Coordinating power management functions in a multi-media device

• US 8,948,822 B2
• Filed: 04/21/2009
• Issued: 02/03/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 04/23/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Raveendran, Vijayalakshmi R.
• Primary Examiner(s): JEAN PIERRE, PEGUY
• Application Number:
  US12/427,628
• Publication Number:
  US 20090270138A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,114 Days
• Field of Search: 455/522, 455/574, 370/352, 370/469, 713/300
• US Class Current: 455/574
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/42 characterised by implementation details or hardware specially adapted for video compression or decompression, e.g. dedicated software implementation H04N19/635 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/61 in combination with predictive coding
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/443 OS processes, e.g. booting an STB, implementing a Java virtual machine in an STB or power management in an STB
• 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

Abstract

In general, this disclosure relates to techniques for dynamically determining configuration information (e.g., for processing video data) and coordinating execution of power management functions based upon an available amount of power for execution of a multi-media service. One example method includes the following features: obtaining an amount of available power for execution of a service requiring multi-media resources within a multi-media device; determining, based upon the amount of available power, configuration information for execution of one or more power management functions in one or more multi-media resources of the multi-media device; and coordinating the execution of the one or more power management functions in the one or more multi-media resources based upon the configuration information in order to manage power utilization within the multi-media device.

Claims

1. A method for power management in a multimedia device including one or more multimedia processors, the method comprising:

obtaining an amount of available power for execution of a service requiring at least one of the one or more multi-media processors;

determining, based upon the amount of available power, configuration information for one or more power-management functions in the at least one of the one or more multi-media processors; and

coordinating execution of the one or more power-management functions in the at least one of the one or more multi-media processors based upon the configuration information.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the configuration information comprises power-optimized processing instructions, and wherein the method further comprises providing the power-optimized processing instructions to at least a first one of the one or more multi-media processors in order to implement the one or more power management functions.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising prioritizing an order of execution of the power-optimized processing instructions by the at least the first one of the one or more multi-media processors based upon the configuration information.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein coordinating the execution of the one or more power-management functions comprises coordinating execution of the power-optimized processing instructions for multiple multi-media applications of the service based upon the configuration information.

5. The method of claim 2, further comprising controlling a second one of the one or more multi-media processors based upon the configuration information.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein coordinating the execution of the one or more power-management functions comprises coordinating the execution of the power-optimized processing instructions by the at least the first one of the one or more multi-media processors with the controlling of the second one of the one or more multi-media processors.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising obtaining an amount of projected power for the execution of the service, and wherein determining the configuration information is based upon the amount of projected power and the amount of available power.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the configuration information comprises determining video configuration information for execution of one or more video functions to display power-optimized video data according to a selection of a low-power mode.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising presenting a hierarchical list of selectable low-power modes based upon at least the amount of available power and obtaining a user selection of a low-power mode from the hierarchical list, wherein determining the configuration information comprises determining the configuration information according to the selected low-power mode.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein obtaining the amount of available power comprises obtaining at least one of an amount of available electrical power and an amount of processing power for the at least one of the one or more multi-media processors.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the multi-media device includes a modem processor.

12. A multi-media device, comprising:

one or more multi-media processors; and

one or more power-management entities executed by the one or more multi-media processors to;

obtain an amount of available power in the multi-media device for execution of a service requiring one or more of the multi-media processors;

determine, based upon the amount of available power, configuration information for one or more power management functions in the one or more multi-media processors; and

coordinate execution of the one or more power management functions in the one or more multi-media processors based upon the configuration information in order to manage power utilization within the multi-media device.

13. The multi-media device of claim 12, wherein the configuration information comprises power-optimized processing instructions, and wherein the one or more power-management entities are further executed to provide the power-optimized processing instructions to at least a first one of the one or more multi-media processors in order to implement the one or more power management functions.

14. The multi-media device of claim 13, wherein the one or more power-management entities are further executed to prioritize an order of execution of the power-optimized processing instructions by the at least the first one of the one or more multi-media processors based upon the configuration information.

15. The multi-media device of claim 13, wherein the one or more power-management entities coordinate the execution of the one or more power management functions at least by coordinating execution of the power-optimized processing instructions for multiple multi-media applications of the service based upon the configuration information.

16. The multi-media device of claim 13, wherein the one or more power-management entities are further executed to control a second one of the one or more multi-media processors based upon the configuration information.

17. The multi-media device of claim 16, wherein the one or more power-management entities coordinate the execution of the one or more power management functions at least by coordinating the execution of the power-optimized processing instructions by the at least the first one of the one or more multi-media processors with the controlling of the at least second one of the one or more multi-media processors.

18. The multi-media device of claim 12, wherein the one or more power-management entities are further executed to obtain an amount of projected power for the execution of the service, and wherein the one or more power-management entities determine the configuration information based upon the amount of projected power and the amount of available power.

19. The multi-media device of claim 12, further comprising a display unit, and wherein the one or more power-management entities determine the configuration information at least by determining video configuration information for execution of one or more video functions to display, on the display unit, power-optimized video data according to a selection of a low-power mode.

20. The multi-media device of claim 12, further comprising a battery, and wherein the one or more power-management entities obtain the amount of available power by obtaining at least one of an amount of available electrical power for the battery and an amount of processing power for the one or more multi-media processors.

21. The multi-media device of claim 12, further comprising a modem processor.

22. The multi-media device of claim 12, wherein the multi-media device comprises a wireless communication device handset.

23. The multi-media device of claim 12, wherein the multi-media device comprises one or more integrated circuit devices.

24. A computer-readable medium comprising instructions for causing one or more processors to:

obtain an amount of available power for execution of a service requiring at least one of multiple multi-media processors within a multi-media device;

determine, based upon the amount of available power, configuration information for one or more power management functions in the at least one of multiple multi-media processors of the multi-media device; and

coordinate execution of the one or more power management functions in the at least one of multiple multi-media processors based upon the configuration information in order to manage power utilization within the multi-media device.

25. The computer-readable medium of claim 24, wherein the configuration information comprises power-optimized processing instructions, and wherein the computer-readable medium further comprises instructions for causing the at least one of the multiple multi-media processors to provide the power-optimized processing instructions to at least a first one of the multiple multi-media processors in order to execute the one or more power management functions.

26. The computer-readable medium of claim 25, further comprising instructions for causing the at least one of the multiple multi-media processors to prioritize an order of execution of the power-optimized processing instructions by the at least the first one of the multiple multi-media processors based upon the configuration information.

27. The computer-readable medium of claim 25, wherein the instructions for causing the at least one of the multiple multi-media processors to coordinate the execution of the one or more power management functions comprise instructions for causing the at least one of the multiple multi-media processors to coordinate execution of the power-optimized processing instructions for multiple multi-media applications of the service based upon the configuration information.

28. The computer-readable medium of claim 25, wherein the computer-readable medium further comprises instructions for causing the at least the first one of the multiple multi-media processors to control a second one of the multiple multi-media processors based upon the configuration information.

29. The computer-readable medium of claim 28, wherein the instructions for causing the processors to coordinate the execution of the one or more power management functions comprise instructions for causing the processors to coordinate the execution of the power-optimized processing instructions by the at least the first one of the multiple multi-media processors with the controlling of the second one of the multiple multi-media processors to execute the one or more power management functions.

30. The computer-readable medium of claim 24, further comprising instructions for causing the at least one of the multiple multi-media processors to obtain an amount of projected power for the execution of the service, and wherein the instructions for causing the at least one of the multiple multi-media processors to determine the configuration information comprise instructions for causing the at least one of the multiple multi-media processors to determine the configuration information based upon the amount of projected power and the amount of available power.

31. The computer-readable medium of claim 24, wherein the instructions for causing the at least one of the multiple multi-media processors to determine the configuration information comprise instructions for causing the one or more processors to determine video configuration information for execution of one or more video functions to display power-optimized video data according to a selection of a low-power mode.

32. The computer-readable medium of claim 24, further comprising instructions for causing the at least one of the multiple multi-media processors to present a hierarchical list of selectable low-power modes based upon at least the amount of available power and obtain a user selection of the low-power mode from the hierarchical list, wherein the instructions for causing the at least one of the multiple multi-media processors to determine the configuration information comprise instructions for causing the at least one of the multiple multi-media processors to determine the configuration information according to the selected low-power mode.

33. The computer-readable medium of claim 24, wherein the instructions for causing the at least one of the multiple multi-media processors to obtain the amount of available power comprise instructions for causing the at least one of the multiple multi-media processors to obtain at least one of an amount of available electrical power and an amount of processing power for the one or more multi-media resources.

34. A multi-media device, comprising:

means for obtaining an amount of available power for execution of a service requiring at least one of multiple multi-media processors within the multi-media device;

means for determining, based upon the amount of available power, configuration information for one or more power management functions in the at least one of the multiple multi-media processors of the multi-media device; and

means for coordinating execution of the one or more power management functions in the at least one of the multiple multi-media processors based upon the configuration information in order to manage power utilization within the multi-media device.

35. The multi-media device of claim 34, wherein the configuration information comprises power-optimized processing instructions, and wherein the multi-media device further comprises means for providing the power-optimized processing instructions to at least a first one of the multiple multimedia processors in order to implement the one or more power management functions.

36. The multi-media device of claim 35, further comprising means for prioritizing an order of execution of the power-optimized processing instructions by the at least the first one of the multiple multimedia processors based upon the configuration information.

37. The multi-media device of claim 35, wherein the means for coordinating the execution of the one or more power management functions comprises means for coordinating execution of the power-optimized processing instructions for multiple multi-media applications of the service based upon the configuration information.

38. The multi-media device of claim 35, further comprising means for controlling a second one of the multimedia multiple processors based upon the configuration information.

39. The multi-media device of claim 38, wherein the means for coordinating the execution of the one or more power management functions comprises means for coordinating the execution of the power-optimized processing instructions by the at least the first one of the multiple multimedia processors with the controlling of the second one of the multiple multimedia processors to execute the one or more power management functions.

40. The multi-media device of claim 34, further comprising means for obtaining an amount of projected power for the execution of the service, and wherein the means for determining the configuration information comprises means for determining the configuration information based upon the amount of projected power and the amount of available power.

41. The multi-media device of claim 34, wherein the means for determining the configuration information comprises means for determining video configuration information for execution of one or more video functions to display power-optimized video data according to a selection of a low-power mode.

42. The multi-media device of claim 41, further comprising means for presenting a hierarchical list of selectable low-power modes based upon at least the amount of available power and means for obtaining a user selection of a low-power mode from the hierarchical list, wherein the means for determining the configuration information comprises means for determining the configuration information according to the selected low-power mode.

43. The multi-media device of claim 34, wherein the means for obtaining the amount of available power comprises means for obtaining at least one of an amount of available electrical power and an amount of processing power for at least one of the multiple multi-media processors.