SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR REDUCING THE NUMBER OF PORTS ASSOCIATED WITH A MOBILE DEVICE

摘要

The technology presented here reduces the number of ports associated with the mobile device by combining a plurality of ports into a single multipurpose port. In one embodiment, the multipurpose port includes multiple sensors that detect various properties associated with a light beam, and a light guide that transmits the light beam between the environment outside and the multiple sensors inside the mobile device. In another embodiment, a multipurpose camera includes one or more pixels, different from the rest of the multipurpose camera pixels, where the one or more pixels receive a unique control signal. The unique control signal, sent by a processor coupled to the multipurpose camera, includes an instruction to perform an action different from the rest of the pixels, e.g., to turn on when the rest of the pixels are off. The active pixels can detect coarse properties of the light while saving mobile device battery life.

主权项

1. A mobile device comprising:
a camera operable to sense both ambient light and a proximity associated with an object, the camera comprising:
a plurality of light sensors, the plurality of light sensors operable to turn off to save power;a first light sensor in the plurality of light sensors operable to turn on when the other light sensors in the plurality of light sensors are turned off, and when the other light sensors in the plurality of light sensors are turned off, the first light sensor operable to receive a first light beam; and a camera controller executing instructions to send a unique control signal to the first light sensor, the unique control signal comprising an identification associated with the first light sensor, and any one of an instruction to turn on or an instruction to turn off, and the camera controller executing instructions to detect a plurality of properties associated with the first light beam, the plurality of properties comprising a frequency associated with the first light beam, and an amplitude associated with the first light beam.