Personal computing device having single-cell battery

• US 8,930,721 B2
• Filed: 02/06/2009
• Issued: 01/06/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 03/07/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Chin, Vance, Betts-LaCroix, Jonathan
• Primary Examiner(s): Elamin, M
• Application Number:
  US12/367,051
• Publication Number:
  US 20090150690A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,160 Days
• Field of Search: 713/300, 713/310, 713320-324, 713/330, 713/340
• US Class Current: 713/300
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/26 Power supply means, e.g. regulation thereof for memories G11C
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/263 Arrangements for using multiple switchable power supplies, e.g. battery and AC G06F1/30 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/0525 Rocking-chair batteries, i.e. batteries with lithium insertion or intercalation in both electrodes; Lithium-ion batteries
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0254 detecting a user operation or a tactile contact or a motion of the device
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0296 switching to a backup power supply
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 60/10 Energy storage using batteries
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 70/50 Manufacturing or production processes characterised by the final manufactured product

Abstract

The present invention features a personal computing device that may be powered by a single battery having a single lithium-ion cell or by a plurality of lithium-ion cells connected in parallel. The personal computing device may provide computing power comparable to that of conventional laptop computers and execute an operating system and application software comparable to that executed by conventional laptop computers. Furthermore, the battery'"'"'s time between charging, when used to power the personal computing device, may be similar to the time between charging of a multi-cell battery when used to power a conventional laptop computer.

Claims

1. A device comprising:

a processing subsystem;

an input subsystem;

a display;

a wireless communication subsystem;

an operating system suitable for execution on a desktop computer or laptop computer;

one single-cell battery; and

a power subsystem having power supplied by the single-cell battery and configured to provide operating power to each of the display, processing, input, and wireless communication subsystems.

2. The device of claim 1, wherein the wireless communication subsystem includes an 802.11-compliant wireless network controller.

3. The device of claim 1, wherein the single-cell battery is a lithium ion battery.

4. The device of claim 1, wherein the single-cell battery has a nominal operating voltage of approximately 3.8 volts DC.

5. The device of claim 1, wherein the processing subsystem includes a processor operatively coupled to DDR SDRAM memory.

6. The device of claim 1, wherein the wireless communication subsystem includes a Bluetooth-compliant wireless controller.

7. The device of claim 1, further comprising an interdevice communication subsystem configured to provide communication between the device and an external device via a serial connection.

8. The device of claim 7, wherein the interdevice communication subsystem is compliant with an IEEE 1394 serial interface.

9. The device of claim 1, wherein the device is configured to operate approximately 3-6 hours under a normal operating condition using power supplied solely by the single-cell battery.

10. The device of claim 1, wherein the device has a weight of less than 9 ounces.

11. The device of claim 1, wherein the device has a size comparable to a personal digital assistant (PDA) device configured to be held in the palm of a user.

12. The device of claim 1, wherein the device has a width of approximately 2.9 inches or less.

13. The device of claim 1, wherein the display has a resolution of approximately 800×

480 pixels.

14. The device of claim 1, further comprising one or more applications having functionality comparable to corresponding applications configured to be executed on a desktop computer or laptop computer.

15. The device of claim 1, wherein the device comprises a cellular phone.

16. The device of claim 1, wherein the input subsystem comprises a touchscreen display.

17. The device of claim 1, further comprising a persistent storage subsystem.

18. The device of claim 1, further comprising an application comparable to a corresponding version of the application configured to be executed on a desktop computer or laptop computer.

19. The device of claim 1, wherein the single-cell battery is not connected in series with any other single-cell battery.

20. The device of claim 19, wherein the power subsystem comprises at least one single-cell lithium-ion battery with a nominal operating voltage of approximately 3.8 volts DC.

21. The device of claim 1, wherein:

the processing subsystem comprises a processor and random access memory;

the input subsystem comprises a touchscreen display; and

the single single-cell battery is not connected in series with any other single-cell battery.

22. The device of claim 1, wherein the power subsystem comprises a plurality of single-cell lithium-ion batteries connected in parallel.

23. The device of claim 1, wherein the device has a largest surface area of about 12 square inches or less.

24. The device of claim 1, wherein the device comprises a cellular phone.

25. The device of claim 1, wherein the device comprises a web pad.

26. The device of claim 1, wherein the device comprises a tablet computer.

27. The device of claim 1, further comprising a persistent storage subsystem.

28. The device of claim 1, wherein the device comprises a mobile hand-held device.

29. The device of claim 1, wherein the power subsystem includes a plurality of single-cell batteries connected in parallel.

42. The device of claim 1, wherein the one or more applications include at least one application from the Microsoft Office business application suite.

30. A device comprising:

a processing subsystem including a processor and random access memory;

an input subsystem including a touchscreen display;

a wireless communication subsystem;

an operating system stored on the device and suitable for execution of one or more applications configured to be executed on a full-scale desktop operating system;

a power module including a single-cell battery and configured to supply power to the processing, input, and wireless communication subsystems, wherein the single-cell battery is not connected in series with any other single-cell battery.

31. The device of claim 30, wherein the display has a resolution of 800×

480 pixels.

32. The device of claim 30, further comprising one or more applications comparable to corresponding full-scale applications configured to be executed on a full-scale desktop operating system.

33. The device of claim 30, wherein the device has a weight of less than 9 ounces.

34. The device of claim 30, wherein the processing subsystem includes a processor operatively coupled to DDR SDRAM memory.

35. The device of claim 30, wherein the wireless communication subsystem includes a Bluetooth-compliant wireless controller.

36. The device of claim 30, further comprising an interdevice communication subsystem configured to provide communication between the device and an external device via a serial connection.

37. The device of claim 36, wherein the interdevice communication subsystem is compliant with an IEEE 1394 serial interface.

38. The device of claim 30, wherein the device comprises a cellular phone.

39. The device of claim 30, wherein the device comprises a web pad.

40. The device of claim 30, wherein the device comprises a tablet computer.

41. The device of claim 30, further comprising a persistent storage subsystem.

43. The device of claim 30, wherein the one or more applications include at least one application from the Microsoft Office business application suite.