Tracking power states of a peripheral device

An electronic device comprising:

• a communication subsystem comprising a wireless interface configured to receive, from a mouse, electromagnetic signals representing episodic bursts of data that describe motion of the mouse;
• a processing subsystem configured to:
• receive, from the communication subsystem, the episodic bursts of data that describe the motion of the mouse;
• infer, from the received episodic bursts of data, an operating mode of the mouse, the operating mode including at least one active operating mode and at least one idle operating mode, wherein the inference is based on:
• at least one of a duration of at least one burst of data and a duration between bursts of data;
• and
• an elapsed time as the mouse cascades through a plurality of low power sub-states of the idle operating mode;
• calculate an accumulation of time that the mouse is in each operating mode and each low power sub-state;
• determine a power-consumption history of the mouse based on the calculated accumulations of time;
• analyze the power consumption history to determine an estimate of remaining mouse battery life;
• and
• provide the determined estimate to a user of the electronic device.

A method, performed by an electronic device, for tracking power states of a trackpad operatively coupled to the electronic device, the method comprising:

• receiving, from the trackpad, electromagnetic signals representing episodic bursts of data that describe motion of a user's contact with the trackpad;
• inferring, from the received electromagnetic signals representing the episodic bursts of data that describe the motion of the user's contact with the trackpad, an operating mode of the trackpad, the operating mode including at least one active operating mode and at least one idle operating mode, wherein the inferring is based on:
• at least one of a duration of at least one burst of data and a duration between bursts of data;
• and
• an elapsed time as the trackpad cascades through a plurality of low power sub-states of the idle operating mode;
• calculating an accumulation of time that the trackpad is in each operating mode and in each low power sub-state;
• determining a power-consumption history of the trackpad based on the calculated accumulations of time;
• and
• modifying a user experience of the electronic device based on the determined power consumption history.

An electronic device comprising:

• a communication subsystem configured to receive, from a trackpad, electromagnetic signals representing episodic bursts of data that describe motion of a user's contact with the trackpad;
• a processing subsystem configured to:
• receive, from the communication subsystem, the episodic bursts of data from the trackpad that describe the motion of the user's contact with the trackpad;
• infer an operating mode of the trackpad from the received episodic bursts of data, the operating mode including at least one active operating mode and at least one idle operating mode, wherein the inference is based on:
• at least one of a duration of at least one burst of data and a duration between bursts of data;
• and
• an elapsed time as the trackpad cascades through a plurality of low power sub-states of the idle operating mode;
• calculate an accumulation of time that the trackpad is in each operating mode and in each low power sub-state;
• determine a power-consumption history of the trackpad based on the calculated accumulations of time;
• and
• modify a user experience of the electronic device based on the determined power consumption history.