Patent ID: 8055462

Claim:
A system for counting electrons from a power supply, the system comprising: a power supply producing a current; a fuel gauge in communication with the power supply, the fuel gauge comprising: a voltage pre-regulator for receiving the current and providing a preset voltage; a main voltage regulator in communication with the voltage pre-regulator for receiving the preset voltage and providing power to other components of the fuel gauge; a current sense resistor in communication with the main voltage regulator for converting the current to a voltage; an integrator comprising an op amp and a capacitor, wherein the integrator receives power from the main voltage regulator, and integrates the voltage from the current sense resistor to form a voltage proportional to current; a microprocessor comprising data storage and a hysteresis circuit, wherein the microprocessor is in a low power state until activated, and wherein the data storage comprises computer instructions for instructing the microprocessor to convert the voltage proportional to current to a monotonic uni-polar representation of an aggregate number of electrons and computer instructions for instructing the microprocessor to convert the monotonic uni-polar representation of an aggregate number of electrons to an established standard engineering unit of capacity; a resistor disposed between the integrator and the microprocessor for activating the microprocessor from the low power state prior to saturation of the integrator with the voltage proportional to current; and a reset switch disposed between the microprocessor and the integrator for resetting the monotonic uni-polar representation of an aggregate number of electrons to zero; a reader comprising a reader processor and display, wherein the reader is in communication with the microprocessor, and wherein the microprocessor transmits to the reader the established standard engineering unit of capacity, and wherein the reader processor displays the established standard engineering unit of capacity on the display; and a modem in communication with the fuel gauge, wherein the modem provides a communication signal over power lines of the fuel gauge.