ENERGY AND POWER MANAGEMENT INTEGRATED CIRCUIT DEVICE

• US 20110062912A1
• Filed: 02/19/2010
• Published: 03/17/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 09/14/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute
• Original Assignee: Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute
• Inventors: Lee, Jae Woo, Heo, Se Wan, YANG, Yil Suk, Kim, Jong Dae, Jang, Moon Gyu
• Granted Patent: US 8,378,622 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 320/101
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/46 Accumulators structurally combined with charging apparatus circuits for charging H02J7/00
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/0068 Battery or charger load switching, e.g. concurrent charging and load supply H02J7/0013 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 60/10 Energy storage using batteries

Abstract

Provided is an energy and power management integrated circuit (IC) device. The energy and power management IC device includes a plurality of energy conversion devices for harvesting energy from respective energy conversion sources and converting the energy into electric energy, an energy management IC (EMIC) for converting the electric energy converted by the energy conversion devices into stable energy, a storage device for storing the energy or power converted by the EMIC, a power management IC (PMIC) for receiving and distributing the power stored in the storage device, and a plurality of output load devices for consuming the power distributed by the PMIC. Accordingly, it is possible to harvest energy in an environmentally friendly way and semi-permanently use the energy without changing a battery.

Claims

1. An energy and power management integrated circuit (IC) device, comprising:

a plurality of energy conversion devices for harvesting energy from respective energy conversion sources and converting the energy into electric energy;

an energy management IC (EMIC) for converting the electric energy converted by the energy conversion devices into stable energy;

a storage device for storing the energy or power converted by the EMIC;

a power management IC (PMIC) for receiving and distributing the power stored in the storage device; and

a plurality of output load devices for consuming the power distributed by the PMIC.

2. The energy and power management IC device of claim 1, wherein the PMIC receives the electric energy directly from the energy conversion devices and distributes the electric energy.

3. The energy and power management IC device of claim 2, wherein the PMIC distributes the power stored in the storage device or the electric energy directly received from the energy conversion devices to the EMIC.

4. The energy and power management IC device of claim 1, wherein the EMIC includes:

an energy conversion source selector for selecting one of the energy conversion devices;

an energy conversion source monitor unit for monitoring the energy conversion sources and controlling the energy conversion source selector to select an energy conversion source; and

an energy converter for converting electric energy converted by the selected energy conversion device into energy to be stored in the storage device.

5. The energy and power management IC device of claim 4, wherein the energy converter includes an energy conversion circuit for performing direct current (DC)-DC conversion to increase or reduce an input voltage according to an input voltage level of the storage device and alternating current (AC)-DC conversion to convert generated AC energy into DC energy.

6. The energy and power management IC device of claim 1, wherein the PMIC includes:

a processor and control circuit for generating and managing a control signal of the EMIC and the PMIC;

a plurality of power converters for distributing and controlling the power stored in the storage device according to states of the output load devices; and

a storage device state-of-charge (SOC) monitoring and protection circuit for monitoring a SOC of the storage device, and protecting the storage device not to be overcharged or overloaded.

7. The energy and power management IC device of claim 6, wherein the processor and control circuit generates and manages a control signal for the PMIC to control the EMIC.

8. The energy and power management IC device of claim 4, wherein the EMIC further includes a processor and control circuit for generating and managing a control signal for the EMIC and the PMIC.

9. The energy and power management IC device of claim 8, wherein the processor and control circuit generates and manages a control signal for the EMIC to control the PMIC.

10. The energy and power management IC device of claim 6, wherein the power converters include a power conversion circuit having a direct current (DC)-DC conversion function for driving an output load and a DC-DC conversion function for driving the EMIC.

11. The energy and power management IC device of claim 6, wherein the power converters are implemented as buck converters, boost converters, buck-boost converters, or charge pumps.

12. The energy and power management IC device of claim 1, wherein the energy conversion sources include sunlight, thermoelectricity, piezoelectricity, motion, or vibration.

13. The energy and power management IC device of claim 1, wherein the storage device includes a primary battery, a secondary battery, a supercapacitor, or a fuel cell.

14. The energy and power management IC device of claim 1, wherein the output load devices are implemented as a radio frequency (RF) module, a processor, a peripheral device, or a sensor.

15. The energy and power management IC device of claim 1, wherein powers of the EMIC and the PMIC are provided by the storage device, or

the power of PMIC is provided by the storage device, and the power of the EMIC is provided by the PMIC.