Abstract:
A method for determining usage time for a plurality of modes of a mobile device wherein a self learning table within the mobile device includes a plurality of storage locations for storing current usage values and each of the storage locations has an association with a zparticular mode of the terminal. Additional storage locations may be added to the table responsive to new modes of operation of the mobile device

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD  
         [0001]    The present invention relates to determining remaining usage time for mobile telephones, and more particularly, to a self learning method for predicting remaining usage time for different modes of a mobile telephone.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    Users of portable battery powered communication devices are dependent on a fully functional device. More specifically, the users need to know exactly for how long their devices will remain functional, until the electrical energy stored in the battery has been consumed and the battery has to be recharged. This is particularly true for users of mobile telephones.  
           [0003]    In order to determine a precise estimation of the remaining operational time of a mobile telephone, the user needs an accurate and well functioning battery capacity indicator or “fuel gauge”. Determining the remaining battery capacity includes two separate current measurements One measurement from the current flowing into the battery “charging” and one measurement for the current consumed from the battery “discharging”. The charging current is often relatively easy to measure. A microprocessor “CPU” may determine the current signal which is directly proportional to the current flowing through a small resistor. Since a microprocessor controls the charging process, it will also have access to all relative data for calculating the total energy, that has been supplied to the battery during a certain period of time.  
           [0004]    Determining the discharge current or current consumption is much more difficult, particularly for advanced telephones with complex functionalities and many operating modes. Traditionally, discharged current is measured by calculating the expected current consumption, when the telephone is in different operating modes. Earlier mobile telephones basically had two operating modes, talk mode and standby mode. With such telephones, the current consumption for talk modes and standby modes was measured once in a test laboratory environment and stored in memory in the telephone as respective, predetermined consumption values. In operation, the telephone would keep track of the time spent in talk mode and standby modes and subsequently calculate the total amount of energy consumed within the battery by multiplying the respective operational times by the predetermined consumption values.  
           [0005]    Recently it has been possible to use application specific integrated circuits (ASICS) to measure current flowing in and out of a battery. To be able to predict remaining operating time, existing mobile telephones are required to track how each setting of the mobile telephone sets current consumption from a battery. The added current consumption for each setting must be measured in a lab and stored within the mobile telephone&#39;s non-volatile memory at production. The software in the mobile telephone is configured to consider the different menu settings when calculating remaining operating time for the battery. Additionally, the mobile telephone must track activities towards the network within various modes such as standby and call. This could be done by counting the number of RX, TX and SYNT strobes in the different modes of telephone. Each strobe contains a certain amount of energy that is measured in the lab and stored as a parameter in the non-volatile memory. These networks activities must be included when estimating the current power consumed in each mode of the mobile telephone.  
           [0006]    These methods, however, are quite complex to use in practice due to the large amount of measurements that must be done in the lab, and the large amount of data that must be stored in the mobile phone. Each increases the complexity and cost associated with a mobile telephone  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0007]    The present invention comprises an apparatus and method for determining usage time for a plurality of modes of a mobile device. A processor, in conjunction with circuitry for determining current usage values for various modes of the mobile device determines a current usage value for a first mode of the mobile telephone. The current usage value is stored in a table for storing the current usage values at a location associated with the mode of the mobile device. A determination may then be made of remaining usage time for the mode responsive to the current usage value stored in the table. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0008]    A more complete understanding of the method and apparatus of the present invention may be obtained by reference to the following Detailed Description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying Drawings wherein:  
         [0009]    [0009]FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a mobile telephone implementing the system and method of the present invention;  
         [0010]    [0010]FIG. 2 illustrates the self-learning table for storing current use values for various modes of the mobile telephone; and  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating one embodiment for operation of a self learning table of the present invention.  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0012]    Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to FIG. 1, there is illustrated a mobile terminal  10  according to the system and method of the present invention. While the present invention is described with respect to a mobile terminal  10 , any mobile device would also be applicable to the present invention. The mobile terminal  10  includes a transceiver  15  enabling the mobile terminal  10  to wirelessly communicate with an associated wireless network (not shown). The wireless network may comprise a number of wireless communication technologies such as GSM, CDMA, UMTS, GPRS, etc. The mobile terminal  10  further includes a battery  20  for providing power enabling operation of the mobile terminal  10  and any associated hardware and software components associated therewith. A display  25  enables various visual indicators to be displayed to a user of the mobile terminal  10 . Of particular interest to the present invention is a visual indication of the remaining usage time available for the battery  20  in various modes of operation of the mobile terminal.  
         [0013]    According to the present invention, a remaining usage time for a battery  20  may be calculated using a processor  30 , a power applications specific integrated circuit (ASIC)  35  and a self learning table  40  stored within a memory  45  of the mobile terminal  10 . The power ASIC  35  is able to determine a current usage into or out of the battery  20  and is further able to determine a current usage associated with various modes of operation of the mobile telephone  10 . The various modes of operation of the mobile telephone  10  may include various software configurations according to which the mobile telephone  10  is operated under control of mode software  50  executed by the processor  30 ; the operation of various hardware components  55  contained within and operated by the mobile terminal  10  under the control of processor  30 , such as LCD, camera, MP3 audio player; or various combinations of the hardware and software. Options for various modes of use of interest to the user may be presented to the user via a menu. The user can select various modes from the menu and receive information on a usage time for the selected modes without actually putting the mobile terminal  10  into the selected mode.  
         [0014]    The table  40  within memory  45 , as more fully illustrated in FIG. 2, is configured to include an entry  60  for each mode of the mobile terminal  10  and an entry  70  for the current usage value associated with a particular mode. Thus, for each mode of the mobile terminal  10 , a corresponding current usage can be determined using the power ASIC  35  and stored in the current usage entry  70  for the mobile terminal when a mode is first used. The table  40  is updated each time a particular mode is accessed by determining a current usage for the accessed mode and determining whether to replace an existing entry with the new measurement. A new current usage entry is compared to a previously stored current usage entry and placed in the table if the entries are different. Suitable filtering mechanisms  80  may be applied to changed entries of the table  40  in order to provide slow variations in the value of the entries for current usage.  
         [0015]    Furthermore, when a new mode of the terminal  10  is first accessed by the mobile terminal and no entry  60  for the mode is currently available, a new entry  60  may be created within the table  40  such that a current usage value may be generated by the power ASIC  35  and stored as a new entry  70  in the table  40 . In this way, the table is able to self learn and determine remaining time usage in any number of modes representing various hardware/software combinations. The first time a particular mode is assessed by the mobile telephone  10 , remaining usage time may not be determined since a current usage value entry is not available for the mode. Thus, the mobile terminal  10  displays, for example, “LEARNING” during this time period. The next time the mode  50  is accessed by the mobile terminal, or after a value is stored, the current usage value is retrieved by the processor  30  from the table  40  and used to determine a remaining usage time for presentation upon the display  25 .  
         [0016]    Referring now to FIG. 3, there is illustrated one embodiment in which the system of the present invention may be implemented. After entry of a mode by the mobile terminal  10  at step  100 , inquiry step  105  determines whether the terminal  10  has entered a mode not having an entry within the table  40 . If so, a current usage value for the new mode is retrieved at  108  using power ASIC  35  and this new value is stored within a new entry in the table  40  at step  110  while displaying “LEARNING” on the on the display  25  of the mobile station.  
         [0017]    If the mobile terminal has previously entered the mode and an entry exists within the table  40  for the mode, a present current usage value is determined for the mode at step  115  using power ASIC  35 . Inquiry step  120  determines whether an update of the existing current usage entry is necessary and if so, the current usage value for the mode is updated at step  125 . The updated value may be filtered if necessary at step  130  to prevent drastic changes within the presently stored current usage value for a mode. Filtering may in one embodiment be performed by averaging the current measurements over time but other filtering options may be used After updating at step  125  or if inquiry step  120  determines that no update is necessary, the obtained current usage value in the table  40  is used to determine a remaining usage time for the mode at step  135  which is displayed to a user at step  140 . If desired, the table  40  can be preloaded with default values for use before a first use of a mode.  
         [0018]    The previous description is of a preferred embodiment for implementing the invention, and the scope of the invention should not necessarily be limited by this description. The scope of the present invention is instead defined by the following claims.