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`US 6,847,351 B2
`(10) Patent N0.:
`(12) United States Patent
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`Noguera
`Jan. 25, 2005
`(45) Date of Patent:
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`U5006847351B2
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`(54) TILT-BASED POINTING FOR HAND-HELD
`DEVICES
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`(75)
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`( * ) Notice:
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`Inventor: Gritsko Perez Noguera, San Marcos,
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`CA (US)
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`(73) ASSlgnee‘ S‘emens Enformatlonfmd
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`C9mmumcat1°n MOblle’ LLC> 5a“
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`D1680, CA(US)
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`Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this
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`patent is extended or adjusted under 35
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`U.S.C. 154(b) by 179 days.
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`(21) Appl. No.: 09/929,224
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`Filed:
`Aug. 13, 2001
`(22)
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`Prior Publication Data
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`(65)
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`US 2003/0038778 A1 Feb' 27’ 2003
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`Int. Cl.7 .................................................. G09G 5/00
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`(52) US. Cl.
`..... 345/158; 345/169; 345/864;
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`345/857; 345/157
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`(58) Field of Search ................................. 345/156—169,
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`345/901, 856—862, 864; 341/20, 22; 463/37—38;
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`348/734
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`(56)
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`References Cited
`U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
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`5,506,605 A *
`4/1996 Paley ......................... 345/163
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`........ 345/123
`2/1997 Motosyuku et a1.
`5,602,566 A
`6/1997 Eng et a1.
`................... 345/158
`5,638,092 A *
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`12/1997 Hall et al. ........... 345/158
`5,703,623 A
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`7/2000 Horton 6t a1~
`------ 345/158
`670949188 A *
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`3/2001 Lands
`.................. 345/169
`6,201,554 B1
`4/2001 Bunsen ..........
`6,211,860 B1 *
`345/157
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`4/2001 Simonson ......
`6,219,028 B1 *
`345/862
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`6,466,198 B1 * 10/2002 Feinstein .......
`345/158
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`6,567,068 B2 *
`5/2003 Rekimoto ......
`345/156
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`6,577,296 B2 *
`6/2003 Flack ............
`345/158
`2002/0093483 A1 *
`7/2002 Kaplan ....................... 345/158
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`* cited by examiner
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`Primary Examiner—Lun-Yi Lao
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`ABSTRACT
`(57)
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`Systems and methods of pomtmg 1n hand-held dev1ces are
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`described.
`In accordance With this scheme, a user may
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`control the position Where a pointer is displayed on a display
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`screen simply by changing the orientation of the hand-held
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`device relative to a currently preferred device orientation,
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`Which is tracked automatically. In addition, unintentional
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`device orientation changes, such as periodic device orien-
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`tation changes that might be caused by carrying the hand-
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`held deVice While walking or driVing, are filtered out
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`dynamically. In this way,
`the pointer may be positioned
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`accurately and reliably at any one of a plurality of pointer
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`screen locations based upon changes in device orientation
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`under a Wide variety of different usage conditions.
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`26 Claims, 4 Drawing Sheets
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`10\
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`Page 1 ofll
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`SAMSUNG EXHIBIT 1006
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`Page 1 of 11
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`SAMSUNG EXHIBIT 1006
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`US. Patent
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`Jan. 25, 2005
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`Sheet 1 0f4
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`US 6,847,351 B2
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`FIG. ZB
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`Page 2 ofll
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`Page 2 of 11
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`US. Patent
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`Jan. 25, 2005
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`Sheet 2 of4
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`US 6,847,351 B2
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`Compute Current Absolute Device Orientation
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`Map Current Absolute Device Orientation to Current
`Absolute Pointer Screen Location
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`Update Average Absolute Pointer Screen Location
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`Update Tracking Delay Period
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`3'
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`5'
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`Tracking
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`Delay Period
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`Expired?
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`Compute Current Pointer Screen Location at
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`Average Absolute Pointer Screen Location
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`Incremented One Unit Towards Screen Center
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`Display Pointer at Current Pointer Screen Location
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`FIG. 3
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`Page 3 ofll
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`Page 3 of 11
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`US. Patent
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`Jan. 25, 2005
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`Sheet 3 0f 4
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`US 6,847,351 B2
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`Compute Current Device Tilt Direction
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`Set Delay
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`Increment to +1
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`Yes
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`. Change .
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`In Devrce TIIt
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`Direction?
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`No
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`Set Delay
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`Increment to -1
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`Current Tracking
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`Previous Tracking
`Current Tracking
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`Yes Delay = Previous
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`Delay + Delay Increment >
`Delay =
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`Tracking Delay +
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`Sampling Period?
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`Delay Increment
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`FIG. 4
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`Page 4 ofll
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`Page 4 of 11
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`US. Patent
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`Jan. 25, 2005
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`Sheet 4 0f4
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`US 6,847,351 B2
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`1"\
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`Receiver
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`Frequency
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`Synthesizerl Controller
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`FIG. 5
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`Page 5 ofll
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`Page 5 of 11
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`1
`TILT-BASED POINTING FOR HAND-HELD
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`DEVICES
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`US 6,847,351 B2
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`2
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`of a mode-dependent parameter may be proportional to the
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`relative change in tilt.
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`In a similar approach, US. Pat. No. 5,602,566 describes
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`a hand-held device in which content that is displayed on a
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`display screen may be scrolled through by changing the tilt
`of the hand-held device relative to a reference tilt direction
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`and relative tilt angle that are established upon activation of
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`a scroll start switch. The scroll direction corresponds to the
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`direction of relative tilt, and the scrolling speed may vary in
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`accordance with the relative tilt angle.
`SUMMARY
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`COPYRIGHTABLE MATERIAL
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`A portion of the disclosure of this patent document
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`contains material which is subject to copyright protection.
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`The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile
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`reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent
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`disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office
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`patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright
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`rights whatsoever.
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`BACKGROUND
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`This invention relates to systems and methods for hand-
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`held device pointing based upon changes in relative device
`orientation.
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`A wide variety of different hand-held devices, such as
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`cellular telephones, cordless telephones, pagers, personal
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`digital assistants (PDAs), solid state digital audio players,
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`CD players, MCD players, cameras and game pads, have
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`been developed to enable users to communicate, process
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`information and playback digital content without being tied
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`to a particular physical location. Hand-held devices typically
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`include one or more input controls and a display screen that
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`is configured to display a graphical user interface, including
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`text and graphics. A pointer is a rectangle, a blinking
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`underline, an arrow or other symbol that allows a user to
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`select commands or options presented by the graphical user
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`interface by positioning the pointer over the desired selec-
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`tion and entering a selection command.
`In general,
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`selection command may be entered by tapping on a touch
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`sensitive display screen or by depressing a designated input
`button.
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`Many different schemes for scrolling a pointer across a
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`display screen have been proposed. In some approaches, one
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`or more input controls (e.g., up and down keypad buttons, a
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`jog dial or a joystick) may be manually activated to move a
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`pointer across a display screen. In hand-held devices that
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`include touch sensitive display screens, a pointer may be
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`moved across the display screen simply by tapping the
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`screen location where the pointer is to be displayed. In
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`general, manual input based pointer scrolling approaches
`input involve the use of two hands or require awkward hand
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`positions to control pointer movement.
`Several non-manual input based schemes have been pro-
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`posed for controlling various operations of a hand-held
`device. For example, US. Pat. No. 6,201,554 discloses a
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`hand-held device that includes a tilt sensor that is configured
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`to sense changes in device tilt relative to a reference tilt that
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`is established when a mode selection switch is activated.
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`Depending upon the selected mode of operation (i.e.,
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`paging, volume control, brightness control, and zoom), one
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`or more device parameters may be modified in response to
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`signals provided by the sensor that are indicative of tilt
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`direction changes relative to the reference tilt. In a paging
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`mode of operation, windows that are displayed on a display
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`screen may be paged through one at a time in response to tilt
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`direction changes. Similarly,
`in a brightness or volume
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`control mode of operation, the brightness level or volume
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`level may be modified in response to tilt direction changes.
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`Finally, in a zoom control mode of operation, the magnifi-
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`cation at which content is displayed on the display screen
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`may be control by changing the tilt of the hand-held device
`relative to the reference tilt. In accordance with the approach
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`described in the ’554 patent, the level or rate of adjustment
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`Page 6 ofll
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`The present invention features a hand-held device pointer
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`positioning scheme (systems and methods) that allows a user
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`to control where a pointer is displayed on a display screen
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`simply by changing the orientation of the hand-held device,
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`while automatically adjusting to different preferred orienta-
`tions of the hand-held device. In addition,
`the invention
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`dynamically filters out unintentional device orientation
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`changes, such as periodic device orientation changes that
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`might be caused by carrying the hand-held device while, for
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`example, walking or driving. In this way,
`the invention
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`provides a practical scheme for accurately and reliably
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`pointing in hand-held devices based upon changes in device
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`orientation under a wide variety of different usage condi-
`tions.
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`In one aspect, the invention features a hand-held device
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`that includes a display screen, an orientation sensor, and a
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`controller. The display screen is operable to display a pointer
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`at any one of a plurality of pointer screen locations. The
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`orientation sensor is operable to provide an indication of
`orientation of the hand-held device. The controller is con-
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`figured to compute a pointer screen location where a pointer
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`is to be displayed on the display screen based upon multiple
`device orientation indications provided by the orientation
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`sensor over time.
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`Embodiments of the invention may include one or more
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`of the following features.
`the controller is configured to
`In some embodiments,
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`compute the pointer screen location based upon an average
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`of display screen locations that are derived from the multiple
`device orientation indications provided by the orientation
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`sensor. The controller may be configured to compute the
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`pointer screen location based upon mappings from device
`orientation indications provided by the orientation sensor to
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`display screen locations.
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`The controller preferably is configured to update the
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`computed pointer screen location once every sampling
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`period. In some embodiments, the controller is configured to
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`cause the location where the pointer is displayed on the
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`display screen to be updated once every tracking delay
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`period. The tracking delay period preferably is at least as
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`long as the sampling period. In some embodiments,
`the
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`controller is configured to increment the computed pointer
`screen location one unit toward a center display screen
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`location before causing the pointer to be displayed on the
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`display screen. The controller may be configured to compute
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`a tracking delay period based upon changes in device tilt
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`direction from one sampling period to another. For example,
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`the controller may be configured to increase the computed
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`tracking delay period in response to a determination that the
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`device tilt direction is changed from one sampling period to
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`another. The controller also may be configured to decrease
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`the computed tracking delay period in response to a deter-
`mination that the device tilt direction is unchanged from one
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`sampling period to another.
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`Page 6 of 11
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`US 6,847,351 B2
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`In some embodiments, the controller is operable to com-
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`pute an average position of the hand-held device based upon
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`multiple device orientation indications provided by the
`orientation sensor over time.
`In accordance with these
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`embodiments, the controller may be operable to compute a
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`relative center position of the display screen based upon the
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`computed average hand-held device position. In addition,
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`the controller may be operable to compute the pointer screen
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`location with respect to the computed relative center posi-
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`tion of the display screen.
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`The invention also features a method of pointing in a
`hand-held device. In accordance with this inventive method,
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`an indication of orientation of the hand-held device is
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`provided, and a pointer screen location where a pointer is to
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`be displayed on the display screen is computed based upon
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`multiple device orientation indications provided by the
`orientation sensor over time.
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`Other features and advantages of the invention will
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`become apparent from the following description, including
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`the drawings and the claims.
`DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
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`As explained in detail below, a user may control the
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`position where pointer 14 is displayed on display screen 12
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`simply by changing the orientation of hand-held device 10
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`relative to a currently preferred device orientation, which is
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`tracked automatically by hand-held device 10. In addition,
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`hand-held device 10 dynamically filters out unintentional
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`device orientation changes, such as periodic device orien-
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`tation changes that might be caused by carrying the hand-
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`held device while for example walking or driving. In this
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`way, pointer 14 may be positioned accurately and reliably at
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`any one of a plurality of pointer screen locations based upon
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`changes in device orientation under a wide variety of
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`different usage conditions.
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`Referring to FIGS. 1, 2A and 2B, the current preferred
`device orientation may be assumed to be the device orien-
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`tation shown in FIG. 1, with an x-axis tilt angle of 6x) 0 and
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`a y-axis tilt angle of 6y) 0 relative to the vertical (2) axis.
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`Pointer 14 may be moved controllably from the top left
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`quadrant of displays screen 12 to the lower left quadrant of
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`display screen 12 simply by tilting hand-held device 10
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`forward along the y-axis to a y-axis tilt angle of 6y) 1, which
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`is greater than 6y) 0 (FIG. 2A). Similarly, pointer 14 may be
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`moved controllably from the lower left quadrant of display
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`screen 12 to the lower right quadrant of display screen 12
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`simply by tilting hand-held device 10 to the left along the
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`x-axis to an x-axis tilt angle of 6x) 1, which is greater than
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`6x) 0 (FIG. 2B). Pointer 14 may be moved to other pointer
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`screen locations by tilting hand-held device in other direc-
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`tions relative to the vertical (2) axis. By design, pointer 14
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`also automatically tends to gravitate towards the center of
`display screen 12. Thus, if hand-held device 10 remains
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`stationary for an extended period, pointer 14 gradually
`moves to the center of display screen 12.
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`In some embodiments, a user may be allowed to modify
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`the ways in which the movement of pointer 14 across display
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`screen 12 responds to changes in the orientation of hand-
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`held device 10. For example, a user may be allowed to
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`specify the movement direction of pointer 14 in response to
`the various tilt directions of hand-held device 10.
`In
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`addition, a user may be allowed to specify the speed at which
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`the movement of pointer 14 tracks changes in the orientation
`of hand-held device 10.
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`the position
`in one embodiment,
`Referring to FIG. 3,
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`where pointer 14 is displayed on display screen 12 may be
`controlled as follows. The current absolute orientation of
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`hand-held device 10 is computed based upon an orientation
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`indication provided by the orientation sensor (step 30). The
`absolute orientation of hand-held device 10 preferably is
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`computed along two axes (e.g., the x- and y-axes) relative to
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`the vertical (2) axis; however, in some embodiments, the
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`absolute device orientation may be computed along only a
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`single axis (e.g., the y-axis). The absolute orientation of
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`hand-held device 10 may be computed in a conventional
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`way. The orientation indications provided by the orientation
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`sensor preferably are sampled at a fixed sampling rate (e.g.,
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`100 samples per second).
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`The computed absolute device orientation is mapped to a
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`current absolute pointer screen location (step 32). The
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`device orientation-to-screen mapping may be any one-to-
`one mapping of device orientation to screen location. For
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`example, in one embodiment, the mapping of Table 1 may
`be used:
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`FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic perspective view of a hand-held
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`device having a display screen on which a pointer is dis-
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`played.
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`FIG. 2A is a diagrammatic perspective view of the hand-
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`held device of FIG. 1 tilted in a forward (y) direction with
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`respect to a vertical (2) axis.
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`FIG. 2B is a diagrammatic perspective view of the hand-
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`held device of FIG. 1 tilted in a leftward (X) direction with
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`respect to a vertical (2) axis.
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`FIG. 3 is a flow diagram of a method of controlling the
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`position of the pointer on the display screen of the hand-held
`device of FIG. 1.
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`FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of a method of updating a
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`tracking delay period based upon changes in the tilt direction
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`of the hand-held device of FIG. 1 from one sampling period
`to another.
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`FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of the hand-held device of
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`FIG. 1 implemented as a cellular telephone.
`DETAILED DESCRIPTION
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`In the following description, like reference numbers are
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`used to identify like elements. Furthermore, the drawings are
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`intended to illustrate major features of exemplary embodi-
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`ments in a diagrammatic manner. The drawings are not
`intended to depict every feature of actual embodiments nor
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`relative dimensions of the depicted elements, and are not
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`drawn to scale.
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`in one embodiment, a hand-held
`Referring to FIG. 1,
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`device 10 includes a display screen 12 that is configured to
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`display a graphical user interface, which may present one or
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`more user commands or options for controlling the operation
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`of hand-held device 10. Apointer 14 may be positioned over
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`the options that are presented by the graphical user interface
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`at any one of a plurality of pointer screen locations. A
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`selection button 16 may be depressed to activate a command
`60
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`or option selected by pointer 14. Hand-held device 10 also
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`includes an orientation (or tilt) sensor (e.g., a gravitational
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`accelerometer) that is operable to provide an indication of
`the orientation of hand-held device 10, and a controller that
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`is configured to compute pointer screen locations where
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`pointer 14 is to be displayed based upon device orientation
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`indications provided by the orientation sensor over time (see
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`FIG. 5).
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`25
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`30
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`35
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`40
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`55
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`65
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`Page 7 ofll
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`Page 7 of 11
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`

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`Angle of X/Y—Axis
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`Relative to Z—Axis
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`00
`90°
`180°
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`TABLE 1
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`Screen Position Along Screen Position Along
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`X-Axis
`Y—Axis
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`Far Right
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`Center
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`Far Left
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`Top
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`Center
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`Bottom
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`Next, an average of absolute screen pointer locations is
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`updated based upon the computed absolute pointer screen
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`location (step 34). In one embodiment, the average absolute
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`screen pointer location is computed from the 100 most
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`recent samples of absolute screen pointer locations in accor-
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`dance with the following exemplary C++ pseudocode rou-
`tine.
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`© 2001 Siemens Information and Communication Mobile,
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`LLC, All rights reserved.
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`10
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`US 6,847,351 B2
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`6
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`direction from one sampling period to another. This allows
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`unintentional device orientation changes, such as periodic
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`device orientation changes that might be caused by carrying
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`the hand-held device while walking or driving, to be filtered
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`out dynamically. The current device tilt direction is com-
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`puted in a conventional way (step 38). If current tilt direction
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`is different from the tilt direction computed in the previous
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`sampling period (step 40), a delay increment is set to +1
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`(step 42). Otherwise, the delay increment is set to —1 (step
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`44). If the sum of the tracking delay period computed in the
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`previous sampling period and the delay increment is greater
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`than the sampling period (step 46), the current tracking delay
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`period is set to the sum of the previous tracking delay period
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`and the delay increment (step 48). Otherwise, the current
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`tracking delay period is set to the sampling period (step 50).
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`In this way, the tracking delay period is always at least as
`
`# define AchMax 100
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`// average sample count for X and Y coordinates
`# define AchMax 100
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`unsigned char Ach[AchMax];
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`unsigned char Ach[AchMax];
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`//--Interrupt handler for position averaging, occurs every Ta milliseconds
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`//(SamplingPeriod = Ta)
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`void PositionAverage(void)
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`/shift sample arrays
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`unsigned char i;
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`unsigned int AngTotal = 0;
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`unsigned int AvgYTotal = 0;
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`for ( i = AchMax — 1; i > —1;i——)
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`Ach[i+1]=Ach[i];
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`for ( i = AchMax — 1; i > —1;i——)
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`Ach[i+1]=Ach[i];
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`// push new sample into array
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`Ach [ 0 ] = AbsCurrentPositionX;
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`Ach [ 0 ] = AbsCurrentPositionY;
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`// accumulate
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`for ( i = 0; i < AchMax — 1; i++)
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`AngTotal += Ach [ i ];
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`for ( i = 0; i < AchMax — 1; i++)
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`AvgYTotal += Ach [ i ];
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`// average
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`AngTotal = round(AngTotal/AchMax);
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`AvgYTotal = round(AvgYTotal/AchMax);
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`// update cursor position
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`AbsCurrentPositionX = AngTotal;
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`AbsCurrentPositionY = AvgYTotal;
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`}
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`{/
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`A pointer tracking delay period also is updated based so long as the sampling period. In one embodiment, the track-
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`ing delay period may be computed in accordance with the
`upon the computed absolute pointer screen location (step
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`following exemplary C++ pseudocode routine.
`
`36).
`© Siemens Information and Communication Mobile, LLC,
`As shown in FIG. 4, in one embodiment, the tracking
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`delay period may be responsive to changes in device tilt
`All rights reserved.
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`void CalculateTrackingDelayFactor(void)
`
`
`
`{
`// determine if the cursor change relative to the previous position is negative or
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`//positive,
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`// 0 if no change, —1 if negative change and 1 if positive change
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`XCurrentSign = AbsPrevPositionX — AbsCurrentPositionX;
`
`
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`if (XCurrentSign)
`
`
`{
`XCurrentSign = XCurrentSign/abs(XCurrentSign);
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`XDelayFactor = — (XPrevSign * XCurrentSign);
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`// store data for next interrupt
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`Page 8 ofll
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`Page 8 of 11
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`

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`US 6,847,351 B2
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`7
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`-continued
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`XPrevSign = XCurrentSign;
`
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`AbsPrevPositionX = AbsCurrentPositionX;
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`
`}
`YCurrentSign = AbsPrevPositionY — AbsCurrentPositionY;
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`if (YCurrentSign)
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`CurrentSign = YCurrentSign/abs(YCurrentSign);
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`YDelayFactor = — (YPrevSign * YCurrentSign);
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`// store data for next interrupt
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`YPrevSign = YCurrentSign;
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`AbsPrevPositionY = AbsCurrentPositionY;
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`
`}
`//if there is a change in direction, DelayFactor becomes 1, otherwise —1
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`DelayFactor = DelayXFactor I DelayYFactor;
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`// make sure the tracking delay is never smaller than the sampling period
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`TrackingDelay = (TrackingDelay + DelayFactor > SamplingPeriod)?
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`TrackingDelay + DelayFactor : SamplingPeriod;
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`}
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`{Y
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`Referring back to FIG. 3, if the tracking delay period has
`
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`not expired (step 52), an orientation indication provided by
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`the orientation sensor is sampled and the current absolute
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`
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`
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`orientation of hand-held device 10 is computed (step 30).
`
`
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`
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`Otherwise, the current pointer screen location is computed at
`
`
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`the average absolute pointer screen location incremented
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`one unit (e.g., one pixel) towards the center of display screen
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`12 (step 54). In one embodiment, the current pointer screen
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`location may be computed in accordance with the following
`
`
`
`
`exemplary C++ pseudocode routine.
`© Siemens Information and Communication Mobile, LLC,
`
`
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`
`
`
`
`
`
`All rights reserved.
`
`
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`20
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`25
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`30
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`synthesizer 66. Frequency synthesizer 66 controls the oper-
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`ating frequencies of receiver 60 and transmitter 68, and
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`generates electronic radio frequency signals in response to
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`
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`control signals received from controller 64.
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`
`
`In general, hand-held device 10 may be implemented as
`
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`
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`
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`
`
`any one of a wide variety of different portable electronic
`
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`
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`devices, including a cellular telephone, a cordless telephone,
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`a pager, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a solid state
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`digital audio player, a CD or MCD player, a camera, and a
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`game pad. Hand-held device 10 also may include various
`
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`
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`implementation-dependent user controls, including a play
`button, a stop button, a fast forward/next selection button, a
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`#define ScreenWidth 25 6
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`#define ScreenHeight 256 // assume the display is 256 pixels wide by 256 pixels high
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`128
`#define CenterX
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`#define CenterY
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`128 //the center X and Y position are half of the display
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`//dimensions
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`//-- Interrupt handler for cursor center positioning, occurs every Td milliseconds
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`//(TrackingDelay = Td)
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`void PositionCenter(void)
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`// determine if the cursor position relative to the center is negative or positive
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`IncXFactor = CenterX — AbsCurrentPositionX;
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`IncYFactor = CenterY — AbsCurrentPositionY;
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`// determine if the step increment for X and Y towards the center is +1 or —1
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`IncXFactor = IncXFactor/abs(IncXFactor);
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`IncYFactor = IncYFactor/abs(IncYFactor);
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`// move the cursor one step every interrupt
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`CurrentPositionX += IncXFactor;
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`CurrentPositionY += IncYFactor;
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`Pointer 14 is displayed at the computed current screen
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`pointer location (step 56), and the process is repeated (step
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`30).
`Referring to FIG. 5, in one embodiment, hand-held device
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`10 may be implemented as a cellular telephone that includes
`an antenna 58, a receiver 60, a speaker 62, a controller 64,
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`a frequency synthesizer 66, a transmitter 68, a microphone
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`70, a keypad 72, a display 12, a memory 74, and a battery
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`power supply 76. Hand-held device 10 also includes a tilt
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`sensor 78 (e.g., an ADXL202 two-axis acceleration sensor
`available from Analog Devices, Inc. of Norwood, Mass.,
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`USA.) that is operable to provide indications of the current
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`orientation of hand-held device 10 along two orthogonal
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`axes relative to a vertical axis. Controller 64 choreographs
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`the operation of receiver 60, transmitter 68, and frequency
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`60
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`65
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`rewind/previous selection button, and a volume control dial.
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`In addition, hand-held device 10 may have an output port for
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`connecting to an input jack of an audio output device (e.g.,
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`headphones), and a cable port for connecting to a computer
`or other hardware system. In some embodiments, hand-held
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`device 10 may include a wireless communication port, for
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`example, an IrDA (Infrared Data Association) port, through
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`which hand-held device 10 may wirelessly exchange data
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`with other similarly configured devices,
`including other
`hand-held devices. Some embodiments may include an RF
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`antenna instead of, or in addition to, a wireless communi-
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`cation port.
`The systems and methods described herein are not limited
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`to any particular hardware or software configuration, but
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`rather they may be implemented in any computing or
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`Page 9 of 11
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`US 6,847,351 B2
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`9
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`processing environment, including in digital e