Management of fast battery charging in mobile devices
First Claim
1. An apparatus comprising:
- a battery for providing power to said apparatus;
a medium for connection to an AC power source; and
a battery charge manager which manages charging of said battery during connection of said connection medium with an AC power source;
said battery charge manager acting to lower a threshold amount of battery capacity at which a slow-charge is applied to said batteryresponsive to determining enough time is available for slow-charging said battery.
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Accused Products
Abstract
For laptops or other mobile devices, a battery charging arrangement wherein fast-charging and/or slow-charging is governed by something other than a fixed, immovable battery level threshold. Particularly, a variable threshold is broadly contemplated herein which may be governed by any of a very wide variety of conceivable factors, including (but by no means limited to) information relating to a user'"'"'s schedule or calendar, especially as regards “free” time when a user is not using a computer. Accordingly, if there is a long uninterrupted period of computer “downtime” (i.e., when a user is not using the computer), the battery level threshold below which fast-charging takes place can be lower. By the same token, for short periods of computer downtime, this threshold can be higher. In this manner, fast-charging is reserved only for the most compelling, time-based circumstances.
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Citations
17 Claims
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1. An apparatus comprising:
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a battery for providing power to said apparatus; a medium for connection to an AC power source; and a battery charge manager which manages charging of said battery during connection of said connection medium with an AC power source; said battery charge manager acting to lower a threshold amount of battery capacity at which a slow-charge is applied to said battery responsive to determining enough time is available for slow-charging said battery. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method comprising:
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connecting a mobile device to an AC power source; thereafter charging a battery of the mobile device; and managing the charging of the battery to lower a threshold amount of battery capacity at which a slow-charge is applied to said battery responsive to determining enough time is available for slow-charging said battery. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A program storage device readable by machine, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the machine to perform a method comprising:
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connecting a mobile device to an AC power source; thereafter charging a battery of the mobile device; and managing the charging of the battery to lower a threshold amount of battery capacity at which a slow-charge is applied to said battery responsive to determining enough time is available for slow-charging said battery.
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Specification