User identification from battery characteristics
AssigneeQnovo Inc.
InventorsNadim Maluf, Fred Berkowitz
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Disclosed is a method for identifying a battery type and/or a battery user. Measuring circuitry may be used to collect battery parameters that may be analyzed by control circuitry to create an adaptive charge profile that is applied to a battery by charging circuitry. Battery parameters may be recorded in a battery use signature. Logic may be used to process a battery use signature and identify a single user across multiple battery operated devices and/or discriminate between multiple users of a device. In some cases, battery use signature may be used to identify battery information including the make, model, and lot from which the battery was manufactured.
Claims29
A system including an electronic device capable of being powered by a battery, the system comprising:
- (a) battery monitoring logic, configured to monitor the battery and generate data representative of one or more users' usage of the battery in powering the electronic device;
- and
- (b) user identification logic, configured to:
- (i) receive and analyze the data from the battery monitoring logic to generate an analysis of the data;
- and
- (ii) based on the analysis of the data, (1) determine an identity of at least one user of the one or more users and/or (2) determine that the one or more users includes at least two users,
- wherein the battery monitoring logic or the user identification logic is configured to track, over time, one or more battery parameters representing electrical characteristics of the battery.
A method for identifying a user of an electronic device or discriminating between one or more users of the electronic device at least partly powered by a battery, the method comprising:
- a) tracking, with battery monitoring logic, electrical characteristics of the battery over time;
- and
- b) analyzing, with processing logic, the electrical characteristics of the battery, wherein analyzing the electrical characteristics of the battery comprises at least one of:
- (i) identifying the user of the electronic device at least partly powered by the battery;
- and
- (ii) discriminating between two or more putative users of the electronic device at least partly powered by the battery, wherein discriminating between the two or more putative users comprises determining that the electronic device was being used by a first user during a first period of time and determining that the electronic device was being used by a second user during a second period of time, the first and second users being different and the first and second periods of time being different.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.