U.S. patent application number 12/346766 was filed with the patent office on 2009-09-03 for method for indicating charge status of backup power supply and communication device employing the same.
This patent application is currently assigned to HON HAI PRECISION INDUSTRY CO., LTD.. Invention is credited to KUN-YI WU.
Application Number | 20090220062 12/346766 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 41013167 |
Filed Date | 2009-09-03 |
United States Patent
Application |
20090220062 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
WU; KUN-YI |
September 3, 2009 |
METHOD FOR INDICATING CHARGE STATUS OF BACKUP POWER SUPPLY AND
COMMUNICATION DEVICE EMPLOYING THE SAME
Abstract
A method for indicating the charge status of a backup power
supply of a communication device includes detecting the charge
status of the backup power supply. If the charge status of the
backup power supply is lower than or equal to a predetermined
charge status, the communication device alerts via a telephone
connected thereto. The communication device alerts a user by
sounding one or more tones if the telephone is off-hook, and alerts
user by sounding one or more rings if the telephone is on-hook.
Inventors: |
WU; KUN-YI; (Taipei,
TW) |
Correspondence
Address: |
PCE INDUSTRY, INC.;ATT. Steven Reiss
458 E. LAMBERT ROAD
FULLERTON
CA
92835
US
|
Assignee: |
HON HAI PRECISION INDUSTRY CO.,
LTD.
Tu-Cheng
TW
|
Family ID: |
41013167 |
Appl. No.: |
12/346766 |
Filed: |
December 30, 2008 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
379/201.01 ;
340/636.2 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04M 1/2535 20130101;
H04M 1/57 20130101; H02J 7/0047 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
379/201.01 ;
340/636.2 |
International
Class: |
H04M 3/42 20060101
H04M003/42; G08B 21/18 20060101 G08B021/18 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Feb 29, 2008 |
TW |
97107094 |
Claims
1. A method for indicating a charge status of a backup power supply
of a communication device, comprising: detecting a charge status of
the backup power supply; and alerting via a telephone connected to
the communication device if the charge status of the backup power
supply is lower than or equal to a predetermined charge status;
wherein the alerting comprises alerting a user by sounding one or
more tones if the telephone is in an off-hook state.
2. The method as described in claim 1, further comprising alerting
the user by sounding one or more rings if the telephone is in an
on-hook state.
3. The method as described in claim 2, wherein the telephone
communicates and connects directly to the communication device via
a cable.
4. The method as described in claim 1, wherein the communication
device sends a charge status message of the backup power supply in
a caller identification (ID) format to the telephone.
5. The method as described in claim 4, wherein the charge status
message is displayed on a display of the telephone in the caller ID
format.
6. A communication device, comprising: a primary power supply
providing electrical power for the communication device to operate;
a backup power supply providing electrical power for the
communication device to operate when the primary power supply stops
supplying electrical power; a first detection module detecting a
charge status of the backup power supply of the communication
device; a second detection module detecting whether a telephone
connected to the communication device is in an off-hook state; and
a telephone module altering via the telephone if the charge status
of the backup power supply is lower than or equal to a
predetermined charge status; wherein the alerting comprises
alerting a user by sounding one or more tones if the telephone is
in off-hook state.
7. The communication device as described in claim 6, wherein the
telephone module alerts the user by sounding one or more rings if
the telephone is in an on-hook state.
8. The communication device as described in claim 7, wherein the
communication device sends a charge status message of the backup
power supply in a caller identification (ID) format to the
telephone.
9. The communication device as described in claim 8, wherein the
telephone communicates and connects directly to the communication
device via a cable.
10. The communication device as described in claim 6, wherein the
communication device sends a charge status message of the backup
power supply in a caller identification (ID) format to the
telephone.
11. The communication device as described in claim 10, wherein the
charge status message is displayed on a display of the telephone in
the caller ID format.
Description
BACKGROUND
[0001] 1. Technical Field
[0002] The present disclosure relates to a charge status
measurement and communication method, and more particularly to a
method for indicating charge status of a backup power supply and a
communication device using the same.
[0003] 2. Description of Related Art
[0004] Traditional telephones usually do not need an additional
power line connected to a socket to provide electrical power, and
can work with electrical power provided over the telephone line.
That is, the traditional telephone can still work during a
localized power outage.
[0005] Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service is getting more
and more popular these days and provides another convenient choice
for telephony services. A communication device that uses a VoIP
service may require a local power supply, which means VoIP services
may not be available during power outages.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0006] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a communication device and
a telephone.
[0007] FIG. 2 is a flowchart of one embodiment of actively
monitoring charge status of a backup power supply.
[0008] FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of one embodiment of a
telephone equipped with a display.
[0009] FIG. 4 is a flowchart of one embodiment of passively
altering charge status of a backup power supply.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0010] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a communication device 110
which is connected to and cooperates with a communication terminal,
such as a telephone 100 or a personal computer. The telephone 100
and the communication device 110 are both customer premise
equipments. The telephone 100 directly communicates with the
communication device 110 via a cable 105. The telephone 100 may be
a traditional telephone equipped with a landline or any kind of
Internet Protocol (IP) telephone. The communication device 110 may
comprise any customer premise equipment, such as a set-top box, a
digital subscriber line (DSL) modem, a cable modem, or any other
type of integrated access device. The communication device 110 is
connected to a communication network 120. The communication network
120 may be the Internet or a local area network (LAN), which may
comprise a plurality of telephones or communication devices that
can be configured to communicate with the telephone 100.
[0011] According to an embodiment, the communication device 110
comprises a telephone module 111, a first detection module 112, a
primary power supply 113, a backup power supply 114 and a second
detection module 115. The telephone module 111 is utilized to
communicate with a communication terminal, such as the telephone
100. The first detection module 112 is utilized to detect a charge
status of the backup power supply 114. The charge status indicates
how many percent charged is the backup power supply, such as fully
charged, 80% charged etc. The telephone module 111 may comprise an
integrated circuit (IC) with telephony communication capabilities,
and the first detection module 112 may be made up of a voltage
detection circuit of the IC of the telephone module 111. The
primary power supply 113 provides electrical power for the
communication device 110 to operate. The primary power supply 113
may be connected to an external power source. In one example, the
primary power supply 113 may be connected to a home electrical
socket via a power adapter. In another example, the primary power
supply 113 may comprise at least one transformer for converting
external power to an appropriate voltage level for the
communication device 110 and a rectifier circuit for converting
alternating current to appropriate direct current for respective
internal modules of the communication device 110. The backup power
supply 114 may comprise one or more batteries. The second detection
module 115 detects and determines work status of the telephone 100.
For example, if the telephone 100 is in use, the second detection
module 115 determines that the work status of the telephone 100 is
off-hook. If the telephone is not in use, the second detection
module 115 determines that the work status of the telephone 100 is
on-hook.
[0012] The backup power supply 114 is configured to provide power
to the communication device 110 when power provided by the primary
power supply 113 is insufficient such as during a blackout.
[0013] The communication device 110 may actively monitor charge
status of the backup power supply 114, or passively receive charge
status queries and respond with messages indicating the charge
status of the backup power supply 114. Active charge status
monitoring is explained next.
[0014] With reference to FIG. 2, the first detection module 112
actively and continuously detects charge status of the backup power
supply 114 of the communication device 110 (step S200) and
determines whether to activate an alarm based on the detected
charge status of the backup power supply 114. If the first
detection module 112 determines to activate an alarm, step S204 is
executed. If the first detection module 112 determines not to
activate an alarm, step S200 is repeated.
[0015] In one example, the first detection module 112 may convert
the detected charge status of the backup power supply 114 into a
numerical format, and determine if that number is lower than a
predetermined value. If the numerical charge status of the backup
power supply 114 is lower than the predetermined value, the first
detection module 112 determines that the backup power supply 114
has too little charge remaining and activates the alarm. If the
numerical charge status of the backup power supply 114 is higher
than or equal to the predetermined value, the first detection
module 112 determines that the backup power supply 114 is has
sufficient charge remaining.
[0016] It should be understood that a plurality of predetermined
values may be utilized to differentiate many charge statuses
associated with different alarm or non-alarm conditions.
[0017] The alarm means may comprise different tones, rings and
messages. The alarm frequency may also be adjusted. For example,
when charge status of the backup power supply 114 gets lower, the
frequency of alarms signals may increase such as from once every
minute for 40% charge remaining to once every ten seconds for 10%
charge remaining to impart a greater sense of urgency to a user. If
the alarms are in the form of messages, they may comprise caller
identification (caller ID, or caller number identification)
information. Exemplary disclosure of different charge statuses and
corresponding alarm means are shown in Table 1.
TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 The first The second The third Charge status
alarm means alarm means alarm means The first status The first tone
The first ring The first caller ID The second The second tone The
second ring The second status caller ID . . . . . . . . . . . . The
N.sub.th status The N.sub.th tone The N.sub.th ring The N.sub.th
caller ID
[0018] The alarms may comprise tones, rings and caller ID
information. N is a positive integer greater than 2. The caller ID
information may comprise characters, numbers, symbols or figures to
represent a corresponding charge status. For example, a caller ID
"CHARGE20" is utilized to indicate the charge status of the back
power supply is 20% charged. The first detection module 112 can
determine charge status of the backup power supply 114 and a caller
ID information corresponding to the charge status.
[0019] In step S204, the second detection module 115 detects work
status of the telephone 100 (step S204) and determines whether the
telephone 100 is in an on-hook state or an off-hook state. In this
embodiment, for example, the second detection module 115 detects
status of the telephone 100 utilizing the telephone module 111. It
is to be understood that the communication device 110 may notify
any other telephone or telephones of the charge status of the
backup power supply 114. The second detection module 115 may
distinguish states of the telephone 100 other than on-hook or
off-hook.
[0020] When the telephone 100 is off-hook, the telephone module 111
alerts a user by sounding one or more tones (step S208). In
addition, the telephone module 111 may utilize caller ID format to
transmit a charge status message to the telephone 100.
[0021] FIG. 3 shows an exemplary embodiment of the telephone 100.
The telephone 100 is equipped with a display 101. Upon receiving a
charge status message of the backup power supply 114, the telephone
100 displays the message on the display 101.
[0022] When the telephone 100 is on-hook, the telephone module 111
alerts a user by one or more rings (step S210). In addition, the
telephone module 111 may also utilize caller ID format to transmit
a charge status message of the backup power supply 114. Upon
receiving a charge status message of the backup power supply 114,
the telephone 100 displays the message on the display 101.
[0023] This is the way that the communication device 110 can
actively notify a telephone of charge status of the backup power
supply 114. The passive charge status alerting is explained
next.
[0024] When the telephone 100 sends a charge status query to the
communication device 110, the communication device 110 receives the
charge status query and responds to the query with a message
indicating the charge status of the backup power supply 114. The
telephone 100 may call specific numbers to query the charge status.
For example, the communication device 110 stores a digit map table,
and each entry in the digit map table comprises a digit map. The
communication device 110 compares a called number sent by the
telephone 100 with the digit maps. If the called number conforms to
a specific digit map, the communication device 110 takes the called
number as a charge status query and responds to the query.
[0025] With reference to FIG. 4, the communication device 110
receives a specific number from the telephone 100 (step S300) and
determines whether the number sent from the telephone 100 conforms
to a specific entry in the specific digit map table (step S302). If
the number conforms to the specific entry, the first detection
module 112 detects and determines the current charge status of the
backup power supply 114 (step S304), and responds to the received
number with a caller ID via the telephone module 111 to notify the
telephone 100 of the current charge status message of the backup
power supply 114.
[0026] If the number sent from the telephone 100 does not conform
to any entry in the digit map table, the communication device 110
executes general telephone call out service in response to the
received number (step S308).
[0027] In conclusion, the foregoing communication device 110 may
actively monitoring charge status of the backup power supply 114,
or passively receive charge status queries and respond thereto with
charge status messages. The method of notifying charge status
information may comprise different tones, rings, and messages. The
frequency of charge status notifications may also be adjusted.
[0028] It is to be understood, however, that even though numerous
characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been
set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of
the structure and function of the invention, the disclosure is
illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially in
matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the
principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the
broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are
expressed.
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