INFERRING USER INTENT FROM BATTERY USAGE LEVEL AND CHARGING TRENDS

• US 20140082384A1
• Filed: 09/20/2012
• Published: 03/20/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 09/20/2012
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Kapoor, Gaurav, De Cesare, Joshua P.
• Application Number:
  US13/623,747
• Publication Number:
  US 20140082384A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 713/320
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3206 Monitoring of events, devices or parameters that trigger a change in power modality
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3212 Monitoring battery levels, e.g. power saving mode being initiated when battery voltage goes below a certain level
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3438 monitoring of user actions tracking the activity of the user H04L67/535
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 10/00 Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management

Abstract

Techniques for power management of a portable device are described herein. According to one embodiment, a user agent of an operating system executed within a portable device is configured to monitor daily battery usage of a battery of the portable device, to capturing, by the user agent, daily battery charging pattern of the battery of the portable device, and to inferring, by the user agent, user intent of utilizing the portable device at a given point in time based on a battery operating condition at the point in time in view of the daily battery usage and the daily battery charging pattern. Power management logic is configured to perform power management actions based on the user intent.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

monitoring, by a user agent of an operating system executed within a portable device, daily battery usage of a battery of the portable device;

capturing, by the user agent, daily battery charging pattern of the battery of the portable device;

inferring, by the user agent, user intent of utilizing the portable device at a given point in time based on a battery operating condition at the point in time in view of the daily battery usage and the daily battery charging pattern; and

performing, by power management logic, a power management action based on the user intent.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising predicting a period of time during which the portable device will be utilized without charging based on the user intent, such that a remaining battery capacity of the battery can support operations of the portable device for the predicted period of time.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising modifying at least one function of an application running within the portable device based on the inferred user intent.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the at least one function of the application is modified automatically without user intervention or user knowledge.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining whether the portable device is operating within a normal operating condition based on a comparison between a battery usage at the point in time and an average battery usage level that is derived from the daily battery usage and the battery charging pattern.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising modifying behavior of at least one program running within the portable device if a difference between the battery usage level at the point in time and the average battery usage level exceeds a predetermined threshold.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising reducing power consumption of the at least one program automatically without user intervention, if the battery usage level is higher than the average battery usage level.

8. The method of claim 6, further comprising increasing performance of the at least one program automatically without user intervention, if the battery usage level is lower than the average battery usage level.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising maintaining in a database, which is stored in a persistent storage of the portable device, battery heuristics representing the daily battery usage and daily charging pattern.

10. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions stored therein, which when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform a method, the method comprising:

monitoring, by a user agent of an operating system executed within a portable device, daily battery usage of a battery of the portable device;

capturing, by the user agent, daily battery charging pattern of the battery of the portable device; and

inferring, by the user agent, user intent of utilizing the portable device at a given point in time based on a battery operating condition at the point in time in view of the daily battery usage and the daily battery charging pattern; and

performing, by power management logic, a power management action based on the user intent.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the method further comprises predicting a period of time during which the portable device will be utilized without charging based on the user intent, such that a remaining battery capacity of the battery can support operations of the portable device for the predicted period of time.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the method further comprises modifying at least one function of an application running within the portable device based on the inferred user intent.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the at least one function of the application is modified automatically without user intervention or user knowledge.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the method further comprises determining whether the portable device is operating within a normal operating condition based on a comparison between a battery usage at the point in time and an average battery usage level that is derived from the daily battery usage and the battery charging pattern.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein the method further comprises modifying behavior of at least one program running within the portable device if a difference between the battery usage level at the point in time and the average battery usage level exceeds a predetermined threshold.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the method further comprises reducing power consumption of the at least one program automatically without user intervention, if the battery usage level is higher than the average battery usage level.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the method further comprises increasing performance of the at least one program automatically without user intervention, if the battery usage level is lower than the average battery usage level.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the method further comprises maintaining in a database, which is stored in a persistent storage of the portable device, battery heuristics representing the daily battery usage and daily charging pattern.

19. A portable device, comprising:

a user agent to monitor daily battery usage of a battery of the portable device, to capture daily battery charging pattern of the battery of the portable device, and to inferring, by the user agent, user intent of utilizing the portable device at a given point in time based on a battery operating condition at the point in time in view of the daily battery usage and the daily battery charging pattern; and

power management logic coupled to the user agent to perform power management actions based on the user intent.

20. The portable device of claim 19, wherein the user agent is configured to predict a period of time during which the portable device will be utilized without charging based on the user intent, such that a remaining battery capacity of the battery can support operations of the portable device for the predicted period of time.

21. The portable device of claim 19, wherein the power management logic is configured to modifying at least one function of an application running within the portable device based on the inferred user intent.

22. The portable device of claim 21, wherein the at least one function of the application is modified automatically without user intervention or user knowledge.