Battery management system employing software controls upon power failure to estimate battery duration based on battery/equipment profiles and real-time battery usage
First Claim
1. A power management method for use in a system including electrically powered equipment utilizing a primary power source where a battery provides backup power during failure of the primary power source, the method comprising operations of:
- monitoring charge state of the battery including whether the battery is substantially fully charged;
monitoring cumulative on-battery time of the equipment since a most-recent substantially full charge of the battery;
monitoring condition of the primary power source including whether the primary power source has failed, and responsive to each failure of the primary power source, applying a predetermined formula to compute a remaining battery endurance, and starting a timer to track expiration of the remaining battery endurance;
responsive to each restoration of the primary power source, stopping the timer;
responsive to the timer reaching a predetermined level, commencing one or more predetermined shutdown actions.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A power management system uses software to predictively estimate remaining battery endurance by considering battery usage in context of a predetermined battery output and equipment load profiles, and appropriately issuing a shutdown alert or commencing a shutdown event as the end of battery endurance nears. More particularly, a battery supplies power to electrical equipment when a primary power source fails. Initially, the system receives one or more estimates of the battery'"'"'s endurance and capability of supplying electrical power to the equipment. The system tracks battery use by prescribed electrical equipment. Utilizing software, for example, the system determines when estimated endurance minus battery usage equals a predetermined difference. Relative to this time, the system takes appropriate action(s) such as initiating shutdown of the equipment or issuing a shutdown alert.
89 Citations
23 Claims
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1. A power management method for use in a system including electrically powered equipment utilizing a primary power source where a battery provides backup power during failure of the primary power source, the method comprising operations of:
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monitoring charge state of the battery including whether the battery is substantially fully charged;
monitoring cumulative on-battery time of the equipment since a most-recent substantially full charge of the battery;
monitoring condition of the primary power source including whether the primary power source has failed, and responsive to each failure of the primary power source, applying a predetermined formula to compute a remaining battery endurance, and starting a timer to track expiration of the remaining battery endurance;
responsive to each restoration of the primary power source, stopping the timer;
responsive to the timer reaching a predetermined level, commencing one or more predetermined shutdown actions. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method of managing backup battery power in a system where a battery supplies power to electrical equipment when a primary power source fails, comprising operations of:
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receiving one or more estimates of endurance of the battery to supply electrical power to the equipment;
tracking battery use by the electrical equipment;
utilizing software to determine when estimated endurance minus battery use equal a predetermined difference, and responsive thereto commencing one or more predetermined shutdown actions.
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10. A method of managing backup battery power, comprising the operations of calculating a cumulative amount of time that prescribed equipment has been running on battery power since full charge of the battery, and utilizing the calculation to provide a output indicating an amount of time that the equipment can continue to operate on battery power before exhausting a predetermined battery endurance.
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11. A signal-bearing medium tangibly embodying a program of machine-readable instructions executable by a digital processing apparatus to perform a power management method for use in a system including electrically powered equipment utilizing a primary power source where a battery provides backup power during failure of the primary power source, the method comprising operations of:
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monitoring charge state of the battery including whether the battery is substantially fully charged;
monitoring cumulative on-battery time of the equipment since a most-recent substantially full charge of the battery;
monitoring condition of the primary power source including whether the primary power source has failed, and responsive to each failure of the primary power source, applying a predetermined formula to compute a battery endurance, and starting a timer to track expiration of the remaining battery endurance, responsive to each restoration of the primary power source, stopping the timer;
responsive to the timer reaching a predetermined level, commencing one or more predetermined shutdown actions. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A signal-bearing medium tangibly embodying a program of machine-readable instructions executable by a digital processing apparatus to perform a process of managing backup battery power in a system where a battery supplies power to electrical equipment when a primary power source fails, the process comprising operations of:
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receiving one or more estimates of endurance of the battery to supply electrical power to the equipment;
tracking battery use by the equipment;
determining when estimated endurance minus battery use equal a predetermined difference, and responsive thereto commencing one or more predetermined shutdown actions.
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19. A logic circuit of multiple interconnected electrically conductive elements configured to perform a process of managing backup battery power in a system where a battery supplies power to electrical equipment when a primary power source fails, the process comprising operations of:
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receiving one or more estimates of endurance of the battery to supply electrical power to the equipment;
tracking battery use by the equipment;
determining when estimated endurance minus battery use equal a predetermined difference, and responsive thereto commencing one or more predetermined shutdown actions.
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20. A power management system, comprising:
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battery power source providing backup power to electrically powered equipment during failure of a primary power source;
a sensor of primary power source failure;
a timer;
a power manager programmed to perform operations comprising;
monitoring charge state of the battery including whether the battery is substantially fully charged;
monitoring cumulative on-battery time of the equipment since a most-recent substantially full charge of the battery;
monitoring condition of the primary power source including whether the primary power source has failed, and responsive to each indication by the sensor of failure of the primary power source, applying a predetermined formula to compute remaining battery endurance, and starting the timer to track expiration of the remaining battery endurance;
responsive to each restoration of the primary power source, stopping the timer;
responsive to the timer reaching a predetermined level, commencing one or more predetermined shutdown actions. - View Dependent Claims (21)
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22. A backup power system, comprising:
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a battery;
a sensor of battery use;
a power manager coupled to the battery and the sensor and programmed to perform operations comprising;
receiving one or more estimates of endurance of the battery to supply electrical power to prescribed electrical equipment;
tracking battery use by the equipment;
determining when estimated endurance minus battery use equal a predetermined difference and responsive thereto commencing one or more predetermined shutdown actions.
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23. A backup power system, comprising:
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a battery;
sensor means for detecting battery use;
processing means coupled to the battery and the sensor means for receiving one or more estimates of endurance of the battery to supply electrical power to the prescribed electrical equipment, tracking battery use by the equipment, and determining when estimated endurance minus battery use equal a predetermined difference, and responsive thereto commencing one or more predetermined shutdown actions.
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Specification