APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR MANAGING OPERATION OF A MOBILE DEVICE

• US 20140013428A1
• Filed: 12/30/2011
• Published: 01/09/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 12/30/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Original Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Inventors: Brett, Bevin R., Petersen, Paul M.
• Granted Patent: US 9,594,899 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 726/22
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/26 Power supply means, e.g. regulation thereof for memories G11C
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/50 Monitoring users, programs or devices to maintain the integrity of platforms, e.g. of processors, firmware or operating systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2101 Auditing as a secondary aspect

Abstract

A power charger includes a first storage area to store control software, a charging circuit to send power through an interface, and a processor to generate at least one control signal based on the control software. The power to be sent through the interface is to charge a battery of a device coupled to the interface, and the at least one control signal includes information to cause a monitoring operation to be performed to determine a status of the device.

Claims

1. A power charger comprising:

a first storage area to store control software;

a charging circuit to send power through an interface; and

a processor to generate at least one control signal based on the control software,

wherein the power to be sent through the interface is to charge a battery of a device to be coupled to the interface and wherein the at least one control signal includes information to cause a monitoring operation to be performed to determine a status of the device.

2. The power charger of claim 1, wherein the monitoring operation is to include performance of a security scan of one or more files stored in the device.

3. The power charger of claim 1, wherein the processor is to receive information from the device through the interface and wherein the received information is to provide an indication of the status of the device based on the monitoring operation.

4. The power charger of claim 1, wherein the status determined by the monitoring operation corresponds to presence of an error in the device.

5. The power charger of claim 4, wherein the error corresponds to contamination of at least one of a file, data, or software in the device.

6. The power charger of claim 5, wherein the contamination is from at least one of a bad sector of a storage medium, a virus, or another contaminating agent.

7. The power charger of claim 1, further comprising:

a second storage area to back-up data to be received from the device through the interface.

8. The power charger of claim 1, wherein the at least one control signal is to be sent to the device through the interface as power is simultaneously sent to the device through the interface for charging the battery.

9. The power charger of claim 1, wherein the processor is to generate another control signal to cause a restoration operation to be performed in the device, the other control signal to be sent after the monitoring operation is to be performed.

10. The power charger of claim 1, wherein the interface is a Universal Serial Bus (USB) interface.

11. The power charger of claim 1, further comprising:

a port to removably receive a connector coupled to the interface.

12. A portable computer comprising:

a display of the portable computer;

a first storage area to store control software;

a charging circuit to send power through an interface; and

a processor to generate at least one control signal based on the control software,

wherein the power to be sent through the interface is to charge a battery of a device to be coupled to the interface and wherein the at least one control signal includes information to cause a monitoring operation to be performed to determine a status of the device.

13. The portable computer of claim 12, wherein the monitoring operation is to include performance of a security scan of one or more files stored in the device.

14. The portable computer of claim 12, wherein:

the processor is to receive information from the device through the interface,

the information is to provide an indication of the status of the device based on the monitoring operation, and

the status corresponds to presence of an error in the device.

15. An apparatus comprising:

a battery;

a storage area to store files;

a port to be removably coupled to an interface; and

a controller to perform a security scan of the files in the storage area,

wherein the port is to receive through the interface power to charge the battery and at least one control signal to cause the controller to perform the security scan of the files and wherein the controller is to send a control signal to the interface to provide an indication of a result of the security scan.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the apparatus is a mobile phone.

17. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the port is to simultaneously receive the power to and the at least one control signal through the interface.

18. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the port is to receive another control signal through the interface and wherein the controller is to perform a restoration operation based on the other signal.

19. The apparatus of claim 15, further comprising:

a screen,

wherein the screen is to display information indicative of a result of the security scan.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the screen is to display a menu providing options that correspond to actions to be taken based on the result of the security scan.