GB2455799A

GB2455799A - Saving battery life in mobile devices

Info

Publication number: GB2455799A
Application number: GB0725074A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Faisal Memon
Original assignee: Symbian Software Ltd
Current assignee: Symbian Software Ltd
Priority date: 2007-12-21
Filing date: 2007-12-21
Publication date: 2009-06-24
Also published as: GB0725074D0

Abstract

A mobile communication device for performing one or more battery consuming activities, the device comprising a transceiver for communication, a battery, a clock and a memory, the device configured to monitor an operation performed by the device over a period of time, wherein data from monitoring of the operation is stored in the memory and used to determine how to vary the frequency and/or intensity of use of the first battery consuming activity at a later time, with the current time on the clock.

Description

1 2455799 Adaptive Algorithms to Save Battery Life in Mobile Devices The present invention relates to a mobile telephone adapted to alter battery consumption and a method of using a mobile telephone to alter battery consumption.

It is known to provide a mobile telephone with a battery that can perform multiple activities, some of which use its radio transceiver or receiver, and others that do not. All activities consume energy stored in the battery and their continual use eventually leads to the phone having no available power source. The activities that use the transceiver tend to use a particularly high amount of power. Modern smart phones or other feature rich phones consume more power due to their increased speed and functionality and thus phone battery consumption becomes even more important with telecommunication operations (including increased data transfer) in competition with computer applications for available energy andlor power.

It is known to provide a basic system of "power control" on a mobile telephone, which uses algorithms to regulate the power used by the transceiver depending on external conditions (see below), or on a present activity by the user of the telephone.

A problem that has been discovered with such algorithms is that they do not accurately reflect the actual use or desired use of the telephone user. For example the frequency with which the telephone checks for new messages is independent of the likelihood of receiving them or the likelihood of the user wanting to read them. Further, existing power control often does not reflect the user's real world activities. For example, the power level of a conventional telephone is increased in low signal areas irrespective of whether the user wants to, or is likely to, make or receive calls. Worse still power consumption is greatest when there is no signal at all when the telephone tries to camp onto a network. Whilst this can be useful when there is a prospect of finding a very weak signal, it can also be in vain when in an area where there is no prospect of finding a signal, such as in a remote area or when under ground. Users of the London Underground will frequently leave their telephones switched on when on underground trains with no mobile reception, unaware of the large amount of energy wasted by their telephone searching for a signal.

In Figure 1 is shown a mobile telecommunications device 10 in connection with a base station 11. The telephone's base station is part of a cellular network allowing the telephone to call other telephones.

Figure 2 is a block diagram of the internal elements of such a conventional mobile telecommunications device 10. Here, the mobile telecommunications device 10 comprises Radio Frequency (RF) processor hardware 32, baseband processor hardware 34, and a power regulator 36, all of which deal with the telecommunications operations of the mobile telecommunications device 10, i.e. using telecommunications protocols to make, for example, voice calls, data connections, and the like using a transceiver (not shown). The user interface and applications which run on the phone 10 are run by the application processor 38, which runs a graphical user interface, as well as any applications requested by the user, and provides an interface to the telecommunications stack provided by the baseband processor 34. Also often provided are secondary communication subsystems, such as, for example, Bluetooth is subsystem 40 or a Wi-Fi compatible wireless adapter. All of the processors and any subsystems 40 are powered by the battery 35.

The mobile telecommunications device 10 is further provided with various memory components, such as ROM 42, RAM 44 and user data memory 46. The graphical user interface any data which is required therefor, and the like are stored in ROM 42. RAM 44 typically stores any applications available on the device 10, as well as associated data. User data memory 46 stores data which is accessible by the user, such as contact data, messages, images, user settings data, and the like.

The power regulator 36 uses algorithms which determine the level of power that telecommunication operations controlled by components 32, 34 and 36 should use depending on recieved inputs from the transceiver.

When the device 10 is not connected to a network it will search for an appropriate base station 11 and try to send the base station, a signal in order to be identified. When it is connected to a network it will search for any incoming telecommunications (voice, data etc) from the base station and also continue to send information to the base station so that the network will know its location (and handover to a base station in another cell when appropriate). When the device 10 first attempts to find and camp to a network the algorithms ensure the power regulator 36 keeps the necessary transceiver activity at low power. Low power is used since the device 10 could be very close to a base station 11, and any more power used would then be wasteful. If at this low power the network is not found or is not successfully camped onto a network, the algorithm determines that the power levels should be increased. This process of increasing power continues with the power regulator 36 setting the transceiver at maximum power if the network is still not connected. This allows a device to camp to a network even if it is a considerable distance away or has a very weak signal, but by increasing the power in steps, the power consumption used to complete the function is hopefully never substantially higher than was necessary.

To minimize co-channel interference and to conserve power once connected to the network and/or during a voice call, both the mobile device 10 and base station 12 operate at the lowest power level that will maintain an acceptable signal quality.

In a common example of this "power control" there may be classes of mobile devices defined, according to their peak transmitter power, e.g., rated at 20, 8, 5, 2, or 0.8 watts.

Power levels can be stepped up or down in steps of 2 dB from the peak power for the class, down to a minimum of 13 dB (20 milliwatts).

The mobile device 10 measures the signal strength or signal quality (based on the bit error rate), and passes the information to the base station 11, which ultimately decides if and when the power level should be changed.

Other algorithms may drive other telecommunication operations. These often include periodic functions that perform at regular intervals. These may check for any inbound messages (SMS, MMS, email etc.) and display these to a user of the device 10 if received.

A simple power control algorithm commonly used in prior art computing devices involves powering down a display when the device senses that a user is no longer viewing the display -typically a predetermined after the user touched a button or other control on the device.

It is an object of the invention to provide an improved technique for reducing power consumption of a computing device. Specifically, a technique is provided for intelligently reducing the power consumption of an activity during times when it is less likely to be needed frequently.

According to a first aspect of the invention there is provided a mobile communication device for performing one or more battery consuming activities, the device comprising a transceiver for communication, a battery, a clock and a memory, the device configured to monitor an operation performed by the device over a period of time which period of time commences after the clock has begun to measure time, and configured so that the frequency andlor intensity of use of a first battery consuming activity is at least partially dependent on the current time on the clock, wherein data from monitoring of the operation is stored in the memory and used to decide how to vary the frequency and/or intensity of use of the first battery consuming activity at a later time with the current time on the clock.

According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided A method of performing one or more battery consuming activities on a mobile communication device comprising the steps of: monitoring an operation performed by the device over a period of time, storing data from monitoring of the operation, determining, based on the stored data, how to vary the frequency andlor intensity of use of one or more of the battery consuming activities with the current time.

According to a third aspect of the invention there is provided a computer program arranged for causing a mobile communication device to operate in accordance with the method defined above.

According to a fourth aspect of the invention there is provided an operating system comprising a computer program as defined above.

According to a fifth aspect of the invention there is provided a mobile communication device for performing one or more telecommunication operations, the device comprising a transceiver for communication, a battery, a clock and a memory, the device configured so that whether the transceiver uses a first or second different non-zero level of intensity andlor frequency of operation when performing a telecommunication operation, is at least partially dependent on the current time on the clock.

According to a sixth aspect of the invention there is provided a method of performing one or more telecommunication operations on a mobile communication device comprising the steps of: determining how the frequency andIor intensity of a telecommunication operation should vary between non-zero levels, with the current time based on the stored data, varying the frequency andlor intensity of use of the telecommunication operation in accordance with the Jo determining step.

Preferred features of the invention are set out in the dependent claims.

Brief Description of the Drawings

Further features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of preferred embodiments thereof, presented by way of example only, and by reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like parts, and wherein: -Figure 1 is an illustration of a mobile telecommunications device and a base station of the

prior art in communication;

Figure 2 is a block diagram of the elements of a conventional mobile telecommunications

device of the prior art;

Figure 3 is a block diagram of the elements of a mobile telecommunications device according to the described embodiments of the invention; Figure 4 is a table illustrating applications/operations to have algorithms to be adapted and corresponding applications/operations to be monitored; Figure 5 is a table illustrating application and telecommunication operation usage data used in embodiments of the present invention; and Figure 6 is a flow diagram relating to the operation of a monitor program according to S embodiments of the present invention.

Further features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the appended claims. I0

Description of the Embodiments

Embodiments of the invention will now be described.

Figure 3 illustrates the elements of a mobile telecommunications device 10, such as a smart phone, used as a basis for the embodiments of the invention. As described previously, the mobile telecommunications device 10 comprises RF processor hardware 32, baseband processor hardware 34, and a power regulator 36, all of which deal with the telecommunications operations of the mobile telecommunications device 10, i.e. using telecommunications protocols and the transceiver (not shown) to make, for example, voice calls, data connections, and the like. The user interface and applications which run on the device 10 are run by the application processor 38, which runs the graphical user interface, as well as any applications requested by the user, and provides an interface to the telecommunications stack provided by the RF processor, baseband processor, and power regulator. Also typically provided are secondary communication subsystems 40, such as, for example, Bluetooth subsystem 40 and/or Wi-Fi enabled wireless adapter.

As previously described, the mobile telecommunications device 10 is provided with various memory components, such as ROM 42, RAM 44 and user data memory 46. The graphical user interface and any data which is required therefor, are stored in ROM 42. RAM 44 typically stores any applications available on the device 10, as well as associated data. User data memory 46 stores data which is accessible by the user, such as contact data, messages, images, user settings data, and the like. In accordance with the embodiments of the invention to be described, usage data described below is also stored in the RAM 44. Additionally, within the RAM 44 is stored a monitor program, which generates and stores application usage data and telecommunication operation usage data relating to how often applications and telecommunication operations are used. As will be described in more detail later, the monitor program detects when telecommunication operations or certain applications are used, determines whether it is associated with an amount of power or energy to be saved above a threshold level, and then updates the usage data to reflect the use. As will be described the usage data, reflecting how frequently and intensively certain applications and telecommunications operations are used, is used to determine the frequency or intensity of an application or telecommunication operation in current use.

The power regulator 36 uses algorithms which determine the level of power that telecommunication operations controlled by components 32, 34 and 36 should use depending on recieved inputs from the transceiver. Default algorithms can be provided which are based on the conventional techniques described above, but embodiments of invention provide additional algorithms that are adaptive, and the resulting power consumed based on them can be varied from the default depending on the usage data from the monitor program.

In Figure 4 is shown a table 50 of consuming applications and operations 52 which it has been predetermined consume a significant amount of power from the battery 35, and associated operations and applications 54 to be monitored by the monitor program. This table or equivalents can be stored in the ROM 44, or may be stored in the RAM 46 and updated based on real measured data of what functions should be associated together. In an alternative embodiment the list of consuming operations and applications 52 may be determined by the monitor program monitoring the power regulator 36 and processors 32 and 34 rather than be pre-determined.

The consuming applications and operations 52 preferably only include those applications and operations that can consume significant power without being contemporaneously instructed to do so by the user. These include the transceiver power used during network searches, and when camped to a network, periodic (as opposed to user requested) checks for messages, any automatic data downloads (the timing of which was not directly dictated by the user), Bluetooth and/or WiFi transceiver strength and applications which use power in standby or when not in use.

The consuming operations and applications 52 chosen are those that can benefit significantly from changing the power consumed based on a comparison with monitored activities over historical periods. Some telecommunication operations, such as voice calls, and applications, such as calendars or a document processor, are triggered by present user demand and aren't generally suitable for adaptation by these embodiments of the invention. Others applications maybe better suited to having their power level changed depending on contemporary parameters rather than based on a comparison to historical patterns. For example in some circumstances it maybe more desirable to turn off a display if there have been no user activations for five minutes rather than by analysing when previous periods of inactivity occurred. The adaptation of algorithms by embodiments of this invention are most useful where power is consumed without direct instructions from the user and for which the is usefulness of consuming that energy will vary with circumstances, but not necessarily based on contemporary user activations. For example periodic checking for messages will occur without instructions from the user, but reducing the frequency based on current user activation levels maybe unsuitable. One of the advantages of SMS text messages over non-push email, for example, can be that the user will be notified of a message even if they are not currently using any functions on the phone and a user may not wish their message to be delayed simply because they are not using the phone at that moment.

As can be seen from Figure 4, each of the consuming applications or operations 52, which may have their power governing algorithms adapted, have associated applications or operations which are monitored by the monitor program.

Transceiver power during network searches is associated with both signal strength and camp attempts including monitoring whether or not they were successful.

Transceiver power when camped onto a network is associated with voice calls, data transfer, and messages sent and received. Periodic checks for messages is associated with voice calls, user activations, messages sent and received and messages opened by a user. Automatic data downloads are associated with signal strength and use of recently downloaded data.

Bluetooth andlor Wi-Fi transceiver strength are associated with data sent by bluetooth/Wi-Fi, other than data transmitted to findlidentify but not use other devices/bluetooth WiFi networks. Applications in standby or which can save power when not in use are associated with applications and user activations.

"User activations" refers to any button pressed by or input from, a user.

Figure 5 shows a table 80 that illustrates an example of the format of the application and telecommunication operation usage data which is stored by the monitor program in the RAM 44 in an embodiment of the invention. More particularly, in the illustrated embodiment, the usage data generally relates to frequency of use of each monitored application and operation in each time period T. The time period T may be selected to be any time period, which in this example is 10 minutes. It is envisaged that relatively short time periods, are preferable. The table 80 can contain many days of data and in this example one week.

As will be seen in Figure 5, the application usage data 80 comprises a record of the frequency of use of each application in each time T. Example usage statistics are shown in the second column, purely for illustrative purposes. In the case of signal strength a quantitative measurement in dBm is stored instead of a frequency.

As noted previously, the monitor program stored in the RAM 44 operates to collect the application usage data 80, and also, periodically, to determine adaptations to algorithms which determine frequency or power intensity of the consuming applications and operations 52.

In a preferred embodiment the monitor program initially monitors for seven days, acquiring usage data 80 for all of those days before adapting any algorithms.

Figure 6 illustrates the steps performed by the monitor program 44 when executed which enables it to alter algorithms. The generic process 100 is described below along with a specific example of adaptations to be made to the power regulation algorithm for connecting to a network for a user who commutes using the London underground (where there is no network coverage) to work and back five days a week.

Referring to Figure 6, the process starts at Step S 101 where the monitor program chooses an algorithm relating to a consuming application or operation 52 to adapt. In the specific example of the Underground commuter the device 10 chooses the "connecting to a network" operation.

Next at step S 102 the monitor program collates the usage data of the associated activities and operations. Referring to Figure 4 in the example of the commuter the associated operations are "successful camp attempts", "un successful camp attempts" to and less importantly "signal strength".

At step S 104, the monitor program compares equivalent periods of time from the seven days of data usage and determines any patterns relevant to the activity for adaptation. Data in periods of time I are compared to data from the same time period on another day (e.g. Day 1 00:00-00:10 with Day 2 00:00-00:10) and to a lesser extent time periods close in time (e.g. with 00:10-00:20). In the commuter example the monitor program determines that there are no significant patterns in signal strength or successful camp attempts, but does find a pattern in unsuccessful camp attempts. It is noted that on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday there are several successive unsuccessful camp attempts between 8:10 and 9:00, that similar activity occurs on Tuesday similar activity occurs between 8:10 and 9:20, on Friday between 8:20 and 9:10 and on all days between 17:10 and 18:00. These are unusually high concentrations of successive unsuccessful attempts.

At step S106 it is determined for which periods of time during the day if any the default algorithm should be adapted. For the commuter it is decided that on weekends there should be no adaptations but on weekdays the power governing algorithm for network connection attempts between 8:20 and 8:55 and between 17:15 and 17:55 is to be altered so that the power level of the transceiver will not be increased with each unsuccessful attempt but stay at the lowest level. In an alternative embodiment the radio transceiver is adapted to be turned off during those periods.

At step SllO it is determined whether any of the periods of time in that day, for which adapted algorithms are to be used, have been reached or if all the consuming applications and operations have been through steps SI 00 to Si 08. If the answer to both is NO the process returns to Si 00 but chooses a different consuming application 52. If the answer to either is YES the process 100 proceeds to Si 12.

At step SI 12, it is determined if the next period with au adapted algorithm has been reached.

If it has not the process waits at S114 until the answer is YES. Once the answer is YES the process 100 proceeds to step S 116.

At step SI 16 the device 10 monitors current activity, compares this with the usage data and determines how similar the conditions are to the historical stored situations in the usage data in RAM 44. If it is determined that the conditions are very different and indicative that the historical profile will not be followed, the process moves to step S 118, if they are significantly different but the profile of historical situations is reasonably likely to be returned to it moves to step SI 20 and in most circumstances current conditions will be sufficiently close that it moves to step S 124.

At step S118 the monitor program maintains use of the default algorithm rather than the adapted one and returns to step S 112. At step S120 the default algorithm is maintained but the process 100 then moves to step S122, when after a waiting time period the process 100 returns to step S 116. At step SI 24 the adapted algorithm is used instead of the default one unless overridden manually at step S 126. The manual override can be any predetermined action performed by a user of device 10, and can vary depending on the application or operation adapted.

in the commuter example the conditions are normally found to be sufficiently close and the adapted algorithm is used in the morning period between 8:20 and 8:55. On one day the commuter leaves the London Underground early and attempts to make a call. Attempting to make a call acts as the manual override of step S126 and returns the device 10 to using the default algorithm allowing the network to be found and connected to in the usual manner. On Wednesday afternoon the commuter takes a different route home but still uses the London Underground. The signal strength directly before the period considered at step S 112 is found to be greatly different to any of the recorded weekdays and this difference triggers step S120 to be used rather than step S 124. Accordingly the default algorithm is used for the first part of the afternoon period. After entering the Underground train before 17:55 a loss of signal and a few unsuccessful camp attempts lead the monitor program at step Si 16 to switch to the adapted algorithm until 17:55.

In alternative embodiments the usage data can include location information. This could be merely based on the network connected to (identifying when a user has moved to another country), cell information or a triangulated position, from the closest base station or in some devices 10 the information can be from an inbuilt GPS (global positioning system) component. This location information in the historical usage data can be compared to current io location information at step SI 16 in determining whether to use the adapted or default algorithm. In the commuter example if it was detected that the commuter was in a different town from usual at 9:00 then the default algorithm is used.

Another example of adaptation is to the periodic checking of messages for a user who sleeps at night and never reads messages between 0:00 and 6:00 and rarely receives messages or voice calls in those times. The algorithm between those times for checking messages is adapted by an embodiment to check for messages less often thus saving energy in the battery.

Once the first week is completed, the data usage may maintain a rolling period of seven days, deleting a day's usage and adding a new one each day. Alternatively the device 10 may wait for several weeks of behaviour that deviates from the first stored week before making alterations to the original usage data 80 so as not to lose data representing normal behaviour after a short vacation in a different country.

In some embodiments of the invention, the device may be configured to determine that certain power-consuming activities are never used by a user, and consequently to place those activities constantly into a zero-or low-power mode of operation. If a user does then need to use the powered-down activities, the device can be configured to power-up the activities as appropriate.

In a second embodiment, the invention may be provided without a monitor program or any steps of monitoring activities. The periods of time during the day for which the default algorithm should be adapted, in particular for telecommunication operations, can be based on specific instructions rather than usage data. These instructions can be predetermined by the device manufacturer and hard coded into the ROM 42.

In a preferred form of this alternative embodiment the times for which the default algorithm should be adapted are manually entered into the user data memory 46 by a user filling in a predetermined time template. The commuter can then choose the hours in which they are usually underground, during which less power is to be used in attempting to connect to a network. Users can also specify the hours during which they might sleep and wish to check for messages less frequently. The user may also manually enter expected location information or other relevant parameters, allowing the invention to perform a step equivalent to step SI 16 i.e. checking whether current conditions are close enough to the expected conditions for the adapted algorithms to be applied at the appropriate time.

In this specification the word battery is used to include fuel cells and other mobile is communication driving energy storage sources as well as one or more electrochemical cells.

It will be understood by the skilled person that alternative implementations are possible, and that various modifications of the methods and implementations described above may be made within the scope of the invention, as defined by the appended claims.

Claims

Claims 1. A mobile communication device for performing one or more battery consuming activities, the device comprising a transceiver for communication, a battery, a clock and a memory, the device configured to monitor an operation performed by the device over a period of time, wherein data from monitoring of the operation is stored in the memory and used to decide how to vary the frequency and/or intensity of use of the first battery consuming activity at a later time, with the current time on the clock.
2. A mobile communication device according to claim I wherein the device is configured to include times from the clock in the stored data, at which times, the operation varied, during monitoring of the operation
3. A mobile communication device according to claim 2 wherein the stored data from monitoring of the operation from a time corresponding to the current time is used to determine how to vary the frequency and/or intensity of use of the first battery consuming activity at a later time, with the current time on the clock.
4. A mobile communication device according to claim 3 wherein the time corresponding to the current time is close to, and preferably is, the same time of day as the current time but occurring on a different day.
5. A mobile communication device according to any preceding claim wherein the stored data from monitoring of the operation from a plurality of times corresponding to the current time is used to decide how to vary the frequency and/or intensity of use of the first battery consuming activity at a later time, with the current time on the clock.
6. A mobile communication device according to claim 5 wherein the times corresponding to the current time are close to, and preferably are, the same time of day as the current time but occurring on different days.
7. A mobile communication device according to any preceding claim wherein the period of time is at least a day.
8. A mobile communication device according to any preceding claim wherein the period of time is at least a week.
9. A mobile communication device according to any preceding claim, the device configured to monitor a plurality of operations performed by the device over a period of time which period of time commences after the clock has begun to measure time, wherein data from monitoring of the operations is stored in the memory and data relating to at least one of the operations is used to decide how to vary the frequency and/or intensity of use of the first battery consuming activity at a later time, with the current time on the clock.
10. A mobile communication device according to claim 9 wherein data relating to more than one of the operations is used to determine how to vary the frequency and/or intensity of use of the first battery consuming activity at a later time, with the current time on the clock.
11. A mobile communication device according to any preceding claim, the device configured so that the frequency and/or intensity of use of a second battery consuming activity is at least partially dependent on the current time on the clock, wherein data from monitoring of the operation(s) is stored in the memory and used to decide how to vary the frequency and/or intensity of use of the second battery consuming activity at a later time with the current time on the clock.
12. A mobile communication device according to claim 11 when dependent on claim 9 wherein the different data from monitoring of an operation or operations is used to decide how to vary the frequency and/or intensity of use of each of the first and second battery consuming activity at a later time with the current time on the clock, the data used for deciding the variance of the first battery consuming activity including data from monitoring at least one operation that is not included in the data used for deciding the variance of the second battery consuming activity.
13. A mobile communication device according to any preceding claim wherein the operation monitored is a telecommunication operation using the transceiver.
14. A mobile communication device according to any of claims I to 12 or claim 13 when dependent on claim 9, comprising an operating system stored in the memory wherein the operation monitored is an application running on the operating system and does not use the transceiver.
15. A mobile communication device according to any preceding claim wherein the first battery consuming activity is a telecommunication operation using the transceiver.
16. A mobile communication device according to claim 15 wherein the first battery consuming activity is the monitored operation.

is
17. A mobile communication device according to claim 15 or 16 wherein the first battery consuming activity comprises an attempt or attempts to connect to a mobile communication network.
18. A mobile communication device according to any preceding claim wherein a monitored operation comprises an attempt or attempts to connect to a mobile communication network.
19. A mobile communication device according to claim 18 when dependent on claim 17 wherein the device is configured to reduce the power intensity of attempts to connect to a mobile communication network during a time period corresponding to a monitored time period in which there were a plurality of successive attempts to connect to a mobile communication network that did not result in connection to a mobile communication network, that were recorded in the data in the memory.
20. A mobile communication device according to any preceding claim wherein a monitored operation comprises incoming voice calls and/or outgoing voice calls and/or incoming messages andlor outgoing messages and/or transmitted data and/or received data.
21. A mobile communication device according to any preceding claim, wherein a monitored operation comprises opening of messages, and preferably opening of previously unread messages.
22. A mobile communication device according to any preceding claim, wherein the first or second battery consuming activity comprises periodically checking for incoming messages.
23. A mobile communication device according to claim 22 when dependent on claim 21, wherein the device is configured to reduce the frequency of checking for incoming messages during a time period corresponding to a monitored time period in which a low number and preferably an absence of messages or previously unread messages being opened, was recorded in the data in the memory.
24. A mobile communication device according to claim 22 when dependent on claim 20 is wherein the device is configured to reduce the frequency of checking for incoming messages during a time period corresponding to a monitored time period in which a low number,and preferably an absence of, incoming voice calls and/or outgoing voice calls andlor incoming messages and/or outgoing messages an/or transmitted andlor received data, was recorded in the data in the memory.
25. A mobile communication device according to any of claims 20 to 24 wherein messages comprise text messages, such as SMS, and/or email.
26. A mobile communication device according to any preceding claim comprising a location detector, wherein the device is configured to include locations from the location detector at which the operation varied, during the period of time, in the stored data from monitoring of the operation, the location information also being used to decide how to vary the frequency and/or intensity of use of the first battery consuming activity at a later time with the current time on the clock.
27. A mobile communication device according to claim 26 wherein the location detector comprises the transceiver and a program instructing the device to request location information from a connected network.
28. A mobile communication device according to any preceding claim comprising a processor, which processor comprises the clock.
29. A method of performing one or more battery consuming activities on a mobile communication device comprising the steps of: monitoring an operation performed by the device over a period of time, storing data from monitoring of the operation, determining, based on the stored data, how to vary the frequency and/or intensity of use of one or more of the battery consuming activities with the current time.
30. A method according to claim 29 further comprising the step of varying the frequency and/or intensity of use of one of the battery consuming activities in accordance with the determining step.
31. A computer program arranged for causing a mobile communication device to operate in accordance with the method of claim 29 or claim 30.
32. An operating system comprising a computer program according to claim 31.
33. A mobile communication device for performing one or more telecommunication operations, the device comprising a transceiver for communication, a battery, a clock and a memory, the device configured so that whether the transceiver uses a first or second different non-zero level of intensity and/or frequency of operation when performing a telecommunication operation, is at least partially dependent on the current time on the clock.
34. A method of performing one or more telecommunication operations on a mobile communication device comprising the steps of: determining how the frequency and/or intensity of a telecommunication operation should vary between non-zero levels, with the current time based on the stored data, varying the frequency and/or intensity of use of the telecommunication operation in accordance with the determining step.
35. A mobile communication device substantially as herein before described, with reference to any of figures 3 to 6.