Circuit and method of operation for an electrical power supply

• US 7,791,319 B2
• Filed: 02/21/2003
• Issued: 09/07/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 02/21/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Fundamental Innovation Systems International LLC (Fundamental Innovation Systems International Holdings LLC)
• Original Assignee: Blackberry Limited
• Inventors: Guthrie, Martin G. A., Veselic, Dusan
• Primary Examiner(s): Tso, Edward
• Assistant Examiner(s): BOATENG, ALEXIS ASIEDUA
• Application Number:
  US10/372,180
• Publication Number:
  US 20040164708A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,755 Days
• Field of Search: 320/112, 320/107, 320/113, 320/114, 320/137, 320/152, 320/157, 320/159, 320/160, 320/132, 320/134, 320/21, 320/32, 320/39, 320/40, 320/115, 320/156, 320/165, 320/158, 320/155, 307/32, 307/34, 307/38, 307/39, 307/152, 307/159
• US Class Current: 320/158
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/0068 Battery or charger load switching, e.g. concurrent charging and load supply H02J7/0013 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/0071 with a programmable schedule

Abstract

A battery charging circuit comprising: a semiconductor switch having an output connected to a rechargeable battery; a battery charge controller for receiving power from an external source, and supplying output power to a portable device and the input of the semiconductor switch, the current output of the battery charge controller being controllable; and a voltage sensing circuit for: measuring the voltage drop across the battery charge controller; and responding to the voltage drop across the battery charge controller by modulating the semiconductor switch to reduce the quantity of current supplied to the rechargeable battery when the voltage drop is too great; whereby the total power dissipated by the battery charge controller is controlled, the portable device receiving the power it needs to operate and the rechargeable battery receiving any additional available power.

Claims

1. A battery charging circuit, comprising:

a semiconductor switch having an output connected to a rechargeable battery and configurable to isolate the rechargeable battery from a portable device;

a battery charge controller configured to receive power from an external universal serial bus (USB) port, and supply output power to the portable device having at least one function unrelated to the battery charge controller and to the rechargeable battery through the switch;

the battery charge controller being further configured to limit the output power such that the portable device and the rechargeable battery may not draw more than a pre-determined maximum current available from the USB port; and

a voltage sensing circuit configured to measure a voltage drop across the battery charge controller, and respond to the voltage drop across the battery charge controller by modulating the switch to control an amount of current supplied to the rechargeable battery such that the portable device receives a predetermined amount of power needed to operate and the rechargeable battery receives a remainder of the power available from the battery charge controller.

2. The battery charging circuit of claim 1, further comprising:

an external driving semiconductor controlled by the battery charge controller and operable to carry supply current from the USB port to the portable device and the rechargeable battery, wherein the supply current passes through the external driving semiconductor rather than through the battery charge controller.

3. The battery charging circuit of claim 2, wherein the voltage sensing circuit includes an operational amplifier.

4. The battery charging circuit of claim 3 where the voltage sensing circuit comprises:

an operational amplifier configured to compare a voltage signal from the battery charge controller with a reference voltage signal, and further configured to respond to a voltage difference in which the voltage signal is less than the reference voltage by reducing the current to the rechargeable battery.

5. The battery charging circuit of claim 3, wherein the voltage sensing circuit includes an operational amplifier for comparing the voltage on the output of the battery charge controller to a reference voltage.

6. The battery charging circuit of claim 2 where low-power, critical components of the portable device are fed from the battery charge controller, and high-power, non-critical components of said portable device are fed from the rechargeable battery.

7. The battery charging circuit of claim 6 where the low-power critical components include at least one of a memory and a microprocessor.

8. The battery charging circuit of claim 6 where the high-power, non-critical components include at least one of a back lighting system and a vibrator.

9. The battery charging circuit of claim 2, wherein the external driving semiconductor includes a transistor.

10. The battery charging circuit of claim 4 wherein the operational amplifier circuit further includes a voltage divider for scaling down the voltage signal from the battery charge controller and the reference voltage signal is scaled down proportionally.

11. The battery charging circuit of claim 2, wherein the pre-determined maximum current that may be drawn from said battery charge controller is limited by an external resistance to ground.

12. The battery charging circuit of claim 1, further comprising:

a semiconductor switch coupled between the battery charge controller and the rechargeable battery, the semiconductor switch being controlled by the voltage sensing circuit to limit the amount of current supplied to the rechargeable battery.

13. The battery charging circuit of claim 1, wherein the battery charge controller may be configured to set the pre-determined maximum current depending on the current limits of the USB port.

15. The battery charging circuit of claim 1, wherein the battery charge controller is further configured to receive power from a non-USB source.

16. The battery charging circuit of claim 15, wherein the battery charge controller may be configured to set the pre-determined maximum current depending on whether power is received from the USB port or the non-USB source.

17. The battery charging circuit of claim 15, wherein the non-USB source is an AC plug-in adapter.

18. The battery charging circuit of claim 15, wherein the non-USB source is a DC/DC adapter for use with an automobile.

14. A battery charging circuit comprising:

a semiconductor switch having an output connected to a rechargeable battery and configurable to isolate the rechargeable battery from a portable device;

a battery charge controller configured to receive power from an external universal serial bus (USB) port, and supply output power to the portable device and to the rechargeable battery through the switch;

the battery charge controller being further configured to limit the output power such that the portable device and the rechargeable battery may not draw more than a pre-determined maximum current available from the USB port, wherein the battery charge controller may be configured to send the pre-determined maximum current depending on the current limits of the USB port and wherein the pre-determined maximum current available from the USB port may be set to about 100 mA for a low-power USB port and may be set to about 500 mA for a high-power USB port; and

a voltage sensing circuit configured to measure a voltage drop across the battery charge controller, and respond to the voltage drop across the battery charge controller by modulating the switch to control an amount of current supplied to the rechargeable battery such that the portable device receives a predetermined amount of power needed to operate and the rechargeable battery receives a remainder of the power available from the battery charge controller.

19. A battery charging circuit comprising:

a semiconductor switch having an output connected to a rechargeable battery and configurable to isolate the rechargeable battery from a portable device;

a battery charge controller configured to receive power from either an external universal serial bus (USB) port or a non-USB source, and supply output power to the portable device and to the rechargeable battery through the switch;

the battery charge controller being further configured to limit the output power such that the portable device and the rechargeable battery may not draw more than a pre-determined maximum current available from the USB port and wherein the battery charge controller may be configured to set the pre-determined maximum current to one of a plurality of current limits depending on whether power is received from a low-power USB port, a high-power USB port or a non-USB source; and

a voltage sensing circuit configured to measure a voltage drop across the battery charge controller, and respond to the voltage drop across the battery charge controller by modulating the switch to control an amount of current supplied to the rechargeable battery such that the portable device receives a predetermined amount of power needed to operate and the rechargeable battery receives a remainder of the power available from the battery charge controller.

20. A system for charging a rechargeable battery for a portable device having a function unrelated to charging the rechargeable battery, using power supplied by a universal serial bus (USB) port, comprising:

means for receiving power from the USB port;

means for supplying the received power to the rechargeable battery and to the portable device, wherein the supplied power is limited such that the rechargeable battery and the portable device may not draw more than a pre-determined maximum amount of current available from the USB port; and

means for both isolating the rechargeable battery from the portable device and controlling an amount of current supplied to the rechargeable battery such that the portable device receives a pre-determined amount of the received power needed to operate and the rechargeable battery receives a remainder of the received power.