Patent Application
20080001573
These and other aspects will now be described in detail with reference to the following drawings.
Like reference symbols in the various drawings indicate like elements.
This document describes a detachable mechanism for a portable electronic device. The detachable mechanism includes one or more integrated circuits. In one embodiment, the detachable mechanism forms a detachable battery pack that is sized and formed to fit into a cavity or recess of a main housing of the portable electronic device. The battery pack includes a battery, a power output connection connected to the battery, a data connection, and one or more integrated circuits connected to the data connection. The detachable mechanism can be used for upgrading functionality provided by the one or more integrated circuits for the portable electronic device.
In accordance with embodiments, the detachable battery pack 104 includes a housing that contains a battery and at least one integrated circuit, microchip, and/or chipset that implements advanced functionality. A microchip, also simply called a “chip” is a unit of packaged computer circuitry called an integrated circuit, that is manufactured from a material such as silicon, and at a very small scale. Microchips are made for program logic (logic or microprocessor chips) and for computer memory (memory or RAM chips). Microchips are also made that include both logic and memory, and for special purposes such as analog-to-digital conversion, bit slicing, gateways, and digital signal processing. A chipset is a group of integrated circuits or microchips that operate together to serve a single function or set of functions, and are typically manufactured and sold as a single unit.
The main housing 102 of the portable electronic device 100 can be made of plastic or metal. The detachable battery pack 104 housing can also be made of plastic or metal, and is preferably formed of a shape and material to fit complementary with the main housing 102. For example, the main housing 102 can include a cavity or recess of a particular form factor, which can be occupied by the detachable battery pack 104 when it is attached to the main housing 102.
The data connection 210 is preferably a two-way, high-speed data connection to transfer digital multimedia data to and from the one or more integrated circuits 208. The data connection 210 can be a Personal Computer Memory Card International Association-compatible (PCMCIA) connection, Universal Serial Bus (USB), high speed data connections, and radio frequency channel connections as well.
The one or more integrated circuits 208 includes logic and/or memory circuitry, and forms a number of transistors, capacitors, and/or resistors. The integrated circuits 208 can be formed into a chipset for digital multimedia processing, radio signal processing, or the like. In some embodiments, the one or more integrated circuits 208 include a memory, such as RAM, DRAM, or flash memory. The one or more integrated circuits 208 can include image capture and processing circuits attached to a camera (not shown). Accordingly, functionality such as a camera or additional communication capabilities such as the Global Positioning System (GPS), WI-FI, etc., can be attachable to and detachable from the portable electronic device as desired.
The detachable battery pack 302 includes one or more integrated circuits 304 that comprise functionality that is an addition to, or enhancement or upgrade of, functionality provided by the portable electronic device. For example, the integrated circuits 304 can include most-recent releases of signal processing software and firmware, or may include upgraded processors for processing voice and data signals received on the antenna 301 of the portable electronic device 300. The integrated circuits 304 may also be specific processor and memory circuits for such functions as a camera 306 contained in the detachable battery pack 302.
In use, the detachable battery pack 302 can provide camera functionality and image processing capabilities that are removable from the portable electronic device 300. Other functions are possible, such as media players, video cameras, GPS mapping interfaces, alternate user displays for other user interfaces, measurement instruments, or output devices such as audio speakers, video displays, etc. The detachable battery pack 302 may also have an alternate antenna 310 for GPS signal reception, or to augment the capabilities of the antenna 301 of the portable electronic device 300.
The detachable battery pack 302 further includes a data connection 314 for connecting to and transmitting data and electrical signals between a complementary data connection 313 in the portable electronic device 300. The detachable battery pack 302 also includes a battery 312, and a power connection 316 for connecting to and transmitting electrical power to a complementary power connection 315, and for powering the modules of the portable electronic device 300 and/or the detachable battery pack 302. The battery 312 can be a single battery or a set of batteries. The set of batteries can be connected to separately power the portable electronic device 300 and the detachable battery pack 302.
Although a few embodiments have been described in detail above, other modifications are possible. Other embodiments may be within the scope of the following claims.
