User Scheduled Portable Device Power Management

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016162006-A1
Application number	US-201414561060-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Dec 4, 2014
Priority date	Dec 4, 2014
Publication date	Jun 9, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

An information handling system includes a processor, a battery management unit and a memory that stores an operating system. The operating system includes instructions that are executable by the processor to obtain a first user selection of necessary applications to be executed on a portable device and to obtain a second user selection of optional applications to be executed on a portable device.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method comprising:
obtaining a first user selection of necessary applications to be executed on a portable device; obtaining a second user selection of optional applications to be executed on the portable device; obtaining a third user selection of a desired operational time of the portable device; determining a current battery capacity of the portable device; determining whether the current battery capacity is sufficient to allow the portable device to execute the necessary applications and the optional applications and to remain operational for the desired operational time; and when the current battery capacity is sufficient, configuring the portable device to operate according to the first and second user selections.

2 . The method of claim I further comprising:
determining whether the current battery capacity is sufficient to allow the portable device to execute the necessary applications but not all of the optional applications and to remain operational for the desired operational time; and when the current battery capacity is sufficient to allow the portable device to execute the necessary applications but not all of the optional applications, configuring the portable device to operate according to the first user selection.

3 . The method of claim 1 further comprising:
scanning for currently used applications; and
providing representations of the currently used applications from which the first user selection and the second user selection are to be made.

4 . The method of claim 3 further comprising:
receiving user search input specifying an unrepresented application;
searching for power usage information pertaining to the unrepresented application; and
adding the unrepresented application to one of the first user selection and the second user selection.

5 . The method of claim 1 further comprising:
performing calibration to establish power usage information of the necessary applications and the optional applications, wherein the determining whether the current battery capacity is sufficient to allow the portable device to execute the necessary applications and the optional applications and to remain operational for the desired operational time utilizes the power usage information.

6 . The method of claim 1 further comprising:
storing a configuration for future configuring of the portable device to operate according to the first and second user selections.

7 . The method of claim 1 further comprising:
determining if power consumption of the portable device has changed more than a specified amount; and
when the power consumption of the portable device has changed more than the specified amount, reconfiguring the portable device to operate according to a revised configuration of applications selected from the necessary applications and the optional applications.

8 . An information handling system comprising:
a processor; a battery management unit; and a memory for storing an operating system, the operating system comprising instructions executable by the processor to obtain a first user selection of necessary applications to be executed on a portable device, to obtain a second user selection of optional applications to be executed on the portable device, to obtain a third user selection of a desired operational time of the portable device, to cause the battery management unit to determine a current battery capacity of the portable device; to determine whether the current battery capacity is sufficient to allow the portable device to execute the necessary applications and the optional applications and to remain operational for the desired operational time, and, when the current battery capacity is sufficient, to configure the portable device to operate according to the first and second user selections.

9 . The information handling system of claim 8 wherein the operating system comprises further instructions executable by the processor to cause the battery management unit to determine whether the current battery capacity is sufficient to allow the portable device to execute the necessary applications but not all of the optional applications and to remain operational for the desired operational time, and, when the current battery capacity is sufficient to allow the portable device to execute the necessary applications but not all of the optional applications, to configure the portable device to operate according to the first user selection.

10 . The information handling system of claim 8 wherein the operating system comprises further instructions executable by the processor to scan for currently used applications, and to provide representations of the currently used applications from which the first user selection and the second user selection are to be made.

11 . The information handling system of claim 10 wherein the operating system comprises further instructions executable by the processor to receive user search input specifying an unrepresented application, to search for power usage information pertaining to the unrepresented application, and to add the unrepresented application to one of the first user selection and the second user selection.

12 . The information handling system of claim 8 wherein the operating system comprises further instructions executable by the processor to perform calibration to establish power usage information of the necessary applications and the optional applications, wherein the determining whether the current battery capacity is sufficient to allow the portable device to execute the necessary applications and the optional applications and to remain operational for the desired operational time utilizes the power usage information.

13 . The information handling system of claim 8 wherein the operating system comprises further instructions executable by the processor to store a configuration for future configuring of the portable device to operate according to the first and second user selections.

14 . The information handling system of claim 8 wherein the operating system comprises further instructions executable by the processor to determine if power consumption of the portable device has changed more than a specified amount, and, when the power consumption of the portable device has changed more than the specified amount, to reconfigure the portable device to operate according to a revised configuration of applications selected from the necessary applications and the optional applications.

15 . An article of manufacture comprising a nontransitory storage medium storing instructions executable to cause a processor to obtain a first user selection of necessary applications to be executed on a portable device, to obtain a second user selection of optional applications to be executed on the portable device, to obtain a third user selection of a desired operational time of the portable device, to determine a current battery capacity of the portable device, to determine whether the current battery capacity is sufficient to allow the portable device to execute the necessary applications and the optional applications and to remain operational for the desired operational time, and, when the current battery capacity is sufficient, to configure the portable device to operate according to the first and second user selections.

16 . The article of manufacture of claim 15 wherein the nontransitory storage medium stores further instructions to cause the processor to determine whether the current battery capacity is sufficient to allow the portable device to execute the necessary applications but

Assignees

• Dell Products Lp

Inventors

• Woo Joohyun
• Hijazi Mohammed K
• Reddy Tera Siddhartha
• Aurongzeb Deeder M

Classifications

• G06F1/3212 Primary

  Monitoring battery levels, e.g. power saving mode being initiated when battery voltage goes below a certain level · CPC title

• G06F1/329

  by task scheduling · CPC title

• Y02D10/00

  Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management · CPC title

• Y02B70/10

  Technologies improving the efficiency by using switched-mode power supplies [SMPS], i.e. efficient power electronics conversion e.g. power factor correction or reduction of losses in power supplies or efficient standby modes · CPC title

• G06F9/5094

  where the allocation takes into account power or heat criteria (power management in computers in general G06F1/3203; thermal management in computers in general G06F1/206) · CPC title