THERMAL AND POWER MANAGEMENT

• US 20150181117A1
• Filed: 07/02/2014
• Published: 06/25/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 12/20/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Park, Hee Jun, Forutanpour, Babak, Paranjpe, Sumant Madhav
• Granted Patent: US 9,420,178 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00307 with a mobile telephone apparatus constructional features of portable telephone sets H04M1/0202; mobile radio systems H04W84/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/62 Control of parameters via user interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/651 for reducing power consumption by affecting camera operations, e.g. sleep mode, hibernation mode or power off of selective parts of the camera
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/63 Generation or supply of power specially adapted for television receivers

Abstract

In an example, a method includes determining, by an electronic device, a user experience metric associated with content captured by at least one camera of the electronic device. The method also includes adjusting at least one operating parameter of the device to produce an operating characteristic target, wherein the adjustment is based on an estimated change to the determined user experience metric due to the adjustment.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

determining, by an electronic device, a user experience metric associated with content captured by at least one camera of the electronic device; and

adjusting at least one operating parameter of the device to produce an operating characteristic target, wherein the adjustment is based on an estimated change to the determined user experience metric due to the adjustment.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein adjusting the at least one operating parameter of the device comprises adjusting the at least one operating parameter based on a context of the content.

3. The method of claim 2,

wherein the at least one operating parameter comprises a frame rate and a resolution, and

wherein adjusting the at least one operating parameter comprises adjusting the frame rate one of more or less than the resolution based on the context.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the context comprises at least one of a presence of a face in the content, presence of a skin hue in the content, a frequency of the content, an estimation of motion associated with the content, a brightness of the content, or a focal length of the content.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one camera comprises a plurality of cameras and wherein adjusting the at least one operating parameter of the device comprises separately adjusting at least one operating parameter for each camera of the plurality of cameras.

6. The method of claim 1,

wherein the at least one operating parameter comprises a plurality of operating parameters, and

wherein adjusting the at least one operating parameter further comprises selecting one or more operating parameters from the plurality of operating parameters for adjustment to minimize a decrease in the user experience metric relative to selecting at least one other of the operating parameters.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one operating parameter comprises a plurality of operating parameters, wherein the operating characteristic target comprises a predetermined power budget, and the method further comprising:

determining a power draw of one or more components of the device relative to the predetermined power budget;

wherein, when the power draw exceeds the predetermined power budget, adjusting the at least one operating parameter of the device comprises;

determining one or more operating parameters of the plurality of operating parameters that, when adjusted, produce the greatest change in the power draw of the device and the smallest change in the user experience metric relative to at least one other operating parameter of the plurality of operating parameters; and

adjusting the determined operating parameter.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one operating parameter comprises a plurality of operating parameters, wherein the operating characteristic target comprises a predetermined temperature limit, and the method further comprising:

determining a temperature of one or more components of the device relative to the predetermined temperature limit;

wherein, when the temperature exceeds the predetermined temperature limit, adjusting the at least one operating parameters of the device comprises;

determining an operating parameter of the plurality of operating parameters that, when adjusted, produces the greatest change in temperature of the one or more components of the device and the smallest change in the user experience metric relative to at least one other operating parameter of the plurality of operating parameters; and

adjusting the determined operating parameter.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein adjusting the at least one operating parameter comprises adjusting the at least one operating parameter based on a ratio of an estimated change in the operating characteristic to the estimated change to the determined user experience.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the at least one operating parameter comprises a plurality of operating parameters, and wherein adjusting the at least one operating parameter based on the ratio further comprises:

selecting one or more operating parameters from the plurality of operating parameters for adjustment to maximize the estimated change in the operating characteristic and minimize the estimated change to the determined user experience.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the user experience metric further comprises:

applying a user experience model to each of the at least one operating parameter to generate one or more user experience factors;

calculating a sum of the one or more user experience factors; and

wherein adjusting the at least one operating parameter comprising adjusting the at least one operating parameter based at least partially on the calculated sum.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein calculating the sum of the one or more user experience factors further comprises:

applying, based on context associated with the content, one or more weighting factors to one or more of the user experience factors to produce one or more weighted user experience factors;

calculating a weighted sum of the weighted user experience factors; and

wherein adjusting the at least one operating parameter comprises adjusting the at least one operating parameter based at least partially on the calculated weighted sum.

13. The method of claim 12,

wherein the at least one operating parameter comprises a frame rate and a resolution,

wherein the context associated with the content comprises at least one of a presence of a face in the content, a presence of a skin hue in the content, a frequency of the content, an estimation of motion associated with the content, a brightness of the content, or a focal length of the content,

wherein applying the user experience model to each of the at least one operating parameters comprises applying the user experience model to the frame rate to generate a frame rate user experience factor and applying the user experience model to the resolution to generate a resolution user experience factor, and

wherein applying the one or more weighting factors comprises applying a first weighting factor to the frame rate user experience factor and a second, different weighting factor to the resolution user experience factor.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one operating parameter comprises at least one of a frame rate, a resolution, one or more operating parameters associated with one or more hardware components of at least one camera sub-system that includes the at least one camera, or at least one sensor for the at least one camera capturing the content.

15. An electronic device comprising:

at least one camera; and

one or more processors configured to;

determine a user experience metric associated with content captured by the at least one camera of the electronic device; and

adjust at least one operating parameter of the device to produce an operating characteristic target, wherein the adjustment is based on an estimated change to the determined user experience metric due to the adjustment.

16. The electronic device of claim 15, wherein to adjust the at least one operating parameter of the device, the one or more processors are configured to adjust the at least one operating parameter based on a context of the content.

17. The electronic device of claim 16,

wherein the at least one operating parameter comprises a frame rate and a resolution, and

wherein to adjust the at least one operating parameter, the one or more processors are configured to adjust the frame rate one of more or less than the resolution based on the context.

18. The electronic device of claim 16, wherein the context comprises at least one of a presence of a face in the content, presence of a skin hue in the content, a frequency of the content, an estimation of motion associated with the content, a brightness of the content, or a focal length of the content.

19. The electronic device of claim 15, wherein the at least one camera comprises a plurality of cameras and wherein to adjust the at least one operating parameter of the device, the one or more processors are configured to separately adjust at least one operating parameter for each camera of the plurality of cameras.

20. The electronic device of claim 15,

wherein the at least one operating parameter comprises a plurality of operating parameters, and

wherein to adjust the at least one operating parameter, the one or more processors are further configured to select one or more operating parameters from the plurality of operating parameters for adjustment to minimize a decrease in the user experience metric relative to selecting at least one other of the operating parameters.

21. The electronic device of claim 15, wherein the at least one operating parameter comprises a plurality of operating parameters, wherein the operating characteristic target comprises a predetermined power budget, the one or more processors further configured to:

determine a power draw of one or more components of the device relative to the predetermined power budget;

wherein, when the power draw exceeds the predetermined power budget, to adjust the at least one operating parameter of the device, the one or more processors are configured to;

determine one or more operating parameters of the plurality of operating parameters that, when adjusted, produce the greatest change in the power draw of the device and the smallest change in the user experience metric relative to at least one other operating parameter of the plurality of operating parameters; and

adjust the determined operating parameter.

22. The electronic device of claim 15, wherein the at least one operating parameter comprises a plurality of operating parameters, wherein the operating characteristic target comprises a predetermined temperature limit, and wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:

determine a temperature of one or more components of the device relative to the predetermined temperature limit;

wherein, when the temperature exceeds the predetermined temperature limit, to adjust the at least one operating parameters, the one or more processors are configured to;

determine an operating parameter of the plurality of operating parameters that, when adjusted, produces the greatest change in temperature of the one or more components of the device and the smallest change in the user experience metric relative to at least one other operating parameter of the plurality of operating parameters; and

adjust the determined operating parameter.

23. The electronic device of claim 15, wherein to adjust the at least one operating parameter, the one or more processors are configured to adjust the at least one operating parameter based on a ratio of an estimated change in the operating characteristic to the estimated change to the determined user experience.

24. The electronic device of claim 23, wherein the at least one operating parameter comprises a plurality of operating parameters, and wherein to adjust the at least one operating parameter based on the ratio further, the one or more processors are configured to:

select one or more operating parameters from the plurality of operating parameters for adjustment to maximize the estimated change in the operating characteristic and minimize the estimated change to the determined user experience.

25. The electronic device of claim 15, wherein to determine the user experience metric, the one or more processors are configured to:

apply a user experience model to each of the at least one operating parameter to generate one or more user experience factors;

calculate a sum of the one or more user experience factors; and

wherein to adjusting the at least one operating parameter, the one or more processors are configured to adjust the at least one operating parameter based at least partially on the calculated sum.

26. The electronic device of claim 25, wherein to calculate the sum of the one or more user experience factors, the one or more processors are configured to:

apply, based on context associated with the content, one or more weighting factors to one or more of the user experience factors to produce one or more weighted user experience factors;

calculate a weighted sum of the weighted user experience factors; and

wherein to adjust the at least one operating parameter, the one or more processors are configured to adjust the at least one operating parameter based at least partially on the calculated weighted sum.

27. The electronic device of claim 26,

wherein the at least one operating parameter comprises a frame rate and a resolution,

wherein the context associated with the content comprises at least one of a presence of a face in the content, a presence of a skin hue in the content, a frequency of the content, an estimation of motion associated with the content, a brightness of the content, or a focal length of the content,

wherein to apply the user experience model to each of the at least one operating parameters, the one or more processors are configured to apply the user experience model to the frame rate to generate a frame rate user experience factor and apply the user experience model to the resolution to generate a resolution user experience factor, and

wherein to apply the one or more weighting factors, the one or more processors are configured to apply a first weighting factor to the frame rate user experience factor and a second, different weighting factor to the resolution user experience factor.

28. The electronic device of claim 15, wherein the at least one operating parameter comprises at least one of a frame rate, a resolution, one or more operating parameters associated with one or more hardware components of at least one camera sub-system that includes the at least one camera, or at least one sensor for the at least one camera capturing the content.

29. An apparatus comprising:

means for determining a user experience metric associated with content captured by at least one camera of an electronic device; and

means for adjusting at least one operating parameter of the device to produce an operating characteristic target, wherein the adjustment is based on an estimated change to the determined user experience metric due to the adjustment.

30. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon that, when executed, cause one or more processors to:

determine a user experience metric associated with content captured by at least one camera of an electronic device; and

adjust at least one operating parameter of the device to produce an operating characteristic target, wherein the adjustment is based on an estimated change to the determined user experience metric due to the adjustment.