Power management system for computer device interconnection bus
First Claim
1. An electronics system comprising:
- an interconnection bus;
a plurality of devices coupled to the interconnection bus, each of the plurality of devices being operative to transmit power requests via the interconnection bus and at least a first device of said plurality of devices being capable of supplying power to said interconnection bus; and
a power manager receiving the power requests from the plurality of devices, said power manager further including;
a database that contains (i) a priority level corresponding to each of the plurality of devices, (ii) power draw information on different operating states of each of the plurality of devices, and (iii) power output capabilities of at least said first device,a processor that grants the power requests based on the power draw information and the priority information.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The power management system tracks the total amount of power drawn from a bus by devices connected to the bus and to the bus itself, based on the individual operational status of each device. The power manager system also tracks the total amount of power supplied to the bus. From this information the power manager system determines whether a power surplus exists sufficient to allow an additional device to operate or to allow a currently operating device to draw more power. Power usage requests received from devices connected to the bus are granted or denied by the power management system based on the determination of available power. The power management system additionally is capable of sequencing the use of several devices to allow the devices to each operate while maintaining the total power draw within an acceptable range. The system provides for efficient use of a limited amount of power to allow operation of more devices than conventionally allowed with a bus. The system also can activate power supply devices which are off-line via soft-power-on commands to increase the total amount of power available. The system is advantageously implemented with any bus system having devices drawing power from the bus from power supplies providing limited power.
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Citations
19 Claims
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1. An electronics system comprising:
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an interconnection bus; a plurality of devices coupled to the interconnection bus, each of the plurality of devices being operative to transmit power requests via the interconnection bus and at least a first device of said plurality of devices being capable of supplying power to said interconnection bus; and a power manager receiving the power requests from the plurality of devices, said power manager further including; a database that contains (i) a priority level corresponding to each of the plurality of devices, (ii) power draw information on different operating states of each of the plurality of devices, and (iii) power output capabilities of at least said first device, a processor that grants the power requests based on the power draw information and the priority information. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method for determining whether to grant a power request from a signaling device being one of a plurality of devices coupled to an interconnection bus, the method comprising the steps of:
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obtaining power draw information for each of the plurality of devices connected to the interconnection bus; calculating a total amount of power drawn at a particular point in time by summing the power draw information of each of the plurality of devices; obtaining from a table power output capabilities for each of the plurality of devices connected to the interconnection bus; calculating a total amount of power supplied to the interconnection bus by summing the power output capabilities of each of the plurality of devices; computing a surplus power available by subtracting the total amount of power drawn from the total amount of power supplied; receiving a power request for a first amount of power via the interconnection bus from the signaling device; granting the power request if supplying the first amount of power would not exceed the surplus power available; and denying the power request if supplying the first amount of power would exceed the surplus power available. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14)
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15. An electronics system comprising:
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an interconnection bus including a data line and a power line; a plurality of devices coupled to the interconnection bus, each of the plurality of devices being operative to transmit power requests via the data line, wherein the plurality of devices can request a total amount of power that exceeds a maximum amount of power available; and a power manager coupled to the data line, said power manager configured to receive the power requests from the plurality of devices, to coordinate supplying power to the plurality of devices by increasing power supplied to the power line up to said maximum amount when insufficient power is available to satisfy pending power requests, said power manager further configured to grant and revoke power requests according to priority, thereby keeping the total amount of power used by the plurality of devices less than or equal to the maximum amount of power available. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18)
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19. A method for managing power consumption in an electronics system including a plurality of devices coupled to an interconnection bus, the method comprising the steps of:
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receiving a power request for a first amount of power via the interconnection bus from a requesting device, said requesting device being one device in the plurality of devices; granting the power request if a first surplus power is sufficient to satisfy the power request; activating at least one power supply device to generate a second surplus power if said first surplus power is insufficient to satisfy the power request, said at least one power supply device being one of the plurality of devices; and determining whether said second surplus power is sufficient to satisfy the power request, wherein if the second surplus power is insufficient to satisfy the power request, generating a third surplus power by deactivating at least one device of the plurality of devices, said at least one device having a lower priority than the requesting device.
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Specification