Remote wakeup of application processor of mobile device

• US 8,824,346 B2
• Filed: 03/07/2011
• Issued: 09/02/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 02/23/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Original Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Inventors: Woo, Sungho, Choi, Jaeyoung, Jo, Hoon, Park, Jongseok, Jeong, Okhyun, Kang, Giwon, Lee, Jungseok, Choi, Hyeonchang, Shim, Hong Jo
• Primary Examiner(s): Lee, Jae Y
• Application Number:
  US13/042,380
• Publication Number:
  US 20120213134A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,275 Days
• US Class Current: 370/311
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3209 Monitoring remote activity, e.g. over telephone lines or network connections
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3287 by switching off individual functional units in the computer system
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/00045 Authentication, i.e. circuits for checking compatibility between one component, e.g. a battery or a battery charger, and another component, e.g. a power source
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 10/00 Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management

Abstract

A system, circuit, and device for waking up an application processor (AP) of the mobile device are disclosed. The system includes a low power personal area network (PAN) module configured to communicate with an external device for establishing a connection with the external device. The system also includes a controller for the low power PAN module configured to process a connection request signal from the external device and to wake up the AP of the mobile device in response to an AP on request signal from the external device when the connection request signal from the external device is verified as valid, where the controller is supplied with quiescent current from a battery of the mobile device prior to the wake up of the AP.

Claims

1. A system of a mobile device for waking up an application processor (AP) of the mobile device, the system comprising:

a low power personal area network (PAN) module configured to communicate with an external device for establishing a connection with the external device;

a controller for the low power PAN module configured to process a connection request signal from the external device and to wake up the AP of the mobile device in response to an AP on request signal from the external device when the connection request signal from the external device is verified as valid, wherein the controller is supplied with quiescent current from a battery of the mobile device prior to the wake up of the AP; and

a switch physically coupled to the AP, the low power PAN module and the controller, the switch controllable by the controller to open a connection between the AP and the low power PAN module prior to the wake up of the AP and to close the connection upon the wake up of the AP so that data is communicated directly between the low power PAN module and the AP upon the wake up of the AP.

2. The system of claim 1, further comprising a low dropout regulator (LDR) configured to maintain a voltage supplied to the low power PAN module.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the low power PAN module comprises a Bluetooth device with a Bluetooth low energy (BLE) feature.

4. A mobile device, comprising:

a battery;

an application processor (AP);

a low power personal area network (PAN) module configured to communicate with an external device for establishing a connection with the external device;

a controller for the low power PAN module configured to process a connection request signal from the external device and to wake up the AP in response to an AP on request signal from the external device when the connection request signal is verified as valid, wherein the controller is supplied with quiescent current from the battery prior to the wake up of the AP; and

a switch physically coupled to the AP, the low power PAN module and the controller, the switch controllable by the controller to open a connection between the AP and the low power PAN module prior to the wake up of the AP and to close the connection upon the wake up of the AP so that data is communicated directly between the low power PAN module and the AP upon the wake up of the AP.

5. The mobile device of claim 4, further comprising:

a low dropout regulator (LDR) configured to maintain a voltage supplied to the low power PAN module; and

a power management integrated circuit (PMIC) configured to control a power supplied to the AP.

6. The mobile device of claim 5, wherein the low power PAN module comprises a Bluetooth device with a Bluetooth low energy (BLE) feature.

7. The mobile device of claim 6, wherein the controller is initialized when the battery is installed to the mobile device, and the controller is further configured to:

perform a power on sequence of the low power PAN module by controlling the LDR via a first general purpose input/output (GPIO) of the controller;

perform a pairing with the external device based on authentication data from the external device forwarded via a second GPIO of the controller;

forward a power on signal to the PMIC to wake up the AP via a third GPIO of the controller in response to the AP on request signal from the external device; and

operate the switch to transfer a control of the Bluetooth device with the BLE feature to the AP.

8. A system, comprising:

a server; and

a plurality of mobile devices, each mobile device comprising;

a battery;

an application processor (AP);

a low power personal area network (PAN) module configured to communicate with the server for establishing a connection with the server;

a controller for the low power PAN module configured to process a connection request signal from the server and to wake up the AP of said each mobile device in response to an AP on request signal from the server when the connection request signal from the server is verified as valid, wherein the controller is supplied with quiescent current from the battery of said each mobile device prior to the wake up of the AP; and

a switch physically coupled to the AP, the low power PAN module and the controller, the switch controllable by the controller to open a connection between the AP and the low power PAN module prior to the wake up of the AP and to close the connection upon the wake up of the AP so that data is communicated directly between the low power PAN module and the AP upon the wake up of the AP.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the server comprises:

a PAN module; and

a processor configured to generate the connection request signal and the AP on request signal.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the PAN module of the server comprises a Bluetooth device, and the low power PAN module of said each mobile device comprises a Bluetooth device with a Bluetooth low energy (BLE) feature.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the server further comprises a database storing an address of the Bluetooth device with the BLE feature in said each mobile device and a personal identification number (PIN) code designated for said each mobile device.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein a pairing of the server and said each mobile device is performed based on the address of the Bluetooth device with the BLE feature and the PIN code designated for said each mobile device.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the server is configured to request the connection with the server to said each mobile device according to a particular profile of the server, and said each mobile device is configured to accept the request.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the server and said each mobile device are configured to implement a protocol for the wake up of the AP.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein said each mobile device is configured to perform the wake up of the AP upon receipt of the AP on request signal.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the controller of said each mobile device is configured to measure a level of the battery upon receipt of the AP on request signal, and the wake up of the AP is performed when the level of the battery is higher than a threshold level.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the server further comprises a first Wi-Fi module and said each mobile device comprises a second Wi-Fi module.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein a download of an OS image stored in the server to said each mobile device is performed via the first Wi-Fi module and the second Wi-Fi module.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the controller for the low power PAN module is disabled when the download of the OS image is completed.