Method for power management of mobile communication terminal and mobile communication terminal using this method

• US 8,335,549 B2
• Filed: 01/13/2011
• Issued: 12/18/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 06/16/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson
• Original Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Inventors: Lee, Minju
• Primary Examiner(s): CAI, WAYNE HUU
• Application Number:
  US13/006,223
• Publication Number:
  US 20110312385A1
• Time in Patent Office: 705 Days
• Field of Search: 455423-435, 455571-574, 455/127.5
• US Class Current: 455/574
• 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: H04W 52/0277 according to available power supply, e.g. switching off when a low battery condition is detected
• 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

A power management method of a mobile communication terminal may include sensing a characteristic of a battery coupled to the mobile communication terminal, providing a power-off suspend mode for the mobile communication terminal when the sensed battery characteristic falls below a predetermined value, and further sensing the characteristic of the battery while the mobile communication terminal is in the power-off suspend mode. This may include performing a reset of the mobile communication terminal when the further sensed characteristic rises above the predetermined value while the mobile communication terminal is in the power-off suspend mode, and performing a power-off of the mobile communication terminal when the further sensed characteristic remains below the predetermined value for a prescribed time while the mobile communication terminal is in the power-off suspend mode.

Claims

1. A power management method of a mobile communication terminal, the method comprising:

sensing a characteristic of a battery coupled to the mobile communication terminal;

detecting when the sensed battery characteristic falls below a predetermined value;

further sensing the characteristic of the battery after the detection;

automatically restarting the mobile communication terminal when the further sensed characteristic rises at least to the predetermined value within a prescribed amount of time; and

performing a power-off of the mobile communication terminal when the further sensed characteristic remains below the predetermined value for the prescribed amount of time.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the sensed characteristic is a voltage of the battery and the predetermined value is a normal operating level of the battery.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein sensing the characteristic includes sensing the voltage of the battery at prescribed intervals.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein further sensing the characteristic includes continuously sensing the characteristic of the battery.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising outputting a notification when the sensed battery characteristic falls below the predetermined value, wherein the notification includes one of a text, an image, a vibration, or a sound.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein automatically restarting the mobile terminal includes performing a silent reset of the mobile communication terminal.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein automatically restarting the mobile terminal includes rebooting the mobile communication terminal.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the mobile communication terminal maintains at least one setting when the mobile communication terminal is restarted.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the at least one setting is a volume setting.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the mobile communication terminal changes at least one setting when the mobile communication terminal is restarted.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the at least one setting is a volume setting, and wherein when the mobile communication terminal is restarted the volume setting is changed such that the mobile communication terminal reboots silently.

12. A power management method of a mobile communication terminal, the method comprising:

sensing a voltage of a battery coupled to the mobile communication terminal;

detecting when the sensed voltage of the battery decreases more than a prescribed amount;

powering-off the mobile communication terminal when the sensed voltage of the battery decreases more than the prescribed amount;

automatically powering-on the mobile communication terminal when the sensed voltage rises at least to a predetermined value within a prescribed amount of time prior to the mobile communication terminal being powered-off; and

maintaining the power-off state of the mobile communication terminal when the sensed voltage remains below the predetermined value for the prescribed amount of time.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein sensing the voltage includes sensing the voltage of the battery at prescribed intervals, and detecting the sensed voltage of the battery includes detecting that the sensed voltage of the battery decreases more than the prescribed amount within a predetermined amount of time, each interval corresponding to the predetermined amount of time.

14. The method of claim 12, further comprising further sensing the voltage of the battery after detecting that the sensed voltage of the batter has decreased more than the prescribed amount, wherein the further sensing includes continuously sensing the voltage of the battery.

15. The method of claim 12, further comprising outputting a notification when the sensed battery characteristic falls below a predetermined value, wherein the notification includes one of a text, an image, a vibration, or a sound.

16. The method of claim 12, wherein automatically powering-on the mobile communication terminal includes performing a silent reset of the mobile communication terminal.

17. The method of claim 12, wherein automatically powering-on the mobile communication terminal includes rebooting the mobile communication terminal.

18. The method of claim 12, wherein the mobile communication terminal maintains at least one setting when the mobile communication terminal is restarted.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the at least one setting is a volume setting.

20. The method of claim 12, wherein the mobile communication terminal changes at least one setting when the mobile communication terminal is restarted.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the at least one setting is a volume setting, and wherein when the mobile communication terminal is restarted the volume setting is changed such that the mobile communication terminal reboots silently.

22. A mobile communication terminal comprising:

a sensing unit to sense a characteristic of a battery coupled to the mobile communication terminal; and

a controller to detect when the sensing unit senses that the sensed battery characteristic falls below a predetermined value, the sensing unit to further sense the characteristic of the battery after the detection,

the controller to automatically restart the mobile communication terminal when the further sensed characteristic rises at least to the predetermined value within a prescribed amount of time, and the controller to perform a power-off of the mobile communication terminal when the further sensed characteristic remains below the predetermined value for the prescribed amount of time.

23. The mobile communication terminal of claim 22, wherein the sensed characteristic is a voltage of the battery and the predetermined value is a normal operating level of the battery.

24. The mobile communication terminal of claim 23, wherein the sensing unit to sense the characteristic includes the sensing unit to sense the voltage of the battery at prescribed intervals.

25. The mobile communication terminal of claim 22, wherein the sensing unit to further sense the characteristic includes the sensing unit to continuously sense the characteristic of the battery.

26. The mobile communication terminal of claim 22, further comprising a display to display information notifying when the sensed battery characteristic falls below the predetermined value.

27. The mobile communication terminal of claim 22, wherein the controller to automatically restart the mobile communication terminal includes the controller to perform a silent reset of the mobile communication terminal.

28. The mobile communication terminal of claim 22, wherein the controller to automatically restart the mobile communication terminal includes the controller to reboot the mobile communication terminal.

29. A mobile communication terminal comprising:

a sensing unit to sense a voltage of a battery coupled to the mobile communication terminal; and

a controller to detect when the sensing unit senses that the sensed voltage of the battery decreases more than a prescribed amount, the sensing unit to power-off the mobile communication terminal when the sensed voltage of the battery decreases more than the prescribed amount, the controller to automatically power-on the mobile communication terminal when the sensed voltage rises at least to a predetermined value within a prescribed amount of time prior to the mobile communication terminal being powered-off, and the controller to maintain the power-off state of the mobile communication terminal when the sensed voltage remains below the predetermined value for the prescribed amount of time.

30. The mobile communication terminal of claim 29, wherein the sensing unit to further sense the voltage includes the sensing unit to sense the voltage of the battery at prescribed intervals, and the controller to detect when the sensing unit senses that the sensed voltage of the battery decreases more than the prescribed amount detects the voltage decrease within a predetermined amount of time, each interval corresponding to the predetermined amount of time.

31. The mobile communication terminal of claim 30, wherein the controller to automatically power-on the mobile communication terminal includes the controller to perform a silent reset of the mobile communication terminal.

32. The mobile communication terminal of claim 30, wherein the controller to automatically power-on the mobile communication terminal includes the controller to reboot the mobile communication terminal.

33. The mobile communication terminal of claim 29, wherein the sensing unit includes the sensing unit to further sense the voltage of the battery after detecting that the sensed voltage of the battery has decreased more than the prescribed amount and includes the sensing unit to continuously sense the voltage of the battery.

34. The mobile communication terminal of claim 29, further comprising a display to display information notifying entering of the power-off suspend mode when the sensed voltage of the battery decreases more than a prescribed amount.

35. A method of controlling a mobile communication terminal, comprising:

sensing a voltage level of a battery connected to the mobile communication terminal;

detecting when the sensed voltage drops below a predetermined level for a prescribed amount of time, wherein the detected voltage drop causes the mobile communication terminal to begin powering-off;

selectively restarting the mobile communication terminal based on the detected voltage drop, wherein when the detected voltage drops below the predetermined level for less than the prescribed amount of time, automatically rebooting the mobile communication terminal, and

when the detected voltage drops below the predetermined level for at least the prescribed amount of time, maintaining a power-off state of the mobile communication terminal.