Method and apparatus of charge management for battery in mobile terminal

• US 20090085517A1
• Filed: 06/27/2008
• Published: 04/02/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 06/29/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Lenovo (Beijing) Limited (Lenovo Group Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Lenovo (Beijing) Limited (Lenovo Group Ltd.)
• Inventors: Liu, Yonghua
• Granted Patent: US 8,063,608 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 320/132
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/44 Methods for charging or discharging circuits for charging H02J7/00
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/48 Accumulators combined with arrangements for measuring, testing or indicating the condition of cells, e.g. the level or density of the electrolyte constructional details of current conducting connections for detecting conditions inside cells or batteries, e.g. details of voltage sensing terminals, H01M50/569
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/0048 Detection of remaining charge capacity or state of charge [SOC]
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/0069 Charging or discharging for charge maintenance, battery initiation or rejuvenation
• CPC Class Codes: Y02B 40/00 Technologies aiming at improving the efficiency of home appliances, e.g. induction cooking or efficient technologies for refrigerators, freezers or dish washers
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 60/10 Energy storage using batteries

Abstract

The present invention provides a charge management method for a battery in a mobile terminal having the steps of: setting an initial charge start point; setting a statistic analysis interval for gathering the remaining capacity of the battery at time of start and creating a statistic array for recording the remaining capacity of the battery upon each power-on operation in the statistic analysis interval; reading current remaining capacity of the battery and storing it sequentially in the statistic array; calculating a new charge start point based on a predetermined adaptive algorithm; and updating the initial charge start point with the new charge start point. The present invention also provides a charge management apparatus for a battery in a mobile terminal. With the present invention, it is possible to set an optimal charge start point through measurements, and thus lengthen the battery'"'"'s lifetime. Especially for users who rarely use a battery to supply power, the battery'"'"'s lifetime can be considerably extended in a smart way, and the safety of use of battery is improved.

Claims

1. A charge management method for a battery in a mobile terminal, comprising steps of:

setting an initial charge start point;

setting a statistic analysis interval for gathering a remaining capacity of the battery at time of start and creating a statistic array for recording the remaining capacity of the battery upon each power-on operation in said statistic analysis interval;

reading current remaining capacity of the battery and storing it sequentially in said statistic array;

calculating a new charge start point with said statistic array based on a predetermined adaptive algorithm; and

updating said initial charge start point with said new charge start point.

2. The charge management method of claim 1, wherein said current remaining capacity of the battery is read when an AC/DC adapter is connected to said mobile terminal and begins to supply power.

3. The charge management method of claim 2, wherein said statistic analysis interval is a predetermined number of power-on operations or a predetermined time period.

4. The charge management method of claim 3, wherein elements in said statistic array are denoted by Asoc(1), Asoc(2), . . . , Asoc(N) and record sequentially the remaining capacities of the battery upon N power-on operations, wherein N is an integer equal to or greater than 1, and initial values of said elements are set to be 0.

5. The charge management method of claim 4, wherein in calculating the charge start point, a maximal power consumption amount of said mobile terminal after disconnected from said AC/DC adapter is first calculated according to said remaining capacities of the battery stored in said statistic array.

6. The charge management method of claim 5, wherein said maximal power consumption amount, denoted by U, is calculated through the following equation:

U=Max (Asoc(2)−

Asoc(1), . . . , Asoc(N)−

Asoc(N−

1)).

7. The charge management method of claim 6, wherein a first charge start point, denoted by S, is calculated through the following equation as said new charge start point:

S=Min (Max(Smin,U), Smax),

where Smin denotes a minimal charge start point, and Smax denotes a maximal charge start point.

8. The charge management method of claim 7, wherein Smin=5 and Smax=96.

9. The charge management method of claim 7, wherein a second charge start point, denoted by S2, is calculated through the following equation as said new charge start point:

S2=S+(Smax−

S)*c, where 0<

c<

1.

10. A charge management apparatus for a battery in a mobile terminal, comprising:

an initial charge start point setting module for setting an initial charge start point;

a statistic analysis interval setting module for setting a statistic analysis interval for gathering a remaining capacity of the battery at time of start;

a statistic array creating module for creating a statistic array for recording the remaining capacity of the battery upon each power-on operation in said statistic analysis interval;

a reading module for reading current remaining capacity of the battery and storing it sequentially in said statistic array;

a calculation module for calculating a new charge start point with said statistic array based on a predetermined adaptive algorithm; and

an updating module for updating said initial charge start point with said new charge start point calculated by said calculation module.

11. The charge management apparatus of claim 10, wherein said reading module reads the current remaining capacity of the battery when an AC/DC adapter is connected to said mobile terminal and begins to supply power.

12. The charge management apparatus of claim 11, wherein said statistic analysis interval is a predetermined number of power-on operations or a predetermined time period.

13. The charge management apparatus of claim 12, wherein elements in said statistic array are denoted by Asoc(1), Asoc(2), . . . , Asoc(N) and record sequentially the remaining capacities of the battery upon N power-on operations, wherein N is an integer equal to or greater than 1, and initial values of said elements are set to be 0.

14. The charge management apparatus of claim 13, wherein said calculation module calculates a maximal power consumption amount of said mobile terminal after disconnected from said AC/DC adapter according to said remaining capacities of the battery stored in said statistic array.

15. The charge management apparatus of claim 14, wherein said calculation module calculates said maximal power consumption amount denoted by U through the following equation:

U=Max(Asoc(2)−

Asoc(1), . . . , Asoc(N)−

Asoc(N−

1)) .

16. The charge management apparatus of claim 15, wherein said calculation module calculates a first charge start point denoted by S through the following equation as said new charge start point:

S=Min (Max(Smin,U), Smax),

where Smin denotes a minimal charge start point, and Smax denotes a maximal charge start point.

17. The charge management apparatus of claim 16, wherein Smin=5 and Smax=96.

18. The charge management apparatus of claim 16, wherein said calculation module calculates a second charge start point denoted by S2 through the following equation as said new charge start point:

S2=S+(Smax−

S)*c, where 0<

c<

1.