Patent Publication Number: US-2010127926-A1

Title: Electronic device and power conservation method thereof

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     1. Technical Field 
     Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to power management, and more particularly to an electronic device and a power conservation method of the electronic device. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     Electronic devices, such as mobile phones, provide increasing number of functions, such as the ability to locate the electronic device, play music, and capture images, for example. However, each function consumes power of the electronic device, making power conservation in the electronic device important. 
     What is needed, therefore, is an electronic device capable of conserving power and a method for conserving power utilized in the device. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a block diagram of one embodiment of an electronic device including a power conservation system. 
         FIG. 2  is a block diagram of one embodiment of the power conservation system. 
         FIG. 3  is a flowchart of one embodiment of a method for conserving power consumption of a global position system in the electronic device of  FIG. 1 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The invention is illustrated by way of example and not by way of limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings in which like references indicate similar elements. It should be noted that references to “an” or “one” embodiment in this disclosure are not necessarily to the same embodiment, and such references mean at least one. 
     In general, the word “module,” as used herein, refers to logic embodied in hardware or firmware, or to a collection of software instructions, written in a programming language, such as, for example, Java, C, or assembly. One or more software instructions in the modules may be embedded in firmware, such as an EPROM. It will be appreciated that modules may comprised connected logic units, such as gates and flip-flops, and may comprise programmable units, such as programmable gate arrays or processors. The modules described herein may be implemented as either software and/or hardware modules and may be stored in any type of computer-readable medium or other computer storage device. 
       FIG. 1  is a block diagram of one embodiment of an electronic device  1  including a power conservation system conservation system  10 . The electronic device  1  also includes a global position system (GPS)  2 . The GPS  2  provides a position of the electronic device  1 . The power conservation system  10  saves power consumption of the GPS  2 . In one embodiment, the GPS  2  does not need to determine the position of the electronic device  1  when the electronic device  1  is at rest. The power conservation system  10  may disable the GPS  2  when the electronic device  1  is at rest, thus conserving power of the GPS  2  and the electronic device  1 . 
     The electronic device  1  may be a mobile phone, a personal digital assistant, a palm, or any other kind of computing device. The electronic device  1  further includes an accelerometer  3 , a processor  4 , and a storage system  5 . The accelerometer  3  may detect an acceleration and a moving direction of the electronic device  1 . In one embodiment, the accelerometer  3  may be a three-axis accelerometer, for example. 
     The processor  4  executes one or more computerized operations of the electronic device  1  and other applications, to provide the functions of the electronic device  1 . The storage system  5  stores one or more programs, such as programs of an operating system, other applications of the electronic device  1 , and various kinds of data, such as position information of the electronic device  1 , messages, E-mails, for example. In one embodiment, the electronic device  1  may be a mobile phone, and the storage system  5  may be a memory of the electronic device  1  or an external storage card, such as a memory stick, a subscriber identification module (SIM) card, a smart media card, a compact flash card, or any other type of memory card. 
       FIG. 2  is a block diagram of one embodiment of the power conservation system  10 . In one embodiment, the power conservation system  10  includes a setting module  100 , an acquiring module  120 , a determining module  140 , and a controlling module  160 . The modules  100 ,  120 ,  140 , and  160  may comprise one or more computerized codes to be executed by the processor  4  to perform one or more operations of the electronic device  1 . Details of these operations will be provided below. 
     The setting module  100  may be used to set a time interval to acquire movement parameters of the electronic device  1 . In one embodiment, the movement parameters may include, but are not limited to, an acceleration and a moving direction of the electronic device  1 . The time interval may be set at 0.01 seconds, for example. The movement parameters and the time interval may be used to determine if the electronic device  1  is moving or at rest. 
     The setting module  100  may be also used to set a hotkey of the electronic device  1  to enable/disable the GPS  2 . In one embodiment, the hotkey may be any key or a key combination on the electronic device  1 . In another embodiment, the hotkey may be a character string including alphanumeric characters and/or symbols, such as “#gps#.” 
     The acquiring module  120  activates the GPS  2  and the accelerometer  3 , and acquires the movement parameters of the electronic device  1  using the accelerometer at each time interval. In one embodiment, the GPS  2  may be activated automatically when the electronic device  1  is powered on, or be activated by the hotkey. When the power conservation system  10  is enabled, the accelerometer  3  is activated once the GPS  2  is activated. The accelerometer  3  is activated to acquire the movement parameters of the electronic device  1 , thereby determining if the electronic device  1  is at rest. When the GPS  2  is activated, the GPS  2  enters an active state. 
     The acquiring module  120  further stores the movement parameters into the storage system  5 . Depending on the embodiment, the setting module  100  may allocate specified storage space to store the movement parameters of the electronic device  1 , and clear the stored movement parameters when the power conservation system  10  is disabled/turned off. 
     The determining module  140  determines if the electronic device  1  is at rest according to the time interval and the movement parameters. 
     If the electronic device  1  is not at rest, that is, the electronic device  1  is moving, the controlling module  160  maintains the active state of the GPS  2 . If the electronic device  1  is at rest, the controlling module  160  disables the GPS  2 . 
     If the GPS  2  has been disabled and the determining module  140  determines that the electronic device  1  has started moving, the controlling module may reactivate the GPS  2  to locate the position of the electronic device  1 . 
       FIG. 3  is a flowchart of one embodiment of a method for conserving power consumption of a global position system in the electronic device of  FIG. 1 . Depending on the embodiment, additional blocks may be added, others removed, and the ordering of the blocks may be replaced. 
     In block S 2 , the setting module  100  sets a time interval to acquire movement parameters of the electronic device  1 . As mentioned above, the movement parameters may include, but are not limited to, an acceleration and a moving direction of the electronic device  1 . The time interval may be set at 0.01 seconds, for example. The movement parameters and the time interval may be used to determine if the electronic device  1  is moving or at rest. 
     In block S 4 , the acquiring module  120  activates the GPS  2  and the accelerometer  3 . As mentioned above, if the power conservation system  10  is enabled, the accelerometer  3  is activated once the GPS  2  is activated. The accelerometer  3  is activated to acquire the movement parameters of the electronic device  1  and determine if the electronic device  1  is at rest. When the GPS  2  is activated, the GPS  2  enters an active state. 
     In block S 6 , the acquiring module  120  acquires the movement parameters of the electronic device  1  using the accelerometer at each time interval, and stores the movement parameters into the storage system  5 . 
     In block S 8 , the determining module  140  determines if the electronic device  1  is at rest according to the time interval and the movement parameters. If the electronic device  1  is not at rest, that is, the electronic device  1  is moving, in block S 10 , the controlling module  160  maintains the active state of the GPS  2 . If the electronic device  1  is at rest, in block S 12 , the controlling module  160  disables the GPS  2 . 
     In block S 14 , the determining module  140  determines if the power conservation system  10  is disabled. If the power conservation system  10  is still enabled, the procedure returns to block S 8 . Otherwise, if the power conservation system  10  is disabled, the procedure ends. 
     Although certain inventive embodiments of the present disclosure have been specifically described, the present disclosure is not to be construed as being limited thereto. Various changes or modifications may be made to the present disclosure without departing from the scope and spirit of the present disclosure.