Abstract:
A system enables personal information manager (PIM) applications to continue to provide alerts and other time sensitive information even when the system upon which the PIM is stored is turned off. Automatically data may be transferred from a first processor-based system to a second processor-based system to implement time sensitive activities. The second processor-based system may provide a user notification at a predetermined time preset on the first processor-based system.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
       [0001]    This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/450,261, filed Nov. 29, 1999. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    This invention relates generally to processor-based systems and in some particular embodiments to processor-based systems which maintain time sensitive information such as scheduling information for the user. 
         [0003]    A personal information manager (PIM) application such as Microsoft Outlook, Lotus Organizer and Sidekick may provide a calendar, notes, a to do list, electronic mail and so forth. Much of this information is time sensitive. For example, an alert may be programmed to signal the user at a particular time to take a certain course of action, such as to attend a meeting or to make a phone call. The alert may be accompanied by a display which displays the time sensitive act. 
         [0004]    One problem with such systems is that if the user turns his or her processor-based system off, the user will miss the notification. Thus, conventionally, turning the computer off disables the system from providing the predetermined notice at the predetermined time. 
         [0005]    Of course, the processor-based system user may overcome this problem by simply leaving his or her computer always on. However, this practice is not recommended and may greatly drain the power resources of the processor-based system. Thus, conventionally users turn their processor-based systems off when not being used. When they do so, they risk the possibility that they will miss important alerts. 
         [0006]    Thus, there is a need for ways which enable a user to be advised of time sensitive information when the user&#39;s personal computer is in a powered-off state. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0007]    In accordance with one aspect, a method includes automatically transferring time sensitive data from a storage coupled to a first processor-based device to a storage coupled to the second processor-based device. The time sensitive data is automatically displayed on a display coupled to a second processor-based device at a predetermined time. 
         [0008]    Other aspects are set forth in the accompanying detailed description and claims. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0009]      FIG. 1  is a schematic depiction of one embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0010]      FIG. 2  is a flow chart showing software in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention which may be provided as part of the processor-based system shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0011]      FIG. 3  is a flow chart showing software which may be run by the standby system shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0012]      FIG. 4  is a perspective view of one embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0013]      FIG. 5  is a block diagram of the standby system shown in  FIG. 1  in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0014]      FIG. 6  is a graphical user interface in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention; and 
           [0015]      FIG. 7  is a block diagram for one embodiment of the processor-based system  10 , shown in  FIG. 1 . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0016]    Referring to  FIG. 1 , a processor-based system  10  may be coupled to a standby system  12 . In one embodiment of the present invention, the processor-based system  10  and the standby system  12  may be contained within the same housing. Thus, the user may not appreciate that two distinct processor-based systems are provided. 
         [0017]    The processor-based system  10  may be any conventional computer system, including a laptop or portable computer system operable from a battery. The processor-based system  10  may include a real time clock (RTC)  14  and an information manager application  16  such as a personal information manager (PIM) application. A driver  20  may drive a speaker  22  in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. An application program  24  may act as an interface between the application  16  and the standby system  12 . 
         [0018]    While the present invention is described in connection with an embodiment in which a personal information management (PIM) application utilized, the present application is applicable to systems which involve time sensitive data which may come in a variety of different types of information including time information and time sensitive alerts as additional examples. Thus, it is not essential that the information be associated with a PIM application in particular. 
         [0019]    The standby system  12  may be coupled to the processor-based system  10  by an appropriate link. In embodiments in which separate housings are utilized for the systems  10  and  12 , a tethered connection may be provided between the systems  10  and  12 . In other embodiments, the systems  10  and  12  may be coupled by a airwave communication link, such as a infrared link, a radio link or a cellular telephone link. 
         [0020]    In some embodiments of the present invention, the standby system  12  may use the same power supply as the system  12 . In the case where the processor-based system  10  is run from a battery, the standby system  12  may also be operated from the same battery. In addition, in some embodiments, the standby system  12  may be coupled to the real time clock  14  of the processor-based system  10  so that timing is synchronized between the two systems. 
         [0021]    The processor-based system  10  may store an application  16 , such as a scheduler, a calendar or the like which may receive time sensitive data such as the time for appointments, telephone calls or the like. The application  16  may be user programmed to give a visible or audible alert at a preprogrammed time. In order to ensure that this information is always available for notification to the user, the application  16  information may be transferred to the standby system  12 . 
         [0022]    This transfer of application  16  information may be implemented in a variety of ways. It may be implemented automatically in response to an indication that the processor-based system  10  is about to be powered off. Alternatively, every time a given type of information is stored on the processor-based system  10  in association with the application  16 , that information may be automatically transferred to the standby system  12 . For example, whenever the user sets an alert to audibly or visibly notify the user of a given event, information about that alert may automatically be transferred to the standby system  12 . As still another embodiment, the information associated with the application  16  may automatically be transferred at periodic intervals to the standby system  12 . 
         [0023]    In each case, the expectation is that by automatically transferring the time sensitive data from the processor-based system  10  to the system  12 , upon power off of the system  10 , the data may still be available on the system  12 . The system  12  may include a display  18  in one embodiment of the present invention that may be operated even when the processor-based system  10  is in its power off state. In addition, the standby system  12  may operate the driver  20  and speaker  22  to provide an audible indication, at a predetermined time, in keeping with the information provided by the application  16 . In other embodiments of the present invention, the standby system  12  may include its own speaker  22 . 
         [0024]    Through the standby system  12  that is always powered on, the user may be notified of an important activity or event that is stored in his or her application  16 . Alternatively, the system  12  may be automatically powered on whenever the processor-based system  10  is about to be powered off. Thus, one of the two systems  10  or  12  is always in a powered on state ready to provide time sensitive data, in one embodiment of the invention. 
         [0025]    Referring to  FIG. 2 , in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, software  24  may be stored on the processor-based system  10 , for example a hard disk drive. The flow begins by determining when a power off state is about to occur as indicated in diamond  26 . In such case, any active application  16  task may be transferred to the standby system  12  as indicated in block  28 . Thus, events of a particular type may automatically be transferred from the system  10  to the system  12  prior to shut down of the system  10 . The software  24  may extract time sensitive alerts from PIM applications in one embodiment of the invention. 
         [0026]    For example, pre-programmed alerts which are designed to notify the user of a given event may be transferred to the standby system  12  prior to shut off. After transferring the information, the processor-based system  10  may proceed to a power off state, as indicated in block  30 . 
         [0027]    In other embodiments of the present invention, as described previously, the transfer of time sensitive data to the standby system  12  may be done automatically whenever events of a certain type are preprogrammed. Alternatively, the data may be periodically automatically transferred to the standby system  12 . 
         [0028]    In some embodiments of the present invention, the power consumption of the standby system  12  may be considerably less than that encountered with the overall system  10 . Thus, power may be reasonably conserved. 
         [0029]    Turning now to  FIG. 3 , software  32  may be stored on the standby system  12  in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. The software  32  may monitor for PIM application  16  information, as indicated in diamond  34 . When PIM information or other time sensitive data is transferred, the standby system  12  may be activated automatically. The system  12  may compare the time of the time sensitive data, such as a PIM alert, contained in a queue containing one or more time sensitive events, to the information about the current time from the real time clock  14 , as indicated in block  36 . When there is a match, as indicated in diamond  38 , an audio or visible display may be activated as indicated in block  40 . In one such case, an image of the calendar, produced by the PIM application  16 , may be displayed on a display  18  or a sound may be produced, for example from the speaker  22 , to alert the user (block  42 ). After a time out is reached, as indicated in diamond  44 , the flow may be terminated. 
         [0030]    Turning next to  FIG. 4 , in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, the system  10  may be a laptop or portable computer which includes within its housing the system  10  and the standby system  12 . The laptop may include a display portion  46  that folds onto a keyboard portion  48 . The display  18  may be provided on the exterior of the housing of the system  10 , for example on the portion  46 . Thus, even though the system  10  is in its closed configuration and is powered off, the user may be notified, for example through the display  18  on the exterior of the housing, of alerts and other time sensitive events. 
         [0031]    In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, the standby system  12  may be implemented by a microcontroller  50  which is coupled to the display  18  and to a storage  52 , as shown in  FIG. 5 . For example, in one embodiment of the present invention, the storage  52  may store the software  32 . The microcontroller  50  may also be coupled to an interface  53  which in turn may be coupled to the processor-based system  10 . In this way, the systems  10  and  12  may exchange information such as the real time clock information, PIM information and signals to the processor-based system  10  and speaker  22 . 
         [0032]    In one embodiment of the present invention the system  12  may be a cellular telephone linked to the user&#39;s personal computer. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the system  12  may be a server. For example, the system  12  may be an Internet server. When the user is about to turn off his or her computer system  10 , for example before going on a trip, the user&#39;s time sensitive data may automatically be transferred to a Web site operated by the server. The user can then access the time sensitive data, once stored on the Web site, from a computer different from the one originally used to record the PIM information. 
         [0033]    Referring to  FIG. 6 , the display  18 , in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, may display a graphical user interface  56  such as a calendar. Thus, a plurality of times may be displayed, with a particular meeting time  58  highlighted. In one embodiment user definable information may be scrolled across the display  18 . Thus, by exporting the time sensitive data from the application  16 , the user is provided with a portion of his or her overall calendar and given a visual warning of the timed event. 
         [0034]    Turning finally to  FIG. 7 , the processor-based system  10  may include a processor  60  coupled to an interface  62  such as a bridge. The interface  62  may be coupled to a system memory  64  and a display controller  66 . A display  68  may be coupled to a controller  66 . An interface  70  may be coupled to the interface  62  as well as to a system bus  72 . The real time clock may be part of the interface  70 . The system bus  72  may be coupled to a storage medium  74 , storing the software  76  for example that implements the PIM functions and the software  24 . 
         [0035]    In addition, the interface  70  may be coupled to a secondary bus  78  coupled to the interface  80 . The interface  80  is coupled to the standby system  12  through its interface  53 . 
         [0036]    The secondary bus  78  may also couple a BIOS storage  82 . The software  24  may be part of the BIOS software stored on the BIOS storage  82 . 
         [0037]    The storage  74  may define a time sensitive data queue, controlled for example by the application  24 , for storing a plurality of time sensitive alerts in accordance with one embodiment to the present invention. The queue may be in the form of a content addressable memory (CAM) with each location associated with a tag indicative of a particular time for action. The queue may be searched to find alerts having a tag indicative of a time that matches the current time, for example obtained from the real time clock. 
         [0038]    The application  24  may be responsible for gathering time sensitive data from the application  16 , prioritizing that data, ordering the data in the queue and running the queue. The application  24  may also notify the user when the last alert in the queue has been completed. 
         [0039]    In some cases, the queue depth may be exceeded, for example because the number of timed entries exceeds the capacity of the queue. In such cases, a notification may be provided to the user that the queue depth has been exceeded and that additional entries may not be accepted. This may be accomplished for example, by a suitable graphical user interface. 
         [0040]    In some embodiments of the present invention, it may advantageous to provide the ability to mute the audible notification so that the user is not disturbed when the user is in a meeting or the like. In such cases, the user may enter a command through the processor-based system  10  which mutes any audible alerts until the mute is released. In addition, it may be desirable to provide a interrupt which allows the user to enter a code into the processor-based system  10  to turn off the on-going display, on the display  18 , of an alert or upcoming timed event. In addition it may be desirable in some cases to turn off the display  18  at any time when the processor-based system  10  is operational to avoid duplicative indications of time sensitive data. 
         [0041]    While the program  24  is illustrated as being an application program, it may also be implemented as part of an operating system. The program  24  may also be part of a personal information manager application as well. 
         [0042]    While the present invention has been described with respect to a limited number of embodiments, those skilled in the art will appreciate numerous modifications and variations therefrom. It is intended that the appended claims cover all such modifications and variations as fall within the true spirit and scope of this present invention.