Systems and methods for power management of a modular mobile electronic device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9723564-B2
Application number	US-201514680944-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 7, 2015
Priority date	Apr 7, 2014
Publication date	Aug 1, 2017
Grant date	Aug 1, 2017

Abstract

Systems and methods for power management of a mobile electronic device. During operation of a modular mobile electronic device, module power characteristic data of a plurality of modules coupled to the electronic device is collected. Each module is coupled to the electronic device via a respective module interface of the electronic device. A module power model is updated for at least one module of the plurality of modules based on module power characteristic data collected for the at least one module. A context-aware power budget of the electronic device is updated based on updating of the module power model for the at least one module. Module power flow of the electronic device is adapted based on updates to the context-aware power budget. Adapting module power flow includes adapting allocation of power in real-time to at least one power consumer module coupled the electronic device via a respective module interface.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
during operation of a modular mobile electronic device, using a power controller of a system of the electronic device to:
collect module power characteristic data of a plurality of modules coupled to the system, each module being coupled to the system via a respective module interface of the system;
update a module power model for at least one module of the plurality of modules based on module power characteristic data collected for the at least one module;
update a context-aware power budget of the electronic device based on updating of the module power model for the at least one module;
adapt module power flow of the electronic device based on updates to the context-aware power budget,

wherein adapting module power flow comprises adapting allocation of power in real-time to at least one power consumer module coupled the system via a respective module interface and wherein adapting module power flow comprises using the power controller to bypass a module communication network packet switch of the electronic device for communication between modules coupled to the system via respective module interfaces.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein collected module power characteristic data of a module includes at least one of power production data, power storage data, power consumption data, and contextual data.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein collected module power characteristic data of a module includes at least one of state of the module, presence of other modules coupled to the system via respective module interfaces, and state of the other modules.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising using the power controller to: update a system-level power model responsive to updating of the module power model for the at least one module.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the module power characteristic data collected for a module is data generated by a power monitor/control unit (PMC) coupled to the module via the module interface of the module, the PMC generating the data during operation of the electronic device and the module.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of modules includes at least one power storage module and at least one power consumer module.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the plurality of module includes at least one power production module.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein adapting module power flow comprises controlling power production by at least one of:
controlling at least one power production module coupled to the system via a module interface; and
controlling at least one PMC that is coupled to a power production module.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein adapting module power flow comprises controlling power storage by at least one of:
controlling at least one power storage module coupled to the system via a module interface; and
controlling at least one PMC that s coupled to a power storage module.

10. The method of claim 5 , wherein adapting module power flow comprises controlling at least one PMC of the system to perform at least one of limiting current draw via a module interface coupled to the PMC by using a current limiter; and decoupling the module interface from a power network of the system by using an interface switch.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein adapting allocation of power in real-time to at least one power consumer module comprises adapting the allocation of power by using a module priority score of the at least one power consumer module, the priority score being based on a user experience benchmark that indicates the extent to which the at least one power consumer module's power draw affects a user experience of the electronic device.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein in a case where two or more power consumer modules perform a same task, adapting allocation of power in real-time to at least one power consumer module comprises adapting the allocation of power by allocating power to one of the two or more power consumer modules based on respective priority scores.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein adapting module power flow comprises coordinating power draw timing between two or more power consumer modules.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein adapting module power flow comprises using the power controller to control a plurality of power source modules to supply power via the system by using at least one module voltage regulator of the electronic device.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein adapting module power flow comprises using the power controller to bypass a module communication network packet switch of the electronic device for communication between a display module and another module coupled to the system via respective module interlaces.

16. A mobile electronic device system comprising:
a plurality of module interfaces, each module interface constructed to removably couple a module to the system;
a module power network constructed to provide power transfer between modules coupled to the system via respective ones of the plurality of module interfaces;
a power controller coupled to the module power network, the power controller constructed to, during operation of the system:
collect module power characteristic data of a plurality of modules coupled to the system, each module being coupled to the system via a respective module interface;
update a module power model for at least one module of the plurality of modules based on module power characteristic data collected for the at least one module;
update a context-aware power budget of the electronic device based on updating of the module power model for the at least one module; and
adapt module power flow of the module power network based on updates to the context-aware power budget,

a module communication network (MCN) constructed to enable data transfer between modules coupled to the system via respective module interfaces, the MCN including an MCN packet switch constructed to direct communication between modules via data links between the modules;
a first switch coupled to a first module interface of the plurality of module interfaces and switchably coupled to the MCN packet switch, the first switch constructed to communicatively decouple from the MCN packet switch responsive to control provided by the power controller;
wherein adapting module power flow comprises adapting allocation of power in real-time to at least one power consumer module coupled the system via a respective module interface and wherein the first switch is constructed to communicatively couple to a second module interface responsive to control provided by the power controller.

17. The system of claim 16 , further comprising a plurality of voltage regulators, each voltage regulator electrically coupling a respective module interface to a power bus of the module power network.

18. The system of claim 16 , further comprising:
a plurality of module interface communication switches, each module interface communication switch being coupled to one of the plurality of module interfaces and switchably coupled to the MCN packet switch;
wherein the first switch comprises a display switch that is constructed to communicatively couple to one of the module interface communication switches responsive to control provided by the power controller; and
wherein each module interface communication switch is constructed to communicatively decouple from the MCN packet switch responsive to control provided by the power controller.

19. The system of claim 16 ,
wherein the first switch comprises a displa

Assignees

• Google Inc

Inventors

• Fishman David
• Newburg Seth
• Knaian Ara
• Eremenko Paul

Classifications

• H04M1/0254

  comprising one or a plurality of mechanically detachable modules · CPC title

• Y02B60/50

  Cross-Sectional Technologies · mapped topic

• H04W52/0222

  in packet switched networks · CPC title

• H04W52/0258

  controlling an operation mode according to history or models of usage information, e.g. activity schedule or time of day · CPC title

• H04W52/0261 Primary

  managing power supply demand, e.g. depending on battery level · CPC title