RELATED APPLICATION

Benefit is claimed to the Indian Provisional Patent Application bearing no. 4360/CHE/2011 for the inventor titled "OPTIMIZED MOBILE COMMUNICATION SYSTEM AND METHOD DURING LOW BATTERY POWER" filed on 13th December 2011, which is herein incorporated in its entirety by reference for all purposes.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to mobile communication systems. More particularly, the invention relates to a method and system for operating a user equipment in an optimized communication mode.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Mobile devices are operated on battery power. In the present mobile communication systems, voice calls need more battery power from the mobile device than the power required for sending or receiving different types of messages such as short messages, multimedia messages, instant messages, mobile emails etc.

If the battery power is lower than a threshold value, then the mobile device will not be able to communicate with the network operator's entities for voice communication such as a voice call. Therefore, a minimal power supply is required for a mobile device to initiate or continue the radio transmission for initiating or continuing the voice calls. If the battery power is lower than the threshold limit required for the voice communication, even if it is In the middle of a call, the call will get disconnected.

If the mobile device enters a low battery power status while communicating with another mobile device, it will experience an unexpected and abrupt communication termination. If the person at the other end of communication tries to reconnect to the mobile device by initiating a call, it cannot reconnect to the mobile device since the mobile device has already been powered off due to low battery power. In such situations, the user of the low battery powered mobile device will miss important communications from other users as his device is in switch off mode.

Further, when the mobile device got switched off due to low battery power, the user cannot communicate the status of the mobile device to other mobile devices. The user at the other end keeps on calling the user without knowing other alternatives to contact the user. This leads to waste of time for the other user.

It is necessary to have a method by which the low powered mobile device is able to enable communication in an optimized way to ensure that the user of the mobile device does not miss any important communication before the battery of the mobile device is re-charged.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a method and system for operating a user equipment in an optimized communication mode.

In one aspect, a method for operating a user equipment in an optimized communication mode includes setting a minimum battery level for operating a user equipment in an optimized communication mode by a network entity, monitoring battery level of the user equipment, and operating the user equipment in the optimized communication mode when the battery level of the user equipment is lower than the minimum battery level to save battery power.

In a further aspect, a network entity for operating a user equipment in the optimized communication mode by performing methods claimed in claims 1 to 13.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS

Figure 1A is a system diagram illustrating an optimized communication mode operation of a user equipment, according to one embodiment.

Figure 1B is an apparatus diagram illustrating an optimized communication mode management module and its components, according to one embodiment.

Figure 2 is a flow chart illustrating a method of operating a user equipment in optimized communication mode, according to one embodiment.

Figure 3A is a flow diagram illustrating a method of operating a user equipment in an optimized communication mode, according to one embodiment.

Figure 3B is a flow diagram illustrating a method of notifying optimized communication mode operation of a user equipment, according to one embodiment

Figure 4A is a flow diagram illustrating a method of notifying optimized communication mode operation of the user equipment 104 via a pre-recorded voice message, according to another embodiment.

Figure 5 is a flow diagram illustrating an exemplary method of sending customized. messages based on a category of calling user for notifying that the user equipment 104 is operating in an optimized communication mode, according to one embodiment.

Figure 6A is a flow diagram illustrating an exemplary method of notifying a user equipment 104 of a called user during optimized communication mode, according to one embodiment.

Figure 6B is a flow diagram illustrating an exemplary method of notifying a user equipment 104 of a called user during optimized communication mode, according to another embodiment.

Figure 7 is a flow diagram illustrating an exemplary method for operating a user equipment in an optimized communication mode, according to another embodiment.

Figure 8 is block diagram illustrating an exemplary network entity, such as those shown in Figure 1.

The drawings described herein are for illustration purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure in any way.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a method and system for operating a user equipment in an optimized communication mode. In the following detailed description of the embodiments of the invention, reference is made to the accompanying drawings that form a part hereof, and in which are shown by way of illustration specific embodiments in which the invention may be practiced. These embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention, and it is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and that changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. The following detailed description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of the present invention is defined only by the appended claims.

Throughout the specification, the term "User equipment 102' refers to a 'calling user" and vice versa. Similarly the term 'user equipment 104' refers to a 'called user" and is interchangeably used.

Figure 1A is a system diagram illustrating an optimized communication mode operation of a user equipment, according to one embodiment. The system includes one or more user equipments (102-104) and a network entity 106. The user equipments 102 and 104 communicate with each other via the network entity 106. The network entity 106 comprises an optimized communication mode management module 108 and the optimized communication mode management module 108 is configured for operating a user equipment in optimized communication mode.

In one exemplary operation, the network entity 106 sets a minimum battery level for operating a user equipment 104 in an optimized communication mode. The network entity also monitors the battery level information of the user equipment 104. When the battery level of the user equipment 104 is lower than the minimum battery level, the network entity 106 operates the user equipment in the optimized communication mode.

Figure 1B is an apparatus diagram illustrating an optimized communication mode management module and its components, according to one embodiment. The optimized communication mode management module 108 consists of an optimized mode manager 152, a call blocking module 154, a customized message module 156, a notification module 158, a voice message recording module 160, a voice to text conversion module 162, and a voice message player 164.

The optimized mode manager 152 may be configured for operating the user equipment 104 in the optimized communication mode. The optimized mode manager 152 receives battery level information from the user equipment 104 and checks whether the battery level of the user equipment 104 is lower than the minimum battery level set by the network entity 106. If the battery level of the user equipment 104 is low, then the optimized mode manager 152 operates the user equipment 104 in the optimized communication mode.

The call blocking module 154 may be configured for blocking an incoming call received from other user equipment. The optimized mode manager 152 informs the call blocking module 154 that the user equipment 104 is in the optimized communication mode. Based on the information received from the optimized mode manager, the calf blocking module 154 blocks any incoming call intended for the user equipment 104. Once the incoming call is blocked, the network entity 106 communicates with the optimized communication mode management module 108.

The notification module 156 is configured for providing notification to the calling user indicating that the user equipment 104 is in optimized communication mode. In one embodiment, the notification module 156 may send a pre-recorded voice message to the user equipment 102 indicating that the user equipment 104 is in the optimized communication mode. In another embodiment, the notification module 156 may send a text message to the user equipment 102 indicating that the user equipment 104 is in the optimized communication mode. The functions of the notification module 158 are explained more in detail in Figure 4A and 46.

In one embodiment, the network entity 106 provides an option to the calling user to leave a voice message when the called user is in the optimized communication mode. The voice message recording module 160 Is configured for recording the voice message from the user equipment 102 for providing the call information to the user equipment 104. The network entity 106 records the voice message from the user equipment 102 for sending the message to the user equipment 104.

The voice to text conversion module 162 is configured for converting a voice message into a text message. When the voice message is received the user equipment 102, the voice to text conversion module 162 converts the voice message into a text message for sending the text message to the user equipment 104. The text message may be in the form of a short message service (SMS), a multimedia message service (MMS) and an instant messaging service (IMS). Therefore, during optimized communication mode the user equipment 104 receives only messages and not voice calls.

The voice message player 164 is configured for playing voice messages. For example, the voice message received from the user equipment 102 may be played to the user equipment 104 based on the requested received from the user equipment 104. The user equipment 104 may request to play the voice message once the user equipment 104 comes out of the optimized communication mode.

The category module 166 may be configured for maintaining different categories of the contacts stored in a phonebook of the user equipment 104. The different categories may include a family category, a business category, a client category, a friends category, and acquaintances category. The user equipment 104 sends customized text messages to the network entity 106 for notifying the operation of user equipment 104 in the optimized communication mode. The network entity 106 stores the customized text messages in the category module 166. Upon blocking the incoming call, the category module 166 determines the category of the calling user and sends the customized text messages based on the category of the calling user. The functions of the category module 166 are explained in more in detail in Figure 5.

Figure 2 is a flow chart illustrating a method of operating a user equipment in optimized communication mode, according to one embodiment. At step 202, a minimum battery level for a user equipment is set by the network entity 106. At step 204, battery level information of the user equipment is monitored by the network entity 106 for operating the user equipment in optimized communication mode. At step 206, it is determined whether the battery level of the user equipment is lower than the minimum battery level set by the network entity 106. If the battery level of the user equipment is lower than the minimum battery level then at step 208, the user equipment is operated in the optimized communication mode.

Figure 3A is a flow diagram 300 illustrating a method of operating a user equipment 104 in an optimized communication mode, according to one embodiment. At step 302, a network entity 106 sets a minimum battery level for the user equipment. In one embodiment, a user of the user equipment 104 may set a minimum battery level and communicate the set minimum battery level to the network entity 106. At step 304, the user equipment sends the battery level information periodically to the network entity 106. Upon receiving the battery level information from the user equipment 104, the network entity 106 at step 306, determines whether the battery level of the user equipment 104 is lower than the minimum battery level. The network entity 106 at step 308, sets a flag to indicate the user equipment 104 is operating in optimized communication mode.

In one exemplary operation, the user of the user equipment 104 may not wish to receive any incoming calls when the battery level of the user equipment is low. The user communicates the battery level information with the network entity and to block calls when the user equipment 104 is in low battery condition. The network entity 106 determines the battery condition of the user equipment 104 is low and operates the user equipment in an optimized communication mode. Therefore, under optimized communication mode, the user equipment 104 will not receive any incoming calls from any other user equipment.

Figure 3B is a flow diagram 350 illustrating a method of notifying optimized communication mode operation of a user equipment 104, according to one embodiment. As shown in Figure 3A, the user equipment 104 operates in an optimized communication mode. At step 352, a network entity 106 receives an incoming call intended for a user of the user equipment 104 from a user equipment 102. At step 354, the network entity 106 determines whether the user equipment 104 is in optimized communication mode. The network entity 106 upon determining the user equipment 104 is in the optimized communication mode, at step 356 blocks the incoming call received from user equipment 102 intended for the user equipment 104. Further, at step 358, the network entity 106 sends a notification to the user equipment 102 indicating that the user equipment 104 is in optimized communication mode.

Figure 4A is a flow diagram 400 illustrating a method of notifying optimized communication mode operation of a user equipment 104 via a pre-recorded voice message, according to one embodiment. As shown in Figure 4A, a network entity 106 at step 402, receives an incoming call from a user equipment 102 while the user equipment 104 is in optimized communication mode. At step 404, the network entity 106 determines whether the user equipment 104 is in optimized communication mode. If the user equipment 104 is in optimized communication mode, the network entity 106 at step 406 blocks the incoming call received from the user equipment 102. Further, at step 408, the network entity sends a pre-recorded voice message to the user equipment 102 indicating that the user equipment 104 is in optimized communication mode.

Figure 4B is a flow diagram 450 illustrating a method of notifying optimized communication mode operation of a user equipment 104 via a text message, according to another embodiment. The steps 452-456 are performed in similar manner as described in detail herein before for the steps 402-406 of Figure 4A. As shown in Figure 4B, upon blocking the incoming call received from the user equipment 102, the network entity 106 at step 458, sends a text message indicating that the user equipment 104 is in optimized communication mode.

Figure 5 is a flow diagram 500 illustrating an exemplary method of sending customized messages based on a category of calling user for notifying that the user equipment 104 is operating in an optimized communication mode, according to one embodiment In one exemplary operation, the user of the user equipment 104 may wishes to send customized message to the user equipment 102 when the user equipment 104 is in optimized communication mode. In order to achieve this, the user of the user equipment 104 categories the contacts stored in the user equipment 104 into different category and sends customized messages to the network entity 106. The network entity 106 at step 502, stores the customized messages received from the user equipment 104. At step 504, the network entity 106 receives an incoming call from the user equipment 102. The network entity checks whether the user equipment 104 is in optimized communication mode at step 506. Upon confirming that the user equipment 104 is in optimized mode, the network entity 106 at step 508 blocks the incoming call received from the user equipment 102.

At step 510, the network entity 106 identifies the category of the user of the user equipment 102. Based on the category of the calling user, the network entity 106 selects the customized message to be sent to the identified calling user based on the category at step 512. At step 514, the selected customized message is sent to the calling user of the user equipment 104 indicating that the user equipment 104 is in optimized communication mode.

In one embodiment, the category of the calling user is selected from a group consisting of a family member, a friend, a business partner, a client, an acquaintance etc. The customized message being sent to each category may vary. For example, the user of the user equipment 104 may wish to provide an alternate mobile number to his friend when he is in the optimized communication mode. Under this scenario, the user of the user equipment 102 creates a customized message as "call me on my alternate mobile no. 98XXXXXXXXX" to inform his friend and sends the customized message to the network entity 106. When an incoming call is received from the user equipment 102 belonging to a friend category, the network entity 106 blocks the incoming call and sends the message as "call me on my alternate no. 98XXXXXXXXX" to the user equipment 102. Thus, the present invention provides an alternate method of contacting the user equipment 104 during optimized communication mode.

Similarly, the customized message for a user belonging to client category may get a message as "SEND AN EMAIL TO B@XYZ.com''. Some of the exemplary categories of the calling user and the different types of customized messages are as shown in the below table.

The user equipment 104 updates the contact information stored for each of the contact name and sends the information to the network entity 106. The network entity 106 stores the information received from the user equipment 104 in a category module 166 for sending the customized message to the user equipment 102 when the user equipment 104 is in optimized communication mode.

Figure 6A is a flow diagram 600 illustrating an exemplary method of notifying a user equipment 104 of a called user during optimized communication mode, according to one embodiment. The steps from 602-606 are performed in similar manner as described in detail herein before for the steps 308-314 of Figure 3B.

The network entity 106 upon blocking the incoming call received from the user equipment 102, provides an option to leave a voice message so as to communicate the purpose of the call (call information) to the user equipment 104. The network entity 106 at step 608, records the voice message from the user equipment 102. At step 610, the network entity converts the received voice message into a text message for sending the call information when the user equipment 104 is in optimized communication mode. Then the text message corresponding to the voice message is provided to the user equipment 104 at step 612.

Figure 6B is a flow diagram 650 illustrating an exemplary method of notifying a user equipment 104 of a called user during optimized communication mode, according to another embodiment The steps from 652-658 are performed in similar manner as described in detail herein before for the steps 602-608 of Figure 6A.

The network entity 106 at step 660, stores the recorded voice message from the user equipment 102. At step 662, the network entity 106 provides a notification indicating that recorded voice message is received from the user equipment 104. In one embodiment, the user equipment 102 sends a request to the network entity at step 664, to playback the recorded voice message received from the user equipment 102. Then at step 666, the network entity 106 plays the recorded voice message to the user equipment 104.

Figure 7 is a flow diagram illustrating an exemplary method for operating a user equipment in an optimized communication mode, according to another embodiment. In one exemplary operation, a user equipment 104 enters into an optimized communication mode. At step 702, the network entity 106 receives an incoming call from the user equipment 104. The network entity 106 at step 704, blocks the incoming call from the user equipment 102 and provides notification indicating user equipment 104 is in the optimized communication mode at step 706. Then at step 708, the network entity 106 receives battery level information from the user equipment 104. The network entity 106 checks the battery level of the user equipment 104 with respect to the minimum battery level.

After sometime, the user equipment 104 may get charged via an external means and the battery level of the user equipment 104 may rises up. The network entity 106 at step 712, obtains non-optimized communication mode of the user equipment 104. The network entity 106, at step 714, set a flag to the user equipment indicating the operation in non-optimized communication mode. Then the non-optimized communication mode of the user equipment 104 is notified to the user equipment 102 at step 716.

Figure 8 is block diagram 800 illustrating an exemplary network entity 106, such as those shown in Figure 1. In Figure 8, the network entity 106 includes a processor 802, a memory 804, wherein the memory includes an optimized communication mode management module 108, a communication interface 810, a ROM 806, and a bus 812 interconnecting all the elements of the network entity 106.

The processor 802 as used herein, means any type of computational circuit, such as, but not limited to, a microprocessor, a microcontroller, a complex instruction set computing microprocessor, a reduced instruction set computing microprocessor, a very long instruction word microprocessor, an explicitly parallel instruction computing microprocessor, a graphics processor, a digital signal processor, or any other type of processing circuit. The processor (802) may also include embedded controllers, such as generic or programmable logic devices or arrays, application specific integrated circuits, single-chip computers, smart cards, and the like.

The memory 804 as used herein, includes such as, but not limited to, hard drive, memory cards, removable media drive for handling memory cards and the like. The memory 804 includes the optimized communication management mode module108 stored in the form of an executable program which instructs the processor 802 to perform the method steps of setting a minimum battery level for a user equipment 104, monitoring the battery level of the user equipment 104 and operating the user equipment 104 in an optimized communication mode if the battery level of the user equipment 104 is lower than the minimum battery level and notifying the user equipment 102 of the calling user as per the various possible embodiments described in detail herein above.

Embodiments of the present subject matter may be implemented in conjunction with modules including functions, procedures, data structures, and application programs, for performing tasks, defining abstract data types, or low-level hardware contexts. The optimized communication mode management module 108 may be stored in the form of machine-readable instructions on any of the above-mentioned storage media and is executable by the processor 802. For example, a computer program may include the machine-readable instructions capable of managing a user equipment operating in an optimized communication mode, according to the teachings and herein described embodiments of the present subject matter. The computer program may be included on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium and loaded from the storage medium to a hard drive in the non-volatile memory.

The components such as the ROM 806, the communication interface 810, and the bus 812 are well known to the person skilled in the art and hence the explanation is thereof omitted.

The present embodiments have been described with reference to specific example embodiments, it will be evident that various modifications and changes may be made to these embodiments without departing from the broader spirit and scope of the various embodiments. Furthermore, the various devices, modules, and the like described herein may be enabled and operated using hardware circuitry, for example, complementary metal oxide semiconductor based logic circuitry, firmware, software and/or any combination of hardware, firmware, and/or software embodied in a machine readable medium. For example, the various electrical structure and methods may be embodied using transistors, logic gates, and electrical circuits, such as application specific integrated circuit.

We Claim:

1. A method of operating a user equipment 104 in an optimized communication mode, comprising the steps of:

setting a minimum battery level for operating a user equipment 104 in an optimized communication mode by a network entity 106; monitoring battery level of the user equipment 104; and operating the user equipment 104 in the optimized communication mode when

the battery level of the user equipment is lower than the minimum battery level to save battery power.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein monitoring the battery level of the user equipment 104 comprises:

periodically obtaining battery level information of the user equipment 104; and determining whether the battery level of the user equipment 104 is lower than the minimum battery level based the battery level information.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein operating the user equipment 104 in the optimized communication mode comprises:

receiving at least one incoming call for a user of the user equipment 104 from another user equipment 102 associated with a calling user at a network entity 106;

determining whether the user equipment 104 is in an optimized communication mode when the at least one incoming call is received at the network entity 106;

blocking the at least one incoming call from forwarding to the user equipment 104 in the optimized communication mode; and

automatically notifying the calling user that the user equipment 104 of the called user is in the optimized communication mode.

4. The method as claimed in claim 3, wherein automatically notifying the calling user that the user equipment 104 of the called user is in the optimized communication mode comprises:

storing customized messages to be provided to the calling user when the user equipment 104 is in the optimized communication mode.

5. The method as claimed in claim 3, wherein automatically notifying the calling user that the user equipment 104 of the called user is in the optimized communication mode comprises:

sending a customized text message notifying that the user equipment 104 of the called user is in optimized communication mode to the user equipment 102 of the calling user.

6. The method as claimed in claim 5, wherein sending the customized text message notifying that the user equipment 104 of the called user is in optimized communication mode to the user equipment 102 of the calling user comprises:

sending the customized text message to the user equipment 102 of the calling user based on a category of the calling user.

7. The method as claimed in claim 6, wherein the category of the calling user is selected from the group consisting of a family category, a business category, a client category, a friends category, and acquaintances category.

8. The method as claimed in claim 7, wherein the customized text message comprises a short message service (SMS) message, multimedia message service (MMS) message, and an instant message (IM).

9. The method as claimed in claim 3, wherein automatically notifying the calling user that the user equipment 104 of the called user is in the optimized communication mode comprises:

playing a pre-recorded voice message to the calling user notifying that the user equipment 104 of the called user is in the optimized communication mode.

10. The method as claimed in claim 9, wherein playing the pre-recorded voice message to the calling user comprises:

recording a voice message from the calling user associated with the at least one blocked incoming call when the user equipment 104 is in the optimized communication mode;

converting the recorded voice message into a text message; and providing the text message corresponding to the voice message to the user equipment 104 of the called user.

11. The method as claimed in claim 9, wherein playing the pre-recorded voice message to the calling user comprises:

recording a voice message from the calling user associated with the at least one blocked incoming call when the user equipment 104 is in the optimized communication mode; and

storing the recorded voice message from the calling user;

providing a notification indicating availability of the recorded voice message; and playing back the recorded voice message to the called user based on a request for the called user.

12. The method as claimed in claim 3, further comprising:

determining that the battery level of the user equipment 104 is greater than the minimum battery level; and notifying to the calling user that user equipment 104 of the called user is in non-optimized communication mode for receiving the incoming call;

13. A network entity 106 for performing the method steps as claimed in claims 1-12.