Staggered charging of slave devices such as in an electronic blasting system
First Claim
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1. A method of charging slave devices in an electronic system in a staggered fashion, comprising the following steps:
- a) establishing an electronic system including a master device and a bus;
b) connecting multiple slave devices to said bus; and
, c) selectively charging said slave devices with electrical energy supplied by said master device on said bus, wherein said charging of said slave devices is temporally staggered by said master device performing the followings steps;
(i) first issuing on said bus a charge command that is received by all said slave devices connected to said bus in step b), but which is by itself insufficient to cause any of said slave devices to begin charging; and
, (ii) then issuing on said bus a clock sequence in which specific clock values cause corresponding specific slave devices to begin charging so that selected slave devices connected to said bus begin charging at different times from other slave devices connected to said bus.
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Abstract
Selective, staggered charging of individual slave devices in a system at different times, such as electronic detonators in an electronic blasting system, so as to prevent excessive voltage drop on the bus. The staggered charging may be obtained through a clock-driven charging timing process or other suitable means.
27 Citations
15 Claims
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1. A method of charging slave devices in an electronic system in a staggered fashion, comprising the following steps:
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a) establishing an electronic system including a master device and a bus;
b) connecting multiple slave devices to said bus; and
,c) selectively charging said slave devices with electrical energy supplied by said master device on said bus, wherein said charging of said slave devices is temporally staggered by said master device performing the followings steps;
(i) first issuing on said bus a charge command that is received by all said slave devices connected to said bus in step b), but which is by itself insufficient to cause any of said slave devices to begin charging; and
,(ii) then issuing on said bus a clock sequence in which specific clock values cause corresponding specific slave devices to begin charging so that selected slave devices connected to said bus begin charging at different times from other slave devices connected to said bus. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method of charging slave devices in an electronic system in a staggered fashion, comprising the following steps:
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a) establishing an electronic system including a master device and a bus;
b) connecting multiple slave devices to said bus; and
,c) said master device selectively charging said slave devices with electrical energy supplied by said master device on said bus, wherein said charging of said slave devices is temporally staggered so that selected slave devices begin charging at different times from other slave devices, wherein step c) includes the step of said master device issuing a charge command followed by a clock sequence. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15)
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Specification