Power and load management based on contextual information

• US 9,026,814 B2
• Filed: 06/17/2011
• Issued: 05/05/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 06/17/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Aasheim, Jered, Fortier, Dominique, Hall, Michael, Johar, Akshay, Reed, Daniel
• Primary Examiner(s): TRAN, VINCENT HUY
• Application Number:
  US13/162,583
• Publication Number:
  US 20120324259A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,418 Days
• Field of Search: 713/310, 713/320, 713/340
• US Class Current: 713/320
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3206 Monitoring of events, devices or parameters that trigger a change in power modality
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/329 by task scheduling
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/5094 where the allocation takes into account power or heat criteria power management in computers in general G06F1/3203; thermal management in computers in general G06F1/206
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/12 Arrangements for remote connection or disconnection of substations or of equipment thereof
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0258 controlling an operation mode according to history or models of usage information, e.g. activity schedule or time of day
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0261 managing power supply demand, e.g. depending on battery level
• 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 context system is described herein that makes decisions related to device power usage based on factors such as location, load, available alternatives, cost of power, and cost of bandwidth. The system incorporates contextual knowledge about the situation in which a device is being used. Using the context of location, devices can make smarter decisions about deciding which processes to migrate to the cloud, load balancing between applications, and switching to power saving modes depending on how far the user is from a power source. As the cloud becomes more frequently used, load balancing by utilizing distributed data warehouses to move processes to different locations in the world depending on factors such as accessibility, locales, and cost of electricity are considerations for power management. Power management of mobile devices is becoming important as integration with the cloud yields expectations of devices being able to reliably access and persist data.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for managing power in a computing device based on location, the method comprising:

detecting a power-intensive task invoked on the computing device;

determining a current power state of the computing device;

determining a location of the device and a proximity to additional power and/or computing resources wherein determining further comprises determining an availability of power and whether the device'"'"'s current power level is sufficient to complete tasks that will occur before the user reaches a location of an additional power source;

identifying one or more alternative devices for performing the requested task by requesting information describing availability and a monetary cost of power for the alternative computing devices;

receiving information from the one or more identified alternative devices, the received information describing characteristics of each of the one or more identified alternative devices;

determining suitability of the identified one or more alternative devices for performing the requested task based on the received information; and

taking a power-based action to manage the computing device based on the determined location of the device, other received information, and the determined suitability of the identified one or more alternative devices;

wherein the preceding steps are performed by at least one processor.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein detecting the power-intensive task comprises determining an application run by a user of the computing device.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein detecting the power-intensive task comprises receiving information from an application or other sources describing one or more resource demands of the task.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein detecting the power-intensive task comprises determining whether to allow the task to execute locally or whether to execute the task remotely on another device.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein determining the current power state comprises determining at least one of a voltage level and frequency of a processor, one or more banks of memory that are turned on and off, a screen brightness, a backlight state, and whether one or more sensors, peripherals, and communication hardware are powered.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein determining the current power state comprises gathering power state information from the device and querying applications to determine a power state that is currently expected for completing existing tasks.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein determining the current power state comprises determining a new power state to which to transition the device.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein determining the location of the device comprises determining whether another device can more efficiently handle the task.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein identifying alternative devices comprises determining whether a connection is available to a datacenter or cloud that could handle the detected task.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein taking a power-based action comprises at least one of transitioning the current power state of the device to another power state, preventing transitioning of the power state of the device, and transitioning the requested task or other loads running on the computing device to one or more alternative computing devices.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein taking a power-based action comprises selecting an action that will provide the user or users of the computing device with a good experience while efficiently using power and managing cost.

12. A computer system for power and load management based on contextual Information on a computing device, the system comprising:

a processor and memory configured to execute software instructions embodied within the following components;

a power state component that maintains information describing a current power state of the computing device;

a load-sensing component that senses one or more load requests caused by activity on the computing device;

a power cost component that determines current and future costs of power for the mobile computing device;

a location awareness component that determines a current location of the computing device and determines one or more potential subsequent locations of the device;

a decision engine component that receives information from other components and makes decisions related to power states of the computing device and whether to transfer loads to remote devices, the decision engine component further configured to receive information from a plurality of remote devices describing characteristics of the plurality of remote devices, a monetary cost of power for the remote devices, and to determine suitability of each of the plurality of remote devices to perform one or more of the loads;

a load transfer component that transfers a computing load from the computing device to a secondary computing device as directed by the decision engine based on a determined monetary power cost; and

a power conserving component that transitions the computing device from the current power state to another or prevents a transition from the current power state based on location information.

13. The system of claim 12 wherein the power cost component coordinates with the location awareness component to know the cost of power in a present location versus cost of power in one or more expected subsequent locations.

14. The system of claim 12 wherein the location awareness component accesses an electronic calendar associated with the user of the device to determine locations where the device may be geographically located during future appointments.

15. The system of claim 12 wherein the location awareness component tracks historical information and trends to determine habits of the user and where the user may take the device at any particular time.

16. The system of claim 12 wherein the decision engine component receives a power policy from an administrator that determines one or more goals that the decision engine attempts to satisfy.

17. The system of claim 12 further comprising an application communication component that provides an event-based communication facility between applications operating on the computing device to coordinate power needs and power availability on the computing device.

18. A computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions for controlling a computer system to transfer a computing load from one computing device to another computing device, wherein the instructions, upon execution, cause a processor to perform actions comprising:

receiving a request to execute a task that will produce a computational load on one or more resources of the computing device;

determining a location associated with the computing device that determines availability of additional power and/or computing resources wherein determining further comprising determining an availability of power and whether the computing device'"'"'s current power level is sufficient to complete tasks that will occur before the user reaches a location of an additional power source;

identifying one or more alternative devices for performing the requested task;

determining a monetary power cost for executing the requested load locally on the computing device and at one or more of the identified alternatives; and

automatically deciding whether to execute the requested load on the local computing device or to transfer at least some of the requested load to an identified alternative computing device.