Patent Application
20050206345
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a power management method, more particularly to a power management method for an electronic apparatus that is powered by a battery unit.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional power management method, which complies with an Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) specification, reduces power consumption of a notebook computer powered by a battery unit so as to extend battery run time of the battery unit. The conventional power management method involves enabling operation of the notebook computer to operate in a low power consumption mode when there is no system activity for a predetermined period of time. Furthermore, hardware devices connected to the notebook computer are turned off without user involvement when they are not in use for a predetermined period of time. The hardware devices include a hard disk drive, a floppy disk drive, an optical disc drive, a modem, a network card, a card bus socket, a USB connector, a 1394 firewire connector, a flash memory socket, and a computer mouse, etc.
Although the conventional power management method achieves its intended purpose, it does not permit the user to reconfigure as to when the notebook computer should be operating in the low power consumption mode, and as to which ones of the hardware devices should be turned off.
Therefore, the object of the present invention is to provide a user-reconfigurable power management method for an electronic apparatus that is powered by a battery unit.
According to one aspect of the present invention, a power management method for an electronic apparatus powered by a battery unit and installed with an operating system comprises the steps of inputting a user-defined remaining capacity for the battery unit into the electronic apparatus, and reporting the user-defined remaining capacity to the operating system. The operating system supports a power management specification and is operable so as to obtain an actual remaining capacity of the battery unit and so as to display the actual remaining capacity of the battery unit on a display device. When the operating system compares the user-defined remaining capacity with a reference value according to the power management specification, and determines the user-defined remaining capacity to be lower than the reference value, the operating system enables operation of the electronic apparatus in a low power consumption mode.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a power management method for an electronic apparatus powered by a battery unit and installed with an operating system comprises the step of inputting a user-defined threshold value into the electronic apparatus. The operating system supports a power management specification and is operable so as to obtain a remaining capacity of the battery unit. When the operating system compares the remaining capacity of the battery unit with the user-defined threshold value according to the power management specification, and determines the remaining capacity of the battery unit to be lower than the user-defined threshold value, the operating system enables operation of the electronic apparatus in a low power consumption mode.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which:
The preferred embodiment of a power management method is applied to an electronic apparatus.
Referring to
In this embodiment, the operating system 18 of the electronic apparatus 100 supports a power management specification 181. Preferably, the power management specification 181 is an Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) specification. Furthermore, the operating system 18 is operable so as to obtain an actual remaining capacity of the battery unit 17 and so as to display the actual remaining capacity of the battery unit 17 on the display device 21 in a conventional manner.
With further reference to
When the user-defined threshold value is inputted, as best shown in
The input of the user-defined remaining capacity for the battery unit 17 and the user-defined threshold value are conducted through a user interface 182.
It has thus been shown that the power management method of this invention permits the user to input a user-defined remaining capacity for the battery unit 17 or a user-defined threshold value for enabling the electronic apparatus 100 to operate in the low power consumption mode. As such, power consumption of the electronic apparatus 100 is reduced, thereby lengthening run time of the battery unit 17.
While the present invention has been described in connection with what is considered the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is understood that this invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiment but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent arrangements.
