System, method, and apparatus for minimizing power consumption in a portable device capable of receiving satellite navigational system signals

• US 9,411,052 B2
• Filed: 03/20/2015
• Issued: 08/09/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 07/24/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Lennen, Gary, Milota, Andy
• Primary Examiner(s): Beaulieu, Yonel
• Application Number:
  US14/664,035
• Publication Number:
  US 20150234054A1
• Time in Patent Office: 508 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/26 specially adapted for navigation in a road network
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/34 Power consumption

Abstract

Methods, systems, and portable devices which reduce the power used by a portable device to receive/process satellite navigational system signals and/or to compute the portable device'"'"'s position using satellite navigational system signals are described. One portable device retrieves power usage information corresponding to its current location, where the power usage information is based on aggregate data from portable devices which have traversed and/or are traversing the current location. The portable device then selects a power saving mode from a plurality of power saving modes based on the retrieved power usage information, where each power saving mode reduces power usage in one or more of receiving and/or processing satellite navigational system signals, and/or computing the portable device'"'"'s position using the satellite navigational system signals.

Claims

1. A portable device, comprising:

a receiver capable of receiving satellite navigational system signals;

one or more processors; and

at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium having program instructions recorded thereon, the program instructions configured to have the one or more processors perform the steps of;

retrieving power usage information concerning one or more power usage characteristics corresponding to a current location of the portable device, where the power usage information is based on aggregate data from power usage data of one or more portable devices which receive satellite navigational system signals and which have traversed and/or are traversing the current location; and

selecting a power saving mode from a plurality of power saving modes based at least on the retrieved power usage information from the aggregate data, where each of the plurality of power saving modes reduces power used by the portable device in at least one of receiving the satellite navigational system signals, processing the satellite navigational system signals, and computing the portable device'"'"'s position using the satellite navigational system signals.

2. The portable device of claim 1, wherein the power usage information is retrieved over a wireless communication link.

3. The portable device of claim 1, wherein the power usage information is retrieved from at least one of data storage in the portable device and over a wired communication link.

4. The portable device of claim 1, wherein the power usage characteristics corresponding to the current location comprise at least one of velocity, acceleration, battery power consumption, duration, time spent traversing one or more segments of a route, time of day, and day of the week.

5. A portable device, comprising:

a receiver capable of receiving satellite navigational system signals;

one or more processors; and

at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium having program instructions recorded thereon, wherein executing the program instructions results in the one or more processors performing the steps of;

computing a route to a destination; and

selecting a power saving mode from a plurality of power saving modes for each of one or more segments of the computed route based at least on one or more segment characteristics of the one or more segments, where each of the plurality of power saving modes reduces power used by the portable device in at least one of receiving the satellite navigational system signals, processing the satellite navigational system signals, and computing the portable device'"'"'s position using the satellite navigational system signals.

6. The portable device of claim 5, wherein the program instructions further have the one or more processors perform the step of:

retrieving map data corresponding to the computed route.

7. The portable device of claim 6, wherein selecting the power saving mode comprises:

computing at least one of a time until next event (TNE) and a time between events (TBE) for each of one or more segments of the computed route based on the retrieved map data,

wherein the computed at least one of THE and TBE comprise the one or more segment characteristics on which the power saving mode selecting is based.

8. The portable device of claim 5, wherein the program instructions further have the one or more processors perform the step of:

retrieving power usage information concerning one or more power usage characteristics corresponding to each of the one or more segments of the computed route, where the power usage information is based on aggregate data from power usage data of one or more portable devices which have traversed or are traversing the one or more segments, wherein the retrieved power usage information from the aggregate data comprise the one or more segment characteristics on which the power saving mode selecting is based.

9. A portable device, comprising:

a receiver capable of receiving satellite navigational system signals;

one or more processors; and

at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium having program instructions recorded thereon, wherein executing the program instructions results in the one or more processors performing the steps of;

reducing a rate at which positional updates/fixes are made using satellite navigational system signals; and

estimating a current position of the portable device in between the positional updates/fixes made using satellite navigational system signals by using map data of a specific region the portable device is traversing.

10. The portable device of claim 9, wherein an amount by which the positional update/fix rate is reduced is based on the map data of the specific region the portable device is traversing.

11. The portable device of claim 9, wherein an amount by which the positional update/fix rate is reduced is based on at least one of a time until next event (TNE) and a time between events (TBE) computed from the map data.

12. The portable device of claim 9, wherein an amount by which the positional update/fix rate is reduced is based on information concerning one or more power usage characteristics corresponding to the specific region the portable device is traversing, where the power usage information is based on aggregate data from power usage data of one or more portable devices which have traversed and/or are traversing the specific region.

13. The portable device of claim 9, wherein estimating the current position uses one or more features of a route defined in the map data, wherein one or more previous positional updates/fixes indicate that the portable device is traversing the route.

14. A method for reducing power consumption of a portable device capable of receiving satellite navigational system signals, comprising:

retrieving information concerning one or more power usage characteristics corresponding to a current location of the portable device, where the retrieved power usage information is based on aggregate data from power usage data of one or more portable devices which receive satellite navigational system signals and which have traversed or are traversing the current location, and where the power usage characteristics comprise characteristics of at least one of velocity, acceleration, battery power consumption, duration, time spent traversing one or more segments of a route, time of day, and day of the week; and

selecting a power saving mode from a plurality of power saving modes based at least on the retrieved power usage information from the aggregate data.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the power usage information is retrieved at least one of from data storage in the portable device and over a wired communication link.

16. A method for a portable device having a mapping client and a receiver of satellite navigational system signals, comprising:

retrieving map data of a current location of the portable device;

determining locations and/or features in the retrieved map data corresponding to events;

computing at least one of a time until next event (TNE) and a time between events (TBE) based on the retrieved map data; and

selecting a power saving mode from a plurality of power saving modes based on at least one of TNE and TBE.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein each of the plurality of power saving modes reduces the power used in computing the portable device'"'"'s position using the satellite navigational system signals by reducing a rate at which positional updates/fixes are made using satellite navigational system signals.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein the locations and/or features corresponding to events are identified in the retrieved map data.

19. A method for reducing power consumption in a portable device capable of receiving satellite navigational system signals, comprising:

computing a route to a destination using map data, where the computed route is broken into one or more segments; and

selecting a power saving mode from a plurality of power saving modes for each of the one or more segments of the computed route based at least on one or more characteristics of the one or more segments.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein selecting the power saving mode comprises:

computing at least one of a time until next event (TNE) and a time between events (TBE) for each of the one or more segments of the computed route based on the map data, wherein the computed at least one of THE and TBE comprise the one or more characteristics the power saving mode selection is based on.

21. The method of claim 19, further comprising:

retrieving information concerning one or more power usage characteristics corresponding to each of the one or more segments of the computed route, where the power usage information is based on aggregate data from power usage data of one or more portable devices traversing the one or more segments, wherein the retrieved power usage information from the aggregate data comprise the one or more characteristics the power saving mode selection is based on.