Power delivery contract establishment in a power storage adapter

• US 10,452,102 B2
• Filed: 06/23/2017
• Issued: 10/22/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 06/23/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Dell Products LP (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Dell Products LP (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Inventors: Sultenfuss, Andrew Thomas, Thompson, Rick Christopher
• Primary Examiner(s): Rehman, Mohammed H
• Application Number:
  US15/631,866
• Publication Number:
  US 20180373289A1
• Time in Patent Office: 851 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1632 External expansion units, e.g. docking stations
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/266 Arrangements to supply power to external peripherals either directly from the computer or under computer control, e.g. supply of power through the communication port, computer controlled power-strips
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/44 Program or device authentication
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/42 Methods or arrangements for servicing or maintenance of secondary cells or secondary half-cells H01M10/60 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/425 Structural combination with electronic components, e.g. electronic circuits integrated to the outside of the casing printed circuits H05K1/00
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/00036 Charger exchanging data with battery
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/00047 with provisions for charging different types of batteries
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/0029 with safety or protection devices or circuits
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/00302 Overcharge protection
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/00304 Overcurrent protection
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/00308 Overvoltage protection
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/0031 using battery or load disconnect circuits H02J9/002 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 60/10 Energy storage using batteries

Abstract

A power storage adapter may use a power delivery contract establishment method when supplying electrical power to portable information handling systems when the amount of electrical power the power storage adapter is able to supply is less that the amount the portable information handling systems require. In particular, the power storage adapter may avoid supplying electrical power to one of the portable information handling systems that has gotten what is needs and may switch to supplying more electrical power to one of the other portable information handling systems that has not received what it requires.

Claims

1. A power storage adapter (PSA), comprising:

a first PSA port and a second PSA port;

a PSA battery; and

a PSA controller having access to memory media storing instructions executable by the PSA controller to;

establish, using a negotiation process, a first power delivery contract to supply first electrical power amount to a first information handling system coupled to the power storage adapter at the first PSA port;

when the first power delivery contract is in effect;

detect that the first information handling system is drawing third electrical power amount less than the first electrical power amount; and

receive a request for a second power delivery contract from a second information handling system coupled to the power storage adapter at the second PSA port, the second power delivery contract specifying a second electrical power amount to be supplied to the second information handling system; and

responsive to receiving the request;

reset the first PSA port to terminate the first power delivery contract;

responsive to resetting the first PSA port, reestablish the first power delivery contract to supply to the first information handling system a fourth electrical power amount that is greater than or equal to the third electrical power amount and less than the first electrical power amount; and

establish the second power delivery contract to supply the second electrical power amount to the second information handling system.

2. The power storage adapter of claim 1, wherein the instructions to establish the first power delivery contract further comprise instructions executable by the PSA controller to:

receive a second request for the first power delivery contract from the first information handling system;

responsive to receiving the second request;

determine an allocation of available electrical power of the power storage adapter for the first information handling system;

determine whether the first electrical power amount is less than or equal to the allocation of the available electrical power; and

responsive to determining that the first electrical power amount is less than or equal to the allocation of the available electrical power of the power storage adapter, accept the first power delivery contract.

3. The power storage adapter of claim 2, wherein the second request specifies the first electrical power amount, a voltage, a current, and a flow direction of the first electrical power.

4. The power storage adapter of claim 1, wherein the instructions to detect that the first information handling system is drawing the third electrical power amount further comprise instructions to:

determine that the third electrical power amount is less than a power threshold over a minimum duration.

5. The power storage adapter of claim 1, wherein the PSA controller utilizes a common protocol layer for communication with the first information handling system and the second information handling system.

6. The power storage adapter of claim 5, wherein the common protocol layer is a universal serial bus (USB) power delivery protocol layer.

7. The power storage adapter of claim 6, wherein the instructions to reset the first PSA port further comprise instructions to:

perform a soft reset for the first PSA port using the USB power delivery protocol layer.

8. The power storage adapter of claim 1, wherein the power storage adapter supplies electrical power from at least one of the PSA battery and an alternating current line power source coupled to the power storage adapter.

9. The power storage adapter of claim 1, wherein the first PSA port and the second PSA port are USB Type-C ports.

10. A method for power delivery contract establishment in a power storage adapter, the method comprising:

establishing, by a PSA controller of the power storage adapter using a negotiation process, a first power delivery contract to supply a first electrical power amount to a first information handling system coupled to the power storage adapter at a first PSA port of the power storage adapter;

when the first power delivery contract is in effect;

detecting, by the PSA controller, that the first information handling system is drawing a third electrical power amount less than the first electrical power amount; and

receiving, by the PSA controller, a request for a second power delivery contract from a second information handling system coupled to the power storage adapter at a second PSA port of the power storage adapter, the second power delivery contract specifying a second electrical power amount to be supplied to the second information handling system; and

responsive to receiving the request;

resetting, by the PSA controller, the first PSA port to terminate the first power delivery contract;

responsive to resetting the first PSA port, reestablishing, by the PSA controller, the first power delivery contract to supply to the first information handling system a fourth electrical power amount that is greater than or equal to the third electrical power amount and less than the first electrical power amount; and

establishing, by the PSA controller, the second power delivery contract to supply the second electrical power amount to the second information handling system.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein establishing the first power delivery contract comprises:

receiving a second request for the first power delivery contract from the first information handling system; and

responsive to receiving the second request;

determining an allocation of available electrical power of the power storage adapter for the first information handling system;

determining whether the first electrical power amount is less than or equal to the allocation of the available electrical power; and

responsive to determining that the first electrical power amount is less than or equal to the allocation of the available electrical power of the power storage adapter, accepting the first power delivery contract.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the second request specifies the first electrical power amount, a voltage, a current, and a flow direction of the first electrical power.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein detecting that the first information handling system is drawing the third electrical power amount further comprises:

determining that the third electrical power amount is less than a power threshold over a minimum duration.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein the PSA controller utilizes a common protocol layer for communication with the first information handling system and the second information handling system.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the common protocol layer is a universal serial bus (USB) power delivery protocol layer.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein resetting the first PSA port further comprises:

performing a soft reset for the first PSA port using the USB power delivery protocol layer.

17. The method of claim 10, wherein the power storage adapter supplies electrical power from at least one of a PSA battery and an alternating current line power source coupled to the power storage adapter.

18. The method of claim 10, wherein the first PSA port and the second PSA port are USB Type-C ports.