Mechanism for facilitating power extension service at computing devices

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9753528-B2
Application number	US-201113977681-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 21, 2011
Priority date	Dec 21, 2011
Publication date	Sep 5, 2017
Grant date	Sep 5, 2017

Abstract

A mechanism is described for facilitating power extension service at computing devices according to one embodiment of the invention. A method of embodiments of the invention includes calculating potential power saving by one or more of a plurality of power-saving techniques supported by a computing device. The calculating includes identifying the one or more of the plurality of power-saving techniques that are available for selection and an expected amount of power to be saved with the one or more of the plurality of power saving techniques. The method may further include generating a list identifying the one or more of the plurality of power-saving techniques and relevant information resulting from the calculation, and displaying the list.

First claim

We claim:

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:
identifying a plurality of functionalities of a computing device expected to be, at least partially, relinquished based on a state of the computing device, wherein the plurality of functionalities are not being used by an application of the computing device;
calculating a plurality of amounts of power to be saved by a respective one of a plurality of power-saving techniques supported by the computing device, wherein at least one of the plurality of power-saving techniques identify the plurality of functionalities based on the state of the computing device and the amount of power expected to be saved when selecting a power-saving technique of the plurality of power saving techniques;
generating a list of power-saving options, that are supported by the computing device that is active, including combinations of the plurality of power-saving techniques and relevant information resulting from the calculation, wherein the relevant information includes the plurality of functionalities expected to be relinquished and the plurality of amounts of power to be saved;
for a first power-saving option, determining a first duration of time that a remaining battery power of the computing device is estimated to be able to provide power to the computing device in response to selecting the first power saving option;
for a second power-saving option, determining a second duration of time that the remaining battery power of the computing device is estimated to be able to provide power to the computing device in response to selecting the second power saving option; and
displaying the list of power-saving options, the first duration of time, and the second duration of time, in response to the remaining battery power of the computing device reaching or going below a threshold level.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising monitoring the one or more of the plurality of power-saving techniques supported by the computing device, wherein the one or more of the plurality of power-saving techniques include one or more of an Automatic Display Brightness (ADB), a Display Power Saving Technology (DPST), or a Display Refresh Rate Switching Technology (DRRS).

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the calculation is performed based, at least partially, on data relating to the plurality of functionalities and current power status of one or more batteries coupled to the computing device.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the computing device comprises one or more of a smartphone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a handheld computer, a tablet computer, an e-reader, a notebook, a netbook, a set-top box, or a desktop computer.

5. A system comprising:
a host computing device having a memory to store instructions to facilitate power extension service, and a processing device to execute the instructions, wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the processing device to:
identify a plurality of functionalities of the host computing device expected to be, at least partially, relinquished based on a state of the computing device, wherein the plurality of functionalities are not being used by an application of the computing device;
calculate a plurality of amounts of power to be saved by a respective one of a plurality of power-saving techniques supported by the host computing device, wherein at least one of the plurality of power-saving techniques identify the plurality of functionalities based on the state of the computing device and the expected amount of power to be saved when selecting a power-saving technique of the plurality of power-saving techniques;
generate a list of power-saving options, that are supported by the computing device that is active, including combinations of the plurality of power-saving techniques and relevant information resulting from the calculation, wherein the relevant information includes the plurality of functionalities expected to be relinquished and the plurality of amounts of power to be saved;
determine a first duration of time that a remaining battery power of the system is estimated to be able to provide power to the system in response to selecting the first power saving option;
determine a second duration of time that the remaining battery power of the system is estimated to be able to provide power to the system in response to selecting the second power saving option; and
display the list and at least one of the first duration of time or the second duration of time, in response to a remaining battery power of the system reaching or going below a threshold level.

6. The system of claim 5 , wherein the processing device is further to monitor the one or more of the plurality of power-saving techniques supported by the computing device, wherein the one or more of the plurality of power-saving techniques include one or more of an Automatic Display Brightness (ADB), a Display Power Saving Technology (DPST), or a Display Refresh Rate Switch Technology (DRRS).

7. The system of claim 5 , wherein the calculation is performed based, at least partially, on data relating to the plurality of functionalities and current power status of one or more batteries coupled to the computing device.

8. The system of claim 5 , wherein the computing device comprises one or more of a smartphone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a handheld computer, a tablet computer, an e-reader, a notebook, a netbook, a set-top box, or a desktop computer.

9. A non-transitory machine-readable medium including instructions that, when executed by a machine, cause the machine to:
identify a plurality of functionalities of a computing device expected to be, at least partially, relinquished based on a state of the computing device, wherein the plurality of functionalities are not being used by an application of the computing device;
calculate a plurality of amounts of power to be saved by a respective one of the plurality of power-saving techniques, wherein calculating includes identifying the one or more of the plurality of power-saving techniques that are available for selection, wherein at least one of the plurality of power-saving techniques identify the plurality of functionalities based on the state of the computing device and the amount of power expected to be saved when selecting a power-saving technique of the plurality of power saving techniques;
generate a list of power-saving options, that are supported by the computing device that is active, including combinations of the plurality of power-saving techniques and relevant information resulting from the calculation, wherein the relevant information includes the plurality of functionalities expected to be relinquished and the plurality of amounts of power to be saved;
determine a first duration of time that a remaining battery power of the computing device is estimated to be able to provide power to the computing device in response to selecting the first power saving option;
determine a second duration of time that the remaining battery power of the computing device is estimated to be able to provide power to the computing device in response to selecting the second power saving option; and
display the list and one or both the first duration of time or the second duration of time, in response to a remaining battery power of the computing device reaching or going below a threshold level.

10. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 9 , wherein the processing device is further to monitor the one or more of the plurality of power-saving techniques supported by the computing device, wherein the one or more of the plurality of power-saving techniques include one or more of

Assignees

• Tu Xiaoxing
• Li Fei
• Yang Jie
• Intel Corp

Inventors

• Tu Xiaoxing
• Li Fei
• Yang Jie

Classifications

• G06F1/3212 Primary

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

• G06F1/32 Primary

  Means for saving power · CPC title

• G06F1/3265 Primary

  Power saving in display device · CPC title

• G06F1/3287 Primary

  by switching off individual functional units in the computer system · CPC title