Method for operating portable terminal to reduce power during support of communication service and portable terminal supporting the same

• US 8,655,338 B2
• Filed: 04/04/2012
• Issued: 02/18/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 04/05/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Kim, Tae Hyung, Kim, Hyun Mun, Song, Ji Wan, Kim, Gil Yoon, Lee, Heung Ki, Lee, Yang Soo, Cho, Seung Hwan
• Primary Examiner(s): Siddiqui, Kashif
• Application Number:
  US13/439,208
• Publication Number:
  US 20120258699A1
• Time in Patent Office: 685 Days
• Field of Search: 4554141-4144, 455418-420, 455/422.1, 455/574, 370/311
• US Class Current: 455/418
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0209 in terminal devices terminal devices per se H04W88/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0225 using monitoring of external events, e.g. the presence of a signal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0245 according to signal strength
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0251 using monitoring of local events, e.g. events related to user activity
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0274 by switching on or off the equipment or parts thereof
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

A method for operating a portable terminal so as to reduce power consumption during the support of a communication service and a portable terminal supporting the same is provided. The method includes activating a Radio Frequency (RF) communication unit, downloading a part of data of predetermined contents through the RF communication unit, buffering the downloaded part of the data in a buffer so as to output the buffered downloaded part of the data, and executing an idle time for terminating or reducing a power supply of the RF communication unit when the downloading of the part of the data of the predetermined contents is completed.

Claims

1. A method for operating a portable terminal to reduce power consumption during support of a communication service, the method comprising:

activating a Radio Frequency (RF) communication unit;

downloading a part of data of predetermined content through the RF communication unit;

buffering the downloaded part of the data in a buffer so as to output the buffered downloaded part of the data; and

executing an idle time for terminating or reducing a power supply of the RF communication unit in a power reduction mode when the downloading of the part of the data of the predetermined contents during an activation time is completed,

wherein respective durations of the activation time and the idle time are adjusted according to an amount of data remaining in the buffer.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining an amount of residual data buffered in the buffer, the residual data being the buffered downloaded part of the data that has not been outputted;

executing the activation time for restarting or increasing the power supply to the RF communication unit when the amount of the residual data of the buffer is less than a predetermined value during the idle time and downloading another part of the data of the predetermined contents during the activation time; and

controlling an allocated size of the buffer for downloading parts of the data of the predetermined contents and a reference size for the residual data, the reference size being a threshold for requesting a retransmission of data according to detected RF environment determination information for determining a RF environment by the RF communication unit.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the RF environment determination information comprises at least one of state information of a bandwidth of a data communication channel formed by the RF communication unit, a data transmission speed, a Received Signal Strength Indication (RSSI) of a RF signal, and a type of a network used by the RF communication unit.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the controlling of the allocated size of the buffer comprises at least one of:

increasing the allocated size of the buffer for the downloading of the part of the data by a predetermined size when the RF environment determination information is greater than a predetermined value;

increasing the reference size for the residual data at a retransmission time of data when a value of the RF environment determination information is less than a predetermined RF environment value or the value of the RF environment determination information is decreasing;

decreasing the reference size for the residual data when the RF environment determination information is greater than the predetermined RF environment value or the value of the RF environment determination information is increasing; and

operating the RF communication unit in a normal mode having an activation time without the idle time when the RF environment determination information is less than the predetermined RF environment value.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein the controlling of the allocated size of the buffer comprises at least one of:

increasing the allocated size of the buffer for the downloading of the part of the data when a size of data used for a scene arrangement by the predetermined contents is greater than a predetermined size, and decreasing the allocated size of the buffer when the size of data used for the scene arrangement by the predetermined contents is less than the predetermined size; and

increasing the reference size for the residual data when the size of data used for the scene arrangement by the predetermined contents is greater than the predetermined size and decreasing the reference size for the residual data when the size of data used for the scene arrangement by the contents is less than the predetermined size.

6. The method of claim 2, further comprising;

determining time period information corresponding to data buffered in the buffer; and

determining mode change time information indicating a number of times the activation time of the RF communication unit is changed to an idle time,

wherein the controlling of the allocated size of the buffer comprises operating the RF communication unit in the power reduction mode when a sum of the mode change time information and preset minimum idle time information is greater than the time period information of the buffered data, and operating the RF communication unit in a normal mode without an idle time when the sum of the mode change time information and the preset minimum idle time information is less than the time period information of the buffered data.

7. The method of claim 2, wherein the controlling of the allocated size of the buffer comprises terminating the operation of the power reduction mode and operating the RF communication unit in the normal mode having an activation time without the idle time for a predetermined time when a Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) is less than a predetermined RSSI value or greater than a predetermined variation width during the operation of the power reduction mode.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising determining a change value for a number of times the power reduction mode is changed to the normal mode during a preset time,

wherein the controlling of the allocated size of the buffer comprises maintaining one of the power reduction mode or the normal mode for a predetermined time period when the change value is greater than a predetermined change value.

9. The method of claim 2, further comprising buffering a power supply while the RF communication unit changes from an idle time to the activation time.

10. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

releasing a currently formed data communication channel when the RF communication unit does not receive data;

forming a new data communication channel for receiving the predetermined contents; and

receiving another part of the data using the new data communication channel after the downloading of the part of data of the predetermined content.

11. A portable terminal for reducing power consumed during support of a communication service, the portable terminal comprising:

a Radio Frequency (RF) communication unit for downloading a part of data of a predetermined size of contents transmitted through a data communication channel;

a buffer for buffering the part of the data for a predetermined time; and

a controller for controlling the buffering of the part of the data and outputting the buffered part of the data, for terminating or reducing a power supply of the RF communication unit in a power reduction mode such that the RF communication unit has an idle time when the downloading of the part of the data during an activation time is terminated,

wherein respective durations of the activation time and the idle time are adjusted according to an amount of data remaining in the buffer.

12. The portable terminal of claim 11, wherein the controller is for determining an amount of residual data buffered in the buffer;

wherein the controller is for restarting or increasing the power supply to the RF communication unit to operate the activation time when the amount of the residual data is less than a predetermined amount of data during the idle time and downloading another part of the data of the contents during the activation time, and

wherein the controller is for controlling an allocated size of the buffer and a reference size for residual data remaining in the buffer, the reference size being a threshold for requesting a retransmission of data according to detected RF environment determination information for determining a RF environment by the RF communication unit.

13. The portable of claim 12, wherein the RF environment determination information comprises at least one of state information of a bandwidth of a data communication channel formed by the RF communication unit, a data transmission speed, a Received Signal Strength Indication (RSSI) of a RF signal, and a type of a network used by the RF communication unit.

14. The portable terminal of claim 12, wherein the controller is for increasing the allocated size of the buffer for the downloading of the part of the data by a predetermined size when the RF environment determination information is greater than a predetermined value,

wherein the controller is for increasing the reference size for the residual data at a retransmission time of data when a value of the RF environment determination information is less than a predetermined RF environment value or the value of the RF environment determination information is decreasing,

wherein the controller is for reducing the reference size for the residual data when the RF environment determination information is greater than the predetermined RF environment value or the value of the RF environment determination information is increasing, and

wherein the controller is for operating the RF communication unit in a normal mode having an activation time without the idle time when the RF environment determination information is less than the predetermined RF environment value.

15. The portable terminal of claim 12, wherein the controller is for increasing the allocated size of the buffer for the downloading of the part of the data when a size of data used for a scene arrangement by the contents is greater than a predetermined size, and decreasing the allocated size of the buffer when the size of data used for the scene arrangement by the contents is less than the predetermined size, and

wherein the controller is for increasing the reference size for the residual data when the size of data used for the scene arrangement by the predetermined contents is greater than the predetermined size and for decreasing the reference size for the residual data when the size of data used for the scene arrangement by the contents is less than the predetermined size.

16. The portable terminal of claim 12, wherein the controller is for determining time period information corresponding to data buffered in the buffer,

wherein the controller is for determining mode change time information indicating a number of times the activation time of the RF communication unit is changed to an idle time, and

wherein the controller is for controlling the allocated size of the buffer in order to operate the RF communication unit in the power reduction mode when a sum of the mode change time information and preset minimum idle time information is greater than the time period information of the buffered data, and for operating the RF communication unit in a normal mode without an idle time when the sum of the mode change time information and the preset minimum idle time information is less than the time period information of the buffered data.

17. The portable terminal of claim 16, wherein the controller comprises a timer for determining a change value for a number of times the power reduction mode is changed to the normal mode during a preset time,

wherein the controller is for controlling the allocated size of the buffer in order to maintain one of the power reduction mode or the normal mode for a predetermined time period when the change value is greater than a predetermined change value.

18. The portable terminal of claim 12, further comprising a stabilizer for buffering a power supply while the RF communication unit changes from an idle time to the activation time.

19. The portable terminal of claim 18, further comprising a switch unit for switching a power path to supply power to the RF communication unit through the stabilizer during the idle time.

20. The portable terminal of claim 12, wherein the controller is for releasing a currently formed data communication channel when the RF communication unit does not receive data, and

wherein the controller is for forming a new data communication channel for receiving the contents.