Wireless charging of mobile devices in vehicles

• US 10,418,843 B2
• Filed: 01/19/2018
• Issued: 09/17/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 08/23/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Mobility II LLC (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Mobility II LLC (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Causey, Mark, Luu, Adrianne Binh, Williams, J. Michael
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Nha T
• Application Number:
  US15/874,979
• Publication Number:
  US 20180145532A1
• Time in Patent Office: 606 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/10 using inductive coupling
• 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 7/0071 with a programmable schedule

Abstract

Methods, systems, and products describe a car, truck, or other vehicle that charges a battery in a mobile device. The vehicle wirelessly inductively charges the battery based on historical usage.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

establishing, by a vehicle, a wireless communication with a mobile device;

retrieving, by the vehicle, historical call usage representing calls to and from the mobile device;

determining, by the vehicle, a charging strategy for charging a battery powering the mobile device, the charging strategy determining a minimum consumption of energy by the battery based on the historical call usage representing the calls to and from the mobile device;

receiving, by a battery charger operating in the vehicle, a minimum electrical power that corresponds to the minimum consumption of energy by the battery; and

inductively coupling, by the battery charger operating in the vehicle, the minimum electrical power to the battery powering the mobile device to deliver the minimum consumption of energy based on the historical call usage.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising predicting a future consumption of a battery power from the battery powering the mobile device.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining the battery powering the mobile device is fully charged.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving a number of calls per unit of time as the historical call usage.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising determining the minimum consumption of energy by the battery based on the number of calls per unit of time.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving a duration of calls per unit of time as the historical call usage.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising determining the minimum consumption of energy by the battery based on the duration of calls per unit of time.

8. An apparatus, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory device, the memory device storing code, the code when executed causing the processor to perform operations, the operations comprising;

establishing a wireless communication between a transceiver and a mobile device;

retrieving data from the mobile device, the data representing a historical call usage of calls conducted via the mobile device;

determining a minimum consumption of energy by a battery powering the mobile device based on the data representing the historical call usage;

determining a minimum electrical power consumed by a battery charger based on the minimum consumption of energy by the battery powering the mobile device;

receiving the minimum electrical power by the battery charger based on the minimum consumption of energy by the battery powering the mobile device; and

inductively coupling the battery charger to charge the battery powering the mobile device in response to the receiving of the minimum electrical power.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the operations further comprise predicting a future consumption of a battery power from the battery.

10. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the operations further comprise inductively coupling a primary coil to a secondary coil.

11. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the operations further comprise receiving a number of calls per unit of time as the data representing the historical call usage.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the operations further comprise determining the minimum consumption of energy by the battery powering the mobile device based on the number of calls per unit of time.

13. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the operations further comprise receiving a duration of calls per unit of time as the data representing the historical call usage.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the operations further comprise determining the minimum consumption of energy by the battery powering the mobile device based on the duration of calls per unit of time.

15. A memory device storing code which when executed causes a processor to perform operations, the operations comprising:

establishing wireless communication between a vehicle and a mobile device;

wirelessly receiving data representing a historical call usage of calls transmitted via the mobile device;

determining a minimum consumption of energy for a battery powering the mobile device based on the data representing the historical call usage;

determining a minimum electrical power consumed by a battery charger based on the minimum consumption of energy by the battery powering the mobile device;

receiving the minimum electrical power by the battery charger based on the minimum consumption of energy by the battery powering the mobile device; and

inductively coupling the battery charger to charge the battery powering the mobile device in response to the receiving of the minimum electrical power.

16. The memory device of claim 15, wherein the operations further comprise predicting a future consumption of a battery power from the battery.

17. The memory device of claim 15, wherein the operations further comprise determining a start time associated with the inductively coupling.

18. The memory device of claim 15, wherein the operations further comprise determining a stop time associated with the inductively coupling.

19. The memory device of claim 15, wherein the operations further comprise receiving a duration of calls per unit of time as the data representing the historical call usage.

20. The memory device of claim 19, wherein the operations further comprise determining the minimum consumption of energy-by the battery powering the mobile device based on the duration of calls per unit of time.