Determining a battery chemistry for a battery in a peripheral device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9407098-B2
Application number	US-201113323336-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 12, 2011
Priority date	Dec 12, 2011
Publication date	Aug 2, 2016
Grant date	Aug 2, 2016

Abstract

Some embodiments provide a system that determines a battery chemistry for a battery in a peripheral device. During operation, the system determines a first voltage of the battery at a first time and a second voltage of the battery at a second time. The first voltage and the second voltage are then compared to one or more predetermined battery usage profiles to determine the battery chemistry.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A computer-implemented method for determining a battery chemistry for a battery in a peripheral device, comprising:
determining a first voltage of the battery at a first time corresponding to a first discharge capacity of the battery;
determining a second voltage of the battery at a second time corresponding to a second, different, discharge capacity of the battery;
comparing, by computer, the first voltage and the second voltage to one or more predetermined battery usage profiles that represent battery voltage as a function of discharge capacity to determine the battery chemistry;
using the determined battery chemistry and a corresponding battery usage profile with one or more voltage measurements to determine how much battery life remains in the battery; and
generating an alert when the remaining battery life is less than a predetermined time period.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein comparing the first voltage and the second voltage to one or more predetermined battery usage profiles to determine the battery chemistry includes:
communicating the first voltage and the second voltage to a host, wherein the host performs the comparison.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2 , wherein communicating the first voltage and the second voltage to the host includes communicating using wireless technology.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 2 , wherein the predetermined battery usage profile includes information transmitted to the host using the Internet.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 4 , wherein the information transmitted to the host includes information related to one or more voltages of the battery transmitted from a second host.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 4 , wherein the information transmitted to the host includes one or more updated battery usage profiles.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 2 ,
wherein communicating the first voltage and the second voltage to the host includes communicating information based on the first voltage and the second voltage; and
wherein comparing the first voltage and the second voltage to one or more predetermined battery usage profiles includes processing the communicated information to retrieve the first voltage and the second voltage.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein determining the first voltage of the battery at the first time and determining the second voltage of the battery at the second time includes:
periodically determining a voltage of the battery once every predetermined time period.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 8 , wherein the predetermined time period is four hours.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the peripheral device includes at least one of: a mouse, a remote control, a trackpad, a keyboard, and a wireless headset.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein:
determining the first voltage of the battery at the first time involves measuring a first loaded voltage and a first unloaded voltage;
determining the second voltage of the battery at the second time involves measuring a second loaded voltage and a second unloaded voltage; and
comparing the first voltage and the second voltage to one or more predetermined battery usage profiles involves:
comparing the first unloaded voltage and the second unloaded voltage to one or more predetermined unloaded battery usage profiles; and
comparing the first loaded voltage and the second loaded voltage to one or more predetermined loaded battery usage profiles.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the predetermined battery usage profile includes information related to one or more historical battery usage profiles for the peripheral device.

13. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , including:
determining a peripheral device usage metric, wherein determining the battery chemistry includes using the peripheral device usage metric to determine the battery chemistry.

14. A system for determining a battery chemistry for a battery in a peripheral device, comprising:
a measuring apparatus in the peripheral device configured to:
take a first voltage measurement at a first time corresponding to a first discharge capacity; and
take a second voltage measurement at a second time corresponding to a second, different, discharge capacity;

a communicating apparatus in the peripheral device configured to communicate the first voltage measurement and the second voltage measurement to a host; and
a comparing apparatus in the host configured to:
compare the first voltage measurement and the second voltage measurement to one or more predetermined battery usage profiles that represent battery voltage as a function of discharge amount to determine the battery chemistry;
use the determined battery chemistry and a corresponding battery usage profile with one or more voltage measurements to determine how much battery life remains in the battery; and
generate an alert when the remaining battery life is less than a predetermined time period.

15. The system of claim 14 ,
wherein the host further includes an Internet network connection mechanism configured to receive information related to the one or more predetermined battery usage profiles; and
wherein the comparing apparatus is further configured to use the received information to determine the battery chemistry.

16. The system of claim 14 , wherein the peripheral device includes at least one of: a mouse, a trackpad, a remote control, a keyboard, and a wireless headset.

17. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that when executed by a computer cause the computer to perform a method for determining a battery chemistry for a battery in a peripheral device, the method comprising:
receiving a first voltage of the battery measured at a first time corresponding to a first discharge capacity of the battery;
receiving a second voltage of the battery measured at a second time corresponding to a second, different, discharge capacity of the battery;
comparing the first voltage measurement, the second voltage measurement and the estimated discharge amount to one or more predetermined battery usage profiles that represent battery voltage as a function of discharge capacity to determine the battery chemistry;
using the determined battery chemistry and a corresponding battery usage profile with one or more voltage measurements to determine how much battery life remains in the battery; and
generating an alert when the remaining battery life is less than a predetermined time period.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 17 , wherein the predetermined battery usage profile includes one or more updated battery usage profiles transmitted using the Internet.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 17 , wherein the method further includes:
determining a peripheral device usage metric, wherein determining the battery chemistry includes using the peripheral device usage metric to determine the battery chemistry.

Assignees

• Sebastiani Marco
• Bokma Louis W
• Parivar Nima
• Apple Inc

Inventors

• Sebastiani Marco
• Bokma Louis W
• Parivar Nima

Classifications

• H02J7/82

  Control of state of charge [SOC] · CPC title

• H02J7/485

  with provisions for charging different types of batteries · CPC title

• H02J7/445

  in response to measured battery parameters, e.g. voltage, current or temperature profile · CPC title

• H01M10/4221 Primary

  with battery type recognition · CPC title

• G01R31/371

  with remote indication, e.g. on external chargers · CPC title