System for managing power of peripheral communications by automatically closing communications channel immediately after finishing a communication with a peripheral device
US6510524B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Aug 23, 1999 |
| Grant date | Jan 21, 2003 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Aug 23, 2019 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06F1/3209
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
An improved method and apparatus manages communications port contention and power consumption for a handheld computer, particularly handheld computers with a communications protocol that boosts power consumption when active, such as an RS-232 protocol. The improved method provides communications channel management that automatically opens the communications channel in response to a wake-up signal sent to a handheld computer from a peripheral device. The computer peripheral device is explicitly and/or implicitly identified. The opened communications channel is closed in response to receiving some data from the peripheral device, and/or after a device timeout expires without the handheld computer receiving data from the computer peripheral device.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.