EP1171777A1 - Consumer usage recorder - Google Patents
Consumer usage recorderInfo
- Publication number
- EP1171777A1 EP1171777A1 EP00921994A EP00921994A EP1171777A1 EP 1171777 A1 EP1171777 A1 EP 1171777A1 EP 00921994 A EP00921994 A EP 00921994A EP 00921994 A EP00921994 A EP 00921994A EP 1171777 A1 EP1171777 A1 EP 1171777A1
- Authority
- EP
- European Patent Office
- Prior art keywords
- consumer
- battery
- consumer usage
- usage
- microcontroller
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Withdrawn
Links
Classifications
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G01—MEASURING; TESTING
- G01R—MEASURING ELECTRIC VARIABLES; MEASURING MAGNETIC VARIABLES
- G01R31/00—Arrangements for testing electric properties; Arrangements for locating electric faults; Arrangements for electrical testing characterised by what is being tested not provided for elsewhere
- G01R31/36—Arrangements for testing, measuring or monitoring the electrical condition of accumulators or electric batteries, e.g. capacity or state of charge [SoC]
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01M—PROCESSES OR MEANS, e.g. BATTERIES, FOR THE DIRECT CONVERSION OF CHEMICAL ENERGY INTO ELECTRICAL ENERGY
- H01M50/00—Constructional details or processes of manufacture of the non-active parts of electrochemical cells other than fuel cells, e.g. hybrid cells
- H01M50/20—Mountings; Secondary casings or frames; Racks, modules or packs; Suspension devices; Shock absorbers; Transport or carrying devices; Holders
- H01M50/247—Mountings; Secondary casings or frames; Racks, modules or packs; Suspension devices; Shock absorbers; Transport or carrying devices; Holders specially adapted for portable devices, e.g. mobile phones, computers, hand tools or pacemakers
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01M—PROCESSES OR MEANS, e.g. BATTERIES, FOR THE DIRECT CONVERSION OF CHEMICAL ENERGY INTO ELECTRICAL ENERGY
- H01M10/00—Secondary cells; Manufacture thereof
- H01M10/42—Methods or arrangements for servicing or maintenance of secondary cells or secondary half-cells
- H01M10/44—Methods for charging or discharging
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01M—PROCESSES OR MEANS, e.g. BATTERIES, FOR THE DIRECT CONVERSION OF CHEMICAL ENERGY INTO ELECTRICAL ENERGY
- H01M10/00—Secondary cells; Manufacture thereof
- H01M10/42—Methods or arrangements for servicing or maintenance of secondary cells or secondary half-cells
- H01M10/48—Accumulators combined with arrangements for measuring, testing or indicating the condition of cells, e.g. the level or density of the electrolyte
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01M—PROCESSES OR MEANS, e.g. BATTERIES, FOR THE DIRECT CONVERSION OF CHEMICAL ENERGY INTO ELECTRICAL ENERGY
- H01M50/00—Constructional details or processes of manufacture of the non-active parts of electrochemical cells other than fuel cells, e.g. hybrid cells
- H01M50/20—Mountings; Secondary casings or frames; Racks, modules or packs; Suspension devices; Shock absorbers; Transport or carrying devices; Holders
- H01M50/204—Racks, modules or packs for multiple batteries or multiple cells
- H01M50/207—Racks, modules or packs for multiple batteries or multiple cells characterised by their shape
- H01M50/213—Racks, modules or packs for multiple batteries or multiple cells characterised by their shape adapted for cells having curved cross-section, e.g. round or elliptic
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01M—PROCESSES OR MEANS, e.g. BATTERIES, FOR THE DIRECT CONVERSION OF CHEMICAL ENERGY INTO ELECTRICAL ENERGY
- H01M50/00—Constructional details or processes of manufacture of the non-active parts of electrochemical cells other than fuel cells, e.g. hybrid cells
- H01M50/20—Mountings; Secondary casings or frames; Racks, modules or packs; Suspension devices; Shock absorbers; Transport or carrying devices; Holders
- H01M50/244—Secondary casings; Racks; Suspension devices; Carrying devices; Holders characterised by their mounting method
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01M—PROCESSES OR MEANS, e.g. BATTERIES, FOR THE DIRECT CONVERSION OF CHEMICAL ENERGY INTO ELECTRICAL ENERGY
- H01M50/00—Constructional details or processes of manufacture of the non-active parts of electrochemical cells other than fuel cells, e.g. hybrid cells
- H01M50/50—Current conducting connections for cells or batteries
- H01M50/569—Constructional details of current conducting connections for detecting conditions inside cells or batteries, e.g. details of voltage sensing terminals
-
- Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
- Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
- Y02E—REDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GAS [GHG] EMISSIONS, RELATED TO ENERGY GENERATION, TRANSMISSION OR DISTRIBUTION
- Y02E60/00—Enabling technologies; Technologies with a potential or indirect contribution to GHG emissions mitigation
- Y02E60/10—Energy storage using batteries
Definitions
- CONSUMER USAGE RECORDER This invention relates to obtaining information about usage characteristics of portable electronic devices.
- One technique to determine usage characteristics of electronic equipment is to place a person in a room with the equipment and observe how the person uses the equipment.
- a video camera behind a one-way mirror can be used to record observations and the equipment can be connected to logging and other types of measuring devices to record data on the person's usage of the equipment.
- Today many portable devices are powered by batteries. Batteries come in many sizes and types.
- the equipment that uses batteries is likewise of various sizes, shapes and functions. It is thought that the mode of operation of a device affects battery life. If a constant type of usage pattern or patterns can be established for such devices it is possible that chemistry of the battery can be adjusted or modified based on typical use characteristics to maximize life from the battery.
- a consumer usage device includes a mechanical arrangement to attach to a consumer device and a battery used with the consumer device, and an electronic logging device that is adapted to measure voltage and/or current from the battery used with the consumer device.
- a method of determining consumer usage characteristic for an electronic device includes distributing an electronic device to a consumer, with the electronic device having a portable consumer usage recorder attached to the electronic device, the portable consumer usage recorder permitting the consumer to use the electronic device generally in its normal, intended manner.
- the consumer usage recorder records measurements of characteristic of the device while the electronic device is used by the consumer and transfers the recorded measurements to an analysis device over intervals of time to analyze usage patterns for the electronic device.
- One advantage to this approach is that it minimizes the intrusion of the testing process on the consumer's usage of the device.
- the consumer usage recorder is transparent to the consumer that they use the device in a manner they normally use the device. This gives more accurate and realistic data that an engineer or scientist can use to optimize battery chemistry.
- FIG. 1 is an isometric diagram of a electronic battery operated device including a consumer usage recorder.
- FIG. 2 is a system block diagram of the consumer usage recorder.
- FIG. 3 is block diagram of a logging circuit used in the consumer usage recorder of FIG. 2.
- FIG. 4 is a flow chart of the software process that operates the logging circuit of FIG. 3.
- FIG. 5 is a diagram of an alternative arrangement for the consumer usage recorder.
- a portable, usage logging unit or recorder 10 is coupled between a battery pack 12 and a portable electronic battery operated device 14.
- the battery operated device 14 can be any type of device, such as, consumer devices including camcorders and cellular or wireless telephones.
- a cellular telephone is shown coupled to its battery pack 12 through the usage logging unit or recorder 10 hereinafter "consumer usage recorder 10".
- the consumer usage recorder 10 is designed to measure usage patterns of the device 12 and battery 14.
- the consumer usage recorder 10 can contain its own battery.
- the consumer usage recorder 10 is disposed to measure voltage, current and temperature while on the device 12.
- the usage recorder has mechanical features (not shown) to mount to the device, e.g., the cellular phone, and mechanical features 10a to mount to the battery. These features are duplicated on either side of consumer usage recorder 10 so the battery 12 can attach to one side of the consumer usage recorder 10 and the device 14 can attach to the other side of the consumer usage recorder 10.
- the consumer usage recorder 10 is constructed to be as thin as possible, so that the presence of the consumer usage recorder 10 will not significantly interfere with the consumer's use of the device 12.
- the consumer usage recorder 10 can be mounted on various types of devices. When mounted on cellular phones, the cellular phones can be given to a test market group of consumers to determine typical characteristics of usage. The consumer usage recorder 10 will take measurements and provide data that can be analyzed. This data can tell how often and for how long the device was used. By examining large amounts of such data it may be possible to arrive at usage patterns for different types of electronic devices. For example, analysis of the data can be used to determine if consumers leave the device on continuously, or do they turn it on and off. For cellular phones the data could indicate that users talk for 5 minutes and then turn the phone off for a substantial part of the day, and so forth. That type of information has been very difficult to attain.
- a battery manufacturer can determine optimum chemistry characteristics of batteries intended for particular applications based on expected usage patterns. For example, usage of a battery in a flashlight is very different from usage in a cellular telephone. A battery in a flashlight will likely see continuous usage; whereas, the usage in a phone may be different. Because of the differences in usage patterns the chemistry of the batteries can be important to optimize a battery for different applications or even provide customized batteries optimized for expected usage patterns for the same device application.
- the consumer usage recorder 10 includes a contact board 22 containing electrical connections to connect the battery pack 14 to the device 12 through the consumer usage recorder 10, as well as circuits 24 to sense and measure voltage, temperature and current.
- the contact board 22 can contain a sense resistor (not shown). The sense resistor can be connected between the battery and the device so that current from the battery flows through the resistor and produces a voltage drop that is measured to obtain a reading of the current. The resistor would have a very low resistance value to minimize voltage drop across the resistor.
- the consumer usage recorder 10 also includes a logging board 24.
- the logging board 24 includes a microprocessor based logging system that converts analog measurements of voltage, temperature and current into digital measurements.
- the microprocessor based logging system would also store the measurements.
- the consumer usage recorder 10 also includes a battery 26 so that the consumer usage recorder 10 is self powered.
- the consumer usage recorder 10 also has an interface.
- the interface could be a serial interface, e.g, an RS-232 interface 28.
- the microprocessor can download the data into a computer 29, via the interface 28 to perform data analysis processing and determine usage patterns of the device 12.
- the logging board 24 is connected to the contact board 22 and receives analog signals that correspond to the voltage of the battery, current drawn out of the battery and temperature.
- the logging board 24 could also be configured to detect rechargeable batteries and could measure current into the battery during recharging.
- the consumer usage recorder 10 includes a temperature sensor to detect the ambient temperature that the consumer usage recorder 10, battery 14 and device 12 are operating in. Temperature conditions may affect battery chemistry.
- the logging board 24 will sample the voltage and the current and determine what state the device 12 is in. In the case of a cell phone, the cell phone can be in "talk mode", "standby", or “off.” Also the battery may not even be attached to the device 12 and that state can also be detected. Referring now to FIG.
- the logging board 24 includes a microcontroller 30, a real-time clock 32, an analog-to-digital converter 34, and electrically erasable memory 36 to record data.
- the microcontroller 30 also includes program memory 49 that includes a logging process 50 (FIG. 4).
- the logging board 24 also includes a battery 39 and power regulation 38.
- the microcontroller 30, real-time clock 31, and electrically erasable memory 36 are coupled via a bus 32.
- the microcontroller 30 includes a serial interface 28 and the A/D converter.
- the A/D converter 34 is coupled to an interface, e.g., signal conditioning circuit 33 that couples temperature T, voltage V and current I sensors to the A/D converter 34.
- the logging board 24 can be a modified, commercially available one such as a Scott Edwards Electronics Sierra Vista, AZ 85636-0160 BS2 Data Collection Pro to Board data logging board.
- the microcontroller controls data logging through the analog-to- digital converter.
- the microcontroller calculates the voltage and current from the battery, maintains the current time, and determines ambient temperature.
- the microcontroller records this information in a data store 36, e.g., the electrically erasable memory.
- the microcontroller also controls downloading of the recorded data, e.g., to transfer the data to a personal computer via interface 28.
- the microcontroller can do time-based sampling, measuring and calculating parameters at fixed periods of time, e.g., every five seconds.
- the microcontroller can record voltage, current and temperature. Another way to record data that saves even more memory is to perform event based sampling.
- the microcontroller determines what mode the device is in based on receiving an event.
- the microcontroller determines that an event occurred, the microcontroller records when that event occurred, the nature of event, e.g., a transition from "off mode to "standby” and so forth.
- the microcontroller records that information, as well as the voltage, current, time, and temperature.
- the consumer usage recorder 10 produces discrete records that have time stamps and mode stamps. This allows a small amount of memory to be placed on the logging board 24 reducing physical space and power requirements, while permitting recording for an extended period of time.
- a process 50 stored in program memory, e.g., 49, to control operation of the microcontroller is shown.
- the initialization process 52 can perform various routines such as clearing registers, and so forth.
- the software enters a menu mode 54 waiting for a command to come from the interface.
- the process 50 is set up as a menu driven command type that operates based on commands received from the interface 42. This can enable the microcontroller to perform functions such as starting a logging operation, setting the real-time clock, calibrating electronics and so forth.
- the calibration mode 60 is used to set voltage references and make adjustments to the circuitry, set configuration variables 62, such as how many samples to take, and so forth. This permits the same basic logging algorithm to be used for different applications allowing for modifications based upon the application.
- the microprocessor In the logging mode 66, the microprocessor will go into a sleep state, i.e., low power mode when it is not logging data. It will wake up from the low power mode, looking for new commands from the interface 28 or determine if it is time to take a measurement. That is, the microcontroller periodically turns on based on a time guide e.g., wake up every 5 seconds, every 10 seconds looking for a new command or take a measurement. If there are no commands, it turns itself off. If already in a sampling mode it will sample values at the analog-to-digital converter to obtain data to measure the current and voltage of the device and determine 66b whether the device, e.g., the camcorder entered a different operating mode. The microcontroller causes measurements of the voltage across the battery and the voltage across the sense resistor to give a current reading.
- a time guide e.g., wake up every 5 seconds, every 10 seconds looking for a new command or take a measurement. If there are no commands, it turns itself
- the microcontroller can determine 66c from those two measurements whether the device 12 is in the same mode. If it is in the same mode 66a, the microcontroller will go back to sleep, i.e., return to the initial logging mode state 66. If it is in a new mode 66e, the microcontroller will determine the new mode 66b based upon some stored parameters. The microcontroller will produce a record 66f specifying the new mode, voltage, current, time and temperature and store 66g that record in memory.
- the process 50 also includes a downloading mode 70.
- the downloading mode is entered via a command from the interface 28. It causes the consumer usage device 10 to download all data records in memory 36 to an analysis device such as a computer 29 (FIG. 3).
- an analysis device such as a computer 29 (FIG. 3).
- the microcontroller will go back to sleep and will continue in that loop until it is commanded from the interface 28, e.g., an RS232 type interface, to go back to the menu mode.
- the microcontroller In the event driven mode, the microcontroller only causes the information to be stored in memory and make a record when the device changes modes. Alternatively, the logging can occur at regular intervals, e.g. time-based sampling.
- the microcontroller can be configured to record at every time interval i.e., a time-based sampling or only record the information when an event changes, i.e. event-based sampling. It might be desirable to allow the logging board to operate using both techniques.
- the time-based sampling could be used to obtain some initial data and once it is understood how a particular device works, i.e., what kind of averaging and thresholds are needed, the microcontroller can be switched to an event-based processing.
- the camcorder may be used infrequently. There can be a very long period of time between downloading the data and using the consumer usage recorder. If the data logger is run continuously even at a 5 sec rate, it would draw a certain amount of power from the battery. Therefore, one approach would detect when the camcorder was moved, e.g., by employing a tilt switch, (e.g., a mercury switch or a pendulum type switch) that would trigger the data recorder to start recording, and if there was no event, the consumer usage recorder would go back into a power saving mode.
- a tilt switch e.g., a mercury switch or a pendulum type switch
- FIG. 5 an alternate embodiment of the consumer usage recorder 10' is shown.
- This embodiment of the recorder 10' can be used when a battery 12' is disposed in a battery compartment 14a of a consumer device 14'.
- the recorder 10' includes a contact board 22' that is interposed between one of a pair of battery terminals 15a, 15b and electronics (not shown) of the device 14'. It also includes the logging board 24 affixed to or incorporated into the device 14'.
Abstract
Description
Claims
Applications Claiming Priority (3)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
US289825 | 1981-08-03 | ||
US28982599A | 1999-04-12 | 1999-04-12 | |
PCT/US2000/009524 WO2000062087A1 (en) | 1999-04-12 | 2000-04-10 | Consumer usage recorder |
Publications (1)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
---|---|
EP1171777A1 true EP1171777A1 (en) | 2002-01-16 |
Family
ID=23113269
Family Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
EP00921994A Withdrawn EP1171777A1 (en) | 1999-04-12 | 2000-04-10 | Consumer usage recorder |
Country Status (7)
Country | Link |
---|---|
EP (1) | EP1171777A1 (en) |
JP (1) | JP2002541640A (en) |
CN (1) | CN1346444A (en) |
AR (1) | AR024252A1 (en) |
AU (1) | AU4224300A (en) |
HK (1) | HK1044191A1 (en) |
WO (1) | WO2000062087A1 (en) |
Families Citing this family (5)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
DE102004033838B4 (en) * | 2004-07-13 | 2006-11-23 | Siemens Ag | Battery sensor and method for operating a battery sensor |
US7697472B2 (en) | 2006-06-13 | 2010-04-13 | Vladimir Sadovsky | Reporting portable device statistics |
US8984441B2 (en) | 2007-12-06 | 2015-03-17 | Sony Corporation | Dynamic update of a user interface based on collected user interactions |
EP2433656A1 (en) * | 2010-09-23 | 2012-03-28 | Unilever PLC | Fragrance dispensing device |
CN101995554B (en) * | 2010-11-03 | 2014-04-23 | 无敌科技(西安)有限公司 | Electronic device with power state evaluation function and power evaluation method thereof |
Family Cites Families (3)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
JPH0317966A (en) * | 1989-06-15 | 1991-01-25 | Yuasa Battery Co Ltd | Data memory |
JPH10233826A (en) * | 1997-02-19 | 1998-09-02 | Sony Corp | Portable telephone set |
GB9709603D0 (en) * | 1997-05-12 | 1997-07-02 | Landis & Gyr Uk Ltd | Battery monitoring in metering systems |
-
2000
- 2000-04-10 CN CN00806165A patent/CN1346444A/en active Pending
- 2000-04-10 JP JP2000611098A patent/JP2002541640A/en active Pending
- 2000-04-10 AU AU42243/00A patent/AU4224300A/en not_active Abandoned
- 2000-04-10 WO PCT/US2000/009524 patent/WO2000062087A1/en not_active Application Discontinuation
- 2000-04-10 EP EP00921994A patent/EP1171777A1/en not_active Withdrawn
- 2000-04-12 AR ARP000101677A patent/AR024252A1/en unknown
-
2002
- 2002-07-16 HK HK02105272.6A patent/HK1044191A1/en unknown
Non-Patent Citations (1)
Title |
---|
See references of WO0062087A1 * |
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
WO2000062087A1 (en) | 2000-10-19 |
AR024252A1 (en) | 2002-09-25 |
JP2002541640A (en) | 2002-12-03 |
CN1346444A (en) | 2002-04-24 |
AU4224300A (en) | 2000-11-14 |
HK1044191A1 (en) | 2002-10-11 |
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Inventor name: TAYLOR, ALWYN, H. Inventor name: KLEIN, DAVID, N. Inventor name: D'ANDREA, PAUL, W., JR. Inventor name: HEWES, JEFFREY, S. Inventor name: KACPROWICZ, MARK |
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