Pairing Method Based on Electric Current Synchronicity for Augmented Batteries
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method of paring a battery with an article characterized by a current usage signature, comprising the steps of:
- employing a sensor disposed within the battery to generate a current usage signature for the battery;
employing a communication circuit disposed within the battery to receive said current usage signature from the article;
employing a processor disposed within the battery to compare the battery current usage signature with the article current usage signature; and
based on said comparing step, the processor selectively storing pairing data in a memory disposed within the battery to indicate that the battery and the article are paired.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A plurality of augmented batteries each have internal communication circuitry and current monitoring circuitry allowing them to communicate current usage signatures with one another. Based on analysis of those respective signatures each augmented battery determines if it is “paired” with other batteries, by virtue of being installed in the same device. The augmented batteries use knowledge of pairing to control how they collectively behave to provide augmented functionality, such as alerting the user regarding the charge level within the batteries.
10 Citations
20 Claims
-
1. A method of paring a battery with an article characterized by a current usage signature, comprising the steps of:
-
employing a sensor disposed within the battery to generate a current usage signature for the battery; employing a communication circuit disposed within the battery to receive said current usage signature from the article; employing a processor disposed within the battery to compare the battery current usage signature with the article current usage signature; and based on said comparing step, the processor selectively storing pairing data in a memory disposed within the battery to indicate that the battery and the article are paired. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
-
-
13. A method of determining when two or more batteries are installed in the same device, comprising:
-
using a monitoring circuit within each of said two or more batteries to generate a current usage signature from each of said two or more batteries; and comparing the current usage signatures of the respective two or more batteries and storing a record in at least one electronic storage memory device that identifies batteries having correlated current usage signatures as being installed in the same device.
-
-
14. An augmented battery comprising:
-
at least one electrochemical cell disposed within the battery and capable of holding an electrical charge; an electrical condition monitor disposed within the battery, electrically coupled to said cell, and capable of detecting charge conditions within the cell and for generating an internal current usage signature; a processor disposed within the battery and coupled to said charge monitor, the processor having associated memory disposed within the battery; and a communication circuit disposed within the battery, the processor being programmed to receive an external current usage signature and to compare said external current usage signature with said internal current usage signature and supplying a report message to said communication circuit reflecting whether the external current usage signature and said internal current usage signature are correlated. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
-
Specification