Mobile telephone featuring accelerated ambient temperature measurement module

• US 7,027,834 B2
• Filed: 03/05/2002
• Issued: 04/11/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 10/02/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nokia Technologies Oy (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Nokia Corporation
• Inventors: Soini, Sakari, Simonen, Mika, Tammi, Teemu
• Primary Examiner(s): Tran, CongVan
• Application Number:
  US10/091,181
• Publication Number:
  US 20030064749A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,498 Days
• Field of Search: 455/556, 455/403, 455/416, 455/90.1, 455/90.3, 455/95, 455/556.1, 455/66.1, 374/163, 374/170, 236/44.C, 236/46.C, 236/48.C, 236/78.B, 340/501
• US Class Current: 455/556.1
• CPC Class Codes: G01K 7/42 Circuits effecting compensation of thermal inertia; Circuits for predicting the stationary value of a temperature
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/21 Combinations with auxiliary equipment, e.g. with clocks or memoranda pads

Abstract

A mobile phone has various components, including a housing and a battery, and an accelerated ambient temperature measurement module for measuring the ambient temperature of the environment surrounding the user equipment based on the temperature of at least one point in the mobile phone. The at least one point may include one or more points in relation to one or more of the various components. The accelerated ambient temperature measurement module measures the accelerated ambient temperature based on the temperature of the housing or the battery. The mobile phone has a resistor arranged in relation to either the housing or battery, and the accelerated ambient temperature measurement module determines the accelerated ambient temperature based on certain equations.

Claims

1. User equipment having components, including a housing and a battery, characterized in that the user equipment comprises an accelerated ambient temperature measurement module for measuring the ambient temperature of the environment surrounding the user equipment based on a relationship defined by a change in the temperature of at least one point in the user equipment at least at two different instances of time, a measurement of an electrical component parameter at one of the instances in time, as well as a known constant of the electrical component parameter.

2. User equipment according to claim 1, characterized in that the at least one point includes one or more points in relation to one or more components of the user equipment.

3. User equipment according to claim 2, characterized in that the one or more components include a housing having an electrical component arranged in relation thereto.

4. User equipment according to claim 3, characterized in that the electrical component is a resistor;

and

the accelerated ambient temperature measurement module has a temperature determination module that determines the ambient temperature based on an equation;

$R_2=R_1<br><br>\exp <br><br>\left(B<br><br>\left(\frac{1}{T_2}-\frac{1}{T_1}\right)\right),$

where R₁ is the resistance at temperature T₁, R₂ is the resistance at temperature T₂ and B is a resistor constant, for example, a B-value.

5. User equipment according to claim 4, characterized in that the temperature determination module determines a heat transfer coefficient h which is a measure of the cooling effect of air flow and thus air velocity using the equation:

$h=\frac{\mathrm{\varphi <br><br>}}{A<br><br>\left(T_{\mathrm{air}}-T_r\right)},$

where A is the area of the resistor, T_air is the temperature of the surrounding air and T_r is the temperature of the resistor.

6. User equipment according to claim 1, characterized in that the one or more components include a battery.

7. User equipment according to claim 6, characterized in that the user equipment has an electrical component arranged in relation to the battery.

8. User equipment according to claim 7, characterized in that the electrical component is a resistor;

and

the accelerated ambient temperature measurement module has a temperature determination module that determines the ambient temperature based on an equation;

T=(T₁−

T₀(e<sup>−

t/τ</sup>

)) /(1−

e<sup>−

t/τ</sup>

),

where T is the accelerated ambient temperature measurement, T₁ is the temperature of the battery at a time t, T₀ is the temperature of the battery at t=0 seconds, and τ

is a time constant that describes the cooling rate of the user equipment.

9. User equipment according to claim 1, characterized in that the user equipment comprises a display for showing the accelerated ambient temperature measurement in Celsius or Fahrenheit degrees.

10. User equipment according to claim 1, characterized in that the user equipment comprises a display having a menu with a menu selection for displaying the accelerated ambient temperature measurement.

11. User equipment according to claim 1, characterized in that the user equipment comprises an audio module for generating an audio signal containing the accelerated ambient temperature measurement in Celsius or Fahrenheit degrees.

12. User equipment according to claim 1, characterized in that the accelerated ambient temperature measurement module comprises a temperature conversion module for converting an accelerated ambient temperature measurement either from Celsius to Fahrenheit degrees or from Fahrenheit to Celsius degrees.

13. User equipment according to claim 1, characterized in that the accelerated ambient temperature measurement module comprises a rounding module for rounding an accelerated ambient temperature measurement to a nearest whole number.

27. User equipment according to claim 1, wherein the relationship includes determining a factor based on the difference between the inverse of two temperatures in relation to the known constant.

28. User equipment according to claim 27, wherein the relationship includes determining an exponential value of the factor.

29. User equipment according to claim 28, wherein the relationship also includes determining the electrical component at a first instant of time based on a further relationship between the exponential value and the electrical component at a second instant of time.

30. User equipment according to claim 1, wherein the electrical component is either a resistor, a capacitor, an inductor, a diode, a transistor, another suitable electrical component, or some combination thereof.

14. A method for providing an ambient temperature of the environment surrounding user equipment, such as a mobile phone, having components including a housing and a battery, comprising the step of:

measuring the temperature of at least one point in the user equipment; and

measuring the ambient temperature of the environment surrounding the user equipment based on a relationship defined by a change in the temperature of the at least one point at least at two different instances of time, a measurement of an electrical component parameter at one of the instances in time, in addition to a known constant of the electrical component parameter.

15. A method according to claim 14, characterized in that the step of measuring the temperature of the at least one point includes measuring one or more points in relation to one or more components of the user equipment.

16. A method according to claim 15, characterized in that the one or more components include a housing;

and the method includes the step of arranging an electrical component in relation to the housing.

17. A method according to claim 16, characterized in that

the step of arranging includes arranging a resistor in relation to the housing;

and

the step of measuring the ambient temperature includes using an equation;

$R_2=R_1<br><br>\exp <br><br>\left(B<br><br>\left(\frac{1}{T_2}-\frac{1}{T_1}\right)\right),$

where R₁ is the resistance at temperature T₁, R₂ is the resistance at temperature T₂ and B is a resistor constant e.g B-value.

18. A method according to claim 17, characterized in that the method comprises the steps of determining a heat transfer coefficient h which is a measure of the cooling effect of air flow and thus air velocity using the equation:

$h=\frac{\mathrm{\varphi <br><br>}}{A<br><br>\left(T_{\mathrm{air}}-T_r\right)},$

where A is the area of the resistor, T_air is the temperature of the surrounding air and T_r is the temperature of the resistor.

19. A method according to claim 15, characterized in that the at least one component includes a battery.

20. A method according to claim 19, characterized in that the method includes the step of arranging an electrical component in relation to the battery.

21. A method according to claim 20, characterized in that

the step of arranging includes arranging a resistor in relation to the battery;

and

the step of measuring the ambient temperature includes using an equation;

T=(T₁−

T₀(e<sup>−

t/τ</sup>

)) /(1−

e<sup>−

t/τ</sup>

),

where T is the accelerated ambient temperature measurement, T₁ is the temperature of the battery at a time t, T₀ is the temperature of the battery at t=0 seconds, and r is a time constant that describes the cooling rate of the user equipment.

22. A method according to claim 14, characterized in that the method comprises the step of displaying the accelerated ambient temperature measurement in Celsius or Fahrenheit degrees.

23. A method according to claim 14, characterized in that the method comprises the step of displaying a menu with a menu selection for providing the accelerated ambient temperature measurement.

24. A method according to claim 14, characterized in that the method comprises the step of generating an audio signal containing the accelerated ambient temperature measurement in Celsius or Fahrenheit degrees.

25. A method according to claim 14, characterized in that the method comprises the step of converting the accelerated ambient temperature measurement either from Celsius to Fahrenheit degrees or from Fahrenheit to Celsius degrees.

26. A method according to claim 14, characterized in that the method comprises the step of rounding the accelerated ambient temperature measurement to a nearest whole number.

31. A method according to claim 14, wherein the relationship includes determining a factor based on the difference between the inverse of two temperatures in relation to the known constant.

32. A method according to claim 31, wherein the relationship includes determining an exponential value of the factor.

33. A method according to claim 32, wherein the relationship also includes determining the electrical component at a first instant of time based on a further relationship between the exponential value and the electrical component at a second instant of time.

34. A method according to claim 14, wherein the electrical component is either a resistor, a capacitor, an inductor, a diode, a transistor, another suitable electrical component, or some combination thereof.