LOW POWER MODE

• US 20160041606A1
• Filed: 07/14/2015
• Published: 02/11/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 08/06/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: KIM, Eugene, ANDREWS, Jonathan J., DE LA CROPTE DE CHANTERAC, Cyril
• Granted Patent: US 10,228,751 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• 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 1/3296 by lowering the supply or operating voltage
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/4401 Bootstrapping security arrangements therefor G06F21/57
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 10/00 Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/50 in wire-line communication networks, e.g. low power modes or reduced link rate

Abstract

Examples of the disclosure are directed to a method of, after hitting a UVLO threshold, rebooting an electronic device in a low power mode having a lower UVLO threshold, such that the device can continue to be used past the first UVLO threshold. For example, in a high power mode, the device may be capable of a number of functionalities of a modern portable electronic device, such as network access, the ability to run applications, Bluetooth connections, etc. In a low power mode, the device may only be able to check and display a current time, play an alarm sound at a predefined time, perform near field communication (NFC) transactions/payments, among other possibilities described herein. The limited functionality and reduced usage of peripherals in the low power mode may prevent the battery from experiencing peaks in current level that may be problematic at relatively low levels of voltage.

Claims

1. A method of an electronic device including a battery, the method comprising:

obtaining a first characteristic of the battery;

determining that the first characteristic is lower than a first threshold;

in accordance with a determination that the first characteristic is lower than the first threshold, enabling a low power mode;

initiating a booting process;

obtaining a second characteristic of the battery;

determining whether the second characteristic is lower than a second threshold;

in accordance with a determination that the second characteristic is lower than the second threshold, continuing the booting process according to the low power mode; and

in accordance with a determination that the second characteristic is higher than the second threshold, continuing the booting process according to a high power mode.

2. The method of claim 1, the method further comprising:

in the low power mode, only powering on a subset of modules of the electronic device; and

in the high power mode, powering on the subset of modules of the electronic device and powering on one or more additional modules of the electronic device.

3. The method of claim 1, the method further comprising:

in the high power mode, invoking a first operating system having a plurality of functionalities; and

in the low power mode, invoking a second operating system having only a subset of the plurality of functionalities of the first operating system.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein enabling the low power mode includes:

setting a low power mode flag before initiating the booting process;

storing a local time offset; and

storing an alarm time.

5. The method of claim 4, the method further comprising, in the low power mode:

obtaining a current time;

applying the local time offset to the current time to obtain a local time; and

displaying the local time.

6. The method of claim 4, the method further comprising, in the low power mode:

determining that a current time is the alarm time; and

in accordance with a determination that the current time is the alarm time, playing an alarm sound.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the second threshold is different from the first threshold.

8. The method of claim 1, the method further comprising:

in the low power mode, obtaining a third characteristic of the battery;

determining that the third characteristic is lower than a third threshold; and

in accordance with a determination that the third characteristic is lower than the third threshold, powering off the device.

9. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing one or more programs, the one or more programs comprising instructions, which when executed by an electronic device including a battery, cause the electronic device to perform a method comprising:

obtaining a first characteristic of the battery;

determining that the first characteristic is lower than a first threshold;

in accordance with a determination that the first characteristic is lower than the first threshold, enabling a low power mode;

initiating a booting process;

obtaining a second characteristic of the battery;

determining whether the second characteristic is lower than a second threshold;

in accordance with a determination that the second characteristic is lower than the second threshold, continuing the booting process according to the low power mode; and

in accordance with a determination that the second characteristic is higher than the second threshold, continuing the booting process according to a high power mode.

10. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 9, the method further comprising:

in the low power mode, only powering on a subset of modules of the electronic device; and

in the high power mode, powering on the subset of modules of the electronic device and powering on one or more additional modules of the electronic device.

11. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 9, the method further comprising:

in the high power mode, invoking a first operating system having a plurality of functionalities; and

in the low power mode, invoking a second operating system having only a subset of the plurality of functionalities of the first operating system.

12. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein enabling the low power mode includes:

setting a low power mode flag before initiating the booting process;

storing a local time offset; and

storing an alarm time.

13. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 12, the method further comprising, in the low power mode:

obtaining a current time;

applying the local time offset to the current time to obtain a local time; and

displaying the local time.

14. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 12, the method further comprising, in the low power mode:

determining that a current time is the alarm time; and

in accordance with a determination that the current time is the alarm time, playing an alarm sound.

15. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the second threshold is different from the first threshold.

16. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 9, the method further comprising:

in the low power mode, obtaining a third characteristic of the battery;

determining that the third characteristic is lower than a third threshold; and

in accordance with a determination that the third characteristic is lower than the third threshold, powering off the device.

17. An electronic device, comprising:

one or more processors;

memory;

a battery; and

one or more programs, wherein the one or more programs are stored in the memory and configured to be executed by the one or more processors, which when executed by the one or more processors, cause the electronic device to perform a method comprising;

obtaining a first characteristic of the battery;

determining that the first characteristic is lower than a first threshold;

in accordance with a determination that the first characteristic is lower than the first threshold, enabling a low power mode;

initiating a booting process;

obtaining a second characteristic of the battery;

determining whether the second characteristic is lower than a second threshold;

in accordance with a determination that the second characteristic is lower than the second threshold, continuing the booting process according to the low power mode; and

in accordance with a determination that the second characteristic is higher than the second threshold, continuing the booting process according to a high power mode.

18. The electronic device of claim 17, the method further comprising:

in the low power mode, only powering on a subset of modules of the electronic device; and

in the high power mode, powering on the subset of modules of the electronic device and powering on one or more additional modules of the electronic device.

19. The electronic device of claim 17, the method further comprising:

in the high power mode, invoking a first operating system having a plurality of functionalities; and

in the low power mode, invoking a second operating system having only a subset of the plurality of functionalities of the first operating system.

20. The electronic device of claim 17, wherein enabling the low power mode includes:

setting a low power mode flag before initiating the booting process;

storing a local time offset; and

storing an alarm time.