IPC분류정보
국가/구분 |
United States(US) Patent
등록
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국제특허분류(IPC7판) |
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출원번호 |
US-0619863
(2000-07-20)
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발명자
/ 주소 |
- Deninger,Daniel A.
- Trando,Huey
- Lockerman,Michael
- Richards,Anthony M.
- Parisi,Mark D.
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출원인 / 주소 |
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인용정보 |
피인용 횟수 :
135 인용 특허 :
8 |
초록
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A battery monitoring apparatus that senses battery conditions such as low battery charge, end of battery capacity, and end of battery life, and responds by taking actions such as sending messages to a remote site and/or powering down. A rechargeable battery is coupled to one or more power-consuming
A battery monitoring apparatus that senses battery conditions such as low battery charge, end of battery capacity, and end of battery life, and responds by taking actions such as sending messages to a remote site and/or powering down. A rechargeable battery is coupled to one or more power-consuming electrical components, including battery monitoring equipment. The battery monitoring equipment senses battery charge. In response to a low-battery-charge condition, the battery monitoring equipment transmits a battery status message to a remote site and powers-down some of the electrical components. Whenever the battery nears the end of its capacity, the monitoring equipment powers down all electronic components and awaits the application of external power. The invention also tracks the time required for the battery charge to deplete. Charge duration decreases over time, and whenever it reaches a predetermined minimum, the battery monitoring equipment transmits a representative status message to the remote site.
대표청구항
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We claim: 1. A method of managing a rechargeable battery coupled to one or more power-consuming electrical components, comprising operations of: monitoring a battery charge; monitoring a battery charge duration; responsive to a low-battery-charge condition, performing needs-charge operations incl
We claim: 1. A method of managing a rechargeable battery coupled to one or more power-consuming electrical components, comprising operations of: monitoring a battery charge; monitoring a battery charge duration; responsive to a low-battery-charge condition, performing needs-charge operations including initiating transmission of a battery-needs-charge message to a remote site and powering-down a first group including at least some of the electrical components; responsive to an end-of-battery-capacity condition, performing end-of-capacity operations including powering-down a second group including at least some of the electronic components; and determining whether battery charge duration exceeds a predetermined minimum duration, and if not, transmitting a battery-needs-replacement message to the remote site. 2. The method of claim 1, the end-of-capacity operations comprising: preventing the transmission of any messages to the remote site; powering-down substantially all of the electronic components; and responsive to application of a recharging source to the battery, determining whether a most-recently measured battery charge duration is less than the predetermined minimum duration, and if so, initiating transmission of a battery-needs-replacement message to the remote site. 3. The method of claim 2, the end-of-capacity operations comprising: responsive to the application of the recharging source to the battery, initiating transmission of a battery-needed-charge message to the remote site. 4. The method of claim 2, the operations further comprising: the remote site receiving a battery-needs-replacement message; responsive to the battery-needs-replacement message, analyzing physical properties of the battery to estimate remaining battery life; if the remaining battery life exceeds a predetermined end-of-battery-life benchmark, decreasing the predetermined minimum duration; and if the remaining battery life does not exceed the predetermined end-of-battery-life benchmark, increasing the predetermined minimum duration. 5. The method of claim 1, where: the low-battery-charge condition comprises battery charge being less than a predetermined needs-charge level and greater than a predetermined end-of-capacity level; and the end-of-battery-capacity condition comprises battery charge less than the end-of-capacity level. 6. The method of claim 1, where: the low-battery-charge condition comprises battery charge being no greater than a predetermined needs-charge level; the operations further comprise, after detecting the low-battery-charge condition, redetecting battery charge, and only if redetected battery charge exceeds the predetermined needs-charge level upon redetection, aborting the needs-charge operations. 7. The method of claim 1, where: the operation of monitoring battery charge duration comprises measuring a time for each battery charge to deplete from a first level to a second level; the operations further comprise, responsive to battery charge duration being less than the predetermined minimum duration, redetecting battery charge and only if redetected battery charge exceeds the second level, aborting the transmission of the battery-needs-replacement message to the remote site. 8. The method of claim 1, the operation of monitoring battery charge duration comprising: sensing coupling of a recharging source to the battery; responsive to the recharging source being decoupled from the battery, noting a time of the decoupling; and responsive to battery charge depleting to a predetermined level, noting a time of such depletion; and computing a period of time occurring between the decoupling and depletion times. 9. The method of claim 1, the operations further comprising: including in each transmission to the remote site a time since the battery was last connected to a recharging source. 10. The method of claim 1, the operations comprising: including in each transmission to the remote site a geographical position of the battery. 11. The method of claim 1, where the operation of transmitting a battery-needs-charge message comprises: placing a battery-needs-charge message in a message queue for subsequent transmission to the remote site; responsive to detecting application of a recharging source to the battery prior to transmission of the battery-needs-charge message, deleting the battery-needs-charge message from the queue. 12. The method of claim 1, further comprising: detecting indicia of battery replacement and responsive thereto, initiating transmission of a new-battery message to the remote site. 13. The method of claim 1, further comprises: responsive to detecting battery condition exceeding the low-battery-charge and end-of-capacity conditions, preventing transmission of any untransmitted messages regarding battery charge condition. 14. A signal-bearing medium tangibly embodying a program of machine-readable instructions executable by a digital processing apparatus to perform operations for managing a rechargeable battery coupled to one or more power-consuming electrical components, the operations comprising: monitoring a battery charge; monitoring a battery charge duration; responsive to a low-battery-charge condition, performing needs-charge operations including initiating transmission on a battery-needs-charge message to a remote site and powering-down a first group including at least some of the electrical components; responsive to an end-of-battery-capacity condition, performing end-of-capacity operations including powering-down a second group including at least some of the electronic components; and determining whether battery charge duration exceeds a predetermined minimum duration, and if not, transmitting a battery-needs-replacement message to the remote site. 15. The medium of claim 14, the end-of-capacity operations comprising: preventing the transmission of any messages to the remote site; powering-down substantially all of the electronic components; and responsive to application of a recharging source to the battery, determining whether a most-recently measured battery charge duration is less than the predetermined minimum duration, and if so, initiating transmission of a battery-needs-replacement message to the remote site. 16. The medium of claim 15, the end-of-capacity operations comprising: responsive to the application of the recharging source to the battery, initiating transmission of a battery-needed-charge message to the remote site. 17. The medium of claim 14, where: the low-battery-charge condition comprises battery charge being less than a predetermined needs-charge level and greater than a predetermined end-of-capacity level; and the end-of-battery-capacity condition comprises battery charge less than the end-of-capacity level. 18. The medium of claim 14, where: the low-battery-charge condition comprises battery charge being no greater than a predetermined needs-charge level; the operations further comprise, after detecting the low-battery-charge condition, redetecting battery charge, and only if redetected battery charge exceeds the predetermined needs-charge level upon redetection, aborting the needs-charge operations. 19. The medium of claim 14, where: the operation of monitoring battery charge duration comprises measuring a time for each battery charge to deplete from a first level to a second level; the operations further comprise, responsive to battery charge duration being less than the predetermined minimum duration, redetecting battery charge and only if redetected battery charge exceeds the second level, aborting the transmission of the battery-needs-replacement message to the remote site. 20. The medium of claim 14, the operation of monitoring battery charge duration comprising: sensing coupling of a recharging source to the battery; responsive to the recharging source being decoupled from the battery, noting a time of the decoupling; and responsive to battery charge depleting to a predetermined level, noting a time of such depletion; and computing a period of time occurring between the decoupling and depletion times. 21. The medium of claim 14, the operations further comprising: including in each transmission to the remote site a time since the battery was last connected to a recharging source. 22. The medium of claim 14, the operations comprising: including in each transmission to the remote site a geographical position of the battery. 23. The medium of claim 14, where the operation of transmitting a battery-needs-charge message comprises: placing a battery-needs-charge message in a message queue for subsequent transmission to the remote site; responsive to detecting application of a recharging source to the battery prior to transmission of the battery-needs-charge message, deleting the battery-needs-charge message from the queue. 24. The medium of claim 14, the operations further comprising: detecting indicia of battery replacement and responsive thereafter, initiating transmission of a new-battery message to the remote site. 25. A battery monitoring apparatus, comprising: one or more battery property sensors; a timer; a transmitter; and a controller, coupled to the sensors and the timer and the transmitter, the controller programmed to manage a rechargeable battery coupled to one or more power-consuming electrical components, by performing operations comprising: directing the sensors to monitor a battery charge; monitoring a battery charge duration utilizing the timer; responsive to a low-battery-charge condition, performing needs-charge operations including: initiating transmission of a battery-needs-charge message to a remote site; and powering-down a first group including at least some of the electrical components; responsive to an end-of-battery-capacity condition, performing end-of-capacity operations including powering-down a second group of the electronic components; determining whether battery charge duration exceeds a predetermined minimum duration, and if not, initiating transmission of a battery-needs-replacement message to the remote site. 26. The apparatus of claim 25, where: the controller includes first and second processors with the first processor consuming less power than the second processor; the operations of powering-down the first group being performed by the first processor, and the second processor being in the first group; the operations of powering-down the second group being performed by the first processor, and the second processor being in the second group. 27. A logic circuit of multiple interconnected electrically conductive elements configured to perform operations for monitoring a rechargeable battery coupled to one or more power-consuming electrical components, the operations comprising: monitoring a battery charge; monitoring a battery charge duration; responsive to a low-battery-charge condition, performing needs-charge operations including initiating transmission of a battery-needs-charge message to a remote site and powering-down at least some of the electrical components; responsive to an end-of-battery-capacity condition, performing end-of-capacity operations including powering-down all of the electronic components; and determining whether battery charge duration exceeds a predetermined minimum duration, and if not, transmitting a battery-needs-replacement message to the remote site. 28. A battery monitoring apparatus, comprising: sensor means for sensing one or more battery properties; timing means for providing a time reference signal; transmitter means for transmitting signals; and controller means, coupled to the sensor means and the timing means and the transmitter means, for managing a rechargeable battery coupled to one or more power-consuming electrical components by: directing the sensor means to monitor battery charge; monitoring battery charge duration utilizing the timer means; responsive to a low-battery-charge condition, performing needs-charge operations including: initiating transmission of a battery-needs-charge message to a remote site; and powering-down at least some of the electrical components; responsive to an end-of-battery-capacity condition, performing end-of-capacity operations including powering-down all of the electronic components; and determining whether battery charge duration exceeds a predetermined minimum duration, and if not, initiating transmission of a battery-needs-replacement message to the remote site.
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