Device Power and Resource Management

Abstract

Systems, devices and methods for managing charging and power status for portable devices are disclosed. The systems, devices and methods of the present invention comprise determining existing battery level and charge status of a device, comparing the battery level and charge status with predicted battery usage of tasks associated with calendar events scheduled to take place before the next charge, and transmitting an alert to one or more devices when a threshold likelihood that the battery level will not be sufficient for the predicted battery usage is exceeded. The present invention advantageously displays available power based on time available for certain tasks, and manages device power and resources by modifying and/or transferring tasks from a device having a battery level below a threshold level to one or more other devices with a higher battery levels.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An alert distribution system comprising:
 a first electronic device, the first electronic device sending a message for receipt by a first user;   a second electronic device configured to receive the message from the first electronic device and to communicate the message to the first user, the second electronic device determining whether the message was communicated to the first user;   based on a determination that the message was not communicated to the first user by the second electronic device, sending the message to a third electronic device.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the sending the message to a third electronic device is done by the first electronic device. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the sending the message to a third electronic device is done by the second electronic device. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the determination that the message was not communicated is made after a preset time. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the determination that the message was not communicated is made by determining whether the first user has responded to the message. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the third device determines whether the message was communicated to the first user and in response to a determination that the message was not communicated to the first user, sending the message to a fourth electronic device. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the fourth and subsequent devices determine whether the message was communicated to the first user and in response to a determination that the message was not communicated to the first user, sending the message to the next device in sequence. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1 , where at least one of the second or third electronic devices are associated with a second user. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 1 , where the sequence of sending is determined by how recent the device was used. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 1 , where the sequence of sending is determined by proximity to the first user. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 1 , where the second and third devices are determined at least in part by the device's response to a query by the first device. 
     
     
         12 . A system for sending alerts, comprising:
 a first device and a second device, the first device transmitting a signal for receipt by the second device;   the second device, having received the signal, alerting a user if additional signals are not received within a set time period after the immediately previous signal;   the first device transmitting a termination signal to the second device indicating that it should no longer monitor for the additional signals.   
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the signal for receipt by the second device and the additional signals indicate that the first device is properly charging. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 12 , where the second device displays alert signals for multiple first devices. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 14 , where the alert indicates an abnormally fast draining application or unusual usage. 
     
     
         16 . A system for sending alerts, comprising:
 a first device and a second device the first device monitoring itself for unusual usage;   upon detecting unusual usage, the first device transmitting a signal for receipt by a second device, the second device, having received the signal, alerting a user.   
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the unusual usage is diminishing battery life. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the unusual usage is the power required to wirelessly connect to a receiving system. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 18 , wherein the determination that the power requirement is unusual is based on GPS data compared to signal strength maps for a location. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 16 , where the unusual usage is determined by comparing the power usage of the first device with power usage of comparable devices at a comparable location.