WO2008136551A1 - Sleep mode wake-up method and sleep mode wake-up apparatus using touch sensing pad for use in an electronic device - Google Patents

Sleep mode wake-up method and sleep mode wake-up apparatus using touch sensing pad for use in an electronic device Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2008136551A1
WO2008136551A1 PCT/KR2007/002554 KR2007002554W WO2008136551A1 WO 2008136551 A1 WO2008136551 A1 WO 2008136551A1 KR 2007002554 W KR2007002554 W KR 2007002554W WO 2008136551 A1 WO2008136551 A1 WO 2008136551A1
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WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
touch
pattern information
sleep mode
user
information
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/KR2007/002554
Other languages
French (fr)
Inventor
Dong-Jin Min
Original Assignee
Melfas, Inc.
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 Melfas, Inc. filed Critical Melfas, Inc.
Publication of WO2008136551A1 publication Critical patent/WO2008136551A1/en

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Classifications

    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
    • G06F1/00—Details not covered by groups G06F3/00 - G06F13/00 and G06F21/00
    • G06F1/26—Power supply means, e.g. regulation thereof
    • G06F1/32—Means for saving power
    • G06F1/3203—Power management, i.e. event-based initiation of a power-saving mode
    • G06F1/3234—Power saving characterised by the action undertaken
    • G06F1/325—Power saving in peripheral device
    • G06F1/3262—Power saving in digitizer or tablet
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
    • G06F1/00—Details not covered by groups G06F3/00 - G06F13/00 and G06F21/00
    • G06F1/26—Power supply means, e.g. regulation thereof
    • G06F1/32—Means for saving power
    • G06F1/3203—Power management, i.e. event-based initiation of a power-saving mode
    • G06F1/3206—Monitoring of events, devices or parameters that trigger a change in power modality
    • G06F1/3215—Monitoring of peripheral devices
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
    • G06F21/00—Security arrangements for protecting computers, components thereof, programs or data against unauthorised activity
    • G06F21/30—Authentication, i.e. establishing the identity or authorisation of security principals
    • G06F21/31—User authentication
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
    • G06F21/00—Security arrangements for protecting computers, components thereof, programs or data against unauthorised activity
    • G06F21/30—Authentication, i.e. establishing the identity or authorisation of security principals
    • G06F21/31—User authentication
    • G06F21/36—User authentication by graphic or iconic representation
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
    • G06F3/00—Input arrangements for transferring data to be processed into a form capable of being handled by the computer; Output arrangements for transferring data from processing unit to output unit, e.g. interface arrangements
    • G06F3/01—Input arrangements or combined input and output arrangements for interaction between user and computer
    • G06F3/02—Input arrangements using manually operated switches, e.g. using keyboards or dials
    • G06F3/023—Arrangements for converting discrete items of information into a coded form, e.g. arrangements for interpreting keyboard generated codes as alphanumeric codes, operand codes or instruction codes
    • G06F3/0233—Character input methods
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
    • G06F3/00—Input arrangements for transferring data to be processed into a form capable of being handled by the computer; Output arrangements for transferring data from processing unit to output unit, e.g. interface arrangements
    • G06F3/01—Input arrangements or combined input and output arrangements for interaction between user and computer
    • G06F3/048—Interaction techniques based on graphical user interfaces [GUI]
    • G06F3/0487—Interaction techniques based on graphical user interfaces [GUI] using specific features provided by the input device, e.g. functions controlled by the rotation of a mouse with dual sensing arrangements, or of the nature of the input device, e.g. tap gestures based on pressure sensed by a digitiser
    • G06F3/0488—Interaction techniques based on graphical user interfaces [GUI] using specific features provided by the input device, e.g. functions controlled by the rotation of a mouse with dual sensing arrangements, or of the nature of the input device, e.g. tap gestures based on pressure sensed by a digitiser using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures
    • G06F3/04883—Interaction techniques based on graphical user interfaces [GUI] using specific features provided by the input device, e.g. functions controlled by the rotation of a mouse with dual sensing arrangements, or of the nature of the input device, e.g. tap gestures based on pressure sensed by a digitiser using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04M1/00—Substation equipment, e.g. for use by subscribers
    • H04M1/66—Substation equipment, e.g. for use by subscribers with means for preventing unauthorised or fraudulent calling
    • H04M1/667—Preventing unauthorised calls from a telephone set
    • H04M1/67—Preventing unauthorised calls from a telephone set by electronic means
    • 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
    • H04W52/02—Power saving arrangements
    • H04W52/0209—Power saving arrangements in terminal devices
    • H04W52/0251—Power saving arrangements in terminal devices using monitoring of local events, e.g. events related to user activity
    • H04W52/0254—Power saving arrangements in terminal devices using monitoring of local events, e.g. events related to user activity detecting a user operation or a tactile contact or a motion of the device
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04M2250/00—Details of telephonic subscriber devices
    • H04M2250/22—Details of telephonic subscriber devices including a touch pad, a touch sensor or a touch detector
    • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
    • Y02D—CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES IN INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES [ICT], I.E. INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES AIMING AT THE REDUCTION OF THEIR OWN ENERGY USE
    • Y02D30/00—Reducing energy consumption in communication networks
    • Y02D30/50—Reducing energy consumption in communication networks in wire-line communication networks, e.g. low power modes or reduced link rate
    • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
    • Y02D—CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES IN INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES [ICT], I.E. INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES AIMING AT THE REDUCTION OF THEIR OWN ENERGY USE
    • Y02D30/00—Reducing energy consumption in communication networks
    • Y02D30/70—Reducing energy consumption in communication networks in wireless communication networks

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to a sleep mode wake-up method for use in an electronic device, and more particularly, to a sleep mode wake-up method using a touch sensing pad mounted on an electronic device.
  • [4] As one of representative power management methods, a method of operating the operation mode of an electronic device separately in a normal mode and a sleep mode has been widely used. According to this method, if a user presses a sleep mode switch key or there is no input from the user for more than a predetermined time, the electronic device is switched to the sleep mode. Then, if a sleep mode wake-up key is pressed by the user or any input is detected through an input device, the electronic device is switched to the normal mode.
  • the normal mode which is called an active mode, refers to a state in which a sufficient power is supplied to properly operate every function of an electronic device.
  • the sleep mode or a power-saving mode is a state in which only minimum power is supplied so that the electronic device can maintain important state information. In this mode, current of several hundreds of ⁇ k to several mA is restrictively supplied.
  • this method that utilizes the sleep mode cannot be widely applied to electronic devices using as an input device a touch sensor for detecting a user's touch. That is, this is because the sleep mode is easily woken up even when the user does not intend to. Unlike a mechanical key that has to apply a pressure of more than a pre- determined level for inputting, the touch sensor can recognize a user's input only by a soft touch. Therefore, the sleep mode can be easily woken up even by an unintended soft touch.
  • Another object of the present invention is to provide methods for generating various types of touch pattern information from a touch signal for sleep mode wake- up.
  • a method for waking up a sleep mode of an electronic device by using a touch sensing pad comprising the steps of: generating a touch signal caused by a user's touch on the touch sensing pad; generating touch pattern information based on a sequential structure of the touch signal; comparing the touch pattern information with stored authentication pattern information to judge whether or not both pattern information match each other; and outputting a sleep mode wake-up signal if it is judged that both pattern information match each other.
  • an apparatus for waking up a sleep mode of an electronic device by using a touch sensing pad including: an authentication pattern storage unit for storing authentication pattern information used for judgment whether to wake up the sleep mode; a touch signal generator for generating a touch signal caused by a user's touch on the touch sensing pad; a touch pattern generator for generating touch pattern information based on a sequential structure of the touch signal; and a sleep mode wake -up judgment unit for comparing the touch pattern information with the authentication pattern information to output a sleep mode wake-up signal if it is judged that both pattern information match each other.
  • an apparatus for waking up a sleep mode of an electronic device by using a touch sensing pad including: a touch pattern generator for receiving a touch signal caused by a user's touch on the touch sensing pad and generating touch pattern information based on a sequential structure of the received touch signal; and a sleep mode wake -up judgment unit for comparing the touch pattern information with authentication pattern information stored inside or outside the apparatus to output a sleep mode wake-up signal if it is judged that both pattern information match each other.
  • FIG. 1 is a view schematically illustrating an electronic device to which a sleep mode wake-up method is applied in accordance with the present invention
  • FIG. 2 describes a flowchart illustrating a sleep mode wake-up method in accordance with the present invention in a stepwise manner
  • FIG. 3 shows a view exemplifying sensing areas included in a touch sensing pad, each being given a name, for operation explanation;
  • FIG. 4 presents a view exemplifying a touch pattern which is used to wake up a sleep mode in the sleep mode wake-up method in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention
  • FIG. 5 is a view illustrating another embodiment related to the structure of the touch sensing pad
  • Fig. 6 is a view illustrating a touch pattern which is inputted by using the touch sensing pad depicted in Fig. 5;
  • FIG. 7 offers a block diagram illustrating the internal configuration of the sleep mode wake-up apparatus in accordance with the present invention.
  • Fig. 1 schematically illustrates one example of an electronic device to which the present invention is applied.
  • Electronic devices to which the sleep mode wake-up method of the present invention is applied include every types of electronic devices on which a touch sensing pad can be mounted, including home electric appliances (with remote controls), such as TVs, refrigerators, microwave ovens, air conditioners, and so on, personal computers, and automobiles, industrial equipments, as well as various types of portable electronic devices such as mobile phones, PDAs (personal digital assistants), vehicle navigation systems, digital cameras, PMPs (portable multimedia players), laptop computers, etc.
  • Fig. 1 illustrates a representative one of a variety of electronic devices as above in a simplified form.
  • the electronic device shown in Fig. 1 includes a display screen 200 and a touch sensing pad 100.
  • the touch sensing pad 100 is provided with sensing areas 110 arranged at a plurality of locations.
  • Each of the sensing areas 110 can be composed of any of various types of electric devices or optical devices for detecting a user's touch.
  • each of the sensing areas 110 may be implemented by a sensor for detecting a change in capacitance caused by a user's touch.
  • each of the sensing areas 110 may be implemented by using a heat sensor for detecting the user's body heat or detecting a change in the heat conductivity of a touched surface.
  • each of the sensing areas 110 may be implemented by using a proximity sensor for detecting the proximity of part of a human body or the proximity of an object, as well as a touch.
  • the touch sensor chip generates the result of touch detection for each of the sensing areas 110 in the form of a touch signal. For example, if there is a user's touch, a ' 1 ' signal is generated, and if there is no user's touch, a '0' signal is generated. Alternatively, if a user' s touch is started, a ' 1 ' signal may be generated, and if the touch is finished, a '-1' signal may be generated.
  • a touch signal may include information on the degree of proximity or gray data indicating the intensity of touch, as well as touch information and touch start/finish information.
  • the touch sensor chip is connected to a power management block of an electronic device.
  • the power management block is able to change the power management mode from the sleep mode to the non- sleep mode such as the normal mode. Concrete steps of the sleep mode wake-up method performed by the touch sensor chip will be described below with reference to Fig. 2.
  • step SlO a touch signal by a touch on each of the sensing areas 110 is generated.
  • the touch signal can indicate the presence of a touch on the touch sensing pad 100 including the plurality of sensing areas 110 and a touch location (i.e., on which sensing area 110 a touch occurs).
  • the touch signal has a sequential structure containing a series of time-dependent touch information, touch intensity information, or touch start/wake-up event generation information.
  • step S20 touch pattern information is created based on the sequential structure of the touch signal.
  • names are given to the plurality of touch sensing areas 110 of the touch sensing pad 100, as illustrated in Fig. 3.
  • step S20 such a touch pattern is encoded in a signal sequence of a shape like [A, D, E, B], for example, by naming after each of the sensing areas. This signal sequence is called touch pattern information.
  • a touch pattern can be identified as a case in which a finger sequentially and softly moves on the A, D, E, and B areas while keeping touching and as a case in which the finger is touched on and released from each sensing area 110. That is, in the former case, touch pattern information of [A, D, E, B] is created, while in the latter case, touch pattern information of [A, 0, D, 0, E, 0, B, 0] is created.
  • touch pattern information can be created by extracting movement direction information based on the relative location relation of sensing areas 110 before and after the change and arranging the extracted movement direction information in time order.
  • movement direction information can be extracted and encoded like [
  • the movement direction information may be expressed as codes such as ⁇ , / * , complicat/, ⁇ indicating the movement in a diagonal direction, in addition to ⁇ — ,T, ⁇ ,
  • a touch pattern 310 and a touch pattern 320 shown in Fig. 4 are encoded as the same touch pattern information. Therefore, user convenience can be increased because it is possible to judge whether or not the sleep mode is woken up only by the relative movement path regardless of which sensing area 110 initiates the touch.
  • step S20 information on whether or not a user's touch is detected on the plurality of sensing areas 110 and information on the time during which the touch is maintained on the plurality of sensing areas 110 may be created as the touch pattern information. For example, if the touch is maintained for three seconds simultaneously on the A, E, and G areas, this can be encoded as a signal sequence of [3, A, E, G], and utilized as the touch pattern information.
  • a generation pattern of an event related to a user's touch on the touch sensing pad can be encoded as the touch pattern information.
  • this event include a touch start and finish event, an event occurring when a touch is maintained for more than a predetermined time, a 'short touch' event where a touch start and finish occurs within a predetermined time, a 'double click' event where two short touches occur within a given time interval, a 'long touch' event where a time interval between the start and finish of a touch exceeds a predetermined time, and so on.
  • step S20 an event occurrence or non-occurrence, the nunber of event occurrences, an event occurrence interval, or a combination thereof can be utilized as the touch pattern information. If a plurality of sensing areas is included in the touch sensing pad 100, the touch pattern information may contain information on the sensing area 110 where an event occurs, or may not do so.
  • the former case is suitable for preventing the sleep mode from being wrongly woken up, and the latter case is advantageous from the viewpoint of user convenience.
  • step S30 the touch pattern information created in step S20 is compared with stored authentication pattern information, and in step S34, it is judged whether or not both pattern information match each other.
  • the authentication pattern information may be stored in the form of a circuit hard- wired within the touch sensor chip, or stored in a register within the chip or in an external memory device.
  • the step (not shown) of receiving authentication pattern information from the user and storing the same may be additionally conducted. Therefore, it is possible to set authentication pattern information of a proper type for each user.
  • the touch sensor chip If the touch pattern information and the authentication pattern information match each other, the touch sensor chip outputs a sleep mode wake-up signal to a power management circuit of the electronic device in step S40. Meanwhile, if they do not match, the electronic device maintains the sleep mode.
  • a plurality of authentication pattern information may be used to judge whether to wake up the sleep mode. That is, the touch pattern information generated in step S20 is compared with the plurality of authentication pattern information, to output a sleep mode wake-up signal if the touch pattern information matches any one of these authentication pattern information. In this way, the operation of the touch sensing pad 100 for waking up the sleep mode is made easier, thereby increasing user convenience.
  • Fig. 5 illustrates another example of the structure of the touch sensing pad 100.
  • the touch sensing pad 100 shown in Fig. 5 includes a plurality of sensing areas 110 arranged at regular intervals along the circumference of a circle, wherein it is not necessary to install a mechanical switch at the center portion of a concentric circle.
  • the user may input a touch pattern by moving the touch location in a clockwise direction 330 or a counterclockwise direction 340 while maintaining the touch on the touch sensing pad 100 as shown in Fig. 6, in addition to the method of touching each of the sensing areas 110 individually.
  • step S20 touch location movement direction information is extracted based on the touch start/finish point of time of the adjacent sensing areas 110.
  • the touch location movement direction information can be represented as a clockwise movement, a counterclockwise movement, etc.
  • step S20 such touch location movement direction information arranged in time order is generated as the touch pattern information.
  • the clockwise direction is encoded as '+1'
  • the counterclockwise direction is encoded as '-1'. For example, if a touch pattern moving on the touch sensing pad 100 once clockwise, once counterclockwise, and once again clockwise is inputted, in step S20, this touch pattern is arranged in the form of [+1, -1, +1] to generate touch pattern information.
  • the number of rotations can be additionally considered along with the touch location movement direction information. That is, if two rotations are inputted continuously in the clockwise direction, this is recognized as a touch pattern for sleep mode wake-up.
  • one clockwise rotation is encoded as '+100' and one counterclockwise direction is encoded as '-100', thereby generating touch pattern information in the form of [+100, +100].
  • the touch pattern information may be created in the form of [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10].
  • the touch pattern information may be expressed in the form of a single integer (or real number) that reflects both the touch location movement direction and the quantity of movement.
  • the movement direction determines a sign of the corresponding integer
  • the quantity of movement determines its absolute value. For example, if the touch location rotates 1.5 times in the counterclockwise direction, the integer value constituting the touch pattern information can be determined as '-150'.
  • the touch sensing pad 100 may include a light emitting device 120 disposed at a position adjacent to each of the sensing areas 110.
  • the light emitting device 120 may emit light for a predetermined time if a touch is detected on the corresponding sensing area 110.
  • the light emitting device 120 that is applicable includes, for example, a light emitting diode (LED).
  • the light emitting device 120 can emit light for a predetermined time when the user touches corresponding the sensing area 110 to wake up the sleep mode.
  • the light emitting device 120 may also emit light and extinguish light sequentially along the clockwise direction.
  • the user can receive a feedback about whether or not he or she properly operates the touch sensing pad 100 for sleep mode wake-up.
  • the light emitting device may be used to display a visual feedback signal indicating that the sleep mode was woken up in step S40. For example, when waking up the sleep mode, the entire part of the light emitting device 120 can emit light or flash a predetermined number of times. By doing so, the user can confirm that the electronic device is released from the sleep mode.
  • the touch sensing pad 100 has been described with respect to the case in which the plurality of sensing areas 110 are included for the convenience of ex- planation so far, the scope of the present invention is not necessarily limited to the case of the plurality of sensing areas 110.
  • the touch pattern information is created based on the event occurrence pattern on the touch sensing pad 100, only one sensing area 110 is enough.
  • these sensing areas 110 may be divided into several groups so that touches on any one or two or more of the sensing areas 110 that belong to each group may be recognized as the same touch signal. In this case, there is an advantage that it is convenient to operate the touch sensing pad 100 for sleep mode wake-up.
  • the sleep mode wake-up method in accordance with the present invention is implemented in the form of program instructions that are executable through various computer means, and can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium.
  • the computer-readable storage medium can include program instructions, data files, data structures, etc. separately or in combination.
  • the program instructions stored in the medium may be specially designed and configured for the present invention, or well- known and usable by those skilled in the field of computer software.
  • Examples of the computer-readable storage medium include magnetic media such as hard disks, floppy disks, and magnetic tapes, optical media such as CD-ROMs and DVDs, magneto- optical media such as floppy disks, and hardware devices, such as ROMs, RAMs, flash memories, etc., which are specially configured to store and execute program instructions.
  • the medium may be a transfer maximn, such as optical or metal lines, waveguides, etc. containing a carrier for transferring a signal designating program instructions, a data structure, etc.
  • Examples of the program instructions include a high-level language code that can be executed by a computer by using an interpreter or the like, as well as a machine code like ones made by a compiler.
  • the hardware device stated above may be configured to operate as one or more software modules in order to execute the operation of the present invention, and vice versa.
  • a touch signal generator 10 is a block for performing the function corresponding to step SlO depicted in Fig. 2, and generates a touch signal 11 by a user's touch on each of the sensing areas 110 of the touch sensing pad 100.
  • the touch signal generator 10 can periodically scan a touch on each of the sensing areas 110 or the intensity of a touch, or generate a touch signal 11 containing information on an event whenever such an event as a touch start/finish is recognized as an interrupt signal.
  • the touch sensing pad 100 connected to the inventive sleep mode wake-up apparatus may include sensing areas 110 arranged at a plurality of locations.
  • the touch signal 11 contains information on a touch location (i.e., on which sensing area 110 is touched) on the touch sensing pad 100.
  • a touch pattern generator 20 is a block that generates touch pattern information
  • the touch pattern generator 20 can generate, as the touch pattern information
  • the touch pattern generator 20 can extract touch location movement direction information based on the relative locations of sensing areas before and after the change, and generate the touch pattern information 21 by arranging the extracted touch location movement direction information in time order.
  • the touch pattern generator 20 can generate, as the touch pattern information
  • the touch pattern generator 20 can generate, as the touch pattern information
  • an occurrence pattern of an event related to a user's touch on the touch sensing pad 110 includes the start, maintenance and finish of a touch, or a combination thereof.
  • the event occurrence pattern is formed by an event occurrence or non-occurrence, a nunber of event occurrences, an event occurrence interval, or a combination thereof.
  • a sleep mode wake-up judgment unit 40 that performs the functions corresponding to steps S30, S34, and S40 in Fig. 2 judges as to whether or not the touch pattern information 21 acquired by the touch pattern generator 20 and the authentication pattern information 31 stored in the authentication pattern storage unit 30 match each other by comparison.
  • the authentication pattern storage unit 30 includes a variety of hardware devices for storing the authentication pattern information.
  • the authentication pattern storage unit 30 may be the one that stores authentication pattern information 31 in the form of a circuit hard- wired therein.
  • the authentication pattern storage unit 30 may be implemented in the form of a register within a chip or in the form of an external memory device.
  • the sleep mode wake-up judgment unit 40 outputs a sleep mode wake-up signal 41 if the stored authentication pattern information 31 and the touch pattern information 21 match each other.
  • the sleep mode wake-up signal 41 is inputted to a power management block of the electronic device on which the inventive sleep mode wake- up apparatus is mounted.
  • the power management block changes the power management mode from the sleep mode to a non-sleep mode like the sleep mode.
  • the touch sensing pad 100 may include a light emitting device 120 disposed at a location adjacent to each of the sensing areas 110.
  • the light emitting device can emit light for a predetermined time if a touch is detected in each of the sensing areas 110 or emit light from the start of a touch to the finish of the touch.
  • the touch signal generator 10 can allow the corresponding light emitting device to emit light for a predetermined time when the user touches on each of the sensing areas 110 to wake up the sleep mode.
  • the user can receive a feedback on whether he or she properly operates the touch sensing pad 100 for sleep mode wake-up or not.
  • the light emitting device can be used to output the sleep mode wake-up signal 41 and at the same time display a visual feedback signal indicating that the sleep mode was woken up. For example, in case of waking up the sleep mode, the entire part of the light emitting device 120 can emit light or flash a predetermined nunber of times. Thus, the user can confirm that the electronic device was released from the normal mode.
  • the components 10, 20, 30, and 40 of the sleep mode wake-up apparatus can be integrated in the form of a single chip. Therefore, the sleep mode wake-up apparatus can be mass-produced at a low cost, and can be provided in a form easily applicable to small-size electronic devices.
  • the touch signal generation unit 10 can be provided in a single chip, and the other components 20, 30, and 40 can be provided in another chip when it is necessary.
  • the first chip can be implemented in the form of ASIC (application specific integrated circuit)
  • the second chip can be implemented by using a micro controller or a programmable logic device such as a CPLD (complex programmable logic device) or a FPGA (field gate programmable array).
  • CPLD complex programmable logic device
  • FPGA field gate programmable array
  • an efficient power management can be achieved by reducing the possibility of a user's misoperation regarding a sleep mode wake-up of an electronic device having a touch sensing pad mounted thereon.
  • the present invention allows the user to select an optimized sleep mode wake-up method depending on the shape, type and application field of an electronic device by providing various methods for encoding the user's touch pattern.
  • the present invention can wake up the sleep mode in a manner customized to individual users by allowing the user to input authentication pattern information to be used for sleep mode wake-up.
  • the present invention can increase the user convenience by utilizing a plurality of authentication pattern information for judgment of sleep mode wake-up.
  • the present invention can improve the intuition of touch sensing pad operation by providing the user with a visual feedback through a light emitting device when inputting touch pattern or waking up the sleep mode.

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Theoretical Computer Science (AREA)
  • General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Computer Security & Cryptography (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Computer Hardware Design (AREA)
  • Software Systems (AREA)
  • Human Computer Interaction (AREA)
  • Signal Processing (AREA)
  • Computer Networks & Wireless Communication (AREA)
  • Position Input By Displaying (AREA)
  • Power Sources (AREA)
  • User Interface Of Digital Computer (AREA)

Abstract

A method for waking up a sleep mode of an electronic device by using a touch sensing pad is provided. The method of a present invention includes steps of generating a touch signal caused by a user's touch on the touch sensing pad; generating touch pattern information based on a sequential structure of the touch signal; comparing the touch pattern information with stored authentication pattern information to judge whether or not both pattern information match each other; and outputting a sleep mode wake-up signal if it is judged that both pattern information match each other. According to the present invention, an efficient power management can be achieved by reducing the possibility of a user's misoperation regarding a sleep mode wake-up of an electronic device having a touch sensing pad mounted thereon.

Description

Description
SLEEP MODE WAKE-UP METHOD AND SLEEP MODE
WAKE-UP APPARATUS USING TOUCH SENSING PAD
FOR USE IN AN ELECTRONIC DEVICE
Technical Field
[1] The present invention relates to a sleep mode wake-up method for use in an electronic device, and more particularly, to a sleep mode wake-up method using a touch sensing pad mounted on an electronic device. Background Art
[2] To meet various demands from customers, such as multimedia, communication, personal information management, etc., a variety of portable electronic devices is appearing. An efficient power management is recognized as a very important issue in these portable electronic devices driven by a limited power source such as a battery.
[3] Especially, the importance of the power management technology is growing more and more in order to keep pace with the trend of so-called "convergence" for integrating various functions of diverse electronic devices into a single device and the gradual sophistication of each of these functions.
[4] As one of representative power management methods, a method of operating the operation mode of an electronic device separately in a normal mode and a sleep mode has been widely used. According to this method, if a user presses a sleep mode switch key or there is no input from the user for more than a predetermined time, the electronic device is switched to the sleep mode. Then, if a sleep mode wake-up key is pressed by the user or any input is detected through an input device, the electronic device is switched to the normal mode.
[5] The normal mode, which is called an active mode, refers to a state in which a sufficient power is supplied to properly operate every function of an electronic device. The sleep mode or a power-saving mode is a state in which only minimum power is supplied so that the electronic device can maintain important state information. In this mode, current of several hundreds of μk to several mA is restrictively supplied.
[6] However, this method that utilizes the sleep mode cannot be widely applied to electronic devices using as an input device a touch sensor for detecting a user's touch. That is, this is because the sleep mode is easily woken up even when the user does not intend to. Unlike a mechanical key that has to apply a pressure of more than a pre- determined level for inputting, the touch sensor can recognize a user's input only by a soft touch. Therefore, the sleep mode can be easily woken up even by an unintended soft touch.
[7] To overcome such problems, it is considered that a separate operation mode switch key or a hold key for holding an input through the touch sensor is provided. However, this method has several drawbacks that the number of parts or the nunber of input signal lines increases, and it cannot be applied when an input device exposed to outside in the sleep mode is nothing but a touch sensor.
[8] Consequently, in order to solve the aforementioned problems of the prior art, there is proposed a new technique for waking up a sleep mode only when a touch signal having a predetermined pattern is detected. Disclosure of Invention Technical Problem
[9] It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a method and an apparatus capable of increasing the operational convenience of a user and the efficiency of power management by reducing the possibility of a user's misoperation related to a sleep mode wake-up of an electronic device having a touch sensing pad mounted thereon.
[10] Further, another object of the present invention is to provide methods for generating various types of touch pattern information from a touch signal for sleep mode wake- up. Technical Solution
[11] To accomplish above mentioned objects and solve above described problems of the prior art, in accordance with one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for waking up a sleep mode of an electronic device by using a touch sensing pad, comprising the steps of: generating a touch signal caused by a user's touch on the touch sensing pad; generating touch pattern information based on a sequential structure of the touch signal; comparing the touch pattern information with stored authentication pattern information to judge whether or not both pattern information match each other; and outputting a sleep mode wake-up signal if it is judged that both pattern information match each other.
[12] In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for waking up a sleep mode of an electronic device by using a touch sensing pad, including: an authentication pattern storage unit for storing authentication pattern information used for judgment whether to wake up the sleep mode; a touch signal generator for generating a touch signal caused by a user's touch on the touch sensing pad; a touch pattern generator for generating touch pattern information based on a sequential structure of the touch signal; and a sleep mode wake -up judgment unit for comparing the touch pattern information with the authentication pattern information to output a sleep mode wake-up signal if it is judged that both pattern information match each other.
[13] In accordance with still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for waking up a sleep mode of an electronic device by using a touch sensing pad, including: a touch pattern generator for receiving a touch signal caused by a user's touch on the touch sensing pad and generating touch pattern information based on a sequential structure of the received touch signal; and a sleep mode wake -up judgment unit for comparing the touch pattern information with authentication pattern information stored inside or outside the apparatus to output a sleep mode wake-up signal if it is judged that both pattern information match each other. Brief Description of the Drawings
[14] Fig. 1 is a view schematically illustrating an electronic device to which a sleep mode wake-up method is applied in accordance with the present invention;
[15] Fig. 2 describes a flowchart illustrating a sleep mode wake-up method in accordance with the present invention in a stepwise manner;
[16] Fig. 3 shows a view exemplifying sensing areas included in a touch sensing pad, each being given a name, for operation explanation;
[17] Fig. 4 presents a view exemplifying a touch pattern which is used to wake up a sleep mode in the sleep mode wake-up method in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;
[18] Fig. 5 is a view illustrating another embodiment related to the structure of the touch sensing pad;
[19] Fig. 6 is a view illustrating a touch pattern which is inputted by using the touch sensing pad depicted in Fig. 5; and
[20] Fig. 7 offers a block diagram illustrating the internal configuration of the sleep mode wake-up apparatus in accordance with the present invention. Mode for the Invention
[21] Hereinafter, a sleep mode wake -up method in accordance with the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description, the identical or corresponding parts are denoted by the same reference minerals throughout several drawings, and a repeated description will be omitted.
[22] Fig. 1 schematically illustrates one example of an electronic device to which the present invention is applied. Electronic devices to which the sleep mode wake-up method of the present invention is applied include every types of electronic devices on which a touch sensing pad can be mounted, including home electric appliances (with remote controls), such as TVs, refrigerators, microwave ovens, air conditioners, and so on, personal computers, and automobiles, industrial equipments, as well as various types of portable electronic devices such as mobile phones, PDAs (personal digital assistants), vehicle navigation systems, digital cameras, PMPs (portable multimedia players), laptop computers, etc. Fig. 1 illustrates a representative one of a variety of electronic devices as above in a simplified form.
[23] The electronic device shown in Fig. 1 includes a display screen 200 and a touch sensing pad 100. The touch sensing pad 100 is provided with sensing areas 110 arranged at a plurality of locations. Each of the sensing areas 110 can be composed of any of various types of electric devices or optical devices for detecting a user's touch. In one example, each of the sensing areas 110 may be implemented by a sensor for detecting a change in capacitance caused by a user's touch. In another example, each of the sensing areas 110 may be implemented by using a heat sensor for detecting the user's body heat or detecting a change in the heat conductivity of a touched surface. Besides, a variety of sensors for detecting a touch by using electric resistance, an ultrasonic signal, an optical signal, etc. may be used. These sensors can detect a direct touch of part of the user's body and/or an indirect touch through a conductor or a nonconductor. Further, each of the sensing areas 110 may be implemented by using a proximity sensor for detecting the proximity of part of a human body or the proximity of an object, as well as a touch.
[24] A user's touch on the plurality of sensing areas 110 included in the touch sensing pad
100 is detected by a touch sensor chip (not shown) having a plurality of input lines. The touch sensor chip generates the result of touch detection for each of the sensing areas 110 in the form of a touch signal. For example, if there is a user's touch, a ' 1 ' signal is generated, and if there is no user's touch, a '0' signal is generated. Alternatively, if a user' s touch is started, a ' 1 ' signal may be generated, and if the touch is finished, a '-1' signal may be generated. Such a touch signal may include information on the degree of proximity or gray data indicating the intensity of touch, as well as touch information and touch start/finish information.
[25] The touch sensor chip is connected to a power management block of an electronic device. When a sleep mode wake-up signal outputted from the touch sensor chip is inputted to the power management block, the power management block is able to change the power management mode from the sleep mode to the non- sleep mode such as the normal mode. Concrete steps of the sleep mode wake-up method performed by the touch sensor chip will be described below with reference to Fig. 2.
[26] In step SlO, a touch signal by a touch on each of the sensing areas 110 is generated.
In case of the touch sensing pad 100 including a plurality of sensing areas 110 as in Fig. 1, the touch signal can indicate the presence of a touch on the touch sensing pad 100 including the plurality of sensing areas 110 and a touch location (i.e., on which sensing area 110 a touch occurs).
[27] The touch signal has a sequential structure containing a series of time-dependent touch information, touch intensity information, or touch start/wake-up event generation information.
[28] In a step S20, touch pattern information is created based on the sequential structure of the touch signal. To explain details of step S20, names are given to the plurality of touch sensing areas 110 of the touch sensing pad 100, as illustrated in Fig. 3.
[29] In the sleep mode, the user first touches on area A of the touch sensing pad 100 configured as shown in Fig. 3. Next, the touch is moved to area D and moved in the order of E and B areas, and then the touch is finished on the area B. That is, the touch is moved in the order of the areas A, D, E, and B, and then the user takes the finger off on the area B. In step S20, such a touch pattern is encoded in a signal sequence of a shape like [A, D, E, B], for example, by naming after each of the sensing areas. This signal sequence is called touch pattern information.
[30] In step S20, a touch pattern can be identified as a case in which a finger sequentially and softly moves on the A, D, E, and B areas while keeping touching and as a case in which the finger is touched on and released from each sensing area 110. That is, in the former case, touch pattern information of [A, D, E, B] is created, while in the latter case, touch pattern information of [A, 0, D, 0, E, 0, B, 0] is created.
[31] Meanwhile, there are several methods of encoding such a touch pattern as in the former case. As explained above, one example of these methods is that codes indicating the sensing areas 110 where a touch is detected are arranged in time order. In another example, if the sensing areas 110 where a touch is detected are changed depending on the movement of the finger, touch pattern information can be created by extracting movement direction information based on the relative location relation of sensing areas 110 before and after the change and arranging the extracted movement direction information in time order.
[32] In other words, in case the finger moves in the order of A->D->E->B, movement direction information can be extracted and encoded like [|,→,T]- The movement direction information may be expressed as codes such as \, /*,„/, \ indicating the movement in a diagonal direction, in addition to <— ,T,→,|.
[33] Once the touch pattern information is created by using the movement direction information in this way, for example, a touch pattern 310 and a touch pattern 320 shown in Fig. 4 are encoded as the same touch pattern information. Therefore, user convenience can be increased because it is possible to judge whether or not the sleep mode is woken up only by the relative movement path regardless of which sensing area 110 initiates the touch.
[34] On the other hand, in another example, in step S20, information on whether or not a user's touch is detected on the plurality of sensing areas 110 and information on the time during which the touch is maintained on the plurality of sensing areas 110 may be created as the touch pattern information. For example, if the touch is maintained for three seconds simultaneously on the A, E, and G areas, this can be encoded as a signal sequence of [3, A, E, G], and utilized as the touch pattern information.
[35] In still another example related to this step S20, a generation pattern of an event related to a user's touch on the touch sensing pad can be encoded as the touch pattern information. Examples of this event include a touch start and finish event, an event occurring when a touch is maintained for more than a predetermined time, a 'short touch' event where a touch start and finish occurs within a predetermined time, a 'double click' event where two short touches occur within a given time interval, a 'long touch' event where a time interval between the start and finish of a touch exceeds a predetermined time, and so on.
[36] In step S20, an event occurrence or non-occurrence, the nunber of event occurrences, an event occurrence interval, or a combination thereof can be utilized as the touch pattern information. If a plurality of sensing areas is included in the touch sensing pad 100, the touch pattern information may contain information on the sensing area 110 where an event occurs, or may not do so. The former case is suitable for preventing the sleep mode from being wrongly woken up, and the latter case is advantageous from the viewpoint of user convenience.
[37] In a next step S30, the touch pattern information created in step S20 is compared with stored authentication pattern information, and in step S34, it is judged whether or not both pattern information match each other. The authentication pattern information may be stored in the form of a circuit hard- wired within the touch sensor chip, or stored in a register within the chip or in an external memory device.
[38] In the latter case, the step (not shown) of receiving authentication pattern information from the user and storing the same may be additionally conducted. Therefore, it is possible to set authentication pattern information of a proper type for each user.
[39] If the touch pattern information and the authentication pattern information match each other, the touch sensor chip outputs a sleep mode wake-up signal to a power management circuit of the electronic device in step S40. Meanwhile, if they do not match, the electronic device maintains the sleep mode.
[40] In step S30, a plurality of authentication pattern information may be used to judge whether to wake up the sleep mode. That is, the touch pattern information generated in step S20 is compared with the plurality of authentication pattern information, to output a sleep mode wake-up signal if the touch pattern information matches any one of these authentication pattern information. In this way, the operation of the touch sensing pad 100 for waking up the sleep mode is made easier, thereby increasing user convenience.
[41] Fig. 5 illustrates another example of the structure of the touch sensing pad 100. The touch sensing pad 100 shown in Fig. 5 includes a plurality of sensing areas 110 arranged at regular intervals along the circumference of a circle, wherein it is not necessary to install a mechanical switch at the center portion of a concentric circle. In this arrangement, the user may input a touch pattern by moving the touch location in a clockwise direction 330 or a counterclockwise direction 340 while maintaining the touch on the touch sensing pad 100 as shown in Fig. 6, in addition to the method of touching each of the sensing areas 110 individually.
[42] In this case, in step S20, touch location movement direction information is extracted based on the touch start/finish point of time of the adjacent sensing areas 110. The touch location movement direction information can be represented as a clockwise movement, a counterclockwise movement, etc. In this step S20, such touch location movement direction information arranged in time order is generated as the touch pattern information. It is assumed that the clockwise direction is encoded as '+1' and the counterclockwise direction is encoded as '-1'. For example, if a touch pattern moving on the touch sensing pad 100 once clockwise, once counterclockwise, and once again clockwise is inputted, in step S20, this touch pattern is arranged in the form of [+1, -1, +1] to generate touch pattern information. [43] Meanwhile, the number of rotations can be additionally considered along with the touch location movement direction information. That is, if two rotations are inputted continuously in the clockwise direction, this is recognized as a touch pattern for sleep mode wake-up. In this case, in step S20, one clockwise rotation is encoded as '+100' and one counterclockwise direction is encoded as '-100', thereby generating touch pattern information in the form of [+100, +100].
[44] Alternatively, if each of the sensing areas 110 is numbered as 1 to 10 in the clockwise direction, the touch pattern information may be created in the form of [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]. In addition, the touch pattern information may be expressed in the form of a single integer (or real number) that reflects both the touch location movement direction and the quantity of movement. In this case, the movement direction determines a sign of the corresponding integer, and the quantity of movement determines its absolute value. For example, if the touch location rotates 1.5 times in the counterclockwise direction, the integer value constituting the touch pattern information can be determined as '-150'.
[45] Meanwhile, as shown in Fig. 5, the touch sensing pad 100 may include a light emitting device 120 disposed at a position adjacent to each of the sensing areas 110. The light emitting device 120 may emit light for a predetermined time if a touch is detected on the corresponding sensing area 110. The light emitting device 120 that is applicable includes, for example, a light emitting diode (LED).
[46] If the light emitting device 120 is provided, in step SlO, it can emit light for a predetermined time when the user touches corresponding the sensing area 110 to wake up the sleep mode. Thus, if the touch location rotates in the clockwise direction, the light emitting device 120 may also emit light and extinguish light sequentially along the clockwise direction. By means of the light emitting device 120, the user can receive a feedback about whether or not he or she properly operates the touch sensing pad 100 for sleep mode wake-up.
[47] Further, if it is judged that both pattern information match each other in step S34, the light emitting device may be used to display a visual feedback signal indicating that the sleep mode was woken up in step S40. For example, when waking up the sleep mode, the entire part of the light emitting device 120 can emit light or flash a predetermined number of times. By doing so, the user can confirm that the electronic device is released from the sleep mode.
[48] Although the touch sensing pad 100 has been described with respect to the case in which the plurality of sensing areas 110 are included for the convenience of ex- planation so far, the scope of the present invention is not necessarily limited to the case of the plurality of sensing areas 110. For example, in case the touch pattern information is created based on the event occurrence pattern on the touch sensing pad 100, only one sensing area 110 is enough.
[49] Meanwhile, if there is the plurality of sensing areas 110, these sensing areas 110 may be divided into several groups so that touches on any one or two or more of the sensing areas 110 that belong to each group may be recognized as the same touch signal. In this case, there is an advantage that it is convenient to operate the touch sensing pad 100 for sleep mode wake-up.
[50] The sleep mode wake-up method in accordance with the present invention is implemented in the form of program instructions that are executable through various computer means, and can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. The computer-readable storage medium can include program instructions, data files, data structures, etc. separately or in combination. The program instructions stored in the medium may be specially designed and configured for the present invention, or well- known and usable by those skilled in the field of computer software. Examples of the computer-readable storage medium include magnetic media such as hard disks, floppy disks, and magnetic tapes, optical media such as CD-ROMs and DVDs, magneto- optical media such as floppy disks, and hardware devices, such as ROMs, RAMs, flash memories, etc., which are specially configured to store and execute program instructions.
[51] The medium may be a transfer mediun, such as optical or metal lines, waveguides, etc. containing a carrier for transferring a signal designating program instructions, a data structure, etc. Examples of the program instructions include a high-level language code that can be executed by a computer by using an interpreter or the like, as well as a machine code like ones made by a compiler. The hardware device stated above may be configured to operate as one or more software modules in order to execute the operation of the present invention, and vice versa.
[52] The sleep mode wake-up method in accordance with the present invention has been described so far. Next, a sleep mode wake-up apparatus for performing this method will be described with reference to Fig. 7. For reference, the sleep mode wake-up apparatus to be explained below corresponds to the touch sensor chip mentioned with respect to the sleep mode wake-up method from a functional viewpoint. However, the inventive sleep mode wake-up apparatus can be provided in various module types, as well as in the form of a single sensor chip, which will be described later. [53] A touch signal generator 10 is a block for performing the function corresponding to step SlO depicted in Fig. 2, and generates a touch signal 11 by a user's touch on each of the sensing areas 110 of the touch sensing pad 100. The touch signal generator 10 can periodically scan a touch on each of the sensing areas 110 or the intensity of a touch, or generate a touch signal 11 containing information on an event whenever such an event as a touch start/finish is recognized as an interrupt signal.
[54] The touch sensing pad 100 connected to the inventive sleep mode wake-up apparatus may include sensing areas 110 arranged at a plurality of locations. In this case, the touch signal 11 contains information on a touch location (i.e., on which sensing area 110 is touched) on the touch sensing pad 100.
[55] Next, a touch pattern generator 20 is a block that generates touch pattern information
21 based on a sequential structure of the touch signal 11, and performs the function corresponding to step S20 depicted in Fig. 2. As explained above with respect to Fig. 2, there are several examples of a scheme of generating the touch pattern information 21 as follows.
[56] First, the touch pattern generator 20 can generate, as the touch pattern information
21, information indicating at least one sensing area 110 where a user's touch is detected and being arranged in time order.
[57] Second, if the touched sensing area 110 is changed as the touch location is moved, the touch pattern generator 20 can extract touch location movement direction information based on the relative locations of sensing areas before and after the change, and generate the touch pattern information 21 by arranging the extracted touch location movement direction information in time order.
[58] Third, the touch pattern generator 20 can generate, as the touch pattern information
21, information on whether a user's touch is detected simultaneously in the plurality of sensing areas 110 and information on the time during which the touch is maintained in the plurality of sensing areas 110. In this case, if the touch is maintained with respect to specific sensing areas 110 for more than a predetermined time, the sleep mode can be woken up.
[59] Fourth, the touch pattern generator 20 can generate, as the touch pattern information
21, an occurrence pattern of an event related to a user's touch on the touch sensing pad 110. The event that is applicable includes the start, maintenance and finish of a touch, or a combination thereof. The event occurrence pattern is formed by an event occurrence or non-occurrence, a nunber of event occurrences, an event occurrence interval, or a combination thereof. By this method, for example, if a short touch is con- tinuously inputted three times, the sleep mode can be woken up.
[60] Next, a sleep mode wake-up judgment unit 40 that performs the functions corresponding to steps S30, S34, and S40 in Fig. 2 judges as to whether or not the touch pattern information 21 acquired by the touch pattern generator 20 and the authentication pattern information 31 stored in the authentication pattern storage unit 30 match each other by comparison.
[61] The authentication pattern storage unit 30 includes a variety of hardware devices for storing the authentication pattern information. In one example, the authentication pattern storage unit 30 may be the one that stores authentication pattern information 31 in the form of a circuit hard- wired therein. In another example, the authentication pattern storage unit 30 may be implemented in the form of a register within a chip or in the form of an external memory device.
[62] The sleep mode wake-up judgment unit 40 outputs a sleep mode wake-up signal 41 if the stored authentication pattern information 31 and the touch pattern information 21 match each other. The sleep mode wake-up signal 41 is inputted to a power management block of the electronic device on which the inventive sleep mode wake- up apparatus is mounted. When the sleep mode wake-up signal is inputted, the power management block changes the power management mode from the sleep mode to a non-sleep mode like the sleep mode.
[63] Meanwhile, as shown in Fig. 5, the touch sensing pad 100 may include a light emitting device 120 disposed at a location adjacent to each of the sensing areas 110. The light emitting device can emit light for a predetermined time if a touch is detected in each of the sensing areas 110 or emit light from the start of a touch to the finish of the touch.
[64] The touch signal generator 10 can allow the corresponding light emitting device to emit light for a predetermined time when the user touches on each of the sensing areas 110 to wake up the sleep mode. Thus, the user can receive a feedback on whether he or she properly operates the touch sensing pad 100 for sleep mode wake-up or not.
[65] Further, if it is judged by the sleep mode wake-up judgment unit 40 that the two pattern information 21 and 31 match each other, the light emitting device can be used to output the sleep mode wake-up signal 41 and at the same time display a visual feedback signal indicating that the sleep mode was woken up. For example, in case of waking up the sleep mode, the entire part of the light emitting device 120 can emit light or flash a predetermined nunber of times. Thus, the user can confirm that the electronic device was released from the normal mode. [66] The components 10, 20, 30, and 40 of the sleep mode wake-up apparatus can be integrated in the form of a single chip. Therefore, the sleep mode wake-up apparatus can be mass-produced at a low cost, and can be provided in a form easily applicable to small-size electronic devices.
[67] Further, the touch signal generation unit 10 can be provided in a single chip, and the other components 20, 30, and 40 can be provided in another chip when it is necessary. At this time, the first chip can be implemented in the form of ASIC (application specific integrated circuit), and the second chip can be implemented by using a micro controller or a programmable logic device such as a CPLD (complex programmable logic device) or a FPGA (field gate programmable array). Such a structure has advantages that the period of development can be shortened, and the method of generating the touch pattern information 21 can be applied more flexibly and variously.
[68] The sleep mode wake-up apparatus according to the present invention has been described with reference to Fig. 7 so far. In the above description, the particulars of various embodiments associated with Figs. 1 to 4 are applied as they are, and vice versa.
[69] According to the present invention, an efficient power management can be achieved by reducing the possibility of a user's misoperation regarding a sleep mode wake-up of an electronic device having a touch sensing pad mounted thereon.
[70] In addition, the present invention allows the user to select an optimized sleep mode wake-up method depending on the shape, type and application field of an electronic device by providing various methods for encoding the user's touch pattern.
[71] Further, the present invention can wake up the sleep mode in a manner customized to individual users by allowing the user to input authentication pattern information to be used for sleep mode wake-up.
[72] Moreover, the present invention can increase the user convenience by utilizing a plurality of authentication pattern information for judgment of sleep mode wake-up.
[73] Also, the present invention can improve the intuition of touch sensing pad operation by providing the user with a visual feedback through a light emitting device when inputting touch pattern or waking up the sleep mode.
[74] While the present invention has been described with respect to certain preferred embodiments, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the following claims.

Claims

Claims
[1] A method for waking up a sleep mode of an electronic device by using a touch sensing pad, comprising the steps of: generating a touch signal caused by a user's touch on the touch sensing pad; generating touch pattern information based on a sequential structure of the touch signal; comparing the touch pattern information with stored authentication pattern information to judge whether or not both pattern information match each other; and outputting a sleep mode wake-up signal if it is judged that both pattern inf ormation match each other.
[2] The method of claim 1, wherein the touch sensing pad includes sensing areas arranged at a plurality of locations, and the touch signal contains information indicating at least one of the sensing areas where a user's touch is detected.
[3] The method of claim 2, wherein the step of generating touch pattern information arranges the information indicating at least one of the sensing areas where the user's touch is detected in time order.
[4] The method of claim 2, wherein the step of generating touch pattern information extracts, if a sensing area where the user's touch is detected is changed with time, touch location movement direction information based on the relative location of the sensing areas before and after the change, and arranges the extracted touch location movement direction information in time order.
[5] The method of claim 2, wherein the step of generating touch pattern information generates, as the touch pattern information, information on whether or not a user's touch is detected simultaneously in the sensing areas and information on time during which the touch is maintained in the sensing areas.
[6] The method of claim 1, wherein the step of generating touch pattern information generates an occurrence pattern of an event related to a user's touch on the touch sensing pad as the touch pattern information.
[7] The method of claim 6, wherein the event is the start, maintenance and finish of a touch, or a combination thereof.
[8] The method of claim 7, wherein the event occurrence pattern is an event occurrence or non-occurrence, the number of event occurrences, an event occurrence interval, or a combination thereof.
[9] The method of claim 1, wherein the stored authentication pattern information is plural, and the step of comparing the touch pattern information with stored authentication pattern information judges that, if the touch pattern information matches any one of the plurality of stored authentication pattern information, both pattern information match each other.
[10] The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of receiving the authentication pattern information from the user and storing the same.
[11] The method of claim 1, wherein the step of generating a touch signal further includes the step of driving a light emitting device disposed to correspond to a touch location on the touch sensing pad to display a visual feedback signal caused by a user's touch.
[12] The method of claim 1, wherein the step of outputting a sleep mode wake-up signal further includes the step of driving a light emitting device disposed adjacent to the touch sensing pad to display a visual feedback signal indicating a sleep mode wake-up if it is judged that both pattern information match each other.
[13] A computer-readable storage medium that stores program instructions for executing the method of any one of claims 1 to 12.
[14] An apparatus for waking up a sleep mode of an electronic device by using a touch sensing pad, comprising: an authentication pattern storage unit for storing authentication pattern information used for judgment whether to wake up the sleep mode; a touch signal generator for generating a touch signal caused by a user's touch on the touch sensing pad; a touch pattern generator for generating touch pattern information based on a sequential structure of the touch signal; and a sleep mode wake-up judgment unit for comparing the touch pattern information with the authentication pattern information to output a sleep mode wake-up signal if it is judged that both pattern information match each other.
[15] An apparatus for waking up a sleep mode of an electronic device by using a touch sensing pad, comprising: a touch pattern generator for receiving a touch signal caused by a user's touch on the touch sensing pad and generating touch pattern information based on a sequential structure of the received touch signal; and a sleep mode wake-up judgment unit for comparing the touch pattern in- formation with authentication pattern information stored inside or outside the apparatus to output a sleep mode wake-up signal if it is judged that both pattern information match each other.
[16] The apparatus of claim 14 or 15, wherein the touch sensing pad includes sensing areas arranged at a plurality of locations, and the touch signal contains information indicating at least one of the sensing areas where a user's touch is detected.
[17] The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the touch pattern generator arranges the information indicating at least one of the sensing areas where the user's touch is detected in time order.
[18] The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the touch pattern generator extracts, if a sensing area where the user's touch is detected is changed with time, touch location movement direction information based on the relative location of sensing areas before and after the change, and arranges the extracted touch location movement direction information in time order.
[19] The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the touch pattern generator generates, as the touch pattern information, information on whether or not a user's touch is detected simultaneously in the sensing areas and information on time during which the touch is maintained in the sensing areas.
[20] The apparatus of claim 14 or 15, wherein the touch pattern generator generates an occurrence pattern of an event related to a user's touch on the touch sensing pad as the touch pattern information.
[21] The apparatus of claim 14 or 15, further comprising at least one light emitting device, disposed adjacent to the touch sensing pad, for displaying a sleep mode wake-up if both pattern information match each other.
[22] The apparatus of claim 14 or 15, wherein the authentication pattern storage unit, the touch signal generator, the touch pattern generator, and the sleep mode wake- up judgment unit are implemented in the form of a single integrated circuit chip.
PCT/KR2007/002554 2007-05-02 2007-05-25 Sleep mode wake-up method and sleep mode wake-up apparatus using touch sensing pad for use in an electronic device WO2008136551A1 (en)

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