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EP-3808001-B1 - METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MISSION CRITICAL STANDBY OF A PORTABLE COMMUNICATION DEVICE

EP3808001B1EP 3808001 B1EP3808001 B1EP 3808001B1EP-3808001-B1

Inventors

  • SACHS, DANIEL GROBE
  • JOHNSON, GRAEME
  • GLASS, STEPHEN C.
  • BARTELS, PETER J.
  • ALFARO, JAVIER
  • CAMPS, CARLOS

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20190718

Claims (10)

  1. A portable communication device (200), comprising a primary processor (202) for a first operating platform; a secondary processor (204) for a second operating platform, the secondary processor communicatively coupled to the primary processor; and a power state manager (216), the power state manager configured to: determine whether the primary processor (202) is in a powered off state; determine a power state of the secondary processor by measuring a core power supply voltage of the secondary processor and comparing the core power supply voltage to a threshold; and based on a determination that the primary processor is in the powered off state, sequence supply of power to the secondary processor (204) sequenced between: a cleanup state of the secondary processor; a second state for standby of the secondary processor, wherein state information of the secondary processor is maintained; and a third state for shutdown of the secondary processor; wherein: the power state manager comprises: a first mode, the first mode to allow the primary processor to monitor the power state of the secondary processor based on a determination that the primary processor is not in the powered off state; and a second mode, the second mode to enable the power state manager to monitor the power state of the secondary processor based on the determination that the primary processor is in the powered off state.
  2. The portable communication device (200) of claim 1, further comprising: a rotary knob (212) to select between the first mode and the second mode of the power state manager (216).
  3. The portable communication device (200) of claim 1, wherein the primary processor (202) and secondary processor (204) are restarted in parallel when the power state manager enters the first mode.
  4. The portable communication device (200) of claim 1, wherein the first operating platform is a real-time operating system for audio communications and the second operating platform is a mobile operating system for broadband applications.
  5. The portable communication device (200) of claim 1, further comprising: a battery (210) configured to supply power to the primary processor (202) and the secondary processor (204).
  6. The portable communication device (200) of claim 1, wherein the power state manager (216) is configured to: sequence the secondary processor (204) to transition from the second state to the cleanup state for performing cleanup operations before returning to the standby state.
  7. The portable communication device (200) of claim 1, wherein the power state manager (216) is configured to sequence the secondary processor (204) from the second state for the standby of the secondary processor to the third state for shutdown of the secondary processor in response to expiration of a timer for suspended operation of the secondary processor.
  8. The portable communication device (200) of claim 4, wherein the audio communications include land mobile radio communications and the mobile operating system is Android.
  9. The portable communication device (200) of claim 1, wherein: the power state manager (216) determines the power state of the secondary processor (204) is the cleanup state based on the voltage of the secondary processor being above a threshold; and the power state manager (216) is configured to sequence the secondary processor (204) from the cleanup state to the third state, starting a watchdog timer based on a determination that the secondary processor exited the second state, the watchdog timer being reset while the secondary processor is in the cleanup state.
  10. The portable communication device (200) of claim 6, wherein the power state manager (216) is configured to reset a standby timer for the secondary processor (204) independent of a configuration of the secondary processor to sequence between the second state for the standby of the secondary processor to the cleanup state of the secondary processor.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Many portable communication devices, such as two-way radios, are utilized to perform different types of communication. These types of communication, which may occur separately or in parallel, include standing wave radio transmission, land mobile radio (LMR) transmission, and long-term evolution (LTE) transmission. Portable communication devices may be battery-powered and may include multiple components, including a transceiver and one or more processors, for mission critical operations. Without power management, one or more components of the portable communication may remain in an active state, draw excessive power, and cause excessive discharge of the battery. One or more processors in present portable communication devices may manage the power of the components when powered on. However, there are situations in which it may not be feasible for the processors to manage power consumption when powered off. When one or more processors are turned off, present portable communication devices do not control excessive discharge of the battery. US10015658 describes a portable communication device with a main application processor and a mission critical processor, where the two processors are communicatively coupled. US2016/132369 describes an electronic device comprising a first processor, a second processor and a third processor. The second processor is configured to detect an event and select one of the other processors to perform operations associated with the event. There exists a limitation with respect to managing the discharge of the battery when one or more processors of the portable communication devices for mission critical operations are turned off. This functionality typically may not be achieved by simply keeping the processors powered on. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS The accompanying figures, where like reference numerals refer to identical or functionally similar elements throughout the separate views, together with the detailed description below, are incorporated in and form part of the specification, and serve to further illustrate embodiments of concepts that include the claimed invention, and explain various principles and advantages of those embodiments. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an example portable communication device, in accordance with some embodiments.FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example portable communication device supporting mission critical standby, in accordance with some embodiments.FIG. 3A is a state diagram illustrating entry and exit from mission critical standby, in accordance with some embodiments.FIG. 3B is a state diagram illustrating mission critical standby, in accordance with some embodiments.FIG. 4A is a flowchart illustrating a method for mission critical standby on a portable communication device, in accordance with some embodiments.FIG. 4B is a flowchart illustrating a method for mission critical standby and cleanup operation on a portable communication device, in accordance with some embodiments. Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of embodiments of the present invention. The system, method, and apparatus components have been represented where appropriate by suitable symbols in the drawings, showing only those specific details that are pertinent to understanding the embodiments of the present invention so as not to obscure the disclosure with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the description herein. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Disclosed herein are systems, methods, and apparatuses for mission critical standby of a portable communication device. The invention is set out in the appended set of claims. In one embodiment, a disclosed portable communication device as claimed in claim 1 is described. In one embodiment, a disclosed method for sequencing power of a portable communication device having a primary processor and a secondary processor includes receiving a first command in response to user input, starting a first timer to limit time spent by the secondary processor in a standby mode, sending a second command to the secondary processor to initiate cleanup operation, determining whether the first timer expired, and sending a third command to the secondary processor to shut down. The primary processor may be for a first operating platform and the secondary processor may be for a second operating platform. The first command may be to shut down the primary processor and the first timer may be started in response to receiving the first command. The cleanup operation to be initiated by the second command may be completed prior to shut down of the secondary processor. The thi