ENERGY-EFFICIENT MEDIA EQUIPMENT DEVICE

• US 20110150431A1
• Filed: 12/21/2009
• Published: 06/23/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 12/21/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: UV Corporation (Adeia Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Rovi Technologies Corporation (Adeia Inc.)
• Inventors: Klappert, Walter Richard
• Granted Patent: US 8,849,097 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 386/296
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3206 Monitoring of events, devices or parameters that trigger a change in power modality
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3234 Power saving characterised by the action undertaken
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/433 Content storage operation, e.g. storage operation in response to a pause request, caching operations
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/43615 Interfacing a Home Network, e.g. for connecting the client to a plurality of peripherals home Audio Video Interoperability [HAVI] data switching networks H04L12/2805
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4432 Powering on the client, e.g. bootstrap loading using setup parameters being stored locally or received from the server resetting in general G06F1/14; program loading or initiating in general G06F9/445; bootstrapping in general G06F9/4401; secure boots of computer platforms G06F21/57
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4436 Power management, e.g. shutting down unused components of the receiver power management in computer systems G06F1/3203; hibernate or awake process in computer systems G06F9/4418
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47214 for content reservation or setting reminders; for requesting event notification, e.g. of sport results or stock market stock exchange data over packet-switching network H04L12/1804; push services over packet-switching network H04L12/1859; notification of incoming messages in packet switching networks H04L51/224
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/84 Generation or processing of descriptive data, e.g. content descriptors systems specially adapted for using meta-information in broadcast systems H04H60/73
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/163 by receiver means only

Abstract

Method and systems for operating a media equipment device having at least a full-power mode and an off-power mode are provided. A voltage supply to the media equipment device may be controlled by the media equipment device itself or by an external power management unit to automatically power-off the media equipment device, and power the device back on a future time. Prior to powering off the media equipment device, a portion of program schedule information stored in the volatile memory of the media equipment device may be mirrored to nonvolatile memory and may be restored on a priority basis after the media equipment device is powered back up. An external power management unit for controlling the media equipment device may also automatically detect and identify devices in the home based on a power signature of the device and manage the operation of the device based on the identification.

Claims

1. A method of operating a media equipment device having at least a full-power mode and an off-power mode of operation, the method comprising:

receiving by a power supply interface in the media equipment device a voltage supply from a computer-controlled voltage source electrically coupled to the power supply interface of the media equipment device;

detecting that a first threshold condition for automatically transitioning the media equipment device into the off-power mode is met, wherein the first threshold condition is determined based on a plurality of power management criteria;

storing a scheduled power-up time for automatically restoring power to the media equipment device in the future;

sending a power-off notification to disconnect the voltage supply to the power supply interface of the media equipment device; and

automatically disconnecting the voltage supply to the power supply interface of the media equipment device by the computer-controlled power source, thereby transitioning the media equipment device into the off-power mode such that the media equipment device receives substantially no external voltage.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the media equipment device further includes a standby mode of operation in which the power supply interface receives a voltage supply level between that of the full-power mode and the off-power mode

the method further comprising:

automatically transitioning the media equipment device from the full-power mode or the off-power mode to the standby mode when a second threshold condition is met.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising

scheduling a recording of a program on the media equipment device;

storing a start time of the recording; and

sending the start time of the recording as the scheduled power-up time of the media equipment device in the power-off notification.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the media equipment device is a set-top box.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the media equipment device further includes a standby mode of operation, the method further comprising triggering said detecting only while the media equipment device is operating in the standby mode.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein said detecting is performed by the media equipment device.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the computer-controlled power source is controlled by an external power management unit (PMU) communicatively coupled to the computer-controlled power source and the media equipment device, the method further comprising:

receiving by the PMU the power-off notification from the media equipment device;

storing by the PMU the scheduled power-up time for the media device; and

transmitting by the PMU a second message to the computer controlled power source to disconnect voltage from the power supply interface of the media equipment device.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein said detecting is performed by the PMU.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

monitoring by a timer circuitry the scheduled power-up time; and

sending a power-on notification to the computer-controlled power source to reconnect the voltage supply to the media equipment device at the scheduled power-up time.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein said timer circuitry is located within the media equipment device.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein said timer circuitry is located within an external power management unit that controls the computer-controlled power source.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the media equipment device includes externally-generated program schedule information received via a broadcast stream, the method further comprising:

in response to detecting that the first threshold condition is met, mirroring the externally-generated program schedule information from volatile memory into a nonvolatile memory unit associated with the media equipment device.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

at the scheduled power-up time, retrieving the program schedule information from the nonvolatile memory based on a plurality of priority levels assigned to the program schedule information.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein detecting whether the first threshold condition is met comprises determining whether an energy-saving system parameter associated with the device is set.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein detecting whether the first threshold condition is met comprises:

deriving a usage pattern for the media equipment device based at least in part on a plurality of user profiles associated with the media equipment device; and

predicting based on the usage pattern whether the device will remain unused for a predetermined amount of time.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the media equipment device further includes a standby mode of operation, and wherein detecting whether the first threshold condition is met comprises determining whether the media equipment device is transitioned from the full-power mode the standby mode after a predetermined time of day.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the media equipment device further includes a standby mode of operation, and wherein detecting whether the first threshold condition is met comprises determining whether the media equipment device is transitioned from the full-power mode the standby mode before a predetermined time of day.

18. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a user-programmable schedule of intended use of the media equipment device; and

wherein detecting that the first threshold condition is met comprises determining that the user-programmable schedule indicates that the device will be unused for at least a threshold duration.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

determining an amount of time for restoring at least a portion program schedule information to the media equipment device when the voltage supply is reconnected to the media equipment device; and

calculating the scheduled power-up time to be the time at which the next scheduled use of the device occurs, offset by the amount of time for restoring the portion of the program schedule information.

20. The method of claim 1, wherein detecting whether the first threshold condition is met comprises determining whether a real-time action is scheduled to be performed by the device during a predefined duration.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the real-time action is a program recording or a reminder for a program.

22. The method of claim 1, wherein detecting that the first threshold condition is met comprises predicting, based on a user profile information associated with the device, that the device will remain unused for at least a predefined duration.

23. The method of claim 1, wherein detecting that the first threshold condition is met comprises receiving an indication from a presence-detecting circuitry in response to the presence-detecting circuitry detecting that the device has been unused for at least a predetermined duration.

24. A method of operating a media equipment device having at least a full-power mode and an off-power mode of operation, the method comprising:

while the media equipment device is in the off-power mode and having a scheduled power-up time to transition from the off-power mode, monitoring the scheduled power-up time by a timer to detect when the media equipment device is to transition from the off-power mode;

at the scheduled power-up time, sending a power-up notification to a computer-controlled power source configured to electrically couple to the media equipment device to reconnect a voltage supply to a power supply interface of the media equipment device;

automatically connecting the voltage supply to the media equipment device by the computer-controllable power source to transition the media equipment device out of the off-power mode; and

retrieving from a nonvolatile mirror storage associated with the media equipment program schedule information based on a priority level assigned to each subset of the program schedule information in the nonvolatile mirror storage.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein retrieving the program schedule information comprises retrieving program schedule information corresponding to favorite programs or channels before retrieving other program schedule information.

26. The method of claim24claim 24, wherein retrieving the program schedule information comprises retrieving program schedule information corresponding to programs scheduled to be recorded before retrieving other program schedule information.

27. The method of claim 24, wherein retrieving the program schedule information comprises retrieving program schedule information corresponding to programs having a scheduled reminder before retrieving other program schedule information.

28. The method of claim 24, wherein retrieving the program schedule information comprises excluding stale program schedule information corresponding to program broadcast before the scheduled power-up time from said retrieving, regardless of the priority level assigned to the stale program schedule information

29. The method of claim 24, wherein the timer is located within an external power management unit that controls the voltage supply of the media equipment device via the computer-controlled power source.

30. The method of claim 24, wherein the timer is located within the media equipment device, said timer circuitry being powered by an internal battery when the media equipment device is an the off-power mode.

31. The method of claim 24, further comprising setting the scheduled power-up time based at least in part on (1) a scheduled future action to be performed by the media equipment device, and (2) an amount of time required to restore a portion of program schedule information available to the media equipment device.

32. The method of claim 31, wherein the scheduled future action comprises a scheduled program recording, a scheduled reminder, or a scheduled update by a service provider associated with the media equipment device.

33. The method of claim 24, wherein while in the off-power mode and prior to said scheduled power-up time, the media equipment device is responsive only to a user-selected input to transition into the full-power mode.

34. A method for determining a power management scheme for a device the method comprising:

providing a classification voltage to a power supply interface of a device electrically coupled to one of a plurality of power outlets of a computer-controlled power source;

receiving a current or voltage signature from the device in response to providing the classification voltage;

comparing the received voltage or current signature with a plurality of device identification codes to identify the media equipment device;

determining a power usage profile for media equipment device based at least in part on the comparison and a plurality of user profile information associated with the device; and

determining a power management scheme for the device based on the power usage profile.

35. The method of claim 34, wherein the device is a media equipment device.

36. The method of claim 34, further comprising automatically connecting an operating voltage supply to or disconnecting an operating voltage from the power supply interface of the device based at least in part on the power management schedule for the device.

37. The method of claim 34, further comprising:

automatically disconnecting voltage from the one outlet coupled to the device; and

maintaining a voltage connecting to a second device that is coupled to a second one of the plurality of outlets at the same time as the device.

38. A system of operating a media equipment device having at least a full-power mode and an off-power mode of operation, the system comprising a computer processor configured to:

receive by a power supply interface in the media equipment device a voltage supply from a computer-controlled voltage source electrically coupled to the power supply interface of the media equipment device;

detect that a first threshold condition for automatically transitioning the media equipment device into the off-power mode is met, wherein the first threshold condition is determined based on a plurality of power management criteria;

store a scheduled power-up time for automatically restoring power to the media equipment device in the future;

send a power-off notification to disconnect the voltage supply to the power supply interface of the media equipment device; and

automatically disconnect the voltage supply to the power supply interface of the media equipment device by the computer-controlled power source, thereby transitioning the media equipment device into the off-power mode such that the media equipment device receives substantially no external voltage.

39. The system of claim 38, wherein the media equipment device further includes a standby mode of operation in which the power supply interface receives a voltage supply level between that of the full-power mode and the off-power mode, and wherein the computer processor is further configured to:

automatically transition the media equipment device from the full-power mode or the off-power mode to the standby mode when a second threshold condition is met.

40. The system of claim 38, wherein the computer processor is further configured to:

schedule a recording of a program on the media equipment device;

store a start time of the recording; and

send the start time of the recording as the scheduled power-up time of the media equipment device in the power-off notification.

41. The system of claim 38, wherein the media equipment device is a set-top box.

42. The system of claim 38, wherein the media equipment device further includes a standby mode of operation, and wherein the computer processor is configured to trigger said detecting only while the media equipment device is operating in the standby mode.

43. The system of claim 38, wherein said computer processor comprises a first processor located in the media equipment device, and wherein the first processor is configured to detect whether the first threshold condition is met.

44. The system of claim 38, further comprising an external power management unit (PMU) communicatively coupled to the computer-controlled power source and the media equipment device, wherein the PMU is configured to:

receive the power-off notification including the scheduled power-up time from the computer processor;

store the scheduled power-up time for the media equipment device on a storage unit associated with the PMU; and

transmit a second message to the computer controlled power source to disconnect voltage from the power supply interface of the media equipment device.

45. The system of claim 44, wherein said computer processor comprises a first processor located in the PMU, and wherein the first processor is configured to detect whether the first threshold condition is met.

46. The system of claim 38, wherein the computer processor in further configured to:

monitor by a timer circuitry the scheduled power-up time; and

send a power-on notification to the computer-controlled power source to reconnect the voltage supply to the media equipment device at the scheduled power-up time.

47. The system of claim 46, wherein said timer circuitry is located within the media equipment device.

48. The system of claim 46, wherein said timer circuitry is located within an external power management unit that controls the computer-controlled power source.

49. The system of claim 38, wherein the media equipment device includes externally-generated program schedule information received via a broadcast stream, and wherein the computer processor is configured to:

in response to detecting that the first threshold condition is met, cause the media equipment device to mirror the externally-generated program schedule information from volatile memory into a nonvolatile memory unit associated with the media equipment device.

50. The system of claim 49, wherein the computer processor is further configured to:

at the scheduled power-up time, cause the media equipment device to retrieve the program schedule information from the nonvolatile memory based on a plurality of priority levels assigned to the program schedule information.

51. The system of claim 38, wherein the computer processor is configured to detect whether the first threshold condition is met by determining whether an energy-saving system parameter associated with the device is set.

52. The system of claim 38, wherein the computer processor is configured to detect whether the first threshold condition is met by:

deriving a usage pattern for the media equipment device based at least in part on a plurality of user profiles associated with the media equipment device; and

predicting based on the usage pattern whether the device will remain unused for a predetermined amount of time.

53. The system of claim 38, wherein the media equipment device further includes a standby mode of operation, and wherein the computer processor is configured to detect whether the first threshold condition is met by determining whether the media equipment device is transitioned from the full-power mode the standby mode after a predetermined time of day.

54. The system of claim 38, wherein the media equipment device further includes a standby mode of operation, and wherein the computer processor is configured to detect whether the first threshold condition is met by determining whether the media equipment device is transitioned from the full-power mode the standby mode before a predetermined time of day.

55. The system of claim 38, wherein the compute processor is configured to:

receive a user-programmable schedule of intended use of the media equipment device, and to detect that the first threshold condition is met by determining that the user-programmable schedule indicates that the device will be unused for at least a threshold duration.

56. The method of claim 55, wherein the computer processor is further configured to:

determine an amount of time for restoring at least a portion program schedule information to the media equipment device when the voltage supply is reconnected to the media equipment device; and

calculate the scheduled power-up time to be the time at which the next scheduled use of the device occurs, offset by the amount of time for restoring the portion of the program schedule information.

57. The system of claim 38, wherein the computer processor is configured to detect whether the first threshold condition is met by determining whether a real-time action is scheduled to be performed by the device during a predefined duration.

58. The system of claim 57, wherein the real-time action is a program recording or a reminder for a program.

59. The system of claim 38, wherein the computer processor is configured to detect that the first threshold condition is met by predicting, based on a user profile information associated with the device, that the device will remain unused for at least a predefined duration.

60. The system of claim 38, wherein the computer processor is configured to detect that the first threshold condition is met by receiving an indication from a presence-detecting circuitry in response to the presence-detecting circuitry detecting that the device has been unused for at least a predetermined duration.

61. The system of claim 38, wherein the computer processor comprises a first computer processor communicatively coupled to a second computer processor, and wherein (1) the first computer processor is configured to perform said detecting and said sending, and (2) the second computer processor is configured to perform said storing and to cause said disconnecting of the voltage supply.

62. The system of claim 61, wherein said first and second computer processors are located in the media equipment device.

63. The system of claim 61, wherein said first computer processor is located in the media equipment device, and said second computer processor is located in an external power management unit (PMU) coupled to the media equipment device and the computer-controlled power source.

64. A system of operating a media equipment device having at least a full-power mode and an off-power mode of operation, the system comprising a computer processor configured to:

monitor the scheduled power-up time by a timer to detect when a media equipment device in the off-power mode is to transition from the off-power mode;

at the scheduled power-up time, send a power-up notification to a computer-controlled power source configured to electrically couple to the media equipment device to reconnect a voltage supply to a power supply interface of the media equipment device;

automatically connect the voltage supply to the media equipment device by the computer-controllable power source to transition the media equipment device out of the off-power mode; and

retrieve from a nonvolatile mirror storage associated with the media equipment program schedule information based on a priority level assigned to each subset of the program schedule information in the nonvolatile mirror storage.

65. The system of claim 64, wherein the computer processor is configured to retrieve the program schedule information by retrieving program schedule information corresponding to favorite programs or channels before retrieving other program schedule information.

66. The system of claim 64, wherein the computer processor is configured to retrieve the program schedule information by retrieving program schedule information corresponding to programs scheduled to be recorded before retrieving other program schedule information.

67. The system of claim 64, wherein the computer processor is configured to retrieve the program schedule information by retrieving program schedule information corresponding to programs having a scheduled reminder before retrieving other program schedule information.

68. The system of claim 64, wherein the computer processor is configured to retrieve the program schedule information by excluding stale program schedule information corresponding to program broadcast before the scheduled power-up time from said retrieving, regardless of the priority level assigned to the stale program schedule information

69. The system of claim 64, wherein the timer is located within an external power management unit that controls the voltage supply of the media equipment device via the computer-controlled power source.

70. The system of claim 64, wherein the timer is located within the media equipment device, said timer circuitry being powered by an internal battery when the media equipment device is an the off-power mode.

71. The system of claim 64, wherein the computer processor is further configured to set the scheduled power-up time based at least in part on (1) a scheduled future action to be performed by the media equipment device, and (2) an amount of time required to restore a portion of program schedule information available to the media equipment device.

72. The system of claim 71, wherein the scheduled future action comprises a scheduled program recording, a scheduled reminder, or a scheduled update by a service provider associated with the media equipment device.

73. The system of claim 64, wherein while in the off-power mode and prior to said scheduled power-up time, the media equipment device is responsive only to a user-selected input to transition into the full-power mode.

74. A system for determining a power management scheme for a device the system comprising a processor configured to:

provide a classification voltage to a power supply interface of a device electrically coupled to one of a plurality of power outlets of a computer-controlled power source;

receive a current or voltage signature from the device in response to providing the classification voltage;

compare the received voltage or current signature with a plurality of device identification codes to identify the media equipment device;

determine a power usage profile for media equipment device based at least in part on the comparison and a plurality of user profile information associated with the device; and

determine a power management scheme for the device based on the power usage profile.

75. The system of claim 74, wherein the device is a media equipment device.

76. The system of claim 74, wherein the computer processor is further configured to automatically connect an operating voltage supply to or disconnecting an operating voltage from the power supply interface of the device based at least in part on the power management schedule for the device.

77. The system of claim 74, wherein the computer processor is further configured to:

automatically disconnect voltage from the one outlet coupled to the device; and

maintain a voltage connecting to a second device that is coupled to a second one of the plurality of outlets at the same time as the device.

78-114. -114. (canceled)