Handheld Device Availability Status Determination
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Solution Overview
Problem
Handheld communication devices face challenges in determining user availability status, as traditional methods like keyboard idle time are not applicable when the device is in a holster, leading to inaccurate availability assessments.
Innovation Solution
A method that checks various conditions such as keypad timeout, real-time application usage, unattended notifications, and device status to automatically determine user availability, only if the status is not explicitly set to Unavailable.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If keyboard idle time is used to determine user availability, then the method is simple and easy to implement, but it becomes inaccurate when the device is in holster or waiting mode
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the parameters used for availability determination from keyboard idle time to multiple device state parameters including screen state, communication state, application state, and notification state. This allows accurate availability detection in various scenarios including holster mode where keyboard idle time fails.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a universal availability determination mechanism that works across multiple device states and scenarios (holster mode, waiting mode, active mode, etc.) by checking multiple conditions rather than relying on a single keyboard idle parameter that only works in specific contexts.
2Measurement precision
If multiple conditions are checked to determine availability, then accuracy improves, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the availability determination into distinct conditional checks: screen state (on/off), communication state (call in progress, data transfer), application state (real-time application running), and notification state (unanswered notifications). This segmentation makes the complex determination process more manageable and implementable.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary checks of various device states before concluding availability status. By checking multiple conditions in advance (screen state, communication state, application state, notifications), the system accurately determines availability without requiring complex real-time analysis during actual communication events.
Data Source
AI summary
To automatically determine the availability status of the user of a handheld communication device, various selected conditions of the device may be checked, which imply whether or not the user is likely Available, or Unavailable or the equivalent. Normally, the selected conditions are checked only if the user has not explicitly or semi-explicitly set his or her status to Unavailable. The conditions to be checked can vary widely, but generally include anything from which it might be inferred or implied that the user is likely either Available or Unavailable or the equivalent. Such conditions can include, for example, whether or not a specified timeout for use of a keypad, trackwheel or other mechanical feature of the device has elapsed yet; whether or not a real-time application is in use; and preferably any one or more of a variety of other conditions, one further example being whether or not there are any unattended-to notifications such as an unanswered phone call, or a missed e-mail, SMS or other message.