Software based thermal charging regulation loop

• US 7,944,180 B2
• Filed: 04/23/2010
• Issued: 05/17/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 08/29/2006
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Avago Technologies International Sales Pte Limited (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Agere Systems Incorporated (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Inventors: Lopata, Douglas D.
• Primary Examiner(s): Tso; Edward
• Assistant Examiner(s): Diao; M'Baye
• Application Number:
  US12/766,133
• Publication Number:
  US 20100203928A1
• Time in Patent Office: 389 Days
• Field of Search: 320/135, 320/150
• US Class Current: 320/150
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/00309 Overheat or overtemperature protection
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/007188 the charge cycle being controlled or terminated in response to non-electric parameters

Abstract

The present invention implements a software controlled thermal feedback system for battery charging circuitry in portable devices, specifically in cellular telephones. The charging hardware block is integrated into a mixed-signal analog base-band (ABB) circuit. In addition to standard function controls, integrated within the ABB are silicon temperature sensors used to monitor the temperature of any silicon components integrated on the ABB and detect any temperature change due to thermal heating. The temperature value is passed to the digital base band (DBB) circuit. Here, a microcontroller is programmed to perform power management functions relating to the ABB. Thermal control software, implemented on the DBB microcontroller, monitors the silicon temperature of the ABB and adjusts the power levels on the ABB accordingly to provide a controlled chip temperature.

Claims

1. A method for providing temperature control for integrated circuit components including battery charger circuitry, the method comprising the following steps:

(1) measuring the temperature of said integrated circuit components with one or more temperature sensors;

(2) generating a digital signal corresponding to said measured temperature; and

(3) adjusting a charging power level at said battery charger circuitry as a function of said measured temperature, wherein steps (1) through (3) are repeated until said measured temperature of said integrated circuit components falls within a predetermined acceptable range.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said integrated circuit components and said battery charger circuitry are integrated in an analog base band circuit (ABB) of a cellular telephone.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein said temperature sensors are embedded in said ABB to monitor temperatures of silicon components integrated into said ABB.

4. The method of claim 2, where a control module adapted to perform said adjusting is integrated in a digital base band circuit (DBB) of a cellular telephone.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein said ABB and said DBB are operably connected via a serial interface.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein said control module is integrated into a microcontroller of said cellular telephone.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein said predetermined acceptable range of temperatures is between 110 and 115 degrees Celsius.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein adjusting a charging power level at said battery charger circuitry as a function of said measured temperature comprises adjusting a duty cycle of said battery charger circuitry.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein, when said measured temperature is below a predetermined minimum charging temperature, the charging power level at said battery charger circuitry is increased.

10. A system for monitoring and controlling thermal temperature in integrated circuit components, the system comprising:

one or more temperature sensors for measuring a temperature of said integrated circuit components;

a converter operably connected to said one or more temperature sensors, said converter adapted to convert said measured temperature to a digital signal; and

a control module operably connected to said converter, said module adapted to adjust a power level of one or more of said integrated circuit components as a function of said measured temperature, until said measured temperature of said integrated circuit components falls within a predetermined acceptable range, wherein said integrated circuit components are integrated in an analog base band circuit (ABB) of a cellular telephone.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein said one or more of said integrated circuit components include battery charging circuitry.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein said control module is further adapted to control said battery charging circuitry.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein said control module is further adapted to adjust a charging level of said battery charging circuitry, thereby altering the thermal heat production of said battery charging circuitry.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein said control module is adapted to adjust the charging power level at said battery charger circuitry by adjusting a duty cycle of said battery charger circuitry.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein the control module is adapted to increase the charging power level at said battery charger circuitry, when said measured temperature is below a predetermined minimum charging temperature.

16. The system of claim 10, wherein said temperature sensors are embedded in said ABB to monitor temperatures of silicon components integrated into said ABB.

17. The system of claim 10, wherein said control module is integrated in a digital base band circuit (DBB) of a cellular telephone.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein said ABB and said DBB are operably connected via a serial interface.

19. The system of claim 10, wherein said control module is integrated into a microcontroller of said cellular telephone.

20. The system of claim 10, wherein:

said predetermined acceptable range of temperatures is between 110 and 115 degrees Celsius.

21. A method for providing temperature control for integrated circuit components, the method comprising the following steps:

(1) measuring the temperature of said integrated circuit components with one or more temperature sensors;

(2) generating a digital signal corresponding to said measured temperature; and

(3) adjusting at least one power level at one or more select integrated circuit components as a function of said measured temperature, wherein said steps (1) through (3) are repeated until said obtained temperature of said integrated circuit components falls within a predetermined acceptable range.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein said circuit components and said battery charger are integrated in an analog base band circuit (ABB) of a cellular telephone.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein a control module adapted to perform said adjusting is integrated in a digital base band circuit (DBB) of a cellular telephone.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein said control module is integrated into a microcontroller of said cellular telephone.

25. The method of claim 21, wherein said predetermined acceptable range of temperatures is between 110 and 115 degrees Celsius.

26. The method of claim 21, wherein said one or more select integrated circuit components comprise at least one of keypad LED controls, LCD screen controls, speaker controls and microphone controls.

27. The method of claim 21, wherein, when said measured temperature is below a predetermined minimum charging temperature, the at least one power level at said one or more select integrated circuit components is increased.

28. A system for monitoring and controlling thermal temperature in integrated circuit components, the system comprising:

one or more temperature sensors for measuring a temperature of said integrated circuit components;

a converter operably connected to said one or more temperature sensors, said converter adapted to convert said measured temperature to a digital signal; and

a control module operably connected to said converter, said module adapted to adjust a power level of one or more of said integrated circuit components as a function of said measured temperature, until said measured temperature of said integrated circuit components falls within a predetermined acceptable range, wherein;

said one or more of said integrated circuit components include battery charging circuitry;

said control module is further adapted to control said battery charging circuitry;

said control module is further adapted to adjust a charging level of said battery charging circuitry, thereby altering the thermal heat production of said battery charging circuitry;

said control module is adapted to adjust the charging power level at said battery charger circuitry by adjusting a duty cycle of said battery charger circuitry; and

said control module is integrated in a digital base band circuit (DBB) of a cellular telephone.