Back-up power accessory for a computer
First Claim
1. A back-up power accessory for storing back-up power for a computer and for providing the computer with said back-up power for a limited period of time upon failure of an AC power supply to the computer, the accessory being electrically connectable to the computer and comprising:
- a first detection mechanism for detecting AC power failure of said computer;
a second detection mechanism for receiving a suspend signal from the computer which signal indicates that the computer is in a power consuming sleep state;
a third detection mechanism for receiving an on/off signal from the computer which on/off signal indicates that the computer requires full power; and
a shutdown mechanism that cooperates with said first, second and third detection mechanisms upon AC power failure and detection of either the suspend signal or the on/off signal to send a fail signal to the computer for causing the computer to perform a safe shut-down.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A back-up power accessory is described for storing back-up power for a computer and for providing the computer with the back-up power for a limited period of time upon failure of an AC power supply to the computer, the accessory being electrically connectable to the computer and including a first detection mechanism for detecting AC power failure of said computer; a second detection mechanism for receiving a suspend signal from the computer which signal indicates that the computer is in a power consuming sleep state; a third detection mechanism for receiving an on/off signal from the computer which on/off signal indicates that the computer requires full power; and a shutdown mechanism that cooperates with said first, second and third detection mechanisms upon AC power failure and detection of either the suspend signal or the on/off signal to send a fail signal to the computer for causing the computer to perform a safe shut-down.
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Citations
15 Claims
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1. A back-up power accessory for storing back-up power for a computer and for providing the computer with said back-up power for a limited period of time upon failure of an AC power supply to the computer, the accessory being electrically connectable to the computer and comprising:
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a first detection mechanism for detecting AC power failure of said computer;
a second detection mechanism for receiving a suspend signal from the computer which signal indicates that the computer is in a power consuming sleep state;
a third detection mechanism for receiving an on/off signal from the computer which on/off signal indicates that the computer requires full power; and
a shutdown mechanism that cooperates with said first, second and third detection mechanisms upon AC power failure and detection of either the suspend signal or the on/off signal to send a fail signal to the computer for causing the computer to perform a safe shut-down. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
a power supply connector for electrical connection to an internal power supply of the computer; and
a third detection mechanism for detecting the presence of said internal power supply, the back up power accessory being arranged to shut off said back-up power if the internal power supply is detected as not being present.
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8. A back-up power accessory as claimed in claim 7 wherein the power supply connector is female.
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9. A computer system for use with a back-up power accessory as claimed in claim 1, the system comprising presence detect means to detect the presence of the back-up power accessory within the system and configuration means to configure a power management control component to receive said fail signal.
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10. A computer system as claimed in claim 9 wherein the presence detect means and the configuration means are implemented at least in part by a BIOS program.
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11. A back-up power accessory as claimed in claim 2 wherein said back-up power accessory further comprises:
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a power supply connector for electrical connection to an internal power supply of the computer; and
a third detection mechanism for detecting the presence of said internal power supply, the back-up power accessory being arranged to shut off said back-up power if the internal power supply is detected as not being present.
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12. A back-up power accessory as claimed in claim 1, wherein the power consuming sleep state is a suspend to RAM state.
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13. A back-up power accessory as claimed in claim 12, wherein causing the computer to perform a safe shut-down comprises changing the suspend to RAM state to a suspend to disk sate.
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14. A computer system with a back-up power accessory, the back-up power accessory comprising:
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a first detection mechanism for detecting AC power failure of said computer system;
a second detection mechanism for receiving a suspend signal from the computer system, which signal indicates that the computer system is in a power consuming sleep state;
a third detection mechanism for receiving an on/off signal from the computer system, which on/off signal indicates that the computer system requires full power; and
a shutdown mechanism that cooperates with said first, second and third detection mechanisms upon AC power failure and detection of either the suspend signal or the on/off signal to send a fail signal to the computer system for causing the computer system to perform a safe shutdown;
wherein the computer system comprises presence detect means to detect the presence of the back-up power accessory within the computer system and configuration means to configure a power management control component to receive said fail signal. - View Dependent Claims (15)
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Specification