Managing power consumption in mobile devices

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9363754-B2
Application number	US-201213631446-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 28, 2012
Priority date	Aug 17, 2012
Publication date	Jun 7, 2016
Grant date	Jun 7, 2016

Abstract

Computer-implemented methods, computer-readable media, and computer systems for managing power consumption in mobile devices are described. A mobile computer system executes a first computer application configured to receive data from a server system over a network, and a second computer application configured to periodically search for a connection to the network at a first time interval. In response to executing the second computer application, the mobile computer system determines that a strength of the connection is below a threshold strength. In response to determining that the strength of the connection is below the threshold strength, the computer system executes the first computer application to delay requesting data from the server system until the connection to the network is detected.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:
executing, by a mobile computer system, a first computer application configured to receive data from a server system over a network;
identifying, by the mobile computer system, a second computer application from among a plurality of computer applications, wherein identifying the second computer application comprises determining that the second computer application will draw the least battery power from among the plurality of computer applications when executed to search for a connection to the network;
executing, by the mobile computer system, the second computer application to periodically search for the connection to the network at a first time interval;
in response to executing the second computer application, determining, by the mobile computer system, that the connection to the network is unavailable; and
in response to determining that the connection to the network is unavailable, transmitting the notification to the first computer application, wherein the first computer application suspends data requests to the server system when the notification is received.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising executing the second computer application to periodically search for the connection to the network at a second time interval that is greater than the first time interval.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:
executing the second computer application at a time instant after the second time interval to search for the connection to the network;
in response to executing the second computer application at the time instant, detecting the connection to the network; and
in response to detecting the connection to the network, decreasing a time interval to search for the connection to the network from the second time interval to the first time interval.

4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising, in response to detecting the connection to the network, transmitting a second notification to the first computer application to request the data from the server system.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first computer application is an electronic mail application, and wherein the server system is an electronic mail server system that stores electronic mail.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second computer application is an automatic power save delivery application.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining that the connection to the network is unavailable comprises determining that a strength of the connection is below a threshold strength.

8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising:
executing a second plurality of computer applications, wherein each of the second plurality of computer applications is configured to request data from a respective server system over the network and to suspend data requests to the respective server system when a respective notification is received; and
in response to determining that the strength of the connection is below the threshold strength, transmitting the respective notification to each of the second plurality of computer applications.

9. A computer-implemented method comprising:
executing, by a mobile computer system, a plurality of computer applications, wherein each of the plurality of computer application is configured to request data from a network;
selecting, by the mobile computer system, a first computer application from the plurality of computer applications, to periodically transmit a request for a connection to the network at a first time interval, wherein selecting the first computer application comprises determining that the first computer application will draw the least battery power from among the plurality of computer applications when executed to search for the connection to the network;
determining, by the mobile computer system, an absence of a response from the network to the request for the connection;
determining, by the mobile computer system, an unavailability of the connection to the network based on the absence of the response; and
in response to determining that the connection to the network is unavailable:
transmitting a notification to each of the plurality of computer applications other than the first computer application to suspend data requests to the network; and
transmitting subsequent requests for the connection to the network periodically at a second time interval that is greater than the first time interval.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein determining the unavailability of the connection to the network comprises determining that a strength of the connection to the network is below a threshold strength.

11. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:
executing the first computer application to detect the connection at a time instance after the second time interval has expired;
determining that the strength of the connection has increased to at or above the threshold strength; and
in response to determining that the strength of the connection has increased to at or above the threshold strength, transmitting, by the mobile computer system, a second notification to each of the plurality of computer applications other than the first computer application to request the data from the server system.

12. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:
executing the first computer application to detect the connection at a time instance before the second time interval has expired;
determining that the strength of the connection has increased to at or above the threshold strength; and
transmitting a second notification to each of the plurality of computer applications other than the first computer application to request the data from the server system.

13. The method of claim 10 , further comprising, in response to determining that the strength of the connection is below the threshold strength, executing a second computer application from the plurality of computer applications to transmit requests for a respective connection to the network periodically at the second time interval.

14. The method of claim 10 , wherein determining that the strength of the connection to the network is below the threshold strength comprises:
searching for the connection to the network for a duration of time; and
determining an absence of the connection to the network within the duration of time.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the duration of time is substantially one-third the first time interval.

16. The method of claim 9 , wherein the request for the connection is transmitted by the first computer application executing on the mobile computer system and a subsequent request for a respective connection to the network by a second computer application from the plurality of computer applications executing on the mobile computer system.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the first computer application is an electronic mail computer application.

18. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions executable by data processing apparatus to perform operations comprising:
identifying a first computer application from among a plurality of computer applications, wherein identifying the first computer application comprises determining that the first computer application will draw the least battery power from among the plurality of computer applications when executed to search for a first connection to a network;
executing the first computer application to search for the first connection to the network periodically at a first time interval;
determining an absence of a response from the

Assignees

• Apple Inc

Inventors

• Pollack Daniel B
• Wood Justin
• Chang Ray L
• Vyas Amit K
• Parker Steve
• Klahn Matthew Scott

Classifications

• H04W52/0241 Primary

  where no transmission is received, e.g. out of range of the transmitter · CPC title

• Y02B60/50

  Cross-Sectional Technologies · mapped topic

• Y02D30/70

  in wireless communication networks · CPC title

• H04W48/16

  Discovering, processing access restriction or access information · CPC title

• H04W48/08

  Access restriction or access information delivery, e.g. discovery data delivery (signalling during connection H04W76/00) · CPC title