Method and system for discovering a power source on a peripheral bus
First Claim
1. An electrical device, comprising:
- a peripheral bus interface coupled to a bus connector, the bus connector providing a power line, a ground line and a plurality of digital data lines to said peripheral bus interface;
an available power detector operatively connected to said peripheral bus interface, wherein said available power detector operates to detect a level of available power from the power line by obtaining voltages on the plurality of digital data lines when a power source is operatively connected to said peripheral bus interface via the bus connector and converting the obtained voltages to at least one digital value indicative of the level of available power;
a battery;
a battery charging circuit;
power-consuming circuitry; and
a power manager operatively connected to said available power detector and said power-consuming circuitry, wherein said power manager operates to manage power utilization by at least a portion of said power-consuming circuitry based on the level of available power.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Improved techniques to recognize a power source on a peripheral bus and/or determine power available from the power source via the peripheral bus are disclosed. Typically, the peripheral bus is supported by a cable connected between a host device and an electronic device. In this case, the host device is a power source (e.g., power adapter or battery pack) and the cable is used to provide power from the power source to the electronic device. Hence, by understanding the power available from the power source, the electronic device can manage its power utilization so as to operate in a stable and reliable manner. The electronic device is, for example, a portable computing device. Examples of portable computing devices include a Portable Digital Assistant (PDA) and a portable media player.
113 Citations
42 Claims
-
1. An electrical device, comprising:
-
a peripheral bus interface coupled to a bus connector, the bus connector providing a power line, a ground line and a plurality of digital data lines to said peripheral bus interface; an available power detector operatively connected to said peripheral bus interface, wherein said available power detector operates to detect a level of available power from the power line by obtaining voltages on the plurality of digital data lines when a power source is operatively connected to said peripheral bus interface via the bus connector and converting the obtained voltages to at least one digital value indicative of the level of available power; a battery; a battery charging circuit; power-consuming circuitry; and a power manager operatively connected to said available power detector and said power-consuming circuitry, wherein said power manager operates to manage power utilization by at least a portion of said power-consuming circuitry based on the level of available power. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
-
-
19. A method for managing power utilization by an electrical device having a peripheral connector, said method comprising:
-
detecting connection of a peripheral bus to the peripheral connector of the electrical device, the peripheral bus having at least a power line and a plurality of digital data lines; obtaining analog voltage levels on the plurality of digital data lines when said detecting detects connection of the peripheral bus; converting the analog voltage levels to at least one digital value; using the at least one digital value to determine an available power level; and managing power utilization of the electrical device based on the available power level. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
-
-
26. A method for managing power utilization by an electrical device having a peripheral connector, said method comprising:
-
detecting connection of a peripheral bus to the peripheral connector of the electrical device, the peripheral bus having at least a power line and a plurality of digital data lines; reading analog voltage levels on the plurality of digital data lines when said detecting detects connection of the peripheral bus; converting the analog voltage levels to at least one digital value; determining whether a host device providing the peripheral bus is a battery pack or a power adapter based on the at least one digital value; and determining an available power capacity of the battery pack based on the at least one digital value when said determining determines that the host device is a battery pack; determining an available power capacity of the power adapter based on the at least one digital value when said determining determines that the host device is a power adapter; and managing power utilization of the electrical device based on the available power capacity. - View Dependent Claims (27)
-
-
28. A method for determining power availability from a power source coupled to an electronic device via a peripheral bus, the peripheral bus having at least a power line and a plurality of bus data lines, said method comprising:
-
reading voltage levels induced on the plurality of bus data lines by the power source; converting the voltage levels read on the plurality of bus data lines to at least one digital value; using the at least one digital value to determine an entry in a lookup table; and determining an available power level for the power source based on the determined entry in the lookup table. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31, 32)
-
-
33. A method for determining power availability from a battery pack coupled to an electronic device via a peripheral bus, the peripheral bus having at least a power line and a plurality of bus data lines, said method comprising:
-
reading voltage levels induced on the plurality of bus data lines by the battery pack; converting the voltage levels read on the plurality of bus data lines to at least one digital value; using the at least one digital value to determine an entry in a lookup table; and determining an available power level for the battery pack based on the determined entry in the lookup table. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36)
-
-
37. A method for identifying a host device coupled to a peripheral connector of an electronic device, said method comprising:
-
detecting connection of a peripheral bus to the peripheral connector of the electrical device, the peripheral bus being associated with the host device that is also connected to the peripheral bus, the peripheral bus having at least a power line and a plurality of bus data lines; reading voltage levels on the plurality of bus data lines after said detecting detects connection of the peripheral bus; using the read voltage levels to determine if the host device is a power source; and if the host device comprises a power source; converting the voltage levels to at least one digital value; using the at least one digital value to lookup a corresponding entry in a table; and using the corresponding entry to determine an identity of the host device. - View Dependent Claims (38, 39)
-
-
40. An electrical device, comprising:
-
a peripheral bus interface coupled to a bus connector, the bus connector providing a power line, a ground line and a plurality of digital data lines to the peripheral bus interface; an available power detector operatively connected to the peripheral bus interface, where the available power detector operates to detect a level of available power from the power line by sensing voltages on the plurality of digital data lines when a power source is operatively connected to the peripheral bus interface via the bus connector and converting the sensed voltages to at least one digital value indicative of the level of available power; power-consuming circuitry comprising a disk drive; and a power manager operatively connected to said available power detector and said power-consuming circuitry, where the power manager operates to manage power utilization by the disk drive based on the level of available power. - View Dependent Claims (41, 42)
-
Specification