Powering a human machine interface by way of USB

• US 7,644,295 B1
• Filed: 06/26/2006
• Issued: 01/05/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 06/26/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Xenogenic Development Limited Liability Company (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: Rockwell Automation Technologies Incorporated (Allen-Bradley Co., Inc.)
• Inventors: Mann, Joseph Francis, Britt, Clinton Duane, Dotson, Gary Dan
• Primary Examiner(s): Masinick; Michael D
• Application Number:
  US11/426,545
• Time in Patent Office: 1,289 Days
• Field of Search: 713/340, 713/324, 700/17, 700/12, 700/40
• US Class Current: 713/340
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/263 Arrangements for using multiple switchable power supplies, e.g. battery and AC G06F1/30 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/266 Arrangements to supply power to external peripherals either directly from the computer or under computer control, e.g. supply of power through the communication port, computer controlled power-strips

Abstract

A human machine interface (HMI) device comprises a power recognition component that determines at least one power source that is providing power to the HMI device, wherein the at least one power source is one of a host device providing power by way of a Universal Serial Bus connection, an AC power source, a DC power source, and a battery. A selector component can automatically select a subset of functionalities to enable with respect to the HMI from amongst several possible functionalities based at least in part upon the at least one determined power source.

Claims

1. A human machine interface (HMI) device, comprising:

a power recognition component that determines one or more power sources that are providing power to the HMI device, the one or more power sources are one or more of a host device providing power by way of a Universal Serial Bus connection, an AC power source, a DC power source, or a battery; and

a selector component that automatically selects a subset of functionalities to enable with respect to the HMI device from amongst a plurality of possible functionalities based at least in part upon the determined one or more power sources providing power to the HMI device, the plurality of possible functionalities including at least a web server function that configures the HMI device to serve web pages to a host device, a backlight function that powers backlighting for an interface associated with the HMI device, and a maintenance function that enables installation and configuration of an HMI application.

2. The HMI device of claim 1, the selector component selects the subset of functionalities to configure the HMI device to act as a storage class device if the power recognition component determines that the HMI device is being provided power solely from a host device via a USB connection, wherein configuring the HMI device to act as a storage class device entails providing power to CPU and memory subsystems of the HMI device while withholding power to a backlight of the HMI device.

3. The HMI device of claim 1, the selector component selects the subset of functionalities to configure the HMI device to act as a remote web server if the power recognition component determines that the HMI device is being provided power solely via a USB connection, wherein acting as a remote web server enables the HMI device to serve web pages to a host device.

4. The HMI device of claim 1, the power recognition component determines that power is being provided to the HMI device from a plurality of power sources and identifies the plurality of power sources, the selector component automatically selects the subset of functionalities to enable based at least in part upon the identities of the plurality of power sources.

5. The HMI device of claim 1, further comprising a power provider component that selectively provides power to hardware of the HMI device based at least in part upon the selected subset of functionalities.

6. The HMI device of claim 5, the power provider component comprises at least one of a transistor, a relay, a MEMS, or a power ORing device.

7. The portable device of claim 1, further comprising a security component that determines whether a user is authorized to utilize the subset of functionalities selected by the selector component.

8. The HMI device of claim 7, the security component determines an identity of the user and accesses a data store to determine a role of the user based at least in part upon the identity, the selector component selects the subset of functionalities based at least in part upon the determined identity and the determined one or more power sources providing power to the HMI device.

9. The HMI device of claim 7, the security component accesses a data store and determines a role associated with the identified user, the selector component selects the subset of functionalities based at least in part upon the determined role and the determined one or more power sources providing power to the HMI device.

10. The HMI device of claim 1, further comprising a sensor component that senses contextual data, the selector component selects the subset of functionalities based at least in part upon the sensed contextual data and the determined one or more power sources providing power to the HMI device.

11. The HMI device of claim 10, the contextual data includes one or more of geographic position of the HMI device, orientation of the HMI device, time of day, day of week, or time of year.

12. The HMI device of claim 1, one or more drivers are initiated based at least in part upon the determined one or more power sources.

13. The HMI device of claim 12, the one or more drivers are located within a host device connected to the HMI device and initiated by the selector component.

14. The HMI device of claim 1 being a portable HMI device.

15. A method for configuring a human machine interface (HMI) device, comprising:

identifying one or more power sources providing power to the HMI device, the one or more power sources being at least one of a host device that provides power to the HMI device by way of a USB, an AC power source, a DC power source, or a battery; and

selectively enabling at least one functionality of the HMI device from a set of selectable functionalities based at least in part upon the identification of the one or more power sources, the set of selectable functionalities including at least a web server functionality that configures the HMI device to serve web pages to a host device, a backlighting functionality that enables a backlight for an interface associated with the HMI device, and a maintenance function that enables installation and configuration of an HMI application on the HMI device.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising providing power to selected portions of hardware to enable the at least one functionality.

17. The method of claim 15, the enabled at least one functionality facilitates utilization of the HMI device as a storage class device, wherein utilization as a storage class device causes power to be provided to a CPU subsystem and a memory subsystem of the HMI device, and causes power to be withheld from the backlight associated with the interface of the HMI device.

18. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

selecting a subset of drivers from a set of available drivers based on the identification of the one or more power sources; and

initiating the selected subset of drivers.

19. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

determining an identity of a user of the HMI device; and

selectively enabling the at least one functionality based at least in part upon the identification of the user and the identified one or more power sources.

20. The method of claim 19, further comprising:

sensing contextual data; and

selectively enabling the functionality based at least in part upon the sensed contextual data and the identified one or more power sources.

21. A human machine interface (HMI) device, comprising:

means for identifying which of a universal serial bus (USB) connected host device, an AC power source, a DC power source, or a battery is providing power to the HMI device; and

means for selectively enabling, based at least on the identification, at least one function from a set of available HMI functions, the set of available HMI functions including at least a web server function that configures the HMI device to serve web pages to a host device, a backlighting functional that enables a backlight for an interface associated with the HMI device, and a maintenance functionality that enables installation and configuration of an HMI application on an HMI device.