Mobile terminal, DC-charging power source adaptor, and charging method

• US 10,461,549 B2
• Filed: 01/15/2018
• Issued: 10/29/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 08/05/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hisense International Company Limited (Qingdao Huatong State-Owned Capital Operation (Group) Co., Ltd.), Hisense USA Corporation (Qingdao Huatong State-Owned Capital Operation (Group) Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Hisense Mobile Communications Technology Co., Ltd. (Qingdao Huatong State-Owned Capital Operation (Group) Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Hu, Ermeng, Yin, Rongyi, Zhang, Xintao, Du, Wenjuan
• Primary Examiner(s): Whitmore, Stacy
• Application Number:
  US15/871,546
• Publication Number:
  US 20180138724A1
• Time in Patent Office: 652 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2207/20 Charging or discharging characterised by the power electronics converter
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/10 using inductive coupling
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/12 of the resonant type
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/00 Circuit arrangements for charging or depolarising batteries or for supplying loads from batteries
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/00034 Charger exchanging data with an electronic device, i.e. telephone, whose internal battery is under charge
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/0036 using connection detecting circuits H02J7/0034 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/0044 specially adapted for holding portable devices containing batteries H02J7/0045 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/04 Regulation of charging current or voltage

Abstract

The disclosure discloses a mobile terminal, a DC-charging power source adaptor, and a charging method, where the mobile terminal detects whether two communication pins of a USB interface thereof are shorted, and if an inserted external device is a power source adaptor, then the mobile terminal communicates with the power source adaptor, so that the mobile terminal identifies automatically the type of the externally connected charging device. Also a specialized rapid charging mode is designed for a DC-charging power adaptor, so that a battery being charged routinely is DC-charged at large current using charging voltage output by the DC-charging power source adaptor, and a volt value of the charging voltage is adjusted dynamically to the varying voltage of the battery core.

Claims

1. A method for charging a mobile terminal, the method comprising:

determining, by the mobile terminal, whether two differential data pins of a USB interface thereof are shorted, in response to detecting insertion of an external device into the USB interface;

in response to determining that the two differential data pins are shorted, detecting, by the mobile terminal, whether the inserted external device is a DC-charging power source adaptor, and in response to determining that the inserted external device is the DC-charging power source adaptor, detecting, by the mobile terminal, voltage of a battery core of the mobile terminal;

when the voltage of the battery core lies in a range [S1, S2] delimited by preset DC-charging thresholds, controlling, by the mobile terminal, according to the current voltage of the battery core, the DC-charging power source adaptor to output charging voltage corresponding to the current voltage of the battery core to DC-charge the battery, wherein the range [S1, S2]delimited by the DC-charging thresholds is consistent with a voltage range of the battery core corresponding to a constant-current charging phase in a normal DCP charging mode; and

when the voltage of the battery core goes out of the range delimited by the DC-charging thresholds, instructing, by the mobile terminal, the DC-charging power source adaptor to output a constant charging voltage that is output by the DC-charging power source adaptor by default, and receiving, by the mobile terminal, the constant charging voltage output by the DC-charging power source adaptor;

wherein when the voltage of the battery core is less than S1, the battery is pre-charged by a power source managing chip of the mobile terminal at a small current, and when the voltage of the battery core is more than S2, the battery is charged by the power source managing chip of the mobile terminal at constant voltage.

2. The method for charging the mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein detecting, by the mobile terminal, whether the inserted external device is a DC-charging power source adaptor comprises:

outputting, by the mobile terminal, a signal instructing the external device to switch two communication pins of a charging interface of the external device from being shorted by default to being disconnected; and

sending, by the mobile terminal, a handshake instruction to the external device after a preset delay period of time, and in response to receiving a successful handshake acknowledgement, determining that the inserted external device is a DC-charging power source adaptor.

3. The method for charging the mobile terminal of claim 2, further comprising:

in response to receiving an acknowledgement indicating handshake failure or not receiving an acknowledgement, determining, by the mobile terminal, that the inserted external device is a normal power source adaptor, and starting the normal DCP charging mode.

4. The method for charging the mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein detecting, by the mobile terminal, whether the inserted external device is a DC-charging power source adaptor comprises:

waiting, by the mobile terminal, a preset wait period of time for receiving a communication command from the external device; and

in response to receiving the communication command, determining, by the mobile terminal, that the inserted external device is a DC-charging power source adaptor.

5. The method for charging the mobile terminal of claim 4, further comprising:

in response to receiving no communication command within the preset wait period of time, determining, by the mobile terminal, that the inserted external device is a normal power source adaptor, and starting the normal DCP charging mode.

6. The method for charging the mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein detecting, by the mobile terminal, whether the inserted external device is a DC-charging power source adaptor comprises:

sending, by the mobile terminal, a communication command to the external device at regular intervals, and waiting for reception of a response command returned from the external device, in a preset wait period of time, and in response to receiving a valid response command in the wait period of time, determining, by the mobile terminal, that the inserted external device is a DC-charging power source adaptor.

7. The method for charging the mobile terminal of claim 6, further comprising:

in response to receiving no valid response command in the wait period of time, determining, by the mobile terminal, that the inserted external device is a normal power source adaptor, and starting the normal DCP charging mode.

8. The method for charging the mobile terminal of claim 1, the method further comprising:

determining, by the mobile terminal, that the inserted external device is a host, and starting a normal SDP charging mode, in response to detecting that the two differential data pins of the USB interface of the mobile terminal are not shorted.

9. The method for charging the mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein when controlling, by the mobile terminal, the DC-charging power source adaptor to output charging voltage corresponding to the current voltage of the battery core according to the current voltage of the battery core, the method further comprises:

sending, by the mobile terminal, a target charging current value I_targ, and a charging current maximum value I_max to the DC-charging power source adaptor.

10. A mobile terminal, comprising:

a battery configured to store electrical energy;

a USB interface configured to engage with an external device; and

a microprocessor configured;

to determine whether two differential data pins of the USB interface are shorted, in response to detecting insertion of an external device into the USB interface;

in response to determining that the two differential data pins are shorted, to detect whether the inserted external device is a DC-charging power source adaptor;

in response to determining that the inserted external device is the DC-charging power source adaptor, to detect voltage of the battery core V_{bat real}, and if the voltage of the battery core V_{bat real} lies in a range [S1, S2] delimited by preset DC-charging thresholds, then to control, according to the current voltage of the battery core, the DC-charging power source adaptor to output a charging voltage corresponding to the current voltage of the battery core to DC-charging the battery; and

to perform one or more of;

a first DC-charging process where the microprocessor is configured to search a reference table by using the detected voltage of the battery core V_{bat real} to obtain a target charging voltage value V_out corresponding to an interval in which the detected voltage of the battery core V_{bat real} belongs, and to transmit the target charging voltage value V_out to the DC-charging power source adaptor to control the DC-charging power source adaptor to output the charging voltage;

or

a second DC-charging process where the microprocessor is configured to transmit the detected voltage of the battery core V_{bat real} to the DC-charging power source adaptor to control the DC-charging power source adaptor to search a reference table by using the detected voltage of the battery core V_{bat real} to obtain a target charging voltage value V_out corresponding to an interval in which the detected voltage of the battery core V_{bat real} belongs, so the DC-charging power source adaptor outputs the charging voltage;

or

a third DC-charging process where the microprocessor is configured to calculate a target charging voltage value V_out according to the following;

I_targ=I_max−

Δ

I;

I_max=min((V_{bat max}−

V_{bat real})/R_bat, I_allow); and

V_out=V_{bat real}+I_targ*(R_line+R_board+R_bat);

where R_line represents a resistance value on a charging line, R_board represents a resistance value on a circuit board of the mobile terminal, R_bat represents an inner resistance value of the battery, V_{bat max} represents a maximum terminal voltage value supported by the battery, V_{bat real} represents the voltage of the battery core, I_allow represents a maximum safe charging current value selected while ensuring the safety of the battery being charged, Δ

I represents a preset difference in current, I_max represents a charging current maximum value, and I_targ represents a target charging current value, and the microprocessor is configured to transmit the calculated target charging voltage value V_out to the DC-charging power source adaptor to control the DC-charging power source adaptor to output the charging voltage.

11. The mobile terminal of claim 10, further comprising:

a DC-charging switch, connected between the USB interface and the battery, wherein the microprocessor is configured to control the DC-charging switch in response to detecting that the voltage of the battery core lies in the range [S1, S2] delimited by the preset DC-charging thresholds, to close the DC-charging switch to transmit the charging voltage output by the DC-charging power source adaptor directly to the battery to DC-charge the battery; and

a power source managing chip, connected between the USB interface and the battery, wherein the microprocessor is configured to control the power source managing chip in response to detecting that the voltage of the battery core goes out of the range [S1, S2] delimited by the preset DC-charging thresholds, to receive the charging voltage output by the DC-charging power source adaptor to charge the battery.

12. A method for charging a mobile terminal, the method comprising:

switching, by a DC-charging power source adaptor, two communication pins in a charging interface of the DC-charging power source adaptor from being shorted by default to being disconnected in response to a condition that the charging interface of the DC-charging power source adaptor is inserted into a mobile terminal;

receiving, by the DC-charging power source adaptor, controlling information including an indication to perform charging through the communication pins;

determining, by the DC-charging power source adaptor, a value of a charging voltage to be output to the mobile terminal, and DC-charging a battery of the mobile terminal based on the value of the charging voltage, wherein the value of the charging voltage corresponds to the voltage of the battery core of the mobile terminal, and the battery core lies in a range [S1, S2] delimited by preset DC-charging thresholds when determining, by the DC-charging power source adaptor, the value of charging voltage to be output to the mobile terminal;

receiving, by the DC-charging power source adaptor, a target charging current value I_targ, and a charging current maximum value I_max, sent by the mobile terminal, or searching, by the DC-charging power source adaptor, the reference table for a target charging current value I_targ, and a charging current maximum value I_max , corresponding to the current voltage of the battery core; and

detecting in real time, by the DC-charging power source adaptor, charging current I_chg output by the DC-charging power source adaptor, and when I_targ−

I_e≤

I_chg<

I_targ, progressively adjusting up, by the DC-charging power source adaptor, the charging voltage output by the DC-charging power source adaptor by an amount of Δ

V, so the real charging current I_chg output by the DC-charging power source adaptor approaches the target charging current value I_targ, or when the absolute value of the difference between I_chg and I_targ is more than I_e or I_chg is more than I_max, stopping, by the DC-charging power source adaptor, the charging voltage from being output;

wherein I_e represents a controllable range of a difference between the real charging current value of the DC-charging power source adaptor and the target charging current value.

13. The method for charging the mobile terminal of claim 12, wherein before switching, by the DC-charging power source adaptor, two communication pins in the charging interface of the DC-charging power source adaptor from being shorted by default to being disconnected, the method further comprises:

receiving, by the DC-charging power source adaptor, a signal instructing the DC-charging power source adaptor to switch two communication pins of the charging interface of DC-charging power source adaptor from being shorted by default to being disconnected, sent by the mobile terminal.

14. The method for charging the mobile terminal of claim 12, further comprising:

after the charging interface of the DC-charging power source adaptor is inserted into the mobile terminal and followed by a preset delay period of time, then switching, by the DC-charging power source adaptor, two communication pins in the charging interface of the DC-charging power source adaptor from being shorted by default to being disconnected.

15. The method for charging the mobile terminal of claim 12, wherein before receiving, by the DC-charging power source adaptor, controlling information including an indication to perform charging through the communication pins, the method further comprises:

after switching, by the DC-charging power source adaptor, two communication pins in the charging interface of the DC-charging power source adaptor from being shorted by default to being disconnected, sending, by the DC-charging power source adaptor, a communication command on its own initiative to the mobile terminal.

16. The method for charging the mobile terminal of claim 12, wherein the DC-charging power source adaptor is configured to output constant charging voltage by default.