Delayed execution of operations

• US 8,255,720 B1
• Filed: 09/30/2011
• Issued: 08/28/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 10/28/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Conway, David P.
• Primary Examiner(s): WANG, ALBERT C
• Application Number:
  US13/251,052
• Time in Patent Office: 333 Days
• Field of Search: 455/574, 455/573, 713/320
• US Class Current: 713/320
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/265 constructional aspects of navigation devices, e.g. housings, mountings, displays G01C21/3688 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3608 using speech input, e.g. using speech recognition
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/362 received from an external device or application, e.g. PDA, mobile phone or calendar application
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3661 Guidance output on an external device, e.g. car radio
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/367 Details, e.g. road map scale, orientation, zooming, illumination, level of detail, scrolling of road map or positioning of current position marker
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1626 with a single-body enclosure integrating a flat display, e.g. Personal Digital Assistants [PDAs]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1632 External expansion units, e.g. docking stations
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/266 Arrangements to supply power to external peripherals either directly from the computer or under computer control, e.g. supply of power through the communication port, computer controlled power-strips
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3265 Power saving in display device
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/329 by task scheduling
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/444 Spatial browsing, e.g. 2D maps, 3D or virtual spaces
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/638 Presentation of query results
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2200/1614 Image rotation following screen orientation, e.g. switching from landscape to portrait mode
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/04 Supports for telephone transmitters or receivers
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72412 using two-way short-range wireless interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72415 for remote control of appliances
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72454 according to context-related or environment-related conditions
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72457 according to geographic location
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/02 including a Bluetooth interface
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/74 : with voice recognition means voice activated dialling H04M1/271; voice recognition algorithms G10L15/00
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 10/00 : Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management

Abstract

In general, the subject matter described in this specification can be embodied in methods, systems, and program products for performing power management. A computer process that requires, to be performed, substantial portions of battery storage on the mobile computing device is identified. Execution of the identified process can be deferred while the mobile computing device is not connected to a power source that is for charging the battery storage and that is external to the mobile computing device. Connection of the mobile computing device to the power source is sensed. Performance of the process is triggered in response to sensing that the mobile computing device has been connected to the power source.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented power management method, comprising:

identifying, on a mobile computing device, a computer process that, to be performed, requires substantial portions of battery storage on the mobile computing device;

deferring execution of the identified process while the mobile computing device is not connected to a power source that is for charging the battery storage and that is external to the mobile computing device;

sensing that the mobile computing device has been connected to the power source; and

triggering performance of the process in response to sensing that the mobile computing device has been connected to the power source,

wherein said triggering performance of the process comprises waiting to trigger performance of the process in response to the mobile computing device being connected to the power source until a charge level of the battery storage has reached a determined level, and

wherein the determined level is determined to be a level that is adequate to complete the process without exhausting the battery storage on the device if the device is disconnected from the power source before the process has completed.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the determined level is further determined to be a level that is adequate to permit further use of the device for a determined amount of time after the process has completed.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein said triggering performance of the process comprises waiting a determined amount of time after the mobile computing device is connected to the power source.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the determined amount of time is at least fifteen minutes.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein said identifying the computer process that requires substantial portions of battery storage includes receiving user input, while the mobile computing device is not connected to the power source, that identifies the process.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein said receiving user input that identifies the process includes receiving a secondary type of user input of a user interface element, wherein deferring execution of the identified process occurs as a result of receiving the second type of user input of the user interface element, wherein the user interface element is configured to trigger performance of the process, when the mobile computing device is not connected to the power source, as a result of receiving a primary type of user input of the user interface element.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein said identifying the computer process that requires substantial portions of battery storage includes identifying that the computer process is a process that a third party application program registered during installation of the third party application program as a process for which execution can be deferred.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein said identifying the computer process that requires substantial portions of battery storage includes identifying that the computer process is a process that is configured to receive user input but that has been executing without receiving user input for a determined amount of time.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the determined amount of time is greater than five minutes.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein said identifying the computer process that requires substantial portions of battery storage includes determining that the battery storage will be exhausted if the process is executed to completion.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the power source converts alternating current (AC) line power to direct current (DC) power.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the performance of the process comprises wireless transmission of data, by the mobile computing device and over the internet, to another computerized device without routing the data through a device that includes the power source.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising sensing that the mobile computing device has been disconnected from the power source, and in response, continuing the performance of the process after the disconnection from the power source until the process has completed.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein the determined level is determined to be at least substantially a full charge of the battery storage if the process is determined to be unable to complete on the full charge of the battery storage.

14. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processing devices, perform operations comprising:

identifying, on a mobile computing device, a computer process that, to be performed, requires substantial portions of battery storage on the mobile computing device;

determining a level of battery storage on the mobile computing device that is adequate to complete performance of the computer process without exhausting the battery storage should the computing device be disconnected from an external power source;

identifying whether a current level of the battery storage exceeds the determined charge level; and

triggering performance of the process based at least in part on whether the current charge level of the battery storage has been identified to exceed the determined charge level.

15. A computing device having power management features, comprising:

a power sensor that is arranged to detect when the computing device is attached to a power source that is for charging the computing device;

one or more power-intensive processes that perform operations that are identified to be excessive drains on battery levels for the device; and

a power manager, that is to execute on a processor on the device, and that is programmed to withhold execution of the operations while the device is not connected to the power source, and to trigger execution of the operations automatically in response to sensing with the power sensor that the device has been connected to the power source,

wherein the power manager is programmed to trigger execution of the operations automatically by waiting to trigger execution of the operations until a charge level of the computing device has reached a level that is determined to be a level adequate to complete the operations without exhausting a charge of the computing device if the computing device is disconnected from the power source.

16. The computing device of claim 15, further comprising a plurality of processes and a stored indicator that represents whether each process of the plurality of processes is a power-intensive process.

17. The computing device of claim 15, wherein the determined level further includes a power level adequate to permit further use of the device for a determined amount of time after the operations have been completed.