14 DAY TRIAL // USPTO published a Huawei patent describing a Macbook-like touch bar peripheral zone at the bottom of the device featuring an in-display fingerprint sensor and capable of displaying smartphone alerts and notifications even when the device is locked, as reported by LetsGoDigital.
Moreover, the patent named "Devices with peripheral task bar display zone and under-LCD screen optical sensor module for on-screen fingerprint sensing" also says that the extra screen zone will be part of the same screen panel.
Despite that, Huawei stated in the patent just published by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) on September 15 that the peripheral display zone with an in-display fingerprint sensor will work independently from the main display, just like the touch bar on Apple's MacBook Pro.
Also, as described in the patent, Huawei's patented bottom "touch bar" for smartphones will also have an independent backlight source which will allow it to work even when the primary display is turned off when the device is locked.
The peripheral display zone patented by Huawei can also be used for collecting health data such as glucose levels and heart rate
Even though the fingerprint sensor is not spelled out in the patent, in the invention's description Huawei mentions that "the peripheral zone based on the disclosed technology can be used to provide for certain sensing functions by including one or more sensors under the display area for the peripheral display zone."
Furthermore, Huawei's smartphone "touch bar" can also be used for collecting health data such as heart rate and other biometric information to determine if the fingerprint is not faked.
"The sensor module can detect a change in the returned light from a finger due to the heartbeat/blood flow change and can thus detect whether there is a live heartbeat," states LetsGoDigital. "Other possible parameters mentioned in the patent are the glucose level and the degree of oxygen saturation. The patent does not mention anything about the speed of this sensor."
The patented peripheral zone can be used to display anything from images, information and custom content and, according to patent images, to show messages, text, icons, or pictures for easier notification of the user when the smartphone is locked.
UPDATE: After the publication of the article we found out that the patent's Current Assignee and Original Assignee point at Shenzhen Goodix Tech Co Ltd and not Huawei as originally reported.
