Power sharing among user devices

• US 10,310,591 B2
• Filed: 08/14/2015
• Issued: 06/04/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 08/14/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Bostick, James E., Ganci, Jr., John M., Keen, Martin G., Rakshit, Sarbajit K.
• Primary Examiner(s): Choudhury, Zahid
• Application Number:
  US14/826,440
• Publication Number:
  US 20170045932A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,390 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/32 Means for saving power
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3209 Monitoring remote activity, e.g. over telephone lines or network connections
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3287 by switching off individual functional units in the computer system
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/329 by task scheduling
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3296 by lowering the supply or operating voltage
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/06 Energy or water supply
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0277 according to available power supply, e.g. switching off when a low battery condition is detected
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 10/00 Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

A method comprises receiving, by a computing device, a desired usage plan for a plurality of user devices associated with a group of users; determining, by the computing device, whether an amount of power available across the plurality of user devices is sufficient to implement the desired usage plan; generating, by the computing device and based on the amount of power available across the plurality of user devices for the desired usage rules, usage rules that allocate the usage of the plurality of the user devices by each user in the group of users; and outputting to the plurality of user devices, the usage rules to cause the plurality of user devices to limit the usage of the plurality of user devices by each user in the group of users based on the allocation.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, by a computing device, a desired usage plan for a plurality of user devices associated with a group of users;

determining, by the computing device, whether an amount of power available across the plurality of user devices is sufficient to implement the desired usage plan;

generating, by the computing device and based on the amount of power available across the plurality of user devices for the desired usage plan, usage rules that allocate the usage of the plurality of the user devices to respective user identifiers associated with each user in the group of users; and

outputting, by the computing device, to the plurality of user devices, the usage rules to cause the plurality of user devices to enforce the usage rules and individually limit the usage of each of the plurality of user devices by each individual user identifier associated with each individual user in the group of users based on the allocation.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining an alternate usage plan based on the amount of power available across the plurality of user devices being insufficient to implement the desired usage plan.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the desired usage plan or the alternate usage plan identify an amount of power that each user in the group of users is permitted to consume across the plurality of user devices.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the desired usage plan or the alternate usage plan identify a duration of time that applications are used on the plurality of user devices.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein determining the alternate usage plan is based on application usage history of applications used by the group of users on the plurality of user devices.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining that the amount of power available across the plurality of user devices is sufficient to implement the desired usage plan includes:

obtaining information regarding a total power capacity of the plurality of user devices;

obtaining information regarding power consumption rates for applications associated with the plurality of user devices; and

calculating the amount of power required to implement the desired usage plan based on the information regarding power consumption rates for the applications.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the usage rules identify a quantity of units that each user is permitted to consume across the plurality of user devices or a duration of time that each user is permitted to use a particular application via one or more of the plurality of user devices.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the desired usage plan corresponds to usage of the plurality of user devices by the group of users without recharging the plurality of user devices using a power receptacle in a facility, wherein the enforcing the usage rules by the user device for one of the individual users in the group of users comprises:

receiving, by the user device, user identification information for the one of the individual users;

obtaining, by the user device, power consumption information and usage rules associated with the user identification information;

determining, by the user device, whether a power consumption limit has been reached based on the power consumption information;

permitting, by the user device, access to the user device when the power consumption limit has not been reached; and

blocking, by the user device, access to the user device when the power consumption limit has been reached.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein a service provider at least one of creates, maintains, deploys and supports the computer device.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein steps of claim 1 are provided by a service provider on a subscription, advertising, and/or fee basis.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the computing device includes software provided as a service in a cloud environment.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising deploying a system for sharing power across a plurality of user devices, comprising providing a computer infrastructure operable to perform the steps of claim 1.

13. A computer program product for sharing battery power across a plurality of user devices associated with a group of users, the computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium having program instructions embodied therewith, the program instructions executable by a computing device to cause the computing device to:

receive a desired usage plan for the plurality of user devices;

determine whether an amount of power available across the plurality of user devices is sufficient to implement the desired usage plan;

generate, based on the desired usage plan, usage rules that limit the usage of the plurality of the user devices based on respective user identifiers associated with each user in the group of users; and

output, to the plurality of user devices, the usage rules to cause the plurality of user devices to enforce the usage rules and individually limit the usage of each of the plurality of user devices by each individual user identifier associated with each individual user in the group of users.

14. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the program instructions further cause the computing device to determine an alternate usage plan based on determining that the amount of power available across the plurality of user devices is not sufficient to implement the desired usage plan.

15. The computer program product of claim 14, wherein the desired usage plan or the alternate usage plan identify a duration of time that applications can be used on the plurality of user devices.

16. The computer program product of claim 14, wherein when determining that the amount of power available across the plurality of user devices is sufficient to implement the desired usage plan, the program instructions further cause the computing device to:

obtain information regarding a total power capacity of the plurality of user devices;

obtain information regarding power consumption rates for applications associated with the plurality of user devices; and

calculate the amount of power required to implement that desired usage plan based on the information regarding power consumption rates for the applications.

17. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the usage rules identify a quantity of units that each user is permitted to consume across the plurality of user devices or a duration of time that each user is permitted to use a particular application via one or more of the plurality of user devices, wherein the enforcing the usage rules by the user device for one of the individual users in the group of users causes the user device to:

receive user identification information for the one of the individual users;

obtain power consumption information and usage rules associated with the user identification information;

determine whether a power consumption limit has been reached based on the power consumption information;

permit access to the user device when the power consumption limit has not been reached; and

block access to the user device when the power consumption limit has been reached.

18. A system comprising:

a CPU, a computer readable memory and a computer readable storage medium associated with a user device;

program instructions to receive user information identifying a user that is a part of a group of users;

program instructions to obtain power consumption limit information associated with the user information;

program instructions to obtain power consumption information associated with the user information, wherein the power consumption information identifies an amount of power that the user has consumed across a plurality of user devices associated with the user;

program instructions to determine, based on the power consumption information, whether the amount of power that the user has consumed across a plurality of user devices is less than the power consumption limit;

program instructions to block access to the user device when the amount of power that the user has consumed across a plurality of user devices is greater than the power consumption limit; and

program instructions to permit access to the user device when the amount of power that the user has consumed across a plurality of user devices is less than the power consumption limit,

wherein the program instructions are stored on the computer readable storage medium for execution by the CPU via the computer readable memory implemented by the user device.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the program instructions to block access to the user device cause the user device to lock one or more usage functions of the user device.

20. The system of claim 18, further comprising:

program instructions to track an amount of power consumed by the user on the user device after permitting access to the user device;

program instructions to output information identifying the amount of power consumed by the user on the user device as the user uses the user device; and

program instructions to block the user'"'"'s access to the user device when the power consumption limit has been reached.