WO2012042305A1 - Method and apparatus for controlling a broadcast receiver - Google Patents

Method and apparatus for controlling a broadcast receiver Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2012042305A1
WO2012042305A1 PCT/IB2010/054432 IB2010054432W WO2012042305A1 WO 2012042305 A1 WO2012042305 A1 WO 2012042305A1 IB 2010054432 W IB2010054432 W IB 2010054432W WO 2012042305 A1 WO2012042305 A1 WO 2012042305A1
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WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
signal characteristic
signal
broadcast receiver
broadcast
receiver
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/IB2010/054432
Other languages
French (fr)
Inventor
Peter Field
Original Assignee
Nokia Corporation
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Nokia Corporation filed Critical Nokia Corporation
Priority to PCT/IB2010/054432 priority Critical patent/WO2012042305A1/en
Publication of WO2012042305A1 publication Critical patent/WO2012042305A1/en

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Classifications

    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
    • H04W52/00—Power management, e.g. TPC [Transmission Power Control], power saving or power classes
    • H04W52/04—TPC
    • H04W52/30—TPC using constraints in the total amount of available transmission power
    • H04W52/32—TPC of broadcast or control channels
    • H04W52/322—Power control of broadcast channels

Definitions

  • the present application relates generally to data communications and more particularly to a method and an apparatus for receiving broadcast signals. More particularly, it relates to controlling a broadcast receiver.
  • Wireless communication has moved from simply being concerned with conveying verbal information to being more focused on total digital interactivity. While originally limited to voice communication (for example telephone calls on cellular handsets), enhancements in wireless technology have substantially improved ability, quality of service (QoS), speed, etc. These developments have contributed to an insatiable desire for new functionality. Portable wireless apparatuses are no longer just tasked with making telephone calls. They have become integral, and in some cases essential, tools for managing the professional and/or personal life of users.
  • Portable wireless apparatuses comprise functionalities to receive, decode and present broadcast signals.
  • Example of broadcast signals are frequency modulated (FM) radio signals, amplitude modulated (AM) radio signals, digital radio signals or digital video broadcasting signals (DVB).
  • the portable wireless apparatus comprises a broadcast receiver and uses at least one antenna.
  • the antenna may be a connectable external antenna or it may be an internal antenna integrated in the portable wireless apparatus.
  • the internal antenna may be a small size antenna and may be suitable only in urban areas where broadcast receiver signal strength is typically higher due to closer proximity of broadcast transmitters.
  • the connectable external antenna may be used in areas of weaker broadcast receiver signal strength.
  • the connectable external antenna may be integrated in a headset that may support at least one of audio input, audio output, video input and video output.
  • a smooth operation of various components of the portable wireless apparatus including a broadcast receiver has to be ensured.
  • a method comprises activating a broadcast receiver to receive a broadcast signal.
  • the method also comprises determining a current signal characteristic and at least one previous signal characteristic of the broadcast signal.
  • the method further comprises calculating a signal characteristic indicator based on the current signal characteristic and the at least one previous signal characteristic and comparing the signal characteristic indicator to a threshold. If the signal characteristic indicator to the threshold condition is fulfilled, it enters a low power mode of the broadcast receiver.
  • an apparatus comprising at least one processor configured to activate the apparatus to receive a broadcast signal, to determine a current signal characteristic and at least one previous signal characteristic of the broadcast signal.
  • the at least one processor is further configured to calculate a signal characteristic indicator based on the current signal characteristic and the at least one previous signal characteristic and to compare the signal characteristic indicator to a threshold. If the signal characteristic indicator to the threshold condition is fulfilled, it enters a low power mode of the apparatus.
  • a computer program comprises code for activating an apparatus to receive a broadcast signal and code for determining a current signal characteristic and at least one previous signal characteristic of the broadcast signal, when the computer program is run on a processor.
  • the computer program further comprises code for calculating a signal characteristic indicator based on the current signal characteristic and the at least one previous signal characteristic and code for comparing the signal characteristic indicator to a threshold. If the signal characteristic indicator to the threshold condition is fulfilled, it enters a low power mode of the apparatus.
  • an apparatus comprising means for activating the apparatus to receive a broadcast signal and means for determining a current signal characteristic and at least one previous signal characteristic of the broadcast signal.
  • the apparatus comprises further means for calculating a signal characteristic indicator based on the current signal characteristic and the at least one previous signal characteristic and means for comparing the signal characteristic indicator to a threshold.
  • the apparatus comprises means for entering a low power mode of the apparatus if the signal characteristic indicator to the threshold condition is fulfilled.
  • a computer-readable medium is covered, the computer-readable medium is encoded with instructions that, when executed by a computer, it activates a broadcast receiver to receive a broadcast signal and determines a current signal characteristic and at least one previous signal characteristic of the broadcast signal.
  • the instructions further comprise calculate a signal characteristic indicator based on the current signal characteristic and the at least one previous signal characteristic and compare the signal characteristic indicator to a threshold. If the signal characteristic indicator to the threshold condition is fulfilled, it enters a low power mode of the broadcast receiver.
  • FIGURE 1 depicts an example embodiment of a system comprising a portable wireless device and a broadcast transmitter
  • FIGURE 2 depicts an example embodiment of a portable wireless device configured to support two antennas and a separate impedance matching low noise amplifier
  • FIGURE 3 depicts an example embodiment of a portable wireless device configured to support two antennas and an integrated impedance matching low noise amplifier
  • FIGURE 4 depicts a flow chart of an example operation supported by a broadcast receiver.
  • FIGURE 5 shows an example embodiment of a storage facility like a register chain that may store signal characteristic
  • FIGURE 6 depicts exemplary a state diagram for controlling power mode of a broadcast receiver
  • FIGURE 7 depicts an example embodiment of a wireless portable device according to one or more aspects described herein.
  • FIGURES 1 through 7 of the drawings An example embodiment of the present invention and its potential advantages are understood by referring to FIGURES 1 through 7 of the drawings.
  • FIGURE 1 depicts an example embodiment of a system comprising a portable wireless device or apparatus 100 and a broadcast transmitter 110.
  • the broadcast transmitter is configured to transmit broadcast signals over a unidirectional broadcast channel(s) for example frequency modulated (FM) radio signals, amplitude modulated (AM) radio signals, digital radio signals and/or digital video broadcasting signals (DVB).
  • the broadcast signal is received by the portable wireless device 100.
  • the portable wireless device 100 processes the received broadcast signal and presents content contained in the broadcast signal to a user. This may comprise for example audio playback and/or video playing.
  • the example embodiment of the potable wireless device or apparatus in FIGURE 1 depicts an example hardware which may be a chip set upon which embodiments of the invention may be implemented.
  • Apparatus 100 is configured to determine a signal characteristic indicator of a broadcast signal as described further in the following and includes, for instance, one or more processor and memory components described with respect to FIGURE 1 may be incorporated in one or more physical packages.
  • a physical package includes an arrangement of one or more materials, components, and/or wires on a structural assembly (for example a baseboard) to provide one or more characteristics such as physical strength, conservation of size, and/or limitation of electrical interaction.
  • the apparatus 100 includes a communication mechanism such as a bus 101 for passing information among the components of the apparatus 100.
  • a processor 102 has connectivity to the bus 101 to execute instructions and process information stored in, for example, a memory 105.
  • the processor 102 may include one or more processing cores where each core configured to perform independently.
  • a multi-core processor enables multiprocessing within a single physical package. Examples of a multi-core processor include two, four, eight, or greater numbers of processing cores.
  • the processor 102 may include one or more microprocessors configured in tandem via the bus 101 to enable independent execution of instructions, pipelining, and multithreading.
  • the processor 102 may also be accompanied with one or more specialized components to perform certain processing functions and tasks such as one or more digital signal processors (DSP) 103, or one or receiver components 104 realized in an application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC).
  • DSP digital signal processor
  • ASIC application-specific integrated circuits
  • a DSP 103 is configured to process real-world signals (for example sound) in real time independently of the processor 102.
  • a receiver component 104 may be configured to performed specialized functions not easily performed by a general purposed processor.
  • Other specialized components to aid in performing the functions described herein include one or more field programmable gate arrays (FPGA) (not shown), one or more controllers (not shown), or one or more other special-purpose computer chips.
  • the receiver component is connected to an antenna 120 and/or an antenna 108 to enable to reception of the broadcast signals.
  • the antenna 120 is external of the apparatus and the antenna.108 is an internal antenna integrated in the apparatus.
  • the internal antenna 108 and external antenna 120 may be configured to receive signals from the same or different frequency bands like for example medium frequency (MF) bands used for AM broadcast services and/or very high frequency (VHF) bands used for FM broadcast services.
  • MF medium frequency
  • VHF very high frequency
  • the apparatus comprising some output components to enable the presenting of the content of the broadcast signal.
  • the input/output component 106 may comprise control functionality like for example a keypad and/or audio output functionality like for example a speaker and/or video output functionality like for example a display.
  • the input/output 106 component may comprise internal or external components like for example an audio/visual (A/V) connector for a wired headset/antenna 108 providing audio output, audio input, video output, video input, and/or antenna functionality.
  • A/V audio/visual
  • the processor 102 and accompanying components have connectivity to the memory 105 via the bus 101.
  • the memory 105 may include both dynamic memory (for example RAM, magnetic disk, writable optical disk, etc.) and static memory (for example ROM, CD-ROM, etc.) for storing executable instructions that when executed perform the exemplary steps described herein.
  • the memory 105 may also store the data associated with or generated by the execution of the exemplary steps described herein.
  • FIGURE 2 depicts an example embodiment of a portable wireless device configured to support two antennas and a separate impedance matching low noise amplifier (LNA).
  • the portable wireless device is in this example a mobile terminal with cellular voice call functionality. This functionality is realized by a dedicated component in this example by a cellular transceiver 201.
  • the cellular transceiver provides the audio output as separate channels left audio (L) and right audio (R). This output may be connected to an audio circuit 202 like an audio ASIC.
  • the audio circuit 202 is driving the audio output apparatus 207 like for example a wired headset 207 or internal or external loudspeaker (not shown in FIGURE 2) that is connected via an A/V connector 209 and may be detachable by a user of the portable wireless device.
  • the wires of the wired headset 207 may be also used as an antenna for a broadcast receiver.
  • the broadcast receiver 204 is a FM radio receiver implemented by a FM radio ASIC.
  • an impedance matching circuit 210 may convert the higher RF impedance of the wired headset to the lower RF input impedance of the FM radio receiver 204.
  • the portable wireless device comprises an FM internal antenna 208.
  • the internal antenna allows the usage of the broadcast receiver without the need of the external antenna 207.
  • the internal antenna 208 may have high RF impedance based on its small size, so a separate impedance matching LNA 211 may be used.
  • the LNA 211 may be implemented as a separated integrated circuit and may be located between the internal antenna and the FM radio receiver 204 front end of the FM radio receiver. Further the portable wireless device may comprise also an antenna switch 212 that selects the internal or external antenna input that is used by the FM radio receiver 204. The FM radio receiver 204 decodes the broadcast signal and provides the audio content as left and right audio to the audio circuit 202. The antenna switch 212 is controlled either by the FM radio receiver 204 or by a controller of the portable wireless apparatus that is not shown in the FIGURE 2. In some embodiments the portable wireless apparatus may comprise beside the presented lines between the components some status/control lines or signals that may be available from the broadcast receiver 204 to other components of the apparatus. This status/control lines or signals may be used for changing power modes of components comprised in the portable wireless device or may be used for status exchange between functional components.
  • FIGURE 3 depicts an example embodiment of a portable wireless device configured to support two antennas and an integrated impedance matching LNA.
  • the portable wireless device is in this example is similar to the one presented in FIGURE 2 and represents exemplary a mobile terminal with cellular voice call functionality.
  • the mobile terminal may also support additionally or instead of the cellular voice call functionality voice over internet functionality.
  • This functionality is realized by a dedicated component in this example by a cellular transceiver 301.
  • the cellular transceiver 301 provides audio output as separate channels left audio (L) and right audio (R). This output may be connected to an audio circuit 302.
  • the audio circuit 302 is driving the audio output apparatus 307 like for example a wired headset 307 or an internal or external loudspeaker (not shown in FIGURE 2) that is connected via an A/V connector 309 and may be detachable by a user of the portable wireless device.
  • the wires of the wired headset 307 may be also used as an antenna for a broadcast receiver.
  • the broadcast receiver is a FM radio receiver.
  • a RF impedance matching circuit 310 may be used.
  • the portable wireless device comprises an internal antenna 308.
  • the internal antenna allows the usage of the broadcast receiver without the need of the external antenna 307.
  • the internal antenna 308 may have high RF impedance, so a separate impedance matching LNA may be requested.
  • the LNA may be part of the FM radio receiver 304. Further the FM radio receiver may comprise an antenna switch that selects the internal antenna input (FM INT ANT) or external antenna input (FM HS ANT) that is used by the FM radio receiver 304.
  • the FM radio receiver 304 decodes the broadcast signal and provides the audio content as left and right audio to the audio circuit 302.
  • FIGURE 4 depicts a flow chart 400 of an example operation that may be supported by the broadcast receiver 104 of FIGURE 1, the broadcast receiver 204 of FIGURE 2 and/or broadcast receiver 304 in FIGURE 3.
  • FIGURE 4 depicts functionality to control power modes of the broadcast receiver. Beside that it may depict some functionality to control power modes of other components of the portable wireless device 100 of FIGURE 1 and/or 200 of FIGURE 2 and/or 300 of FIGURE 3.
  • the power mode may comprise the activating or deactivating a low power mode of the broadcast receiver itself and/or some of the other components.
  • this may comprise the enabling/activating 401 or disabling/shut off 409 one or more components of the broadcast receiver or the complete broadcast receiver and/or some of the other components.
  • the enabling or activating step 401 may comprise entering a normal operation mode of the broadcast receiver.
  • the enabling or activating 401 of the broadcast receiver may be based on a user request, an application request, a host request and/or an expiry of a time interval.
  • the broadcast receiver may further be configured to determine a current signal characteristic and at least one previous signal characteristic of the broadcast signal as shown by step 403.
  • the broadcast receiver may be configured to store the determined current signal characteristic and the at least one previous signal characteristic for further calculation of the signal characteristic indicator.
  • the signal characteristic may represent at least one of a receiver signal strength indicator (RSSI), a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and a signal-to-noise-and-distortion ratio.
  • the signal characteristic may be represented by an audio level of the broadcast receiver with a soft mute function enabled, wherein the soft mute function mutes an audio output when the signal characteristic indicator is below a soft mute threshold.
  • the step 403 may comprise first a determination that comprises if a signal is received from different receiver paths for example received from two antennas and if so the one with better signal characteristic may be chosen for the determination represented in step 403.
  • the broadcast receiver may be configured to calculate a signal characteristic indicator based on the current signal characteristic and the at least one previous signal characteristic.
  • the calculation of the signal characteristic indicator may be based on at least one of a simple moving average, a cumulative moving average, a weighted moving average, an exponential moving average, a modified moving average and a moving median. But any other suitable method might be used for that.
  • step 407 the broadcast receiver is further configured to compare the signal characteristic indicator to a threshold.
  • step 408 decision is made if threshold level condition is reached. That may comprise checking that the signal characteristic indicator is equal, above or below a threshold. In step 408 it is decided if the signal characteristic indicator is for example below the threshold the broadcast receiver may enter a low power mode in step 409. If the threshold condition is not fulfilled the current power mode is not changed and after a wait state 410 the process continues with step 403.
  • a notification may be generated to inform a user of the broadcast receiver of the change.
  • This may be realized by a visual notification like for example status information on a display and/or by an audio notification via an audio output like the headset.
  • the broadcast receiver my transmit a message to a processor or control component like an host of the wireless portable device to trigger switching off the audio circuit until it is required or requested for another audio function. This may be triggered for example by an incoming our outgoing cellular voice call or voice over internet call.
  • the broadcast receiver may store broadcast receiver settings before the entering of a low power mode. This may comprise for example current radio data system (RDS) channel information (ID) or frequency of the last radio station listened. The information would allow the last station to be restored automatically when the broadcast receiver is re-activated by a user or application or when exiting the low power mode for example when FM radio reception is available.
  • the broadcast receiver may be activated periodically to check if broadcast radio reception is available, or alternatively wait for a response from a user interface before searching for FM radio stations.
  • the broadcast receiver is configured to communicate with a cellular transceiver comprised in a wireless portable device as presented exemplary by 201 in FIGURE 2 and 301 in FIGURE 3. Based on the communication the broadcast receiver may be configured to determine if at least a voice call or a video call is started and to enter a low power mode. Further the broadcast receiver may be configured to determine if the voice call or the video call is finalized and to reactivate the normal operation mode of the broadcast receiver.
  • FIGURE 5 depicts an example embodiment of a storage facility like a register chain 500 that may store the signal characteristic.
  • the signal characteristic is the RSSI value and four previous RSSIs that may be stored in registers 502, 503, 504 and 505 in the broadcast receiver.
  • the register chain is realized as first-in first-out (FIFO) where the current determined signal characteristic is stored in register 501 and the others are shifted by one register and the oldest one is deleted.
  • FIFO first-in first-out
  • five signal characteristics are stored and used for the calculation of the signal characteristic indicator according to the functionality discussed in conjunction with of FIGURE 4, especially step 403 and 405.
  • FIGURE 6 depicts exemplary a state diagram 600 for controlling the power mode of a broadcast receiver in particular of a FM broadcast receiver.
  • the initial state 601 is entered after a power up of the wireless portable device. After a user turns on the broadcast receiver via an user interface of the wireless portable device the initial state 601 is changed to state 602, where the broadcast receiver is enabled or activated and previous radio settings are restored like for example last channel and the related frequency if they are available. The broadcast receiver is switched to the active state 603.
  • the operation comprises the steps to determine a current signal characteristic like RSSI and at least one previous signal characteristic like a RSSI of the broadcast signal that may be stored in the broadcast receiver, calculate a signal characteristic indicator based on the current signal characteristic and the at least one previous signal characteristic and to compare the signal characteristic indicator to a threshold.
  • the RSSI values may be stored for example in a FIFO as presented by FIGURE 5. In this example embodiment five previous signal characteristics are used. But any other number of previous signal characteristics could be used in other
  • the steps are repeated periodically in the active mode 603.
  • the state is kept as long a broadcast signal is received. That means the signal characteristic indicator is above a threshold. Further the state is kept if a channel change or frequency change is triggered either by the user or based on RDS data. If no signal is detected over a number of readings, that means the signal characteristic indicator is below the threshold, the broadcast receiver is switched into low power mode state 606. This may comprise the disabling of the audio component until requested by another component of the wireless portable device. Whilst in low power mode (state 606) periodic RSSI scans may be performed to check if radio reception is available again. If a broadcast signal is detected the state is changed back to state 602 to restore broadcast receiver settings. If the user turns off the broadcast receiver the state is changed to the switch off broadcast receiver state 604 where the complete radio receiver is disabled.
  • the wireless portable device is in the active mode state 603 and the user turns off the broadcast receiver via a user interface or selects other audio function (for example a music player) or video function (like for example a video player) or any other function where the broadcast receiver is not needed the switch off broadcast receiver state 604 is entered and the broadcast receiver is disabled.
  • audio function for example a music player
  • video function like for example a video player
  • the broadcast receiver is in the active mode state 603 and a voice or video call is received or triggered the voice call in progress state 607 is entered.
  • this call in progress state 607 the broadcast receiver is temporary disabled and the audio is switched from the broadcast receiver to the cellular component.
  • the RDS channel ID or frequency of the last radio station listened to may be stored in a memory, to allow the broadcast receiver to restore the FM radio channel settings when the user turns on the broadcast receiver next time.
  • the channel settings could be stored in either in the FM radio receiver 204 in FIGURE 2 or 304 in FIGURE 3 or in any other memory of the wireless portable device as shown by FIGURE 1 if the operation of the broadcast receiver is controlled by some software that is running on a host processor.
  • the data may be stored when successfully tuning to a new radio station.
  • the data could be saved when entering low power mode or turning off the FM radio receiver.
  • the above state diagram could be implemented by hardware of software or combination of both in the broadcast receiver, which may include a message transmission by the broadcast receiver to a processor or control component like a host of the wireless portable device to trigger switching off the audio circuit until it is requested for another audio function.
  • the software may realize the above presented state diagram.
  • the software may run on processors or control component like a host of the wireless portable device.
  • the host would communicate with the broadcast receiver.
  • the software may periodically request a signal characteristic like for example a RSSI from the broadcast receiver.
  • the software would store the current signal characteristic and handle also the at least one previous signal characteristics and calculate the signal characteristic indicator. If the signal characteristic indicator is below a threshold the software may change the broadcast receiver and the audio component power mode into a low power mode.
  • the audio component may be re-activated if requested for another audio function (for example a cellular voice call).
  • the signal characteristic is compared against a further threshold and only the result of the comparison is stored and not the determined RSSI value.
  • the power state may change based on the stored information. For example 1 is stored if RSSI is above the further threshold and 0 if RSSI is less that the further threshold and if all the stored values are zero the power mode is changed to a low power mode. Otherwise the power mode is not changed.
  • an audio level output from the FM radio receiver with soft mute turned on would be measured periodically.
  • the FM radio soft mute function mutes the audio output when the signal strength is below a pre-defined threshold. Based on the measured audio values, the audio component and maybe also the FM radio receiver may be switched into a low power mode. In this case a larger number of values may be requested in the memory compared to the RSSI implementation as presented by FIGURE 5 as it is possible to have a low audio level measurement during periods of silence in music and speech transmission.
  • FIGURE 7 depicts an example embodiment of a wireless portable device like a mobile device 712 according to one or more aspects described herein.
  • the mobile device may receive broadcast signals according to FIGURE 1.
  • Wireless portable device 712 may include a controller 725 connected to a user interface control 730, display 736 and other elements as illustrated. Controller 725 may include one or more processors 728 and one or more memories 734 storing software 740, for example client software.
  • Wireless portable device 712 also may include one or more of battery 750, speaker 753 and one or more antennas 754 that may be integrated or external to the wireless portable device.
  • a headset or earphone 760 with integrated antenna may be attached by a user to the wireless portable device.
  • User interface control 730 may include controllers or adapters configured to receive input from or provide output to a camera 757, keypad, touch screen, voice interface (for example via microphone 756), function keys, joystick, data glove, mouse and the like. Additionally or alternatively, camera 759 and microphone 756 may be configured to capture various types of content including video, audio and still images.
  • Computer executable instructions and data used by processor 728 and other components of wireless portable device 712 may be stored in a storage facility such as memory 734.
  • Memory 734 may comprise any type or combination of read only memory (ROM) modules or random access memory (RAM) modules, including both volatile and nonvolatile memory such as disks.
  • Software 740 may be stored within memory 734 to provide instructions to processor 728 such that when the instructions are executed, processor 728, portable wireless device 712 and/or other components of portable wireless device 712 are caused to perform various functions or methods such as those described herein.
  • Software may include both applications and operating system software, and may include code segments, instructions, applets, pre-compiled code, compiled code, computer programs, program modules, engines, program logic, and combinations thereof.
  • Computer executable instructions and data may further be stored on computer readable media including electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, DVD or other optical disk storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic storage and the like.
  • EEPROM electrically erasable programmable read-only memory
  • flash memory or other memory technology
  • CD-ROM compact disc-read-only memory
  • DVD or other optical disk storage magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic storage and the like.
  • Some or all of the instructions implemented by one or more processors represented by processor 728 or other components so as to carry out the operations described herein may also be stored as hard-wired instructions (for example logic gates).
  • processor 728 could include one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASICs) configured to carry out operations such as those described herein.
  • ASICs application specific integrated circuits
  • controller, elements or components are shown as an exemplary embodiment. In an alternative embodiment the controller, elements or components may be combined or some of them are not presented at all. Beside any components, elements or controller may be combined or separated in a different functional manner.
  • Portable wireless device 712 or its various components may be configured to transmit and/or receive, decode and process various types of transmissions including digital broadband broadcast transmissions. Other digital transmission formats may alternatively be used to deliver content and information regarding availability of supplemental services. Additionally or alternatively, portable wireless device 712 may be configured to receive, decode and process transmissions through FM Radio receiver 742, broadcast receiver (for example for digital video broadcasting 741, short-range communication transceiver like for example wireless local area network (WLAN) transceiver 743, and/or telecommunications transceiver 744. Receiver 741 and 742 and transceivers 743 and 744 may, alternatively, include individual transmitter and/or receiver components.
  • FM Radio receiver 742 for example for digital video broadcasting 741, short-range communication transceiver like for example wireless local area network (WLAN) transceiver 743, and/or telecommunications transceiver 744.
  • Receiver 741 and 742 and transceivers 743 and 744 may, alternatively, include individual transmitter and
  • portable wireless device 712 may further include a gyroscopic sensor (not shown) configured to determine an orientation of portable wireless device 712.
  • portable wireless device 712 may include a global positioning system (GPS) receiver 761 for receiving and determining location information from one or more GPS satellites.
  • GPS global positioning system
  • FIGURE 7 generally relates to a portable wireless device 712
  • other apparatuses or devices or systems may include the same or similar components and perform the same or similar functions and methods.
  • a personal computer may include the components or a subset of the components described above and may be configured to perform the same or similar functions as portable wireless device 712 and its components.
  • Other example apparatuses that may include one or more of the components illustrated in FIGURE 7 include terminal devices, displays, mobile phones, personal digital assistants, smartphones, printer devices, information panel, portable radios or portable television sets.
  • a technical effect of one or more of the example embodiments disclosed herein is using a number of previous signal strength values avoids the broadcast radio for being turned off when radio reception is lost for short periods of time. For example after travelling under a bridge when broadcast radio reception like for example FM is lost for a short period and the user would not need to manually reset the radio.
  • Another technical effect of one or more of the example embodiments disclosed herein is to minimize current consumption by switching off some functional components of the portable wireless device that may be connected to the broadcast receiver until required by another function.
  • Another technical effect of one or more of the example embodiments disclosed herein is to extend the stand-by-time if a broadcast receiver in turned on by fault when there is no signal reception available or the radio is still running when the broadcast signal reception is disturbed for example due to bad reception area or because the external antenna is not available anymore.
  • Embodiments of the present invention may be implemented in software, hardware, application logic or a combination of software, hardware and application logic.
  • the software, application logic and/or hardware may reside on the broadcast receiver or on host side in the wireless portable device. If desired, part of the software, application logic and/or hardware may reside on the broadcast receiver, part of the software, application logic and/or hardware may reside on the host side.
  • the application logic, software or an instruction set is maintained on any one of various conventional computer-readable media.
  • a "computer-readable medium” may be any media or means that can contain, store, communicate, propagate or transport the instructions for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device, such as a computer, with one example of a computer described and depicted in FIGURE 1 or FIGURE 7.
  • a computer-readable medium may comprise a computer-readable storage medium that may be any media or means that can contain or store the instructions for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device, such as a computer.

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Abstract

A method comprises activating a broadcast receiver to receive a broadcast signal and determining a current signal characteristic and at least one previous signal characteristic of the broadcast signal. The method further comprises calculating a signal characteristic indicator based on the current signal characteristic and the at least one previous signal characteristic and comparing the signal characteristic indicator to a threshold. The method further comprises entering a low power mode of the broadcast receiver, if the signal characteristic indicator is below the threshold.

Description

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CONTROLLING A BROADCAST RECEIVER
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0001] The present application relates generally to data communications and more particularly to a method and an apparatus for receiving broadcast signals. More particularly, it relates to controlling a broadcast receiver.
BACKGROUND
[0002] Wireless communication has moved from simply being concerned with conveying verbal information to being more focused on total digital interactivity. While originally limited to voice communication (for example telephone calls on cellular handsets), enhancements in wireless technology have substantially improved ability, quality of service (QoS), speed, etc. These developments have contributed to an insatiable desire for new functionality. Portable wireless apparatuses are no longer just tasked with making telephone calls. They have become integral, and in some cases essential, tools for managing the professional and/or personal life of users.
[0003] The effect of this evolving technology may be seen in instances where pluralities of apparatuses have been replaced with a single multifunction device. The functionality that was formally provided by landline telephones and facsimiles, laptop computers, portable digital assistants (PDA), game systems, music players, digital storage devices, broadcast receiver may be supported in a single digital communication apparatus. The above functionality may be further supplemented through the provision of applications that were not previously available in portable apparatuses (for example directional/tracking features, wireless financial transactions, social networking, etc.).
[0004] Portable wireless apparatuses comprise functionalities to receive, decode and present broadcast signals. Example of broadcast signals are frequency modulated (FM) radio signals, amplitude modulated (AM) radio signals, digital radio signals or digital video broadcasting signals (DVB). For the reception of the broadcast signal the portable wireless apparatus comprises a broadcast receiver and uses at least one antenna. The antenna may be a connectable external antenna or it may be an internal antenna integrated in the portable wireless apparatus. The internal antenna may be a small size antenna and may be suitable only in urban areas where broadcast receiver signal strength is typically higher due to closer proximity of broadcast transmitters. The connectable external antenna may be used in areas of weaker broadcast receiver signal strength. The connectable external antenna may be integrated in a headset that may support at least one of audio input, audio output, video input and video output.
[0005] A smooth operation of various components of the portable wireless apparatus including a broadcast receiver has to be ensured.
SUMMARY
[0006] Various aspects of examples of the invention are set out in the claims.
[0007] According to a first aspect of the present invention a method is covered, the method comprises activating a broadcast receiver to receive a broadcast signal. The method also comprises determining a current signal characteristic and at least one previous signal characteristic of the broadcast signal. The method further comprises calculating a signal characteristic indicator based on the current signal characteristic and the at least one previous signal characteristic and comparing the signal characteristic indicator to a threshold. If the signal characteristic indicator to the threshold condition is fulfilled, it enters a low power mode of the broadcast receiver.
[0008] According to a second aspect of the present invention an apparatus is covered, the apparatus comprises at least one processor configured to activate the apparatus to receive a broadcast signal, to determine a current signal characteristic and at least one previous signal characteristic of the broadcast signal. The at least one processor is further configured to calculate a signal characteristic indicator based on the current signal characteristic and the at least one previous signal characteristic and to compare the signal characteristic indicator to a threshold. If the signal characteristic indicator to the threshold condition is fulfilled, it enters a low power mode of the apparatus.
[0009] According to a third aspect of the present invention a computer program is covered, the computer program comprises code for activating an apparatus to receive a broadcast signal and code for determining a current signal characteristic and at least one previous signal characteristic of the broadcast signal, when the computer program is run on a processor. The computer program further comprises code for calculating a signal characteristic indicator based on the current signal characteristic and the at least one previous signal characteristic and code for comparing the signal characteristic indicator to a threshold. If the signal characteristic indicator to the threshold condition is fulfilled, it enters a low power mode of the apparatus.
[0010] According to a fourth aspect of the present invention an apparatus is covered, the apparatus comprises means for activating the apparatus to receive a broadcast signal and means for determining a current signal characteristic and at least one previous signal characteristic of the broadcast signal. The apparatus comprises further means for calculating a signal characteristic indicator based on the current signal characteristic and the at least one previous signal characteristic and means for comparing the signal characteristic indicator to a threshold. The apparatus comprises means for entering a low power mode of the apparatus if the signal characteristic indicator to the threshold condition is fulfilled.
[0011] According to a fifth aspect of the present invention a computer-readable medium is covered, the computer-readable medium is encoded with instructions that, when executed by a computer, it activates a broadcast receiver to receive a broadcast signal and determines a current signal characteristic and at least one previous signal characteristic of the broadcast signal. The instructions further comprise calculate a signal characteristic indicator based on the current signal characteristic and the at least one previous signal characteristic and compare the signal characteristic indicator to a threshold. If the signal characteristic indicator to the threshold condition is fulfilled, it enters a low power mode of the broadcast receiver.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0012] For a more complete understanding of example embodiments of the present invention, reference is now made to the following descriptions taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:
[0013] FIGURE 1 depicts an example embodiment of a system comprising a portable wireless device and a broadcast transmitter;
[0014] FIGURE 2 depicts an example embodiment of a portable wireless device configured to support two antennas and a separate impedance matching low noise amplifier;
[0015] FIGURE 3 depicts an example embodiment of a portable wireless device configured to support two antennas and an integrated impedance matching low noise amplifier;
[0016] FIGURE 4 depicts a flow chart of an example operation supported by a broadcast receiver.
[0017] FIGURE 5 shows an example embodiment of a storage facility like a register chain that may store signal characteristic;
[0018] FIGURE 6 depicts exemplary a state diagram for controlling power mode of a broadcast receiver; and
[0019] FIGURE 7 depicts an example embodiment of a wireless portable device according to one or more aspects described herein. DETAILED DESCRIPTON
[0020] An example embodiment of the present invention and its potential advantages are understood by referring to FIGURES 1 through 7 of the drawings.
[0021] FIGURE 1 depicts an example embodiment of a system comprising a portable wireless device or apparatus 100 and a broadcast transmitter 110. The broadcast transmitter is configured to transmit broadcast signals over a unidirectional broadcast channel(s) for example frequency modulated (FM) radio signals, amplitude modulated (AM) radio signals, digital radio signals and/or digital video broadcasting signals (DVB). The broadcast signal is received by the portable wireless device 100. The portable wireless device 100 processes the received broadcast signal and presents content contained in the broadcast signal to a user. This may comprise for example audio playback and/or video playing. The example embodiment of the potable wireless device or apparatus in FIGURE 1 depicts an example hardware which may be a chip set upon which embodiments of the invention may be implemented. Apparatus 100 is configured to determine a signal characteristic indicator of a broadcast signal as described further in the following and includes, for instance, one or more processor and memory components described with respect to FIGURE 1 may be incorporated in one or more physical packages. By way of example, a physical package includes an arrangement of one or more materials, components, and/or wires on a structural assembly (for example a baseboard) to provide one or more characteristics such as physical strength, conservation of size, and/or limitation of electrical interaction.
[0022] In one embodiment, the apparatus 100 includes a communication mechanism such as a bus 101 for passing information among the components of the apparatus 100. A processor 102 has connectivity to the bus 101 to execute instructions and process information stored in, for example, a memory 105. The processor 102 may include one or more processing cores where each core configured to perform independently. A multi-core processor enables multiprocessing within a single physical package. Examples of a multi-core processor include two, four, eight, or greater numbers of processing cores. Alternatively or in addition, the processor 102 may include one or more microprocessors configured in tandem via the bus 101 to enable independent execution of instructions, pipelining, and multithreading. The processor 102 may also be accompanied with one or more specialized components to perform certain processing functions and tasks such as one or more digital signal processors (DSP) 103, or one or receiver components 104 realized in an application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC). A DSP 103 is configured to process real-world signals (for example sound) in real time independently of the processor 102. Similarly, a receiver component 104 may be configured to performed specialized functions not easily performed by a general purposed processor. Other specialized components to aid in performing the functions described herein include one or more field programmable gate arrays (FPGA) (not shown), one or more controllers (not shown), or one or more other special-purpose computer chips. The receiver component is connected to an antenna 120 and/or an antenna 108 to enable to reception of the broadcast signals. The antenna 120 is external of the apparatus and the antenna.108 is an internal antenna integrated in the apparatus. The internal antenna 108 and external antenna 120 may be configured to receive signals from the same or different frequency bands like for example medium frequency (MF) bands used for AM broadcast services and/or very high frequency (VHF) bands used for FM broadcast services. Further the apparatus comprising some output components to enable the presenting of the content of the broadcast signal. The input/output component 106 may comprise control functionality like for example a keypad and/or audio output functionality like for example a speaker and/or video output functionality like for example a display. The input/output 106 component may comprise internal or external components like for example an audio/visual (A/V) connector for a wired headset/antenna 108 providing audio output, audio input, video output, video input, and/or antenna functionality.
[0023] The processor 102 and accompanying components have connectivity to the memory 105 via the bus 101. The memory 105 may include both dynamic memory (for example RAM, magnetic disk, writable optical disk, etc.) and static memory (for example ROM, CD-ROM, etc.) for storing executable instructions that when executed perform the exemplary steps described herein. The memory 105 may also store the data associated with or generated by the execution of the exemplary steps described herein.
[0024] FIGURE 2 depicts an example embodiment of a portable wireless device configured to support two antennas and a separate impedance matching low noise amplifier (LNA). The portable wireless device is in this example a mobile terminal with cellular voice call functionality. This functionality is realized by a dedicated component in this example by a cellular transceiver 201. The cellular transceiver provides the audio output as separate channels left audio (L) and right audio (R). This output may be connected to an audio circuit 202 like an audio ASIC. The audio circuit 202 is driving the audio output apparatus 207 like for example a wired headset 207 or internal or external loudspeaker (not shown in FIGURE 2) that is connected via an A/V connector 209 and may be detachable by a user of the portable wireless device. The wires of the wired headset 207 may be also used as an antenna for a broadcast receiver. In this example the broadcast receiver 204 is a FM radio receiver implemented by a FM radio ASIC. To enable that an adequate radio frequency (RF) signal level is applied to the FM radio receiver 204, an impedance matching circuit 210 may convert the higher RF impedance of the wired headset to the lower RF input impedance of the FM radio receiver 204. Further the portable wireless device comprises an FM internal antenna 208. The internal antenna allows the usage of the broadcast receiver without the need of the external antenna 207. The internal antenna 208 may have high RF impedance based on its small size, so a separate impedance matching LNA 211 may be used. The LNA 211 may be implemented as a separated integrated circuit and may be located between the internal antenna and the FM radio receiver 204 front end of the FM radio receiver. Further the portable wireless device may comprise also an antenna switch 212 that selects the internal or external antenna input that is used by the FM radio receiver 204. The FM radio receiver 204 decodes the broadcast signal and provides the audio content as left and right audio to the audio circuit 202. The antenna switch 212 is controlled either by the FM radio receiver 204 or by a controller of the portable wireless apparatus that is not shown in the FIGURE 2. In some embodiments the portable wireless apparatus may comprise beside the presented lines between the components some status/control lines or signals that may be available from the broadcast receiver 204 to other components of the apparatus. This status/control lines or signals may be used for changing power modes of components comprised in the portable wireless device or may be used for status exchange between functional components.
[0025] FIGURE 3 depicts an example embodiment of a portable wireless device configured to support two antennas and an integrated impedance matching LNA. The portable wireless device is in this example is similar to the one presented in FIGURE 2 and represents exemplary a mobile terminal with cellular voice call functionality. The mobile terminal may also support additionally or instead of the cellular voice call functionality voice over internet functionality. This functionality is realized by a dedicated component in this example by a cellular transceiver 301. The cellular transceiver 301 provides audio output as separate channels left audio (L) and right audio (R). This output may be connected to an audio circuit 302. The audio circuit 302 is driving the audio output apparatus 307 like for example a wired headset 307 or an internal or external loudspeaker (not shown in FIGURE 2) that is connected via an A/V connector 309 and may be detachable by a user of the portable wireless device. The wires of the wired headset 307 may be also used as an antenna for a broadcast receiver. In this example the broadcast receiver is a FM radio receiver. To enable that a RF impedance matching circuit 310 may be used. Further the portable wireless device comprises an internal antenna 308. The internal antenna allows the usage of the broadcast receiver without the need of the external antenna 307. The internal antenna 308 may have high RF impedance, so a separate impedance matching LNA may be requested. The LNA may be part of the FM radio receiver 304. Further the FM radio receiver may comprise an antenna switch that selects the internal antenna input (FM INT ANT) or external antenna input (FM HS ANT) that is used by the FM radio receiver 304. The FM radio receiver 304 decodes the broadcast signal and provides the audio content as left and right audio to the audio circuit 302.
[0026] FIGURE 4 depicts a flow chart 400 of an example operation that may be supported by the broadcast receiver 104 of FIGURE 1, the broadcast receiver 204 of FIGURE 2 and/or broadcast receiver 304 in FIGURE 3. FIGURE 4 depicts functionality to control power modes of the broadcast receiver. Beside that it may depict some functionality to control power modes of other components of the portable wireless device 100 of FIGURE 1 and/or 200 of FIGURE 2 and/or 300 of FIGURE 3. In an embodiment the power mode may comprise the activating or deactivating a low power mode of the broadcast receiver itself and/or some of the other components. In another embodiment this may comprise the enabling/activating 401 or disabling/shut off 409 one or more components of the broadcast receiver or the complete broadcast receiver and/or some of the other components. The enabling or activating step 401 may comprise entering a normal operation mode of the broadcast receiver. The enabling or activating 401 of the broadcast receiver may be based on a user request, an application request, a host request and/or an expiry of a time interval.
[0027] The broadcast receiver may further be configured to determine a current signal characteristic and at least one previous signal characteristic of the broadcast signal as shown by step 403. The broadcast receiver may be configured to store the determined current signal characteristic and the at least one previous signal characteristic for further calculation of the signal characteristic indicator. In some embodiments the signal characteristic may represent at least one of a receiver signal strength indicator (RSSI), a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and a signal-to-noise-and-distortion ratio. In another embodiment the signal characteristic may be represented by an audio level of the broadcast receiver with a soft mute function enabled, wherein the soft mute function mutes an audio output when the signal characteristic indicator is below a soft mute threshold.
[0028] In some embodiments the step 403 may comprise first a determination that comprises if a signal is received from different receiver paths for example received from two antennas and if so the one with better signal characteristic may be chosen for the determination represented in step 403.
[0029] In step 405 the broadcast receiver may be configured to calculate a signal characteristic indicator based on the current signal characteristic and the at least one previous signal characteristic. The calculation of the signal characteristic indicator may be based on at least one of a simple moving average, a cumulative moving average, a weighted moving average, an exponential moving average, a modified moving average and a moving median. But any other suitable method might be used for that.
[0030] In step 407 the broadcast receiver is further configured to compare the signal characteristic indicator to a threshold.
[0031] In step 408 decision is made if threshold level condition is reached. That may comprise checking that the signal characteristic indicator is equal, above or below a threshold. In step 408 it is decided if the signal characteristic indicator is for example below the threshold the broadcast receiver may enter a low power mode in step 409. If the threshold condition is not fulfilled the current power mode is not changed and after a wait state 410 the process continues with step 403.
[0032] Before entering a low power mode (step 409) a notification may be generated to inform a user of the broadcast receiver of the change. This may be realized by a visual notification like for example status information on a display and/or by an audio notification via an audio output like the headset. Further the broadcast receiver my transmit a message to a processor or control component like an host of the wireless portable device to trigger switching off the audio circuit until it is required or requested for another audio function. This may be triggered for example by an incoming our outgoing cellular voice call or voice over internet call.
[0033] In an embodiment the broadcast receiver may store broadcast receiver settings before the entering of a low power mode. This may comprise for example current radio data system (RDS) channel information (ID) or frequency of the last radio station listened. The information would allow the last station to be restored automatically when the broadcast receiver is re-activated by a user or application or when exiting the low power mode for example when FM radio reception is available. In another example embodiment the broadcast receiver may be activated periodically to check if broadcast radio reception is available, or alternatively wait for a response from a user interface before searching for FM radio stations.
[0034] In an embodiment the broadcast receiver is configured to communicate with a cellular transceiver comprised in a wireless portable device as presented exemplary by 201 in FIGURE 2 and 301 in FIGURE 3. Based on the communication the broadcast receiver may be configured to determine if at least a voice call or a video call is started and to enter a low power mode. Further the broadcast receiver may be configured to determine if the voice call or the video call is finalized and to reactivate the normal operation mode of the broadcast receiver.
[0035] FIGURE 5 depicts an example embodiment of a storage facility like a register chain 500 that may store the signal characteristic. In this particular example the signal characteristic is the RSSI value and four previous RSSIs that may be stored in registers 502, 503, 504 and 505 in the broadcast receiver. The register chain is realized as first-in first-out (FIFO) where the current determined signal characteristic is stored in register 501 and the others are shifted by one register and the oldest one is deleted. In this example five signal characteristics are stored and used for the calculation of the signal characteristic indicator according to the functionality discussed in conjunction with of FIGURE 4, especially step 403 and 405.
[0036] FIGURE 6 depicts exemplary a state diagram 600 for controlling the power mode of a broadcast receiver in particular of a FM broadcast receiver. The initial state 601 is entered after a power up of the wireless portable device. After a user turns on the broadcast receiver via an user interface of the wireless portable device the initial state 601 is changed to state 602, where the broadcast receiver is enabled or activated and previous radio settings are restored like for example last channel and the related frequency if they are available. The broadcast receiver is switched to the active state 603. In this state the operation comprises the steps to determine a current signal characteristic like RSSI and at least one previous signal characteristic like a RSSI of the broadcast signal that may be stored in the broadcast receiver, calculate a signal characteristic indicator based on the current signal characteristic and the at least one previous signal characteristic and to compare the signal characteristic indicator to a threshold. The RSSI values may be stored for example in a FIFO as presented by FIGURE 5. In this example embodiment five previous signal characteristics are used. But any other number of previous signal characteristics could be used in other
embodiments. The steps are repeated periodically in the active mode 603. The state is kept as long a broadcast signal is received. That means the signal characteristic indicator is above a threshold. Further the state is kept if a channel change or frequency change is triggered either by the user or based on RDS data. If no signal is detected over a number of readings, that means the signal characteristic indicator is below the threshold, the broadcast receiver is switched into low power mode state 606. This may comprise the disabling of the audio component until requested by another component of the wireless portable device. Whilst in low power mode (state 606) periodic RSSI scans may be performed to check if radio reception is available again. If a broadcast signal is detected the state is changed back to state 602 to restore broadcast receiver settings. If the user turns off the broadcast receiver the state is changed to the switch off broadcast receiver state 604 where the complete radio receiver is disabled.
[0037] For the case the wireless portable device is in the active mode state 603 and the user turns off the broadcast receiver via a user interface or selects other audio function (for example a music player) or video function (like for example a video player) or any other function where the broadcast receiver is not needed the switch off broadcast receiver state 604 is entered and the broadcast receiver is disabled.
[0038] For the case the broadcast receiver is in the active mode state 603 and a voice or video call is received or triggered the voice call in progress state 607 is entered. In this call in progress state 607 the broadcast receiver is temporary disabled and the audio is switched from the broadcast receiver to the cellular component. After the end of the voice or video call restore broadcast receiver setting state 602 is entered. If the user disables or switches off the broadcast receiver during the call the broadcast receiver is switched completely off (End state 605) until a user activates the broadcast receiver via a user interface.
[0039] Before the broadcast receiver is switched off the RDS channel ID or frequency of the last radio station listened to may be stored in a memory, to allow the broadcast receiver to restore the FM radio channel settings when the user turns on the broadcast receiver next time. The channel settings could be stored in either in the FM radio receiver 204 in FIGURE 2 or 304 in FIGURE 3 or in any other memory of the wireless portable device as shown by FIGURE 1 if the operation of the broadcast receiver is controlled by some software that is running on a host processor. In some embodiments the data may be stored when successfully tuning to a new radio station. In another embodiment the data could be saved when entering low power mode or turning off the FM radio receiver.
[0040] In an example implementation the above state diagram could be implemented by hardware of software or combination of both in the broadcast receiver, which may include a message transmission by the broadcast receiver to a processor or control component like a host of the wireless portable device to trigger switching off the audio circuit until it is requested for another audio function.
[0041] In another example implementation software may realize the above presented state diagram. The software may run on processors or control component like a host of the wireless portable device. The host would communicate with the broadcast receiver. The software may periodically request a signal characteristic like for example a RSSI from the broadcast receiver. The software would store the current signal characteristic and handle also the at least one previous signal characteristics and calculate the signal characteristic indicator. If the signal characteristic indicator is below a threshold the software may change the broadcast receiver and the audio component power mode into a low power mode. The audio component may be re-activated if requested for another audio function (for example a cellular voice call). [0042] In an alternative embodiment the signal characteristic is compared against a further threshold and only the result of the comparison is stored and not the determined RSSI value. The power state may change based on the stored information. For example 1 is stored if RSSI is above the further threshold and 0 if RSSI is less that the further threshold and if all the stored values are zero the power mode is changed to a low power mode. Otherwise the power mode is not changed.
[0043] In a further embodiment an audio level output from the FM radio receiver with soft mute turned on would be measured periodically. The FM radio soft mute function mutes the audio output when the signal strength is below a pre-defined threshold. Based on the measured audio values, the audio component and maybe also the FM radio receiver may be switched into a low power mode. In this case a larger number of values may be requested in the memory compared to the RSSI implementation as presented by FIGURE 5 as it is possible to have a low audio level measurement during periods of silence in music and speech transmission.
[0044] FIGURE 7 depicts an example embodiment of a wireless portable device like a mobile device 712 according to one or more aspects described herein. The mobile device may receive broadcast signals according to FIGURE 1. Wireless portable device 712 may include a controller 725 connected to a user interface control 730, display 736 and other elements as illustrated. Controller 725 may include one or more processors 728 and one or more memories 734 storing software 740, for example client software. Wireless portable device 712 also may include one or more of battery 750, speaker 753 and one or more antennas 754 that may be integrated or external to the wireless portable device. A headset or earphone 760 with integrated antenna may be attached by a user to the wireless portable device. User interface control 730 may include controllers or adapters configured to receive input from or provide output to a camera 757, keypad, touch screen, voice interface (for example via microphone 756), function keys, joystick, data glove, mouse and the like. Additionally or alternatively, camera 759 and microphone 756 may be configured to capture various types of content including video, audio and still images.
[0045] Computer executable instructions and data used by processor 728 and other components of wireless portable device 712 may be stored in a storage facility such as memory 734. Memory 734 may comprise any type or combination of read only memory (ROM) modules or random access memory (RAM) modules, including both volatile and nonvolatile memory such as disks. Software 740 may be stored within memory 734 to provide instructions to processor 728 such that when the instructions are executed, processor 728, portable wireless device 712 and/or other components of portable wireless device 712 are caused to perform various functions or methods such as those described herein. Software may include both applications and operating system software, and may include code segments, instructions, applets, pre-compiled code, compiled code, computer programs, program modules, engines, program logic, and combinations thereof.
Computer executable instructions and data may further be stored on computer readable media including electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, DVD or other optical disk storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic storage and the like. Some or all of the instructions implemented by one or more processors represented by processor 728 or other components so as to carry out the operations described herein may also be stored as hard-wired instructions (for example logic gates). For example, processor 728 could include one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASICs) configured to carry out operations such as those described herein.
[0046] The presented controller, elements or components are shown as an exemplary embodiment. In an alternative embodiment the controller, elements or components may be combined or some of them are not presented at all. Beside any components, elements or controller may be combined or separated in a different functional manner.
[0047] Portable wireless device 712 or its various components may be configured to transmit and/or receive, decode and process various types of transmissions including digital broadband broadcast transmissions. Other digital transmission formats may alternatively be used to deliver content and information regarding availability of supplemental services. Additionally or alternatively, portable wireless device 712 may be configured to receive, decode and process transmissions through FM Radio receiver 742, broadcast receiver (for example for digital video broadcasting 741, short-range communication transceiver like for example wireless local area network (WLAN) transceiver 743, and/or telecommunications transceiver 744. Receiver 741 and 742 and transceivers 743 and 744 may, alternatively, include individual transmitter and/or receiver components. In one or more arrangements, portable wireless device 712 may further include a gyroscopic sensor (not shown) configured to determine an orientation of portable wireless device 712. According to one or more further aspects, portable wireless device 712 may include a global positioning system (GPS) receiver 761 for receiving and determining location information from one or more GPS satellites.
[0048] Although the above description of FIGURE 7 generally relates to a portable wireless device 712, other apparatuses or devices or systems may include the same or similar components and perform the same or similar functions and methods. For example, a personal computer may include the components or a subset of the components described above and may be configured to perform the same or similar functions as portable wireless device 712 and its components. Other example apparatuses that may include one or more of the components illustrated in FIGURE 7 include terminal devices, displays, mobile phones, personal digital assistants, smartphones, printer devices, information panel, portable radios or portable television sets.
[0049] Without in any way limiting the scope, interpretation, or application of the claims appearing below, a technical effect of one or more of the example embodiments disclosed herein is using a number of previous signal strength values avoids the broadcast radio for being turned off when radio reception is lost for short periods of time. For example after travelling under a bridge when broadcast radio reception like for example FM is lost for a short period and the user would not need to manually reset the radio. Another technical effect of one or more of the example embodiments disclosed herein is to minimize current consumption by switching off some functional components of the portable wireless device that may be connected to the broadcast receiver until required by another function. Another technical effect of one or more of the example embodiments disclosed herein is to extend the stand-by-time if a broadcast receiver in turned on by fault when there is no signal reception available or the radio is still running when the broadcast signal reception is disturbed for example due to bad reception area or because the external antenna is not available anymore.
[0050] Embodiments of the present invention may be implemented in software, hardware, application logic or a combination of software, hardware and application logic. The software, application logic and/or hardware may reside on the broadcast receiver or on host side in the wireless portable device. If desired, part of the software, application logic and/or hardware may reside on the broadcast receiver, part of the software, application logic and/or hardware may reside on the host side. In an example embodiment, the application logic, software or an instruction set is maintained on any one of various conventional computer-readable media. In the context of this document, a "computer-readable medium" may be any media or means that can contain, store, communicate, propagate or transport the instructions for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device, such as a computer, with one example of a computer described and depicted in FIGURE 1 or FIGURE 7. A computer-readable medium may comprise a computer-readable storage medium that may be any media or means that can contain or store the instructions for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device, such as a computer.
[0051] If desired, the different functions discussed herein may be performed in a different order and/or concurrently with each other. Furthermore, if desired, one or more of the above- described functions may be optional or may be combined. [0052] Although various aspects of the invention are set out in the independent claims, other aspects of the invention comprise other combinations of features from the described embodiments and/or the dependent claims with the features of the independent claims, and not solely the combinations explicitly set out in the claims.
[0053] It is also noted herein that while the above describes example embodiments of the invention, these descriptions should not be viewed in a limiting sense. Rather, there are several variations and modifications which may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention as defined in the appended claims.

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS
1. A method, comprising:
activating a broadcast receiver to receive a broadcast signal;
determining a current signal characteristic and at least one previous signal characteristic of the broadcast signal;
calculating a signal characteristic indicator based on the current signal characteristic and the at least one previous signal characteristic;
comparing the signal characteristic indicator to a threshold; and
entering a low power mode of the broadcast receiver, if the signal characteristic indicator to the threshold condition is fulfilled.
2. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising storing the current signal characteristic for further calculation of the signal characteristic indicator.
3. The method according to claims 1 or 2, wherein the broadcast receiver is configured to operate as at least one of a frequency modulated radio receiver, an amplitude modulated radio receiver, a digital radio receiver and a digital video broadcast receiver.
4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the signal characteristic is at least one of a receiver signal strength, a signal-to-noise ratio and a signal-to-noise-and- distortion ratio.
5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the signal characteristic is an audio level of the broadcast receiver with a soft mute function enabled, wherein the soft mute function mutes an audio output when the signal characteristic indicator is below a soft mute threshold.
6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the entering a low power mode of the broadcast receiver is extended to shut off the complete broadcast receiver.
7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, further comprising notifying a user before the entering of a low power mode of the broadcast receiver.
8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, further comprising storing current broadcast receiver settings before the entering of a low power mode of the broadcast receiver.
9. The method according to claim 8, further comprising restoring the current broadcast receiver settings with the activating of the broadcast receiver.
10. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the calculating a signal characteristic indicator comprises at least one of:
a simple moving average, a cumulative moving average, a weighted moving average, an exponential moving average, a modified moving average and a moving median.
11. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, further comprises determining a first receiver signal characteristic indicator of a first broadcast receiver signal from a first antenna connected to the broadcast receiver and a second receiver signal characteristic indicator of a broadcast receiver signal from a second antenna and selecting the broadcast receiver signal with a better receiver signal characteristic indicator as the current signal characteristic.
12. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein the broadcast receiver comprises one or more functional components and the entering a low power mode comprises disabling at least some of the functional components of the broadcast receiver.
13. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 12, wherein the activating the broadcast receiver comprises entering a normal operation mode of the broadcast receiver.
14. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 13, wherein the activating the broadcast receiver is based on at least one of: a user request, an application request, a host request and an expiry of a time interval.
15. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 14, wherein the broadcast receiver is configured to receive at least one unidirectional broadcast radio signal.
16. The method according to any of claims 1 to 15, further comprising to determine if at least a voice call or a video call is started and to disable at least a part of the broadcast receiver if a voice call or a video call is started.
17. The method according to claim 16, further comprising to determine if the voice call or the video call is finalized and reactivating the broadcast receiver.
18. Apparatus comprising:
at least one processor configured to:
activate the apparatus to receive a broadcast signal;
determine a current signal characteristic and at least one previous signal characteristic of the broadcast signal;
calculate a signal characteristic indicator based on the current signal characteristic and the at least one previous signal characteristic;
compare the signal characteristic indicator to a threshold; and
enter a low power mode of the apparatus, if the signal characteristic indicator to the threshold condition is fulfilled.
19. The apparatus according to claim 18, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to receive at least one broadcast radio signal.
20. The apparatus according to any one of claims 18 to 19, wherein the apparatus is further configured to be connected to a first antenna.
21. The apparatus according to any one of claims 18 to 20, wherein the apparatus is further configured to be connected to a user detachable antenna.
22. The apparatus according to claim 22, wherein the user detachable antenna is comprised in a wired headset.
23. The apparatus according to any one or claims 18 to 22, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to store the current signal characteristic for further calculation of the signal characteristic indicator.
24. The apparatus according to any one or claims 18 to 23, wherein the apparatus is further configured to operate as at least one of a frequency modulated radio receiver, an amplitude modulated radio receiver, a digital radio receiver and a digital video broadcast receiver.
25. The apparatus according to any one of claims 18 to 24, wherein the signal
characteristic is at least one of a receiver signal strength, a signal-to-noise ratio and a signal- to-noise-and-distortion ratio.
26. The apparatus according to any one of claims 18 to 25, wherein the entering a low power mode of the apparatus is extended to shutting off the complete apparatus.
27. The apparatus according to any one of claims 18 to 26, further comprising notifying a user before the entering a low power mode of the apparatus.
28. The apparatus according to any one of claims 18 to 27, wherein the at least one processor further configured to store current apparatus settings before the entering a low power mode of the apparatus.
29. The apparatus according to claim 28, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to restore the current apparatus settings with the activation of the apparatus.
30. The apparatus according to any one of claims 18 to 29, wherein the signal
characteristic indicator is calculated using at least one of:
a simple moving average, a cumulative moving average, a weighted moving average, an exponential moving average, a modified moving average and a moving median.
31. The apparatus according to any one of claims 18 to 30, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to determine a first receiver signal characteristic indicator of a first broadcast receiver signal from a first antenna connected to the broadcast receiver and a second receiver signal characteristic indicator of a broadcast receiver signal from a second antenna and select the broadcast receiver signal with a better receiver signal characteristic indicator as the current signal characteristic.
32. The apparatus according to any one of claims 18 to 31, wherein the apparatus comprises one or more functional components and the entering a low power mode comprises disable at least some of the functional components of the apparatus.
33. The apparatus according to any of claims 18 to 32, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to determine if at least a voice call or a video call is started and to disable at least a part of the apparatus if a voice call or a video call is started.
34. The apparatus according to claim 33, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to determine if the voice call or the video call is finalized and to reactivate the apparatus.
35. The apparatus according to claim 18, wherein the at least one processor comprises at least one memory that contains executable instructions that if executed by the processor cause the apparatus to:
activate the apparatus to receive a broadcast signal;
determine a current signal characteristic and at least one previous signal characteristic of the broadcast signal;
calculate a signal characteristic indicator based on the current signal characteristic and the at least one previous signal characteristic;
compare the signal characteristic indicator to a threshold; and
enter a low power mode of the apparatus, if the signal characteristic indicator to the threshold condition is fulfilled.
36. A computer program, comprising:
code for activating an apparatus to receive a broadcast signal;
code for determining a current signal characteristic and at least one previous signal characteristic of the broadcast signal;
code for calculating a signal characteristic indicator based on the current signal characteristic and the at least one previous signal characteristic;
code for comparing the signal characteristic indicator to a threshold; and
code for entering a low power mode of the apparatus, if the signal characteristic indicator to the threshold condition is fulfilled; when the computer program is run on a processor.
37. The computer program according to claim 36, wherein the computer program is a computer program product comprising a computer-readable medium bearing computer program code embodied therein for use with a computer.
38. Apparatus comprising:
means for activating the apparatus to receive a broadcast signal;
means for determining a current signal characteristic and at least one previous signal characteristic of the broadcast signal;
means for calculating a signal characteristic indicator based on the current signal characteristic and the at least one previous signal characteristic;
means for comparing the signal characteristic indicator to a threshold; and means for entering a low power mode of the apparatus, if the signal characteristic indicator to the threshold condition is fulfilled.
39. A computer-readable medium encoded with instructions that, when executed by a computer, perform:
activate a broadcast receiver to receive a broadcast signal;
determine a current signal characteristic and at least one previous signal characteristic of the broadcast signal;
calculate a signal characteristic indicator based on the current signal characteristic and the at least one previous signal characteristic;
compare the signal characteristic indicator to a threshold; and
enter a low power mode of the broadcast receiver, if the signal characteristic indicator to the threshold condition is fulfilled.
PCT/IB2010/054432 2010-09-30 2010-09-30 Method and apparatus for controlling a broadcast receiver WO2012042305A1 (en)

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