Dynamic data refresh for mobile device applications

• US 8,942,771 B1
• Filed: 11/02/2010
• Issued: 01/27/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 11/02/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Ho, Samuel
• Primary Examiner(s): Patel, Nimesh
• Application Number:
  US12/938,121
• Time in Patent Office: 1,547 Days
• Field of Search: 455/572, 455/423, 455/424, 709/203, 709/219, 711/118
• US Class Current: 455/572
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0245 according to signal strength
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0261 managing power supply demand, e.g. depending on battery level
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0264 by selectively disabling software applications
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

The frequency with which data is refreshed for an application executed by a mobile device may be dynamically set based on one or more of the state of the battery or the network access of the device, or the frequency with which the application is used. The data refresh frequency may also be dynamically set based on additional parameters, including, e.g., the strength of the signal of the network over which the mobile device is communicating.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

determining, by one or more processors of a mobile device, a battery state and a network access state of the mobile device, wherein the battery state comprises one or both of a power state and a charge state of a battery of the mobile device, wherein the network access state comprises a type of network accessed by the mobile device for communications and data transmissions between the mobile device and a computing device external to the mobile device, wherein determining the battery state comprises determining whether the battery of the mobile device is in use, wherein the battery of the mobile device is in use when the battery is not charging and when the mobile device is operating by drawing power from the battery, and wherein determining the network access state comprises determining the type of network accessed by the mobile device and a signal strength of the network accessed by the mobile device; and

setting, by the one or more processors, a data refresh frequency for at least one application executable by the mobile device based at least on whether the battery of the mobile device is in use and on the type and the signal strength of the network accessed by the mobile device, wherein the data refresh frequency comprises a frequency with which updated data for the at least one application is periodically received from the computing device external to the mobile device,

wherein the at least one application comprises a graphical user interface configured to receive and respond to user input and present information at the mobile device.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining a usage frequency with which the at least one application is used on the mobile device.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising setting the data refresh frequency for the at least one application based on the usage frequency of the at least one application.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein setting the data refresh frequency for the at least one application based on the usage frequency of the at least one application comprises setting the data refresh frequency for the at least one application in direct proportion to the usage frequency of the at least one application, such that the refresh frequency increases as the usage frequency increases.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein setting the data refresh frequency for the at least one application executable by the mobile device comprises setting data refresh frequencies for a plurality of applications executable by the mobile device, such that a refresh time for two or more applications of the plurality of applications is the same.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

determining a respective usage frequency with which each of the plurality of applications is used on the mobile device; and

setting data refresh frequencies for the two or more applications of the plurality of applications such that the respective refresh time for each application of the two or more applications is the same when the respective usage frequencies for the two or more applications are within a threshold difference of one another.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein setting the data refresh frequency for the at least one application executable by the mobile device comprises increasing the data refresh frequency for the at least one application when the battery state indicates that the battery of the mobile device is charging.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein setting the data refresh frequency for the at least one application executable by the mobile device comprises increasing the data refresh frequency for the at least one application when the battery state indicates that the battery of the mobile device is charging and has a battery life above a threshold.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein setting the data refresh frequency for the at least one application executable by the mobile device comprises increasing the data refresh frequency for the at least one application when the battery state indicates at least one of that the battery of the mobile device is charging or has a battery life above a threshold.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein setting the data refresh frequency for the at least one application executable by the mobile device comprises decreasing the data refresh frequency for the at least one application when the battery state indicates that the battery of the mobile device is in use.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein setting the data refresh frequency for the at least one application executable by the mobile device comprises decreasing the data refresh frequency for the at least one application when the battery state indicates that the battery of the mobile device is in use and has a battery life below a threshold.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein setting the data refresh frequency for the at least one application executable by the mobile device comprises disabling data refresh for the at least one application when the battery state indicates that the battery of the mobile device is in use and has a battery life below a threshold.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein setting the data refresh frequency for the at least one application executable by the mobile device comprises increasing the data refresh frequency for the at least one application when the network access state indicates that the mobile device is accessing a wireless network.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein setting the data refresh frequency for the at least one application executable by the mobile device comprises decreasing the data refresh frequency for the at least one application when the network access state indicates that the mobile device is accessing a cellular network.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising decreasing the data refresh frequency for the at least one application further when the network access state indicates that the mobile device is accessing a cellular network and the signal strength of the cellular network is less than a threshold.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein setting the data refresh frequency for the at least one application executable by the mobile device comprises disabling data refresh for the at least one application when the network access state indicates that the mobile device is accessing a cellular network access and the signal strength of the cellular network is less than a threshold.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein setting the data refresh frequency for the at least one application comprises setting a frequency with which the mobile device periodically pulls updated data from the computing device external to the mobile device.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein setting the data refresh frequency for the at least one application comprises setting a frequency with which the computing device external to the mobile device is configured to push updated data to the mobile device.

21. The method of claim 1, wherein setting the data refresh frequency for the at least one application executable by the mobile device comprises increasing the data refresh frequency for the at least one application when the battery state indicates that the battery of the mobile device has a battery life above a threshold and the network access state indicates that the mobile device is accessing a wireless network.

22. The method of claim 1, wherein setting the data refresh frequency for the at least one application executable by the mobile device comprises decreasing the data refresh frequency for the at least one application when the battery state indicates that the battery of the mobile device has a battery life below a threshold and the network access state indicates that the mobile device is accessing a cellular network.

23. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one application comprises an e-mail, calendar, contact management, or web browser application.

19. A mobile device configured to execute at least one application, comprising:

a battery;

a telemetry module; and

at least one processor configured to determine a battery state of the battery and a network access state of the telemetry module and setting a data refresh frequency for the at least one application based on the battery state and the network access state,

wherein the battery state comprises one or both of a power state and a charge state of the battery,

wherein the network access state comprises a type of network accessed by the telemetry module for communications and data transmissions between the mobile device and a computing device external to the mobile device,

wherein the at least one processor is configured to determine the battery state at least by determining whether the battery of the mobile device is in use, the battery of the mobile device being in use when the battery is not charging and when the mobile device is operating by drawing power from the battery, wherein the at least one processor is configured to determine the network access state at least by determining the type of network accessed by the telemetry module and a signal strength of the network accessed by the telemetry module,

wherein the at least one processor is configured to set the data refresh frequency for the at least one application based at least on whether the battery is in use and on the type and the signal strength of the network accessed by the telemetry module, the data refresh frequency comprising a frequency with which updated data for the at least one application is periodically received from the computing device external to the mobile device, and

wherein the at least one application comprises a graphical user interface configured to receive and respond to user input and present information at the mobile device.

20. A tangible computer readable storage medium comprising instructions for causing at least one programmable processor of a mobile device to:

determine a battery state and a network access state of the mobile device, wherein the battery state comprises one or both of a power state and a charge state of a battery of the mobile device and the network access state comprises a type of network accessed by the mobile device for communications and data transmissions between the mobile device and a computing device external to the mobile device, wherein determining the battery state comprises determining whether the battery of the mobile device is in use, wherein the battery of the mobile device is in use when the battery is not charging and when the mobile device is operating by drawing power from the battery, and wherein determining the network access state comprises determining the type of network accessed by the mobile device and a signal strength of the network accessed by the mobile device; and

set a data refresh frequency for at least one application executable by the mobile device based at least on whether the battery of the mobile device is in use and on the type and the signal strength of the network accessed by the mobile device, wherein the data refresh frequency comprises a frequency with which updated data for the at least one application is periodically received from the computing device external to the mobile device,

wherein the at least one application comprises a graphical user interface configured to receive and respond to user input and present information at the mobile device.