Viral distribution of battery management parameters

• US 9,337,668 B2
• Filed: 04/27/2012
• Issued: 05/10/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 04/28/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Zoll Circulation Incorporated (Asahi Kasei Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Zoll Circulation Incorporated (Asahi Kasei Corporation)
• Inventors: Yip, Sean
• Primary Examiner(s): Rossoshek, Helen
• Application Number:
  US13/459,007
• Publication Number:
  US 20120274266A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,474 Days
• Field of Search: 320/106, 320/107, 320/110, 320/112, 320/114, 320/131, 320/132, 455/572, 455/573
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 15/17331 Distributed shared memory [DSM], e.g. remote direct memory access [RDMA]
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/4257 Smart batteries, e.g. electronic circuits inside the housing of the cells or batteries
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2310/23 The load being a medical device, a medical implant, or a life supporting device
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/00 Circuit arrangements for charging or depolarising batteries or for supplying loads from batteries
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/00034 Charger exchanging data with an electronic device, i.e. telephone, whose internal battery is under charge
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/00036 Charger exchanging data with battery
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/00045 Authentication, i.e. circuits for checking compatibility between one component, e.g. a battery or a battery charger, and another component, e.g. a power source
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/0013 acting upon several batteries simultaneously or sequentially H02J7/1423 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/00302 Overcharge protection
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/00304 Overcurrent protection
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/00308 Overvoltage protection
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/00309 Overheat or overtemperature protection
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/0045 concerning the insertion or the connection of the batteries
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1097 for distributed storage of data in networks, e.g. transport arrangements for network file system [NFS], storage area networks [SAN] or network attached storage [NAS]

Abstract

A carrier, such as a battery, that queries a memory of a charger or charging circuit, or the memory of equipment or discharging circuit powered by the battery, to determine the relative date or version of data, operating parameters and/or software on both the battery and the equipment, and either provides updated data, operating parameters and/or software to the equipment, or retrieves later dated data, operating parameters and/or software from the equipment to update the memory of the battery and/or further distribute the updated data, operating parameters and/or software to other batteries or equipment.

Claims

1. A data carrier, such as a battery, for use as a carrier of data to be used for virally updating data, operating parameters and/or software residing in memories associated with a plurality of data carriers and equipment configured to receive the data carriers, comprising:

a battery memory having stored therein a first set of data, operating parameters, and/or software commands, the first set of data, operating parameters and/or software commands associated with a first date or version;

a communication interface for communicating with a processor and memory of equipment configured to receive the data carrier, the equipment memory having stored therein a second set of data, operating parameters, and/or software commands, the second set of data, operating parameters, and/or software commands associated with a second date or version; and

a battery processor in operable communication with the battery memory and the communication interface, the battery processor configured;

to query the equipment processor to retrieve the second date or version of the second set of data, operating, and/or software commands stored in the equipment memory, and

to compare the second date or version of the second set of data, operating parameters, and/or software commands stored in the equipment memory to the first date or version of the first set of data, operating parameters, and/or software commands stored in the battery memory, and

to upload the first set of data, operating parameters, and/or software commands stored in the battery memory to the equipment memory if the first date or version is later than the second date or version; and

wherein the equipment processor is configured to download the second set of data, operating parameters, and/or software commands to the battery memory to update the battery memory if the second date or version of the second set of data, operating parameters, and/or software commands is later than the first date or version of the first set of data, operating parameters, and/or software commands stored in the battery memory to replace the first set of data, operating parameters, and/or software commands stored in the battery memory with the second set of data, operating parameters, and/or software commands uploaded from the equipment memory.

2. The data carrier of claim 1, wherein the equipment configured to receive the data carrier is a battery charger.

3. The data carrier of claim 1, wherein the equipment configured to receive the data carrier is a device to be powered by the data carrier.

4. A method of utilizing a data carrier to virally distribute information stored in the memory of the data carrier to memories of a plurality of additional data carriers and memories of equipment configured to receive the data carrier, comprising:

inserting a data carrier into an equipment configured to receive the data carrier;

establishing communication between a data carrier processor in operable communication with a data carrier memory and an equipment processor in operable communication with an equipment memory of the equipment configured to receive the data carrier;

comparing a version identifier associated with a first set of information stored in the data carrier memory with a version identifier associated with a second set of information stored in the equipment memory;

communicating the first set of information stored in the data carrier memory to the equipment and storing the first set of information in the equipment memory to replace the second set of information stored in the equipment memory with the first set of information stored in the data carrier memory if the version identifier of the second set of information is earlier than the version identifier of the first set of information; and

communicating the second set of information stored in the equipment memory to the data carrier and storing the second set of information in the data carrier memory to replace the first set of information stored in the memory with the second set of information stored in the equipment memory if the version identifier of the first set of information is earlier than the version identifier of the second set of information.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the data carrier is a battery and the equipment is a battery charger.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the data carrier is a battery and the equipment is a device to be powered by the battery.

7. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

removing the data carrier from the equipment after the second set of information has replaced the first set of information in the memory of the data carrier;

inserting the data carrier in a second equipment configured to receive the data carrier;

establishing communication between the data carrier processor and a second equipment processor in operable communication with a second equipment memory of the second equipment configured to receive the data carrier;

comparing a version identifier associated with the second set of information stored in the data carrier memory with a version identifier associated with a third set of information stored in the second equipment memory;

communicating the second set of information stored in the data carrier memory to the second equipment and storing the second set of information stored in the data carrier memory in the second equip memory to replace the third set of information stored in the second equipment memory with the second set of information stored in the data carrier memory if the version identifier of the second set of information is later than the version identifier of the third set of information; and

communicating the third set of information stored in the second equipment memory to the data carrier memory and storing the third set of information stored in the second equipment memory to replace the second set of information stored in the data carrier memory with the third set of information stored in the second equipment memory if the version identifier of the third set of information is later than the version identifier of the second set of information.