MOBILE TERMINAL AND METHOD OF REDUCING POWER CONSUMPTION IN THE MOBILE TERMINAL

• US 20100048253A1
• Filed: 07/22/2009
• Published: 02/25/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 08/22/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Original Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Inventors: Kim, Jung Eun, Kim, Kyoung Joung, Kim, Kang Min, Lee, Na Ri, Park, Jun Serk
• Granted Patent: US 8,571,605 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/566
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1613 for portable computers cooling arrangements therefor G06F1/203; constructional details or arrangements for pocket calculators, electronic agendas or books G06F15/0216; constructional details of portable telephone sets: with several bodies H04M1/0202
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1643 the display being associated to a digitizer, e.g. laptops that can be used as penpads details related to the relative motion of the display enclosure with respect to the body enclosure, e.g. to move between laptop and tablet PC configuration G06F1/1615
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1647 including at least an additional display G06F1/1692 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3203 Power management, i.e. event-based initiation of a power-saving mode
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3265 Power saving in display device
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3287 by switching off individual functional units in the computer system
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72445 for supporting Internet browser applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/16 including more than one display unit
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/027 by controlling a display operation or backlight unit
• 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 mobile terminal and method of reducing power consumption in the mobile terminal are provided. The method includes displaying an operation screen in the first display module, determining a remaining battery power of the mobile terminal, and disabling the first display module and displaying the operation screen in the second display module in response to determining that the remaining battery power is less than a reference battery power.

Claims

1. A method of reducing power consumption in a mobile terminal having a first display module and a second display module, the method comprising:

displaying an operation screen in the first display module;

determining a remaining battery power of the mobile terminal; and

disabling the first display module and displaying the operation screen in the second display module in response to determining that the remaining battery power is less than a reference battery power.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first and second display modules each include a touch screen and e-paper.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the mobile terminal comprises a main body having a front surface and a rear surface and wherein the first display module is located on the front surface and the second display module is located on the rear surface.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the operation screen comprises a Web page.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the displaying the operation screen in the second display module comprises displaying a text of the Web page in the second display module without displaying an image included in the Web page.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the displaying the operation screen in the second display module comprises displaying a selected portion of the Web page in the second display module.

7. The method of claim 4, further comprising performing a search operation and displaying a result of the search operation in a search result screen in the second display module.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising setting the reference battery power according to a user input.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising displaying a message in the second display module when the remaining battery power is less than the reference battery power after the disabling the first display module, wherein the message comprises an indication that the remaining battery power is insufficient.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising entering a power-save mode of the mobile terminal after the disabling of the first display module.

11. A mobile terminal comprising:

a main body;

a first display module located on a first surface of the main body and a second display module located on a second surface of the main body; and

a controller configured to display an operation screen in the first display module and determine a remaining battery power of the mobile terminal, wherein the controller disables the first display module and displays the operation screen in the second display module when the remaining battery power is less than a reference battery power.

12. The mobile terminal of claim 11, wherein the first and second display modules each include a touch screen and e-paper.

13. The mobile terminal of claim 11, wherein the operation screen is a Web page.

14. The mobile terminal of claim 13, wherein, the controller is further configured to perform a search operation and display a result of the search operation in a search result screen in the second display module.

15. The mobile terminal of claim 11, wherein the first surface is a front surface of the main body and the second surface is a rear surface of the main body.

16. The mobile terminal of claim 11, wherein the controller causes the mobile terminal to enter a power-save mode after the first display module is disabled.

17. A method of reducing power consumption in a mobile terminal comprising a main body, a first display module located on a first surface of the main body and a second display module located on a second surface of the main body, the method comprising:

displaying an operation screen in the first display module;

determining the remaining battery power of the mobile terminal;

disabling the first display module and entering a power-save mode when the remaining battery power is less than a reference battery power; and

displaying one or more menu items that can be executed in the power-save mode in the second display module.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the first and second display modules each include a touch screen and e-paper.

19. The method of claim 17, further comprising performing an operation corresponding to the one or more menu items in response to an input received at the mobile terminal.

20. The method of claim 19, further comprising displaying information indicating the period of time that the operation can be performed with the remaining battery power.

21. A mobile terminal comprising:

a main body;

a first display module located on a first surface of the main body and a second display module located on a second surface of the main body; and

a controller configured to display an operation screen in the first display module and determine a remaining battery power of the mobile terminal, wherein the controller causes the mobile terminal to enter a power-save mode and display in the second display module one or more menu items that can be executed in the power-save mode when the remaining battery power is less than a reference battery power.

22. The mobile terminal of claim 21, wherein the first and second display modules each include a touch screen and e-paper.

23. The mobile terminal of claim 21, wherein the controller controls an operation corresponding to the one or more menu items in response to an input.