Low power email functionality for an electronic device

• US 7,996,480 B2
• Filed: 03/16/2010
• Issued: 08/09/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 09/18/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Vulcan Portals Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Vulcan Portals Incorporated
• Inventors: Fleck, Rod G., Flynn, Rex Antony, Perrin, Stephen L., Kee, Martin J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen; Thu Ha T
• Application Number:
  US12/724,577
• Publication Number:
  US 20100174796A1
• Time in Patent Office: 511 Days
• Field of Search: 709/203, 709/223, 709/224, 709/204, 709/205, 709/206, 713/323, 455/566, 455571-574
• US Class Current: 709/206
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3203 Power management, i.e. event-based initiation of a power-saving mode
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

Low power email capabilities are provided for an electronic device, such as a hand-held portable computer having capability to operate an application during a low power mode. During the low power mode, portions of hardware, software, services, and/or other components of the portable computer that are not necessary for email-related operations, such as polling a server for new email, are suspended or otherwise deactivated. At least a portion of a new email is stored in a memory of a low power display module (LPDM) of the portable computer. The LPDM is provided with its own low-power processing unit, user interface, and other components to allow access to and manipulation of the stored email while other components of the portable computer remain deactivated.

Claims

1. A method usable for an electronic device that can operate in a standby mode, a low power mode, and a higher power mode, wherein the standby mode uses less power than the low power mode and the low power mode uses less power than the higher power mode, the method comprising:

in the higher power mode, operating an email application to obtain at least a portion of a first email under control of a first processor in a high power processing module;

displaying the portion of the first email on a first display controlled by the high power processing module using the first processor, wherein the first display is viewable when the electronic device is in an open configuration;

transitioning the electronic device to the standby mode, wherein transitioning includes deactivating or reducing power to the high power processing module;

monitoring for an event representative of a transition from the standby mode to the low power mode or from the higher power mode to the low power mode;

in response to detecting the event, activating an email component to operate during the low power mode;

using the email component to obtain at least a portion of a second email during the low power mode;

loading the portion of the second email to a memory associated with a low power processing module separate from the high power processing module by a second processor in the low power processing module; and

using the second processor, displaying the loaded portion of the second email from the memory on a second display controlled by the low power processing module, wherein the second display is viewable when the electronic device is in a closed configuration.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein displaying the loaded portion of the second email comprises displaying the portion of the second email in a user interface controllable by the low-power processing module and separate from a user interface controllable by the high power processing module, and wherein the electronic device has a lid and the first display is located on an inside surface of the lid, and wherein the second display is physically separate from the first display and the second display is located on an outside surface of the lid.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

deactivating at least a first component of the electronic device that is to be unused for obtaining the portion of the second email during the low power mode;

activating at least a second component of the electronic device that is to be used in conjunction with the email component for obtaining the portion of the second email during the low power mode; and

deactivating the second component after the portion of the second email is obtained.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein displaying the loaded portion of the second email from the memory includes displaying the loaded portion of the second email while other components of the electronic device are at a inoperative power state.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein:

obtaining at least the portion of the second email during the low power mode includes downloading the portion of the second email to a storage location using a delivery mechanism of an email application installed in the electronic device; and

wherein if the downloaded portion of the second email includes content, loading in the memory the portion of the second email includes synchronizing at least some of the email content in the storage location to the memory.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising synchronizing email contents in the memory to the storage location, after user manipulation of the email contents in the memory.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein using the email component to obtain the portion of the second email during the low power mode includes using the email component along with a selectively activated network access device of the electronic device to obtain the portion of the second email.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the network access device is associated with the low-power processing module of the electronic device and is different from a network access device associated with the high power processing module of the electronic device.

9. An article of manufacture usable for a portable electronic device that can operate in a standby mode, a low power mode, and a higher power mode, wherein the standby mode uses less power than the low power mode and the low power mode uses less power than the higher power mode, the article of manufacture comprising:

a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium storing instructions thereon to cause a processor to process email during a low power mode, by;

in the higher power mode, operating an email application to obtain at least a portion of a first email under control of a high power processing module;

displaying the portion of the first email on a first display controlled by the high power processing module, wherein the first display is viewable when the electronic device is in a first configuration;

transitioning the portable electronic device to the standby mode, wherein transitioning includes deactivating or reducing power to the high power processing module;

monitoring for an event representative of a transition from the standby mode to the low power mode or from the higher power mode to the low power mode;

in response to detecting the event, activating an email component to operate during the low power mode;

using the email component to obtain at least a portion of a second email during the low power mode;

loading the portion of the second email to a memory associated with a low power processing module separate from the high power processing module; and

presenting the loaded portion of the second email from the memory on a second display associated with the low power processing module, wherein the second display is physically separate from the first display and wherein the second display is viewable when the electronic device is in a second configuration.

10. The article of manufacture of claim 9 wherein the machine-readable storage medium further includes instructions stored thereon to:

deactivate at least a first component of the portable electronic device that is to be unused for obtaining the portion of the second email during the low power mode;

activate at least a second component of the portable electronic device that is to be used in conjunction with the email component for obtaining the portion of the second email during the low power mode; and

deactivate the second component after the portion of the second email is obtained.

11. The article of manufacture of claim 9 wherein the instructions for monitoring for the event representative of the transition to the low power mode includes instructions for monitoring for a time interval when the transition to the low power mode is scheduled to occur, and wherein the electronic device has a lid and the first display is located on an inside surface of the lid and viewable in the first position, and wherein the second display is located on an outside surface of the lid and viewable in the second position.

12. The article of manufacture of claim 9 wherein the machine-readable storage medium further includes instructions stored thereon to:

download the portion of the second email to a storage location using a delivery mechanism of an email application installed in the portable electronic device; and

synchronize at least some email content in the storage location to the memory, including synchronization of the downloaded portion of the second email into the memory.

13. An apparatus that can operate in a standby mode, a low power mode, and a higher power mode, wherein the standby mode uses less power than the low power mode and the low power mode uses less power than the higher power mode, the apparatus comprising:

a network access device;

an email component operable to communicate with the network access device to obtain at least a portion of an email during the higher power mode or the low power mode, to be inactive during the standby mode, and to transition to the low power mode in response to an event representative of a transition from the standby mode to the low power mode or from the higher power mode to the low power mode;

a memory communicatively coupled to the email component to store the obtained portion of the email;

a high-power processing unit configured to control the display of the portion of the email during the higher power mode;

a first display associated with the high power processing module, wherein the high-power processing unit is configured to control the first display to display the portion of the email during the higher power mode;

a low-power processing unit coupled to the memory and configured to control presentation of the portion of the email stored therein during the low power mode or the standby mode;

a second display associated with the low-power processing unit, wherein the second display is physically separate from the first display and wherein the low-power processing unit is configured to control the second display to display the portion of the email during the low power mode; and

a housing, having a lid, for at least partially carrying the network access device, the memory, the high power processing unit, the low power processing unit, the first display, and the second display, wherein the housing is sized to be held within a user'"'"'s hand, wherein the first display is located on an inside surface of the lid, and wherein the second display is located on an outside surface of the lid.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, further comprising a user interface controllable by the low-power processing unit to present the portion of the email.

15. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein the memory, low-power processing unit, and the user interface comprise part of a low power display module that can operate independently of other components of the apparatus.

16. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the high-power processing unit can be transitioned into the low power mode to control the email component and the network access device to obtain the portion of the email.

17. The apparatus of claim 13, further comprising a storage location to store the obtained portion of the email, wherein the email component can perform synchronization between the storage location and the memory to match at least some of their email content.

18. The apparatus of claim 13, further comprising an application and an operating system associated with the low-power processing unit to cooperate with the low-power processing unit to present the portion of the email.

19. The apparatus of claim 13, further comprising an email application having a mail retrieval mechanism usable by the email component to obtain the portion of the email during the low power mode.

20. A system that can operate in a standby mode, a low power mode, and a higher power mode, wherein the standby mode uses less power than the low power mode and the low power mode uses less power than the higher power mode, the system comprising:

means for operating, in the higher power mode, an email application to obtain at least a portion of a first e-mail under control of a first processor in a high power processing module;

means for displaying the portion of the first email on a first display controlled by the high power processing module using the first processor, wherein the first display is viewable when the electronic device is in an open configuration;

means for transitioning the electronic device to the standby mode, wherein transitioning includes deactivating or substantially reducing power to the high power processing module;

means for monitoring for an event representative of a transition from the standby mode to the low power mode or from the higher power mode to the low power mode;

means for activating an email component to operate during the low power mode in response to detecting the event;

means for using the email component to obtain at least a portion of a second email during the low power mode;

means for loading the portion of the second email to a memory associated with a low power processing module separate from the high power processing module by a second processor in the low power processing module; and

means for using the second processor to display the loaded portion of the second email from the memory on a second display controlled by the low power processing module, wherein the second display is viewable when the electronic device is in a closed configuration.