Estimating and preserving battery life based on usage patterns

• US 9,164,568 B2
• Filed: 06/09/2014
• Issued: 10/20/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 06/07/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Flores Assad, Javier N., Saba, Maher Afif, Apostolopoulos, Pantelis, Deschamps, Daniel Guilherme Paixao, Calinov, Iulian D., Thapanakul, Wanittha
• Primary Examiner(s): Elamin, M
• Application Number:
  US14/300,062
• Publication Number:
  US 20140289543A1
• Time in Patent Office: 498 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• 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: G06F 1/325 Power saving in peripheral device
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/329 by task scheduling
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 10/00 Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management

Abstract

Embodiments apply user-specific usage patterns to estimate and preserve remaining battery life on a computing device. An amount of battery drain and an execution context are determined and stored for a plurality of recurring time periods. The execution context identifies operations executed by the computing device, signal strength, and other data describing the associated time period. If one of the operations is expected to be executed during a recurrence of at least one of the time periods, the expected execution is adjusted based on execution context and an estimated remaining battery life for the computing device. For example, the computing device may postpone or reschedule the operation for a time period during which the operation is expected to have a greater likelihood of completing successfully. In some embodiments, the battery preservation operations are automatically enabled at a particular threshold.

Claims

1. A system for updating battery records associated with a computing device, said system comprising:

a memory area associated with the computing device, said memory area storing a plurality of battery records each associated with one of a plurality of recurring time periods, each of the plurality of battery records including an amount of battery drain and a corresponding execution context for the computing device during the associated time period, said execution context identifying one or more operations executed by the computing device during the associated time period; and

a processor programmed to;

detect a start of an execution activity and an end of the execution activity to identify one of the plurality of recurring time periods;

determine data usage statistics relating to the identified time period;

select one or more battery records from the plurality of battery records to store the determined data usage statistics, the one or more battery records being selected based on the identified time period; and

update each of the selected one or more battery records with the determined data usage statistics, wherein the updated battery records represent a usage pattern for use when estimating and preserving battery life.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is further programmed to

identify an expected execution of at least one of the operations during the identified time period;

and

automatically adjust the identified expected execution of the at least one of the operations based on an estimated remaining battery life for the computing device and the execution context.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the estimated remaining battery life is calculated based on previous discharge data stored in the plurality of the battery records.

4. The system of claim 2, wherein the estimated remaining battery life is specific to a particular user and is calculated based on a regular activity of the particular user.

5. The system of claim 2, wherein the processor is programmed to adjust the identified expected execution of the operation by:

determining if a success rate of the operation during the one of the plurality of recurring time periods is less than a pre-defined threshold;

based on said determining, identifying another one of the plurality of recurring time periods during which a success rate of the operation is greater than the pre-defined threshold; and

rescheduling the identified expected execution of the operation for said another one of the plurality of recurring time periods.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the memory area represents cloud storage, and wherein the processor is programmed to predict the battery drain by estimating, based on the plurality of battery records stored in the cloud storage, a remaining battery life for the computing device.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the battery drain stored in the selected one or more battery records represents a linear approximation of a battery discharge rate observed during the one of the plurality of recurring time periods.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein each of the recurring time periods is dynamic based on a type of the computing device.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is further programmed to calculate a rolling average of the battery drain based on the plurality of battery records stored in the memory area, and wherein the processor is further programmed to predict the battery drain for the computing device during the recurrence of the one of the plurality of recurring time periods based on the calculated rolling average of the battery drain.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is further programmed to analyze the plurality of battery records stored in the memory area to identify one or more of the operations having an amount of battery drain exceeding a pre-defined threshold.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is further programmed to analyze the plurality of battery records stored in the memory area to identify one or more of the recurring time periods during which the operations have a success rate exceeding a pre-defined threshold.

12. A method of updating battery records associated with a computing device, the method comprising

detecting a change in a charge of a battery associated with the computing device;

identifying an execution context upon detecting the change, wherein said identifying includes selecting battery records from a plurality of battery records, the selected battery records corresponding to a time period associated with detection of the change;

assigning the change in the charge to the selected battery records; and

updating each of the selected battery records with the assigned change in the charge, wherein the updated battery records represent a usage pattern for use when estimating and preserving battery life.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising detecting when the charge is less than a pre-defined threshold and then automatically enabling battery preservation operations, wherein the battery preservation operations are automatically suspended when the charge is more than the pre-defined threshold.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising accessing the plurality of battery records to determine when a user charges the computing device.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein one or more of the plurality of battery records are defined by the computing device for each of a plurality of recurring time periods, each of the one or more of the plurality of battery records including an amount of battery drain and a corresponding, execution context.

16. The method of claim 12, further comprising calculating power consumption for an operation based on the plurality of battery records to create a power consumption profile for the operation.

17. The method of claim 12, further comprising analyzing the plurality of battery records to produce power consumption profiles for a plurality of users or a plurality of geographical areas.

18. A computer storage media comprising computer executable instructions that when executed by a processor perform operations comprising:

detecting, by a component executing on the computing device, a change in a charge of a battery;

identifying, by a processor associated with the computing device, an execution context upon detecting the change, wherein identifying includes selecting battery records corresponding to a time period associated with the detection;

assigning the detected change in charge among the selected battery records; and

updating each of the selected battery records with the assigned change in charge.

19. The computer storage media of claim 18, wherein the computer executable instructions, when executed by the processor, further perform operations comprising:

identifying at least one of a plurality of recurring time periods during which the computing device is charged;

calculating an estimated remaining battery life; and

notifying a user of the computing device upon determining that the calculated, estimated remaining battery life is insufficient to last until a recurrence of said at least one of the plurality of recurring time periods.

20. The computer storage media of claim 18, wherein the computer executable instructions, when executed by the processor, further perform operations comprising determining a probability of the computing device being able to meet an expected discharge until a next expected charge cycle.