Patent Publication Number: US-2015089210-A1

Title: Electronic device and low battery boot-up method

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 201310442545.3 filed on Sep. 26, 2013 in the China Intellectual Property Office, the contents of which are incorporated by reference herein. 
     FIELD 
     The subject matter herein generally relates to boot-up of electronic devices. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Batteries, such as lithium batteries, may be adopted to provide power to electronic devices, such as smart phones. When remaining battery capacity of an electronic device is below a predetermined level, such as 5 percents of full battery capacity, the electronic device may shut down automatically. However, a user may need to use the electronic device to deal with some emergencies (e.g., to dial an emergency number) in this case. Therefore, there is a need for booting the electronic device with low battery in a power saving mode. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Implementations of the present technology will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the attached figures. 
         FIG. 1  is a block diagram of one example embodiment of a hardware environment for executing a low battery boot-up system. 
         FIG. 2  is a block diagram of one embodiment of a state transition graph of an electronic device. 
         FIG. 3  is a block diagram of one example embodiment of function modules of the low battery boot-up system in  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 4  is a flowchart of one example embodiment of a low battery boot-up method. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     It will be appreciated that for simplicity and clarity of illustration, where appropriate, reference numerals have been repeated among the different figures to indicate corresponding or analogous elements. In addition, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments described herein. However, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that the embodiments described herein can be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, methods, procedures, and components have not been described in detail so as not to obscure the related relevant feature being described. The drawings are not necessarily to scale and the proportions of certain parts may be exaggerated to better illustrate details and features. The description is not to be considered as limiting the scope of the embodiments described herein. 
     Several definitions that apply throughout this disclosure will now be presented. 
     The term “module” refers to logic embodied in computing or firmware, or to a collection of software instructions, written in a programming language, such as, Java, C, or assembly. One or more software instructions in the modules may be embedded in firmware, such as in an erasable programmable read only memory (EPROM). The modules described herein may be implemented as either software and/or computing modules and may be stored in any type of non-transitory computer-readable medium or other storage device. Some non-limiting examples of non-transitory computer-readable media include CDs, DVDs, BLU-RAY, flash memory, and hard disk drives. The term “comprising” means “including, but not necessarily limited to”; it specifically indicates open-ended inclusion or membership in a so-described combination, group, series and the like. 
       FIG. 1  is a block diagram of one example embodiment of a hardware environment for executing a low battery boot-up system  10 . The low battery boot-up system  10  is installed and run in an electronic device  1 . The electronic device  1  can include at least one battery  11 , a battery fuel gauge chip  12 , a storage device  13 , and at least one control device  14 . 
     The low battery boot-up system  10  can include a plurality of function modules (shown in  FIG. 3 ) that control the electronic device  1  to boot-up in a power saving mode after the electronic device  1  shuts down automatically due to low battery. 
     The at least one battery  11  provides power to the electronic device  1 . 
     The battery fuel gauge chip  12  measures battery current and/or voltage of the electronic device  1 , and calculates remaining battery capacity of the electronic device  1  according to the battery current and/or voltage. 
     The storage device  13  can include some type(s) of non-transitory computer-readable storage medium such as, for example, a hard disk drive, a compact disc, a digital video disc, or a tape drive. The storage device  13  stores the computerized codes of the function modules of the low battery boot-up system  10 . 
     The control device  14  can be a processor, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or a field programmable gate array (FPGA), for example. The control device  14  can execute computerized codes of the function modules of the low battery boot-up system  10  to realize the functions of the electronic device  1 . 
       FIG. 2  is a block diagram of one embodiment of a state transition graph of the electronic device  1 . The electronic device  1  can be in five states: a normal power-on state, a low battery power-off state, a low battery power-on state, a power-off charging state, and a normal power-off state. The electronic device  1  can switch among the different states. The electronic device  1  can switch from the normal power-on state to the lower battery power-off state if shutting down automatically due to low battery, or switch from the normal power-on state to the power-off charging state if charged and power off. The electronic device  1  can switch from the low battery power-off state to the low battery power-on state if power on, or switch from the low battery power-off state to the power-off charging state if charged. The electronic device  1  can switch from the low battery power-on state to the low battery power-off state if power off, or switch from the low battery power-on state to the power-off charging state if charged and power off. The electronic device  1  can switch from the power-off charging state to the normal power-on state if power on, or switch from the power-off charging state to the normal power-off state if charging is stopped. The electronic device  1  can switch from the normal power-off state to the normal power-on state if power on, and switch from the normal power-off state to the power-off charging state if charged. 
       FIG. 3  is a block diagram of one embodiment of function modules of the low battery boot-up system  10 . The function modules can include a setup module  100 , a receipt module  101 , a read module  102 , a control module  103 , and a determination module  104 . The function modules  100 - 104  can include computerized codes in the form of one or more programs, which provide at least the functions of the low battery boot-up system  10 . 
     The setup module  100  is configured to set boot configurations of the electronic device  1  for low battery boot-up, and stores the boot configurations in the storage device  13 . In one embodiment, the boot configurations can include to disable vibrating, animation, and sound in booting, to power off unused hardware, to reduce backlight level, to display a concise desktop, and to activate one or more specified functions of the electronic device  1 . The specified function can be a call function, a Bluetooth function, or a GPS function, for example. 
     The receipt module  101  is configured to receive a user command to turn on the electronic device  1  after the electronic device  1  has shut down automatically due to low battery. 
     The read module  102  is configured to read the boot configurations of the electronic device  1  from the storage device  13 . 
     The control module  103  is configured to control the electronic device  1  to boot-up according to the boot configurations and enter the low battery power-on state. For example, the control module  103  controls the electronic device  1  to disable vibrating, animation, and sound in booting, to power off unused hardware, to reduce backlight level, to display a concise desktop on a display screen of the electronic device  1 , and to activate one or more specified functions of the electronic device  1 . 
     The determination module  104  is configured to determine remaining battery capacity and remaining usage time of the electronic device  1 , and display the remaining battery capacity and the remaining usage time on the display screen of the electronic device  1 . In one embodiment, the battery fuel gauge chip  12  can measure battery current and/or voltage, and calculate the remaining battery capacity of the electronic device  1  according to the battery current and/or voltage. The determination module  104  can obtain the remaining battery capacity from the battery fuel gauge chip  12 , and determine the remaining usage time according to the remaining battery capacity. 
       FIG. 4  is a flowchart of one example embodiment of a low battery boot-up method. In the embodiment, the method is performed by execution of computer-readable software program codes or instructions by the control device  14 , such as at least one processor of the electronic device  1 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 4 , a flowchart is presented in accordance with an example embodiment. The method  400  is provided by way of example, as there are a variety of ways to carry out the method. The method  400  described below can be carried out using the configurations illustrated in  FIGS. 1-3 , for example, and various elements of these figures are referenced in explaining method  400 . Each block shown in  FIG. 4  represents one or more processes, methods, or subroutines, carried out in the method  400 . Furthermore, the illustrated order of blocks is illustrative only and the order of the blocks can be changed. Additional blocks can be added or fewer blocks may be utilized without departing from this disclosure. The method  400  can begin at block  401 . 
     At block  401 , a setup module sets boot configurations of an electronic device for low battery boot-up, and stores the boot configurations into a storage device of the electronic device. In one embodiment, the boot configurations can include to disable vibrating, animation, and sound in booting, to power off unused hardware, to reduce backlight level, to display a concise desktop, and to activate one or more specified functions of the electronic device. The specified function can be a call function, a Bluetooth function, or a GPS function, for example. 
     At block  402 , a receipt module receives a user command to turn on the electronic device after the electronic device has shut down automatically due to low battery. 
     At block  403 , a read module reads the boot configurations of the electronic device from the storage device. 
     At block  404 , a control module controls the electronic device to boot-up according to the boot configurations and enter the low battery power-on state. For example, the control module controls the electronic device to disable vibrating, animation, and sound in booting, to power off unused hardware, to reduce backlight level, to display a concise desktop on a display screen of the electronic device, and to activate one or more specified functions of the electronic device. 
     At block  405 , a determination module determines remaining battery capacity and remaining usage time of the electronic device, and displays the remaining battery capacity and the remaining usage time on the display screen of the electronic device. In one embodiment, a battery fuel gauge chip installed in the electronic device can measure battery current and/or voltage and calculate the remaining battery capacity of the electronic device according to the battery current and/or voltage. The determination module can obtain the remaining battery capacity from the battery fuel gauge chip and determine the remaining usage time according to the remaining battery capacity. 
     The embodiments shown and described above are only examples. Even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present technology have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function of the present disclosure, the disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in the detail, including in particular the matters of shape, size and arrangement of parts within the principles of the present disclosure, up to and including the full extent established by the broad general meaning of the terms used in the claims.