Testing of a battery of a computing device

• US 8,498,830 B2
• Filed: 08/31/2010
• Issued: 07/30/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 08/31/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Landry, John A., Matthews, Robert D., Wozniak, John A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Teixira Moffat, Jonathan C
• Assistant Examiner(s): Chang, Stephanie
• Application Number:
  US12/872,453
• Publication Number:
  US 20120053870A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,064 Days
• Field of Search: 702/57, 702/60, 702/63
• US Class Current: 702/63
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 31/385 Arrangements for measuring battery or accumulator variables for monitoring G01R31/382
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/42 Methods or arrangements for servicing or maintenance of secondary cells or secondary half-cells H01M10/60 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 60/10 Energy storage using batteries

Abstract

Example embodiments relate to testing of a battery of a computing device. In example embodiments, a battery test may include determining whether charge control is available for a battery and reading battery data from the battery based on whether charge control is available for the battery. In addition, in example embodiments, the battery test may include determining whether the battery should be replaced based on the battery data.

Claims

1. A computing device comprising:

a battery to provide power to the computing device; and

a battery test module comprising;

a charge detection module to determine whether the computing device is currently coupled to an Alternating Current (AC) power source for charging the battery,

a charge control module to determine whether charge control is available for the battery, the charge control includes a charging state and a discharging state of the battery,

a data reading module to read battery data from the battery using a read procedure selected based on whether charge control is available for the battery, and

a test logic module to determine whether the battery should be replaced based on the battery data read by the data reading module,

in which, when charge control is not available, the data module reads battery data from the battery.

2. The computing device of claim 1, further comprising:

a keyboard controller in communication with a controller of the battery; and

a Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) to receive commands from the battery test module and provide the commands to the keyboard controller for transmission to the controller of the battery.

3. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the battery test module executes as one of an application in an operating system of the computing device and an application in a Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (uEFI) environment of the computing device.

4. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the charge control module:

determines whether there are multiple batteries coupled to the computing device, and

determines that charge control is available when the battery is the only battery coupled to the computing device and the charge detection module determines that the computing device is currently coupled to an AC power source.

5. The computing device of claim 4, wherein the charge control module:

determines, when there are multiple batteries coupled to the computing device, whether charge control is available by determining whether a hardware charge control feature for controlling a charging state of each battery is available in the computing device.

6. The computing device of claim 5, wherein, when charge control is available, the read procedure performed by the data reading module comprises:

resetting the battery,

setting the battery to a charging state, and

reading the battery data from the battery after setting the battery to the charging state.

7. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the battery test module further comprises a warranty module to:

determine whether the battery is under warranty when the test logic module determines that the battery should be replaced, and

output a failure identifier when is determined that the battery is under warranty, and

output a selectable element for purchasing a replacement battery when it is determined that the battery is not under warranty.

8. The computing device of claim 7, wherein to determine whether the battery is under warranty, the warranty module:

determines an age value as the lesser of an age of the computing device and an age of the battery, and

determines that the battery is under warranty when a length of the warranty of the battery is greater than the age value.

9. The computing device of claim 8, wherein the warranty module determines the length of the warranty of the battery using a value included in a manufacturer field of the battery data.

10. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the battery test module further comprises a calibration module to identify a calibration type of the battery using the battery data when the test logic module indicates that calibration of the battery should be performed.

11. The computing device of claim 10, wherein:

to identify the calibration type, the calibration module attempts to read the calibration type from a calibration type field included in the battery data, and

when the calibration module fails to read the calibration type from the battery data, the calibration module determines the calibration type based on at least one of a manufacturer of the battery and a model identifier of the computing device.

12. The computing device of claim 10, wherein:

when an automatic calibration procedure is supported for the identified calibration type, the calibration module starts or schedules the automatic calibration procedure, and

when the automatic calibration procedure is not supported for the identified calibration type, the calibration module outputs steps included in a manual calibration procedure corresponding to the identified calibration type.

13. The computing device of claim 1, further comprising:

a reporting module to transmit results returned by the test logic module to a remote server.

14. A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium encoded with instructions executable by a processor of a computing device for battery testing, the machine-readable storage medium comprising:

instructions for determining whether charge control is enabled for controlling a charging state and a discharging of each of a plurality of batteries that provide power to the computing device;

instructions for determining whether charge control is enabled for the controlling a charging state of each of a plurality of batteries that provide power to the computing device;

instructions for reading respective battery data from each battery using a read procedure based on whether charge control is enabled;

instructions for analyzing respective battery data of each battery to determine whether each battery should be replaced; and

instructions for reading battery data from the battery when charge control is not available.

15. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein, when it is determined that charge control is enabled for each of the plurality of batteries, the instructions for reading comprise, for each battery to be tested:

resetting each of the plurality of batteries,

setting the battery to be tested to a charging state, and

reading the battery data from the battery to be tested.

16. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 14, further comprising:

instructions for reading the respective battery data to determine a warranty length for each battery that should be replaced, and

instructions for determining whether each battery that should be replaced is supported under warranty using the determined warranty length.

17. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 14, further comprising:

instructions for reading the respective battery data to determine a calibration type for each battery determined to require calibration by the instructions for analyzing, and

instructions for starting or scheduling an automatic calibration procedure for each battery for which the automatic calibration procedure is supported for the determined calibration type.

18. A battery test method comprising:

determining, in a computing device, whether charge control is enabled for controlling a charging state and a discharging state of a battery that provides power to the computing device;

reading battery data from the battery using a read procedure selected based on whether charge control is enabled;

analyzing the battery data to determine whether the battery should be replaced; and

determining whether the battery should be replaced under warranty based on whether a warranty length identified using the battery data is greater than an age value identified using the battery data;

in which, if charge control is not available, the data reading module reads battery data from the battery.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein, when charge control is enabled, the read procedure comprises:

resetting the battery,

setting the battery to a charging state, and

reading the battery data from the battery after setting the battery to the charging state.

20. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

reading the battery data to determine a calibration type when the battery is determined to require calibration based on the analyzing, and

scheduling or starting an automatic calibration procedure for the battery when the automatic calibration procedure is supported for the determined calibration type.