Battery wireless link

• US 20100161257A1
• Filed: 12/18/2008
• Published: 06/24/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 12/18/2008
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Original Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Inventors: De Mers, Robert E., Cornett, Alan, Becker, Robert Charles
• Application Number:
  US12/316,931
• Publication Number:
  US 20100161257A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 702/63
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 31/3835 involving only voltage measurements
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2209/43 using wireless personal area networks [WPAN], e.g. 802.15, 802.15.1, 802.15.4, Bluetooth or ZigBee
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 9/00 Arrangements in telecontrol or telemetry systems for selectively calling a substation from a main station, in which substation desired apparatus is selected for applying a control signal thereto or for obtaining measured values therefrom

Abstract

An apparatus and method for wireless communication with a battery. A sensed condition associated with the battery is provided to a microcontroller which relays this information to a wireless module for communication with a host device or remote receiver.

Claims

1. A battery pack, comprising:

a battery for supplying power to an electronic apparatus;

a sensor proximate to the battery; and

a wireless transmission circuit for transmitting information acquired by the sensor to a remote receiver.

2. The battery pack according to claim 1, wherein said sensor is a GPS receiver.

3. The battery pack according to claim 1, wherein said sensor measures the terminal voltage of the battery.

4. The battery pack according to claim 1, wherein:

said battery pack is installed in an electronic device; and

the wireless transmission circuit operates to send information obtained from the sensor to the electronic device for further display or processing.

5. The battery pack according to claim 4 wherein the battery pack also includes a microcontroller which receives data collected by the sensor and sends it to the wireless transmission circuit for communication to the electronic device.

15. The battery pack according to claim 2 wherein said electronic apparatus is a personal computer.

16. The battery pack according to claim 2 wherein said GPS receiver is capable of determining the geospatial location of the battery pack to allow remote tracking of the electronic apparatus and battery pack.

17. The battery pack according to claim 15 wherein said personal computer contains software which receives the wireless transmission.

18. The battery pack according to claim 17 wherein said software provides feedback on the information obtained by the sensor to the personal computer user.

19. The battery pack of claim 1 wherein said information obtained by the sensor is the remaining capacity of the battery.

20. The battery pack of claim 1 wherein said information obtained by the sensor is the charging status of said battery.

6. A communication method for transmitting data acquired from a battery comprising the steps of:

providing power to a microcontroller from said battery;

acquiring the data from at least one sensor capable of sensing a predetermined condition regarding said battery;

transmitting the data acquired using a wireless communication protocol to a remote receiver.

7. The communication method according to claim 6, wherein said sensor is operable to sense at least one of the following:

charge status, discharge status, remaining capacity, GPS coordinates, inertial position, or temperature.

13. The communication method of claim 6 wherein said microcontroller includes memory, further comprising the step of storing said data in the memory for said transmission.

14. The communication method of claim 13 wherein said sensor is operable to determine the geospatial location of the battery.

8. A battery pack, comprising:

a rechargeable battery;

a monitoring circuit coupled to said rechargeable battery for measuring a predetermined condition of said rechargeable battery;

a microcontroller coupled to said monitoring circuit capable of storing at least one value of the predetermined condition and providing an output indicative of the at least one value of the predetermined condition;

a wireless communication module capable of transmitting the output from the microcontroller to a remote receiver.

9. The battery pack of claim 8, wherein said monitoring circuit includes a GPS receiver for monitoring the location of the rechargeable battery.

10. The battery pack of claim 9, wherein said wireless communication module communicates using the Bluetooth protocol to the host device in which the rechargeable battery is being used.

11. The battery pack of claim 8 further including a non-volatile data storage device.

12. The battery pack of claim 8 wherein the battery pack is installed in a portable computer, said computer containing software which is capable of receiving the wireless transmission of the output from the microcontroller.