SENSOR IN BATTERY

• US 20110001484A1
• Filed: 09/08/2009
• Published: 01/06/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 07/06/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Brake, Desiree D., Ludwin, Albert S., Bullard, Gregory T., Pruetting, Christopher J., Thomas, Jason C., Winchell, Diane M., Stits, Raymond S.
• Granted Patent: US 8,723,525 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 324/426
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/00 Secondary cells; Manufacture thereof
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/0525 Rocking-chair batteries, i.e. batteries with lithium insertion or intercalation in both electrodes; Lithium-ion batteries
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/30 Nickel accumulators H01M10/34 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/345 Gastight metal hydride accumulators
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/425 Structural combination with electronic components, e.g. electronic circuits integrated to the outside of the casing printed circuits H05K1/00
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 50/202 Casings or frames around the primary casing of a single cell or a single battery
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 50/247 specially adapted for portable devices, e.g. mobile phones, computers, hand tools or pacemakers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/10 Scheduling measurement reports ; Arrangements for measurement reports
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/90 Services for handling of emergency or hazardous situations, e.g. earthquake and tsunami warning systems [ETWS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/50 for emergency connections
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 60/10 Energy storage using batteries

Abstract

Systems and method for providing sensors in batteries are provided. In certain aspects of the disclosure, a battery comprises a housing dimensioned to fit within a battery compartment of the communication device, a battery cell configured to supply power to the communication device, one or more sensors within the housing configured to measure a condition external to the battery and to received power from the battery cell, and an interface configured to interface the one or more sensors with a processing system in the communication device.

Claims

1. A battery for a communication device, comprising:

a housing dimensioned to fit within a battery compartment of the communication device;

a battery cell configured to supply power to the communication device;

one or more sensors within the housing configured to measure a condition external to the communication device and to received power from the battery cell; and

an interface configured to interface the one or more sensors with a processing system in the communication device.

2. The battery of claim 1, wherein the one or more sensors are selected from a group consisting of chemical sensors, biological sensors and radiation sensors.

3. The battery of claim 1, wherein the interface comprises one or more contacts disposed on a surface of the housing, wherein the one or more contacts are electrically coupled to the one or more sensors and aligned with corresponding one or more contacts in the battery compartment if the housing is placed within the battery compartment.

4. The battery of claim 1, wherein the interface comprises a wireless transceiver configured to communicate with the processing system in the communication device over a wireless link.

5. The battery of claim 1, wherein the interface includes a sensor interface configured to receive a signal from the one or more sensors, to process the received signal into sensor data and to the send sensor data to the processing system in the communication device.

6. The battery of claim 5, further comprising a memory within the housing, wherein the sensor interface is configured to store the sensor data in the memory and to send the sensor data from the memory to the processing system in the communication device at a later time.

7. The battery of claim 5, wherein the sensor interface is configured to receive instructions from the processing system in the communication device and to take sensor readings from the one or more sensors based on the received instructions.

8. The battery of claim 7, wherein the instructions include a time interval between sensor readings.

9. The battery of claim 1, wherein the housing comprises one or more openings configured to allow air-borne substances external to the battery to enter the housing and interact with the one or more sensors.

10. The battery of claim 9, further comprising an air pump within the housing configured to pump air external to the battery into the housing through the one or more openings.

11. A method for measuring a condition external to a communication device using a battery, the method comprising:

providing power to the communication device using a battery cell in the battery;

measuring the condition external to the communication device using one or more sensors in the battery to obtain a measurement of the condition external to the communication device; and

communicating the measurement from the battery to a processing system in the communication device.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the one or more sensors are selected from a group consisting of chemical sensors, biological sensors and radiation sensors.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the communicating the measurement comprises communicating the measurement from the battery to the processing system in the communication device using one or more contacts disposed on a housing of the battery.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein the communicating the measurement comprises communicating the measurement from the battery to the processing system in the communication device over a wireless link between the battery and the communication device.

15. The method of claim 11, wherein the communicating the measurement from the battery to the processing system in the communication device comprises:

receiving a signal from the one or more sensors;

processing the signal into sensor data; and

sending the sensor data from the battery to the processing system in the communication device.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising storing the sensor data in a memory in the battery, and wherein the communicating the measurement comprises sending the sensor data from the memory in the battery to the processing system in the communication device.

17. The method of claim 15, further comprising receiving instructions from the processing system in the communication device, and wherein the measuring the condition external to the communication device using the one or more sensor is based on the received instructions.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the instructions include a time interval between sensor readings.

19. The method of claim 11, further comprising pumping air external to the battery into an interior of the battery.

20. An apparatus for measuring a condition external to a communication device, the apparatus configured to fit within a battery compartment of the communication device, the apparatus comprising:

means for providing power to the communication device;

means for measuring the condition external to the communication device to obtain a measurement of the condition external to the communication device; and

means for communicating the measurement to a processing system in the communication device.

21. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the means for measuring comprises means for measuring a contaminate selected from the group consisting of a chemical, a biological substance and radiation.

22. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the means for communicating the measurement comprises means for communicating the measurement to the processing system in the communication device using one or more contacts disposed on a surface of the apparatus.

23. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the means for communicating the measurement comprises means for communicating the measurement to the processing system in the communication device over a wireless link.

24. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the means for communicating the measurement to the processing system in the communication device comprises:

means for receiving a signal from the one or more sensors;

means for processing the signal into sensor data; and

means for sending the sensor data to the processing system in the communication device.

25. The apparatus of claim 24, further comprising means for storing the sensor data and wherein the means for communicating the measurement comprises means for sending the sensor data from the means for storing the sensor data to the processing system in the communication device.

26. The apparatus of claim 24, further comprising means for receiving instructions from the processing system in the communication device, and wherein the means for measuring the condition external to the communication device measures the condition external to the communication based on the received instructions.

28. The apparatus of claim 20, further comprising means for pumping air external to the apparatus into the apparatus.

27. The apparatus of claim 27, wherein the instructions include a time interval between sensor readings.

29. A communication device, comprising:

a housing comprising a battery compartment dimensioned to receive a battery therein;

a processing system; and

an interface configured to interface the processing system with one or more sensors in the battery,

wherein the processing system is configured to process data from the one or more sensors in the battery to determine whether a contaminate is present outside the communication device.

30. The communication device of claim 29, wherein the contaminate is selected from a group consisting of a chemical, a biological substance and radiation.

31. The communication device of claim 29, wherein the interface comprises one or more contacts within the battery compartment, wherein the one or more contacts are electrically coupled to the processing system and aligned with corresponding one or more contacts disposed on the battery if the battery is placed within the battery compartment.

32. The communication device of claim 29, wherein the interface comprises a wireless transceiver configured to receive the data from the battery over a wireless link.

33. The communication device of claim 29, wherein the processing system is configured to send an instruction to a sensor interface in the battery to take a sensor reading from the one or more sensors in the battery.

34. The communication device of claim 33, wherein the instruction includes an identifier for identifying a particular one of the one or more sensors.

35. The communication device of claim 29, wherein the processing system is configured to send a report to a network reporting a detection of the contaminate if the processing system determines that the contaminate is present based on the sensor data.

36. A method for detecting a contaminate at a communication device, the method comprising:

receiving power from a battery;

receiving data from one or more sensors in the battery; and

processing the received data to determine whether the contaminate is present outside the communication device.

37. The method of claim 36, wherein the contaminate is selected from a group consisting of a chemical, a biological substance and radiation.

38. The method of claim 36, wherein the receiving data comprises receiving the data using one or more contacts disposed within a battery compartment of the communication device.

39. The method of claim 36, wherein the receiving data comprises receiving the data over a wireless link between the communication device and the battery.

40. The method of claim 36, further comprising sending an instruction to a sensor interface in the battery to take a sensor reading from the one or more sensors in the battery.

41. The method of claim 40, wherein the instructions includes an identifier for identifying a particular one of the one or more sensors.

42. The method of claim 36, further comprising sending a report to a network reporting detection of the contaminate if the processing of the received data determines that the contaminate is present outside the communication device.

43. An apparatus for detecting a contaminate at a communication device, comprising:

means for receiving power from a battery;

means for receiving data from one or more sensors in the battery; and

means for processing the received data to determine whether the contaminate is present outside the communication device.

44. The apparatus of claim 43, wherein the contaminate is selected from a group consisting of a chemical, a biological substance and radiation.

45. The apparatus of claim 43, wherein the means for receiving data comprises means for receiving the data using one or more contacts disposed within a battery compartment of the communication device.

46. The apparatus of claim 43, wherein the means for receiving data comprises means for receiving the data over a wireless link between the communication device and the battery.

47. The apparatus of claim 43, further comprising means for sending an instruction to a sensor interface in the battery to take a sensor reading from the one or more sensors in the battery.

48. The apparatus of claim 47, wherein the instructions includes an identifier for identifying a particular one of the one or more sensors.

49. The apparatus of claim 43, further comprising means for sending a report to a network reporting detection of the contaminate if the means for processing the received data determines that the contaminate is present outside the communication device.