Enhanced Radio Wave Exposure Mitigation Using Combination of Proximity and Inertial Sensor Data

Abstract

Some disclosed devices include an inertial sensor system, a proximity sensor system, an antenna system configured to transmit and receive wireless signals, and a control system. The control system may be configured to receive inertial sensor data from the inertial sensor system and control the proximity sensor system and / or the antenna system based at least in part on the inertial sensor data. In some examples, the control system may be configured to control the proximity sensor system and / or the antenna system based at least in part on whether the inertial sensor data indicates that the device is being held, carried, or against a person's body (e.g., in the person's pocket).

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] Priority claim This application claims priority to U.S. Patent Application No. 17 / 224,715, filed April 7, 2021, entitled "ENHANCED RADIO WAVE EXPOSURE MITIGATION USING A COMBINATION OF PROXIMITY & INERTIAL SENSOR DATA," which is incorporated herein by reference.

[0002] FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE This disclosure relates generally to devices and methods for controlling human exposure to radio frequencies used for cellular systems. [Background technology]

[0003] Fifth-generation (5G) cellular systems use various high-frequency bands of the electromagnetic spectrum, including frequency bands in the millimeter wave (mmW) region, to take advantage of the availability of large bandwidths and thereby achieve unprecedented data rates. Radio transmissions above 6 GHz must comply with the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Maximum Permissible Exposure (MPE) requirements, which are 1 mW / cm². 2 Although existing methods for controlling human exposure to higher frequency regions of the electromagnetic spectrum have merit, it would be desirable to develop improved methods and devices. Summary of the Invention [Means for solving the problem]

[0004] The systems, methods, and devices of the present disclosure each have several inventive aspects, no single aspect of which is solely responsible for the desirable attributes disclosed herein.

[0005] One inventive aspect of the subject matter described in this disclosure may be embodied in an apparatus. The apparatus may include an inertial sensor system, a proximity sensor system, an antenna system, and a control system configured for communication with the inertial sensor system, the proximity sensor system, and the antenna system. The inertial sensor system may include one or more inertial sensors. The antenna system may be configured to transmit and receive wireless signals. In some implementations, a mobile device may be or include an apparatus as disclosed herein.

[0006] The control system may include one or more general-purpose single-chip or multi-chip processors, digital signal processors (DSPs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or combinations thereof. According to some examples, the control system may be configured to receive inertial sensor data from the inertial sensor system and control the proximity sensor system and the antenna system based at least in part on the inertial sensor data.

[0007] In some examples, the control system may be configured to determine whether the inertial sensor data indicates that the device is being held, carried, or in contact with the person's body. In some such examples, the control system may be configured to deactivate the proximity sensor system when the control system determines that the inertial sensor data indicates that the device is being held, carried, or in contact with the person's body. In some examples, the control system may be configured to reduce the transmit power of the antenna system when the control system determines that the inertial sensor data indicates that the device is being held, carried, or in contact with the person's body. In some instances, determining whether the device is in contact with the person's body may involve determining whether at least a portion of the device is in the person's pocket.

[0008] According to some examples, the control system may be configured to determine whether the inertial sensor data indicates that the device is being held, carried, or against a person's body, and if the control system determines that the inertial sensor data does not indicate that the device is being held, carried, or against a person's body, acquire a proximity sensor signal from the proximity sensor system. In some such examples, the control system may be configured to determine whether the proximity sensor signal indicates that a target object is in proximity to the device, and control the transmit power of the antenna system according to whether the control system determines that a target object is in proximity to the device.

[0009] In some implementations, the inertial sensor system may include at least one accelerometer or at least one gyroscope. According to some implementations, the proximity sensor system may include at least one radar sensor. In some examples, the antenna system may be configured to transmit at least some wireless signals at a frequency of 6 gigahertz or greater. According to some implementations, the antenna system may be configured to transmit beamformed wireless signals.

[0010] In some examples, the control system may be configured to determine whether the inertial sensor data indicates an acceleration that is equal to or exceeds an acceleration threshold, and to deactivate the proximity sensor system and / or reduce transmit power of the antenna system if the control system determines that the inertial sensor data indicates one or more accelerations that are equal to or exceed the acceleration threshold. According to some implementations, the control system may be configured to determine whether the inertial sensor data indicates micromotion characteristics of a human touch, and to deactivate the proximity sensor system and / or reduce transmit power of the antenna system if the control system determines that the inertial sensor data indicates one or more micromotion characteristics of a human touch.

[0011] According to some examples, the control system may be configured to implement a neural network through the control system that is trained to determine whether the inertial sensor data indicates that the device is being held, carried, or against a person's body. In some such implementations, the control system may be configured to deactivate the proximity sensor system and / or reduce the transmit power of the antenna system if the control system determines that the inertial sensor data indicates that the device is being held, carried, or against a person's body.

[0012] Yet other inventive aspects of the subject matter described in this disclosure may be embodied in a method of controlling a mobile device. The method may involve receiving inertial sensor data from an inertial sensor system of the mobile device by a control system of the mobile device. The method may involve determining, by the control system, whether the inertial sensor data indicates that the mobile device is being held, carried, or against a human body. The method may involve controlling, by the control system, a proximity sensor system and / or an antenna system of the mobile device based at least in part on whether the inertial sensor data indicates that the mobile device is being held, carried, or against a human body.

[0013] According to some examples, the method may involve deactivating a proximity sensor system by the control system when the control system determines that the inertial sensor data indicates that the mobile device is being held, carried, or in contact with the person's body. In some examples, the method may involve lowering transmit power of the antenna system when the control system determines that the inertial sensor data indicates that the mobile device is being held, carried, or in contact with the person's body. According to some examples, determining whether the mobile device is in contact with the person's body may involve determining whether at least a portion of the mobile device is within the person's pocket.

[0014] In some examples, the method may involve acquiring a proximity sensor signal from a proximity sensor system when the control system determines that the inertial sensor data does not indicate that the mobile device is being held, carried, or against a human body. According to some examples, the method may involve determining whether the proximity sensor signal indicates that a target object is in proximity to the mobile device. In some examples, the method may involve controlling transmit power of the antenna system according to whether the control system determines that a target object is in proximity to the mobile device.

[0015] According to some examples, the method may involve determining whether the inertial sensor data indicates an acceleration that equals or exceeds an acceleration threshold. In some examples, the method may involve deactivating a proximity sensor system and / or reducing transmit power of an antenna system if the control system determines that the inertial sensor data indicates one or more accelerations that equal or exceed an acceleration threshold.

[0016] In some instances, the method may involve determining whether the inertial sensor data indicates micromotion characteristics of a human touch. According to some such examples, the method may involve deactivating a proximity sensor system and / or reducing transmit power of an antenna system if the control system determines that the inertial sensor data indicates one or more micromotion characteristics of a human touch.

[0017] According to some examples, the method may involve implementing a neural network trained to determine whether the inertial sensor data indicates that the mobile device is being held, carried, or against a human body. According to some such examples, the method may involve deactivating a proximity sensor system and / or reducing transmit power of an antenna system if the control system determines that the inertial sensor data indicates that the mobile device is being held, carried, or against a human body.

[0018] Some or all of the operations, functions, and / or methods described herein may be performed by one or more devices according to instructions (e.g., software) stored on a non-transitory medium. Such non-transitory medium may include memory devices such as those described herein, including, but not limited to, random access memory (RAM) devices, read-only memory (ROM) devices, etc. Thus, some inventive aspects of the subject matter described in this disclosure may be embodied in a non-transitory medium having software stored thereon.

[0019] For example, the software may include instructions for controlling one or more devices to perform a method. The method may involve receiving, by a control system of the mobile device, inertial sensor data from an inertial sensor system of the mobile device. The method may involve determining, by the control system, whether the inertial sensor data indicates that the mobile device is being held, carried, or against a human body. The method may involve controlling, by the control system, a proximity sensor system and an antenna system of the mobile device based at least in part on whether the inertial sensor data indicates that the mobile device is being held, carried, or against a human body.

[0020] According to some examples, the method may involve deactivating a proximity sensor system by the control system when the control system determines that the inertial sensor data indicates that the mobile device is being held, carried, or in contact with the person's body. In some examples, the method may involve lowering transmit power of the antenna system when the control system determines that the inertial sensor data indicates that the mobile device is being held, carried, or in contact with the person's body. According to some examples, determining whether the mobile device is in contact with the person's body may involve determining whether at least a portion of the mobile device is within the person's pocket.

[0021] In some examples, the method may involve acquiring a proximity sensor signal from a proximity sensor system when the control system determines that the inertial sensor data does not indicate that the mobile device is being held, carried, or against a human body. According to some examples, the method may involve determining whether the proximity sensor signal indicates that a target object is in proximity to the mobile device. In some examples, the method may involve controlling transmit power of the antenna system according to whether the control system determines that a target object is in proximity to the mobile device.

[0022] According to some examples, the method may involve determining whether the inertial sensor data indicates an acceleration that equals or exceeds an acceleration threshold. In some examples, the method may involve deactivating a proximity sensor system and / or reducing transmit power of an antenna system if the control system determines that the inertial sensor data indicates one or more accelerations that equal or exceed an acceleration threshold.

[0023] In some instances, the method may involve determining whether the inertial sensor data indicates micromotion characteristics of a human touch. According to some such examples, the method may involve deactivating a proximity sensor system and / or reducing transmit power of an antenna system if the control system determines that the inertial sensor data indicates one or more micromotion characteristics of a human touch.

[0024] According to some examples, the method may involve implementing a neural network trained to determine whether the inertial sensor data indicates that the mobile device is being held, carried, or against a human body. According to some such examples, the method may involve deactivating a proximity sensor system and / or reducing transmit power of an antenna system if the control system determines that the inertial sensor data indicates that the mobile device is being held, carried, or against a human body.

[0025] The details of one or more implementations of the subject matter described herein are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features, aspects, and advantages will become apparent from the description, drawings, and claims. It should be noted that the relative dimensions of the following figures may not be drawn to scale. Like reference numbers and names in the various drawings generally indicate like elements. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0026] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating example components of an apparatus according to some disclosed implementations. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a mobile device implementation of the apparatus of FIG. 1. [Figure 3A] FIG. 2 shows a further example of the device of FIG. 1. [Figure 3B] FIG. 2 shows a further example of the device of FIG. 1. [Figure 4] FIG. 1 is a flow diagram illustrating blocks of a method according to an example. [Figure 5] 10A-10C are graphs illustrating example inertial sensor data corresponding to various use cases. [Figure 6] 10A-10C are graphs illustrating example inertial sensor data corresponding to various use cases. [Figure 7] 10A-10C are graphs illustrating example inertial sensor data corresponding to various use cases. [Figure 8]10A-10C are graphs illustrating example inertial sensor data corresponding to various use cases. [Figure 9] FIG. 1 is a flow diagram illustrating blocks of a method for controlling a mobile device according to an example. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 illustrates an exemplary operating environment 1000 for proximity detection based on electromagnetic field perturbations. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0027] The following description is directed to several implementations for purposes of illustrating the inventive aspects of the present disclosure. However, those skilled in the art will readily recognize that the teachings herein can be applied in many different ways. The described implementations may be implemented in any device, apparatus, or system that includes multiple transmitter / receiver pairs, such as those disclosed herein. In addition, the described implementations may be implemented in any device, apparatus, or system that includes multiple transmitter / receiver pairs, such as those disclosed herein. In addition, the described implementations may be implemented in any device, apparatus, or system, including, but not limited to, mobile phones, multimedia Internet-enabled cellular phones, mobile television receivers, wireless devices, smartphones, smart cards, wearable devices such as bracelets, armbands, wristbands, rings, headbands, patches, Bluetooth devices, personal digital assistants (PDAs), wireless email receivers, handheld or portable computers, netbooks, notebooks, smartbooks, tablets, printers, copiers, scanners, facsimile devices, global positioning system (GPS) receivers / navigators, cameras, digital media players (such as MP3 players), camcorders, game consoles, wristwatches, clocks, calculators, television monitors, flat panel displays, electronic reading devices (e.g., e-readers), mobile health devices, and the like. , computer monitors, automotive displays (including odometer displays and speedometer displays, etc.), cockpit controls and / or displays, camera view displays (such as the display of a rear-view camera in a vehicle), electrophotography, street vision or electronic signage, projectors, building structures, microwave ovens, refrigerators, stereo systems, cassette recorders or players, DVD players, CD players, VCRs, radios, portable memory chips, washing machines, dryers, washer / dryers, parking meters, packaging (such as in electromechanical systems (EMS) applications, including microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) applications, as well as in non-EMS applications), aesthetic structures (such as the display of images on jewelry or clothing), and various EMS devices.The teachings herein may also be used in applications such as, but not limited to, electronic switching devices, radio frequency filters, sensors, accelerometers, gyroscopes, motion sensing devices, magnetometers, inertial components for consumer electronics, parts of consumer appliances, steering wheels or other automotive parts, varactors, liquid crystal devices, electrophoretic devices, drive schemes, manufacturing processes, and electronic test equipment. Thus, the present teachings are not intended to be limited solely to the implementations shown in the figures, but instead have broad applicability as will be readily apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art.

[0028] For example, when a device such as a cellular phone transmits at a high transmit power, it may exceed maximum permissible exposure (MPE) limits. To overcome this potentially harmful problem, some 5G transceivers developed by the present assignee include proximity sensors to detect the presence of nearby targets. When a nearby target is detected, some such devices are configured to reduce their transmit power levels.

[0029] Such devices are generally capable of detecting nearby targets that are moving relative to the device that includes the proximity sensor. However, some such proximity sensor-equipped devices are not capable of determining when the cellular phone is being held by a user or when the cellular phone is in contact with the user's body (e.g., in the user's pocket). These limitations can potentially result in human exposure that exceeds the MPE limits.

[0030] Some disclosed devices include an inertial sensor system, a proximity sensor system, an antenna system configured to transmit and receive wireless signals, and a control system. The control system may be configured to receive inertial sensor data from the inertial sensor system and determine whether the inertial sensor data indicates that the device is being held, carried, or in contact with a person's body (e.g., in the person's pocket). In some examples, the control system may be configured to reduce the transmit power of the antenna system if the control system determines that the inertial sensor data indicates that the device is being held, carried, or in contact with a person's body. According to some examples, the control system may be configured to deactivate the proximity sensor system if the control system determines that the inertial sensor data indicates that the device is being held, carried, or in contact with a person's body.

[0031] Particular implementations of the subject matter described in this disclosure may be implemented to realize one or more of the following potential advantages: Some disclosed implementations may enhance user safety by detecting additional instances during which antenna system transmit power may result in exposure that exceeds MPE limits. Some disclosed implementations may also reduce power consumption by deactivating a proximity sensor system during times when the proximity sensor system may be unable to determine whether a user's body part is near the device.

[0032] 1 is a block diagram illustrating example components of a device according to some disclosed implementations. In this example, device 101 includes an antenna system 102, an inertial sensor system 103, a proximity sensor system 105, and a control system 106. Some implementations of device 101 may include an interface system 104. In some examples, device 101 may include memory 108 in addition to any memory that control system 106 may include.

[0033] Various examples of antenna systems 102 are disclosed herein. In some examples, the antenna system 102 may be implemented via an antenna configured to transmit and / or receive millimeter wave (mmWave) signals. Some examples of the antenna system 102 may be configurable for use in 5G communication systems, for example, as described in 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP®) Fifth Generation New Radio (5G NR) Releases 15 and 16. In some examples, the antenna system 102 may be configured to transmit at least some radio signals at frequencies above 6 gigahertz (GHz). For example, some such antennas may be configured to transmit beamformed radio signals, for example, pursuant to instructions from the control system 106. Some disclosed antenna systems 102 may include a microstrip antenna (also called a “patch” antenna) that may be printed directly on a circuit board.

[0034] Other implementations of the antenna system 102 may include one or more other suitable types of antennas and / or may be configurable for different purposes. For example, in some implementations, the antenna system 102 may be configured as an mmWave radar-based proximity sensor system or object location estimation system. Some such implementations may not include a separate proximity sensor system 105. In some such examples, the control system may be configured to obtain a first round-trip time for a first reflection from an object proximate to the device via a first transmitter / receiver pair of the antenna system 102 and a second round-trip time for a second reflection from the object via a second transmitter / receiver pair of the antenna system 102. The control system may be configured to determine a position of the object based at least in part on the first round-trip time and the second round-trip time. In some implementations, the control system may be configured to determine a first ellipse based on a first round-trip time, determine a second ellipse based on a second round-trip time, and determine an intersection point between the first ellipse and the second ellipse. The position of the object may be based at least in part on the intersection point between the first ellipse and the second ellipse. According to some such implementations, the control system may be configured to obtain a third round-trip time for a third reflection from the object via a third transmitter / receiver pair and determine the position of the object based at least in part on the first round-trip time, the second round-trip time, and the third round-trip time. According to some examples, the control system may be configured to determine a first ellipse based on the first round-trip time, determine a second ellipse based on the second round-trip time, determine a third ellipse based on the third round-trip time, and determine an intersection point between the first ellipse, the second ellipse, and the third ellipse. The position of the object may be based at least in part on the intersection of the first ellipsoid, the second ellipsoid, and the third ellipsoid. Additional examples are described below with reference to FIG.

[0035] In some implementations, the inertial sensor system 103 may include one or more gyroscopes and one or more accelerometers. However, the inertial sensor system 103 may vary according to the particular implementation. Some or all of the sensors in the inertial sensor system 103 may be discrete components or may be integrated into one or more sensor packages located within the housing of the device 101, depending on the particular implementation. In some implementations, the inertial sensor system 103 may include three linear accelerometers, each configured to measure linear acceleration, velocity, and / or displacement along a particular axis of the device coordinate system. In some other implementations, the functionality of multiple (e.g., three) linear accelerometers may be integrated into a single (e.g., three-axis) accelerometer. According to some implementations, the inertial sensor system 103 may include three gyroscopes, each configured to measure angular acceleration, angular velocity, and / or rotation about a particular axis of the device coordinate system. In some other implementations, the functionality of multiple (eg, three) gyroscopes may be combined or integrated into a single (eg, three-axis) gyroscope.

[0036] The proximity sensor system 105 may include one or more sensors configurable to detect objects near the device 101. In some examples, the proximity sensor system 105 may be configured to detect objects within a predetermined distance of the device 101, such as within approximately one meter, within approximately 50 centimeters, within approximately 20 centimeters, etc. Other implementations of the proximity sensor system 105 may be configured to detect objects within a greater or smaller distance of the device 101, such as within five meters or within 15 centimeters. In some implementations, the proximity sensor system 105 may include one or more transmitters, one or more receivers, or one or more transceivers. According to some implementations, the proximity sensor system 105 may include one or more radio wave transmitters, one or more radio wave receivers, or one or more radio wave transceivers. In some implementations, the proximity sensor system 105 may include one or more acoustic wave transmitters (e.g., one or more ultrasonic transmitters), one or more acoustic wave receivers, or one or more acoustic wave transceivers. Alternatively or additionally, the proximity sensor system 105 may include one or more other types of sensors, such as an optical sensor.

[0037] The control system 106 may include one or more general-purpose single-chip or multi-chip processors, digital signal processors (DSPs), application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or combinations thereof. The control system 106 may also include (and / or be configured for communication with) one or more memory devices, such as one or more random access memory (RAM) devices, read-only memory (ROM) devices, etc. Thus, the apparatus 101 may have a memory system including one or more memory devices, although the memory system 108 is shown in FIG. 1 as an optional element. The control system 106 may be capable of receiving and processing data from the antenna system 102, for example, as described below. In some implementations, the functionality of the control system 106 may be partitioned among one or more controllers or processors, such as a dedicated sensor controller and an application processor of a mobile device.

[0038] Some implementations of the device 101 may include an interface system 104. In some examples, the interface system 104 may include a wireless interface system. In some implementations, the interface system 104 may include a user interface system, one or more network interfaces, one or more interfaces between the control system 106 and the optional memory system 108, one or more interfaces between the control system 106 and the antenna system 102, one or more interfaces between the control system 106 and the inertial sensor system 103, one or more interfaces between the control system 106 and the proximity sensor system 105, and / or one or more interfaces between the control system 106 and one or more external device interfaces (e.g., ports or application processors).

[0039] The interface system 104 may be configured to communicate (which may include wired or wireless communication, such as electrical or wireless communication) between components of the device 101 and / or between the device 101 and one or more other devices. In some such examples, the interface system 104 may be configured to communicate between the control system 106 and the antenna system 102, between the control system 106 and the inertial sensor system 103, and between the control system 106 and the proximity sensor system 105. According to some such examples, a portion of the interface system 104 may couple at least one or more portions of the control system 106 to the antenna system 102, to the inertial sensor system 103, and to the proximity sensor system 105, for example, via a conductive material. According to some examples, the interface system 104 may be configured to communicate between the device 101 and other devices and / or humans. In some such examples, the interface system 104 may include one or more user interfaces. The interface system 104 may, in some examples, include one or more network interfaces and / or one or more external device interfaces (such as one or more universal serial bus (USB) interfaces).

[0040] Apparatus 101 may be used in a variety of different contexts, some examples of which are disclosed herein. For example, in some implementations, a mobile device may include at least a portion of apparatus 101. Control system 106 may be configured to control antenna system 102 for communication with one or more devices over a network, such as a cellular telephone network, a local area network, and / or the Internet. Thus, control system 106 may be configured to control apparatuses, including, but not limited to, antenna system 102, to provide cellular telephone functionality.

[0041] In some implementations, a wearable device may include at least a portion of apparatus 101. The wearable device may be, for example, a bracelet, an armband, a wristband, a ring, a headband, or a patch. In some implementations, control system 106 may reside in more than one device. For example, a portion of control system 106 may reside in a wearable device, and another portion of control system 106 may reside in another device, such as a mobile device (e.g., a smartphone or tablet computer). Interface system 104 may also reside in more than one device, in some such examples.

[0042] FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a mobile device implementation of the apparatus of FIG. 1. As with other disclosed implementations, the types, numbers, and configurations of elements illustrated in FIG. 2 are determined by way of example only. In this example, apparatus 101 includes antenna system portions 102a and 102b, as well as other antenna system portions not visible in FIG. 2. In some such examples, apparatus 101 may include antenna system portions on a side of apparatus 101 opposite side 204 on which antenna system portion 102a resides. In some such examples, apparatus 101 may include antenna system portions on a side of apparatus 101 opposite side 206 on which antenna system portion 102b resides. According to this example, each of the antenna system portions includes multiple antenna elements 202. The multiple antenna elements 202 may be configurable, for example, for beamforming.

[0043] According to this implementation, the device 101 includes a proximity sensor system 105 having at least proximity sensor system elements 205a and 205b. According to some implementations, the proximity sensor system 105 may include two or more radio wave transmitters, two or more radio wave receivers, or two or more radio wave transceivers. In some implementations, the proximity sensor system 105 may include two or more acoustic wave transmitters (e.g., one or more ultrasonic transmitters), two or more acoustic wave receivers, or two or more acoustic wave transceivers. In some implementations, the proximity sensor system 105 may also include a radar-based scheme in which the time between a transmitted pulse and a reflected pulse is calculated to estimate the distance between an object and the device 101. Alternatively or additionally, the proximity sensor system 105 may include two or more other types of sensors, such as optical sensors. In this example, the device 101 includes an inertial sensor system 103 and a control system 106, which are disposed within a housing 210 and therefore not visible in FIG. 2 .

[0044] Figures 3A and 3B show further examples of the device of Figure 1. In the example of Figures 3A and 3B, the inertial sensor system 103 resides within the housing 210 and is therefore not visible from the outside. Therefore, the inertial sensor system 103 is shown via dashed lines.

[0045] 3A may include three linear accelerometers, each configured to measure linear acceleration, velocity, and / or displacement (sometimes referred to herein as "displacement data" or "accelerometer data") along a particular x-axis, y-axis, or z-axis of a Cartesian coordinate system. In some other implementations, the functionality of the three accelerometers may be combined or integrated into a single three-axis accelerometer.

[0046] As shown in FIG. 3B , in some implementations, the inertial sensor system 103 may include three gyroscopes, each configured to measure angular acceleration, angular velocity, and / or rotation about a particular axis of the device coordinate system (sometimes referred to herein as “rotation data” or “gyroscope data”). In some examples, a first gyroscope may be configured to measure rotation data about the x-axis, a second gyroscope may be configured to measure rotation data about the y-axis, and a third gyroscope may be configured to measure rotation data about the z-axis. Such rotation data may also be expressed in terms of pitch, roll, and yaw. In some other implementations, the functionality of the three gyroscopes may be combined or integrated into a single three-axis gyroscope.

[0047] 4 is a flow diagram illustrating blocks of a method according to one example. Method 400 may be performed, for example, at least in part, by an apparatus such as apparatus 101 shown in FIG. 1 and described above (or one of the other examples disclosed herein), having an inertial sensor system, a proximity sensor system, an antenna system configured to transmit and receive wireless signals, and a control system. As with other disclosed methods, the blocks of method 400 are not necessarily performed in the order shown in FIG. 4. Moreover, alternative methods may include more or fewer blocks.

[0048] According to this example, block 405 involves receiving inertial sensor data from an inertial sensor system. Block 405 may involve, for example, control system 106 of FIG. 1 receiving gyroscope data and / or accelerometer data from inertial sensor system 103 of FIG. 1.

[0049] In this example, block 410 involves controlling a proximity sensor system and / or an antenna system based at least in part on the inertial sensor data. In some examples, block 410 may involve determining (e.g., by a control system) whether the inertial sensor data indicates that the device is being held, carried, or against a person's body. Some such examples may involve controlling a proximity sensor system and / or an antenna system based at least in part on whether the inertial sensor data indicates that the device is being held, carried, or against a person's body.

[0050] As mentioned above, devices such as cellular phones configured for 5G communication may exceed MPE limits when transmitting at large transmit power levels. In some implementations of device 101, control system 106 may be configured to detect the presence of a nearby target (e.g., a target within a threshold distance of 15 cm, 20 cm, etc.) according to proximity sensor data from proximity sensor system 105. If a nearby target is detected, control system 106 may be configured to reduce the transmit power level of antenna system 102.

[0051] Thus, some implementations of method 400 may involve determining whether the inertial sensor data indicates that the device is being held, carried, or against a person's body, and if the control system determines that the inertial sensor data does not indicate that the device is being held, carried, or against a person's body, acquiring a proximity sensor signal from a proximity sensor system. Some such implementations may involve determining whether the proximity sensor signal indicates that a target object is in proximity to the device (e.g., within a threshold distance of 15 cm, 20 cm, etc.), and controlling the transmit power of the antenna system according to whether the control system determines that the target object is in proximity to the device.

[0052] However, some such proximity sensors are not capable of determining, for example, when the device 101 is being held by a user, in the user's pocket, etc. In some disclosed implementations, the control system 106 may be configured to reduce power consumption by deactivating the proximity sensor system during times when the proximity sensor system may not be active or needed. According to some such examples, block 410 may involve deactivating the proximity sensor system if the control system determines that the inertial sensor data indicates that the device is being held, carried, or against a person's body. Alternatively or additionally, in some examples, block 410 may involve lowering the transmit power of the antenna system if the control system determines that the inertial sensor data indicates that the device is being held, carried, or against a person's body.

[0053] Figures 5, 6, 7, and 8 are graphs illustrating example inertial sensor data corresponding to various use cases. In Figures 5, 6, 7, and 8, the inertial sensor data is accelerometer data corresponding to linear acceleration along the x-, y-, and z-axes, as described above with respect to Figure 3A.

[0054] Figure 5 shows an example of inertial sensor data corresponding to a user picking up a cellular phone and holding it to the user's head. In the example shown in Figure 5, element 505 is a plot of linear acceleration along the x-axis over a time interval, element 510 is a plot of linear acceleration along the y-axis over the same time interval, and element 515 is a plot of linear acceleration along the z-axis over the same time interval. The maximum acceleration values ​​along all axes occur during the first 3 or 4 seconds, during which the cellular phone is being picked up and placed next to the user's head.

[0055] However, even when the cellular phone is held next to the user's head, there is still sustained low-amplitude acceleration along all three axes. Both higher-amplitude and low-amplitude accelerations are examples of inertial sensor data that indicate the device is being held. The sustained low-amplitude acceleration is an example of what may be referred to herein as vibration or "human touch micromotion." Accordingly, some disclosed methods may involve determining (e.g., by control system 106) whether the inertial sensor data indicates human touch micromotion. Some such methods may involve deactivating a proximity sensor system and / or reducing the transmit power of an antenna system if the control system determines that the inertial sensor data indicates human touch micromotion.

[0056] FIG. 6 shows an example of inertial sensor data corresponding to a user walking while holding a cellular phone. In the example shown in FIG. 6, element 605 is a plot of linear acceleration along the x-axis over a time interval, element 610 is a plot of linear acceleration along the y-axis over the same time interval, and element 615 is a plot of linear acceleration along the z-axis over the same time interval. The acceleration values ​​corresponding to walking occur after the first 3 or 4 seconds and end at approximately 23 seconds. It can be noted that the acceleration values ​​corresponding to the user walking while holding the cellular phone are significantly greater than the acceleration values ​​corresponding to the user holding the cellular phone to the user's head. It can also be noted that, for example, at approximately 10 seconds and again at approximately 15 seconds, there is a relatively large acceleration along the x-axis that corresponds in time to a relatively large acceleration along the z-axis.

[0057] FIG. 7 illustrates example inertial sensor data corresponding to a seated user having a cellular phone in the user's shirt pocket. In the example shown in FIG. 7, element 705 is a plot of linear acceleration along the x-axis over a time interval, element 710 is a plot of linear acceleration along the y-axis over the same time interval, and element 715 is a plot of linear acceleration along the z-axis over the same time interval. FIG. 7 illustrates additional examples of sustained, low-amplitude acceleration, sometimes referred to herein as "human contact micromotion characteristics." According to some examples, determining whether a device is "in contact with a person's body" may involve determining whether at least a portion of the device is in the person's pocket.

[0058] Figure 8 shows an example of inertial sensor data corresponding to a cellular phone resting on a table. In the example shown in Figure 8, element 805 is a plot of linear acceleration along the x-axis over a time interval, element 810 is a plot of linear acceleration along the y-axis over the same time interval, and element 815 is a plot of linear acceleration along the z-axis over the same time interval. It can be noted that the linear acceleration along the x-axis and y-axis are of smaller amplitude than the linear acceleration along the z-axis. Figure 8 shows an example of acceleration that is smaller in amplitude than what is referred to herein as a "microtremor characteristic of a human touch."

[0059] With the acceleration data of FIGS. 5-8 in mind, it can be appreciated that acceleration equal to or exceeding an acceleration threshold (such as the maximum acceleration of the “stationary” cellular phone of FIG. 8 ) may, in some instances, indicate that the device is being held, carried, or in contact with a person's body. Accordingly, some disclosed methods may involve determining (e.g., by a control system) whether the inertial sensor data indicates acceleration equal to or exceeding the acceleration threshold. According to some such examples, the method may involve deactivating the proximity sensor system and / or reducing the transmit power of the antenna system if the control system determines that the inertial sensor data indicates acceleration equal to or exceeding the acceleration threshold. However, the method may involve activating the proximity sensor system, allowing the proximity sensor system to remain active, and / or allowing the transmit power of the antenna system to be optimized for cellular communications if the control system determines that the inertial sensor data does not indicate acceleration equal to or exceeding the acceleration threshold.

[0060] Some disclosed methods may involve characterizing inertial sensor data, for example, by applying some form of artificial intelligence to make correlations between types of inertial sensor data and various device use cases. Some disclosed methods may involve, for example, determining whether the inertial sensor data exhibits micromotion characteristics of a human touch.

[0061] For example, some disclosed methods may involve training a neural network to determine whether inertial sensor data indicates that a device is being held, carried, or against a person's body. In some such examples, the neural network may be trained by inputting sets of inertial sensor data such as those shown in FIGS. 5-8 and indicating use cases corresponding to each set of input inertial sensor data. Some disclosed methods may involve implementing (e.g., via control system 106) the trained neural network to determine whether the inertial sensor data indicates that a device is being held, carried, or against a person's body. Some such methods may involve deactivating a proximity sensor system and / or reducing the transmit power of an antenna system if the control system determines that the inertial sensor data indicates that the device is being held, carried, or against a person's body.

[0062] 9 is a flow diagram illustrating blocks of a method for controlling a mobile device according to an example. Method 900 may be performed, for example, at least in part, by an apparatus such as apparatus 101 shown in FIG. 1 and described above (or one of the other examples disclosed herein), having an inertial sensor system, a proximity sensor system, an antenna system configured to transmit and receive wireless signals, and a control system. As with other disclosed methods, the blocks of method 900 are not necessarily performed in the order shown in FIG. 9. Moreover, alternative methods may include more or fewer blocks.

[0063] According to this example, block 905 involves receiving inertial sensor data from the inertial sensor system of the mobile device by a control system of the mobile device. Block 905 may involve, for example, control system 106 of FIG. 1 receiving gyroscope data and / or accelerometer data from inertial sensor system 103 of FIG. 1.

[0064] In this example, block 910 involves determining (e.g., by a control system) whether the inertial sensor data indicates that the mobile device is being held, carried, or against a person's body. According to this example, block 915 involves controlling a proximity sensor system and / or an antenna system based at least in part on whether the inertial sensor data indicates that the mobile device is being held, carried, or against a person's body.

[0065] In some examples, method 900 may involve deactivating a proximity sensor system by the control system when the control system determines that the inertial sensor data indicates that the mobile device is being held, carried, or in contact with the person's body. Alternatively or additionally, method 900 may involve lowering the transmit power of the antenna system when the control system determines that the inertial sensor data indicates that the mobile device is being held, carried, or in contact with the person's body. In some instances, determining whether the mobile device is in contact with the person's body involves determining whether at least a portion of the mobile device is in the person's pocket.

[0066] According to some examples, method 900 may involve obtaining a proximity sensor signal from a proximity sensor system when the control system determines that the inertial sensor data does not indicate that the mobile device is being held, carried, or against a human body. Some such methods may involve determining whether the proximity sensor signal indicates that a target object is in proximity to the mobile device, and controlling the transmit power of the antenna system according to whether the control system determines that the target object is in proximity to the mobile device.

[0067] In some examples, method 900 may involve determining whether the inertial sensor data indicates an acceleration that equals or exceeds an acceleration threshold. Some such methods may involve deactivating a proximity sensor system and / or reducing the transmit power of an antenna system if the control system determines that the inertial sensor data indicates an acceleration that equals or exceeds the acceleration threshold.

[0068] According to some examples, method 900 may involve determining whether the inertial sensor data indicates micromotion characteristics of a human touch. Some such methods may involve deactivating a proximity sensor system and reducing transmit power of an antenna system if the control system determines that the inertial sensor data indicates micromotion characteristics of a human touch.

[0069] According to some examples, the method 900 may involve implementing a neural network trained to determine whether the inertial sensor data indicates micromotion characteristics of a human touch. According to some such examples, the method may involve deactivating a proximity sensor system and / or reducing transmit power of an antenna system if the control system determines that the inertial sensor data indicates micromotion characteristics of a human touch.

[0070] In some examples, method 900 may involve implementing a neural network trained to determine whether the inertial sensor data indicates that the device is being held, carried, or against a person's body. According to some such examples, the method may involve deactivating a proximity sensor system and / or reducing the transmit power of an antenna system if the control system determines that the inertial sensor data indicates that the device is being held, carried, or against a person's body.

[0071] 10 illustrates an exemplary operating environment 1000 for proximity detection based on electromagnetic field perturbations. In the exemplary environment 1000, a user's hand 1014 holds the mounted device 101 described above with reference to FIG. 1. In one aspect, the device 101 communicates with a base station 1001 by transmitting an uplink signal 1002 (UL signal 1002) or receiving a downlink signal 1004 (DL signal 1004) via an antenna 1024. However, the user's thumb may represent a nearby object 1006 that may be exposed to radiation via the uplink signal 1002.

[0072] To detect whether an object 1006 is present, i.e., within a detectable range, the device 101 generates an electromagnetic (EM) field 1008 via at least one of the antennas 1024. The electromagnetic field 1008 can be generated by transmitting a predetermined proximity detection signal or uplink signal 1002. In some cases, the proximity detection signal may be generated to include a single frequency or tone or multiple frequencies or tones. For example, the proximity detection signal may include an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) signal having multiple subcarriers at different frequencies. As another example, the proximity detection signal may include a frequency modulated continuous wave (FMCW) signal (e.g., a linear frequency modulated (LFM) continuous wave signal or chirp signal, a triangle frequency modulated continuous wave signal, a sawtooth frequency modulated continuous wave signal, etc.). As yet another example, the proximity detection signal may include a continuous wave signal having a relatively constant frequency.

[0073] 10, the resulting amplitude of electromagnetic field 1008 is represented using different shades of gray, with darker shades representing larger amplitudes and lighter shades representing smaller amplitudes. When object 1006 is in proximity to another one of antennas 1024, the interaction of object 1006 with electromagnetic field 1008 results in one or more perturbations (e.g., disturbances or changes) in electromagnetic field 1008, such as perturbation 1010. Perturbation 1010 represents a variation in the magnitude or phase of electromagnetic field 1008 due to the object 1006 generating various constructive and destructive patterns within electromagnetic field 1008.

[0074] In some implementations, the antenna 1024 may comprise at least two different antennas, at least two antenna elements 1012 of an antenna array 1016, at least two antenna elements 1012 associated with different antenna arrays 1016, or any combination thereof. As shown in FIG. 10 , the antenna 1024 corresponds to at least two of the antenna elements 1012 in the antenna array 1016. The antenna array 1016 may include multiple antenna elements 1012-1 through 1012-N, where N represents a positive integer greater than 1. In the illustrated example, a first antenna element 1012-1 radiates an electromagnetic field 1008, and a perturbation 1010 is sensed via a second antenna element 1012-2. The second antenna element 1012-2 may be co-located with the first antenna element 1012-1 as part of the antenna array 1016 or may otherwise be proximate to the first antenna element 1012-1. In some cases, the second antenna element 1012-2 is adjacent to the first antenna element 1012-1 within the same antenna array 1016 (e.g., there is no antenna element 1012 physically located between the first antenna element 1012-1 and the second antenna element 1012-2). The distance between the antenna elements 1012 in the antenna array 1016 can be based on the frequency at which the wireless transceiver 1020 radiates. For example, the antenna elements 1012 in the antenna array 1016 can be spaced apart by approximately half a wavelength from each other (e.g., by approximately 1 centimeter (cm) apart for frequencies around 30 GHz).

[0075] The response of the second antenna element 1012-2 to the electromagnetic field 1008 is affected by the object 1006 reflecting or absorbing the electromagnetic field 1008, as well as by any mutual coupling or interference caused by the first antenna element 1012-1. Generally, energy from the electromagnetic field 1008 induces a current in the second antenna element 1012-2, and such current is used to measure the perturbation 1010, or the resulting electromagnetic field 1008, disturbed by the object 1006. By sensing the perturbation 1010, a determination can be made as to whether the object 1006 is present or outside the detectable range (e.g., not present). The detectable range may be within approximately 40 cm of the antenna 1024, between 0 cm and 10 cm from the antenna 1024, etc. Generally, the detectable range may vary based on the transmit power or sensitivity of the wireless transceiver 1020. The duration during which the electromagnetic field 1008 is generated may also be based on the detectable range. Exemplary durations can range from approximately 1 microsecond to tens of microseconds.

[0076] In some cases, the detectable range can include ranges that are not easily measured using radar-based techniques. For example, radar-based techniques may be limited to ranges farther than a minimum range proportional to the bandwidth of the FMCW signal. Exemplary minimum ranges include 4 cm or 2 cm for FMCW signals having bandwidths of 4 GHz or 8 GHz, respectively. Thus, to detect closer distances using radar-based techniques, the wireless transceiver 1020 generates a signal with a larger bandwidth, at the expense of increased design complexity or increased cost of the wireless transceiver 1020. However, using the described techniques, ranges to the object 1006 can be measured at distances closer than these minimum ranges. In this manner, the described techniques can be used to augment close-range detection, even when radar-based techniques are used for long-range detection.

[0077] In some implementations, the wireless transceiver 1020 can generate the electromagnetic field 1008 via the first antenna element 1012-1 during the same time that the second antenna element 1012-2 is used to sense the electromagnetic field 1008. The antenna 1024 and / or its elements may be implemented using any type of antenna, including a patch antenna, a dipole antenna, a bowtie antenna, or a combination thereof.

[0078] Example implementations are described in the following numbered clauses.

[0079] 1. An apparatus comprising: an inertial sensor system including at least one inertial sensor; a proximity sensor system including at least one proximity sensor; an antenna system configured to transmit and receive wireless signals; and a control system, wherein the control system is configured to receive inertial sensor data from the inertial sensor system and control the proximity sensor system and the antenna system based at least in part on the inertial sensor data.

[0080] 2. The device of clause 1, wherein the control system is further configured to determine whether the inertial sensor data indicates that the device is being held, carried, or in contact with a person's body, and to deactivate the proximity sensor system if the control system determines that the inertial sensor data indicates that the device is being held, carried, or in contact with a person's body.

[0081] 3. The device of clause 2, wherein the control system is further configured to reduce the transmit power of the antenna system if the control system determines that the inertial sensor data indicates that the device is being held, carried, or in contact with a person's body.

[0082] 4. A device in clause 2, where determining whether the device is in contact with a person's body involves determining whether at least a portion of the device is in the person's pocket.

[0083] 5. The device of any of clauses 1-4, wherein the control system is further configured to: determine whether the inertial sensor data indicates that the device is being held, carried, or in contact with a person's body; and if the control system determines that the inertial sensor data does not indicate that the device is being held, carried, or in contact with a person's body, acquire a proximity sensor signal from the proximity sensor system, determine whether the proximity sensor signal indicates that a target object is in proximity to the device, and control the transmit power of the antenna system in accordance with whether the control system determines that the target object is in proximity to the device.

[0084] 6. The device of any of clauses 1 to 5, wherein the proximity sensor system includes at least one radar sensor.

[0085] 7. The device of any of clauses 1 to 6, wherein the antenna system is configured to transmit at least some radio signals at a frequency of 6 gigahertz or greater.

[0086] 8. The device of any of clauses 1 to 7, wherein the antenna system is configured to transmit beamformed radio signals.

[0087] 9. The device of any of clauses 1-8, wherein the control system is further configured to determine whether the inertial sensor data indicates an acceleration that equals or exceeds an acceleration threshold, and to deactivate the proximity sensor system and reduce transmit power of the antenna system if the control system determines that the inertial sensor data indicates one or more accelerations that equal or exceed the acceleration threshold.

[0088] 10. The device of any of clauses 1-9, wherein the control system is further configured to determine whether the inertial sensor data indicates micromotion characteristics of a human touch, and to deactivate the proximity sensor system and reduce the transmit power of the antenna system if the control system determines that the inertial sensor data indicates one or more micromotion characteristics of a human touch.

[0089] 11. The device of any of clauses 1-10, wherein the control system is further configured to implement, via the control system, a neural network trained to determine whether the inertial sensor data indicates that the device is being held, carried, or in contact with a person's body, and to deactivate the proximity sensor system and reduce the transmit power of the antenna system if the control system determines that the inertial sensor data indicates that the device is being held, carried, or in contact with a person's body.

[0090] 12. The apparatus of any of clauses 1-11, wherein the inertial sensor system includes at least one accelerometer or at least one gyroscope.

[0091] 13. Any device of clauses 1 to 12, where the device is a mobile device.

[0092] 14. A method of controlling a mobile device, comprising: receiving, by a control system of the mobile device, inertial sensor data from an inertial sensor system of the mobile device; determining, by the control system, whether the inertial sensor data indicates that the mobile device is being held, carried, or against a human body; and controlling, by the control system, a proximity sensor system and an antenna system of the mobile device based at least in part on whether the inertial sensor data indicates that the mobile device is being held, carried, or against a human body.

[0093] 15. The method of clause 14, further comprising deactivating, by the control system, the proximity sensor system if the control system determines that the inertial sensor data indicates that the mobile device is being held, carried, or in contact with the body of a person.

[0094] 16. The method of clause 15, further comprising: reducing the transmit power of the antenna system if the control system determines that the inertial sensor data indicates that the mobile device is being held, carried, or in contact with a person's body.

[0095] 17. The method of clause 15 or clause 16, wherein determining whether the mobile device is in contact with the person's body involves determining whether at least a portion of the mobile device is within the person's pocket.

[0096] 18. The method of any of clauses 14-17, further comprising, if the control system determines that the inertial sensor data does not indicate that the mobile device is being held, carried, or in contact with a human body, acquiring a proximity sensor signal from a proximity sensor system, determining whether the proximity sensor signal indicates that a target object is in proximity to the mobile device, and controlling the transmit power of the antenna system according to whether the control system determines that the target object is in proximity to the mobile device.

[0097] 19. The method of any of clauses 14-18, further comprising determining whether the inertial sensor data indicates an acceleration that equals or exceeds an acceleration threshold, and deactivating the proximity sensor system and reducing the transmit power of the antenna system if the control system determines that the inertial sensor data indicates one or more accelerations that equal or exceed the acceleration threshold.

[0098] 20. The method of any of clauses 14-19, further comprising: determining whether the inertial sensor data indicates micromotion characteristics of a human touch; and deactivating the proximity sensor system and reducing the transmit power of the antenna system if the control system determines that the inertial sensor data indicates one or more micromotion characteristics of a human touch.

[0099] 21. The method of any of clauses 14-20, further comprising: implementing a neural network trained to determine whether the inertial sensor data indicates that the mobile device is being held, carried, or against a human body; and deactivating the proximity sensor system and reducing the transmit power of the antenna system if the control system determines that the inertial sensor data indicates that the mobile device is being held, carried, or against a human body.

[0100] 22. One or more non-transitory media having software stored thereon, the software including instructions for implementing a method of controlling a mobile device, the method comprising: receiving, by a control system of the mobile device, inertial sensor data from an inertial sensor system of the mobile device; determining, by the control system, whether the inertial sensor data indicates that the mobile device is being held, carried, or against a human body; and controlling, by the control system, a proximity sensor system and an antenna system of the mobile device based at least in part on whether the inertial sensor data indicates that the mobile device is being held, carried, or against a human body.

[0101] 23. The one or more non-transitory media of clause 22, wherein if the control system determines that the inertial sensor data indicates that the mobile device is being held, carried, or in contact with the body of a person, the method involves deactivating, by the control system, the proximity sensor system.

[0102] 24. If the control system determines that the inertial sensor data indicates that the mobile device is being held, carried, or in contact with the body of a person, the method involves reducing the transmit power of the antenna system of one or more non-transitory media of clause 22 or clause 23.

[0103] 25. One or more non-transitory media of any of clauses 22-24, wherein determining whether the mobile device is in contact with the person's body involves determining whether at least a portion of the mobile device is in the person's pocket.

[0104] 26. If the control system determines that the inertial sensor data does not indicate that the mobile device is being held, carried, or in contact with a person's body, one or more non-transitory media of any of clauses 22-25, involving obtaining a proximity sensor signal from a proximity sensor system, determining whether the proximity sensor signal indicates that a target object is in proximity to the mobile device, and controlling the transmit power of the antenna system according to whether the control system determines that the target object is in proximity to the mobile device.

[0105] 27. An apparatus comprising: an inertial sensor system including at least one inertial sensor; a proximity sensor system including at least one proximity sensor; an antenna system configured to transmit and receive wireless signals; and control means for receiving inertial sensor data from the inertial sensor system and controlling the proximity sensor system and the antenna system based at least in part on the inertial sensor data.

[0106] 28. A device of clause 27, wherein the control means includes means for determining whether the inertial sensor data indicates that the device is being held, carried, or against a person's body, and for deactivating the proximity sensor system if the control means determines that the inertial sensor data indicates that the device is being held, carried, or against a person's body.

[0107] 29. The apparatus of clause 28, wherein the control means includes means for reducing the transmit power of the antenna system if the control means determines that the inertial sensor data indicates that the apparatus is being held, carried, or in contact with a person's body.

[0108] As used herein, a phrase referring to "at least one of" a list of items refers to any combination of those items, including single members. As an example, "at least one of a, b, or c" is intended to encompass a, b, c, ab, ac, bc, and abc.

[0109] The various exemplary logic, logic blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithmic processes described in connection with the implementations disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or a combination of both. The interchangeability of hardware and software has been described generally in terms of functionality and is illustrated in the various exemplary components, blocks, modules, circuits, and processes described above. Whether such functionality is implemented in hardware or software depends on the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system.

[0110] The hardware and data processing devices used to implement the various example logic, logic blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be implemented or performed using general-purpose single-chip or multi-chip processors, digital signal processors (DSPs), application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, or any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, for example, a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration. In some implementations, particular processes and methods may be performed by circuitry specific to a given function.

[0111] In one or more aspects, the functions described may be implemented in hardware, digital electronic circuitry, computer software, firmware, or any combination thereof, including the structures disclosed herein and their structural equivalents. Implementations of the subject matter described herein may also be implemented as one or more computer programs, i.e., one or more modules of computer program instructions encoded on a computer storage medium for execution by or to control the operation of a data processing apparatus.

[0112] If implemented in software, the functions may be stored on or transmitted over as one or more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium, such as a non-transitory medium. The processes of a method or algorithm disclosed herein may be implemented in a processor-executable software module, which may reside on a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media includes both computer storage media and communication media, including any medium that may enable a computer program to be transferred from one place to another. A storage medium may be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example, and not limitation, non-transitory media may include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer. Also, any connection may be properly termed a computer-readable medium. As used herein, disk and disc include compact discs (CDs), laser discs, optical discs, digital versatile discs (DVDs), floppy disks, and Blu-ray discs, where disks typically reproduce data magnetically and discs reproduce data optically using lasers. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media. Additionally, operations of a method or algorithm may reside on machine-readable and computer-readable media, which may be embodied in a computer program product as one or any combination or set of code and instructions.

[0113] Various modifications of the implementations described in this disclosure may be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other implementations without departing from the spirit or scope of the disclosure. Thus, the present disclosure is not intended to be limited to the implementations shown herein but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the claims and the principles and novel features disclosed herein. The word "exemplary," if at all, is used herein solely to mean "serving as an example, instance, or illustration." Any implementation described herein as "exemplary" should not necessarily be construed as preferred or advantageous over other implementations.

[0114] Some features described herein in the context of separate implementations may also be implemented in combination in a single implementation. Conversely, various features described in the context of a single implementation may also be implemented in multiple implementations separately or in any suitable subcombination. Moreover, although features may be described above as working in several combinations and may even initially be claimed as such, one or more features from a claimed combination may, in some cases, be deleted from the combination, and the claimed combination may be directed to a subcombination or a variation of the subcombination.

[0115] Similarly, while operations are shown in the figures in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular or sequential order shown, or that all of the operations shown be performed, to achieve desirable results. In some situations, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Moreover, the separation of various system components in the implementations described above should not be understood as requiring such separation in all implementations, and it should be understood that the program components and systems described may generally be integrated together in a single software product or packaged in multiple software products. Additionally, other implementations are within the scope of the following claims. In some cases, the actions recited in the claims may be performed in a different order and still achieve desirable results.

[0116] Unless features in any of the specific implementations described are clearly identified as being incompatible with one another, or the surrounding context implies that such features are mutually exclusive and cannot be readily combined in a complementary and / or supporting sense, it will be understood that the entire present disclosure contemplates and contemplates that specific features of those complementary implementations may be selectively combined to provide one or more broad, yet slightly different, technical solutions. Accordingly, it will be further appreciated that the above description is given by way of example only, and that modifications in detail may be made within the scope of the present disclosure. [Explanation of symbols]

[0117] 101 Equipment 102 Antenna System 103 Inertial Sensor System 104 Interface System 105 Proximity Sensor System 106 Control System 108 Memory, memory systems 202 Antenna element 204 Side 205a, 205b Proximity sensor system elements 206 Side 210 Housing 1000 Operating environment 1001 base station 1002 Uplink signal 1004 Downlink Signal 1006 Object 1008 Electromagnetic field 1010 Perturbation 1012 antenna element 1014 User's Hand 1016 Antenna Array 1020 Wireless Transceiver 1024 Antenna

Claims

1. An apparatus, comprising: an inertial sensor system including at least one inertial sensor; a proximity sensor system including at least one proximity sensor; an antenna system configured to transmit and receive wireless signals; a control system, wherein the control system receiving inertial sensor data from the inertial sensor system; determining whether the inertial sensor data indicates that the device is being held, carried, or in contact with a person's body; configured to control the proximity sensor system and the antenna system based at least in part on the inertial sensor data, wherein the controlling includes deactivating the proximity sensor system when the control system determines that the inertial sensor data indicates that the device is being held, carried, or in contact with the person's body. Device.

2. 10. The device of claim 1, wherein the control system is further configured to reduce transmit power of the antenna system if the control system determines that the inertial sensor data indicates that the device is being held, carried, or in contact with the person's body.

3. The device of claim 1 , wherein determining whether the device is in contact with the person's body involves determining whether at least a portion of the device is within the person's pocket.

4. the control system determining whether the inertial sensor data indicates that the device is being held, carried, or in contact with a person's body; if the control system determines that the inertial sensor data does not indicate that the device is being held, carried, or in contact with the person's body, acquire a proximity sensor signal from the proximity sensor system; determining whether the proximity sensor signal indicates that a target object is in proximity to the device; further configured to control a transmit power of the antenna system according to whether the control system determines that the target object is in proximity to the device.

10. The apparatus of claim 1.

5. The device of claim 1 , wherein the proximity sensor system includes at least one radar sensor and / or the inertial sensor system includes at least one accelerometer or at least one gyroscope.

6. 10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the antenna system is configured to transmit at least some radio signals at frequencies above 6 gigahertz and / or the antenna system is configured to transmit beamformed radio signals.

7. the control system determining whether the inertial sensor data indicates an acceleration that equals or exceeds an acceleration threshold; further configured to deactivate the proximity sensor system and reduce transmit power of the antenna system when the control system determines that the inertial sensor data indicates one or more accelerations that equal or exceed the acceleration threshold.

10. The apparatus of claim 1.

8. the control system determining whether the inertial sensor data is indicative of microtremor characteristics of a human touch; and further configured to deactivate the proximity sensor system and reduce a transmit power of the antenna system when the control system determines that the inertial sensor data indicates one or more micromotion characteristics of a human touch.

10. The apparatus of claim 1.

9. the control system implementing via the control system a neural network trained to determine whether the inertial sensor data indicates that the device is being held, carried, or in contact with a person's body; and further configured to deactivate the proximity sensor system and reduce transmit power of the antenna system when the control system determines that the inertial sensor data indicates that the device is being held, carried, or in contact with the person's body.

10. The apparatus of claim 1.

10. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the apparatus is a mobile device.

11. 1. A method for controlling a mobile device, comprising: receiving, by a control system of the mobile device, inertial sensor data from an inertial sensor system of the mobile device; determining, by the control system, whether the inertial sensor data indicates that the mobile device is being held, carried, or in contact with a person's body; controlling, by the control system, a proximity sensor system and an antenna system of the mobile device based at least in part on whether the inertial sensor data indicates that the mobile device is being held, carried, or in contact with the person's body, the controlling including deactivating, by the control system, the proximity sensor system if the control system determines that the inertial sensor data indicates that the mobile device is being held, carried, or in contact with the person's body; A method for providing

12. 12. The method of claim 11, further comprising: reducing transmit power of the antenna system if the control system determines that the inertial sensor data indicates that the mobile device is being held, carried, or in contact with the person's body.

13. if the control system determines that the inertial sensor data does not indicate that the mobile device is being held, carried, or in contact with the person's body, acquiring a proximity sensor signal from the proximity sensor system; determining whether the proximity sensor signal indicates that a target object is in proximity to the mobile device; controlling the transmit power of the antenna system according to whether the control system determines that the target object is in proximity to the mobile device; The method of claim 11 further comprising:

14. determining whether the inertial sensor data indicates an acceleration that equals or exceeds an acceleration threshold; deactivating the proximity sensor system and reducing transmit power of the antenna system if the control system determines that the inertial sensor data indicates one or more accelerations that equal or exceed the acceleration threshold. The method of claim 11 further comprising:

15. One or more non-transitory media having software stored thereon, said software comprising instructions for implementing a method for controlling a mobile device to perform the method of any one of claims 11 to 14; One or more non-transitory media.

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