Power supply voltage and load consumption control

• US 10,162,399 B2
• Filed: 06/02/2017
• Issued: 12/25/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 03/06/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Atkinson, Lee Warren
• Primary Examiner(s): Lee, Thomas C
• Assistant Examiner(s): Wang, Zhipeng
• Application Number:
  US15/612,711
• Publication Number:
  US 20170269679A1
• Time in Patent Office: 571 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G05F 5/00 Systems for regulating electric variables by detecting deviations in the electric input to the system and thereby controlling a device within the system to obtain a regulated output
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/26 Power supply means, e.g. regulation thereof for memories G11C

Abstract

In some examples, a power adapter includes a voltage regulator, first and second resistors, a switch to alternately connect the first and second resistors to a signal node coupled to a load circuit external of the power adapter, and a voltage controller to control the switch to set a first mode of operation, and responsive to the switch setting the first mode of operation, determine a power requirement of the load circuit, and control the voltage regulator to provide a supply voltage to a power node in accordance with the power requirement of the load circuit, and control the switch to set the second mode of operation that causes the load circuit to determine a power rating of the power adapter and to operate a load of the load circuit according to the power rating of the power adapter.

Claims

1. A power adapter comprising:

a voltage regulator;

first and second resistors;

a switch to alternately connect the first and second resistors to a signal node coupled to a load circuit external of the power adapter, the switch to connect the first resistor to the signal node to set a first mode of operation, and the switch to connect the second resistor to the signal node to set a second mode of operation; and

a voltage controller to;

control the switch to set the first mode of operation, and responsive to the switch setting the first mode of operation, determine a power requirement of the load circuit, and control the voltage regulator to provide a supply voltage to a power node in accordance with the power requirement of the load circuit, and

control the switch to set the second mode of operation that causes the load circuit to determine a power rating of the power adapter and to operate a load of the load circuit according to the power rating of the power adapter.

2. The power adapter of claim 1, wherein the voltage controller is to selectively set the switch to a first state to connect the first resistor to the signal node and disconnect the second resistor from the signal node to provide the first mode of operation, and to selectively set the switch to a second state to connect the second resistor to the signal node and disconnect the first resistor from the signal node.

3. The power adapter of claim 1, wherein the second resistor is characterized by an electrical resistance correlated to a power capacity of the power adapter.

4. The power adapter of claim 1, wherein each of the first and second resistors is connected between the power node and the signal node.

5. The power adapter of claim 1, wherein the voltage controller is to, responsive to the switch setting the first mode of operation:

sense a voltage at the signal node that is a node of a voltage divider including the first resistor and a resistor of the load circuit, and

determine the power requirement of the load circuit based on the sensed voltage.

6. The power adapter of claim 5, wherein the resistor of the load circuit is characterized by an electrical resistance correlated to a voltage required by the load circuit.

7. The power adapter of claim 5, wherein the voltage controller is to use the sensed voltage to access a lookup table to determine the power requirement of the load circuit.

8. An electronic device comprising:

a load circuit comprising a load; and

a power circuit comprising;

a voltage regulator;

a power node and a signal node, the signal node coupled to the load circuit;

first and second resistors between the power node and the signal node; and

a switch to alternately connect the first and second resistors to the signal node, the switch to connect the first resistor to the signal node to set a first mode of operation, and the switch to connect the second resistor to the signal node to set a second mode of operation; and

a voltage controller to control the switch to set the first mode of operation, and responsive to the switch setting the first mode of operation, determine a power requirement of the load circuit, and control the voltage regulator to provide a supply voltage to the power node in accordance with the power requirement of the load circuit,

wherein the load circuit is responsive to the switch set to the second mode of operation to determine a power capacity of the power circuit and to operate the load of the load circuit according to the power capacity of the power circuit.

9. The electronic device of claim 8, wherein the load circuit comprises a load controller to determine the power capacity of the power circuit responsive to the switch set to the second mode of operation.

10. The electronic device of claim 9, wherein the load controller is to provide a load control signal to the load to cause an electrical current drawn by the load circuit to be limited in accordance with the power capacity of the power circuit.

11. The electronic device of claim 10, wherein the load control signal is to cause the load to restrict a power consumption by the load in accordance with the power capacity of the power circuit corresponding to the voltage at the signal node sensed by the load controller.

12. The electronic device of claim 8, wherein responsive to the switch setting the first mode of operation, the voltage controller is to detect a voltage at the signal node and to provide a corresponding voltage control signal to control a supply voltage at the power node, wherein the detected voltage at the signal node is based on a resistance of the first resistor and a resistance of a resistor that is part of the load circuit and external of the power circuit.

13. The electronic device of claim 8, wherein the load circuit comprises a programming resistor connected between the signal node and a ground node, the programming resistor characterized by an electrical resistance correlated to a voltage required by the load circuit.

14. The electronic device of claim 8, wherein the second resistor is characterized by an electrical resistance correlated to a power capacity of the power circuit.

15. A power adapter comprising:

a voltage regulator;

first and second resistors;

a switch to alternately connect the first and second resistors to a signal node coupled to an electronic device external of the power adapter; and

a voltage controller to;

selectively control the switch to connect the first resistor to the signal node to set a first mode of operation, and connect the second resistor to the signal node to set a second mode of operation,

in response to controlling the switch to set the first mode of operation, determine a power requirement of the electronic device, and control the voltage regulator to provide a supply voltage to a power node in accordance with the power requirement of the electronic device, and

controlling the switch to set the second mode of operation that causes the electronic device to determine a power capacity of the power adapter and to operate a load of the electronic device according to the power capacity of the power adapter.

16. The power adapter of claim 15, wherein in the first mode of operation the first resistor is connected to the signal node and the second resistor is disconnected from the signal node, and wherein in the second mode of operation the first resistor is connected to the signal node and the second resistor is disconnected from the signal node.

17. The power adapter of claim 15, wherein the voltage controller is to selectively set the switch to a first state to connect the first resistor to the signal node and disconnect the second resistor from the signal node to provide the first mode of operation, and to selectively set the switch to a second state to connect the second resistor to the signal node and disconnect the first resistor from the signal node.

18. The power adapter of claim 15, wherein the voltage controller is to, responsive to the switch setting the first mode of operation:

sense a voltage at the signal node that is a node of a voltage divider including the first resistor and a resistor of the electronic device, and

determine the power requirement of the electronic device based on the sensed voltage.