PATENT DOCUMENT

Publication Number: US-10938253-B2
Application Number: US-201816026931-A
Country: US
Kind Code: B2

Title: Wireless power system with battery charge indicators

Abstract:
A wireless power system includes a wireless power transmitting device such as a wireless charging mat for charging devices such as a cellular telephone and an earbuds battery case. The earbuds battery case receives earbuds and charges the earbuds from a battery. The wireless charging mat supports bidirectional in-band communications between the cellular telephone and the earbuds battery case. The earbuds battery case provides the cellular telephone with information on the battery charge level associated with the battery in the earbuds battery case and a battery charge level associated with each earbud in the earbuds battery case. The cellular telephone receives battery charge level information through the wireless charging mat and displays corresponding indicators. The earbuds battery case has a visual output device such as a light-emitting diode that is illuminated to indicate that the earbuds battery case is being charged.

Claims:
What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A system operable with a wireless power transmitting device, comprising:
 a first wireless power receiving device configured to receive wireless power from the wireless power transmitting device and having a first visual output device; and 
 a second wireless power receiving device configured to receive wireless power from the wireless power transmitting device and having a second visual output device, wherein the second wireless power receiving device includes control circuitry configured to:
 coordinate display of first and second visual output on the first and second visual output devices respectively, wherein the first and second visual output each represent battery charging status and wherein coordinating display of the first and second output comprises transmitting a communication to the first wireless power receiving device indicating a time at which to simultaneously display the first and second visual output. 
 
 
     
     
       2. The system of  claim 1  wherein the second wireless power receiving device includes a battery and wherein the second visual output comprises a battery charge level indicator associated with a level of battery charge on the battery of the second wireless power receiving device. 
     
     
       3. The system of  claim 2  wherein the second visual output device comprises a display and wherein the control circuitry is configured to display the battery charge level indicator on the display. 
     
     
       4. The system of  claim 3  wherein the first wireless power receiving device includes a battery and wherein the first visual output indicates that the battery in the first wireless power receiving device is being charged using the wireless power received by the first wireless power receiving device. 
     
     
       5. The system of  claim 4  wherein the first visual output device comprises a light-emitting diode, wherein the first visual output is produced by illumination of the light-emitting diode, and wherein the first wireless power receiving device does not have a touchscreen. 
     
     
       6. The system of  claim 5  wherein the control circuitry is configured to receive information on a level of battery charge on the battery in the first wireless power receiving device from the wireless power transmitting device. 
     
     
       7. The system of  claim 6  wherein the second wireless power receiving device is configured to display, on the second visual output device, the level of battery charge on the battery of the first wireless power receiving device. 
     
     
       8. The system of  claim 2  wherein the communication comprises a countdown timer value sent to the first wireless power receiving device through the wireless power transmitting device. 
     
     
       9. The system of  claim 1  wherein the first wireless power receiving device is an earbuds battery case configured to receive wireless earbuds and wherein the control circuitry is configured to receive information on a level of battery charge on a battery in the wireless earbuds battery case from the wireless power transmitting device. 
     
     
       10. The system of  claim 9  wherein the second wireless power receiving device includes a display and wherein the control circuitry is configured to use the display to display a battery charge level indicator corresponding to a level of battery charge on a battery in the wireless earbuds. 
     
     
       11. A wireless power receiving device operable with first and second electronic devices and operable with a wireless power transmitting device, the wireless power receiving device comprising:
 a battery; 
 a display; 
 wireless power receiving circuitry configured to receive wireless power from the wireless power transmitting device to charge the battery; and 
 control circuitry configured to:
 receive, with the wireless power receiving circuitry, battery charge level information associated with a battery charge level in the second electronic device; 
 display (i) the battery charge level information for the second electronic device on the display and (ii) battery charge level information for the battery, on the display; and 
 transmit a communication comprising timing information indicating a subsequent time to begin producing a visual output to the second electronic device to cause the second electronic device to produce the visual output in synchronization with the displaying of the battery charge level information associated with the battery on the display. 
 
 
     
     
       12. The wireless power receiving device of  claim 11  wherein the second electronic device comprises a case for carrying and charging earbuds, the case having a battery. 
     
     
       13. The wireless power receiving device of  claim 12  wherein the first electronic device comprises wireless earbuds. 
     
     
       14. The wireless power receiving device of  claim 13  wherein the wireless earbuds are not paired with the second electronic device. 
     
     
       15. The wireless power receiving device of  claim 11  wherein the control circuitry is further configured to:
 receive, with the wireless power receiving circuitry, battery charge level information from the second electronic device that is associated with a battery charge level in the first electronic device; 
 display the battery charge level information that is associated with the battery charge level in the first electronic device on the display. 
 
     
     
       16. The wireless power receiving device of  claim 11  wherein the control circuitry is configured to use the wireless power receiving circuitry to transmit the communication to the second electronic device. 
     
     
       17. The wireless power receiving device of  claim 16  wherein the communication comprises a countdown timer value. 
     
     
       18. The wireless power receiving device of  claim 11  wherein the second electronic device is configured to charge the first electronic device over contact connections and wherein the control circuitry is configured to:
 display battery charge level information associated with a battery charge level in the first electronic device on the display. 
 
     
     
       19. (Withdrawn - Currently amended) An earbuds battery case operable with earbuds, comprising:
 a housing; 
 a battery; 
 a light-emitting diode; 
 wireless power receiving circuitry configured to receive wireless power from a wireless power transmitting device; 
 a connector configured to form a wired connection with earbuds received within the housing; and 
 control circuitry that is configured to:
 gather earbud identifiers for earbuds that form wired connections with the connector; 
 retain at least a given earbud identifier that is associated with a pair of the earbuds that most recently formed a wired connection with the connector; and 
 illuminate the light-emitting diode in synchronization with a visual output from a display of an additional wireless power receiving device in response to receiving a countdown timer value from the additional wireless power receiving device. 
 
 
     
     
       20. The earbuds battery case of  claim 19  wherein the control circuitry is configured to:
 transmit the retained earbud identifier to the wireless power transmitting device while the corresponding earbud is not connected with the connector. 
 
     
     
       21. The earbuds battery case of  claim 20  wherein the control circuitry is configured to transmit the retained earbud identifier using in-band communications.

Description:
This application claims the benefit of provisional patent application No. 62/556,236, filed on Sep. 8, 2017, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. 
    
    
     FIELD 
     This relates generally to power systems, and, more particularly, to wireless power systems for charging electronic devices. 
     BACKGROUND 
     In a wireless charging system, a wireless charging mat wirelessly transmits power to a portable electronic device that is placed on the mat. The portable electronic device has wireless power receiving circuitry that receives the wirelessly transmitted power. 
     In some arrangements, it can be difficult to determine whether equipment in a wireless power system is operating satisfactorily. For example, it may be difficult to determine which devices in a system are receiving power, it may be difficult to ascertain battery charge levels, and it may be difficult to determine which portable devices are associated with each other. 
     SUMMARY 
     A wireless power system includes a wireless power transmitting device such as a wireless charging mat. The wireless charging mat has coils that transit wireless power signals to one or more wireless power receiving devices. The wireless power receiving devices can include a cellular telephone and a battery case for an accessory such as an earbuds battery case. 
     An earbuds battery case receives earbuds and uses a wired connection to charge the earbuds from a battery within the earbuds battery case. The wireless charging mat is used in forming bidirectional in-band communications links with the cellular telephone and the earbuds battery case. 
     The earbuds battery case provides the cellular telephone with information on the battery charge level associated with the battery in the earbuds battery case and a battery charge level associated with each earbud in the earbuds battery case. The cellular telephone receives this charge level information wirelessly through the wireless charging mat and displays battery charge level indicators on a display in the cellular telephone. 
     The earbuds battery case has a visual output device such as a light-emitting diode that is illuminated to indicate that the earbuds battery case is being charged. The illumination of the light-emitting diode may be synchronized with the presentation of the battery charge level information on the display of the cellular telephone. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic diagram of an illustrative wireless charging system that includes a wireless power transmitting device and wireless power receiving devices in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 2  is a side view of an illustrative wireless charging mat and devices on the mat that are receiving wireless power in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 3  is a top view of an illustrative wireless charging mat on which an accessory such as a pair of earbuds and an associated earbud battery case have been placed and on which a device such as a cellular telephone has been placed in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 4  is a flow chart of illustrative operations involved in operating a wireless power system in accordance with an embodiment. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     A wireless power system has a wireless power transmitting device such as a wireless charging mat. The wireless power transmitting device wirelessly transmits power to one or more wireless power receiving devices such as wristwatches, media players, cellular telephones, tablet computers, laptop computers, accessories such as audio accessories (e.g., headphones, earbuds, etc.), computer mice, trackpads, stylus devices, or other electronic equipment. In some configurations, the wireless power receiving devices include battery cases (sometimes referred to as battery packs, supplemental batteries, covers, etc.). As an example, a wireless power transmitting device may be used in wirelessly charging battery cases for earbuds. 
     Wireless power receiving devices use power from a wireless power transmitting device for powering circuitry in the wireless power receiving devices and for charging an internal battery. A wireless power receiving device such as a battery case for a pair of earbuds transfers battery power from the battery case to a pair of earbuds that have been received within an interior portion of the battery case using a wired connection. 
     The wireless power transmitting device has one or more wireless power transmitting coils arranged under a charging surface. During operation, the wireless power transmitting coils are used to transmit wireless power signals that are received by a wireless power receiving coil in the wireless power receiving device. Wireless power signals are transmitted at a wireless power transmission frequency such as a frequency of about 128 kHz, frequencies in a range between 100 kHz and 200 kHz, or other suitable frequency. 
     An illustrative wireless power system (wireless charging system) is shown in  FIG. 1 . As shown in  FIG. 1 , wireless power system  8  includes a wireless power transmitting device such as wireless power transmitting device  12  and includes wireless power receiving devices  24 . Wireless power transmitting device  12  includes control circuitry  16 . Each wireless power receiving device  24  includes control circuitry  30 . Control circuitry in system  8  such as control circuitry  16  and control circuitry  30  is used in controlling the operation of system  8 . This control circuitry includes processing circuitry associated with microprocessors, power management units, baseband processors, digital signal processors, microcontrollers, and/or application-specific integrated circuits with processing circuits. The processing circuitry implements desired control and communications features in devices  12  and  24 . For example, the processing circuitry may be used in determining power transmission levels, processing sensor data, processing user input, handling communications between devices  12  and  24  (e.g., sending and receiving in-band and out-of-band data), displaying information on device  12  and/or device(s)  24 , selecting wireless power transmitting coils, and otherwise controlling the operation of system  8 . If desired, control circuitry in system  8  may be used to authorize components to use power and ensure that components do not exceed maximum allowable power consumption levels. 
     Control circuitry in system  8  may be configured to perform operations in system  8  using hardware (e.g., dedicated hardware or circuitry), firmware and/or software. Software code for performing operations in system  8  is stored on non-transitory computer readable storage media (e.g., tangible computer readable storage media) in control circuitry  8 . The software code may sometimes be referred to as software, data, program instructions, instructions, or code. The non-transitory computer readable storage media may include non-volatile memory such as non-volatile random-access memory (NVRAM), one or more hard drives (e.g., magnetic drives or solid state drives), one or more removable flash drives or other removable media, or the like. Software stored on the non-transitory computer readable storage media may be executed on the processing circuitry of control circuitry  16  and/or  30 . The processing circuitry may include application-specific integrated circuits with processing circuitry, one or more microprocessors, a central processing unit (CPU), digital signal processing circuits, baseband processors, power management units with processing circuitry, microcontrollers, and other processing circuitry. 
     Power transmitting device  12  may be a stand-alone power adapter (e.g., a wireless charging mat that includes power adapter circuitry), may be a wireless charging mat that receives power from a power adapter or other equipment using a cable, may be a portable device, may be equipment that has been incorporated into furniture, a vehicle, or other system, or may be other wireless power transfer equipment. Illustrative configurations in which wireless power transmitting device  12  is a wireless charging mat are sometimes described herein as an example. 
     Each power receiving device  24  may be a portable electronic device such as a wristwatch, a cellular telephone, a laptop computer, a tablet computer, an earbuds battery case or other accessory battery case, audio equipment such as earbuds or headphones (e.g., earbuds that wirelessly communicate with a cellular telephone, tablet computer, or other electronic device using a wireless connection such as a Bluetooth® link), other accessories, or other electronic equipment. Power transmitting device  12  may receive power from a wall outlet (e.g., alternating current), may have a battery for supplying power, and/or may have another source of power. 
     Power transmitting device  12  of  FIG. 1  has an AC-DC power converter such as power converter  14  for converting AC power from a wall outlet or other power source into DC power. DC power is used to power control circuitry  16 . During operation, a controller in control circuitry  16  uses power transmitting circuitry  52  to transmit wireless power to power receiving circuitry  54  of each device  24 . Power transmitting circuitry  52  has switching circuitry (e.g., inverter circuitry  60  formed from transistors) that is turned on and off at an alternating-current wireless power transmission frequency based on control signals provided by control circuitry  16 . This creates AC current signals through one or more coils  42 . Coils  42  may be arranged in a planar coil array (e.g., in configurations in which device  12  is a wireless charging mat). Coils  42  can overlap with adjacent coils  42 . 
     As AC currents pass through one or more coils  42 , alternating-current electromagnetic fields (signals  44 ) are produced that are received by one or more corresponding coils such as coil  48  in each power receiving device  24 . When the alternating-current electromagnetic fields are received by coil  48 , corresponding alternating-current currents are induced in coil  48 . Rectifier circuitry such as rectifier  50 , which contains rectifying components such as synchronous rectification metal-oxide-semiconductor transistors arranged in a bridge network, converts received AC signals (received alternating-current signals associated with electromagnetic signals  44 ) from coil  48  into DC voltage signals for powering device  24 . 
     The DC voltages produced by rectifier  50  can be used in powering a battery such as battery  58  and can be used in powering other components in each device  24 . For example, device  24  may include input-output devices  56  such as a display (e.g., a touch screen display) or other visual output device (e.g., a light-emitting diode or other visual indicator device), a touch sensor (separate from the display or part of a display), communications circuits, audio components, sensors, and other components and these components may be powered by the DC voltages produced by rectifier  50  (and/or DC voltages produced by battery  58 ). 
     Device  12  and/or device(s)  24  may communicate wirelessly using in-band or out-of-band communications. Device  12  may, for example, have wireless transceiver circuitry  40  (e.g., wireless local area network circuits, Bluetooth® circuits, cellular telephone transceiver circuitry, etc.) that wirelessly transmits out-of-band signals to device  24  using an antenna. Wireless transceiver circuitry  40  may be used to wirelessly receive out-of-band signals from device  24  using the antenna. Each device  24  may have transmitter circuitry in wireless transceiver circuitry  46  that transmits out-of-band signals to device  12 . Receiver circuitry in wireless transceiver  46  may use an antenna to receive out-of-band signals from device  12 . 
     Wireless transceiver circuitry  40  uses one or more coils  42  to transmit in-band signals to wireless transceiver circuitry  46  that are received by wireless transceiver circuitry  46  using coil  48 . Any suitable modulation scheme may be used to support in-band communications between device  12  and device  24 . In some configurations, frequency-shift keying (FSK) is used to convey in-band data from device  12  to device  24  and amplitude-shift keying (ASK) is used to convey in-band data from device  24  to device  12 . Power is conveyed wirelessly from device  12  to device  24  during these FSK and ASK transmissions. 
     During wireless power transmission operations, circuitry  52  supplies AC drive signals to one or more coils  42  at a given power transmission frequency. The power transmission frequency may be, for example, a predetermined frequency of about 128 kHz, at least 80 kHz, at least 100 kHz, less than 500 kHz, less than 300 kHz, less than 200 kHz, 100-200 kHz, 50-200 kHz, 100-200 kHz, or other suitable wireless power frequency. In some configurations, device  12  varies the power transmission frequency during operation. 
     In configurations that support FSK in-band communications, wireless transceiver circuitry  40  uses FSK modulation to modulate the power transmission frequency of the driving AC signals that device  12  is using to transmit wireless power and thereby modulates the frequency of signals  44 . In each device  24 , coil  48  is used to receive signals  44 . Power receiving circuitry  54  uses the received signals on coil  48  and rectifier  50  to produce DC power. At the same time, wireless transceiver circuitry  46  uses FSK demodulation to extract the transmitted in-band data from signals  44 . This approach allows FSK data (e.g., FSK data packets) to be transmitted in-band from device  12  to device  24  with coils  42  and  48  while power is simultaneously being wirelessly conveyed from device  12  to device  24  using coils  42  and  48 . 
     In configurations that support ASK in-band communications wireless transceiver circuitry  46  transmits in-band data to device  12  by using a switch (e.g., one or more transistors in transceiver  46  that are connected to coil  48 ) to modulate the impedance of power receiving circuitry  54  (e.g., coil  48 ). This, in turn, modulates the amplitude of signal  44  and the amplitude of the AC signal passing through coil(s)  42 . Wireless transceiver circuitry  40  monitors the amplitude of the AC signal passing through coil(s)  42  and, using ASK demodulation, extracts the transmitted in-band data from these signals that was transmitted by wireless transceiver circuitry  46 . The use of ASK communications allows ASK data bits (e.g., ASK data packets) to be transmitted in-band from device  24  to device  12  with coils  48  and  42  while power is simultaneously being wirelessly conveyed from device  12  to device  24  using coils  42  and  48 . 
     Control circuitry  16  has external object measurement circuitry  41  (sometimes referred to as foreign object detection circuitry or external object detection circuitry) that detects external objects on a charging surface associated with device  12 . Circuitry  41  can detect foreign objects such as coils, paper clips, and other metallic objects and can detect the presence of wireless power receiving devices  24 . Control circuitry  30  has measurement circuitry  43 . Measurement circuitry  41  and  43  may be used in making inductance measurements (e.g., measurements of the inductances of coils  42  and  48 ), input and output voltage measurements (e.g., a rectifier output voltage, and inverter input voltage, etc.), current measurements, capacitance measurements, frequency measurements (e.g., measurements of the frequency of wireless power signals), and/or other measurements on the circuitry of system  8 . 
       FIG. 2  is a diagram of system  8  in an illustrative configuration in which wireless power transmitting device  12  is a wireless charging mat, a first wireless power receiving device that receives power from wireless charging mat  12  is a cellular telephone or other portable device with a display (see, e.g., cellular telephone  24 A, which may have a touchscreen) and a second wireless power receiving device that receives power from wireless charging mat  12  is an earbuds case with a battery (see, e.g., earbuds battery case  24 B, which may not have a touchscreen). The third device in the illustrative configuration of  FIG. 2  is a pair of earbuds  24 C (e.g., earbuds  24 C that receive audio wirelessly from cellular telephone  24 A). Earbuds  24 C are received within interior region  71  of earbuds battery case housing  73  (e.g., a housing formed from plastic, metal, fabric, leather, and/or other materials. Earbuds  24 C include left earbud  24 C 1 , which is configured to be received within the left ear of a user, and right earbud  24 C 2 , which is configured to be received within the right ear of a user. Earbuds  24 C contain batteries (battery  58  of  FIG. 1 ) and may receive battery power from the batteries in earbud case  24 B via wired connections. For example, each earbud has a connector  70  that mates with a corresponding connector  72  in earbuds case  24 B so that earbuds case  24 B may transfer power from a battery in earbuds case  24 B to earbuds  24 C and so that earbuds  24 C can communicate over the wired connection (e.g., the contact connections formed from contacts in connectors  70  and  72 ) with control circuitry in case  24 B. If desired, earbuds  24 C may each include power receiving circuitry  54  for wirelessly receiving power directly from a wireless power transmitting device such as wireless charging mat  12 . Wireless power transfer operations (inductive charging) and wireless data communications in system  8  between devices  24  and/or device  12  are contactless (e.g., not wired). 
       FIG. 3  shows how cellular telephone  24 A has a display such as display  74 . During operation, cellular telephone  24 A uses display  74  and/or other input-output devices to display information for a user on the battery charge level (sometimes referred to as battery charge status, battery state of charge, battery charge information, etc.) for some or all of the devices on mat  12 . As shown in  FIG. 3 , for example, the control circuitry of cellular telephone  24 A uses display  74  to display cellular telephone battery charge level information  76  (e.g., a battery charge level indicator) indicative of the state of charge of the battery in cellular telephone  24 A, uses display  74  to display earbuds case battery charge level information  78 , and/or uses display  74  to display earbuds battery charge level information  80  (e.g., separate charge level information for left earbud  24 C 1  and right earbud  24 C 2 ). This information is conveyed to cellular telephone  24 A wirelessly in system  8 . 
     With one illustrative configuration, battery charge information from case  24 B and earbuds  24 C can be conveyed wirelessly to cellular telephone  24 A via mat  12  (e.g., using in-band communications). Information associated with battery charging can also be conveyed wirelessly from cellular telephone  24 A to case  24 B and earbuds  24 C via mat  12  (e.g., using in-band communications). Case  24 B, which may contain earbuds  24 C, has input-output devices such as light-emitting diode  82  (or other visual output device such as a display, a tone generator, a speaker, and/or other input-output component). Case  24 B uses light-emitting diode  82  to produce visual output (e.g., steady and/or flashing light, etc.) in response to changes in battery charging status or other criteria. For example, case  24 B may illuminate light-emitting diode  82  when case  24 B is receiving wireless power from mat  12  and is charging its internal battery. 
     Illustrative operations associated with operating system  8  are shown in the flow chart of  FIG. 4 . During the operations of block  90 , a user performs a pairing process to pair cellular telephone and earbuds  24 C (e.g., by opening case  24 B in the vicinity of cellular telephone  24 A and clicking on an on-screen option that is presented on cellular telephone  24 A to form a connection between earbuds  24 C and cellular telephone  24 A). Earbuds  24 C, case  24 B, and/or cellular telephone  24 A may, if desired, communicate wirelessly to support pairing operations (e.g., to exchange and compare device identifiers, etc.). In an illustrative configuration, earbuds  24 C are coupled to case  24 B using a wired connection (see, e.g., connectors  70  and  72  of  FIG. 2 ) and this wired connection is used by case  24 B to obtain the identifier associated with each earbud  24 C. During the pairing operations of block  90 , wireless earbuds  24 C are paired with (associated with) cellular telephone  24 A and are paired with case  24 B. Case  24 B may retain information on the identity of paired earbuds in case  24 B and information on the identifier of the most recent earbuds received within case  24 B. This allows case  24 B to compare the identifier for earbuds that are currently enclosed in case  24  to a previously paired earbud identifier. 
     Earbuds case  24 B may take action based on compared identifiers. For example, in response to determining that case  24 B contains earbuds  24 C that do not match a previously paired set of earbuds, case  24 B may flash light-emitting diode  82  to warn the user that the user may have inadvertently put earbuds that belong to someone else into case  24 B. Because case  24 B gathers earbud identifiers that identify the earbuds  24 C in case  24 B, case  24 B is sometimes said to inherit the identify of earbuds  24 C. 
     Following pairing operations, a user may place cellular telephone  24 A and earbuds case  24 B (and any earbuds  24 C in case  24 B) on mat  12  for wireless charging. During the operations of block  92  and block  94 , cellular telephone  24 A may send an identifier (e.g., a cellular telephone identifier) to mat  12  and case  24 B may obtain an identifier (e.g., an earbuds identifier) that is associated with the earbuds  24 C in case  24 B and send that earbuds identifier to mat  12 . Wireless charging mat  12  supplies wireless power to the devices on mat  12  when obtaining the identifiers (e.g., to ensure that the devices are provided with adequate power to operate their communications circuitry and to allow in-band communications to be used to transmit the identifier information). 
     In an illustrative configuration, mat  12  initially senses that a reeving device is present (e.g., using a foreign object detection process that senses foreign objects based on measured coil inductances and/or other information gathered with measurement circuitry  41 ). This initial sensing reveals whether a given receiving device is a small low-power device such as an earbuds case or watch or is a high-power device such as a cellular telephone. Mat  12  can then provide initial wireless power based on the anticipated power rating of the receiving device. Once the receiving device identifier has been received by mat  12 , mat  12  can adjust the amount of wireless power that is transmitted to a level that is appropriate for the type of receiving device that is present. The receiving device can thereafter supply real time power level adjustment requests to mat  12  (e.g., via in-band communications) that serve to direct mat  12  to increase or decrease transmitted power levels accordingly. 
     After the identifier information of blocks  92  and  94  has been received by mat  12 , mat  12  may, during the operations of block  96 , establish bidirectional communications between mat  12  and cellular telephone  24 A and between mat  12  and case  24 B. The bidirectional communications links that are established in this way allow cellular telephone  24 A and case  24 B to communicate wirelessly (e.g., using in-band communications). Mat  12  serves as an intermediary and relays messages between cellular telephone  24 A and case  24 B. Case  24 B can communicate with earbuds  24 C in case  24 B using a wired connection (see, e.g., the connection formed by connectors  70  and  72  in  FIG. 2 ). Using the bidirectional in-band link formed through mat  12 , battery charge level information and other information can be exchanged during operation of system  8 . 
     The amount of wireless power that is being delivered to case  24 B can be reduced when it is desired to operate case  24 B in a battery maintenance mode in which the charge state of case  24 B is being maintained at a fully charged level or other desired level and in which the circuitry of case  24 B is powered and able to handle wireless communications. This allows earbuds  24 C to wirelessly transmit battery status information to cellular telephone  24 A via mat  12 . Firmware updates may also be supported (e.g., cellular telephone  24 A may receive firmware updates wirelessly that are transmitted to case  24 B via mat  12  so that case  24 B may provide these firmware updates to earbuds  24 C). When earbuds  24 C are in a wirelessly powered case, wireless communications circuitry in earbuds  24 C (e.g., Bluetooth® circuitry) may be maintained in an active state to support cellular telephone pairing operations. In scenarios in which earbuds  24 C are in a case that is not being wirelessly powered, the earbuds may be placed in a quiescent state (e.g., a low-power sleep state) to conserve battery life. In scenarios in which case  24 B on mat  12  is empty, wireless power transfer to case  24 B can be periodically halted to conserve power and periodically reestablished to ensure that the battery in case  24 B remains fully charged. 
     During the operations of block  98 , system  8  may be used in displaying battery information for a user. For example, cellular telephone  24 A may display battery charge level information (sometimes referred to as state of charge information) using charge level icons  76 ,  78 , and  80  of  FIG. 3  and battery case  24 B may illuminate light-emitting diode  82  to indicate to the user that mat  12  is currently charging case  24 B. The state of charge of the battery in each earbud  24 C may be conveyed to case  24 B over a wired connection (e.g., connectors  70  and  72  of  FIG. 2 ). The state of charge of case  24 B and the state of charge of earbuds  24 C in case  24 B may be provided to cellular telephone  24 A from case  24 B using in-band communications (e.g., the bidirectional communications link between case  24 B and cellular telephone  24 A that was established during the operations of block  96 ). Control circuitry  16  in cellular telephone  24 A gathers information on the state of charge of its battery internally. 
     The display of battery charging information on display  74  of cellular telephone  24 A and the illumination of light-emitting diode  82  may be coordinated, so that the battery charging information appears on display  74  in synchronization with the illumination of diode  82  (e.g., the visual output associated with these two items may commence at an identical time or nearly identical time such as times that are within 200 ms of each other, within 100 ms of each other, etc.). To ensure that light-emitting diode  82  is illuminated at the same time that display  74  first presents information  76 ,  78 , and  80  to the user, cellular telephone  24 A may, during the operations of block  98 , transmit a case-specific countdown timer value to case  24 B. The countdown timer value is specific to case  24  B (to accommodate multiple cases on mat  12 ) and informs that case  24 B of the amount of time that will elapse before display  74  is used in displaying information  76 ,  78 , and  80 . Case  24 B receives the countdown timer value and starts a corresponding countdown timer. When the countdown timer expires (e.g., at the same moment that display  74  is first being used to display information  76 ,  78 , and  80  such as shortly after cellular telephone  24 A is placed on mat  12 ), case  24 B illuminates light-emitting diode  82  or other visual status indicator in case  24 B. 
     The behavior of system  8  in displaying battery charge information for a user may vary depending on whether a user&#39;s earbuds  24 C or the earbuds of another person are present in case  24 B, whether case  24 B belongs to the user or to another person, whether case  24 B is empty, and other factors. 
     For example, consider a first scenario, in which a user&#39;s cellular telephone  24 A is placed on mat  12  and the case  24 B of another person that contains the earbuds  24 C of that other person are placed on mat  12 . In this scenario, neither the case nor the earbuds on the mat are owned by the user and are therefore not paired with the cellular telephone  24 A of the user. As a result, cellular telephone  24 A will only display battery status information  76 . In some configurations, light-emitting diode  82  may be illuminated while case  24 B is wirelessly charged, but the illumination of light-emitting diode  82  will not be coordinated with the display of information  76  on display  74  using a countdown timer value, because cellular telephone  24 A does not recognize the case and does not recognize the earbuds. The same result would be obtained if the earbuds of the other person were to be placed in the case  24 B of the user (because case  24 B inherits the identity of the earbuds  24 C received within case  24 B). 
     In a second scenario, a user places the user&#39;s earbuds  24 C in a borrowed case  24 B belonging to another person and places case  24 B and the user&#39;s cellular telephone  24 A on mat  12 . The earbuds  24 C were previously paired with the user&#39;s cellular telephone. In this scenario, the borrowed case  24 B inherits the identifier of the earbuds  24 C that are contained within the borrowed case. Cellular telephone  24 A was previously paired with earbuds  24 C and therefore displays information  76 ,  78 , and  80  on display  74 . In anticipation of displaying this information on display  74 , cellular telephone  24 A transmits an appropriate countdown timer value to case  24 B. This allows case  24 B and cellular telephone  24 A to simultaneously activate and thereby synchronously display information  76 ,  78 , and  80  (on display  74 ) and illuminate light-emitting diode  82  (on case  24 B). 
     In a third scenario, a users&#39; empty case  24 B is placed on mat  12  with a user&#39;s cellular telephone  24 A. If the case previously contained the user&#39;s earbuds  24 C, this information is retained by case  24 B, so light-emitting diode  82  may be illuminated at the same time that cellular telephone  24 A displays charge status information  76  and  78 . Charge status information  80  is not displayed, because earbuds  24 C are not present. If the case previously contained the earbuds  24 C of another person (e.g., earbuds  24 C are not paired with cellular telephone  24 A), case battery status information  78  is omitted from display  74  and light-emitting diode  82  is not synchronized with the battery status information displayed on display  74 . The same result is obtained if case  24 B belongs to another person, because this aspect of the behavior of system  8  depends on the identity of the last earbuds  24 C present in case  24 B. 
     In a fourth scenario, a user&#39;s case  24 B containing the user&#39;s earbuds  24 C is placed on mat  12  and the user&#39;s cellular telephone  24 A is placed on mat  12 . As described in connection with the operations of block  98 , cellular telephone  24 A will transmit countdown time value to case  24 B, so that information  76 ,  78 , and  80  is displayed on display  74  simultaneously with the illumination of light-emitting diode  82  on case  24 B. 
     The foregoing is merely illustrative and various modifications can be made to the described embodiments. The foregoing embodiments may be implemented individually or in any combination.

Metadata:
Filing Date: 20180703
Publication Date: 20210302
Grant Date: 20210302
Priority Date: 20170908
Inventors: SUN, ADRIAN E.
NAYMAN, GREGORY H.
TOLVA, CORTLAND S.
COLOSIMO, JOSEPH W.
DE LIMA FERNANDES, ANTONIO R.
GARBUS, BRANDON R.
KOSUT, ALEXEI E.
Assignee: APPLE INC
CPC Classifications: [{"code": "H02J50/80", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H02J50/402", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H02J7/0048", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H02J50/40", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H02J7/0048", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H02J7/00034", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04M1/6066", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04R2420/07", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04M1/724", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H02J50/10", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04R1/1025", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04R1/028", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H02J50/80", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04R1/1016", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04M1/04", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04M1/724", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04R1/1025", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04M1/0202", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H02J50/10", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04M1/72412", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04R2420/07", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04R1/10", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04M1/72412", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04B1/3883", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04M1/6066", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04M1/7253", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04M1/72519", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04R2420/07", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04B1/3883", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H02J7/025", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04M1/0202", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04M1/6066", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H02J50/40", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04M1/04", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04R1/1016", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04R1/1025", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H02J7/00034", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H02J50/80", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H02J7/0047", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H02J50/10", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H02J7/027", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04R1/028", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04R1/10", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}]
Family ID: 65631713