The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.

The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.

Date of Patent:
Mar. 31, 2015

Filed:

Mar. 16, 2011
Applicants:

Lihua Zhao, Cupertino, CA (US);

Richard Tsai, Cupertino, CA (US);

Inventors:

Lihua Zhao, Cupertino, CA (US);

Richard Tsai, Cupertino, CA (US);

Assignee:

Apple Inc., Cupertino, CA (US);

Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Assistant Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
G06F 7/04 (2006.01); G06F 21/32 (2013.01); H04W 12/06 (2009.01); H04L 29/06 (2006.01); H04W 88/02 (2009.01);
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
G06F 21/32 (2013.01); H04W 12/06 (2013.01); H04L 63/0861 (2013.01); H04W 88/02 (2013.01);
Abstract

In an embodiment of the invention, an unlocked mobile device is configured to capture images, analyze the images to detect a user's face, and automatically lock the device in response to determining that a user's face does not appear in the images. The camera capturing and face recognition processing may be triggered by the device having detected that it has been motionless for a threshold period of time. In another embodiment, a locked mobile device is configured to capture an initial image using its camera, capture a new image in response to detecting movement of the device, determine that the device moved to a use position, capture a subsequent image in response to determining that the device moved to a use position, analyze the subsequent image to detect a user's face, and unlock the device in response to detecting the user's face. Other embodiments are also described and claimed.


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