Predicting end of battery life for a remote controller device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9369656-B2
Application number	US-201414231496-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 31, 2014
Priority date	Mar 31, 2014
Publication date	Jun 14, 2016
Grant date	Jun 14, 2016

Abstract

A remote control is powered by multiple batteries connected in series. The remote control includes a voltage comparison circuit configured to compare a midpoint voltage from a node connecting two of the batteries to a reference voltage. The remote control is able to determine if there is a non-uniform drain rate in the batteries based on the comparison.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method, comprising:
transmitting a plurality of voltage values of a battery in a remote control from the remote control to a electronic device;
storing in a memory of the electronic device the plurality of battery voltage values;
storing in the memory of the electronic device remote control usage data indicative of usage of the remote control during a selected period of time;
calculating, based on the remote control usage data and the plurality of voltage values, an estimated time until failure of the battery; and
outputting to a display a notification indicating the estimated time.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the remote control usage data includes data indicative of when the remote control controls the electronic device and a second electronic device.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the remote control usage data indicates the number of times that buttons of the remote control have been pressed.

4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:
calculating a discharge curve for the battery based on the voltage values and a plurality of generic discharge curves each corresponding to a particular type of battery; and
calculating the estimated time based on the discharge curve.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein calculating the discharge curve includes predicting a type of the battery based on the voltage values and the generic discharge curves.

6. A method, comprising:
storing in a memory a plurality of voltage values each corresponding to a measured voltage of a battery in a remote control at a respective time, wherein the remote control includes an IR transmitter;
storing in the memory data regarding remote control usage, wherein the remote control usage data indicates how many times the IR transmitter has transmitted a signal;
calculating, in a processor, an estimated battery failure date based on the plurality of battery voltage values and the data regarding remote control usage; and
outputting to a display a notification indicating that the battery should be replaced based on the estimated battery failure date.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein the remote control usage data indicates how many times remote control buttons have been pushed.

8. The method of claim 6 wherein the remote control includes an RF transmitter and the remote control usage data indicates how many times the RF transmitter has transmitted a signal.

9. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:
predicting a type of battery in the remote control based on the plurality of voltage values; and
calculating the estimated battery failure date based on the type of battery in the remote control.

10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:
storing in the memory a plurality of battery discharge curves each for a respective battery type, the respective curves indicating a discharge state of the respective battery type based on a voltage state of the respective battery type; and
predicting the type of the battery in the remote control based on the battery discharge curves and the plurality of voltage values.

11. The method of claim 6 , wherein the memory and processor are housed in a electronic device configured to be controlled by the remote control.

12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising transmitting the voltage values from the remote control to the electronic device.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein the processor and memory are housed in the remote control.

14. The method of claim 6 wherein the notification indicates the estimated battery failure date.

15. An electronic device, comprising:
a wireless receiver configured to receive from a remote control a plurality of voltage values of a battery of the remote control;
a memory configured to store the voltage values and remote control usage data; and
a processor configured to estimate a failure time of the battery based on the voltage values and the usage data and to output to a display a notification indicating that the battery should be replaced.

16. The electronic device of claim 15 wherein the processor is configured to estimate the failure time of the battery further based on a characteristic battery voltage curve stored in the memory.

17. The electronic device of claim 16 wherein the processor is configured to estimate a remote control battery voltage curve for the battery of the remote control based on the characteristic battery voltage curve, the voltage values, and the remote control usage data.

18. The method of claim 1 wherein the electronic device is a television receiver.

19. The electronic device of claim 15 wherein the electronic device is a television receiver.

Assignees

• Echostar Technologies Llc

Inventors

• Innes David
• Jaramillo Harold
• Pattison Alan Terry
• Mickelsen Jeremy Stephen
• Schafer Adam Michael

Classifications

• H04N21/4882

  for displaying messages, e.g. warnings, reminders (arrangements for providing short real-time information to substation in data switching networks H04L12/1895) · CPC title

• G08C23/04

  using light waves, e.g. infrared · CPC title

• H04N2005/4408

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H04N5/4403 Primary

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H04N21/42204 Primary

  User interfaces specially adapted for controlling a client device through a remote control device; Remote control devices therefor (constructive details of casings for the remote control device H01H9/0235; user interfaces for controlling a tuning device of a television receiver through a remote control H03J9/00; remote control of peripheral devices connected to a television receiver through the remote control device of the television receiver H04B1/205) · CPC title