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EP-3977833-B1 - METHOD AND APPARATUS TO RUGGEDIZE A MOBILE DEVICE FOR PUBLIC SAFETY OR MOBILE USE

EP3977833B1EP 3977833 B1EP3977833 B1EP 3977833B1EP-3977833-B1

Inventors

  • PINE, JERROLD SCOTT

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20200724

Claims (12)

  1. A system comprising an active heating and cooling dock assembly and mobile device, the system comprising: a heating and cooling sub-assembly comprising a heating and cooling plate coupled to a peltier device for generating active heating and cooling, that is coupled to a heat sink having fins, said heat sink for transferring heat to and from said peltier device into an ambient environment; said heating and cooling sub-assembly is coupled to a docking assembly that detachably couples to the mobile device and provides an electrical interface between the mobile device and an external circuit; said peltier device configured to be responsive to switching I/O controlled by the mobile device through said external circuit to control a direction of heat flow; and wherein the mobile device comprises sensors that measure the temperature of a CPU, a GPU and a battery within the mobile device, and wherein switching I/O is configured to be controlled by software running on the mobile device in response to outputs from the sensors indicative of internal temperatures of the CPU, the GPU, and the battery to maintain the temperature of the CPU, GPU and the battery within a predetermined temperature range.
  2. The system according to claim 1, wherein said heating and cooling sub-assembly includes a cooling fan coupled to said heat sink for generating airflow across said fins of said heat sink to facilitate heat transfer to ambient environment.
  3. The system according to claim 1, wherein said external circuit further comprises a display port with a USB hub to facilitate operation with one or more peripheral devices.
  4. The system according to claim 3, wherein said one or more peripheral devices including at least one of a keyboard, a display monitor and at least one of a mouse, a touchpad or a touch screen to facilitate desktop mode for the mobile device.
  5. The system according to claim 1, wherein said external circuit is powered by a vehicle battery, and wherein said vehicle battery voltage is monitored and further wherein power supplied to said external circuit is interrupted when said battery voltage is equal to or less than a predetermined voltage.
  6. The system according to claim 1, wherein said software on said mobile device actively runs exclusively and is triggered to run when said mobile device is docked to conserve computer resources of said mobile device.
  7. The system according to claim 1, wherein the mobile device is housed within a protective case having a thermal interface material to enhance thermal conductivity and to effect the transfer of heat to and from at least one element of said group of elements including said CPU, said GPU, said battery or said other heat generating element within the mobile device to said heating and cooling plate of the heating and cooling dock when the mobile device is docked.
  8. The system according to claim 1, wherein said mobile device couples to at least one interface in said heating and cooling dock comprising one of a USB, a wireless, or a pogo pin interface to facilitate electrical connection to said external circuit.
  9. The system according to claim 1, wherein said external circuit only draws power and operates when said mobile device is docked to conserve the vehicle battery power.
  10. The system according to claim 1, wherein said switching I/O to control said heating and cooling peltier device has at least one manual override switch in the event said mobile device is hotter or cooler than a predetermined temperature to operate said control switching I/O.
  11. A method of controlling thermal transfer to and from a mobile device, comprising: software residing and running on the mobile device that when docked into an active heating and cooling dock begins polling the internal temperature from sensors that measure the temperature of thermally sensitive components comprising each of a CPU, GPU and battery within the mobile device; comparing measured temperatures with thresholds that establish a predetermined temperature range for each of said thermally sensitive components; upon exceeding a threshold above said predetermined temperature range, said software communicates to said active heating and cooling dock to initiate active thermal cooling of the mobile device; upon exceeding said threshold below said predetermined temperature range, said software communicates to said active heating and cooling dock to initiate active thermal heating of the mobile device; continuously polling said temperatures of said thermally sensitive components until all components return to their predetermined operating temperature range and upon such condition said software communicates to said active heating and cooling dock to turn off any active heating or cooling.
  12. The method according to claim 11, wherein said temperature thresholds for turning off active heating and cooling include hysteresis to prevent rapid cycling on and off of said active heating and cooling.

Description

BACKGROUND Smartphones and tablets continue to evolve with greater processing power and graphics capabilities. Chip sets designed for mobile computing are becoming more power efficient with improvements in system architecture and advanced power management. The amount of power used by a CPU/GPU is a function of voltage, frequency and capacitance. While the system capacitance is generally fixed in the silicon design, the voltage and frequency can vary during runtime and are managed to optimize power consumption. Very high performance mobile processors like the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 use very sophisticated dynamic clock and voltage scaling to optimize power consumption but can still demand 7 watts of power during peak demand. All of that power is dissipated in the form of heat. Mobile device mechanical designs must use systems and materials capable of dissipating this heat effectively while maintaining an aesthetic, mass and form factor suitable for mobile use. Construction of mobile devices vary significantly however a premium smartphone such as the Samsung Note 9 have the display and back surfaces made from Corning Gorilla Glass 5 and the phone's inner frame/outer-edge made from series 7000 aluminum that transfer heat efficiently. There are several components within a mobile device that are sensitive or can even be destroyed by excessive heat or cold. The CPU/GPU chipsets and lithium ion batteries are among the components that excessive heat and cold will damage, destroy, or shorten their useful life. Temperature sensors are generally embedded within mobile devices to monitor temperatures of these components. As component temperatures rise or fall, a mobile device can throttle down CPU speeds, turn off power draining applications, or turn off the mobile device to prevent damage. For consumer use, the inconvenience of these interruptions is preferable to damaging or destroying a mobile device. However, thermal protections that impair mobile device functionality can impact that mobile device technology from being adopted for mission critical public safety use. There are very large strategic and financial incentives to discontinue expensive trunked communication systems for public safety use and migrate to large cellular networks. The federal government has sponsored the creation of "FirstNet" using the ATT cellular infrastructure. Mobile devices are being adopted for FirstNet public safety use. Many manufacturers are creating rugged versions of mobile devices for public safety use. These rugged devices have extended operating temperature ranges and have built in mechanical features to further protect against accidental drop and shock. These rugged products meet mission critical requirements but come with a hefty price tag 2-3 times more expensive then their consumer counterparts. It would be fiscally more appropriate to supplement commercially available off the shelf mobile devices with low cost peripheral devices that enhance them so they meet mission critical requirements. The protective mobile device case for instance can be modified or redesigned to facilitate heat transfer in or out making external temperature compensation possible. Another facet of mobile device adaptation in public safety is their ability to interface with CAD-Computer Aided Dispatch & RMS-Record Management Systems used in police and fire vehicles. Police and fire vehicles are typically deployed with rugged computing systems which typically include a mounted laptop, or mounted computer, display and keyboard with wireless modem. Prior to mobile device deployment, police would need to get back in their patrol cars during routine stops to interface with their computers to look up critical records information. Now their records management is fully mobile and mitigates the need for redundant computers in their vehicles. One important feature available on some Samsung FirstNet smartphones is called DeX which stands for desktop experience. A DeX enabled mobile device allows one to attach a display and keyboard to use the mobile device in desktop mode with a large display and keyboard for enhanced ergonomic use. The mobile device can interface to a dock in the car with display and keyboard and function as a car based system, and then be removed when on an active call. This configuration can greatly reduce the system cost, and with technology refresh cycles every three to five years, can save municipalities tens of millions of dollars going forward. Document WO 2018/156507 A1 discloses a dock assembly and mobile device which allow cooling of the mobile device by means of a peltier device, where cooling is controlled based on the temperature measure at or adjacent the outer surface of the mobile device. Document WO 2019/089984 A1 discloses a holder for a mobile device, with heating and cooling means for cooling or heating the mobile device based on ambient temperature in a vehicle. It is the intent of this invention to illustrate methods and mea