US 2,004,225,901 · Filed 2003-05-05

Method and system for auxiliary processing of information for a computing device

A method and system for auxiliary processing of information for a computing device. By simplifying the user managed power states to On and Standby, the computing device preserves its execution context by default when the machine is powered down. As a result, the computing device is made available for use even when it appears to be powered down. The computer hardware and software is capable of responding immediately to network or communication activity, user input, and other events. While the computer is in Standby, it is alert and able to handle background tasks that do not require user interaction. Activities such as answering phone calls, handling voice mail, displaying new e-mail, record voice messages, browsing the Internet, recording TV shows and so forth occur without the user having to turn on the computer. With the addition of an auxiliary processor and auxiliary display, the computer is capable of independently handling such activities while it is in the Standby state. Advantageously, the computer may be awakened by the auxiliary processor as needed to handle background tasks that do not require user interaction.

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