Schedule-Based Battery Charging for Media Playback Devices
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional media playback systems do not effectively manage battery degradation and extend battery life, as they often charge batteries to full capacity, which can reduce their lifespan, and lack adaptive charging schemes based on user schedules and energy availability.
Innovation Solution
The media playback system employs scheduling information to set charge thresholds, charging times, and rates, allowing batteries to be charged based on anticipated usage and energy availability, thereby reducing degradation and prolonging battery life by adjusting charge levels dynamically.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Use of energy by moving object
If batteries are charged to full capacity, then energy availability is improved, but battery lifespan deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic charge threshold adjustment based on scheduling information. The charge threshold is not fixed but changes dynamically according to anticipated usage patterns and energy availability, allowing the system to optimize between full charging for immediate energy needs and partial charging to reduce degradation over time.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary charging actions based on predicted future needs. By analyzing scheduling information, the system charges batteries in advance according to anticipated usage, avoiding both overcharging that causes degradation and undercharging that limits energy availability when needed.
2Reliability
If adaptive charging schemes are implemented, then battery life is extended, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The playback device autonomously manages its own charging schedule by processing scheduling information and determining optimal charge thresholds without requiring external intervention. This self-service approach extends battery life through adaptive charging while minimizing the complexity burden on the overall system by localizing the intelligence within the device itself.
Solution Approach 2:
The system incorporates feedback loops where charging decisions are continuously adjusted based on monitoring battery state, comparing against scheduling information, and refining charge threshold selections. This feedback mechanism enables sophisticated battery life extension through adaptive charging while maintaining manageable system complexity through iterative optimization rather than complex upfront planning.
Data Source
AI summary
The media playback system comprises a first playback device with an energy storage having a maximum storage capacity. The media playback system sets a target charge level for the first energy storage to a first maximum charge threshold, wherein the first charge threshold is less than the maximum storage capacity (e.g., 20% of the maximum storage capacity). In response to identifying an event associated with a user, the media playback system adjusts the target charge level for the first energy storage to a second maximum charge threshold, wherein the second charge threshold is based on a duration of the first event. Subsequently, the media playback system receives power from a first power source to charge the first energy storage to the second maximum charge threshold. After the first event ends, the media playback system adjusts the target charge level for the first energy storage to the first maximum charge threshold.