INDUCTIVELY COUPLED CHARGER

• US 20130162200A1
• Filed: 12/22/2011
• Published: 06/27/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 12/22/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Texas Instruments, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Texas Instruments, Inc.
• Inventors: Brohlin, Paul, Terry, Stephen C.
• Granted Patent: US 9,331,520 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 320/108
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/10 using inductive coupling
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/80 involving the exchange of data, concerning supply or distribution of electric power, between transmitting devices and receiving devices
• 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 7/00714 in response to battery charging or discharging current
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/007182 in response to battery voltage
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/04 Regulation of charging current or voltage
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 5/72 for local intradevice communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 5/79 for data transfer in combination with power transfer

Abstract

A device includes a charge controller to regulate a battery output voltage based on an input voltage and an input current received from a charging circuit. A loop controller monitors the input voltage and the input current to generate a feedback signal to adjust the input voltage to the charge controller.

Claims

1. A device, comprising:

a charge controller to regulate an output voltage for charging a battery based on an input voltage and an input current received from an inductively coupled charging circuit, the charge controller regulating the output voltage based on a selected one of a plurality of references; and

a loop controller that monitors at least one of the input voltage or the input current to generate a feedback signal to the inductively coupled charging circuit to adjust the input voltage.

2. The device of claim 1, wherein the loop controller is a first loop controller that provides a first feedback signal to the inductively coupled charging circuit based on the input voltage relative to a voltage reference, the device further comprising a second loop controller configured to provide a second feedback signal to the inductively coupled charging circuit to regulate the input current based on the input current relative to the selected reference.

3. The device of claim 2, wherein the inductively coupled charging circuit is configured to execute a control algorithm to process the first feedback signal and the second feedback signal to adjust the input voltage to the charge controller.

4. The device of claim 3, further comprising a selection controller configured to select at least one of the plurality of references that is utilized by the charge controller and the second loop controller.

5. The device of claim 4, wherein the at least one of the plurality of references corresponds to a variable representing at least one of a charging reference, a pre-charging reference, or temperature.

6. The device of claim 4, further comprising a regulation switch configured to regulate the output voltage to the battery according to the input voltage from the inductively coupled charging circuit and based on a control signal from the charge controller that is driven by the charge controller.

7. The device of claim 6, the charge controller further comprising a first amplifier to monitor current and a second amplifier to monitor voltage, where outputs of the respective amplifiers are connected in a wired-OR configuration to provide the control signal to the regulation switch.

8. The device of claim 7, further comprising a current source to supply current to the wired-OR configuration to facilitate control of the regulation switch.

9. The device of claim 7, wherein the first amplifier to monitor current receives at least one input, corresponding to the selected one of the plurality of references, which includes a charging reference signal, a pre-charging reference signal, or a thermal-charging reference signal to facilitate control of the regulation switch.

10. The device of claim 1, wherein the loop controller further comprises an analog-to-digital converter to supply a reference voltage for the charge controller and the feedback signal to the inductively coupled charging circuit.

11. A device, comprising:

a charge controller to regulate a battery based on an input voltage and an input current received from an inductively coupled charging circuit;

a first loop controller configured to monitor the input voltage to generate a first feedback signal to adjust the input voltage to the charge controller; and

a second loop controller configured to generate a second feedback signal to adjust the input voltage to the charge controller, the second loop controller generating the second feedback signal based on the input current relative to a reference that is selected from a plurality of references to adjust a control variable.

12. The device of claim 11, the charging circuit further comprising a transmitter circuit and a receiver circuit that inductively couples energy to provide the input voltage to the charge controller and to receive the first and second feedback signals from the first and second loop controllers.

13. The device of claim 12, the transmitter circuit executes a PID (proportional-integral-derivative) algorithm to control voltages and currents based on the first feedback signal and second feedback signal of claim 11.

14. The device of claim 11, further comprising a regulation switch that receives the input voltage to regulate voltage and current at the battery based on a control signal from the charge controller.

15. The device of claim 14, further comprising a current source to bias the regulation switch.

16. The device of claim 14, wherein the charge controller further comprises a current sense amplifier to monitor input current relative to the selected reference and a voltage sense amplifier monitor output voltage to control the regulation switch.

17. The device of claim 16, further comprising a selection controller configured to control which of the plurality of references is the provided as a reference signal to the current sense amplifier, the selected reference signal corresponding to a charging reference signal, a pre-charging reference signal, or a thermal-charging reference signal to control of the regulation switch.

18. A method, comprising:

controlling a battery voltage and current via an inner control loop based on an input voltage and an input current received from a charging circuit;

controlling, via a transmitter, at least one of the input voltage and the input current in the charging circuit;

monitoring the input voltage, via a first outer control loop, to generate a first feedback signal that is wirelessly provided to the charging circuit to adjust the input voltage to the charge controller; and

monitoring the input current, via a second outer control loop, to generate a second feedback signal that is wirelessly provided to the charging circuit, the second feedback signal being generated based on the input current relative to a selected reference that is selected from a plurality of selection inputs to adjust the input voltage to the inner control loop.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the transmitter controller utilizes a PID (proportional-integral-derivative) loop to control the input voltage and the input current in the charging circuit.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein at least one of the plurality of references depends on a variable temperature of a die that includes a regulation switch that is controlled by the inner control loop.