Backup power manager

• US 10,177,596 B2
• Filed: 07/08/2016
• Issued: 01/08/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 07/08/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP (Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Company)
• Original Assignee: Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP (Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Company)
• Inventors: Nguyen, Hai Ngoc, Banerjee, Abhishek
• Primary Examiner(s): Fureman, Jared
• Assistant Examiner(s): Pham, Duc M
• Application Number:
  US15/205,965
• Publication Number:
  US 20180013318A1
• Time in Patent Office: 914 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/0024 Parallel/serial switching of connection of batteries to charge or load circuit
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 9/061 for DC powered loads

Abstract

Examples disclosed herein involve backup power management. In an example, an amount of backup power to power a load bank is estimated, a set of power sources are selected from a plurality of power sources based on respective states of charge of the plurality of power sources and the estimated amount of backup power, and the selected set of power sources are placed in circuit to provide backup power to the load bank via the selected set of power sources.

Claims

1. A method to manage backup power, the method comprising:

estimating an amount of backup power to power a load bank;

selecting a set of power sources from a plurality of power sources based on respective states of charge of the plurality of power sources and the estimated amount of backup power;

analyzing a power consumption history of the load bank to estimate a minimum amount of power required to power the load bank, the minimum amount of power corresponding to the amount of backup power; and

placing the selected set of power sources in circuit to provide backup power to the load bank via the selected set of power sources.

2. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of power sources comprise a battery pack.

3. The method as defined in claim 1, further comprising selecting the set of power sources from the plurality of power sources that have the strongest state of charge, the sum of the states of charge of the power sources of the selected set of power sources being greater than or equal to the amount of backup power to power the load bank and less than the sum of the states of charge of the power sources of the plurality of the power sources.

4. The method as defined in claim 1, further comprising analyzing status information of each of the plurality of power sources capable of supplying backup power to the load bank, the status information indicating the state of charge of the respective power sources.

5. The method as defined in claim 4, the status information of each of the plurality of power sources further indicating a most recent discharge of the respective plurality of power sources, the method further comprising:

selecting the set of power sources based on the most recent discharges of the respective power sources.

6. The method as defined in claim 1, further comprising:

detecting a power failure or disconnection in a line power supply powering the load bank.

7. The method as defined in claim 1, further comprising:

placing the selected set of power sources in circuit by connecting each of the power sources of the set of power sources in series or parallel using a switching fabric to provide at least the estimated amount of backup power to the load bank.

8. A non-transitory machine readable storage medium comprising instructions that, when executed, cause a machine to at least:

analyze a plurality of power sources to determine a state of charge of each of the plurality of power sources;

estimate a minimum amount of backup power to sufficiently power a load bank;

select a power source from the plurality of power sources to provide backup power to the load bank based on the state of charge of each of the power sources and an estimated amount of backup power needed to power the load bank; and

discharge the selected power source by placing the selected power source in circuit with the load bank to manage backup power for the load bank.

9. The non-transitory machine readable storage medium of claim 8, wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the machine to:

determine a most recent discharge time of each of the plurality of power sources; and

select the power source based on the most recent discharge time of each of the plurality of power sources.

10. The non-transitory machine readable storage medium of claim 8, wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the machine to:

place the selected power source in circuit with a component of the load bank that is critical to maintain power without placing the selected power source in circuit with a component of the load bank that is not critical to maintain power.

11. An apparatus comprising:

a backup source analyzer to analyze status information of a plurality of backup power sources;

a backup power estimator to estimate a minimum amount of backup power to sufficiently power a load bank;

a source selector to, in response to detecting a line power failure, select a set of backup power sources to supply backup power to the load bank based on the status information of the plurality of backup power sources and the estimated backup power to power the load bank; and

a power distributor to supply backup power to the load bank via the selected set of backup power sources.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the source selector is to:

upon restoration of the line power, select a backup power source from the plurality of backup power sources to be charged, the backup power source comprising a least charged power source of the plurality of backup power sources; and

enable charging of the selected backup power source.

13. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the amount of power provided by the set of backup power sources is greater than the amount of backup power and less than the amount of power capable of being discharged by the plurality of power sources.