Selective hibernation of activities in an electronic device

• US 10,268,358 B2
• Filed: 01/21/2016
• Issued: 04/23/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 07/20/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Shiplacoff, Daniel Marc Gatan, Duarte, Matias Gonzalo, Lyon, Jeremy Godfrey
• Primary Examiner(s): Bhatia, Ajay M
• Assistant Examiner(s): Chung, Mong-Shune
• Application Number:
  US15/003,451
• Publication Number:
  US 20160154558A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,188 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3225 of memory devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3228 Monitoring task completion, e.g. by use of idle timers, stop commands or wait commands
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3243 Power saving in microcontroller unit
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3275 Power saving in memory, e.g. RAM, cache
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3287 by switching off individual functional units in the computer system
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0481 based on specific properties of the displayed interaction object or a metaphor-based environment, e.g. interaction with desktop elements like windows or icons, or assisted by a cursor's changing behaviour or appearance
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0483 Interaction with page-structured environments, e.g. book metaphor
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04842 Selection of displayed objects or displayed text elements G06F3/0482 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0485 Scrolling or panning
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/4418 Suspend and resume; Hibernate and awake
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/14 Display of multiple viewports
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72403 with means for local support of applications that increase the functionality
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0264 by selectively disabling software applications
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 10/00 Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/50 in wire-line communication networks, e.g. low power modes or reduced link rate
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

In an electronic device capable of running multiple software applications concurrently, applications, documents, cards, or other activities can be selected for hibernation so as to free up system resources for other activities that are in active use. A determination is made as to which activities should hibernate, for example based on a determination as to which activities have not been used recently or based on relative resource usage. When an activity is to hibernate, its state is preserved on a storage medium such as a disk, so that the activity can later be revived in the same state and the user can continue with the same task that was being performed before the activity entered hibernation.

Claims

1. A method for operating a mobile computing device, the method comprising:

concurrently running a plurality of activities, each of the plurality of activities being distinct and having a corresponding live interactive user interface displayable on a display screen of the mobile computing device;

placing a first activity of the plurality of activities into hibernation based on a detection of a low-memory condition of the mobile computing device, the first activity having a corresponding first live interactive user interface;

taking a snapshot of a current live display of the first live interactive user interface;

replacing, on the display screen, the first live interactive user interface with a first non-interactive user interface displaying a representation of the snapshot; and

scrolling, in response to a directional touch input provided by a user along a horizontal axis of the display screen, the first non-interactive user interface corresponding to the hibernating first activity and at least one of the live interactive user interfaces corresponding to a non-hibernating activity along the horizontal axis towards an edge of the display screen by moving the first non-interactive user interface and the at least one live interactive user interface along the horizontal axis in the same direction as the directional touch input,

wherein the hibernation of the first activity is unaffected by the scrolling or a particular display position of the corresponding first non-interactive user interface.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

saving, in a storage device of the mobile computing device, activity state information corresponding to a current state of the first activity.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein at least a portion of a system resource of the mobile computing device is freed in response to the hibernation of the first activity.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

reviving the first activity from hibernation based on a detection of a second condition.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the second condition comprises an exit from the low-memory condition.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the second condition comprises a user selection of the snapshot.

7. The method of claim 4, wherein the second condition comprises an explicit user command.

8. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

in response to reviving the first activity from hibernation, selecting another activity for hibernation.

9. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

in response to not detecting the second condition within a time period, automatically closing the first activity.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the moving comprises displaying the first non-interactive user interface and the at least one live interactive user interface in a plurality of display positions that change based on the scrolling.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the snapshot is taken based on the first activity being placed into hibernation.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the directional touch input comprises a dragging gesture on the display screen along the horizontal axis.

13. A mobile computing device, comprising:

a touch-sensitive display screen;

a processor; and

a memory storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the mobile computing device to;

concurrently run a plurality of activities, each of the plurality of activities being distinct and having a corresponding live interactive user interface displayable on the display screen;

place a first activity of the plurality of activities into hibernation based on a detection of a low-memory condition of the mobile computing device, the first activity having a corresponding first live interactive user interface;

take a snapshot of a current live display of the first live interactive user interface;

replace, on the display screen, the first live interactive user interface with a first non-interactive user interface displaying a representation of the snapshot; and

scroll, in response to a directional touch input provided by a user along a horizontal axis of the display screen, the first non-interactive user interface corresponding to the hibernating first activity and at least one of the live interactive user interfaces corresponding to a non-hibernating activity along the horizontal axis towards an edge of the display screen by moving the first non-interactive user interface and the at least one live interactive user interface along the horizontal axis in the same direction as the directional touch input,

wherein the hibernation of the first activity is unaffected by the scrolling or a particular display position of the corresponding first non-interactive user interface.

14. The mobile computing device of claim 13, wherein execution of the instructions causes the mobile computing device to further:

save, in a storage device of the mobile computing device, activity state information corresponding to a current state of the first activity.

15. The mobile computing device of claim 13, wherein at least a portion of a system resource of the mobile computing device is freed in response to the hibernation of the first activity.

16. The mobile computing device of claim 13, wherein execution of the instructions causes the mobile computing device to further:

revive the first activity from hibernation based on a detection of a second condition.

17. The mobile computing device of claim 16, wherein the second condition comprises an exit from the low-memory condition.

18. The mobile computing device of claim 16, wherein the second condition comprises a user selection of the snapshot.

19. The mobile computing device of claim 16, wherein the second condition comprises an explicit user command.

20. The mobile computing device of claim 16, wherein execution of the instructions causes the mobile computing device to further:

in response to reviving the first activity from hibernation, automatically select another activity for hibernation.

21. The mobile computing device of claim 16, wherein execution of the instructions causes the mobile computing device to further:

in response to not detecting the second condition within a time period, automatically close the first activity.

22. The mobile computing device of claim 13, wherein the moving comprises displaying the first non-interactive user interface and the at least one live interactive user interface in a plurality of display positions that change based on the scrolling.

23. The mobile computing device of claim 13, wherein the snapshot is taken based on the first activity being placed into hibernation.

24. The mobile computing device of claim 13, wherein the directional touch input comprises a dragging gesture on the display screen along the horizontal axis.

25. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by a processor of a mobile computing device, cause the mobile computing device to perform operations comprising:

concurrently running a plurality of activities, each of the plurality of activities being distinct and having a corresponding live interactive user interface displayable on a display screen of the mobile computing device;

placing a first activity of the plurality of activities into hibernation based on a detection of a low-memory condition of the mobile computing device, the first activity having a corresponding first live interactive user interface;

taking a snapshot of a current live display of the first live interactive user interface;

replacing, on the display screen, the first live interactive user interface with a first non-interactive user interface displaying a representation of the snapshot; and

scrolling, in response to a directional touch input provided by a user along a horizontal axis of the display screen, the first non-interactive user interface corresponding to the hibernating first activity and at least one of the live interactive user interfaces corresponding to a non-hibernating activity along the horizontal axis towards an edge of the display screen by moving the first non-interactive user interface and the at least one live interactive user interface in a plurality of display positions along the horizontal axis in the same direction as the directional touch input,

wherein hibernation of the first activity is unaffected by the scrolling or a particular display position of the corresponding first non-interactive user interface.

26. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 25, wherein execution of the instructions causes the mobile computing device to perform operations further comprising:

saving, in a storage device of the mobile computing device, activity state information corresponding to a current state of the first activity.

27. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 25, wherein at least a portion of a system resource of the mobile computing device is freed in response to the hibernation of the first activity.

28. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 25, wherein execution of the instructions causes the mobile computing device to perform operations further comprising:

reviving the first activity from hibernation based on a detection of a second condition.

29. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 28, wherein the second condition comprises an exit from the low-memory condition.

30. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 28, wherein the second condition comprises a user selection of the snapshot.

31. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 28, wherein the second condition comprises an explicit user command.

32. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 28, wherein execution of the instructions causes the mobile computing device to perform operations further comprising:

in response to reviving the first activity from hibernation, automatically selecting another activity for hibernation.

33. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 28, wherein execution of the instructions causes the mobile computing device to perform operations further comprising:

in response to not detecting the second condition within a time period, automatically closing the first activity.

34. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 25, wherein the moving comprises displaying the first non-interactive user interface and the at least one live interactive user interface in a plurality of display positions that change based on the scrolling.

35. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 25, wherein the snapshot is taken based on the first activity being placed into hibernation.