Windows* 8 Desktop App - Connected Standby Whitepaper

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Windows* 8 Desktop App - Connected Standby Whitepaper (PDF)

Introduction

Connected Standby is a new feature introduced by Microsoft in Windows 8* for SOC-based platforms. The use case on the tablet/mobile systems is similar to that on phones like Instant ON and Always Connected. Intel® dual-core Atom™ Z2760 (code name CloverTrail) is the first Intel platform to support Connected Standby. Connected Standby is critical to achieve the lower power targets for many devices and be able to demonstrate power performance leadership. Interesting applications can be developed for Connected Standby to further showcase the platform capabilities like push email, multiplayer games, etc.

In this sample application, we showcase the use of Connected Standby and demonstrate the use of the API to register the background task with the timer for periodic execution in the background, so when the system enters standby, the task executes and generates an execution log. It is a simple interface and application for any ISV to use inside their apps.

How it works

Connected Standby is primarily designed for very low power consumption and achieving the battery targets. It is part of the Microsoft certification, and devices need to conform to the requirement set by Microsoft for Connected Standby. Devices enter Connected Standby when the “on” button is pushed or after idle timeout. Based on current testing, the power is < 100 mW¹.This is the requirement set by Microsoft. Instant On is about < 300ms¹from button press to display on. Overall, the platform is mostly asleep; only select apps execute occasionally. Figure 1 shown below represents the state representation in form of a flowchart, designed to illustrate the system transitions. Figure 2 shown below shows the more detailed view of the transitions and the events associated with each transition.

Figure 1: State Transition

Figure 2: Connected Standby – Flow of actions

Applications Conforming to Connected Standby

Microsoft has designed the API and all the various interfaces for applications to use the Connected Standby feature and be power efficient even when applications are running. Windows* UI and Store apps are designed to be power efficient from the ground up. Windows Store apps (using the new Windows UI features) are suspended when the device enters Connected Standby. Microsoft has created the concept of background tasks that run while the device is in standby. Windows Store Apps can include background tasks that run in connected standby. The included background task/tasks run even if the corresponding application is suspended or has exited. To save power, Windows 8 imposes tight restrictions on background tasks. Figure 3 illustrates the concept.

Background tasks either run:

Periodically (less than once every 15 min)
When triggered by an event : Network becomes available, network event, push notification

Background tasks have limited CPU time to run:

7 “lock screen” apps get 2 sec every 15 mins
Non “lock screen” apps get 1 sec every 2 hrs

Limited network bandwidth:

Lock screen apps get 4.69 MB every 15 min (daily max of 450 MB)
Non Lock screen apps get 6.25 MB every 2 hrs (daily max of 75 MB).

Figure 3: Application in Connected Standby

Writing Background Tasks

Trigger Type	Description	Lock screen app only
Time Trigger	Time event	Yes
Control Channel trigger	Data on open TCP channel	Yes
Push notification trigger	Data from Windows* Push Service	Yes
System trigger Network up Network down Network status	Various network and system events	No
Maintenance trigger	Same time trigger, except fires only when device is plugged in	No

Registering a timed task

Below is a code snippet based on the Microsoft classes and APIs that allow developers to register a timed task with the application builder class. This can be used by any Windows 8 application to register the timed task with the trigger value specified. The trigger value is taken in seconds. You can refer to the MSDN for further information regarding the API and the classes (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/apps/br224847.aspx)

using namespace Windows::ApplicationModel::Background
   
//Associate an app with a trigger
    auto builder = ref new BackgroundTaskBuilder();
    builder->Name = “SampleBackgroundTask”;
    builder->TaskEntryPoint = “Tasks.SampleBackgroundTask”;
//Create a time Trigger
    IBackgroundTrigger^ trigger = new TimeTrigger(15, false);
    builder->SetTrigger(trigger);
   
//Register task with OS
    builder->Register();

Background Task Execution

The following code snippet shows instantiating the background task, which then executes when the event is triggered. This is the same task that was created earlier and registered with the builder class. The Sample Background task’s “run” method can be populated with the required execution flow.

using namespace Windows::ApplicationModel::Background;
//Entry Point for Background Execution.
namespace Tasks
{
    public ref class SampleBackgroundTask sealed:public IBackgroundTask
    {
       ...
      virtual void Run(IBackgroundTaskInstance^ taskInstance) {
          // Code to be executed in the background
      }
      ...
    };
}

The task generation is part of the samplebackground.xaml.cpp file, and the timetriggeredtask.xaml.cpp has the code for the timed task.

Summary

The sample code showings a background registered task and its usage and flow. When the system enters Connected Standby, the background task will generate messages that are sent to the lock screen to show as notifications, thus demonstrating the capability of Connected Standby.

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Windows* 8

Windows* Store application

Microsoft Windows* 8 Desktop

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