System, method and apparatus for battery allocation

1. A method in a server for allocating a battery among a plurality of roles performed by a group of printers removably connectable with the battery, the method comprising:

determining a predicted capacity of the battery;

determining, for each of the roles, a predicted energy consumption;

obtaining an allocation defined by an identifier of the battery and an identifier of one of the roles;

comparing the predicted capacity with the predicted energy consumption corresponding to the one of the roles; and

when the predicted energy consumption corresponding to the one of the roles exceeds the predicted capacity, generating an alert, wherein individual ones of the printers are configured to print a different one of a plurality of media types in each of the roles.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein generating the alert comprises generating a warning tone.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein generating the alert comprises storing the alert on the server for display on a console.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein generating the alert comprises sending a message to be displayed on an interface to the individual ones of the printers.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, for each of the roles, receiving, from a subgroup of the printers, a plurality of data sets corresponding to respective operational periods, each of the data sets including:

the identifier of the battery,

the measured capacity of the battery, and

the measured energy consumption during the operational periods.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the predicted capacity corresponds to a future operational period.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the predicted energy consumption corresponds to a future operational period.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising updating the predicted energy consumption based on a performance of the battery during a second operational period occurring after the determining of the predicted energy consumption.

9. The method of claim 5 , wherein each of the data sets includes a measured count of encoding operations performed during the corresponding operational period, the method further comprising:

determining, based on the measured energy consumptions and the measured counts of encoding operations corresponding to each of the roles, a measured unit energy consumption for the role;

determining, for each of the roles, a predicted unit energy consumption based on the measured unit energy consumptions; and

responsive to determining that a further measured unit energy consumption corresponding to a further data set exceeds the predicted unit energy consumption based on the measured unit energy consumptions, generating a further alert.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining a predicted capacity of the battery is based on a measured capacity of the battery during operational periods.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining a predicted energy consumption is based on a measured energy consumption during the operational periods.

12. A computer server for allocating a battery among a plurality of roles performed by a group of printers removably connectable with the battery, the server comprising:

a predictor configured to:

determine a predicted capacity of the battery and storing the predicted capacity in association with an identifier of the battery; and

determine, for each role, a predicted energy consumption and storing the predicted energy consumption in association with an identifier of the role;

an allocation handler configured to obtain an allocation defined by the identifier of the battery and an identifier of one of the roles; and

an alert generator configured to:

compare the predicted capacity with the predicted energy consumption corresponding to the one of the roles; and

when the predicted energy consumption corresponding to the one of the roles exceeds the predicted capacity, generate an alert, wherein the group of printers are configured to print a different one of a plurality of media types in each of the roles.

13. The computer server of claim 12 , wherein the predicted energy consumption includes a predicted count of tasks for each role, and the predicted count of tasks for each role is determined by a measured count of tasks reported by the printers.

14. The computer server of claim 12 , wherein the predicted capacity corresponds to a future operational period.

15. The computer server of claim 12 , wherein the predicted energy consumption corresponds to a future operational period.

16. The computer server of claim 12 , wherein the predicted energy consumption is updated after a future operational period.

17. The computer server of claim 12 , the predictor further configured to:

determine, based on measured energy consumptions and a measured count of encoding operations corresponding to each role, a measured unit energy consumption for the role; and

determine, for each role, a predicted unit energy consumption based on the measured unit energy consumptions; and

the alert generator further configured to, responsive to determining that a further measured unit energy consumption corresponding to a further data set exceeds the predicted unit energy consumption based on the measured unit energy consumptions, generate a further alert.

18. The computer server of claim 12 , wherein the alert is a tone to be produced by a speaker of a device.

19. The computer server of claim 12 , wherein a first printer is one of the group of printers, and further comprising the alert is a message saved on the server and the message is displayed on a device, wherein the device is not the first printer.

20. The computer server of claim 12 , the alert generator further configured to select an alternative role for the battery and transmit the alternative role in a message.

21. The computer server of claim 12 , wherein the predictor determines the predicted capacity of the battery based on a measured capacity of the batter during operation periods.

22. The computer server of claim 12 , wherein the predictor determines a predicted energy consumption based on the measured energy consumptions.

23. A method in a server for allocating a battery among a plurality of roles performed by a group of printers removably connectable with the battery, the method comprising:

determining, based on a measured capacity of the battery during operational periods, a predicted capacity of the battery;

determining, for each role, a predicted energy consumption based on a measured energy consumption;

obtaining an allocation defined by an identifier of the battery and an identifier of one of the roles;

comparing the predicted capacity with the predicted energy consumption corresponding to the one of the roles;

when the predicted energy consumption corresponding to the one of the roles exceeds the predicted capacity, generating an alert;

determining, based on the measured energy consumptions and a measured encoding operation counts corresponding to each role, a measured unit energy consumption for the role;

determining, for each role, a predicted unit energy consumption based on the measured unit energy consumptions; and

responsive to determining that a further measured unit energy consumption corresponding to a further data set exceeds the predicted unit energy consumption based on the measured unit energy consumptions, generating a further alert.

24. The method of claim 23 , wherein the measured encoding operation counts correspond to a count of RFID tags written.