In recent years, users have put forward higher requirements on preventing information leakage and security, and the screen unlocking technology is also being updated and updated.At present, the biometric identification technology represented by fingerprint unlocking has been widely used. Not long ago, iPhoneX In fact, in order to meet the diversified needs of users, R & D personnel are also trying to develop personalized innovative solutions to enhance the user experience.In this article, I will from the perspective of the patent Exploring the Development of Screen Unlocking Technology.
The number of patents dominant in the country
The author found through search that in the field of mobile terminal unlocking, the number of Chinese patent applications up to 1979 was before 1979. Before 2003, there was no domestic patent application; from 2003 to 2005, it belonged to the technology transition period, and the technology mainly involved the input of password , External factors such as the unlock; 2006 to 2007 belong to the infancy of new technology, there has been for the touch screen to unlock the technology, Apple's slide to unlock the patent as its representative; from 2008 to unlock the patent application into a period of rapid development, The unlocking method has been greatly enriched. The number of patent applications has increased substantially. The annual average number of patent applications in 2012 and 2016 has gradually increased from about 300 to about 400, of which 223% of the year-on-year growth achieved in 2012.
After further analysis, the author found that the number of patent applications filed by Chinese applicants accounted for 93.18% of the total number of applicants filed in the country, province and municipality, much higher than 2.68% and 1.36% of applicants from South Korea, the United States, Japan and other countries, , 0.91% and 1.87%, respectively, which is related to the fact that China has many brands and high output in the smart terminal industry.Guangdong occupies half of the total amount in terms of provincial distribution. Other economically active provinces and cities also have outstanding performance such as millet, Of Beijing accounted for 14.4% of the total, Fiji News Shanghai accounted for 9.85%.
It is worth mentioning that, due to the fact that most of the domestic applicants are market players, they also occupy an absolute superiority in the number of patents and patent technology has strong transformation ability, which is directly reflected in many of its products.In contrast, The total number of foreign applicants is less, accounting for only 6.82%, but there is no lack of basic patents, these patents constitute the source of the entire technical branch, its quality and power should not be underestimated, and the high rate of maintenance of these patents, Reflects the gold content of the relevant patents.
R & D context gradually clear
According to different implementation principles, the screen unlocking technologies of mobile terminals can be divided into eight categories: mechanical components, question answering input, touch points, swipe gestures, map operations, biometrics, external / sensor factors, Set of folding and sliding, operating keys / stylus / line as an early unlock mode, which is user-friendly, but due to lack of safety and other reasons did not continue to develop Q & A input methods include input password, signature / handwriting, Answering the question, which enhances security, but can not distinguish between user identities, the relevant applications to maintain a low level. Point touch mode, including click, press the object, simple operation, but less innovative point of entry, resulting in the application has been hovering low Sliding gesture unlocking methods include unlocking the sliding icon and unlocking the sliding parameter matching. The number of patent applications related to this method has experienced a substantial increase under the leadership of Apple's sliding unlocking patent, but the late growth slowed due to the maturity of technology and the exhaustion of creativity Graphical operations include the manipulation, interactivity and fun of graphics, images, blocks, patterns, but their safety Lower sex, is no longer the focus of the industry.
It is noteworthy that, with the pattern recognition, imaging and image processing technology and the popularity of wearable devices, biometric identification is rapidly emerging.This method includes fingerprint / palmprint, face, iris / sclera, pulse, voiceprint, eye Ministry actions / states, ear / head recognition or other combinations are highly valued due to uniqueness, ease of collection and identifiable verification, etc., and have achieved unprecedented development, with a steady increase in the number of applications In the early stage, external / sensory factors were mainly triggered by external interaction and accessory access, and sensors were used to sense parameters in the late stage due to the development and introduction of sensing technologies, privacy requirements and personal considerations The number of applications to maintain a high level.
After statistical analysis, the author found that biometrics accounted for 1/4, sliding gestures and external / sensory factors each accounted for 1/5, which belonged to the mainstream technology in the application of the unlock technology, the fingerprint recognition in biometric identification accounted for more than half Share, its time span from 2003 to now, this is because the fingerprint recognition technology is more mature.Face recognition due to the image acquisition by the ambient light, angle and other factors, as well as the impact of the large amount of data processing caused by 3D modeling, the previous application A small number, but it will be the focus of future research and development.
To enhance the quality is imminent
The author of the search analysis found that from 2003 to 2016, the top 10 applicants for unlocking patent applications in China were Opal, ZTE, Nubian, Yulong, Coolpad, TCL, Fiji, Hon Hai, Xiaomi, Jinli, Huawei, Vaughn / step by step, of which Opal topped the list with 271, reflecting the company's emphasis on patents; ZTE / Nubian also ranked second in 189; other major applicants are mostly the mainstream mobile phone development and Manufacturers, their products also have a larger market share.The top ten applicants pay attention to each area of focus, which is closely related to its own development and innovative ideas.Opene over half of patent applications focused on the biometric unlock, as well as near 1/5 focus on unlocking of gestures; ZTE / Nubia focused on unlocking of biometrics and unlocking of external / sensory factors.Although there is no foreign company among the top ten applicants, compared with the emphasis on applications of patent applications by domestic companies, Foreign companies focus on the area of patent applications also include basic research, for example, through the acquisition of professional companies to develop and application of functional devices, module integration and other technologies.
In the information age led by innovation, the competition among enterprises has evolved into the competition of patented technologies. Domestic enterprises need to establish the concept of "passive products and patents first", formulate patent protection measures in line with their own development stages, actively carry out patent layout, Enhance patent reserves and build patent pools to effectively improve the quality of patents and enhance their industrial influence; meanwhile, they should follow the trend of technological development, tap and improve existing technologies, study the areas of concern and patent distribution of competitors both at home and abroad, and learn the technical breakthroughs Point selection and specific ways to achieve the optimization of technology and original technology to explore both hands, to do fine mainstream technology and to provide personalized solutions to promote the two. I suggest that domestic enterprises continue to strengthen independent innovation, master the core technology based on the patent to enlarge Strong, the only way to dominate the market competition.