Power management via coordination and selective operation of timer-related tasks

US8898487B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• Microsoft Corporation · US

Inventors

• Sudeesh R. Pingili · Sammamish, US
• Bharath Siravara · Issaquah, US
• Martin Regen · Immenstadt im Allgäu, DE
• Ray Brown · Woodinville, US
• Justin Mann · Lake Elsinore, US
• Stephane Karoubi · Mountain View, US
• Li Xu · Bellevue, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Dec 27, 2010
• Grant date: Nov 25, 2014
• Expiry date: Oct 11, 2031

Classification

• Technology area (CPC Y): Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
• CPC primary: Y02D30/70
• WIPO field: Digital communication
• WIPO sector: Electrical engineering

Abstract

Mobile computing device power consumption can be reduced by using expiration window timers, state-based timers and/or the coordination of keep-alive timers. Upon detecting a trigger event causing a mobile computing device to transition from a low-power state to an active state, the device can determine whether the trigger event occurs within the expiration window of a timer, and execute tasks associated with the trigger event and the timer. Tasks associated with state-based timers can be executed if the mobile computing device or a component thereof is in (or, alternatively, not in) a specified state. A mobile computing device can execute tasks associated with multiple keep-alive timers used for maintaining communication links between the device and cloud-based service providers in a single active state. A cloud-based keep-alive service can maintain mobile computing device-service provider communication links by sending one keep-alive communication to a mobile computing device in place of multiple communications.