Wireless Capable Battery

• US 20170176539A1
• Filed: 02/15/2016
• Published: 06/22/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 12/16/2015
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: CenturyLink Intellectual Property LLC (Lumen Technologies, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: CenturyLink Intellectual Property LLC (Lumen Technologies, Inc.)
• Inventors: Younger, Keith E.
• Application Number:
  US15/043,931
• Publication Number:
  US 20170176539A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 31/367 Software therefor, e.g. for battery testing using modelling or look-up tables
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 31/371 with remote indication, e.g. on external chargers
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 31/382 Arrangements for monitoring battery or accumulator variables, e.g. SoC
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2209/40 using a wireless architecture
• 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

Novel tools and techniques might provide for implementing wireless capable batteries or wireless capable battery testers. In various embodiments, a wireless capable battery or wireless capable battery tester might receive, from one or more sensors of the wireless capable battery tester, one or more measured characteristics (e.g., voltage, current, temperature, location, etc.) of a battery that is installed in equipment (e.g., telecommunications equipment, vehicle, consumer electronics, lighting systems, solar-powered devices, etc.), and might wirelessly send the measured characteristics to one or more user devices. In some cases, the measured characteristics might be sent to a server over a network for analysis prior to sending wirelessly to the user devices. The user devices might receive the measured characteristics, and might display, in a user interface of an app or web portal, the measured characteristics (in some cases, along with recommended courses of action to take, such as replacement, recharge, etc.).

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

receiving, with a processor of a wireless capable battery tester and from one or more sensors of the wireless capable battery tester, one or more measured characteristics of a battery;

wirelessly sending, with the processor via a wireless transceiver of the wireless capable battery tester, the one or more measured characteristics of the battery to one or more user devices.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the wireless capable battery tester is integrated within the battery.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the wireless capable battery tester is external to the battery, and at least one of the one or more sensors is coupled to the battery.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more sensors include at least one sensor selected from a group consisting of a voltmeter, an ammeter, a thermometer, and a location sensor.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein wirelessly sending the one or more measured characteristics of the battery to one or more user devices comprises wirelessly sending, with the processor via the wireless transceiver, the one or more measured characteristics of the battery to one or more user devices using one of Bluetooth protocol, long term evolution (“

LTE”

) protocol, unlicensed LTE (“

LTE-U”

) protocol, Wi-Fi protocol, controller area network bus (“

CAN bus”

) protocol, or 900 MHz band protocol.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein wirelessly sending the one or more measured characteristics of the battery to one or more user devices comprises:

wirelessly sending, with the processor via the wireless transceiver, the one or more measured characteristics of the battery to a server over a network;

analyzing, with the server, the one or more measured characteristics of the battery by comparing, with the server, each of the one or more measured characteristics of the battery with corresponding one or more battery characteristics of a battery of the same model or type that are stored in at least one database; and

sending, with the server, one or more analyzed characteristics of the battery to the one or more user devices over the network.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more user devices comprises at least one of a tablet computer, a smart phone, a mobile phone, a portable gaming device, a laptop computer, or a desktop computer.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the battery is one of a telecommunications equipment battery within a battery string providing power to telecommunications equipment in a central office or remote cabinet, a battery string providing power to telecommunications equipment in a central office or remote cabinet, a car battery, a boat battery, an aircraft battery, a space station battery, a spacecraft battery, a satellite battery, a consumer electronics battery, a clock battery, a smoke detector battery, a carbon monoxide (“

CO”

) detector battery, a solar-powered street lamp battery, a solar-powered garden light battery, an electronics backup battery, a marine beacon battery, a seismograph battery, or a weather station battery.

9. A wireless capable battery tester, comprising:

one or more sensors;

at least one transceiver;

at least one processor communicatively coupled to each of the one or more sensors and the at least one transceiver; and

a non-transitory computer readable medium communicatively coupled to the at least one processor, the non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon computer software comprising a set of instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, causes the wireless capable battery tester to;

receive, from the one or more sensors, one or more measured characteristics of a battery that the wireless capable battery tester is testing;

wirelessly send, via the at least one transceiver, the one or more measured characteristics of the battery to one or more user devices.

10. The wireless capable battery tester of claim 9, wherein the wireless capable battery tester is integrated within the battery.

11. The wireless capable battery tester of claim 9, wherein the wireless capable battery tester is external to the battery, and at least one of the one or more sensors is coupled to the battery.

12. The wireless capable battery tester of claim 9, wherein the one or more sensors include at least one sensor selected from a group consisting of a voltmeter, an ammeter, a thermometer, and a location sensor.

13. The wireless capable battery tester of claim 9, wherein wirelessly sending the one or more measured characteristics of the battery to one or more user devices comprises wirelessly sending, via the wireless transceiver, the one or more measured characteristics of the battery to one or more user devices using one of Bluetooth protocol, long term evolution (“

LTE”

) protocol, unlicensed LTE (“

LTE-U”

) protocol, Wi-Fi protocol, controller area network bus (“

CAN bus”

) protocol, or 900 MHz band protocol.

14. The wireless capable battery tester of claim 9, wherein the set of instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further causes the wireless capable battery tester to:

wirelessly send, via the wireless transceiver, the one or more measured characteristics of the battery to a server over a network, wherein the server analyzes the one or more measured characteristics of the battery by comparing each of the one or more measured characteristics of the battery with corresponding one or more battery characteristics of a battery of the same model or type that are stored in at least one database, and wherein the server sends one or more analyzed characteristics of the battery to the one or more user devices over the network.

15. The wireless capable battery tester of claim 9, wherein the one or more user devices comprises at least one of a tablet computer, a smart phone, a mobile phone, a portable gaming device, a laptop computer, or a desktop computer.

16. The wireless capable battery tester of claim 9, wherein the battery is one of a telecommunications equipment battery within a battery string providing power to telecommunications equipment in a central office or remote cabinet, a battery string providing power to telecommunications equipment in a central office or remote cabinet, a car battery, a boat battery, an aircraft battery, a space station battery, a spacecraft battery, a satellite battery, a consumer electronics battery, a clock battery, a smoke detector battery, a carbon monoxide (“

CO”

) detector battery, a solar-powered street lamp battery, a solar-powered garden light battery, an electronics backup battery, a marine beacon battery, a seismograph battery, or a weather station battery.

17. A method, comprising:

wirelessly receiving, with a processor of a user device via a wireless transceiver of the user device, one or more characteristics of a battery as measured by a wireless capable battery tester; and

displaying, with the processor and on a display screen of the user device, a user interface, the user interface presenting the one or more characteristics of the battery.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the one or more characteristics of the battery include at least one of voltage, amperage, or temperature of the battery.

19. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

calculating, with the processor, at least one of a current percentage of remaining battery charge, an estimated remaining life, or a current overall condition of the battery, based at least in part on the one or more characteristics of the battery; and

displaying, via the user interface, the calculated at least one of the current percentage of remaining battery charge, the estimated remaining life, or the current overall condition of the battery.

20. The method of claim 19, further comprising at least one of:

based on the calculated current percentage of remaining battery charge of the battery, displaying a notification indicating to recharge the battery;

or

based on the calculated estimated remaining life of the battery, displaying a notification indicating to replace the battery.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the one or more characteristics further comprises a location of the battery, and wherein the method further comprises:

displaying, via the user interface, the location of the battery.

22. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

wirelessly receiving, with the processor via the wireless transceiver of the user device, one or more characteristics of each of a plurality of second batteries as measured by one or more wireless capable battery testers; and

displaying, with the processor via the user interface, the one or more characteristics of each of the plurality of second batteries.