Adaptive Power Management

• US 20130007473A1
• Filed: 06/30/2011
• Published: 01/03/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 06/30/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Avago Technologies International Sales Pte Limited (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Broadcom Corporation (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Inventors: van der Lee, Reinierus Hendricus Maria
• Granted Patent: US 9,323,298 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 713/300
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/206 comprising thermal management
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/26 Power supply means, e.g. regulation thereof for memories G11C
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3212 Monitoring battery levels, e.g. power saving mode being initiated when battery voltage goes below a certain level
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3287 by switching off individual functional units in the computer system
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3296 by lowering the supply or operating voltage
• 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: H04B 5/72 for local intradevice communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/24 Arrangements for testing
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 10/00 Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/50 in wire-line communication networks, e.g. low power modes or reduced link rate

Abstract

Disclosed are various embodiments of adaptive management of a device. The adaptive management includes, e.g., power management, energy management, and diagnostics. In one embodiment, a device including a power management unit (PMU) communicatively coupled to a processor is configured to transmit a status notification to the processor in response to an interrupt signal; obtain a high level state command from the processor in response to the status notification, and modify power operation of the device in response to the high level state command. In another embodiment, a method for charging a power source includes obtaining, by a PMU of a device, operational characteristics of a power supply in communication with the device; determining a power supply type based at least in part upon the operational characteristics; and controlling charging of the power source based at least in part upon the power supply type.

Claims

1. A device, comprising:

a processor; and

a power management unit (PMU) communicatively coupled to the processor, the PMU configured to;

transmit a status notification to the processor in response to an interrupt signal;

obtain a high level state command from the processor, the high level state command provided by the processor in response to the status notification; and

modify power operation of the device in response to the high level state command.

2. The device of claim 1, wherein the PMU is further configured to:

detect the interrupt signal; and

determine the status notification based at least in part upon the interrupt signal.

3. The device of claim 2, wherein the status notification is determined based upon a plurality of interrupt signals.

4. The device of claim 2, wherein the status notification is determined based upon the interrupt signal and a power usage level of the device.

5. The device of claim 2, wherein the interrupt signal is detected during a hibernation mode of the device.

6. The device of claim 5, wherein the PMU is further configured to restore the processor prior to transmitting the status notification.

7. The device of claim 1, wherein the PMU is further configured to:

detect a subsequent interrupt signal; and

further modify power operation of the device in response to the subsequent interrupt signal.

8. The device of claim 1, wherein the PMU is further configured to determine at least one function to modify the power operation of the device based upon the high level state command.

9. The device of claim 8, wherein the at least one function to modify the power operation of the device is further based upon at least one adaptive power management rule.

10. A method for adaptive power management of a device, comprising:

monitoring, by a power management unit (PMU) of the device, usage of the device based upon measured power supply characteristics;

identifying, by the PMU, a variation in a pattern of use based upon the measured power supply characteristics;

adapting, by the PMU, a power management rule based upon the identified pattern variation; and

controlling, by the PMU, power usage within the device based at least in part upon the adapted power management rule.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the power supply characteristics include a current level supplied by a power supply to a component of the device.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the power management rule is adapted when the identified pattern variation exceeds a predefined threshold.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the power management rule is adapted when the identified pattern variation persists for a predefined period of time.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein controlling power usage comprises limiting the power usage of a high current application to reduce heating in the device.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the high current application is charging a power source of the device.

16. A method for charging a power source of a device, comprising:

obtaining, by a power management unit (PMU) of the device, operational characteristics of a power supply in communication with the device;

determining, by the PMU, a power supply type based at least in part upon the operational characteristics; and

controlling, by the PMU, charging of the power source based at least in part upon the power supply type.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein obtaining operational characteristics comprises measuring no-load voltage.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein obtaining operational characteristics comprises measuring power supply voltage at a plurality of load levels to determine a load characteristic of the power supply.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein obtaining operational characteristics further comprises measuring power supply current at the plurality of load levels.

20. The method of claim 16, wherein charging of the power source is further controlled based upon an adaptive model of the power source.

21. The method of claim 16, wherein the power supply is a wireless power supply.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the operational characteristics are obtained from the wireless power supply using near field communication (NFC).

23. A method for adaptively modeling a power source of a device, comprising:

obtaining, by a power management unit (PMU) of the device, charging and discharging models of the power source;

monitoring, by the PMU, a plurality of power source parameters during operation of the device; and

adapting, by the PMU, the charging and discharging models based at least in part upon the plurality of power source parameters.

24. The method of claim 23, further comprising controlling, by the PMU, charging of the power source based at least in part upon the adapted charging model.

25. The method of claim 23, further comprising determining, by the PMU, a health of the power source based at least in part upon the adapted discharging model.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the health of the power source is based at least in part upon the adapted discharging model and the adapted charging model.

27. The method of claim 25, further comprising providing an indication of the health of the power source for rendering by the device.

28. The method of claim 25, further comprising providing a recommendation to replace the power source base at least in part upon the health of the power source.

29. The method of claim 23, wherein previously adapted charging and discharging models of the power source are obtained.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein previously adapted charging and discharging models were adapted based upon a replaced power source.

31. A device, comprising:

a power management unit (PMU) including a microcontroller; and

a diagnostic service executable by the microcontroller, the diagnostic service comprising;

logic that obtains a request to perform a predefined diagnostic test of the PMU;

logic that performs the predefined diagnostic test on at least a portion of the PMU; and

logic that provides an indication of the results of the predefined diagnostic test.

32. The device of claim 31, wherein the diagnostic service is executed in response to a high level state command from a system processor of the device.

33. The device of claim 31, wherein the diagnostic service is executed in response to a request from a testing device in communication with the device.

34. The device of claim 31, wherein the device comprises a system on chip (SoC) including the PMU.