Determining battery state of charge using an open circuit voltage measured prior to a device operation stage

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016306013-A1
Application number	US-201514685990-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Apr 14, 2015
Priority date	Apr 14, 2015
Publication date	Oct 20, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

A system to accurately determine a battery state of charge (SOC) in an electronic device, in some embodiments, comprises: a battery to provide power to said electronic device; and a fuel gauge coupled to the battery and capable of determining an open circuit voltage (OCV) associated with the battery, wherein the fuel gauge determines said OCV after the battery is installed in the electronic device and before the electronic device enters an operation stage, wherein the fuel gauge determines a state of charge associated with the battery based on said OCV.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A system to accurately determine a battery state of charge (SOC) in an electronic device, comprising:
a battery to provide power to said electronic device; and a fuel gauge coupled to the battery and capable of determining an open circuit voltage (OCV) associated with the battery, wherein the fuel gauge determines said OCV after the battery is installed in the electronic device and before the electronic device enters an operation stage, wherein the fuel gauge determines a state of charge associated with the battery based on said OCV.

2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein, during said operation stage, a load is applied to the battery.

3 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the electronic device enters one or more of a no battery stage, a battery insertion stage, a no load stage, and an operation stage.

4 . The system of claim 3 , wherein the fuel gauge determines said OCV during the battery insertion stage.

5 . The system of claim 4 , wherein the fuel gauge enters a standby stage after determining said OCV and before the electronic device enters the operation stage.

6 . The system of claim 3 , wherein the fuel gauge determines said OCV during the no-load stage.

7 . The system of claim 6 , wherein the fuel gauge enters a standby stage after determining said OCV and before the electronic device enters the operation stage.

8 . The system of claim 3 , wherein a current provided by the battery drops below a target current threshold during the battery insertion stage, the no load stage, or both.

9 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the fuel gauge determines the OCV based on a maximum voltage detected from said battery during a predetermined period of time.

10 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the fuel gauge determines the OCV based on a voltage detected from said battery after a predetermined period of time is complete.

11 . An electronic device, comprising:
a battery that powers said electronic device; and a fuel gauge, coupled to the battery, that determines an open circuit voltage (OCV) of the battery before said electronic device enters an operation stage, wherein, after said battery is installed in the electronic device, said battery remains installed in the electronic device at least until the electronic device enters the operation stage.

12 . The electronic device of claim 11 , wherein the fuel gauge determines a state of charge associated with the battery based on said OCV.

13 . The electronic device of claim 12 , wherein the fuel gauge determines said state of charge by comparing the OCV to a state of charge curve.

14 . A method for determining a battery state of charge in an electronic device, comprising:
installing a battery in an electronic device; determining an open circuit voltage (OCV) of the battery while said battery remains installed in said electronic device; after determining said OCV, causing the electronic device to enter an operation stage while said battery remains installed in said electronic device; and determining a state of charge of the battery using said OCV.

15 . The method of claim 14 , further comprising causing the electronic device to enter a no-load stage while said battery remains installed and after determining said OCV.

16 . The method of claim 14 , wherein determining the OCV comprises determining said OCV during a battery insertion stage.

17 . The method of claim 14 , further comprising displaying a battery capacity indication based on the state of charge.

18 . The method of claim 14 , wherein determining said OCV comprises determining the OCV when no load is coupled to the battery.

19 . The method of claim 14 , further comprising causing the fuel gauge to enter a stand by stage after said OCV determination and prior to the electronic device entering said operation stage.

20 . The method of claim 14 , further comprising maintaining a current from the battery at or below a target current threshold during a no-load stage of the electronic device.

Assignees

• Semiconductor Components Ind Llc

Inventors

• Kondo Hideo

Classifications

• G01R31/388

  involving voltage measurements · CPC title

• G01R31/3835 Primary

  involving only voltage measurements · CPC title

• G01R31/3648

  comprising digital calculation means, e.g. for performing an algorithm · CPC title

• G01R31/3606 Primary

  Physics · mapped topic