Electronic apparatus and control method thereof

• US 9,908,491 B2
• Filed: 02/03/2015
• Issued: 03/06/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 02/07/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Thinkware Systems Corporation
• Original Assignee: Thinkware Systems Corporation
• Inventors: Kim, Hong Young
• Primary Examiner(s): Shin, Jeffrey
• Application Number:
  US14/613,024
• Publication Number:
  US 20150224947A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,127 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 16/03 for supply of electrical power to vehicle subsystems or for circuit arrangements for charging batteries H02J7/00
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 16/033 characterised by the use of electrical cells or batteries for propulsion puposes B60K1/04; supplying batteries to, or removing batteries from, vehicles B60S5/06; testing of charge state G01R31/36

Abstract

A control method for an electronic apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention includes acquiring current time zone information, discriminating a seasonal status in the vicinity of a vehicle on the basis of the acquired current time zone information, deciding a change or non-change of a minimum cutoff voltage for cutting off power received from a battery of the vehicle according to the discriminated seasonal status, and changing the cutoff voltage according to the change or non-change of the cutoff voltage.

Claims

1. A control method for an electronic apparatus, the method comprising:

acquiring current time zone information;

discriminating a seasonal status in the vicinity of a vehicle on the basis of the acquired current time zone information;

deciding a change or non-change of a minimum cutoff voltage for cutting off power received from a battery of the vehicle according to the discriminated seasonal status; and

changing the cutoff voltage according to the change or non-change of the cutoff voltage.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the acquiring of the current time zone information comprises:

acquiring section information as the current time zone information, the section information being acquired based on time information obtained from a Real Time Clock (RTC) module.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

updating the time information of the RTC module according to time information updated by an environment setup of the electronic apparatus.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the updating comprises:

executing the environment setup of the electronic apparatus and the time zone information according to data, the data resulting from that a second electronic apparatus executes the environment setup for the electronic apparatus, and

wherein the time information of the RTC module is synchronized with time information of the second electronic apparatus.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the acquiring of the current time zone information comprises acquiring the current time zone information based on time information obtained from a global positioning system (GPS) module, and

wherein the discriminating of the seasonal status comprises discriminating the seasonal status based on position information acquired from the GPS module and the current time zone information.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the discriminating of the seasonal status comprises:

acquiring region information where the vehicle is located based on the position information acquired from the GPS module; and

discriminating the seasonal status according to the acquired region information and the current time zone information.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the deciding of the change or non-change of the cutoff voltage comprises:

acquiring region information based on an environment setup value of the electronic apparatus or position information acquired from a GPS module;

acquiring a cutoff voltage value corresponding to the acquired region information and the seasonal status based on at least one table; and

deciding the change or non-change of the cutoff voltage according to the acquired cutoff voltage value.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the acquiring of the current time zone information comprises acquiring the current time zone information from a predetermined module when the electronic apparatus is provided with both of a GPS module and an RTC module, and

wherein the acquiring of the current time zone information further comprises acquiring position information for obtaining the cutoff voltage when the GPS module is selected.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

setting a cutoff voltage value according to the seasonal status on the basis of an environment setup of a second electronic apparatus connectable to the electronic apparatus.

20. A computer-readable storage medium having a program recorded therein, the program provided to execute in the computer a method disclosed in claim 1.

10. An electronic apparatus comprising:

a time information module configured to acquire current time zone information;

a season discrimination module configured to discriminate a seasonal status in the vicinity of the vehicle based on the acquired current time zone information;

a controller configured to decide a change or non-change of a cutoff voltage for cutting off power received from a battery of a vehicle according to the discriminated seasonal status; and

a power supply unit configured to change the cutoff voltage according to the change or non-change of the cutoff voltage.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the time information module acquires the current time zone information based on time information acquired from a Real Time Clock (RTC) module.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the time information module updates the time information of the RTC module according to time zone information updated by an environment setup of the electronic apparatus.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the time information module executes the environment setup of the electronic apparatus and the time zone information update according to data, the data resulting from that a second electronic apparatus executes the environment setup for the electronic apparatus, and

wherein the time information of the RTC module is synchronized with time information of the second electronic apparatus.

14. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the time information module acquires the current time zone information based on time information acquired from a global positioning system (GPS) module, and

wherein the season discrimination module discriminates the seasonal status based on position information acquired from the GPS module and the current time zone information.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the season discrimination module is configured to:

acquire region information where the vehicle is located based on the position information acquired from the GPS module; and

discriminate the seasonal status according to the acquired region information and the current time zone information.

16. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the controller is configured to:

acquire region information based on an environment setup value of the electronic apparatus or position information acquired from a GPS module;

acquire a cutoff voltage value corresponding to the acquired region information or the seasonal status based on at least one table; and

decide the change or non-change of the cutoff voltage according to the acquired cutoff voltage value.

17. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the time information module acquires the current time zone information from a predetermined module when the electronic apparatus is provided with both of a GPS module and an RTC module.

18. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the controller sets a cutoff voltage value corresponding to the seasonal status, according to an environment setup of a second electronic apparatus connectable to the electronic apparatus.

19. A control method for an electronic apparatus, the method comprising:

connecting the electronic apparatus through a network;

acquiring current time zone information related to the electronic apparatus;

discriminating a seasonal status in the vicinity of a vehicle on the basis of the acquired current time zone information;

deciding a minimum cutoff voltage value for cutting off power received from a battery of the vehicle to the electronic apparatus according to the discriminated seasonal status; and

transmitting the minimum cutoff voltage value to the electronic apparatus.