Power management in an activity monitoring device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9557386-B2
Application number	US-201313744945-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 18, 2013
Priority date	Jan 19, 2012
Publication date	Jan 31, 2017
Grant date	Jan 31, 2017

Abstract

Batteries for an athletic activity monitoring device may be managed in both charged and discharged state to provide more accurate state information and/or expected charge times. Additionally or alternatively, various power management processes may be executed to maximize an amount of battery charge remaining.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
detecting, by an athletic activity monitoring device, entry of the athletic activity monitoring device into a battery charging state;
determining, by the athletic activity monitoring device, an initial charge value of a battery of the athletic activity monitoring device at or prior to entry into the battery charging state;
activating a charging unit of the athletic activity monitoring device in response to detecting entry of the athletic activity monitoring device into the battery charging state and upon determining the initial charge value of the battery, wherein activating the charging unit changes a charge value of the battery;
determining, by the athletic activity monitoring device, an elapsed amount of time since activation of the charging unit;
determining, by the athletic activity monitoring device, a current amount of battery charge based on the elapsed amount of time and the initial charge value of the battery without a subsequent reading of a voltage from the battery using a look-up table associating a charge amount of the battery with an amount of time required to charge the battery from the charge amount of the battery to a fully charged state;
deactivating the charging unit of the athletic activity monitoring device in response to detecting a change in state of the athletic activity monitoring device from the battery charging state;
determining, by the athletic activity monitoring device, a final charge value of the battery upon deactivation of the charging unit;
determining whether the final charge value corresponds to a fully charged state;
upon determining the final charge value corresponds to the fully charged state, measuring an elapsed amount of time to charge the battery from the initial charge value to the fully charged state; and
automatically updating the look-up table with the measured amount of time.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the initial charge value includes an amount of voltage output from the battery.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the current amount of battery charge includes:
determining an initial charge amount of the battery at or prior to entry into the battery charging state based on the initial charge value;
determining an amount of time required to charge the battery from the initial charge amount to a fully charged state; and
determining an expected remaining charge time based on the elapsed amount of time and the amount of time required to charge the battery from the initial charge amount to the fully charged state.

4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising determining the current amount of battery charge based on a look-up table using the expected remaining charge time as a key.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the athletic activity monitoring device includes the charging unit and wherein the method further comprises:
determining an expected amount of time required to charge the battery from an initial charge amount of the battery corresponding to the initial charge value to a fully charged state; and
determining that the battery is fully charged in response to:
receiving an indication, from the charging unit, of battery charge completion; and
determining that the expected amount of time to charge the battery from the initial charge amount to the fully charged state has elapsed.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the current amount of battery charge includes determining a current amount of battery charge for each of a plurality of batteries in the athletic activity monitoring device.

7. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing computer readable instructions that, when executed, cause an athletic activity monitoring device to:
detect entry of the athletic activity monitoring device into a battery charging state;
determine an initial charge value of a battery of the athletic activity monitoring device at or prior to entry into the battery charging state;
activate a charging unit of the athletic activity monitoring device in response to detecting entry of the athletic activity monitoring device into the battery charging state and upon determining the initial charge value of the battery, wherein activating the charging unit changes a charge value of the battery;
determine an elapsed amount of time since activation of the charging unit;
determine a current amount of battery charge based on the elapsed amount of time and the initial charge value of the battery without a subsequent reading of a voltage from the battery using a look-up table associating a charge amount of the battery with an amount of time required to charge the battery from the charge amount of the battery to a fully charged state;
deactivate the charging unit of the athletic activity monitoring device in response to detecting a change in state of the athletic activity monitoring device from the battery charging state;
determine a final charge value of the battery upon deactivation of the charging unit;
determine whether the final charge value corresponds to a fully charged state;
upon determining the final charge value corresponds to the fully charged state, measure an elapsed amount of time to charge the battery from the initial charge value to the fully charged state; and
automatically update the look-up table with the measured amount of time.

8. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 7 , wherein the initial charge value includes an amount of voltage output from the battery.

Assignees

• Nike Inc

Inventors

• Henderson Kristofer
• Lapinsky Michael
• Lowe Jr Edward S
• Noone Michael
• Zipperer James

Classifications

• H02J7/875

  Charging or discharging for charge maintenance, battery initiation or rejuvenation · CPC title

• G01R31/382 Primary

  Arrangements for monitoring battery or accumulator variables, e.g. SoC · CPC title

• A63B71/0619

  Displays, user interfaces and indicating devices, specially adapted for sport equipment, e.g. display mounted on treadmills · CPC title

• G01R31/36

  Arrangements for testing, measuring or monitoring the electrical condition of accumulators or electric batteries, e.g. capacity or state of charge [SoC] · CPC title

• A63B2024/0065

  Evaluating the fitness, e.g. fitness level or fitness index · CPC title