Method for mapping NFC field strength and location on mobile devices

Abstract

To provide various embodiments directed to a method and system for mapping or visualizing the magnetic fields and their associated field strengths of an object, such as a mobile computing device.SOLUTION: An example source of the magnetic fields may be a near-field communication (NFC) reader configured in the object. A computer vision system or device may track a visual marker arranged near or on a magnetic field strength detector so as to associate, match or map the magnetic field strength measurement readings of the detector at different positions or locations on the object. The computer vision system may generate and display a heat map of the object based on at least the magnetic field strength measurements and their relative positions.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] Related Applications This application claims priority to U.S. Patent Application No. 16 / 725,600, entitled "Method for Mapping NFC Magnetic Field Strength and Location on a Mobile Device," filed December 23, 2019. The contents of the aforementioned application are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. [Background technology]

[0002] Near Field Communication (NFC) is a communication protocol that allows two electronic components, one of which is a portable device such as a smartphone, to establish communication by bringing them into close proximity with each other. However, NFC readers or coils are typically placed in different locations on different mobile devices, resulting in different NFC performance characteristics. Therefore, it is necessary to identify and visualize the most active area of an NFC reader on an NFC-enabled mobile device or other type of contactless reader. Summary of the Invention

[0003] Various embodiments are directed to methods and systems for mapping or visualizing the magnetic fields and their associated magnetic field strengths of an object, such as a mobile computing device. An example of a magnetic field source may be a near-field communication (NFC) reader configured on the object. A computer vision system or device may track visual markers placed near or on a magnetic field strength detector to correlate, match, or map the detector's magnetic field strength measurements at different positions or locations on the object. The computer vision system may generate and display a heat map of the object based at least on the magnetic field strength measurements and their relative positions. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0004] [Figure 1]1 illustrates an exemplary magnetic field strength mapping system according to one or more embodiments. [Figure 2] 1 illustrates an exemplary magnetic field strength detector according to one or more embodiments. [Figure 3] 1 illustrates an exemplary heatmap according to one or more embodiments. [Figure 4] 1 illustrates another example of a magnetic field strength mapping system according to one or more embodiments. [Figure 5] 1 illustrates an exemplary flow diagram according to one or more embodiments. [Figure 6] 10 illustrates another example of a flow diagram according to one or more embodiments. [Figure 7] 1 illustrates an exemplary computing architecture for a computing device according to one or more embodiments. [Figure 8] 1 illustrates an exemplary communications architecture according to one or more embodiments. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0005] Various embodiments are generally directed to methods and systems for measuring magnetic field strength at various locations on a mobile computing device and visualizing or visually displaying the measured magnetic field strength on a heat map. The term "heat map" may be understood to broadly mean a graphical representation of data, such as measured strength, in the form of a map or diagram in which different data values may be represented by different colors.

[0006] In one embodiment, the magnetic field strength detection device or detector may include at least a magnetometer. The magnetic field strength detector may use the magnetometer to detect magnetic field strength, e.g., NFC magnetic field strength, at various locations on a mobile computing device, such as a smartphone, laptop, or tablet computer. In an example, one or more visual markers may be placed on or adjacent to the detector, e.g., near or above the magnetometer, and tracked by a computer vision system while measurements are being taken. NFC magnetic field strength readings may be provided to a vision system that may be used to create a heat map of the magnetic or NFC field strength measured at various locations on the mobile computing device. As described further below, the heat map may be drawn or displayed on a digital image of the mobile computing device.

[0007] In other embodiments, the magnetic field strength detector may include one or more different types of sensors, such as Hall effect sensors, coils, etc. The one or more sensors may be used to output different voltage values at various locations on the computing device based on different levels of NFC or magnetic vibration detected by the one or more sensors. In an example, the voltage values may be used to determine the respective magnetic field or NFC field strength measurements at the measured locations. A computer vision system may be used to track one or more visual markers associated with the detector and create a heat map of the magnetic field strength.

[0008] According to an embodiment, the magnetic field strength detector may be a wand-like device or may otherwise have a wand shape. For example, the tip of the wand-like device may be formed by a magnetometer, sensor, etc., which may be coupled or connected to a processing circuit that may be housed in a handle portion of the wand-like device. In an example, one or more visual markers trackable by a computer vision system may be disposed on the tip of the wand-like device. Furthermore, the magnetic field strength detector may wiredly or wirelessly communicate the measured magnetic field strength values to a computer vision system for visualizing the measurements.

[0009] One example of a conventional solution uses a magnetic field observation film to show the stationary or slowly changing magnetic field of a magnetic source. However, observation films lack the sensitivity necessary to accurately map the magnetic field strength emanating from various parts of an electronic object. The embodiments and examples described herein overcome the problems present in conventional solutions by generating an accurate visualization, e.g., a heat map, of an object that shows at least the location, source, and intensity of the magnetic field emanating from the object, such as the magnetic field from an NFC reader configured in a smartphone. Thus, the location and most active areas of magnetic field sources on or within a particular object can be quickly and accurately identified.

[0010] Reference is now made to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals are used to refer to like elements throughout. In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding thereof. However, it may be apparent that novel embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form to facilitate description thereof. The intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives within the scope of the claims.

[0011] 1 illustrates an exemplary magnetic field strength mapping system 100 according to an embodiment. As shown, the mapping system 100 may include at least a magnetic field strength detector 101, a computer vision device 111, and a mobile device 120. The magnetic field strength detector 101 may be used to detect various magnetic field strengths at different positions on the mobile device 120, which may be visualized by the computer vision device 111 by tracking one or more visual markers on the magnetic field strength detector 101.

[0012] For example, the magnetic field strength detector 101 may include at least one or more magnetometers 102, a processing circuit 104, a memory 106, and one or more visual markers 108. It may be understood that a magnetometer may be any device, sensor, or hardware component that measures a magnetic field (e.g., magnetic flux density, magnetic field direction, magnetic field strength, and / or relative change in the magnetic field at a particular location, etc.). The processing circuit 104 may be any processing mechanism, e.g., hardware (a central processing unit, processor, ASIC, field programmable gate array, etc.), software, etc., that, together with the memory 106, may facilitate and perform processing of the magnetic field measurements made by the one or more magnetometers 102. In examples, one or more visual markers 106 may be placed anywhere on the detector 101 such that the computer vision device 111 can “watch” and track the markers 106 to associate particular magnetic field measurements with particular measured positions on the mobile device 120. As described further below, in some examples, the visual markers may be placed on the magnetometers themselves. Furthermore, although not shown, it can be understood that the magnetic field strength detector 101 may further include an interface component to enable the detector 101 to communicate at least the measurement values with the computer vision device 111.

[0013] 1 , the computer vision device 112 may include at least one or more cameras 112, processing circuitry 114, memory 116, and a display 118. Additionally, it may be understood that the computer vision device may also include an interface component for communicating with or receiving magnetic field measurements or measurements from the detector 101. In examples, the one or more cameras 112 may be digital, analog, visible light cameras, or any suitable image capture device for acquiring image data, which may be in the form of multi-image or video sequences or, if multiple cameras are implemented, multi-dimensional image data. The camera 112 may track one or more visual markers 108 at each particular position and determine whether there is a corresponding magnetic field strength measurement associated with that position. As described further below, using the processing circuitry 114 and executable programs stored in memory 116, the computer vision device 111 may visualize, map, or "draw" a heat map of various magnetic field strength measurements on an image of the mobile device 120 (which may also be captured by the camera 112) based at least in part on the tracking of the visual markers and associated measurements.

[0014] Mobile device 120 may be any type of mobile computing device, such as a smartphone, a tablet computer, a wearable computer, a laptop, etc. As shown, an example of a magnetic field source may be NFC reader 122 (and other associated NFC components, e.g., an NFC reader coil). For example, a visualization (e.g., a heat map) of magnetic field strength measurements of mobile device 120 by detector 101 and computer vision device 111 may reveal that the strongest magnetic field measurements are detected toward the top of mobile device 120 (where NFC reader 122 is located). Thus, advantageously, the heat map of field strength measurements may visually indicate to a user that the “sweet spot” for the NFC reader is in the top-center portion of mobile device 120.

[0015] It may be understood that the magnetic field strength mapping system 100 and components therein shown in Figure 1 are simplified for ease of explanation and are a non-limiting example. Thus, there may be more (or fewer) components than shown in the magnetic field strength detector 101, computer vision device 111, and mobile device 120 of Figure 1. Furthermore, it may be understood that the computer vision device 111 and components therein may be part of a computer vision system that may include other computer vision devices and components connected via a network.

[0016] FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary magnetic field intensity detector 200 according to an embodiment. As described above, the magnetic field intensity detector 200 may include at least a magnetometer 202 and a processing circuit and memory 204, which may be coupled by one or more wires 206. At least the processing circuit and memory 204 may be disposed within a housing 208. As shown, the magnetic field intensity detector 200 may have a generally wand shape, with the magnetometer 202 forming the tip of the wand and the housing 208 forming the handle. In examples, the wire 206 may be rigidly configured (e.g., the wire itself may be rigid, the wires may be twisted together to form a rigid structure, the wires may be encased in a rigid housing) such that the wire configuration is sufficient to support or accommodate the weight of the magnetometer 202. At least in that regard, the wire 206 may form the general structure of the elongated body of the wand.

[0017] As further shown in FIG. 2 , a visual marker 210 may be placed on the magnetometer 202. The visual marker may be any type of visual aid for indicating a position, location, place, etc., as long as the marker is trackable by a computer vision system or one or more cameras of the device. While the visual marker 210 placed on the magnetometer 202 is a black circular dot, it may be understood that it may be any shape, color, colored shape, colored dot, visual pattern, etc. For example, it may be a star, triangle, or rectangle. In some examples, the visual marker may be a machine-readable code that can be detected by a computer vision system to render information to a user, for example, in augmented reality.

[0018] According to an embodiment, a user may wave, hover, or scan the tip of detector 200, e.g., magnetometer 202, over the exterior surface of the mobile device. At a first position relative to the mobile device, magnetometer 202 may measure a first magnetic field strength. Similarly, magnetometer 202 may measure a second magnetic field strength at a second position relative to the mobile device, a third magnetic field strength at a third position, and a fourth magnetic field strength at a fourth position. A computer vision device, such as computer vision device 111 of FIG. 1, may track visual marker 210 and receive a first magnetic field strength measurement from detector 200 (not necessarily in any particular order) when a first magnetic field strength is measured at the first position. When a second magnetic field strength is measured at the second position, visual marker 210 is tracked and a measurement is received by the computer vision device. The same applies to a third position, a fourth position, and so on.

[0019] In some examples, the magnetic field strength detector 200 may be configured to determine the source of the magnetic field based on the signal frequency emanating from the source and, upon determining the source, provide such information to the computer vision device. For example, if the detected signal frequency is between 13 and 14 MHz, the detector 200 may determine that the signal is NFC. If the signal frequency is between 1850 and 1990 MHz, the source of such a signal may be cellular.

[0020] The computer vision device may then generate a heat map of the mobile device based on the magnetic field strength measurements (e.g., the first magnetic field strength measurement, the second magnetic field strength measurement, the third measurement, the fourth measurement). As described below, the heat map visually indicates the magnetic field strength at each measured location on the mobile device and may further indicate, by color or otherwise, the degree of magnetic field strength, its location relative to other measurements, the type of signal emitted from the mobile device, the source of the measured magnetic field, etc.

[0021] FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary heat map 300 of various magnetic fields and their respective strengths detected on a mobile device, such as a smartphone, according to an embodiment. As shown, the heat map 300 may be overlaid on one or more digital images of the smartphone, such as a front image 304 and a back image 306 of the smartphone. From the front of the smartphone, the heat map 300 may indicate the presence of a magnetic field 308 in the upper left portion. The line representing the innermost ring of the magnetic field 308 may be color-coded (e.g., red) or drawn thicker than the other lines to indicate that the magnetic field is strongest in that region, as shown. As the magnetic field 308 extends outward from the innermost portion, the magnetic field strength may weaken, as indicated by the thinner lines representing the middle and outermost rings (or may be color-coded orange and yellow, respectively). Also shown is a generally large magnetic field 310, which may be very weak, as indicated by the dashed line (or indicated by a color representing very weak magnetic field strength, such as blue).

[0022] From the back of the smartphone, the magnetic fields 308 and 310 may be shown, represented, or displayed in the same way as on the front, but may be displayed inverted. While FIG. 3 shows images 304 and 306 of both the front and back of the smartphone, it can be understood that in some examples, the heat map 300 may show only the front or only the back, or whichever side is most relevant to the user. For example, if detection of the source of the magnetic field 308 is stronger on the front than on the back, only the front may be displayed for the user in the heat map 300. Furthermore, in some examples, the heat map 300 may also display the source of the displayed magnetic field based on relevant information provided by the detector, e.g., NFC source, cellular source, etc.

[0023] As shown in FIG. 3 , the heat map 300 indicates to the user that the source of the strongest magnetic field is likely located in the upper left portion (from the front) of the smartphone. In some embodiments, the user may configure the heat map 300 to selectively display and color-code the source of the magnetic field. For example, the rings and lines depicting the magnetic field may be a particular color or shade (e.g., red), while magnetic fields corresponding to different sources may be represented by a different color or shade (e.g., purple). Additionally, it may be appreciated that various graphics or images may be further overlaid or displayed on the heat map 300. For example, the word “NFC” or an image of an NFC chip may be displayed in the center of the ring depicting the magnetic field 308.

[0024] FIG. 4 illustrates an alternative example of a magnetic field strength mapping system 400 according to an embodiment. As shown, the components and setup of the mapping system 400 are similar to the magnetic field strength mapping system 100 of FIG. 1. The magnetic field strength detector 401 includes at least one or more sensors 402, a processing circuit 404, a memory 406, and one or more visual markers 408. Additionally, the computer vision device 411 may include one or more cameras 412, a processing circuit 414, a memory 416, and a display 418. However, in FIG. 4, the one or more sensors 402 used to detect the magnetic field strength may be different or configured differently from the magnetometers used in the system of FIG. 1.

[0025] In one example, the sensor 402 may be a Hall Effect sensor. It can be understood that a Hall Effect sensor can be a device used to measure the magnitude of a magnetic field by providing an output voltage that can be directly proportional to the strength of the magnetic field passing through the sensor. In another example, the sensor 402 can be a coil that can be configured similarly to a Hall Effect sensor. Thus, one or more sensors of the magnetic field strength detector 402 can provide voltage values at various measurement positions or locations on the mobile device. The voltage values can be used to determine the respective magnetic field strength measurements at those positions or locations. In some examples, an analog-to-digital converter can be used in combination with the coil sensor to measure the voltage level of the analog magnetic or NFC vibration.

[0026] Similar to computer vision device 111 of FIG. 1, computer vision device 411 may track one or more visual markers 408 and receive various magnetic field strength measurements to generate at least a heat map, as described above.

[0027] Figure 5 shows an example flow diagram 500 according to one or more embodiments. For example, flow diagram 500 describes a mapping process corresponding to the magnetic field strength mapping system of Figure 1. It can be understood that features associated with the illustrated blocks may be implemented or performed by processing circuitry included in a magnetic field strength detector and computer vision device such as that shown in Figure 1.

[0028] At block 502, a magnetic field strength detector (e.g., specifically, a magnetometer of the detector) may be used to measure magnetic field strength at a first position and a second position relative to the object. For example, the object may be a smartphone, a laptop, a tablet computing device, a wearable computing device, or a mobile computing device. As noted above, it may be understood that magnetic field strength at a third position, a fourth position, a fifth position, etc. may also be measured.

[0029] At block 504, the first and second magnetic field strength measurements may be provided to at least one computing device. In an example, the computing device may be a computer vision device. At block 506, one or more images of the object may be captured by at least one camera of the computer vision device. As described above, the images of the object may be used, for example, such that a heat map may be overlaid thereon.

[0030] At block 508, the computer vision device may track a visual marker, which may be placed on the magnetic field strength detector, as or as magnetic field strength measurements are made at the first and second locations of the object. At block 510, the first and second magnetic field strength measurements may be received by the computer vision device. Thus, in some examples, blocks 504, 508, and 510 may be performed simultaneously or near simultaneously in real time, as the processes described therein may be related.

[0031] At block 512, a magnetic heat map of the object may be generated by a computer vision device or system based at least in part on the received first and second magnetic field strength measurements. As described above, the heat map may visually indicate the first and second magnetic field strengths (and other measured magnetic field strengths) on the image of the object captured at block 506. In an example, the heat map data may be overlaid on the object image. In an example, the source of the magnetic field and its associated magnetic field strengths may be an NFC reader coil integrated into the object.

[0032] It will be appreciated that the blocks depicted in Figure 5 are not limited to any particular order, and one or more blocks may be performed or executed concurrently or near-concurrently.

[0033] 6 shows an example flow diagram 600 according to one or more embodiments. For example, flow diagram 600 describes a mapping process corresponding to the magnetic field strength mapping system of FIG. 4, and in particular, a process performed by a magnetic field strength detector. It can be understood that features associated with the illustrated blocks may be implemented or performed by processing circuitry included in a magnetic field strength detector such as that shown in FIG.

[0034] At block 602, the processing circuitry of the magnetic field strength detector may receive from the sensor a first voltage value at a first position relative to the object (e.g., a smartphone, laptop, etc.). As described above, the sensor may be a Hall Effect sensor or a coil sensor configured to output a voltage value that is directly proportional to the magnitude of the magnetic field detected by the sensor. Similarly, at block 604, a second voltage value at a second position relative to the object may be received. Additional voltage values at a third position, a fourth position, a fifth position, etc. may also be received by the detector.

[0035] At block 606, a first magnetic field strength measurement at the first position may be determined by the processing circuit based on the first voltage value. Thus, for example, if the voltage value at the first position is relatively greater than other voltage values, the magnitude of the magnetic field may be determined to be stronger or greater at the first position compared to other locations. Further, at block 608, a second magnetic field strength measurement at the second position may be determined based on the second voltage value.

[0036] At block 610, the first and second magnetic field strength measurements may be provided to at least one computing device, e.g., a computer vision device, to generate a magnetic heat map of the object. The computer vision device may track visual markers placed on the magnetic field strength detector, as described above, and match the received magnetic field strength measurements to locations where the visual markers are tracked and identified. Based at least on this process, a heat map may be generated and displayed on a display device, where, for example, various strengths of the magnetic field may be color-coded, differently shaded, or shaped.

[0037] It will be appreciated that the blocks depicted in Figure 6 are not limited to any particular order, and one or more blocks may be performed or executed concurrently or near-concurrently.

[0038] 7 illustrates an exemplary computing architecture 700 embodiment of a computing device, such as, for example, a desktop computer, laptop, tablet computer, mobile computer, smartphone, or the like, suitable for implementing various embodiments described above. In one embodiment, computing architecture 700 can include or be implemented as part of a system, which is described further below. In an example, one or more computing devices and their processing circuitry can be configured to at least perform, execute, support, or provide one or more aspects and related functions of a magnetic field intensity mapping system, such as a computer vision device. It can be understood that one or more components of computing architecture 700 can also be implemented in or configured as the magnetic field detector described above.

[0039] As used in this application, the terms “system” and “component” are intended to refer to any computer-related entity: hardware, a combination of hardware and software, software, or software in execution, an example of which is provided by exemplary computing architecture 700. For example, a component may be, but is not limited to, a process running on a processor, a processor, a hard disk drive, multiple storage drives (optical and / or magnetic storage media), an object, an executable, a thread of execution, a program, and / or a computer. By way of example, both an application running on a server and the server may be a component. One or more components may reside within a process and / or thread of execution, and components may be localized on one computer and / or distributed among two or more computers. Furthermore, components may be communicatively coupled to each other and coordinate operations by various types of communication media. Coordination may include unidirectional or bidirectional exchange of information. For example, components may communicate information in the form of signals communicated over the communication media. Information may be embodied as signals assigned to various signal lines. In such assignments, each message is a signal. However, further embodiments may alternatively use data messages. Such data messages may be transmitted over a variety of connections, examples of which include parallel interfaces, serial interfaces, and bus interfaces.

[0040] Computing architecture 700 may include various common computing elements, such as one or more processors, multi-core processors, co-processors, memory units, chipsets, controllers, peripherals, interfaces, oscillators, timing devices, video cards, audio cards, multimedia input / output (I / O) components, power supplies, etc. However, embodiments are not limited to implementation by computing architecture 700.

[0041] 7, computing architecture 700 includes a processor 704, a system memory 706, and a system bus 708. Processor 704 may be any of a variety of commercially available processors, processing circuits, central processing units (CPUs), special purpose processors, field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), etc.

[0042] The system bus 708 provides an interface for system components, including but not limited to, the system memory 706 to the processor 704. The system bus 708 may be any of several types of bus structures that may further interconnect to a memory bus (with or without a memory controller), a peripheral bus, and a local bus using any of a variety of commercially available bus architectures. Interface adapters may connect to the system bus 708 through a slot architecture. Examples of slot architectures include, but are not limited to, Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP), CardBus, (Extended) Industry Standard Architecture ((E)ISA), MicroChannel Architecture (MCA), NuBus, Peripheral Component Interconnect (Expansion) (PCI(X)), PCI Express, Personal Computer Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA), etc.

[0043] Computing architecture 700 may include or be embodied in various articles of manufacture. Articles of manufacture may include computer-readable storage media for storing logic. Examples of computer-readable storage media may include any tangible medium capable of storing electronic data, including volatile or non-volatile memory, removable or non-removable memory, erasable or non-erasable memory, writable or rewritable memory, etc. Examples of logic may include executable computer program instructions implemented using any suitable type of code, such as source code, compiled code, interpreted code, executable code, static code, dynamic code, object-oriented code, visual code, etc. Embodiments may also be implemented at least in part as instructions contained in or on non-transitory computer-readable media, which may be read and executed by one or more processors to enable performance of the operations described herein.

[0044] The system memory 706 may include various types of computer-readable storage media in the form of one or more high-speed memory units, such as read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory (RAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), double data rate DRAM (DDRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), static RAM (SRAM), programmable ROM (PROM), erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), flash memory, polymer memory such as ferroelectric polymer memory, ovonic memory, phase-change or ferroelectric memory, silicon-oxide-nitride-oxide-silicon (SONOS) memory, magnetic or optical cards, arrays of devices such as redundant array of independent disks (RAID) drives, solid-state memory devices (e.g., USB memory, solid-state drives (SSDs)), and other types of storage media suitable for storing information. In the illustrated embodiment shown in FIG. 7, the system memory 706 may include non-volatile memory 710 and / or volatile memory 712. The non-volatile memory 710 may store a basic input / output system (BIOS).

[0045] The computer 702 may include various types of computer-readable storage media in the form of one or more low-speed memory units, including an internal (or external) hard disk drive (HDD) 714, a magnetic floppy disk drive (FDD) 716 that reads from or writes to a removable magnetic disk 718, and an optical disk drive 720 that reads from or writes to a removable optical disk 722 (e.g., a CD-ROM or DVD). The HDD 714, FDD 716, and optical disk drive 720 may be connected to the system bus 708 by an HDD interface 724, an FDD interface 726, and an optical drive interface 728, respectively. The HDD interface 724 for external drive implementations may include at least one or both of Universal Serial Bus (USB) and IEEE 1394 interface technologies.

[0046] The drives and associated computer-readable media provide volatile and / or nonvolatile storage of data, data structures, computer-executable instructions, etc. For example, a number of program modules may be stored on the drives and memory units 710, 712, including an operating system 730, one or more application programs 732, other program modules 734, and program data 736. In one embodiment, the one or more application programs 732, other program modules 734, and program data 736 may comprise, for example, various applications and / or components of the system 800.

[0047] A user may enter commands and information into the computer 702 through one or more wired / wireless input devices, for example, a keyboard 738 and a pointing device such as a mouse 740. Other input devices may include a microphone, infrared (IR) remote control, radio frequency (RF) remote control, game pad, stylus pen, card reader, dongle, fingerprint reader, glove, graphics tablet, joystick, keyboard, retina reader, touch screen (e.g., capacitive, resistive, etc.), trackball, track pad, sensor, stylus, etc. These and other input devices are often connected to the processor 704 through an input device interface 742 coupled to the system bus 708, but may be connected by other interfaces, such as a parallel port, an IEEE 1394 serial port, a game port, a USB port, an IR interface, etc.

[0048] A monitor 744 or other type of display device is also connected to the system bus 708 via an interface, such as a video adapter 746. The monitor 744 may be internal or external to the computer 702. In addition to the monitor 744, computers typically include other peripheral output devices, such as speakers, printers, etc.

[0049] The computer 702 may operate in a networked environment using logical connections via wired and / or wireless communications to one or more remote computers, such as a remote computer 748. The remote computer 748 may be a workstation, a server computer, a router, a personal computer, a portable computer, a microprocessor-based entertainment device, a peer device, or other common network node, and typically includes many or all of the elements described relative to the computer 702, although for simplicity, only a memory / storage device 750 is shown. The logical connections shown include wired / wireless connections to a local area network (LAN) 752 and / or larger networks, e.g., a wide area network (WAN) 754. Such LAN and WAN networking environments are commonplace in offices and businesses, facilitating enterprise-wide computer networks, such as intranets. All of these may be connected to a global communications network, e.g., the Internet.

[0050] When used in a LAN networking environment, the computer 702 is connected to the LAN 752 through a wired and / or wireless communication network interface or adapter 756. The adapter 756 may facilitate wired and / or wireless communication to the LAN 752, which may include a wireless access point disposed thereon for communicating with the wireless functionality of the adapter 756.

[0051] When used in a WAN networking environment, the computer 702 may include a modem 758 or have other means for establishing communications over the WAN 754, such as connected to a communications server on the WAN 754 or via the Internet. The modem 758 may be internal or external, a wired and / or wireless device, and connects to the system bus 708 via the input device interface 742. In a networked environment, program modules depicted relative to the computer 702, or portions thereof, may be stored in the remote memory / storage device 750. It will be appreciated that the network connections shown are exemplary and other means of establishing a communications link between the computers may be used.

[0052] The computer 702 is operable to communicate with wired and wireless devices or entities using the IEEE 802 family of standards, such as wireless devices operatively arranged for wireless communication (e.g., IEEE 802.11 wireless modulation techniques). This includes at least Wi-Fi (or Wireless Fidelity), WiMax, Bluetooth® wireless technologies, and the like. Thus, communication can be in a predefined structure, similar to a traditional network, or simply ad hoc communication between at least two devices. A Wi-Fi network provides secure, reliable, and high-speed wireless connectivity using radio technologies called IEEE 802.118 (a, b, g, n, etc.). A Wi-Fi network can be used to connect computers to each other, to the Internet, or to wired networks (using IEEE 802.3-related media and functions).

[0053] 1 through 6 may include various hardware elements, software elements, or a combination of both. Examples of hardware elements may include devices, logic devices, components, processors, microprocessors, circuits, processors, circuit elements (e.g., transistors, resistors, capacitors, inductors, etc.), integrated circuits, application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), digital signal processors (DSPs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), memory units, logic gates, registers, semiconductor devices, chips, microchips, chipsets, etc. Examples of software elements may include software components, programs, applications, computer programs, application programs, system programs, software development programs, machine programs, operating system software, middleware, firmware, software modules, routines, subroutines, functions, methods, procedures, software interfaces, application program interfaces (APIs), instruction sets, computing code, computer code, code segments, computer code segments, words, values, symbols, or any combination thereof. However, the decision whether an embodiment is implemented using hardware and / or software elements may vary as needed for a given embodiment depending on any number of factors, such as desired computational speed, power level, heat tolerance, processing cycle budget, input data rate, output data rate, memory resources, data bus speed, and other design or performance constraints.

[0054] 8 is a block diagram illustrating an example communications architecture 800 suitable for implementing various embodiments. For example, one or more computing devices may communicate with each other via a communications framework such as a network. At least a first computing device connected to the network may be a computer vision device. At least a second computing device connected to the network may be a different computer vision device. In an example, the first and second computing devices may be part of a larger computer vision system or network.

[0055] Communications architecture 800 includes various common communications elements such as transmitters, receivers, transceivers, radios, network interfaces, baseband processors, antennas, amplifiers, filters, power supplies, etc. However, embodiments are not limited to implementation with communications architecture 800.

[0056] 8, communication architecture 800 includes one or more client(s) 802 and servers 804. The one or more client(s) 802 and servers 804 are operatively connected to one or more respective client data store(s) 806 and server data store(s) 807 that can be employed to store information local to the respective client(s) 802 and server(s) 804, such as cookie(s) and / or associated contextual information.

[0057] The client 802 and the server 804 may communicate information with each other using a communication framework 810. The communication framework 810 may implement any well-known communication technology and protocol. The communication framework 810 may be implemented as a packet-switched network (e.g., a public network such as the Internet, a private network such as a corporate intranet, etc.), a circuit-switched network (e.g., the public switched telephone network), or a combination of packet-switched and circuit-switched networks (using appropriate gateways and translators).

[0058] The communications framework 810 may implement various network interfaces configured to accept, communicate, and connect to communications networks. A network interface may be considered a specialized form of input / output (I / O) interface. The network interface may employ connection protocols including, but not limited to, direct connect, Ethernet (e.g., thick, thin, twisted pair 10 / 100 / 1000 Base-T, etc.), token ring, wireless network interface, cellular network interface, IEEE 802.7a-x network interface, IEEE 802.16 network interface, IEEE 802.20 network interface, etc. Furthermore, multiple network interfaces may be used to interface with various communications network types. For example, multiple network interfaces may be used to enable communications over broadcast, multicast, and unicast networks. If processing requirements demand greater speed and capacity, a distributed network controller architecture may similarly be used to pool, load balance, and otherwise increase the communications bandwidth needed by the clients 802 and servers 804. The communications network may be any one and combination of wired and / or wireless networks, including, but not limited to, direct interconnections, secure custom connections, private networks (e.g., enterprise intranets), public networks (e.g., the Internet), personal area networks (PANs), local area networks (LANs), metropolitan area networks (MANs), operational missions as nodes on the Internet (OMNIs), wide area networks (WANs), wireless networks, cellular networks, and other communications networks.

[0059] The components and functions of the above-described devices may be implemented using any combination of discrete circuits, application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), logic gates, and / or single-chip architectures. Furthermore, the functions of the devices may be implemented using microcontrollers, programmable logic arrays, and / or microprocessors, or any combination of the foregoing where appropriate. Note that hardware, firmware, and / or software elements may be collectively or individually referred to herein as "logic" or "circuitry."

[0060] At least one computer-readable storage medium may contain instructions that, when executed, cause the system to perform any of the computer-implemented methods described herein.

[0061] Some embodiments may be described using the phrase "in one embodiment" or "embodiment," along with derivatives thereof. These terms mean that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with an embodiment is included in at least one embodiment. The appearances of the phrase "in one embodiment" in various places in this specification do not necessarily all refer to the same embodiment. Furthermore, unless otherwise specified, it is recognized that the above features can be used together in any combination. Thus, any features discussed separately can be used in combination with each other unless it is noted that the features are not compatible with each other.

[0062]

[0013] The detailed descriptions herein, generally referring to the notation and nomenclature used herein, may be presented in terms of program procedures executed on a computer or network of computers. These procedural descriptions and representations are used by those skilled in the art to most effectively convey the substance of their work to others skilled in the art.

[0063] A procedure is herein and generally conceived to be a self-consistent sequence of operations leading to a desired result. These operations are those requiring physical manipulation of physical quantities. Usually, though not necessarily, these quantities take the form of electrical, magnetic, or optical signals capable of being stored, transferred, combined, compared, and otherwise manipulated. It is sometimes convenient, principally for reasons of common usage, to refer to these signals as bits, values, elements, symbols, characters, terms, numbers, or the like. It should be borne in mind, however, that all of these and similar terms are to be associated with the appropriate physical quantities and are merely convenient labels applied to these quantities.

[0064] Further, the manipulations performed are often referred to in terms, such as adding or comparing, which are commonly associated with mental operations performed by a human operator. No such capability of a human operator is necessary, or desirable in most cases, in any of the operations described herein that form part of one or more embodiments. Rather, the operations are machine operations.

[0065] Some embodiments may be described using the terms "coupled" and "connected," along with derivatives thereof. These terms are not necessarily intended as synonyms for each other. For example, some embodiments may be described using the terms "connected" and / or "coupled" to indicate that two or more elements are in direct physical or electrical contact with each other. However, the term "coupled" may also mean that two or more elements are not in direct contact with each other, but yet still cooperate or interact with each other.

[0066] Various embodiments also relate to apparatus or systems for performing these operations. This apparatus may be specially constructed for the required purposes and selectively activated or reconfigured by a computer program stored in a computer. The procedures presented herein are not inherently related to any particular computer or other apparatus. The required structure for a variety of these machines will be apparent from the description given.

[0067] It is emphasized that this Abstract of the Disclosure is provided to allow the reader to quickly ascertain the nature of the technical disclosure. It is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims. Moreover, in the foregoing Detailed Description, it can be seen that various features are grouped together in a single embodiment for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure. This method of disclosure should not be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the claimed embodiments require more features than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claims reflect, inventive subject matter lies in fewer than all features of a single disclosed embodiment. Accordingly, the following claims are incorporated into the Detailed Description, with each claim standing on its own as a separate embodiment. In the appended claims, the terms "comprising" and "wherein" are used as the plain-English equivalents of the respective terms "comprising" and "wherein." Furthermore, the terms "first," "second," "third," etc. are used merely as labels and are not intended to impose numerical requirements on their subject matter.

[0068] What has been described above includes examples of the disclosed architecture. Of course, it is not possible to describe every conceivable combination of components and / or methodologies, but one of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that many more combinations and permutations are possible. Accordingly, the novel architecture is intended to embrace all such alterations, modifications, and variations that fall within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

Claims

1. A system comprising an apparatus, The device comprises: A magnetometer, a visual marker; a memory for storing executable instructions; a processing circuit coupled to the memory and operable to execute instructions that, when executed, cause the processing circuit to: measuring a first magnetic field strength at a first position relative to the object via the magnetometer; measuring a second magnetic field strength at a second position relative to the object via the magnetometer; providing the first and second magnetic field strength measurements to at least one computing device; Execute The system comprises the at least one computing device, the at least one computing device comprising: one or more cameras; a memory for storing executable instructions; a processing circuit coupled to the memory and operative to execute instructions that, when executed, cause the processing circuit to: capturing an image of the object via the one or more cameras; tracking the visual marker via the one or more cameras when the first magnetic field strength is measured at the first position; receiving the first magnetic field strength measurement from the device; tracking the visual marker via the one or more cameras when the second magnetic field strength is measured at the second position; receiving the second magnetic field strength measurement from the device; generating a heat map of the object based on at least the received first and second magnetic field strength measurements; Execute the heat map visually indicating the first and second magnetic field strengths of the image of the object. system.

2. The processing circuitry of the device includes: measuring a third magnetic field intensity at a third position relative to the object; providing a third magnetic field strength measurement to the at least one computing device; The system of claim 1 , further comprising:

3. The processing circuitry of the at least one computing device further comprises: tracking the visual marker when the third magnetic field strength is measured at the third position; receiving the third magnetic field strength measurement from the device; generating the heat map of the object based on at least the received third magnetic field strength measurements; The system of claim 2 , further comprising:

4. 10. The system of claim 1, wherein the object is one or more of the following: (i) a smartphone, (ii) a laptop, (iii) a tablet computing device, (iv) a wearable computing device, and (v) a mobile computing device.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the visual marker is located on the magnetometer.

6. The system of claim 5 , wherein the visual marker is a shape, a color, a colored shape, a dot, a colored dot, a visual pattern, and / or a machine-readable code.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one computing device is a computer vision device.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the source of the first and second magnetic field strengths is an NFC reader coil.

9. The processing circuitry of the device includes: determining a source of the first magnetic field and / or the second magnetic field based on one or more signal frequencies from the source; providing the source to the at least one computing device; The system of claim 1 further configured to:

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the at least one computing device is configured to selectively display and color code the source of the first magnetic field and / or the second magnetic field.

11. The system of claim 1 , wherein the device has a wand shape.

12. 1. An apparatus comprising: A sensor, a visual marker; a memory for storing executable instructions; a processing circuit coupled to the memory and operable to execute the instructions, the instructions, when executed, causing the processing circuit to: receiving a first voltage value from the sensor at a first position relative to the object; receiving a second voltage value from the sensor at a second position relative to the object; determining a first magnetic field strength measurement at the first position based on the received first voltage value; determining a second magnetic field strength measurement at the second position based on the received second voltage value; providing the first and second magnetic field strength measurements to at least one computing device; Execute the at least one computing device generates a heat map of the object based on at least the first and second magnetic field strength measurements. Device.

13. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the sensor is a Hall effect sensor or a coil.

14. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the visual marker is located on the sensor.

15. 13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the first voltage value at the first position is directly proportional to the magnitude of the first magnetic field strength measurement via the sensor.

16. 13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the second voltage value at the second position is directly proportional to the magnitude of the second magnetic field strength measurement via the sensor.

17. measuring a first magnetic field strength at a first position relative to the object via a magnetometer; measuring a second magnetic field strength at a second position relative to the object via the magnetometer; providing the first and second magnetic field strength measurements to at least one computing device; via the at least one computing device, capturing images of the object via one or more cameras; tracking a visual marker via one or more cameras when the first magnetic field strength is measured at the first position and when the second magnetic field strength is measured at the second position; receiving, via the at least one computing device, the first and second magnetic field strength measurements; generating, via the at least one computing device, a magnetic heat map of the object based on at least the received first and second magnetic field strength measurements; the magnetic heat map visually indicating the first and second magnetic field intensities on the image of the object. method.

18. 20. The method of claim 17, wherein the object is one or more of the following: (i) a smartphone, (ii) a laptop, (iii) a tablet computing device, (iv) a wearable computing device, and (v) a mobile computing device.

19. The method of claim 17 , wherein the visual marker is located on the magnetometer.

20. The method of claim 17 , wherein the at least one computing device is the computer vision device.

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