Portable terminal equipped with a recording medium

• US 20020132653A1
• Filed: 02/13/2002
• Published: 09/19/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 06/21/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SK Hynix Inc.
• Original Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Matsushima, Hideki, Tokuda, Katsumi, Kozuka, Masayuki, Okamoto, Ryuichi
• Granted Patent: US 6,947,775 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/574
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3203 Power management, i.e. event-based initiation of a power-saving mode
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3237 by disabling clock generation or distribution
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/324 by lowering clock frequency
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/325 Power saving in peripheral device
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3275 Power saving in memory, e.g. RAM, cache
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 10/00 Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management

Abstract

The invention relates to power saving in portable terminals (100) with recording media (200). Conventionally, there is the problem that a battery (104) in the portable terminal (100) may become exhausted and as a result the original function of the terminal cannot be performed. To solve this problem, when the remaining battery capacity is low, the invention controls power supply (108) to the recording media (200) and clock supply (110) to a CPU (202) in the recording media (200) so as to reduce power supplied to the recording media (200)

Claims

1. A portable terminal including a battery for supplying power to parts of the portable terminal and to a recording medium equipped in the portable terminal, comprising:

a remaining battery capacity monitoring unit operable to monitor a remaining capacity of the battery; and

a power controlling unit operable to exercise control so that the power supplied to the recording medium is reduced, when the remaining capacity is below a predetermined level.

2. The portable terminal of claim 1,

wherein the control exercised by the power controlling unit is to stop the power supply to the recording medium when the remaining capacity is below the predetermined level.

3. The portable terminal of claim 1,

wherein the recording medium includes a CPU, and

the control exercised by the power controlling unit is to stop a supply of a clock to the CPU in the recording medium when the remaining capacity is below the predetermined level.

4. The portable terminal of claim 1,

wherein the recording medium includes a CPU, and

the control exercised by the power controlling unit is to decrease a frequency of a clock supplied to the CPU in the recording medium when the remaining capacity is below the predetermined level.

5. The portable terminal of claim 1, further comprising

a setting unit operable to set the predetermined level in accordance with a user operation, and hold the predetermined level.

6. The portable terminal of claim 1,

wherein the recording medium includes a CPU, and

the control exercised by the power controlling unit is to

(a) stop the power supply to the recording medium, when the remaining capacity is not less than a first level but below a second level,

(b) stop a supply of a clock to the CPU in the recording medium, when the remaining capacity is not less than the second level but below a third level, and

(c) decrease a frequency of the clock supplied to the CPU in the recording medium, when the remaining capacity is not less than the third level but below a fourth level.

7. A portable terminal that has a communication function and a content reproduction function, and includes a battery for supplying power to parts of the portable terminal and to a recording medium which stores content and is equipped in the portable terminal, comprising:

a remaining battery capacity monitoring unit operable to monitor a remaining capacity of the battery; and

a power controlling unit operable to exercise control so that the power supplied to the recording medium is reduced, when the remaining capacity is below a predetermined level.

8. A power control method for use in a portable terminal that includes a battery for supplying power to parts of the portable terminal and to a recording medium equipped in the portable terminal, comprising:

a remaining battery capacity monitoring step for monitoring a remaining capacity of the battery; and

a power controlling step for exercising control so that the power supplied to the recording medium is reduced, when the remaining capacity is below a predetermined level.

9. A computer-readable storage medium storing a program for executing a power control operation on a computer which includes a battery for supplying power to parts of the computer and to a recording medium equipped in the computer, the program comprising:

a remaining battery capacity monitoring step for monitoring a remaining capacity of the battery; and

a power controlling step for exercising control so that the power supplied to the recording medium is reduced, when the remaining capacity is below a predetermined level.

10. A program for executing a power control operation on a computer which includes a battery for supplying power to parts of the computer and to a recording medium equipped in the computer, comprising:

a remaining battery capacity monitoring step for monitoring a remaining capacity of the battery; and

a power controlling step for exercising control so that the power supplied to the recording medium is reduced, when the remaining capacity is below a predetermined level.