Communications of the ACM
Smartphone Battery Life Could Dramatically Improve With New Invention
University of Michigan professor Kang Shin
Credit: Courtesy of University of Michigan
University of Michigan researchers have developed the Energy-Minimizing Idle Listening (E-MiLi) system, which features a subconscious mode for smartphones and other Wi-Fi-enabled devices that could extend battery life by more than 50 percent.
The researchers found that even when smartphones are in power-saving modes they still can use about 80 percent of the battery life while conducting idle listening. "This idle listening often consumes as much power as actively sending and receiving messages all day," says Michigan professor Kang Shin.
E-MiLi slows down the Wi-Fi card's clock by up to 1/16 its normal frequency, and then switches it back to full speed when the phone identifies an incoming message. "Usually, messages come with a header, and we thought the phone could be enabled to detect this, as you can recognize that someone is calling your name even if you're 90 percent asleep," Shin says.
When E-MiLi is used with the power-saving mode, the system is capable of reducing energy consumption from as little as 44 percent to as much as 92 percent, based on the overall network traffic. However, E-MiLi requires new firmware for phones and computers that would be sending messages because they need the ability to encode the message header in a new and detectable way.
From University of Michigan News Service
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