Obtaining and processing information related to a mobile device accessory that includes a battery

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11064441-B2
Application number	US-201916437385-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 11, 2019
Priority date	Jun 11, 2019
Publication date	Jul 13, 2021
Grant date	Jul 13, 2021

Abstract

An accessory for a mobile device includes a battery pack comprising a battery, battery pack memory, and battery data stored in the battery pack memory. The battery is an auxiliary power source for the mobile device when the accessory is electrically coupled to the mobile device. The accessory additionally includes accessory memory and accessory data stored in the accessory memory. The accessory data and the battery data may be obtained by the application on the mobile device when the accessory is electrically coupled to the mobile device.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An accessory for a mobile device, the mobile device comprising an application, the accessory comprising:
a battery pack comprising a battery, battery pack memory, and battery data stored in the battery pack memory, wherein the battery is an auxiliary power source for the mobile device when the accessory is electrically coupled to the mobile device, and wherein the battery data comprises a deployment date of the battery pack, a battery health indicator, and a serial number of the battery pack;
accessory memory;
accessory data comprising a unique alphanumeric identifier associated with the accessory stored in the accessory memory, wherein the accessory data including the unique alphanumeric identifier associated with the accessory and the battery data are obtained by the application on the mobile device when the accessory is electrically coupled to the mobile device; and
an agent stored in the accessory memory, the agent being executable by one or more processors to provide the battery data and the accessory data to the application.

2. The accessory of claim 1 , wherein the accessory data comprises a serial number of the accessory.

3. The accessory of claim 1 , wherein:
the battery pack further comprises a battery pack power and data connector; and
the accessory further comprises an accessory power and data connector that is configured to be coupled to the battery pack power and data connector.

4. The accessory of claim 1 , wherein:
the mobile device further comprises a mobile device power and data connector; and
the accessory further comprises an accessory power and data connector that is configured to be coupled to the mobile device power and data connector.

5. The accessory of claim 1 , wherein the application directly accesses the battery data in the battery pack memory and directly accesses the accessory data in the accessory memory.

6. The accessory of claim 1 , wherein:
the accessory comprises a protective case that encloses the mobile device; and
the battery in the battery pack is replaceable without having to remove the mobile device from the protective case.

7. The accessory of claim 1 , wherein the battery data further comprises an indication of when the battery within the battery pack has completed a predefined number of charge/discharge cycles.

8. A mobile device, comprising:
one or more processors;
memory in electronic communication with the one or more processors; and
an application stored in the memory, the application being executable by the one or more processors to:
obtain battery data and accessory data from an agent within an accessory that comprises a battery pack, wherein the battery data comprises a deployment date of the battery pack, a battery health indicator, and a serial number of the battery pack;
cause the battery data and the accessory data to be displayed on a display screen of the mobile device;
cause the battery data and the accessory data to be sent to a process management server whenever at least one of the battery data or the accessory data changes; and
cause time and location data associated with the battery data and the accessory data to be sent to the process management server, wherein the time and location data associated with a set of battery data and accessory data indicates:
a time at which the application obtained the battery data and the accessory data from the accessory; and
a location of the mobile device when the application obtained the battery data and the accessory data from the accessory.

9. The mobile device of claim 8 , wherein:
the battery pack is an auxiliary power source for the mobile device;
the battery pack comprises battery pack memory; and
the application is further executable by the one or more processors to receive user input comprising the deployment date of the battery pack and cause the deployment date to be written to the battery pack memory, wherein the deployment date indicates when the battery pack went into service in the accessory.

10. The mobile device of claim 8 , wherein the accessory data comprises a serial number of the accessory.

11. The mobile device of claim 8 , wherein the location of the mobile device is expressed as a geographical location within a coverage area of a local area network.

12. A mobile device, comprising:
one or more processors;
memory in electronic communication with the one or more processors; and
an application stored in the memory, the application being executable by the one or more processors to:
obtain battery data and accessory data from an accessory that comprises a battery pack, wherein the battery data comprises a deployment date and a serial number of the battery pack, and wherein the accessory data comprises a unique alphanumeric identifier associated with the accessory;
cause the deployment date, the serial number, and the unique alphanumeric identifier to be displayed on a display screen of the mobile device; and
cause the battery data, the accessory data, and time and location data to be sent to a process management server.

13. The mobile device of claim 12 , wherein the time and location data associated with a set of battery data and accessory data indicates:
a time at which the application obtained the battery data and the accessory data from the accessory; and
a location of the mobile device when the application obtained the battery data and the accessory data from the accessory.

14. The mobile device of claim 13 , wherein the location of the mobile device is expressed as a geographical location within a coverage area of a local area network.

15. The mobile device of claim 12 , wherein the battery data further comprises an indication of when a battery within the battery pack has completed a predefined number of charge/discharge cycles.

Assignees

• Code Corp

Inventors

• Braun Jennifer
• Deal John

Classifications

• H04M1/724092

  Interfacing with an external cover providing additional functionalities · CPC title

• H01M10/488

  Cells or batteries combined with indicating means for external visualization of the condition, e.g. by change of colour or of light density · CPC title

• H01M2010/4278

  Systems for data transfer from batteries, e.g. transfer of battery parameters to a controller, data transferred between battery controller and main controller · CPC title

• Y02E60/10

  Energy storage using batteries · CPC title

• Y02D30/70

  in wireless communication networks · CPC title