Foldable Hinge Angle Sensing With Adaptive Hall Thresholds
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing foldable electronic devices suffer from malfunctions and increased power consumption due to unintended opening or closing operations caused by external forces, leading to unnecessary activation of application processors and display units.
Innovation Solution
A foldable electronic device equipped with a magnetic member, Hall sensor, and motion sensor, along with processors that adjust the Hall sensor's threshold values based on folding angle information to prevent malfunctions and reduce power consumption.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the Hall sensor uses a fixed threshold value to detect opening/closing operations, then the device can identify magnetic field changes, but unintended operations caused by external forces trigger malfunctions and increase power consumption
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dynamics by making the Hall sensor threshold value adaptive rather than fixed. The processing circuitry dynamically adjusts the threshold based on the magnetic field strength detected by the Hall sensor, allowing the system to distinguish between intended user operations and unintended external force operations. This dynamic adjustment prevents false triggering while maintaining accurate detection, thereby reducing unnecessary wake-ups and power consumption.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the parameter of the Hall sensor threshold value from a static fixed value to a dynamic value that varies with magnetic field strength. By modifying this parameter adaptively, the system can accurately detect both intended opening/closing operations and filter out unintended operations caused by external forces, thus improving reliability while reducing spurious power consumption events.
2Measurement precision
If the Hall sensor threshold is set to be sensitive to detect small magnetic changes, then intended operations are detected accurately, but unintended operations from external forces also trigger false positives
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts the Hall sensor threshold based on the actual magnetic field strength detected. When the magnetic field is strong (indicating intended user operation), the threshold allows sensitive detection. When the magnetic field is weak (indicating external force interference), the threshold adjusts to filter out false positives. This dynamic approach maintains high measurement precision while improving reliability by reducing false operation triggers.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent modifies the threshold parameter of the Hall sensor from a fixed value to a variable that changes with magnetic field conditions. This parameter change enables the system to maintain high detection sensitivity for intended operations while automatically adjusting to reject unintended operations from external forces, thus resolving the contradiction between precision and reliability.
3Speed
If the device wakes up frequently to check Hall sensor status, then it can respond to intended operations quickly, but it increases power consumption and heat generation
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary action by continuously monitoring the magnetic field strength through the Hall sensor even in sleep mode, and pre-adjusts the threshold value based on the detected magnetic field conditions. This allows the device to remain in low-power state longer while still being prepared to quickly respond to intended operations when they occur, thus improving response time without proportionally increasing power consumption.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses feedback from the Hall sensor's magnetic field detection to dynamically control the wake-up decisions and threshold settings. By continuously feeding back the magnetic field strength information to the processing circuitry, the system can intelligently determine when to wake up and process operations, ensuring quick response to intended operations while minimizing unnecessary wake-ups that would increase power consumption and heat generation.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution effectively reduces power consumption and minimizes malfunctions by accurately identifying intended and unintended operations, ensuring efficient power management and device functionality.
Implementation Method 1
An electronic device may have an IC (hereinafter, a Hall IC) disposed in a housing and using the Hall effect utilizing changes in magnetic force
Data Source
AI summary
An electronic device, according to an embodiment, may comprise: a first housing and a second housing that are foldable against each other; a magnetic member comprising a magnetic material disposed in at least one of the first housing and the second housing; a memory; a Hall sensor that detects a magnetic force value of the magnetic member that changes according to the folding of the first housing and the second housing, and outputs an interrupt signal based on a set threshold; a motion sensor; and at least one processor electrically connected to the Hall sensor, the motion sensor, and the memory, wherein at least one processor may be configured to: identify folding angle information of the first housing and the second housing via the motion sensor according to identifying the interrupt signal; and change a first threshold of the Hall sensor based on the folding angle information.