TWI497045B - Electronic device capable of detecting operating environment to switch operating states of peripheral components and method thereof - Google Patents

Description

An electronic device capable of sensing an operating environment to switch an operating state of a peripheral component method

The present invention relates to a mechanism for managing peripheral components of an electronic device, and more particularly to an electronic device and a control method thereof, which can determine a configuration of a peripheral component according to an operating environment, thereby enabling a peripheral component to have a better use effect.

Today's industrial and technological levels continue to explode, and the most amazing is the technology of consumer electronics. These products, in addition to their performance requirements, continue to advance toward refined and delicate operations. Handheld electronic devices have always been a field of contending, so the various technologies are constantly seeking new changes in maturity. Handheld electronic devices that are most accessible in daily life should belong to mobile phones, and current mobile phones often combine multiple functions, such as multimedia playback devices, global positioning systems (GPS), and personal digital assistants. , PDA), etc. However, in addition to the continuous improvement of product functions, the humanized level that conforms to the user's operation mode has been continuously improved. For example, some of the current audio and video playback products have the function of rotating the screen configuration, and the user can display the screen of the video player. Rotate 90 degrees to watch, and the displayed image will also rotate with it, so that you can achieve better viewing quality. Therefore, according to the user's operation mode, by switching the operation mode to achieve a better use effect, it becomes an important trend of humanized operation.

In today's mobile phones, almost all have audio and video playback capabilities, and the addition of a speaker amplifier, so that users can use this phone as a small portable sound. In order to better play the sound quality, the designer added a second speaker to the phone to achieve stereo playback, and these speakers are often placed on the different sides of the phone, making the stereo playback more refined. . Furthermore, portable electronic devices with more than two microphone components have also begun to appear on the market, and through two microphones, they are advertised for better sound pickup. However, these microphones or horn components disposed on different planes of the portable electronic device may encounter a situation in which the user places the portable electronic device on a contact surface (such as a desktop). The components on one of the planes will be obscured. In this case, the simultaneous opening of the two components is not significant, because when a horn in the device is placed on the table, the sound waves are transmitted. The direction is hindered, so the quality and quantity of the sound is obviously not obvious. In the same situation, when the device uses a microphone to receive sound, when one of the microphones is shielded, the effect of the radio will be greatly reduced, and the overall radio effect is also affected. Therefore, when the device is used in such an environment, when a plurality of speakers or microphones are set up to achieve the desired effect, it is necessary to correct the use state in this special case by some means.

Therefore, in order to improve peripheral components that are not effective in use due to shielding, an object of the present invention is to provide an electronic device and a control method thereof, wherein the electronic device can determine whether or not its peripheral components are in a shielded operating environment, thereby The operating state of the components is appropriately set and switched to improve the use of peripheral components.

Embodiments of the present invention provide an electronic device that can switch operating states, including And comprising: a plurality of peripheral components; a sensing device for sensing an operating environment of the electronic device to generate a sensing result; and a control device coupled to the plurality of peripheral components and the sensing device And determining, according to the sensing result, an external shielding state of the plurality of peripheral components to set an operating state or a disabled state of each of the plurality of peripheral components.

An embodiment of the present invention further provides a method for controlling a plurality of peripheral components of an electronic device, comprising: sensing an operating environment of the electronic device to generate a sensing result; and determining the plurality of peripheral components according to the sensing result The external shielding state is to set an operating state or a disabled state of an operating state of each of the plurality of peripheral components. The method can be repeatedly executed in a specific time to dynamically and timely reflect changes in the operating environment of the electronic device, so that the use of peripheral components is more flexible and has better use effects.

The different features of the present invention are described in the following description, and the same reference numerals are used in the various drawings.

Referring to FIG. 1 , the electronic device 100 includes a first surface 102 (which is a spatially upwardly facing surface with a microphone 112 on the surface) and a second surface 104 (which is opposite to the first surface 102 ). The surface facing downward, the second surface 104 has a microphone 114); an accelerometer 120; a control device 130; and a memory unit 150, wherein the memory unit 150 stores a database 155 therein. As shown in the three-dimensional coordinate axis, the negative direction of the z-axis represents the direction in which the gravitational force acts. Please refer to Figure 1 again, the accelerometer 120 is The space is subjected to gravity, so that when the first surface 102 is oriented in the positive direction of the z-axis, the accelerometer 120 can measure the gravitational acceleration parameter value of the z-axis component along the coordinate axis of 1 G, however, when the first surface 102 When facing the negative direction of the z-axis, the accelerometer 120 measures the gravitational acceleration parameter value of the -1G along the z-axis component of the coordinate axis. It can be seen that when the electronic device 100 is placed on a contact surface (such as a desktop) 400 with the first plane 102 facing the positive direction of the z-axis, if the electronic device 100 activates the microphone 112 due to the application requirements. And 114, at this time, since the second surface 104 is in contact with the contact surface 400, the microphone 114 is now obscured by the contact surface 400, so the microphone 114 cannot surely perform the corresponding function (such as collecting sound in the space).

By initiating the control method of the present invention, the determination of the initial condition is started, and the accelerometer 120 measures the gravitational acceleration parameter value of the z-axis component along the coordinate axis of 1 G under such conditions, and the control device 130 thus obtains the accelerometer 120. As a result of the sensing, the operating condition is determined as the situation 1: that is, the microphone 114 is shielded, and then the control device 130 sets only the operating state of the microphone 112 to the enabled state, and the electronic device 100 only correlates the microphone 112. Similarly, if the electronic device 100 is placed on the contact surface 400 with the first surface 102 facing downward, the accelerometer 120 measures the gravity acceleration parameter value of the -1G along the coordinate axis of the coordinate axis, and controls The device 130 obtains the sensing result, and at this time, the operating condition is determined to be the status 2: the microphone 114 only needs to be set to the enabled state. When the gravitational acceleration parameter value measured by the accelerometer 120 is not 1G or -1G, the control method of the present invention determines the initial condition as a situation other than the status 1 and the condition 2, and the representative electronic device 100 is not placed in the Contact surface, microphones 112 and 114 may be in normal operation The environment is not obscured, so the control device 130 will simultaneously set the microphones 112 and 114 to the enabled state.

Next, the control device 130 retrieves its measured gravitational acceleration parameter value from the accelerometer 120 every certain time (eg, 0.5 seconds). Each time the control device 130 obtains the sensing result of the accelerometer 120, the operating states of the microphones 112 and 114 are determined according to the sensing result. If the sensing result is different from the previous sensing result, the operating state is switched to respond to the sense. Test results. For example, the electronic device 100 is previously in the state 1 and the microphone 114 is in the shaded state. At this time, the microphone 112 is in an enabled state, and the microphone 114 is in a disabled state, and if the electronic device 100 is in a contact state at this time. The 400 is erected (for example, by the user in an upright manner), at which time the accelerometer 120 measures the gravitational acceleration parameter values other than 1G and -1G, and the control device 130 obtains the sensing result. The microphone 114 is switched from the disabled state to the enabled state, while the microphone 112 remains in the enabled state, so that the two microphones will be turned on to achieve better sound quality. Or when the electronic device 100 is in the state 2, the microphone 114 is in an enabled state, and the microphone 112 is in a disabled state. After the user flips the electronic device 100, the second surface 104 is placed in close contact with the contact surface 400. Then, the accelerometer can measure the value of the gravity acceleration parameter of 1G. At this time, the electronic device 100 is in the state 1, the control device 130 switches the microphone 114 from the enabled state to the disabled state, and the microphone 112 is switched from the disabled state to the disabled state. The state of energy, in order to maintain a better radio quality.

However, considering that the contact surface may be a plane having a slope, the accelerometer 120 no longer has a gravitational acceleration parameter value of 1G or -1G when placed on the contact surface, so the following embodiments make some corrections. . Please refer to the hair shown in Figure 2. In another embodiment of the invention, when the electronic device 100 identical to the previous embodiment is placed on an oblique plane 500, the following situation will occur. The graph 300 of Fig. 3 represents the acceleration component of each axis (x, y, z) along the three-dimensional coordinate axis when the electronic device 100 is placed on the oblique plane 500 as shown in Fig. 2. It should be noted that the second plane 104 is in close proximity to the oblique plane 500, and the microphone 114 is in the shaded condition, but the accelerometer 120 no longer measures the 1G gravity acceleration parameter value, but instead is along the coordinate axis. The z-axis obtains a gravitational acceleration parameter value of less than 1 G, and the x-axis along the coordinate axis obtains a gravitational acceleration parameter value greater than 0, the acceleration component of the x-axis being due to the effect caused by the oblique plane 500.

In this embodiment, in order to ensure that the electronic device 100 can still be set to the enabled state by the control device 130 and the microphone 112 is set to the disabled state in this operating environment, the microphone 114 is set to the disabled state. The determination is made by one of the data banks 155 disposed in one of the memory units 150 of the electronic device 100. The database 155 records the possible combinations of the gravitational acceleration components of the axes along the coordinate axis. In one embodiment of the present invention, When the combination of possible gravity acceleration components occurs, the control device 130 temporarily does not make a judgment, but waits for a longer specific time (such as 1 second), if the sensing result of the accelerometer 120 is still the same, the control device 130 make judgement. That is to say, the accelerometer 120 in the electronic device 100 on an oblique plane of a possible angular range can obtain various combinations of the respective axial acceleration components, and the control device 130 does not immediately make a judgment, but must wait for a while. The 俟 accelerometer 120 still obtains the same result to make a judgment, in order to avoid if the electronic device 100 is in the state of being moved, and if the sensing result of the combination of the gravitational acceleration components in the database 155 is obtained, , misidentifying the electronic device 100 as The oblique plane is placed on a sensing result that causes the electronic device 100 to have the same combination of gravitational acceleration components. The possible angle means that the angle allows the electronic device 100 to be placed on the oblique plane of the possible angle without slipping. The control device 130 determines the possibility that the electronic device 100 is still placed on a contact surface when the z-axis acceleration component is outside the 1G and -1G by comparing the sensing result with the data of the database.

It should be noted that the peripheral components that can be controlled by the control device of the present invention are not limited to only the microphone components, and peripheral components (such as audio components) that are located on the electronic device and that receive or transmit information through the apertures are included in the present invention. Within the scope. The use of a microphone element as an example is merely a matter of simplification and is not intended to limit the invention. Furthermore, the spirit of the present invention utilizes the sensing result of a sensing device to enable the control device to determine the external shielding state of the peripheral components, and the implementation of the sensing device is not limited to the accelerometer only, that is, the accelerometer is only An implementation option, in fact, a sensing device that can be applied to detect an external shielding state of a peripheral component can include an ambient light sensor, a camera lens, and a proximity sensor. Wait. The ambient light source detector can be disposed on different side surfaces of the electronic device, and the detector can detect the ambient light source. If the surface of one side is close to a contact surface, the peripheral components located on the surface are shielded. The sensing result of the ambient light source detector located at the surface at this time can cause the control device to determine that the peripheral component is obscured and set the component to a disabled state. The camera lenses are respectively disposed on different side surfaces, and the function of capturing images can be utilized, so that the control device uses the color degree of the image to determine whether the peripheral components on the surface of the side are shielded (when the image is obscured, the obtained image is obtained). The color is darker). The proximity sensors are respectively disposed on different side surfaces for detecting the presence of adjacent objects to provide control The device determines whether or not the peripheral elements on the surface of the side are obscured.

4 is a flow chart of one embodiment of a method of controlling a plurality of peripheral components of an electronic device in accordance with the present invention. Please note that in the case where the same result can be achieved substantially, the steps of the control method 400 need not be performed one by one according to the order shown in FIG. 4, and no additional steps are required, and an additional step can be inserted. . In step 402, the electronic device activates the peripheral components to perform the functions corresponding to the peripheral components in response to the requirements of one of the application units in the memory unit. Next, in step 404, the control device obtains the sensing result from the sensing device. The control device determines the individual external shielding state of the peripheral components according to the sensing result, and sets the individual operating states of the peripheral components (step 406), after the control device performs the setting operation state on all the peripheral components, in the step In 408, the electronic device actually uses the functions corresponding to the peripheral components. The flow proceeds to step 410. At this time, if the electronic device does not continue to use the peripheral components, the entire control flow is terminated (step 412), and the peripheral components are all set to the disabled state; if the electronic device continues to use the peripheral components, Then, the process proceeds to step 411. At a certain time (for example, 0.5 seconds), the control device re-acquires the sensing result from the sensing device again, and then returns to step 406, and the control device performs the determination and setting again.

In accordance with the control method 400 of the above-described embodiments, and in accordance with the meaning and concept of the present invention, a more detailed control method 500 can be provided, as shown in Figures 5 and 6. Please refer to FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 simultaneously, which are two parts of the control method 500, respectively. Similar to the control method 400, in step 502 and step 504, first, the electronic device activates the peripheral components according to the requirements of the application, and then the control device obtains the sensing result from the sensing device. In step 505, the control device is first First, it is judged whether the electronic device is in the state 1. For the situation 1 mentioned here, please refer to the description of the previous embodiment described in the first figure, that is, under the condition 1, the second surface 104 of the electronic device 100 at this time. It is in a situation of being obscured. If the result of the determination in step 505 is no, the process proceeds to step 506 to determine whether the electronic device 100 is in the state 2, that is, as described in the embodiment of FIG. 1, under the condition 2, the first surface 102 of the electronic device 100 is If the result of the step 506 is no, then the process proceeds to step 507, where it is determined that the electronic device is in other conditions, that is, no peripheral components are shielded, so the control device sets all the peripheral components. To enable the state.

In step 505 and step 506, if the result is YES, the process proceeds to step 509 and step 510, respectively, and the control device sets the peripheral components. Step 509 and steps 510 and 507 then proceed to step 511 where the electronic device uses peripheral components. Then, step 511 proceeds to step 514, where the control device again obtains the sensing result from the sensing device every other specific time. Step 514 will enter two different steps depending on the situation. If the electronic device ends the use of peripheral components, then step 516 is entered; if the electronic device is in other conditions (no peripheral components are obscured), then step 515 is entered. If the result of step 516 is no, then return to step 514; if the result of step 516 is YES, then proceed to step 540, the electronic device stops the use of peripheral components. If the result of step 515 is no, it indicates that the electronic device is still in the same operating environment, so the process returns to step 514, so the control device will check the sensing result again every certain period of time; on the other hand, if the result of step 515 If so, the electronic device is changed to the operating environment, so that the originally obscured component is no longer obscured, so step 525 is entered.

Step 525 will enter two different steps depending on the situation to check whether the electronic device If the result is YES, the process proceeds to step 529, which represents the situation in which the operating environment of the electronic device enters the state 1. The control device changes the operating state of the original peripheral component, and resets the operating state of the appropriate peripheral component; Otherwise, the process proceeds from step 525 to step 527 to check whether the electronic device is in the situation 2. If the result of the step 527 is YES, the operating environment representing the electronic device enters the second state from other conditions, and the control device sets the peripheral component at this time. Corresponding operation state (step 530), if the result of step 527 is no, the operating environment of the electronic device enters the non-state one or the non-state 2 from other conditions, and the control device sets the corresponding operation state to the peripheral component ( Step 531). Then return to step 514.

The generalized method of the present invention for controlling a plurality of peripheral components of an electronic device is described below by the method set forth in the above embodiments. As shown in FIG. 7, the control method 600 includes three main steps: step 602 is to sense an operating environment of the electronic device to generate a sensing result, and step 604 is to determine a peripheral component of the electronic device according to the sensing result. The external occlusion state and the last step 606 are for the control device to individually set the operational state of each of the peripheral components to an enabled state or a disabled state.

In summary, the electronic device and the control method of the present invention can make the electronic device more efficient and effective in the use of peripheral components.

The above are only the preferred embodiments of the present invention, and all changes and modifications made to the scope of the present invention should be within the scope of the present invention.

100‧‧‧Electronic devices

102, 104‧‧‧ surface

112, 114‧‧‧ microphone

120‧‧‧Accelerometer

130‧‧‧Control device

150‧‧‧ memory unit

155‧‧‧Database

300‧‧‧ Chart

400‧‧‧Contact surface

500‧‧‧ oblique plane

1 is a schematic view of an embodiment of an electronic device of the present invention.

2 is a schematic view of another embodiment of an electronic device of the present invention.

Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of the acceleration components of the respective axes when the electronic device is placed on an inclined plane.

4 is a flow chart of one embodiment of a method of controlling a plurality of peripheral components of an electronic device in accordance with the present invention.

5 and 6 are flow diagrams of another embodiment of a method of controlling a plurality of peripheral components of an electronic device in accordance with the present invention.

Figure 7 is a flow diagram of a generalized method of controlling a plurality of peripheral components of an electronic device in accordance with the present invention.

100‧‧‧Electronic devices

102, 104‧‧‧ surface

112, 114‧‧‧ microphone

120‧‧‧Accelerometer

130‧‧‧Control device

150‧‧‧ memory unit

155‧‧‧Database

400‧‧‧Contact surface

Claims (17)

An electronic device capable of switching operating states, comprising: a plurality of peripheral components; a sensing device for sensing an operating environment of the electronic device to generate a sensing result; and a control device coupled to the plurality of peripherals The component and the sensing device are configured to determine an external shielding state of the plurality of peripheral components according to the sensing result, to set an operating state of each of the plurality of peripheral components to an enabled state or a disabled state; Wherein the control device determines the external shielding state of the plurality of peripheral components according to the sensing result when the application of the electronic device needs to use the plurality of peripheral components, and the control device is based on the specific time. The sensing result determines the external shielding state of the plurality of peripheral components at a time. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein when the control device determines that at least one peripheral component in the enabled state is shielded according to the sensing result, the peripheral component of the control device to be shielded The operational state is switched from the enabled state to the disabled state. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein when the control device determines that at least one peripheral component in the disabled state is not obscured according to the sensing result, the control device will not be obscured. The operating state of the peripheral components is switched from the disabled state to the enabled state. The electronic device of claim 1, further comprising a housing. The plurality of peripheral components are respectively disposed on a plurality of different side surfaces of the housing. The electronic device of claim 4, wherein the plurality of peripheral components comprise a first peripheral component and a second peripheral component respectively disposed on the first surface and a second surface of the housing, and The first surface and the second surface are opposite each other. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the sensing device comprises an accelerometer, and the sensing result is generated by measuring an acceleration caused by gravity. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the electronic device is a portable electronic device. The electronic device of claim 7, wherein the portable electronic device is a smart mobile phone or a number of assistants. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the plurality of peripheral components comprise a plurality of audio input components. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the plurality of peripheral components comprise a plurality of audio output components. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the plurality of peripheral components comprise a plurality of sensors. A method for controlling a plurality of peripheral components of an electronic device, comprising: sensing an operating environment of the electronic device to generate a sensing result; and determining an external shielding state of the plurality of peripheral components according to the sensing result to set The operating state of each of the plurality of peripheral components is An enabled state or a disabled state; wherein the step of determining an external occlusion state of the plurality of peripheral components according to the sensing result is that when an application of the electronic device needs to use the plurality of peripheral components The step of being performed, and determining the occlusion state of the plurality of peripheral elements based on the sensing result is performed every other specific time. The method of claim 12, wherein the step of setting an operational state of each of the plurality of peripheral components to an enabled state or a disabled state comprises: determining that the presence is based on the sensing result When at least one of the peripheral elements of the enabled state is shielded, the operational state of the peripheral component to be shielded is switched from the enabled state to the disabled state. The method of claim 12, wherein the step of setting an operating state of each of the plurality of peripheral components to an enabled state or a disabled state further comprises: determining, based on the sensing result When at least one of the peripheral elements in the disabled state is unmasked, the operational state of the unmasked peripheral component is switched from the disabled state to the enabled state. An electronic device capable of switching operating states, comprising: a plurality of peripheral components; a sensing device for sensing an operating environment of the electronic device to generate a sensing result; and a control device coupled to the plurality of peripherals Component and the sensing device for Determining an external shielding state of the plurality of peripheral components according to the sensing result, to set an operating state of each of the plurality of peripheral components to an enabled state or a disabled state; wherein the control device is connected to the electronic device When the application needs to use the plurality of peripheral components, the external shielding state of the plurality of peripheral components is determined according to the sensing result; wherein the electronic device further includes a casing, and the plurality of peripheral components are respectively disposed on the The sensing device includes a plurality of ambient light source detectors disposed on the plurality of different side surfaces for detecting an ambient light source to generate the sensing result. An electronic device capable of switching operating states, comprising: a plurality of peripheral components; a sensing device for sensing an operating environment of the electronic device to generate a sensing result; and a control device coupled to the plurality of peripherals The component and the sensing device are configured to determine an external shielding state of the plurality of peripheral components according to the sensing result, to set an operating state of each of the plurality of peripheral components to an enabled state or a disabled state; Wherein the control device determines the external shielding state of the plurality of peripheral components according to the sensing result when the application of the electronic device needs to use the plurality of peripheral components; wherein the electronic device further comprises a casing, and The plurality of peripheral elements are respectively disposed on a plurality of different side surfaces of the housing, wherein the sensing device comprises There are a plurality of camera lenses respectively disposed on the plurality of different side surfaces for capturing images to generate the sensing result. An electronic device capable of switching operating states, comprising: a plurality of peripheral components; a sensing device for sensing an operating environment of the electronic device to generate a sensing result; and a control device coupled to the plurality of peripherals The component and the sensing device are configured to determine an external shielding state of the plurality of peripheral components according to the sensing result, to set an operating state of each of the plurality of peripheral components to an enabled state or a disabled state; Wherein the control device determines the external shielding state of the plurality of peripheral components according to the sensing result when the application of the electronic device needs to use the plurality of peripheral components; wherein the electronic device further comprises a casing, and The plurality of peripheral components are respectively disposed on the plurality of different side surfaces of the housing, wherein the sensing device includes a plurality of proximity sensors respectively disposed on the plurality of different side surfaces for detecting adjacent objects The presence of this results.