Enhancing security and emergency functionalities in mobile phones based on detection of physical shocks

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This patent describes a method and system in mobile phones that detect physical shocks (such as a fall or impact) using accelerometer data, and optionally audio input, to identify situations that might be security- or emergency-critical. If a shock is detected and followed by a period of inactivity (meaning the phone/user is not moving), the phone can respond automatically—such as locking itself, emitting an alarm, or notifying emergency contacts with its location. The detection method uses advanced signal processing and pattern recognition to distinguish true emergencies from normal movements, reducing false alarms.

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• Automatically locking a mobile phone to protect sensitive data if it is dropped and left unattended, to prevent unauthorized access in case of loss or theft.
• Detecting if a user has suffered an accident, such as a fall or car crash, and automatically alerting emergency services or designated contacts with the user's location.
• Providing additional safety for elderly or at-risk individuals by automatically detecting falls and issuing alerts when needed.
• Sending remote notifications or alarms to caregivers or authorities in the event of suspicious or emergency situations involving sudden shocks and inactivity.
• Improving disaster response by enabling mobile devices to automatically signal distress or provide situational awareness based on detected shock events.

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• Increases personal safety by enabling automatic detection and response to critical emergencies like falls, crashes, or accidents.
• Protects confidential or sensitive data on mobile devices by proactively locking access if the device is lost or stolen after a shock event.
• Reduces false alarms by using pattern recognition and both acceleration and audio features to distinguish real emergencies from normal activities.
• Automates emergency notifications, potentially speeding up response times and improving survival outcomes in real accidents.
• Non-intrusive and always-on protection, leveraging commonly available hardware (accelerometers, microphones) in modern mobile devices.

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Patent Abstract

The invention provides a method and mobile phone of identifying at least one of a security or emergency critical situation of a user of a mobile phone, the mobile phone comprising at least one acceleration sensor, the method comprising the steps of: obtaining at least one acceleration signal from said at least one acceleration sensor representing a current situation of the mobile phone; pre-processing said obtained at least one acceleration signal to remove redundant information present in said at least one signal; performing a feature extraction on said pre-processed at least one acceleration signal; performing a shock detection based on the acceleration pattern represented by the extracted acceleration features; and performing a subsequent mobile phone activity detection if a shock is detected in step (d); wherein a security or emergency critical situation is identified if the shock is followed by a period of no or low activity.