Power management controller and method

• US 7,100,062 B2
• Filed: 01/28/2003
• Issued: 08/29/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 01/28/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Nicholas, Ken
• Primary Examiner(s): ELAMIN, ABDELMONIEM I
• Application Number:
  US10/352,726
• Publication Number:
  US 20040148533A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,309 Days
• Field of Search: 713320-324, 713/300, 713/310, 713/330, 713/340
• US Class Current: 713/323
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3203 Power management, i.e. event-based initiation of a power-saving mode
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3228 Monitoring task completion, e.g. by use of idle timers, stop commands or wait commands

Abstract

A power management controller for conserving power in a device implementing power conservation states and a calendar-scheduler is disclosed. The calendar-scheduler records calendar-based events with associated time-of-occurrences. The controller is constructed and arranged to determine a maximum duration of time the device can remain in a reduced-power state while insuring the device can perform operations associated with a calendar-based event when that event occurs.

Claims

1. A method for conserving power in a processor-based device implementing power conservation states and a calendar-scheduler that records calendar-based events and associated time-of-occurrences, the method comprising:

detecting an indication regarding inactivity of the processor-based device;

transmitting, in response to the indication, a request for a time-of-occurrence for a calendar-based event;

receiving, in response to the request, a time-of-occurrence for a calendar-based event; and

determining, based on the received time-of-occurrence, a maximum duration of time the device can remain in a reduced-power state while insuring the device can perform operations associated with the calendar-based event.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining a time at which the device is to transition from the reduced-power state to an operational state to process the calendar-based event, said time being a time prior to the received time-of-occurrence.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein determining a time at which the device is to transition from the reduced-power state to the operational state comprises:

calculating the time at which the device is to transition from the reduced-power state to the operational state to be a time sufficiently prior to the received time-of-occurrence to enable the device to attain a requisite operational capability associated with the operational state.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining whether the device is to be transitioned from a current state to a reduced-power state in response to detecting the indication of device inactivity.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein indications of future device inactivity comprise one or more of the group consisting of:

a time duration during which an input through a user interface is not received;

a time duration during which the processor is not executing instructions;

a user command to powering off the device;

a closing or un-powering of a display portion of the device;

an occurrence of one or more error events; and

a low-battery power alarm.

6. The method of claim 2, wherein determining a time at which the device is to transition from the reduced-power state to an operational state further comprises:

determining whether there is sufficient time for the device to remain in the reduced-power state based on one or more factors comprising a difference between the time-to-revive and the present time.

7. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

determining whether the device is to be transitioned from a current state to a reduced-power state; and

wherein, when an affirmative determination has been made to transition the device from a current state to a reduced-power state, the method further comprises;

instructing the device to transition to the reduced-power state until the time determined to transition the device from the reduced-power state to the operational state.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the method further comprises:

performing operations to cause the device to transition to the reduced-power state.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein performing operations to cause the device to transition to the reduced-power state comprises:

removing power from device components;

transferring data between volatile and non-volatile memory; and

rebooting the device operating system.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the device is a personal data assistant.

11. An apparatus comprising:

a power management controller for conserving power in a device implementing power conservation states and a calendar-scheduler that records calendar-based events and associated time-of-occurrences, wherein the controller is constructed and arranged to detect an indication regarding inactivity of the processor-based device, transmit, in response to the indication, a request for a time-of-occurrence for a calendar-based event, receive, in response to the request, a time-of-occurrence for a calendar-based event, and determine, based on the received time-of-occurrence, a maximum duration of time the device can remain in a reduced-power state while insuring the device can perform operations associated with the calendar-based event when that event occurs.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the power management controller determines a time at which the device is to transition from the reduced-power state to an operational state to perform the operations associated with the calendar-based event to be a time prior to the calendar-based event'"'"'s time-of-occurrence.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the power management controller calculates the time at which the device is to transition from the reduced-power state to the operational state to be a time sufficiently prior to the received time-of-occurrence to enable the device to attain a requisite operational capability associated with the operational state.

14. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the power management controller comprises:

a timer module configured to detect and measure periods of device inactivity,

wherein the power management controller in detecting an indication regarding inactivity of the processor-based device, is further configured to detect an indication of inactivity provided by the timer module.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein indications of future device inactivity comprise one or more of the group consisting of:

a time duration during which an input through a user interface is not received;

a time duration during which the processor is not executing instructions;

a user command to powering off the device;

a closing or un-powering of a display portion of the device;

an occurrence of one or more error events; and

a low-battery power alarm.

16. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the power management controller further comprising:

a state module configured to determine whether there is sufficient time for the device to remain in the reduced-power state based on one or more factors comprising a difference between the time-to-revive and the present time.

17. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein, when transiting the device to transition to the reduced-power state, the state module generates instructions to the device to transition to the reduced-power state until the time determined to transition the device from the reduced-power state to the operational state.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the power management controller is further configured to perform operations to cause the device to transition to the reduced-power state, including generating power control signals to remove power from device components, generating commands to cause the operating system to transfer data between volatile and non-volatile memory;

and causing the device to reboot the operating system.

19. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the device is a processor-based device.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the device is a personal data assistant.

21. A device implementing power conservation states and a calendar-scheduler that records calendar-based events and associated time-of-occurrences, comprising:

means for detecting indications of device inactivity;

means for transmitting, in response to the indication, a request for a time-of-occurrence for a calendar-based event;

means for receiving, in response to the request, a time-of-occurrence for a calendar-based event; and

means for determining, based on the received time-of-occurrence, a maximum duration of time the device can remain in a reduced-power state while insuring the device can perform operations associated with the calendar-based event when that event occurs.

22. The device of claim 21, wherein the determining means further comprises:

means for determining a time at which the device is to transition from the reduced-power state to an operational state to perform the operations associated with the calendar-based event to be a time prior to the calendar-based event'"'"'s time-of-occurrence.

23. The device of claim 21, wherein the determining means comprises:

means for receiving a time duration required for the device to transition from the reduced-power state to the operational state.

24. The device of claim 23, wherein the determining means further comprises:

means for determining a time at which the device is to transition from the reduced-power state to an operational state to perform the operations associated with the calendar-based event to be a time prior to the calendar-based event'"'"'s time-of-occurrence less the time duration required for the device to transition from the reduced-power state to the operational state.

25. The device of claim 21, further comprising;

means for measuring periods of device inactivity;

wherein the determining means comprises means for determining whether the device is to be transitioned from the current state to the reduced-power state in response to the detecting means detecting a predetermined period of device inactivity.

26. The device of claim 21, further comprising:

means for determining whether the device should be transitioned to the reduced-power state based on the determined time to transition from the reduced-power state to the operational state, and one or more factors comprising a difference between the determined time to transition from the reduced-power state to the operational state and the present time.

27. The device of claim 21, wherein the device is a processor-based device.

28. The device of claim 21, wherein the device is a personal data assistant.

29. An article of manufacture, comprising:

a computer-readable volume storing computer-executable instructions, the instructions implementing a method for conserving power in a processor-based device implementing power conservation states and a calendar-scheduler that records calendar-based events and associated time-of-occurrences, the method comprising;

detecting an indication regarding inactivity of the processor-based device;

transmitting, in response to the indication, a request for a time-of-occurrence for a calendar-based event;

receiving, in response to the request, a time-of-occurrence for a calendar-based event; and

determining, based on the received time-of-occurrence, a maximum duration of time the device can remain in a reduced-power state while insuring the device can perform operations associated with the calendar-based event.