AVOIDING BATTERY DEPLETION OF A MOBILE DEVICE

• US 20130288659A1
• Filed: 04/25/2012
• Published: 10/31/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 04/25/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLC (General Motors Company)
• Original Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLC (General Motors Company)
• Inventors: Hrabak, Robert A., Piwowarski, James J.
• Granted Patent: US 8,660,549 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/419
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/20 Services signaling; Auxiliary data signalling, i.e. transmitting data via a non-traffic channel
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/50 Service provisioning or reconfiguring
• 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 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

A method of regulating the battery usage of a wireless device includes receiving information indicating the battery charge level of a wireless device over a first wireless communication channel using a short-range wireless communication protocol; choosing a wireless communication protocol for use by the wireless device with a second wireless communication channel based on the received battery charge level information; constructing a message instructing the wireless device to use the chosen wireless communication protocol for communications via the second wireless communication channel; and sending the message from a vehicle telematics unit to the wireless device.

Claims

1. A method of regulating the battery usage of a wireless device, comprising the steps of:

(a) receiving information indicating the battery charge level of a wireless device over a first wireless communication channel using a short-range wireless communication protocol;

(b) choosing a wireless communication protocol for use by the wireless device with a second wireless communication channel based on the received battery charge level information;

(c) constructing a message instructing the wireless device to use the chosen wireless communication protocol for communications via the second wireless communication channel; and

(d) sending the message from a vehicle telematics unit to the wireless device.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of implementing a smart phone as the wireless device.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of establishing the second wireless communication channel between the wireless device and a base transceiver station using a cellular communication channel.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of calculating a rate of battery charge level change.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of establishing the first wireless communication channel and the second wireless communication channel using short-range wireless communication protocols.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of communicating over the first wireless communication channel using Bluetooth.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising the step of communicating over the first wireless communication channel using the Bluetooth Low Energy feature of Bluetooth.

8. A method of regulating the battery usage of a wireless device, comprising the steps of:

(a) establishing a first wireless communication channel between a wireless device and a vehicle telematics unit using a first wireless communication protocol;

(b) establishing a second wireless communication channel at the wireless device using a second wireless communication protocol;

(c) sending the battery charge level of the wireless device from the wireless device to the vehicle telematics unit via the first wireless communication channel using the first wireless communication protocol;

(d) receiving a message from the vehicle telematics unit via the first wireless communication channel using the first wireless communication protocol, wherein the message includes an instruction to begin using a new second wireless communication protocol based on the battery charge level of the wireless device sent in step (c); and

(e) beginning the use of the new second wireless protocol with the second wireless communication channel at the wireless device based on the received message.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising the step of implementing a smart phone as the wireless device.

10. The method of claim 8, further comprising the step of establishing the second wireless communication channel between the wireless device and a base transceiver station using a cellular communication channel.

11. The method of claim 8, further comprising the step of calculating a rate of battery charge level change.

12. The method of claim 8, further comprising the step of establishing the first wireless communication channel and the second wireless communication channel using short-range wireless communication protocols.

13. The method of claim 8, further comprising the step of communicating over the first wireless communication channel using Bluetooth.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising the step of communicating over the first wireless communication channel using the Bluetooth Low Energy feature of Bluetooth.

15. A method of regulating the battery usage of a wireless device, comprising the steps of:

(a) establishing a first wireless communication channel between a wireless device and a vehicle telematics unit via a first wireless communication protocol using Bluetooth;

(b) receiving data at the vehicle telematics unit from the wireless device over the first short-range wireless communication channel indicating the battery charge level of the wireless device;

(c) determining a second wireless communication protocol to be used by the wireless device for communication over a second short-range communication channel based on the data received in step (b);

(d) constructing a message that includes the determined second wireless communication protocol and that is used to control the second wireless communication protocol used by the wireless device for communications over the second short-range communication channel; and

(e) sending the message from the vehicle telematics unit to the wireless device.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising the step of implementing a smart phone as the wireless device.

17. The method of claim 15, further comprising the step of establishing the second wireless communication channel between the wireless device and a base transceiver station using a cellular communication channel.

18. The method of claim 15, further comprising the step of calculating a rate of battery charge level change.

19. The method of claim 15, further comprising the step of establishing the first wireless communication channel and the second wireless communication channel using short-range wireless communication protocols.

20. The method of claim 19, further comprising the step of establishing the second wireless communication channel between the wireless device and a WiFi local area network (LAN).