CN-116420059-B - Adaptive sampling by barometer with close integration with other sensors and actuators

Abstract

A personal electronic device has the feature of intelligently adjusting the sampling rate of a sensor such as a barometer. Before acquiring a measurement from a sensor, the device will check whether other hardware has conditions that may introduce noise into the measurement. If the device does not determine that excessive noise may be present after inspection of the other hardware, the device continues to acquire measurements from the sensors. Otherwise, the device delays the measurement. At the end of the delay, the device may again check other hardware before taking measurements from the sensors.

Inventors

• Boyang Bonev

Assignees

• 谷歌有限责任公司

Dates

Publication Date

20260505

Application Date

20201020

Claims (15)

1. 1. An apparatus, comprising: a barometer sensor; Barometer noise associated hardware capable of detecting movement of the device or capable of detecting or generating sound, and One or more processors in communication with the sensor and the noise-associated hardware, the one or more processors configured to: Periodically checking the barometer noise associated hardware for barometer noise associated conditions, wherein checking the barometer noise associated hardware for barometer noise associated conditions includes checking for instructions sent to output hardware that, when executed by the output hardware, cause the output hardware to produce conditions capable of introducing barometer noise into measurements taken by the barometer sensor, and Determining to acquire measurements from the barometer sensor if the barometer noise association condition is within acceptable limits or to delay acquiring measurements from the barometer sensor by waiting for a delay interval to pass that depends on an instruction corresponding to the barometer noise association condition if the barometer noise association condition is outside acceptable limits.
2. 2. The device of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to: after the delay interval ends, checking the barometer noise correlation hardware again for a second barometer noise correlation condition, and Determining to acquire a second measurement from the barometer sensor if the second barometer noise associated condition is within an acceptable limit or to delay acquiring the second measurement from the barometer sensor if the second barometer noise associated condition is outside an acceptable limit.
3. 3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the processor is configured to obtain a third measurement from the barometer sensor after a predetermined number of delays regardless of barometer noise correlation conditions.
4. 4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the barometer sensor is a first sensor and the barometer noise correlation hardware includes a second sensor that is sampled more frequently than the first sensor.
5. 5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the acceptable limit of the barometer noise correlation condition is a predefined threshold magnitude for the output of the barometer noise correlation hardware.
6. 6. The device of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to interpret the measurement using the most recently observed barometer noise correlation condition once the measurement is obtained from the barometer sensor.
7. 7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the barometer noise correlation hardware comprises at least one of a speaker, an actuator, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, and an inertial measurement unit.
8. 8. The device of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are configured to estimate a height of the device using measurements obtained from the barometer sensor.
9. 9. A method of periodically sampling a barometer sensor, comprising: Checking, using one or more processors, hardware other than the barometer sensor and capable of detecting movement of a device or capable of detecting or generating sound for barometer noise associated conditions, wherein checking for barometer noise associated conditions includes checking for instructions sent to output hardware that, when executed by the output hardware, cause the output hardware to generate conditions capable of introducing barometer noise into measurements taken by the barometer sensor, and Determining, using the one or more processors, to acquire measurements from a barometer sensor if the barometer noise associated condition is within acceptable limits or to delay acquisition of measurements from the barometer sensor by waiting for a delay interval to pass that depends on instructions corresponding to the barometer noise associated condition if the barometer noise associated condition is outside acceptable limits.
10. 10. The method of claim 9, comprising: after the delay interval ends, the steps of inspecting the hardware and making a determination to acquire or delay acquisition measurements are repeated.
11. 11. The method of claim 10, comprising adjusting the acceptable limit to become more relaxed relative to an initial state each time acquisition of a measurement is delayed, and resetting the acceptable limit to an initial state once a measurement is acquired.
12. 12. The method of claim 10, wherein the steps of checking hardware and making a determination are performed at the end of a repeated sampling interval of longer duration than the delay interval.
13. 13. The method of claim 12, comprising obtaining measurements from the barometer sensor, regardless of the barometer noise condition, upon expiration of a predetermined buffer interval after a given sampling interval ends, where no measurements have been obtained from the barometer sensor since the given sampling interval ended.
14. 14. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, will cause the processors to: periodically checking barometer noise associated hardware for barometer noise associated conditions, wherein the barometer noise associated hardware is capable of detecting movement of a device or capable of detecting or producing sound, checking barometer noise associated conditions includes checking for instructions sent to output hardware that, when executed by the output hardware, cause the output hardware to produce conditions capable of introducing barometer noise into measurements taken by the barometer sensor, and A determination is made to acquire a measurement from a barometer sensor if the barometer noise associated condition is outside an acceptable limit or to delay acquiring the measurement from the barometer sensor if the barometer noise associated condition is outside an acceptable limit by waiting for a delay interval to pass that depends on an instruction corresponding to the barometer noise associated condition.
15. 15. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14, storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, will cause the processors to: After the delay interval ends, the steps of inspecting the hardware and making a determination to acquire or delay acquiring the measurement are repeated.

Description

Adaptive sampling by barometer with close integration with other sensors and actuators Background Various personal electronic devices, such as smart watches, activity trackers, or other wearable electronic devices, including barometers. The device may use its barometer to detect changes in altitude. Other features of the device (such as a speaker or a tactile actuator) may introduce noise into the measurements made by the barometer. This interference is particularly pronounced in designs where the barometer is placed near the speaker. Conventional use of the device, such as by a fast moving device or speaking to the device, may also introduce noise into the measurements obtained by the barometer. Barometers consume more power than some other device inputs, so barometer sensor sampling rates tend to be relatively low to preserve battery life. Thus, real-time use of barometer measurements (e.g., to track a user's position or gesture) relies on relatively few data points, meaning that noise affecting any one sample can have a significant impact on any barometer-related function. Avoiding transient conditions that introduce noise when taking samples from the barometer will improve the results of barometer-related functions. Disclosure of Invention The device may be configured to obtain measurements from the barometer at a variable rate. The rate may vary depending on measurements taken from or instructions sent to hardware features of devices other than barometers. The configuration of the device may include a timer function for observing the sampling interval. At the end of the sampling interval, the device may check hardware features other than the barometer for conditions that may introduce noise into the measurement of the barometer. In the event that the noise correlation condition is within acceptable limits, measurements may be taken from the barometer. In the event that the noise-related conditions exceed acceptable limits, the device may refrain from taking measurements from the barometer, wait for a delay interval of shorter duration than the sampling interval, and then review hardware outside of the barometer. The acceptable limits of noise correlation conditions may become less stringent over time since the end of the sampling interval. The timer function may reset at the end of the sampling interval, meaning that the sampling interval will end at a constant fixed frequency, no matter how long the device waits due to noise-related conditions. The buffer window may begin at the end of the sampling interval. At the end of the buffer window, the device can obtain measurements from the barometer, regardless of the noise associated conditions. Thus, at the end of the buffer window, the device may obtain measurements from the barometer without checking hardware other than the barometer for noise-related conditions. In another aspect, an apparatus may be configured to increase a sampling rate of a barometer when a noise-related condition is present. The device may be configured to decrease the sampling interval each time an instruction of at least a threshold magnitude is sent to the noise generating hardware or a measurement of at least a threshold magnitude is received from the noise indicating sensor. In another example, the device may be configured to check hardware other than barometers for noise-related conditions once the barometer acquires a measurement. In the event that a noise correlation condition exceeding a threshold magnitude is detected, the sampling rate may be increased. The sampling rate may remain increased until a noise-related condition below a threshold level is detected when hardware outside of the barometer is checked. In another aspect, a device may include a sensor, noise-related hardware, and one or more processors in communication with the sensor and the noise-related hardware. The one or more processors may be configured to periodically check the noise-related hardware for noise-related conditions. The one or more processors may also be configured to determine to obtain measurements from the sensor if the noise-related condition is within acceptable limits or to delay obtaining measurements from the sensor if the noise-related condition is outside acceptable limits. In some arrangements, the processor may be configured to wait for a delay interval to pass once it is determined to delay acquisition of the measurement, to check the noise correlation hardware again for a second noise correlation condition after the delay interval ends, and to determine to acquire the second measurement from the sensor if the second noise correlation condition is within acceptable limits, or to delay acquisition of the second measurement from the sensor if the second noise correlation condition is outside acceptable limits. In some arrangements, the processor may be configured to obtain the third measurement from the sensor after a predetermined number of delays, regardless of the noise correlatio