METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CONTROLLING ACCESS TO A LOGIC CIRCUIT IN A BATTERY BY MULTIPLE COMPONENTS CONNECTED TO THE BATTERY

A method and apparatus for controlling access to a logic circuit in a battery by one or more components connected to the battery includes the components initially providing no voltage to a data contact, and sampling a voltage level at the data contact to determine if another component is presently connected to the logic circuit. When the sampled voltage indicates no other component is presently accessing the logic circuit, the component applies a voltage to the logic circuit via the data contact and access the logic circuit. When the sampled voltage indicates that a prior-connected component is connected to the battery, the component uses a voltage level provided by the prior-connected component to access the logic circuit.