{"id":1587,"date":"2015-10-03T10:26:03","date_gmt":"2015-10-03T10:26:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.aussiebatt.com\/blog\/?p=1587"},"modified":"2015-10-03T10:45:36","modified_gmt":"2015-10-03T10:45:36","slug":"software-defined-batteries-mix-and-match-power-on-the-fly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aussiebatt.com\/blog\/software-defined-batteries-mix-and-match-power-on-the-fly\/","title":{"rendered":"Software-defined batteries mix and match power on the fly"},"content":{"rendered":"

A\u00a0team of researchers from Tesla, Microsoft and others have proposed combining several different types of batteries inside a single device to maximize battery life, and managed by the operating system itself.<\/p>\n

Tests conducted by the researchers showed that mixing and matching batteries could improve the battery life of a wearable by about an hour. A two-in-one could see far better gains, however\u2014up to a 22% improvement. Unlike a fundamental improvement in battery technology, however\u2014which this is not\u2014the improvements generated by software-defined batteries (SDBs) would be very personalized, the paper notes. And they would be limited, in part, to what batteries the manufacturers included in the devices themselves.<\/p>\n

Smart, specialized software-defined batteries<\/h2>\n

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\n\u201cConsider a device that is constrained by volume, such a device can dedicate half of its capacity budget to a fast-charging battery and another half to a high energy-density battery,\u201d the paper notes. \u201cThis allows the device to attain the following tradeoff: Obtain close to 50% of charge really quickly yet lose only a small portion of energy capacity.\u201d<\/p>\n

The paper also argues that we\u2019ll need a way in which the system talks to the battery. Today, it\u2019s most often a one-way street: A dedicated charge controller charges the battery according to its own programming, and the system simply asks, periodically, for a status update. What the paper proposes is that Windows or another OS actually communicate with and control the charger, so that the total HP hstnn-lb42 laptop battery life<\/a> of the system can be optimized.<\/p>\n

Consider, as the paper does, a scenario in which you\u2019re about to leave on a five-hour cross-country flight, in coach. Ideally, you\u2019d want your laptop to charge overnight, so that you could store up enough juice for 8 hours or so. But you have to leave in twenty minutes, and you might have another fifteen to cool your heels in the airport. In that case, you\u2019d want your laptop computer to charge fast, to maximize the amount of time you\u2019d be able to work in the air.<\/p>\n