Mobile radio telephone set

• US 6,442,407 B1
• Filed: 07/27/1998
• Issued: 08/27/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 08/02/1997
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson
• Original Assignee: Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (Koninklijke Philips N.V.)
• Inventors: Kempf, Peter, Bening, Andreas, Bauer, Harald
• Primary Examiner(s): Bost, Dwayne
• Assistant Examiner(s): CONTEE, JOY KIMBERLY
• Application Number:
  US09/123,031
• Time in Patent Office: 1,492 Days
• Field of Search: 455/550, 455/574, 455/575, 455/343, 455/38.3, 455/38.1, 455/572, 455/181.1, 455/231
• US Class Current: 455/574
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3203 Power management, i.e. event-based initiation of a power-saving mode
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3237 by disabling clock generation or distribution
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3287 by switching off individual functional units in the computer system
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0287 changing the clock frequency of a controller in the equipment
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 10/00 Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

The invention discloses a mobile radio telephone set including at least one control processor and at least one signal processor which are at least occasionally not in an active mode. To reduce the energy consumption of the mobile radio telephone set in the simplest manner possible, a control unit selects operating modes at least for the control processor and/or the signal processor. By utilizing a separate control unit, more particularly two or more coupled processors or other switching units of the whole mobile radio telephone set may be controlled independently. Each coupled unit may at once individually be set to its own operating mode to operate only the currently necessary units in this manner and reduce the energy consumption in this manner.

Claims

1. A mobile radio telephone set comprising:

at least one control processor;

at least one signal processor;

said at least one control processor and said at least one signal processor having operating modes that include an active mode and a not active mode; and

a control unit which selects said operating modes of said at least one control processor in response to first request signals from said at least one control processor, and which selects said operating modes of said at least one signal processor in response to second request signals from said at least one signal processor.

2. A mobile radio telephone set as claimed in claim 1, wherein said at least control processor or said at least signal processor comprises at east two sub-blocks, and wherein the control unit selects one of said operation modes by switching on/off at least one of said at least two sub-blocks.

3. A mobile radio telephone set as claimed in claim 2, wherein said at least control processor or said at least signal processor transmits said first and second request signals to the control unit by signal buses.

4. A mobile radio telephone set as claimed in claim 2, wherein said at least control unit selects the operating modes in dependence of the first and second request signals by switching on/off supply clocks of said at least two sub-blocks.

5. A mobile radio telephone set as claimed in claim 4, wherein said at least two sub-blocks include a processor core supplied with a core clock and at least one interface supplied with an interface clock.

6. A mobile radio telephone set as claimed in claim 5, further comprising at least one wake-up counter which monitors said not active mode which is featured by switching-off said core clock and said interface clock, and transmits one of said first and second request signals for changing to said active mode of at least one of said at least one control processor and said at least one signal processor, wherein said active mode is featured by switching-on said core clock and said interface clock.

7. A mobile radio telephone set as claimed in claim 6, characterized in that the control unit switches off a reference clock for all the coupled processors when the core clock and interface clock are switched off.

8. A mobile telephone comprising:

a signal processor;

a control processor;

a clock generator unit which supplies a first clock to said signal processor and a second clock to said control processor;

a control unit which selects operating modes of said signal processor and said control processor in response to request signals from said signal processor and said control processor, said control unit switching on/off said first clock and said second clock in response to said request signals.

9. The mobile telephone of claim 8, wherein said first clock is provided from said clock generator unit to said signal processor on a first clock line and said second clock is provided from said clock generator unit to said control processor on a second clock line.

10. The mobile telephone of claim 8, wherein each of said signal processor and said control processor include a core and an interface, and each of said first clock and said second clock include a core clock and an interface clock.

11. The mobile telephone of claim 10, wherein said core clock and said interface clock are independently controlled by said control unit.

12. The mobile telephone of claim 10, wherein said core clock and said interface clock are switchably controlled by said control unit.

13. The mobile telephone of claim 8, wherein said first clock and said second clock are independently controlled by said control unit.