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Title: Using Mobile Device Batteries as Thermometers
Sensing the ambient temperature is the key to many applications, such as smart homes/buildings/ communities/cities [1, 2]. However, the ability to sense the ambient temperature pervasively is still deficient, causing various problems in people's daily lives, including but not limited to:  more » « less
Award ID(s):
1739577
PAR ID:
10301367
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ;
Date Published:
Journal Name:
GetMobile: Mobile Computing and Communications
Volume:
25
Issue:
1
ISSN:
2375-0529
Page Range / eLocation ID:
5 to 8
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
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  2. ; ; (, PLOS Genetics)
    Wigge, Philip Anthony (Ed.)
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  3. ; ; (, Proceedings of the ACM on Interactive, Mobile, Wearable and Ubiquitous Technologies)
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    The ability to sense ambient temperature pervasively, albeit crucial for many applications, is not yet available, causing problems such as degraded indoor thermal comfort and unexpected/premature shutoffs of mobile devices. To enable pervasive sensing of ambient temperature, we propose use of mobile device batteries as thermometers based on (i) the fact that people always carry their battery-powered smart phones, and (ii) our empirical finding that the temperature of mobile devices' batteries is highly correlated with that of their operating environment. Specifically, we design and implement Batteries-as-Thermometers (BaT), a temperature sensing service based on the information of mobile device batteries, expanding the ability to sense the device's ambient temperature without requiring additional sensors or taking up the limited on-device space. We have evaluated BaT on 6 Android smartphones using 19 laboratory experiments and 36 real-life field-tests, showing an average of 1.25°C error in sensing the ambient temperature. 
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