Digital battery
First Claim
1. A digital battery comprising:
- a substrate that is incapable of producing electrical energy;
a plurality of discrete cells supported in an array by said substrate, individual ones of said cells being capable of providing electrical energy, said array being electrically interconnected through an electrical interconnection system, said electrical interconnection system being changeably configurable responsive to signals from an interconnection controller;
an electrical circuit operatively connected to said array, said electrical circuit including at least two loads that require different electrical energy conditions, said interconnection controller being adapted to configure said electrical interconnection system so that individual ones of said plurality of discrete cells are interconnected to provide each of said two loads with the required different electrical energy conditions.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A dynamic battery array of individual cells, controllably interconnected for instantaneous dynamic configuration into a plurality of individual power buses having different electrical power output characteristics, each of which is tailored to supply the electrical power required at the instant by a particular electrical load within a circuit. Preferably the cells are fungible and randomly available so that at any given instant any given cell can be poweringly associated with a particular electrical load. The dynamic battery array, consisting of discrete cells lends itself to mounting on physically flexible substrates such as credit cards. The programmable array employs low resistance switch arrays for dynamically and instantaneously forming individual power networks or power buses between selected power cells and individual electrical loads in electrical circuits. The circuits to which such battery arrays are applied are generally complex circuits in which several different loads occur, each of which has a different power requirement.
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Citations
34 Claims
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1. A digital battery comprising:
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a substrate that is incapable of producing electrical energy;
a plurality of discrete cells supported in an array by said substrate, individual ones of said cells being capable of providing electrical energy, said array being electrically interconnected through an electrical interconnection system, said electrical interconnection system being changeably configurable responsive to signals from an interconnection controller;
an electrical circuit operatively connected to said array, said electrical circuit including at least two loads that require different electrical energy conditions, said interconnection controller being adapted to configure said electrical interconnection system so that individual ones of said plurality of discrete cells are interconnected to provide each of said two loads with the required different electrical energy conditions.
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2. A digital battery comprising:
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a physically flexible substrate that is incapable of producing electrical energy;
a plurality of discrete cells supported in an array by said substrate, individual ones of said cells being capable of providing electrical power, said array being electrically interconnected through a semiconductor switch array;
an electrical circuit operatively connected to said array, said electrical circuit including at least two loads that require different instantaneous electrical energy conditions, said semiconductor switch array interconnecting said individual ones of said cells to provide each of said two loads with the required different electrical energy conditions.
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3. A process of forming a digital battery comprising:
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selecting a substrate that is incapable of producing electrical energy;
forming a plurality of discrete cells supported in an array by said substrate, individual ones of said cells being capable of providing electrical energy, said array being electrically interconnected through an electrical interconnection system;
providing an electrical circuit operatively connected to said array, said electrical circuit including at least two components that require different electrical energy conditions, said electrical interconnection system interconnecting said individual ones of said cells to provide each of said two components with the required different electrical energy conditions.
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4. A complex electronic device including a plurality of individual power cells, said complex electronic device comprising:
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a plurality of individual loads;
a plurality of power conductive paths conductively and selectively associatable with each of said individual power cells and each of said individual loads;
a plurality of semiconductor switches operatively associated with said plurality of power conductive paths, said semiconductor switches being adapted to substantially dynamically selecting at least one of said individual power cells to form a power selection, and to form said power selection into an individual power bus for one of said individual loads. - View Dependent Claims (5, 6)
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7. A system comprising:
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a power array, said power array including a plurality of separate power generating cells;
an electronic circuit, said electronic circuit including at least first and second loads, said first and second loads requiring power for their operation, the power required to operate said first load being different from the power required to operate said second load; and
a programmable switch array between said power array and said electronic circuit, said programmable switch array being adapted to dynamically forming individual power buses between said power array and each of said first and second loads, said individual power buses being formed from said separate power generating cells, substantially all of said separate power generating cells being substantially instantaneously fungible between said individual power buses. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method of providing instantaneous individual power buses for loads in an electronic circuit comprising:
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selecting a power array including a plurality of power cells;
selecting a said electronic circuit including a plurality of loads, said loads requiring power for their operation;
dynamically selecting at least a first said power cell from said power array, and poweringly associating said first power cell with a first of said loads to form a first power bus; and
dynamically selecting at least a second said power cell from said power array, and poweringly associating said second power cell with a second of said loads to form a second power bus, all of the said power cells on said first power bus being different from the said power cells on said second power bus, said forming of said first and second power buses including establishing electrical connections using semiconductor switches having an ON resistance of less than approximately 0.5 ohms, and said semiconductor switches being actuated to establish said electrical connections responsive to control signals generated by a programmable switch array. - View Dependent Claims (14)
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15. An electrical device comprising:
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a plurality of individual power cells;
a plurality of individual electric loads;
a plurality of semiconductor switcher adapted to substantially simultaneously and instantaneously poweringly associating at least a first of said individual power cells with a first of said individual electrical loads and at least a second of said individual power cells with a second of said individual electrical loads, at least said first and second individual power cells being substantially fungible between said first and second individual electrical loads. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17)
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18. A method of powering an electrical device comprising:
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selecting a plurality of individual power cells;
selecting a plurality of individual electrical loads in said electrical device;
selecting a plurality of actuatable semiconductor switches, said plurality of semiconductor switches being power bus formingly associated between said plurality of individual power cells and said plurality of individual electrical loads;
actuating said plurality of actuatable semiconductor switches; and
allowing at least first and second individual power busses to substantially instantaneously and simultaneously form, said first individual power bus being between at least a first of said individual power cells and a first of said individual electrical loads, and said second individual power bus being between as least a second of said individual power cells and a second of said individual electrical loads. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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21. A method of powering an electrical device comprising:
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selecting a plurality of individual power cells;
selecting a plurality of individual electrical loads in said electrical device;
selecting a plurality of actuatable semiconductor switches, said plurality of semiconductor switches being dynamically power bus formingly associated between said plurality of individual power cells and said plurality of individual electrical loads;
actuating said plurality of actuatable semiconductor switches;
allowing at least first and second individual power busses to dynamically and substantially instantaneously and simultaneously form, said first individual power bus being between at least a first and second of said individual power cells and a first of said individual electrical loads, and said second individual power bus being between at least a third one of said individual power cells and a second of said individual electrical loads, said first individual power bus having first instantaneous energy characteristics and said second power bus having second instantaneous energy characteristics, said first and second instantaneous energy characteristics being different from one another; and
establishing said first and second instantaneous energy characteristics at desired values by dynamically adding and removing said individual power cells to said first and second individual power busses.
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22. An electrical device comprising:
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a substrate, said substrate being populated by a plurality of discrete power cells, and discrete power cells being distributed about and integrated with said substrate;
a plurality of electrical modules mounted on and distributed about said substrate, the energy requirements for the operation of at least a first of such electrical modules being different from the energy requirements for the operation of a second of said modules;
a switch array adapted to substantially instantaneously poweringly associating at least a first of said discrete power cells with said first electrical module and at least a second of said discrete power cells with said second electrical module, said switch array being adapted to dynamically re-poweringly associating said discrete power cells with said electrical modules responsive to at least changes in said energy requirements. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24)
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25. A method of powering an electrical device comprising:
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selecting a plurality of individual power cells, said power cells being integral with a substrate;
selecting a plurality of individual electrical loads in said electrical device, said individual electrical loads resulting from the operation of electrical components mounted on said substrate;
selecting a plurality of actuatable semiconductor switches, said actuatable semiconductor switches having ON resistances of less than about 0.5 ohms, said plurality of semiconductor switches being dynamically power bus formingly associated between said plurality of individual power cells and plurality of individual electrical loads;
actuating said plurality of actuatable semiconductor switches;
allowing at least first and second individual power busses to dynamically and substantially instantaneously form, said firsts individual power bus being between at least a first and second of said individual power cells and a first of said individual electrical loads, and said second individual power bus being between at least a third of said individual power cells and a second of said individual electrical loads, said first individual power bus having first instantaneous energy characteristics, and said second power bus having second instantaneous energy characteristics, said first and second instantaneous energy characteristics being different from one another and changing over time; and
establishing said first and second instantaneous energy characteristics at desired values by dynamically adding and removing said individual power cells from time to time to said first and second individual power busses. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28)
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29. An electrical device comprising:
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a substrate, said substrate having a thickness between opposed external surfaces and being populated by a plurality of Discrete power cells, said discrete power cells being distributed about and integrated with said substrate, and at least some of such discrete power cells being at lest partially embedded within said substrate between said opposed exrernal surfaces;
a plurality of electrical modules mounted on and distributed about said substrate, at least some of said electrical modules being at least partially embedded within said substrate between said opposed external surfaces, said electrical modules having energy requirements for their operation, and the energy requirements for operating a first of said electrical modules being different from the energy requirements for operating a second of said electrical modules;
a switch array adapted to substantially instantaneously poweringly associating at least a first of said discrete power cells with said first electrical module and at least a second of said discrete power cells with said second electrical module, said switch array being adapted to dynamically re-poweringly associating said discrete power cells with said electrical modules responsive to changes in said energy requirements or said discrete power cells.
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30. An electrical device comprising:
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a substrate, said substrate being physically flexible and being populated by a plurality of discrete power cells, said discrete power cells being capable of generating energy and being distributed about and integrated with said substrate, said substrate having at least first and second areas, said first area comprising at least about 8 such discrete power cells per square inch;
a plurality of electrical modules mounted on and distributed about said substrate, said electrical modules having energy requirements for their operation, and the energy requirements for operating a first of said electrical modules being different from the energy requirements for operating a second of said electrical modules;
a switch array adapted to substantially instantaneously poweringly associating at least a first of said discrete power cells with said first electrical module and at least a second of said discrete power cells with said second electrical module, said switch array being adapted to dynamically re-poweringly associating said discrete power cells with said electrical modules responsive to changes in said energy requirements or in the energy generation of said discrete power cells. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32)
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33. An electrical device comprising:
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a substrate comprising at least a first area, said substrate being populated by a plurality of discrete power cells, said discrete power cells being distributed about and integrated with said substrate, and said first area having at least about 8 of said discrete power cells per square inch;
a plurality of electrical modules mounted on and distributed about said substrate, the energy requirements for the operation of at least a first of such electrical modules being different from the energy requirements for the operation of a second of said modules;
a switch array adapted to substantially instantaneously poweringly associating at least first of said discrete power cells with said first electrical module at least a second of said discrete power cells with said second electrical module, said switch array being adapted to dynamically re-poweringly associating said discrete power cells with said electrical modules responsive to at least changes in said energy requirements. - View Dependent Claims (34)
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Specification