Smart power management for mobile handsets

Nachi K. Nithi, Adriaan J. de Lind van Wijngaarden
2011 Bell Labs technical journal  
Mobile terminals are rapidly evolving from enhanced phones to powerful platforms capable of offering a multitude of services and critical applications. They have a small form factor and are typically equipped with powerful processors, a large display, a high-resolution camera, and specialized sensors. The hardware has to simultaneously support applications that have varying run-times and varying communication and computation requirements. As a consequence, power-intensive applications can
more » ... drain the battery and leave the mobile terminal useless in no time. In this paper, we develop concepts for advanced power-aware task management. A power-aware task monitor in the mobile terminal keeps track of the battery state, the communication channel, and the processor(s). It takes the application profile, channel quality, anticipated duration, and other factors into account to determine the required resources and the impact on the battery life, and it also updates the battery and application profiles. A power-aware task scheduler in the mobile terminal uses information provided by the power-aware task monitor to determine whether or not to execute applications. It can reserve power for critical services such as emergency calls, authentication, and payment and banking applications. Network-based power management and application-based power management can be achieved for mobile terminals when information about the handset's battery power and application profile is communicated to the network. A network-based power manager can help determine when and how to support power-intensive applications, and may provide the handset with location-based coverage information and adjust the communication strategy to reduce the power required for communication and processing in the handset. A power manager in the application server can help to minimize power consumption by adjusting the flow and the contents communicated to the mobile terminal. © 2011 Alcatel-Lucent. multiple sensors, and a large touch-sensitive specialized display. At the same time, mobile terminals have a small form factor, which puts limitations on the size and shape of the battery. Even though current mobile
doi:10.1002/bltj.20478 fatcat:hlkgzvmejrdxblmuddvjvs7xs4