WO2015186999A1

WO2015186999A1 - System and method for secured power source

Info

Publication number: WO2015186999A1
Application number: PCT/MY2015/000043
Authority: WO
Inventors: Hafez Nawi AHMAD; Santosh Palai SMRUTI; V. Bautista EDWARD, Jr; Chieu Yin @ Chee Chieu Yin CHIA; Prasad DEVI
Original assignee: Mimos Berhad
Priority date: 2014-06-05
Filing date: 2015-06-01
Publication date: 2015-12-10

Abstract

The present invention related to a secured portable power source system (10) which comprises a rechargeable battery (11), an input connector (12), an output connector (14), a controller (15), a circuit breaker unit (16), a key authenticator module (18) and a wireless authenticator module (19). The said secured portable power source system (10) further comprises a method that only charges designated manufacturer portable electronic device through an interface and method thereof.

Description

System and Method for Secured Power Source

Field of Invention The present invention relates generally to a portable power source for a portable electronic device, and more particularly, to a secured portable power source system and method that only charges designated manufacturer portable electronic device through an interface.

Background of the Invention

Portable electronic devices are popular devices used by individuals for communication, to store data, viewing and listening to media and for other entertainment purposes. The extensive use of the portable electronic devices may cause the devices consume a high amount of power during the use and therefore the devices require frequent recharging and must be supplied with supplementary power from time to time. The ability to draw electrical power from any readily available power source has become essential.

In some situations, it can be very inconvenient to charge the portable electronic devices when the power outlet is not conveniently available. Therefore a portable power source specifically designed for portability and use on-the-go for providing power source to the portable electronic device is very convenient for the user. However, the use of portable power source that does not meet the manufacturer' s requirements can expose the portable electronic device or the user to harm. Portable power source authentication for portable electronic devices is a growing concern due to the increased in spoiling the internally housed battery of the portable electronic device related to the improper charge capacity of counterfeit portable power source. In view of the foregoing, there is a need for a portable power source provided to a dedicated electronic device which is unchargeable without authentication.

However, in today's market the portable power source is still lack of product exclusivity and security. Without exclusivity, today' s portable power source can be used to charge any electronic devices, resulting in counterfeit portable power source where product safety and reliability will be an issue.

Therefore the present invention discloses a system and method for a secured portable power source by adding exclusivity and security features by ensuring that it should only accept designated manufacturer' s electronic device or devices to be charged. Manufacturers could also prevent their products from being used with counterfeited power source. In addition, the invention enables the users to protect their portable power source from being used without their permission.

Summary of Invention In view of foregoing, embodiments herein provide a system and method for a secured power source system for portable electronic devices.

In a preferred embodiment, a secured portable power source system comprises a rechargeable battery, an input connector operatively connected to the rechargeable battery for providing an electrical power input for an external power supply to charge the rechargeable battery in a charging mode via an interface, an output connector operatively connected to the rechargeable battery for providing an electrical power supply from the rechargeable battery to a portable electronic device connected to the system in a discharging mode via an interface, a controller that provides command signals, execute control instructions and to carry out operations associated with the charging and discharging mode, a circuit breaker unit connected to the controller to connect and disconnect the electrical connection between the battery and output connector based on the signal provided from the controller, a key authenticator module for generating security key and validating that the portable power source system is associated with the particular electronic device during an initiating action, and a wireless authenticator module for generating security key and authorizing the portable power source system to be associated with a similar particular electronic device during a requesting action by an authorized particular electronic device via wireless medium.

Preferably the interfaces of the input and output connectors are Universal Serial Bus (USB) interfaces and the portable electronic device is a smart phone.

A method of operating a secured portable power source system comprises the steps of identifying the state of connectors of the power source system, generating security key in response to an initiating action and authenticating that the portable power source system is associated with a particular electronic device for charging, and generating security key in response to a requesting action by an authorized particular electronic device via wireless medium and authorizing the portable power source system to be associated with a similar particular electronic device for charging . Preferably the step of identifying the state of the connectors of the power source system is in charging mode, discharging mode or idle state.

Preferably the method includes the steps of activating a circuit breaker unit momentarily, sending the security key to the connected electronic device that includes a corresponding application, generating acknowledgement key by the application if the information of the security key matched with the portable electronic device or generating not acknowledge key if the information is not matched, and validating the key provided by the portable electronic device and sending signal to keep the circuit breaker unit activated if an acknowledgement key is received or to deactivate the circuit breaker unit if a not acknowledge key is received.

Preferably the step of generating security key in response to a requesting action includes the steps of sending request key from a portable electronic device to the controller of the system for authorizing the charging of a connected similar particular electronic device, and validating the request key and sending signal to activate circuit breaker unit if the request is sent from an authorized electronic device or to deactivate said circuit breaker unit if the request is sent from an unauthorized electronic device.

These and other objects and features of the present invention will be more fully understood from the following detailed description which should be read in light of the accompanying drawings in which corresponding reference numerals refer to corresponding parts throughout the several views .

Brief Description of the Drawings

Figure 1 shows a block diagram illustrating an overview of a portable power source system in accordance with the present invention; Figure 2 depicts a flow chart showing the operation of the portable power source system of the present invention;

Figure 3 illustrates a packet format sent from the portable power source system to the portable electronic device; Figure 4 is an acknowledgement packet sent by the portable electronic device to the power source system; and

Figure 5 shows a Not Acknowledgement (NACK) packet sent the portable electronic device to the power source system.

Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments

In a following description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings, which form a part hereof, and in which is shown by way of illustration a specific example in which the invention may be practiced. It is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and structural changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

Figure 1 is a block diagram illustrating an overview of a portable power source system (10) constructed in accordance with the present invention. The portable power source system (10) of the present invention typically comprises a housing for receiving all electronic components fixed therein. The portable power source system (10) includes a rechargeable battery (11) for use as a power source for charging the rechargeable batteries of portable electronic devices, such as mobile phones. The portable power source system (10) contains an input connector (12) which is interfaced with a

USB (Universal Serial Bus) port and the input connector (12) is served as the electrical power input to charge the rechargeable battery (11) of the portable power source system (10) in a charging mode.

The rechargeable battery (11) can be recharged by connecting the portable power source system (10) to an external power supply, such as a wall socket, a computer, a car power outlet or an airplane power outlet, using a connector (not shown) such as a cable, attached to the input connector (12) of the portable power source system (10) . The portable power source (10) can be configured to connect to either a direct current (DC) or alternating current (AC) voltage power supply. The input connector (12) is connected to the rechargeable battery (11) of the portable power source system (10) through a power control unit (13) for monitoring and controlling battery charging process as well as preventing battery from overcharging by controlling the amount of charging current to charge the battery. It also provides means for protecting the battery (11) from over- voltage, over-current and over-temperature conditions.

The power is output from the portable power source system' s battery (11) by means of an output connector (14) which is also interfaced with a USB port to the portable electronic device requiring charging in a discharging mode. The output connector (14) may transmit data to the connected portable electronic device. The output connector (14) is connected to the rechargeable battery (11) of the portable power source system (10) through a circuit breaker unit (16) which is used as a switch to connect and disconnect the power supply from the rechargeable battery (11) to the connected portable electronic device.

The portable power source system (10) is managed by a controller (15), which provides command signals, execute control instructions and to carry out operations associated with charging and discharging mode. The controller (15) is intended to control the entire operation of the portable power source system (10) , therefore all other electronic components are in electrical connection with the controller (15) . The portable power source system (10) of the present invention also includes a key authenticator module (18) which generates security key and validates only security keys from the connected portable electronic device specific to the designated manufacturer device and a wireless authenticator module (19) which validates security keys only from the portable electronic device specific to the designate manufacturer device via Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and near field communication (NFC) . The electrical components of the portable power source system (10) may also include a memory (17) such as flash memory unit for general storage and transfer of data when needed. The portable electronic devices may include mobile phones, smart phones, wireless communication devices, wireless handsets, music player, tablet computer or other portable devices having rechargeable battery.

Next, the operation of the portable power source system (10) will be described referring to a flow chart in Figure 2. There are two main modes of operation which are the charging mode (22) and discharging mode (23) . In the charging mode

(22) , the system (10) gets charged, whereas in the discharging mode (23) , the connected portable electronic device gets charged. The storage and transfer of data (Data read-write (R/W) ) also functions in the discharging mode

(23) .

The portable power source system (10) includes an on/off button or switch for activating and deactivating the system (10) . In alternate embodiment of the present invention, the power source system (10) may be operated without the on/off button in which it can be turned on when the electronic device needing charging is plugged into the power source system (10) .

As illustrated in Figure 2, the portable power source system (10) is actuated to an "on" position by switching the power button in first step (20) . The system (10) will then identify the state of the connectors (12, 14) and if the connectors (12, 14) are not being used, then the system (10) will be in idle state (21) . If an external power supply is connected (24) to the power source system (10) via the input connector (12), the power control unit (13) will check the voltage supply range of the power supply. If it is within the acceptable operating rating, then the system (10) will then enter into charging mode (22) in which the rechargeable battery (11) of the system (10) gets charged (25) . During the charging of the rechargeable battery (11), the power control unit (13) monitors the battery's voltage, temperature and time under charge for optimum charge efficiency and terminates the charging (29) when the battery (11) is fully charged.

If a portable electronic device is connected (26) to the power source system (10) via the output connector (14) in an initiating action, the circuit breaker (16) will be turned on momentarily (30) . Simultaneously, the controller (15) sends an authentication packet (31) which is fetched from the key authenticator module (18), to the portable electronic device which includes a corresponding application, such as a smart phone device. The packet is encrypted first by the controller (15) before it is sent as USB payload to the portable electronic device. Figure 3 shows the packet format that comprises manufacturing (MFG) ID (41), Device ID (42), Security Key (43) and Command (44) fields .

Then, the mobile application that runs on the portable electronic device processes the payload and decrypts it. For a packet that contains an authentication command (44a) , the mobile application will match the manufacturing (MFG) ID (41) and Device ID (42) of the packet with the stored MFG ID and Device ID in the portable electronic device. If they are matched, it creates an acknowledgement packet (32) that acknowledges the successful match of the IDs as shown in Figure 4. Otherwise, a Not Acknowledged (NACK) packet (46) is created as shown in Figure 5. Figures 4 and 5 show both packets format to be sent to the portable power source system (10) via the output connector (14) . In the acknowledgement packet, user has an option to choose either the charging signal mode (27) or data access (Data R/W) mode (28) .

As the controller (15) receives the replied authentication packet from the the electronic device, it will check (45) the packet types and also compare received IDs with the key authenticator module (18) for authentication (33) . If it is a NACK packet (46), the circuit breaker unit (16) is then turned off (34) and the system (10) will not enter into charging signal mode (27) or data access (Data R/W) mode (28) . Otherwise, the Command (47) field of the acknowledgement packet is checked (35) to determine the mode status (27, 28) . If it is a charging signal (27), then the portable electronic device is charged until it is fully charged (36) . If it is a data access signal (28), the controller (15) activates the Data R/W mode (37) in which user can do data transfer from the portable electronic device. After both activities (36, 37) are completed, the circuit breaker unit (16) is turned off (34). A user can configure his portable power source system (10) to charge only authorized similar system of portable electronic device by configuring the portable power source system (10) via wireless medium in requesting action. In this case, the wireless medium of communication can be Wi- Fi, Bluetooth or NFC wireless technology standards. In this process, a user can request the portable power source system (10) to charge the electronic device that is connected to the output connector (14) by sending a request packet via the mobile application in the electronic device to the portable power source system (10) . The wireless authenticator module (19) then decrypts the packet and validates it. If the packet is a "request packet for charging" from an authorized electronic device, then the controller (15) will send a signal to the circuit breaker unit (16) to turn on for charging the portable electronic device connected to the output connector (14) of the portable power source system (10) .

While the disclosed system and method have been particularly shown and described with respect to the preferred embodiments, it is understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications in form and detail may be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention. Accordingly, modifications such as those suggested above but not limited thereto are to be considered within the scope of the invention, which is to be determined by reference to the appended claims .

Claims

Claims l. A secured portable power source system (10) comprising: a rechargeable battery (11) internally housed in a housing of said system (10) ;

an input connector (12) operatively connected to said rechargeable battery (11) for providing an electrical power input for an external power supply to charge said rechargeable battery (11) in a charging mode (22) via an interface;

an output connector (14) operatively connected to said rechargeable battery (11) for providing an electrical power supply from said rechargeable battery (11) to a portable electronic device connected to said system (10) in a discharging mode (23) via an interface;

a controller (15) that provides command signals, execute control instructions and to carry out operations associated with said charging (22) and discharging (23) mode;

a circuit breaker unit (16) connected to said controller (15) to connect and disconnect the electrical connection between said battery (11) and output connector (14) based on the signal provided from said controller (15) ;

a key authenticator module (18) for generating security key and validating that the portable power source system (10) is associated with the particular electronic device during an initiating action; and

a wireless authenticator module (19) for generating security key and authorizing said portable power source system (10) to be associated with a similar particular electronic device during a requesting action by an authorized particular electronic device via wireless medium.

2. The secured portable power source system (10) as claimed in claim 1, wherein said both interfaces of the input (12) and output (13) connectors are Universal Serial Bus (USB) interfaces .

3. The secured portable power source system (10) as claimed in claim 1, wherein said system (10) further comprising a memory (17) for general storage and transfer of data; and a power control unit (13) for monitoring and controlling said rechargeable battery charging process as well as preventing battery from overcharging by controlling the amount of charging current to charge the battery.

4. A method of operating a secured portable power source system (10), said method comprising the steps of:

identifying the state of connectors (12,14) of the power source system (10); generating security key in response to an initiating action (26) and authenticating (45) by a key authenticator module (18) that the portable power source system (10) is associated with a particular electronic device for charging; and

generating security key in response to a requesting action by an authorized particular electronic device via wireless medium and authorizing said portable power source system (10) by a wireless authenticator module (19) to be associated with a similar particular electronic device for charging .

5. A method of operating a secured portable power source system (10) as claimed in claim 4, wherein said initiating action (26) is when a portable electronic device needing charging .

6. A method of operating a secured portable power source system (10) as claimed in claim 4, wherein the step of identifying the state of the connectors (12, 14) of the power source system (10) is in charging mode (22), discharging mode (23) or idle state (21) .

7. A method of operating a secured portable power source system (10) as claimed in claim 4, wherein said step of generating security key in response to an initiating action (26) and authenticating (45) that the portable power source system (10) is associated with a particular electronic device, includes the steps of:

activating (30) a circuit breaker unit (16) momentarily;

sending (31) said security key generated from said key authenticator module (18) to said connected electronic device that includes a corresponding application;

generating (32) acknowledgement key by said application if the information of said security key matched with said portable electronic device or generating Not Acknowledged (NACK) packet (46) if the information is not matched; and validating (35) the key provided by said portable electronic device and sending signal to keep said circuit breaker unit (16) activated if an acknowledgement key is received or to deactivate said circuit breaker unit (16) if a not acknowledge key (46) is received.

8. The method of operating a secured portable power source system (10) as claimed in claim 4, wherein said step of generating security key in response to a requesting action by an authorized particular electronic device via wireless medium, includes the steps of:

sending request key from a portable electronic device to said controller (15) of the system (10) for authorizing the charging of a connected similar particular electronic device; and

validating (35) the request key and sending signal to activate circuit breaker unit (16) if said request is sent from an authorized electronic device or to deactivate said circuit breaker unit (16) if said request is sent from an unauthorized electronic device.

9. The method of operating a secured portable power source system (10) as claimed in claim 7, wherein said information of the security key comprises manufacturing (MFG) ID (41) , Device ID (42), Security ID (43) and Command (44) .

10. The method of operating a secured portable power source system (10) as claimed in claim 7, wherein said acknowledgement packet includes signal to enable said portable electronic to be charged if said signal is a charging signal or to enable user to do data transfer between a memory (17) and the portable electronic device if said signal is a data R/W signal.