block 950, the function also includes performing an action with the television based on the status information. The type of status information obtained and the actions performed at blocks 940 and 950 may vary depending on the type of function being performed. As noted in the previous embodiment, this may include determining user interest, automatically powering down the television, and / or automatically powering up the television. As mentioned above, status information about television users can be based on RF sensing data, which can include CSI and / or information derived from CSI (detected movement, volume, eye position, etc.).

[0091] In some embodiments, such as the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, the status information may include a level of gaze of the television user. The level of gaze may be quantified as described with respect to FIGS. 6A-6C. That is, according to an alternative embodiment, the method 900 may include determining that the television is showing a predetermined type of content, and the transmitting the first RF signal is responsive to determining that the television is showing the predetermined type of content, and the determining the status information includes determining a level of gaze of the television user watching the content based on the first CSI. According to some embodiments, determining a level of gaze of the television user watching the content includes determining one or more attributes of the television user while the television is being shown based on the first CSI. These attributes may include head orientation, eye orientation, seating position, or pose, or any combination thereof. According to some embodiments, determining one or more attributes of the television user includes comparing information obtained based on the first CSI to stored profile information regarding the television user. According to some embodiments, performing an action with the television includes sending an indication of the level of attention from the television to a service provider's server, a content provider's server, or both. As previously discussed, this level of attention may be indicated in a viewing log such as that shown in Figures 6A-6C.

[0092] Additionally or alternatively, the status information may be used to implement an automatic power down function, as illustrated within the embodiment depicted in FIG. 7. Accordingly, some embodiments of the method 900 may further include determining a detected lack of movement based on the first CSI, transmitting a second RF signal with one or more wireless transceivers in response to determining the lack of movement, and receiving a second reflected RF signal with one or more wireless transceivers, the second reflected RF signal including a reflection of the second RF signal from one or more objects. These embodiments may further include determining the second CSI from the received second reflected RF signal. In such embodiments, the determining the status information may be further based on the second CSI, the status information including an indication that the television user is not watching the television, and the performing an action with the television includes powering down the television. According to some embodiments, the status information may include information indicating that the television user is no longer detected or that the television user is no longer awake. As noted in the embodiments described above, different types of RF sensing modes (e.g., high-resolution RF sensing and low-resolution RF sensing) may be utilized to obtain different degrees of RF sensing data. Thus, according to some embodiments, a first RF signal may be transmitted according to a first transmission mode, and a second RF signal is transmitted according to a second transmission mode. In these embodiments, the second transmission mode may have a shorter transmission period than the first transmission mode, a larger transmission bandwidth, or a larger number of spatial streams than the first transmission mode, or any combination thereof. Finally, embodiments of the method 900 may further include saving a position in the content presented by the television before powering down the television.

[0093] Additionally or alternatively, the status information may be used to implement an automatic power-up function, as shown in the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 8. For example, according to some embodiments, the method 900 may further include determining the detected movement based on the first CSI, transmitting a second RF signal with one or more wireless transceivers in response to determining the movement, and receiving a second reflected RF signal with one or more wireless transceivers, the second reflected RF signal including a reflection of the second RF signal from one or more objects. The embodiment may further include determining a second CSI from the received second reflected RF signal, and the determining the status information may be further based on the second CSI, and the status information includes an indication that the television user is attempting to watch the television. Moreover, performing an action with the television may include powering up the television. As noted in the embodiments described above, the user may assume a "power up" pose or similar position indicative of gaze toward the television, thus causing the television to automatically power up, and these positions may be saved in the RF sensing data stored in the user profile. Thus, according to some embodiments, determining that the television user intends to watch television may be based at least in part on comparing information obtained from the second CSI with stored profile information regarding the television user. Here again, the functionality may include low-resolution and high-resolution RF scanning modes. Thus, according to some embodiments, the first RF signal is transmitted according to a first transmission mode and the second RF signal is transmitted according to a second transmission mode. In such instances, the second transmission mode may have a shorter transmission period than the first transmission mode, a larger transmission bandwidth than the first transmission mode, or a larger number of spatial streams, or any combination thereof. Other embodiments enabling the power-up functionality may include functionality such as retrieving a saved position in content presented by the television and resuming playback of the content by the television from the saved position.Additionally or alternatively, embodiments may include identifying a television user based at least in part on the second CSI, determining a corresponding stored user profile for the television user based on an identity of the television user, and providing a user menu on the television, the content in the user menu being based at least in part on the corresponding stored user profile. According to some embodiments, identifying the television user may include determining that the television user is a child, and providing the user menu may include providing a menu for children.

[0094] Finally, in addition or as an alternative, an embodiment may include one of the following features. According to some embodiments, the status information may include an indication of whether a television user was detected, an identity of the television user, an indication of whether the television user was watching content screened by the television, or any combination thereof. According to some embodiments, the method 900 may further include determining an identity of the television user by comparing the information obtained based on the first CSI with stored profile information about the television user. These and other features may be facilitated through an initial calibration. Thus, according to some embodiments, the method 900 may further include performing a calibration on the television user prior to transmitting the first RF signal, wherein while the television user is at a location for watching television, a second RF signal is transmitted by one or more wireless transceivers and a second reflected RF signal including a reflection of the second RF signal from the television user is received by the one or more wireless transceivers. In such embodiments, a second CSI may be determined from the received second reflected RF signal, one or more user attributes of the television user may be determined based at least in part on the second CSI, and the one or more user attributes may be stored in a user profile.

[0095] The means for performing the functions of blocks 940 and 950 may comprise the processing unit 1010, the bus 1005, the working memory 1035, the communication subsystem 1030, the wireless communication interface 1033, the RF sensing system 105, and / or other components shown in Figure 10 and described below. The additional means may include the processing unit 125, the memory 130, and / or other components of the RF sensing system 105 as shown in Figure 1 and described above.

[0096] FIG. 10 is a block diagram of an embodiment of an electronic device 1000 that may incorporate an RF sensing system 105 that may be operated in the manner described in the previous embodiment. As mentioned above, the RF sensing system 105 may be included in each of one or more transceivers that may be incorporated in one or more subsystems of the electronic device, such as the wireless communication interface 1033. The electronic device itself may include a television, a set-top box, a streaming device, or other device that may perform the RF sensing described herein. It should be noted that FIG. 10 is only intended to provide a generalized illustration of the various components, and any or all of the components may be utilized as appropriate. Thus, FIG. 10 broadly illustrates how individual system elements may be implemented in a relatively separated or relatively more integrated manner. In addition, it may be noted that the components illustrated by FIG. 10 may be localized in a single device and / or distributed among various networked devices that may be disposed in different physical locations. For example, some components may be internal to the television, while other components may be external to the television (e.g., while communicatively coupled to the internal components via an HDMI® or USB port).

[0097] An electronic device 1000 is illustrated comprising hardware elements that may be electrically coupled (or in other suitable communication) via a bus 1005. The hardware elements may include a processing unit 1010, which may include, but is not limited to, one or more general purpose processors, one or more special purpose processors (such as a DSP, a graphics processing unit (GPU), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA)), and / or other processing structures that may be configured to perform one or more of the methods described herein, including the methods described with respect to FIG. 9 and / or the processes described in FIGS. 5, 7, and 8. The electronic device 1000 may also include one or more input devices 1015, which may include, but is not limited to, a remote control, a touch interface, a microphone, buttons, switches, dials, etc. One or more output devices 1020 may include, but is not limited to, a display, an HDMI output and / or other media interface, speakers, etc.

[0098] The electronic device 1000 may further include (and / or communicate with) one or more non-transitory storage devices 1025, which may include, but are not limited to, local and / or network accessible storage and / or may include, but are not limited to, disk drives, drive arrays, optical storage devices, solid-state storage devices (such as random access memory (RAM) and / or read-only memory (ROM)) that may be programmable and flash rewriteable, etc. Such storage devices may be configured to implement any suitable data store, including, but not limited to, various file systems, database structures, etc.

[0099] The electronic device 1000 may also include a communications subsystem 1030, which may include support for wireless communications technologies and / or wireline communications technologies (in some embodiments) managed and controlled by the wireless communications interface 1033. The communications subsystem 1030 may include a modem, a network card (wireless or wired), an infrared communications device, a wireless communications device, and / or a chipset, etc. The communications subsystem 1030 may include one or more input and / or output communications interfaces, such as the wireless communications interface 1033 or a wired communications interface, to enable data and signaling to be exchanged with a network, a mobile device (e.g., via a mobile phone app), other computer systems, and / or any other electronic device described herein. As previously mentioned, the RF sensing system 105 (as shown in FIG. 1 ) may incorporate the Tx antenna 115 and the Rx antenna 120, as well as circuitry connected with the antenna elements (e.g., other components of the RF sensing system 105), into the wireless communications interface 1033 such that they may be used for both RF sensing and data communications. For example, in some embodiments, the wireless communication interface 1033 may comprise an 802.11ad-compatible and / or 802.11ay-compatible modem capable of both RF sensing and data communications. Aspects of the wireless communication interface 1033 with the RF sensing system 105 may correspond to the transceivers shown in Figures 2 and 3 and described elsewhere herein.

[0100] As mentioned above, some embodiments may have RF sensing system 105 that is not used for wireless communication and therefore may be a dedicated system for RF sensing. In such cases, RF sensing system 105 may be incorporated elsewhere within electronic device 1000. In some embodiments, for example, RF sensing system 105 may be incorporated into electronic device 1000 as input device 1015. Other sensors may also be included as input devices 1015.

[0101] In many embodiments, the electronic device 1000 further comprises a working memory 1035, which may include a RAM device and / or a ROM device. The software elements shown as being localized in the working memory 1035 may include other code, such as an operating system 1040, device drivers, executable libraries, and / or applications 1045, which may comprise computer programs provided by various embodiments and / or may be designed to implement methods and / or configure systems provided by other embodiments, as described herein. By way of example only, one or more procedures described with respect to the methods described above, such as the method described with respect to FIG. 9, may be implemented as code and / or instructions stored (e.g., temporarily) in the working memory 1035 and executable by a computer (and / or a processing unit therein, such as the processing unit 1010), and in one aspect, such code and / or instructions can then be used to configure and / or adapt a general-purpose computer (or other device) to perform one or more operations in accordance with the described methods.

[0102] A set of these instructions and / or code may be stored on a non-transitory computer-readable (or machine-readable) storage medium, such as storage device 1025 described above. In some cases, the storage medium may be incorporated within a computer system, such as electronic device 1000. In other embodiments, the storage medium may be separate from electronic device 1000 (e.g., a removable medium such as an optical disk) and / or provided in an installation package, such that the storage medium may be used to program, configure, and / or adapt a general-purpose computer or electronic device with the instructions / code stored thereon. These instructions may take the form of executable code executable by electronic device 1000 and / or may take the form of source and / or installable code that, when compiled and / or installed on electronic device 1000 (e.g., using any of a variety of commonly available compilers, installation programs, compression / decompression utilities, etc.), then takes the form of executable code.

[0103] It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that substantial modifications may be made according to particular requirements. For example, customized hardware may be used and / or particular elements may be implemented in hardware, software (including portable software such as applets), or both. Furthermore, connection to other computing devices, such as network input / output devices, may be employed.

[0104] With reference to the accompanying figures, components that may include memory may include non-transitory machine-readable media. As used herein, the terms "machine-readable medium" and "computer-readable medium" refer to any storage medium that participates in providing data that causes a machine to operate in a specific manner. In the embodiments provided above, various machine-readable media may participate in providing instructions / code to a processing unit and / or other devices for execution. Additionally or alternatively, machine-readable media may be used to store and / or transport such instructions / code. In many implementations, the computer-readable medium is a physical and / or tangible storage medium. Such media may take many forms, including, but not limited to, non-volatile media and volatile media. Common forms of computer-readable media include, for example, magnetic media and / or optical media, any other physical media with a pattern of holes, RAM, programmable ROM (PROM), erasable PROM (EPROM), FLASH-EPROM, any other memory chip or cartridge, a carrier wave as described below, or any other medium from which instructions and / or code can be read by a computer.

[0105] The methods, systems, and devices discussed herein are examples. Various embodiments may omit, substitute, or add various procedures or components as appropriate. For example, features described with respect to some embodiments may be combined in various other embodiments. Different aspects and elements of the embodiments may be combined in a similar manner. Various components of the diagrams provided herein may be embodied in hardware and / or software. Also, technology evolves, and thus many of the elements are examples that do not limit the scope of the disclosure to those specific examples.

[0106] It has proven convenient at times, primarily for reasons of common usage, to refer to such signals as bits, information, values, elements, symbols, characters, variables, terms, numbers, numeric values, or the like. It should be understood, however, that all of these or similar terms are to be associated with the appropriate physical quantities and are merely convenient labels. Unless otherwise indicated, and as is apparent from the above description, it will be appreciated that throughout this specification descriptions utilizing terms such as "processing," "computing," "calculating," "determining," "ascertaining," "identifying," "associating," "measuring," "performing," and the like refer to the actions or processes of a particular apparatus, such as a special purpose computer or similar special purpose electronic computing device. Thus, in the context of this specification, a special purpose computer or similar special purpose electronic computing device is capable of manipulating or transforming signals that are commonly represented as physical electronic, electrical, or magnetic quantities in the memory, registers, or other information storage, transmission, or display devices of the special purpose computer or similar special purpose electronic computing device.

[0107] The terms "and" and "or" as used herein may include various meanings that are also expected to depend at least in part on the context in which such terms are used. In general, "or," when used to associate a list such as A, B, or C, is intended to mean A, B, and C, which are used herein in an inclusive sense, as well as A, B, or C, which are used herein in an exclusive sense. In addition, the term "one or more" as used herein may be used to describe any feature, structure, or characteristic in the singular, or may be used to describe some combination of features, structures, or characteristics. However, it should be noted that this is merely an illustrative example, and claimed subject matter is not limited to this example. Furthermore, the term "at least one of," when used to associate an enumeration such as A, B, or C, may be interpreted to mean any combination of A, B, and / or C, such as A, AB, AA, AAB, AABBCCC, etc.

[0108] Although several embodiments have been described, various modifications, alternative configurations, and equivalents may be used without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. For example, the above elements may only be components of a larger system, and other rules may take precedence over or otherwise modify the application of the various embodiments. Also, some steps may be undertaken before, during, or after the above elements are considered. Thus, the above description does not limit the scope of the present disclosure.

[0109] In view of this description, embodiments may include various combinations of features. Example implementations are described in the following numbered clauses. Clause 1. A method of radio frequency (RF) sensing of a television user, the method comprising: transmitting a first RF signal with one or more wireless transceivers, receiving a first reflected RF signal with the one or more wireless transceivers comprising a reflection of the first RF signal from one or more objects, determining first channel state information (CSI) for one or more wireless channels from the received first reflected RF signal, determining status information based on the first CSI, the status information comprising information regarding a viewing status of the television user, and performing an action with the television based on the status information. Clause 2. The method of clause 1, further comprising determining that the television is showing content of the predetermined type, wherein transmitting the first RF signal is responsive to determining that the television is showing content of the predetermined type, and determining the status information comprises determining a level of attention of a television user watching the content based on the first CSI. Clause 3. The method of clause 2, wherein determining a level of attention of a television user viewing the content includes determining one or more attributes of the television user while the television is showing based on the first CSI, the one or more attributes including head orientation, eye orientation, seating position, or pose, or any combination thereof. Clause 4. The method of clause 3, wherein determining one or more attributes of the television user includes comparing information obtained based on the first CSI to stored profile information regarding the television user. Clause 5. The method of any one of clauses 1 to 4, wherein performing an action with the television includes sending an indication of the level of attention from the television to a service provider server, a content provider server, or both. Clause 6. The method of any one of clauses 1 to 5, further comprising determining an identity of the television user by comparing information obtained from the first CSI with stored profile information about the television user. Clause 7. The method of any one of clauses 1, 5 or 6, further comprising: determining a detected lack of movement based on a first CSI; in response to determining the lack of movement, transmitting a second RF signal with one or more wireless transceivers; receiving a second reflected RF signal with the one or more wireless transceivers comprising a reflection of the second RF signal from one or more objects; and determining a second CSI from the received second reflected RF signal, wherein determining the status information is further based on the second CSI, the status information comprising an indication that a television user is not watching the television, and wherein performing an action with the television comprises powering down the television. Clause 8. The method of clause 7, wherein the status information includes information indicating that the television user is no longer detected or that the television user is no longer awake. Clause 9. The method of any one of clauses 7 or 8, wherein the first RF signal is transmitted according to a first transmission mode and the second RF signal is transmitted according to a second transmission mode, the second transmission mode having a shorter transmission period than the first transmission mode, a larger transmission bandwidth than the first transmission mode, or a larger number of spatial streams, or any combination thereof. Clause 10. The method of any one of clauses 7 to 9, further comprising the step of saving a position in the content presented by the television before powering down the television. Clause 11. The method of any one of clauses 7 to 10, further comprising: determining the detected movement based on the first CSI; transmitting a second RF signal with one or more wireless transceivers in response to determining the movement; receiving a second reflected RF signal with the one or more wireless transceivers comprising a reflection of the second RF signal from one or more objects; and determining a second CSI from the received second reflected RF signal, wherein determining the status information is further based on the second CSI, the status information comprises an indication that a television user is attempting to watch the television, and wherein performing an action with the television comprises powering up the television. Clause 12. The method of any one of clauses 1, 5, 6 or 11, further comprising determining that the television user intends to watch television based at least in part on comparing information obtained from the second CSI to stored profile information about the television user. Clause 13. The method of clause 11 or 12, wherein the first RF signal is transmitted according to a first transmission mode and the second RF signal is transmitted according to a second transmission mode, the second transmission mode having a shorter transmission period than the first transmission mode, a larger transmission bandwidth than the first transmission mode, or a larger number of spatial streams, or any combination thereof. Clause 14. The method of any one of clauses 11 to 13, further comprising obtaining the saved position in the content presented by the television, and resuming playback of the content by the television from the saved position. Clause 15. The method of any one of clauses 11 to 14, further comprising identifying a television user based at least in part on the second CSI, determining a corresponding stored user profile for the television user based on an identity of the television user, and providing a user menu on the television, content in the user menu based at least in part on the corresponding stored user profile. Clause 16. The method of any one of clauses 11 to 15, wherein identifying the television user comprises determining that the television user is a child, and providing a user menu comprises providing a menu for children. Clause 17. The method of any one of clauses 1 to 16, wherein the status information includes an indication of whether a television user has been detected, an identity of the television user, an indication of whether the television user has viewed content presented by the television, or any combination thereof. Clause 18. The method of any one of clauses 1-17, further comprising the step of performing a calibration on the television user prior to transmitting the first RF signal, wherein while the television user is at a location for watching television, a second RF signal is transmitted by one or more wireless transceivers, a second reflected RF signal including a reflection of the second RF signal from the television user is received by the one or more wireless transceivers, a second CSI is determined from the received second reflected RF signal, one or more user attributes of the television user are determined based at least in part on the second CSI, and the one or more user attributes are stored in a user profile. Clause 19. The method of any one of clauses 1 to 18, wherein a first wireless transceiver of the one or more wireless transceivers transmits a first RF signal and a second wireless transceiver of the one or more wireless transceivers receives the first reflected RF signal, the first wireless transceiver being located at a different location than the second wireless transceiver. Clause 20. The method of any one of clauses 1 to 19, wherein the one or more wireless transceivers include one or more Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) or Wi-Fi transceivers. Clause 21. A device for radio frequency (RF) sensing of a television user, the device including: one or more wireless transceivers; a memory; and one or more processing units communicatively coupled to the one or more wireless transceivers and the memory, the one or more processing units configured to: transmit a first RF signal with the one or more wireless transceivers; receive a first reflected RF signal with the one or more wireless transceivers comprising a reflection of the first RF signal from one or more objects; determine first channel state information (CSI) for one or more wireless channels from the received first reflected RF signal; determine status information based on the first CSI, the status information comprising information regarding a viewing status of the television user; and perform an action with the television based on the status information. Clause 22. The device of clause 21, wherein the one or more processing units are further configured to determine that the television is screening content of a predetermined type, the one or more processing units are configured to transmit a first RF signal in response to determining that the television is screening content of the predetermined type, and to determine the status information, the one or more processing units are configured to determine a level of attention of a television user watching the content based on the first CSI. Clause 23. The device of clause 22, wherein to determine a level of attention of a television user viewing the content, the one or more processing units are configured to determine one or more attributes of the television user while the television is showing based on the first CSI, the one or more attributes including head orientation, eye orientation, seating position, or pose, or any combination thereof. Clause 24. The device of clause 23, wherein the one or more processing units are configured to compare the obtained information based on the first CSI with stored profile information regarding the television user to determine one or more attributes of the television user. Clause 25. The device of any one of clauses 21 to 24, wherein to perform an action with the television, the one or more processing units are configured to send an indication of the level of attention from the television to a service provider server, a content provider server, or both. Clause 26. A device as described in any one of clauses 21 to 25, wherein the one or more processing units are further configured to determine an identity of the television user by comparing information obtained from the first CSI with stored profile information regarding the television user. Clause 27. The device of any one of clauses 21, 25 or 26, wherein the one or more processing units are further configured to determine a detected lack of movement based on the first CSI, and in response to determining the lack of movement, transmit a second RF signal using the one or more wireless transceivers, receive a second reflected RF signal using the one or more wireless transceivers including a reflection of the second RF signal from one or more objects, and determine a second CSI from the received second reflected RF signal, wherein the one or more processing units are configured to determine status information further based on the second CSI, the status information including an indication that a television user is not watching the television, and wherein to perform an action with the television, the one or more processing units are configured to power down the television. Clause 28. The device of clause 27, wherein the status information includes information indicating that a television user is no longer detected or that the television user is no longer awake. Clause 29. The device of clause 27 or 28, wherein the one or more processing units are configured to transmit a first RF signal according to a first transmission mode, and wherein the one or more processing units are configured to transmit a second RF signal according to a second transmission mode, the second transmission mode having a shorter transmission period than the first transmission mode, a larger transmission bandwidth than the first transmission mode, or a larger number of spatial streams, or any combination thereof. Clause 30. A device as claimed in any one of clauses 27 to 29, wherein the one or more processing units are further configured to save in the memory a position in the content presented by the television before powering down the television. Clause 31. The device of any one of clauses 27 to 30, wherein the one or more processing units are further configured to determine the detected movement based on the first CSI, and in response to determining the movement, transmit a second RF signal using the one or more wireless transceivers, receive a second reflected RF signal using the one or more wireless transceivers including a reflection of the second RF signal from the one or more objects, and determine a second CSI from the received second reflected RF signal, wherein the one or more processing units are configured to determine status information further based on the second CSI, the status information including an indication that a television user is attempting to watch television, and wherein the one or more processing units are configured to power up the television to perform an action with the television. Clause 32. The device of any one of clauses 21, 25, 26 or 31, wherein the one or more processing units are further configured to determine that the television user intends to watch television based at least in part on comparing information obtained from the second CSI with stored profile information regarding the television user. Clause 33. The device of clause 31 or 32, wherein the one or more processing units are configured to transmit a first RF signal according to a first transmission mode, and wherein the one or more processing units are configured to transmit a second RF signal according to a second transmission mode, the second transmission mode having a shorter transmission period than the first transmission mode, a larger transmission bandwidth than the first transmission mode, or a larger number of spatial streams, or any combination thereof. Clause 34. A device as described in any one of clauses 31 to 33, wherein the one or more processing units are further configured to retrieve a saved position in the content presented by the television, and resume playback of the content by the television from the saved position. Clause 35. A device as described in any one of clauses 31 to 34, wherein the one or more processing units are further configured to identify a television user based at least in part on the second CSI, determine a corresponding stored user profile for the television user based on an identity of the television user, and provide a user menu on the television, the content in the user menu being based at least in part on the corresponding stored user profile. Clause 36. The device of any one of clauses 31 to 35, wherein for identifying the television user, the one or more processing units are configured to determine that the television user is a child, and for providing the user menu, the one or more processing units are configured to provide a menu for children. Clause 37. The device of any one of clauses 31 to 36, wherein the status information includes an indication of whether a television user has been detected, an identity of the television user, an indication of whether the television user was watching content presented by the television, or any combination thereof. Clause 38. The device of any one of clauses 21 to 37, wherein the one or more processing units are further configured to perform a calibration on the television user before transmitting the first RF signal, and while the television user is at a location for watching television, the one or more processing units are configured to transmit a second RF signal by one or more wireless transceivers and receive a second reflected RF signal by the one or more wireless transceivers including a reflection of the second RF signal from the television user, the second reflected RF signal including a reflection of the second RF signal from the television user, and the one or more processing units are configured to determine a second CSI from the received second reflected RF signal, determine one or more user attributes of the television user based at least in part on the second CSI, and store the one or more user attributes in a user profile in the memory. Clause 39. The device of any one of clauses 21 to 38, wherein the one or more processing units are further configured to transmit a first RF signal using a first wireless transceiver of the one or more wireless transceivers and receive the first reflected RF signal using a second wireless transceiver of the one or more wireless transceivers, the first wireless transceiver being located at a different location than the second wireless transceiver. Clause 40. The device of any one of clauses 21 to 39, wherein the one or more wireless transceivers include one or more Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) or Wi-Fi transceivers. Clause 41. A device for radio frequency (RF) sensing of a television user, the device comprising: means for transmitting a first RF signal; means for receiving a first reflected RF signal comprising a reflection of the first RF signal from one or more objects; means for determining first channel state information (CSI) for one or more wireless channels from the received first reflected RF signal; means for determining status information based on the first CSI, the status information comprising information regarding a viewing status of the television user; and means for performing an action with the television based on the status information. Clause 42. The device of clause 41, further comprising means for determining that the television is showing content of the predetermined type, wherein transmitting the first RF signal is responsive to determining that the television is showing content of the predetermined type, and determining the status information comprises determining a level of attention of a television user watching the content based on the first CSI. Clause 43. The device of clause 41 or 42, further comprising means for determining an identity of the television user by comparing information obtained from the first CSI with stored profile information about the television user. Clause 44. The device of any one of clauses 41 to 43, further including means for determining a detected lack of movement based on the first CSI, means for transmitting a second RF signal in response to determining the lack of movement, means for receiving a second reflected RF signal including a reflection of the second RF signal from one or more objects, and means for determining the second CSI from the received second reflected RF signal, wherein determining the status information is further based on the second CSI, the status information includes an indication that the television user is not watching the television, and performing an action with the television includes powering down the television. Clause 45. The device of any one of clauses 41 to 44, further comprising means for determining the detected movement based on the first CSI, means for transmitting a second RF signal in response to determining the movement, means for receiving a second reflected RF signal including a reflection of the second RF signal from one or more objects, and means for determining the second CSI from the received second reflected RF signal, wherein determining the status information is further based on the second CSI, the status information includes an indication that a television user is attempting to watch television, and performing an action with the television includes powering up the television. Clause 46. The device of any one of clauses 41 to 45, further comprising means for performing a calibration for a television user, wherein while the television user is at a location for watching television, a second RF signal is transmitted by the device, a second reflected RF signal including a reflection of the second RF signal from the television user is received by the device, a second CSI is determined from the received second reflected RF signal, one or more user attributes of the television user are determined based at least in part on the second CSI, and the one or more user attributes are stored in a user profile. Clause 47. The device of any one of clauses 41 to 46, wherein the means for transmitting the first RF signal includes a first wireless transceiver and the means for receiving the first reflected RF signal includes a second wireless transceiver. Clause 48. The device of any one of clauses 41 to 47, wherein the first wireless transceiver is located at a different location than the second wireless transceiver. Clause 49. The device of any one of clauses 41 to 48, wherein the first wireless transceiver, the second wireless transceiver, or both, comprise a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) or Wi-Fi transceiver. Clause 50. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions for radio frequency (RF) sensing of a television user, the instructions including code for: transmitting a first RF signal with one or more wireless transceivers; receiving a first reflected RF signal with the one or more wireless transceivers comprising a reflection of the first RF signal from one or more objects; determining first channel state information (CSI) for one or more wireless channels from the received first reflected RF signal; determining status information based on the first CSI, the status information including information regarding a viewing status of the television user; and performing an action with the television based on the status information. [Explanation of symbols]

[0110] 105 Radio Frequency (RF) Sensing Systems 110 Objects 112 RF signal 115 Tx Antenna 120 Rx Antenna 125 Processing Units 130 Memory 135 Multiplexer (mux) 140 Tx Processing Circuit 145 Rx Processing Circuit 200 Television Environment 210 Television Users 210-1 First Television User 210-2 Second Television User 210-3 Television Users 210-4 Television Users 220 First Transceiver 230 Television 240 Second Transceiver 250 RF signal paths 300 Television Environment 310 Transceiver 330 RF Signal Path 600-A First Type Viewing Log 600-B Second Viewing Log 600-C Third Viewing Log 1000 Electronic Devices 1005 Bus 1010 Processing unit 1015 Input Devices 1020 output device 1025 Non-transient storage devices 1030 Communication Subsystem 1033 Wireless communication interface 1035 Working Memory 1040 Operating Systems 1045 Applications

Claims

1. 1. A method for radio frequency (RF) sensing of a television user, comprising: transmitting a first RF signal using one or more wireless transceivers; receiving, with the one or more wireless transceivers, a first reflected RF signal comprising a reflection of the first RF signal from one or more objects; determining first channel state information (CSI) for one or more wireless channels from the received first reflected RF signal; determining a detected lack of movement based on the first CSI; transmitting a second RF signal using the one or more wireless transceivers in response to determining the lack of movement; receiving, with the one or more wireless transceivers, a second reflected RF signal comprising a reflection of the second RF signal from the one or more objects; determining a second CSI from the received second reflected RF signal; determining status information based on the first CSI and the second CSI, the status information including an indication that the television user is not watching television; and performing an action with the television based on the status information, the performing an action including powering down the television; A method comprising:

2. The step of performing the action with the television includes receiving an indication of a level of attention from the television; Service provider servers, Content provider's server, or both.

3. 10. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining an identity of the television user by comparing information obtained from the first CSI to stored profile information about the television user.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the status information includes information indicating that the television user is no longer detected or that the television user is no longer awake.

5. the first RF signal is transmitted according to a first transmission mode; The second RF signal is transmitted according to a second transmission mode, the second transmission mode comprising: a transmission period shorter than that of the first transmission mode; a transmission bandwidth greater than that of the first transmission mode, or More spatial streams, or The method of claim 1 having any combination thereof.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of saving a position in the content presented by the television before powering down the television.

7. determining a detected movement based on the first CSI; transmitting a second RF signal with the one or more wireless transceivers in response to determining the movement; receiving, with the one or more wireless transceivers, a second reflected RF signal comprising a reflection of the second RF signal from the one or more objects; determining a second CSI from the received second reflected RF signal; the determining of the status information is further based on the second CSI, the status information including an indication that the television user is attempting to watch the television; The method of claim 1 , wherein performing the action with the television includes powering up the television.

8. the first RF signal is transmitted according to a first transmission mode; The second RF signal is transmitted according to a second transmission mode, the second transmission mode comprising: a transmission period shorter than that of the first transmission mode; a transmission bandwidth greater than that of the first transmission mode, or More spatial streams, or The method of claim 7 having any combination thereof.

9. obtaining a saved position in content presented by said television; and resuming playback of the content by the television from the saved position.

10. identifying the television user based at least in part on the second CSI; determining a corresponding stored user profile for the television user based on an identity of the television user; and providing a user menu on the television, the content in the user menu being based at least in part on the corresponding stored user profile; wherein identifying the television user includes determining that the television user is a child; The method of claim 7 , wherein providing the user menu comprises providing a children's menu.

11. The status information is an indication of whether the television user was detected; the identity of said television user; an indication of whether the television user was watching content presented by the television; or The method of claim 1 including any combination thereof.

12. prior to transmitting the first RF signal; performing a calibration for the television user while the television user is at a location for viewing the television; a second RF signal is transmitted by the one or more wireless transceivers; a second reflected RF signal including a reflection of the second RF signal from the television user is received by the one or more wireless transceivers; A second CSI is determined from the received second reflected RF signal; and one or more user attributes of the television user are determined based at least in part on the second CSI; The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more user attributes are stored in a user profile.

13. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein a first wireless transceiver of the one or more wireless transceivers transmits the first RF signal and a second wireless transceiver of the one or more wireless transceivers receives the first reflected RF signal, the first wireless transceiver being located at a different location than the second wireless transceiver.

14. 1. A device for radio frequency (RF) sensing of a television user, comprising: one or more wireless transceivers; Memory, and one or more processing units communicatively coupled to the one or more transceivers and the memory, the one or more processing units comprising: Transmitting a first RF signal using one or more wireless transceivers; receiving, with the one or more wireless transceivers, a first reflected RF signal comprising a reflection of the first RF signal from one or more objects; determining first channel state information (CSI) for one or more wireless channels from the received first reflected RF signal; determining a detected lack of movement based on the first CSI; and transmitting a second RF signal with the one or more wireless transceivers in response to determining the lack of movement; receiving, with the one or more wireless transceivers, a second reflected RF signal comprising a reflection of the second RF signal from the one or more objects; determining a second CSI from the received second reflected RF signal; and determining status information based on the first CSI and the second CSI, the status information including an indication that the television user is not watching television; and performing an action with the television based on the status information, the performing an action including powering down the television; A device configured to:

15. 1. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions for radio frequency (RF) sensing of a television user, the instructions comprising: Transmitting a first RF signal using one or more wireless transceivers; receiving, with the one or more wireless transceivers, a first reflected RF signal comprising a reflection of the first RF signal from one or more objects; determining first channel state information (CSI) for one or more wireless channels from the received first reflected RF signal; determining a detected lack of movement based on the first CSI; and transmitting a second RF signal with the one or more wireless transceivers in response to determining the lack of movement; receiving, with the one or more wireless transceivers, a second reflected RF signal comprising a reflection of the second RF signal from the one or more objects; determining a second CSI from the received second reflected RF signal; and determining status information based on the first CSI and the second CSI, the status information including an indication that the television user is not watching television; and performing an action with the television based on the status information, the performing an action including powering down the television; 16. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising code for performing the steps of:

Images