KR20140015176A - Electronic device and method for controlling of the same - Google Patents

Abstract

An electronic device and a control method of the electronic device are disclosed. The electronic device according to an embodiment includes one or more sensors, a first processor for controlling the operation of the sensors, a second processor for controlling an application, and a vibrating unit sensing power applied by a user. The vibrating unit is woken up when the power applied by the user exceeds a predetermined size when the sensors, the first processor, the second processor, and the vibrating unit are in a sleep state. When the first processor is woken up by the vibrating unit, the first processor wakes up the second processor based on sensing data collected by the sensors. Accordingly, even unless a sensor for obtaining context awareness information and/or an operation state of the sensor are maintained to be woken up, the context awareness information can effectively be obtained by a low power property of the vibrating unit. [Reference numerals] (200) Vibrating unit; (210) First processor; (220) Second processor; (S11) Sense power applied by a user; (S12) Exceed a predetermined size?; (S21) Wake up one or more sensors; (S22) Obtain context awareness information; (S31) Execute an application based on the context awareness information

Description

ELECTRICAL DEVICE AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING OF THE SAME

The present invention relates to an electronic device and a control method of the electronic device, and more particularly, to an electronic device and a control method of the electronic device capable of obtaining context awareness informaion at low power in a portable electronic device. .

Electronic devices, in particular portable electronic devices (eg, Hudie media players, cellular telephones) comprise at least one sensor for detecting characteristics of the electronic device and its environment. For example, the electronic device may include one or more motion sensing sensors such as accelerometers or gyroscopes for detecting movement underneath the device's orientation.

Meanwhile, context information of a user who uses the portable electronic device is obtained using various sensors included in the portable electronic device, and the user desires to provide information desired by the portable electronic device by using the context information. As a result, a portable electronic device having excellent situational awareness is provided.

Accordingly, the need for power management in portable electronic devices is increasing in acquiring various contextual information.

An object of the present invention, according to the necessity of power management of the portable electronic device, a sensor capable of acquiring situational information, a variety of processors for managing the sensor and the application are all in a low power state, low power, low power The present invention provides an electronic device capable of obtaining context awareness informaion and a control method of the electronic device.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and are not intended to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed. Other objects, which will be apparent to those skilled in the art, It will be possible.

An electronic device according to one aspect of the present invention includes at least one sensor; A first processor for controlling the operation of the at least one sensor; A second processor for controlling an application; And a vibration unit configured to sense a force applied by the user, wherein the vibration unit includes the at least one sensor, the second processor, the second processor, and the vibration unit in a sleep state. When the force exerted by the sensor exceeds a predetermined magnitude, it wakes up and when the first processor wakes up by the vibration unit, the first processor collects by the at least one sensor. The second processor may wake up based on the sensed data.

The second processor may execute at least one application corresponding to the collected sensing data among at least one application.

The at least one sensor may include at least one of an acceleration sensor, a gyro sensor, a piezoelectric sensor, a displacement sensor, a temperature sensor, and a humidity sensor.

The first processor may control to adjust a sampling period for acquiring sensing data from the at least one sensor according to the magnitude of force applied by the user.

The vibration unit is a state in which the user grips the electronic device according to the magnitude of the force applied by the user, a walking state in the state in which the electronic device is held, and the electronic It can be classified as a running state while the device is held.

The first processor may analyze the collected sensing data and wake up the second processor when it is possible to recognize the user's context information based on the collected sensing data.

On the other hand, if it is determined that the user's context information cannot be recognized based on the collected sensing data, the first processor may keep the second processor in a sleep state and continue collecting sensing data.

The first processor may activate at least some of the at least one sensor based on the vibration pattern detected by the vibration unit.

The application may be a motion sensing application.

When the force of the user sensed by the vibration unit is less than or equal to a predetermined size, the vibration unit may be switched to a sleep state.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a control method of an electronic device includes at least one sensor, a first processor for controlling an operation of the at least one sensor, a second processor for controlling an application, and a force applied by a user. Sensing a force exerted by a user through the vibration unit, in a state where all of the vibration units to sense sleep; Waking up the vibration unit when the sensed force exceeds a predetermined magnitude; Waking up, via the vibration unit, a first processor for controlling operation of at least one sensor; Waking up the at least one sensor via the first processor; Collecting sensing data through the at least one waked up sensor; And waking up the second processor through the first processor.

The control method of an electronic device according to the embodiment of the present invention described above may be implemented by executing a computer program for implementing the control method of the electronic device stored in a computer-readable recording medium.

According to an electronic device and a method for controlling the electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention, a vibration unit capable of detecting a force by a user even while both the sensor for obtaining situation information and the application processor maintain a sleep state. Through wake-up of the sensor and / or the application processor as needed, it is possible to obtain the context awareness information (context awareness informaion) at low power.

1 is a block diagram of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a block diagram illustrating a substantial functional block for implementing a control method of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
3 is a flowchart of a control method of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
4 is a flowchart illustrating an example of selectively waking up at least one sensor according to a magnitude of a force applied to a vibration unit according to a control method of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example of waking up a second processor (for example, an application processor) in the embodiment shown in FIG. 3.
6 is a flowchart for explaining an example of a processor that saves power through a vibration unit after collection of situational awareness information is completed.

The foregoing objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout. In the following description, well-known functions or constructions are not described in detail since they would obscure the invention in unnecessary detail.

Hereinafter, an electronic apparatus related to the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings. The suffix "module" and " part "for the components used in the following description are given or mixed in consideration of ease of specification, and do not have their own meaning or role.

The electronic devices described herein may include a mobile phone, a smart phone, a laptop computer, a digital broadcasting terminal, a PDA (Personal Digital Assistants), a PMP (Portable Multimedia Player), and navigation.

1 is a block diagram of an electronic apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The electronic device 100 includes a wireless communication unit 110, an audio / video input unit 120, a user input unit 130, a sensing unit 140, an output unit 150, a memory unit 160, An interface unit 170, a control unit 180, a power supply unit 190, and the like. The components shown in FIG. 1 are not essential, and an electronic device having more or fewer components may be implemented.

Hereinafter, the components will be described in order.

The wireless communication unit 110 may include one or more modules that enable wireless communication between the electronic device 100 and the wireless communication system or between the electronic device 100 and the network in which the electronic device 100 is located. For example, the wireless communication unit 110 may include a broadcast receiving module 111, a mobile communication module 112, a wireless Internet module 113, a short range communication module 114, and a location information module 115 .

The broadcast receiving module 111 receives a broadcast signal and / or broadcast related information from an external broadcast management server through a broadcast channel.

The broadcast channel may include a satellite channel and a terrestrial channel. The broadcast management server may refer to a server for generating and transmitting broadcast signals and / or broadcast related information, or a server for receiving broadcast signals and / or broadcast related information generated by the broadcast management server and transmitting the generated broadcast signals and / or broadcast related information. The broadcast signal may include a TV broadcast signal, a radio broadcast signal, a data broadcast signal, and a broadcast signal in which a data broadcast signal is combined with a TV broadcast signal or a radio broadcast signal.

The broadcast-related information may refer to a broadcast channel, a broadcast program, or information related to a broadcast service provider. The broadcast-related information may also be provided through a mobile communication network. In this case, it may be received by the mobile communication module 112.

The broadcast-related information may exist in various forms. For example, an EPG (Electronic Program Guide) of DMB (Digital Multimedia Broadcasting) or an ESG (Electronic Service Guide) of Digital Video Broadcast-Handheld (DVB-H).

The broadcast receiving module 111 receives broadcasting signals using various broadcasting systems. In particular, the broadcasting receiving module 111 may be a Digital Multimedia Broadcasting-Terrestrial (DMB-T), a Digital Multimedia Broadcasting-Satellite (DMB-S) Only Digital Broadcast-Handheld (DVB-H), Integrated Services Digital Broadcast-Terrestrial (ISDB-T), and the like. Of course, the broadcast receiving module 111 may be adapted to other broadcasting systems that provide broadcast signals as well as the digital broadcasting system described above.

The broadcast signal and / or broadcast related information received through the broadcast receiving module 111 may be stored in the memory unit 160.

The mobile communication module 112 transmits and receives radio signals to at least one of a base station, an external terminal, and a server on a mobile communication network. The wireless signal may include various types of data depending on a voice call signal, a video call signal or a text / multimedia message transmission / reception.

The wireless Internet module 113 is a module for wireless Internet access, and the wireless Internet module 113 can be built in or enclosed in the electronic device 100. WLAN (Wi-Fi), Wibro (Wireless broadband), Wimax (World Interoperability for Microwave Access), HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access) and the like can be used as wireless Internet technologies.

The short-range communication module 114 refers to a module for short-range communication. Bluetooth, radio frequency identification (RFID), infrared data association (IrDA), ultra wideband (UWB), ZigBee, and the like can be used as the short distance communication technology.

The position information module 115 is a module for confirming or obtaining the position of the electronic device. A typical example of the location information module is a GPS (Global Position System) module. According to the current technology, the GPS module 115 calculates information on a distance (distance) from three or more satellites to one point (entity), information on the time when the distance information is measured, , Three-dimensional position information according to latitude, longitude, and altitude of one point (individual) in one hour can be calculated. Further, a method of calculating position and time information using three satellites and correcting the error of the calculated position and time information using another satellite is also used. The GPS module 115 continues to calculate the current position in real time and uses it to calculate speed information.

Referring to FIG. 1, an A / V (Audio / Video) input unit 120 is for inputting an audio signal or a video signal, and may include a camera 121 and a microphone 122. The camera 121 processes image frames such as still images or moving images obtained by the image sensor in the video communication mode or the photographing mode. The processed image frame can be displayed on the display unit 151. [

The image frame processed by the camera 121 may be stored in the memory unit 160 or may be transmitted to the outside through the wireless communication unit 110. [ The camera 121 may be equipped with two or more cameras according to the configuration of the terminal.

The microphone 122 receives an external sound signal through a microphone in a communication mode, a recording mode, a voice recognition mode, or the like, and processes it as electrical voice data. The processed voice data can be converted into a form that can be transmitted to the mobile communication base station through the mobile communication module 112 when the voice data is in the call mode, and output. Various noise reduction algorithms may be implemented in the microphone 122 to remove noise generated in receiving an external sound signal.

The user input unit 130 generates input data for a user to control the operation of the terminal. The user input unit 130 may include a key pad dome switch, a touch pad (static pressure / capacitance), a jog wheel, a jog switch, and the like.

The sensing unit 140 senses the current state of the electronic device 100, such as the open / close state of the electronic device 100, the position of the electronic device 100, the presence or absence of user contact, the orientation of the electronic device, And generates a sensing signal for controlling the operation of the electronic device 100. For example, when the electronic device 100 is in the form of a slide phone, it is possible to sense whether the slide phone is opened or closed. In addition, it may be responsible for a sensing function related to whether the power supply unit 190 is powered on, whether the interface unit 170 is connected to an external device, and the like. Meanwhile, the sensing unit 140 may include a proximity sensor 141.

The output unit 150 may include a display unit 151, an audio output module 152, an alarm unit 153, and a haptic module 154, for example, for generating output related to visual, auditory, have.

The display unit 151 displays and outputs information processed by the electronic device 100. [ For example, when the electronic device is in the call mode, a UI (User Interface) or a GUI (Graphic User Interface) associated with the call is displayed. When the electronic device 100 is in the video communication mode or the photographing mode, the photographed and / or received video or UI and GUI are displayed.

The display unit 151 may be a liquid crystal display, a thin film transistor-liquid crystal display, an organic light-emitting diode, a flexible display, a three-dimensional display 3D display).

Some of these displays may be transparent or light transmissive so that they can be seen through. This may be referred to as a transparent display. A typical example of the transparent display is a transparent LCD or the like. The rear structure of the display unit 151 may also be of a light transmission type. With this structure, the user can see an object located behind the terminal body through the area occupied by the display unit 151 of the terminal body.

There may be two or more display units 151 according to the embodiment of the electronic device 100. [ For example, in the electronic device 100, a plurality of display portions may be spaced apart from one another or may be disposed integrally with each other, or may be disposed on different surfaces.

The display unit 151 is connected to a display unit 151 and a sensor for sensing a touch operation (hereinafter, referred to as 'touch sensor') having a mutual layer structure It can also be used as an input device. The touch sensor may have the form of, for example, a touch film, a touch sheet, a touch pad, or the like.

The touch sensor may be configured to convert a change in a pressure applied to a specific portion of the display unit 151 or a capacitance generated in a specific portion of the display unit 151 into an electrical input signal. The touch sensor can be configured to detect not only the position and area to be touched but also the pressure at the time of touch.

If there is a touch input to the touch sensor, the corresponding signal (s) is sent to the touch controller. The touch controller processes the signal (s) and transmits the corresponding data to the controller 180. As a result, the controller 180 can know which area of the display unit 151 is touched.

Referring to FIG. 1, a proximity sensor 141 may be disposed in an inner area of an electronic device to be wrapped by the touch screen or in the vicinity of the touch screen. The proximity sensor 141 refers to a sensor that detects the presence of an object approaching a predetermined detection surface or an object existing in the vicinity of the detection surface without mechanical contact using an electromagnetic force or an infrared ray. The proximity sensor has a longer life span than the contact sensor and its utilization is also high.

Examples of the proximity sensor 141 include a transmission type photoelectric sensor, a direct reflection type photoelectric sensor, a mirror reflection type photoelectric sensor, a high frequency oscillation type proximity sensor, a capacitive proximity sensor, a magnetic proximity sensor, and an infrared proximity sensor.

And to detect the proximity of the pointer by the change of the electric field along the proximity of the pointer when the touch screen is electrostatic. In this case, the touch screen (touch sensor) may be classified as a proximity sensor.

Hereinafter, for convenience of explanation, the act of allowing the pointer to be recognized without being in contact with the touch screen so that the pointer is located on the touch screen is referred to as a "proximity touch", and the touch The act of actually touching the pointer on the screen is called "contact touch." The position where the pointer is proximately touched on the touch screen means a position where the pointer is vertically corresponding to the touch screen when the pointer is touched.

The proximity sensor 141 detects a proximity touch and a proximity touch pattern (for example, a proximity touch distance, a proximity touch direction, a proximity touch speed, a proximity touch time, a proximity touch position, a proximity touch movement state, and the like). Information corresponding to the detected proximity touch operation and the proximity touch pattern may be output on the touch screen.

The audio output module 152 may output audio data received from the wireless communication unit 110 or stored in the memory unit 160 in a call signal reception mode, a call mode or a recording mode, a voice recognition mode, a broadcast reception mode, The sound output module 152 outputs sound signals associated with functions (e.g., call signal reception tones, message reception tones, etc.) performed in the electronic device 100. The audio output module 152 may include a receiver, a speaker, a buzzer, and the like. Also, the sound output module 152 may output sound through the earphone jack 116. The user can connect the earphone to the earphone jack 116 to hear the sound output.

The alarm unit 153 outputs a signal for notifying the occurrence of an event of the electronic device 100. Examples of events that occur in electronic devices include call signal reception, message reception, key signal input, touch input, and the like. The alarm unit 153 may output a signal for notifying the occurrence of an event in a form other than the video signal or the audio signal, for example, vibration. The video signal or the audio signal may also be output through the display unit 151 or the audio output module 152.

The haptic module 154 generates various tactile effects that the user can feel. A typical example of the haptic effect generated by the haptic module 154 is vibration. The intensity and pattern of vibration generated by the haptic module 154 can be controlled. For example, different vibrations may be synthesized and output or sequentially output.

In addition to the vibration, the haptic module 154 may be configured to perform various functions such as an effect of stimulation by a pin arrangement vertically moving with respect to a contact skin surface, an effect of stimulation by air spraying force or suction force through a jet opening or a suction opening, A variety of tactile effects such as an effect of stimulation through contact of an electrode, an effect of stimulation by an electrostatic force, and an effect of reproducing a cold sensation using a heat absorbing or exothermic element can be generated.

The haptic module 154 can be implemented not only to transmit the tactile effect through the direct contact but also to feel the tactile effect through the muscles of the user's finger or arm. At least two haptic modules 154 may be provided according to the configuration of the electronic device 100.

The memory unit 160 may store a program for the operation of the controller 180 and temporarily store input / output data (e.g., a phone book, a message, a still image, a moving picture, etc.). The memory unit 160 may store data related to vibration and sound of various patterns outputted when a touch is input on the touch screen.

The memory unit 160 may be a flash memory type, a hard disk type, a multimedia card micro type, a card type memory (for example, SD or XD memory) (Random Access Memory), SRAM (Static Random Access Memory), ROM (Read Only Memory), EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory), PROM A disk, and / or an optical disk. The electronic device 100 may operate in association with a web storage that performs a storage function of the memory unit 160 on the Internet.

The interface unit 170 serves as a path for communication with all external devices connected to the electronic device 100. The interface unit 170 receives data from an external device or receives power from the external device to transfer the data to the respective components in the electronic device 100 or to transmit data in the electronic device 100 to an external device. For example, a wired / wireless headset port, an external charger port, a wired / wireless data port, a memory card port, a port for connecting a device having an identification module, an audio I / O port, A video input / output (I / O) port, an earphone port, and the like may be included in the interface unit 170.

The identification module is a chip for storing various information for authenticating the usage right of the electronic device 100 and includes a user identification module (UIM), a subscriber identity module (SIM), a general user authentication module A Universal Subscriber Identity Module (USIM), and the like. Devices with identification modules (hereinafter referred to as "identification devices") can be manufactured in a smart card format. Thus, the identification device can be connected to the electronic device 100 through the port.

When the electronic device 100 is connected to an external cradle, the interface unit may be a path through which electric power from the cradle is supplied to the electronic device 100 or various command signals input from the cradle by the user And may be a passage that is transmitted to the device 100. Various command signals input from the cradle or the power source may be operated as a signal for recognizing that the electronic device 100 is correctly mounted on the cradle.

The control unit 180 typically controls the overall operation of the electronic device. For example, voice communication, data communication, video communication, and the like. The control unit 180 may include a multimedia module 181 for multimedia playback. The multimedia module 181 may be implemented in the control unit 180 or may be implemented separately from the control unit 180. [

The controller 180 may perform a pattern recognition process for recognizing handwriting input or drawing input performed on the touch screen as characters and images, respectively.

The power supply unit 190 receives an external power source and an internal power source under the control of the controller 180 to supply power for operation of each component.

The various embodiments described herein may be embodied in a recording medium readable by a computer or similar device using, for example, software, hardware, or a combination thereof.

According to a hardware implementation, the embodiments described herein may be implemented as application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), digital signal processors (DSPs), digital signal processing devices (DSPDs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), field programmable gate arrays May be implemented using at least one of processors, controllers, micro-controllers, microprocessors, and electrical units for performing functions. In some cases, And may be implemented by the control unit 180.

In a software implementation, embodiments such as procedures or functions may be implemented with separate software modules that allow at least one function or operation to be performed. The software code may be implemented by a software application written in a suitable programming language. In addition, the software code may be stored in the memory unit 160 and executed by the controller 180.

2 is a block diagram illustrating a substantial functional block for implementing a control method of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The electronic device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention may be implemented in the electronic device 100 described with reference to FIG. 1. On the other hand, it will be described with reference to Figure 2 to explain the implementation of a specific embodiment of the present invention. 2, in addition to the configuration described with reference to FIG. 1, the electronic device 100 may include a vibration unit 200, a first processor 210, and a second processor 220. have.

The vibration unit 200 is a mechanical vibration device, and may detect a force applied to the electronic device 100 by a user.

The vibration unit 200 may detect whether the user grips the electronic device 100 when the user grips the electronic device 100. Here, the vibration unit 200 may include a motion sensor that operates to detect movements of the electronic device 100.

For example, the motion sensor may comprise a rotating or vibrating element.

The motion sensor comprises at least one three-axis acceleration motion sensors operative to detect linear acceleration in three directions (ie, X or left / right direction, Y or up / down direction, and Z or forward / backward direction). (Eg, accelerometer). Alternatively, the motion sensor may include at least one single axis or two axis acceleration motion sensors operable to detect linear acceleration along the X or left / right direction, Y or up / down direction respectively. The motion sensor may include a heat-based MEMS type accelerometer, a piezoelectric type accelerometer, and a piezoresistive type accelerometer.

The motion sensor may be operable to directly detect rotation, rotational movement, angular displacement, tilt, position, orientation, motion along a non-linear (eg arched) path, and the like. For example, if the motion sensor is a linear motion sensor, additional processing may be performed to indirectly detect some or all of the non-linear motion. Also, for example, by comparing the linear output of the motion sensor with the gravity vector, the motion sensor can calculate the tilt of the electronic device 100 itself with respect to the Y axis. Also for example, the motion sensor may include at least one gyroscope for detecting optimal movement.

When a force of a first magnitude (for example, 50 mG) is detected through the vibration unit 200, the vibration unit 200 in a sleep state may be switched to an active state.

Here, the vibration unit 200 may detect the force applied by the user even before the wake up. That is, the vibration unit 200 may detect a movement or gripping state of the electronic device 100 by flowing a minute current in a sleep state. Here, the microcurrent flowing in the vibration unit 200 in the sleep state may be about 0.2 mA to 2 mA.

On the contrary, the driving current required for driving the general sensor is about 130 mA, and it can be seen that a considerably large current is consumed when compared with the current required for driving the vibration unit 200.

Meanwhile, before the user's force is sensed through the vibration unit 200, the vibration unit 200, the first processor 210, and the second processor 220 all exist in a sleep state.

Meanwhile, when the vibration unit 200 is activated, the vibration unit 200 may wake up the first processor 210. Here, the first processor 210 is a processor that serves as a hub for managing the operation of at least one sensor 20 (S1, S2, ..., Sn) for obtaining contextawareness information. .

The first processor 210 also requires a predetermined current to manage the operation of the at least one sensor (S1, S2, ..., Sn), and the at least one sensor managed by the first processor (210) (S1, S2, ..., Sn) Also, a predetermined current is required to collect the sensing data.

When the first processor 210 wakes up by the vibration unit 200, the first processor 210 wakes up at least one sensor 20 (S1, S2,..., Sn), and wakes up. Sensing data through at least one sensor. Situational awareness information may be obtained through the sensing data.

The second processor 220 may be an application processor (AP) for controlling an application. The second processor 220 may be woken up by the first processor 210.

When the second processor 220 wakes up, at least one application may be executed on the basis of the recognized situation based on the collected sensing data. In addition, the second processor 220 may execute a user interface corresponding to the recognized situation.

On the other hand, as described above, the vibration unit 200 may be implemented by various examples of motion sensors, accordingly, the vibration unit 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention, the force of the force applied by the user The size can be broken down into subdivisions.

For example, the vibration unit 200, when the magnitude of the force applied by the user through the vibration unit 200 is 50mG (Gravity), the wake up state (wake up state) in the sleep state (sleep state) You can switch to In addition, when the vibration unit 200 wakes up, when the magnitude and / or pattern of the force applied by the user changes, the use of an application corresponding to the magnitude and / or pattern of the force may be suggested. .

That is, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the vibration unit 200 may serve to substantially control the operation of the sensor in the sleep state and the application processor in the sleep state.

Hereinafter, a specific example in which the operations of the first processor 210 and the second processor 220 are controlled by the vibration unit 200 will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

3 is a flowchart of a control method of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention. The control method of the electronic device according to the embodiment shown in FIG. 3 may be implemented in the electronic device 100 described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. Hereinafter, a method of controlling an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention and an operation of the electronic device 100 for implementing the same will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

Meanwhile, the vibration unit 200, the first processor 210, and the second processor 220 illustrated in FIG. 2 are included in the electronic device 100 illustrated in FIG. 1 to implement an embodiment of the present invention. It may be an element or a combination of devices provided as a separate device of the electronic device 100.

Referring to FIG. 3, the vibration unit 200, the first processor 210, and the second processor 220 may all exist in a sleep state (S10, S20, and S30).

Accordingly, in the sleep state, the vibration unit 200, the first processor 210, and the second processor 220 may be operated to consume only minimal standby power. Here, the standby power is power consumed by a device in a sleep state, and the standby power varies according to the type of device.

For example, the standby power of the vibration unit 200 may be power consumed by about 0.2 kW to 2 kW, as described above. The first processor 210 and the second processor 220 may only require a drive current in an activated state to operate the device without separate standby power. That is, the standby current of the first processor 210 and the second processor 220 may be zero.

The vibration unit 200 senses the force applied by the user (S11).

When the vibration unit 200 detects a user force of a predetermined size or more, for example, 50 mG (Gravity) (S11), the vibration unit 200 may wake up from the sleep state (S13).

The vibration unit 200 transmits a signal to the first processor 210 to wake up and wake up the first processor 210 at the same time.

The first processor 210 may wake up as the signal is received, and the first processor 210 may wake up at least one sensor (S21).

That is, the first processor 210 for controlling the operation of the at least one sensor may be operated separately from the at least one sensor.

The first processor 210 may wake up at least one of the at least one sensor.

The first processor 210 may wake up at least one sensor in response to the magnitude and / or pattern of force detected through the vibration unit 200.

In addition, the first processor 210 may adjust the sampling period of the at least one sensor according to the magnitude and / or pattern of the force detected by the vibration unit 200.

Thereafter, the first processor 210 may acquire sensing data through the wake-up sensor. The first processor 210 may acquire sensing data through a sensor waked up according to a predetermined sampling period.

The first processor 210 may analyze the sensing data to generate contextawareness information.

For example, the magnitude and / or pattern of the user's force sensed through the vibration unit 200 may be, for example, 1) when the user grips the electronic device 100, and 2) the user uses the electronic device 100. 3, a walking state may be classified into a running state in which a user runs while holding the electronic device 100.

When the user grips the electronic device 100, when the vibration unit 200 senses a force of a predetermined size, the vibration unit 200 wakes up and wakes up the first processor 210. . The first processor 210 wakes up at least one sensor and collects sensing data in a first sampling period corresponding to when the user grips the electronic device 100.

When the user walks while holding the electronic device 100, the vibration unit 200 wakes up and wakes up the first processor 210. The first processor 210 wakes up at least one sensor and collects sensing data in a second sampling period corresponding to the walking of the user. Here, the second sampling period may be set faster than the first sampling period.

When the user runs while holding the electronic device 100, the same may be performed as in the above two situations. The third sampling period corresponding to the situation in which the user runs may be faster than the first and second sampling periods described above.

In the above-described examples, the magnitude of the force applied to the vibration unit 200 and / or the situation of grasping the situation, the walking state, the running situation has been described separately, but the scope of the present invention is not limited to these, various modifications Can be implemented.

For example, the electronic device 100 may detect a motion of continuously shaking the electronic device 100 in the left and right directions when the user grips the electronic device 100. In this case, although it is neither a walking situation nor a jumping situation, in practice, the sampling period of the sensor may be a situation that should be set faster than the simply held situation.

In addition, for example, the electronic device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention is the magnitude and / or pattern of the user's force detected through the vibration unit 200 is a preset magnitude and / or pattern If not, the user interface may be provided to the touch screen 151 to allow the user to directly set the sampling period.

As described above, the vibration unit 200 may wake up the first processor in the sleep state, and the first processor may collect the sensing data by waking up the sensors. That is, the sensors for collecting the situational awareness information do not always need to maintain the wake up state, and only need to maintain the wake up state for the time that is waked up by the vibration unit, thereby reducing the power consumption required for driving the sensors. The electronic device 100 has an effect of acquiring situational awareness information at low power.

When the first processor 210 acquires context awareness information, the first processor 210 may transmit a signal for waking up the second processor 220 to the second processor 22. The second processor 220 may include an application processor (AP) for controlling an application. Hereinafter, the second processor 220 is assumed to be an application processor.

The second processor 220 is woken up by the first processor 210.

The second processor 220 may execute a predetermined application based on the situation awareness information obtained by the first processor 210 (S31).

The context awareness information acquired by the first processor 210 may be delivered to the second processor, and the second processor 220 may be an application corresponding to the delivered context awareness information and a user for executing the application. The interface and the like may be displayed through the touch screen 151.

4 is a flowchart illustrating an example of selectively waking up at least one sensor according to a magnitude of a force applied to a vibration unit according to a control method of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 4, when the vibration unit 200, the first processor 210, and the application processor 22 are all in a sleep state, the vibration unit 200 senses a user's force.

When the magnitude of the detected force exceeds a predetermined size (for example, 50 mG), the vibration unit 200 wakes up and may analyze the user's situation according to the magnitude of the force applied by the user (S41). ).

Here, the wake-up vibration unit 200 may selectively wake up the sensor according to the user's situation by the mechanical vibration pattern.

For example, the vibration unit 200 may control the operation of the sensor to selectively wake up at least one of the first, second, and n-th sensors managed by the first processor 210 among the plurality of sensors. (S42).

For example, if it is determined that the user grips the electronic device 100 as a result of analyzing the force of the user sensed by the vibration unit 200, the vibration unit 200 may indicate that the user is the electronic device 100. ) Can be woken up with at least one sensor available.

For example, when the user simply grips the electronic device 100, since the motion of the electronic device 100 is not detected, in order to detect the movement of the electronic device 100, such as an acceleration sensor. The necessary sensors do not need to be woken up.

In addition, for example, as a result of analyzing the force of the user sensed by the vibration unit 200, when the user moves in a state of holding the electronic device 100, the vibration unit 200 of the electronic device 100 The acceleration sensor for detecting the movement can be woken up. In operation S50, the electronic device 100 may acquire sensing data through the wake-up sensor.

That is, although it is true that the first processor 210 for managing the operation of at least one sensor is woken up by the vibration unit 200, the first processor 210 wakes up all the sensors managed by the vibration unit 200. Instead, the sensor selectively wakes up a sensor capable of more accurately determining the current user's situation in consideration of the magnitude and / or pattern of the force analyzed by the vibration unit 200. Thus, by supplying appropriate power to the required sensor, there is an effect that can acquire the situation awareness information at low power.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example of waking up a second processor (for example, an application processor) in the embodiment shown in FIG. 3.

Referring to FIG. 5, when a predetermined sensor wakes up after the first processor 210 wakes up and sensing data is collected, the first processor 210 analyzes the collected sensing data (S60).

The sensing data may be collected while the first processor 210 and the sensor maintain the wake up state. Situation awareness information may be obtained using only the collected sensing data, but there may be a case in which the amount of the collected sensing data is insufficient or the situation awareness information cannot be obtained through the collected sensing data (S61). In this case, the first processor 210 may continuously collect sensing data through the sensor (S62).

On the other hand, when the first processor 210 acquires context awareness information based on the collected sensing data, the first processor 210 may wake up the second processor 220 by transmitting a wake up signal to the second processor 220. . When the second processor 220 wakes up, the execution of the application may be controlled.

According to the electronic device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention, the first processor 210 wakes up by the vibration unit 200, and the sensor wakes up by the first processor 210, thereby sensing data. Even if is collected, only the meaningful sensing data is obtained, by waking up the second processor 220, unnecessary power consumption can be reduced.

6 is a flowchart for explaining an example of a processor that saves power through a vibration unit after collection of situational awareness information is completed. Referring to FIG. 6, the vibration unit 200, the first processor 210, and the second processor 220 all of the user through the vibration unit 200 for a predetermined time in a wake up state. When no contact is detected (S71: YES), the vibration unit 200 may transmit a signal for switching to the sleep mode with respect to the first processor 210 and the second processor 220, respectively.

The vibration unit 200 also switches to the sleep state (S72).

For this reason, when it is determined that the electronic device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention no longer collects the situation information in the wake-up state, the vibration unit 200, the first processor 210, and the second The operation may be controlled to switch all the processors 220 to the sleep state.

The above-described method of controlling an electronic device according to the present invention can be provided by being recorded on a computer-readable recording medium as a program for execution on a computer.

The control method of the electronic device according to the present invention can be executed through software. When executed in software, the constituent means of the present invention are code segments that perform the necessary tasks. The program or code segments may be stored in a processor readable medium or transmitted by a computer data signal coupled with a carrier wave in a transmission medium or a communication network.

A computer-readable recording medium includes all kinds of recording apparatuses in which data that can be read by a computer system is stored. Examples of the computer-readable recording device include a ROM, a RAM, a CD-ROM, a DVD 占 ROM, a DVD-RAM, a magnetic tape, a floppy disk, a hard disk, The computer-readable recording medium may also be distributed to networked computer devices so that computer readable code can be stored and executed in a distributed manner.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the present invention without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. The present invention is not limited to the drawings. In addition, the embodiments described in this document can be applied to not only the present invention, but also all or some of the embodiments may be selectively combined so that various modifications can be made.

100: electronic device 200: vibration unit
210: first processor 220: second processor

Claims (15)

At least one sensor;
A first processor for controlling the operation of the at least one sensor;
A second processor for controlling an application; And
It includes; a vibration unit for sensing a force applied by the user,
The vibration unit may be configured to wake up when the at least one sensor, the first processor, the second processor, and the vibration unit are all in a sleep state when a force applied by the user exceeds a predetermined magnitude. wake up)
And when the first processor wakes up by the vibration unit, the first processor wakes up the second processor based on sensing data collected by the at least one sensor.
The method of claim 1,
Wherein the second processor comprises:
And at least one application corresponding to the collected sensing data among at least one application.
The method of claim 1,
Wherein the at least one sensor comprises:
An electronic device comprising at least one of an acceleration sensor, a gyro sensor, a piezoelectric sensor, a displacement sensor, a temperature sensor, and a humidity sensor.
The method of claim 1,
The first processor,
And adjust a sampling period for acquiring sensing data from the at least one sensor according to the magnitude of the force applied by the user.
5. The method of claim 4,
The vibration unit,
A state in which the user grips the electronic device according to the magnitude of the force applied by the user, a walking state in the state in which the electronic device is held, a state in which the electronic device is held An electronic device, characterized in that divided into a running state (running state).
The method of claim 1,
Wherein the first processor comprises:
And analyzing the collected sensing data and waking up the second processor if it is possible to recognize the user's context information based on the collected sensing data.
The method of claim 1,
The first processor,
And activate at least some of the at least one sensor based on a vibration pattern detected by the vibration unit.
The method of claim 1,
The application is a motion sensing application.
The method of claim 1,
And when the force of the user sensed by the vibration unit is less than or equal to a predetermined magnitude, converting the vibration unit to a sleep state.
In a state in which at least one sensor, a first processor for controlling an operation of the at least one sensor, a second processor for controlling an application, and a vibration unit sensing a force applied by a user are all in a sleep state, Sensing a force exerted by a user through the vibration unit;
Waking up the vibration unit when the sensed force exceeds a predetermined magnitude;
Waking up, via the vibration unit, a first processor for controlling operation of at least one sensor;
Waking up the at least one sensor via the first processor;
Collecting sensing data through the at least one waked up sensor; And
Waking up the second processor through the first processor;
And controlling the electronic device.
11. The method of claim 10,
If the second processor wakes up, executing at least one of the at least one application corresponding to the collected sensing data; and controlling the electronic device.
11. The method of claim 10,
Collecting the sensing data,
And controlling a sampling period for acquiring sensing data from the at least one sensor according to the magnitude of the force applied by the user.
11. The method of claim 10,
Waking up the second processor,
Analyzing the collected sensing data;
Recognizing context information of a user based on the collected sensing data; And
Waking up the second processor when the contextual information of the user is recognized;
Control method of an electronic device, characterized in that it comprises a.
11. The method of claim 10,
Waking up the at least one sensor,
And analyzing the vibration pattern detected by the vibration unit and waking up at least one sensor corresponding to the vibration pattern.
11. The method of claim 10,
Switching the vibration unit to a sleep state when the force of the user sensed by the vibration unit for a predetermined time is equal to or less than a predetermined magnitude while the vibration unit is activated;
Further comprising the steps of:

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