Diagnostic system having a wake-up circuit

• US 8,174,382 B2
• Filed: 06/01/2009
• Issued: 05/08/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 11/21/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Mahle International GmbH (MAHLE-STIFTUNG GmbH)
• Original Assignee: Mahle International GmbH (MAHLE-STIFTUNG GmbH)
• Inventors: Kilmurray, Paul A., Lam, Dung K., Nielsen, Issac R., Porter, David B., Sup, Nicholas J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Tweel, Jr., John A
• Application Number:
  US12/476,233
• Publication Number:
  US 20100127857A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,072 Days
• Field of Search: 340/540, 361/100, 379/27.06, 710/104, 713/323, 713/340
• US Class Current: 340/540
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3212 Monitoring battery levels, e.g. power saving mode being initiated when battery voltage goes below a certain level
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3228 Monitoring task completion, e.g. by use of idle timers, stop commands or wait commands
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3287 by switching off individual functional units in the computer system
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/0808 Diagnosing performance data testing of vehicles G01M17/00; testing of electrical installation on vehicles G01R31/005
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/085 using electronic data carriers
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 10/00 Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/50 in wire-line communication networks, e.g. low power modes or reduced link rate

Abstract

A system comprises an electronic device including at least one input for receiving at least one enable signal and external data. The system also comprises a wake-up circuit including at least one input for receiving at least one informational signal, an output for sending the at least one enable signal to the electronic device, and a data interface for external configuration of the wake-up circuit. If the at least one informational signal satisfies predefined criteria, the wake-up circuit enables the electronic device by way of the at least one enable signal before the external data is received by the electronic device.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

an electronic device including at least one input for receiving at least one enable signal and external data; and

a wake-up circuit including at least one input for receiving at least one informational signal, an output for sending the at least one enable signal to the electronic device, and a data interface for external configuration of the wake-up circuit;

wherein, if the at least one informational signal satisfies predefined criteria, the wake-up circuit enables the electronic device by way of the at least one enable signal before the external data is received by the electronic device.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein an informational signal represents time information.

3. The system of claim 2, the wake-up circuit further comprising a computing device that transitions the wake-up circuit to a low power state based at least in part on the time information.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein an informational signal represents a health condition of a power source.

5. The system of claim 4, the wake-up circuit further comprising a computing device that transitions the wake-up circuit to a low power state based at least in part on the health condition of the power source.

6. The system of claim 4, wherein the wake-up circuit further outputs a disable signal and the electronic device further receives the disable signal, wherein the wake-up circuit outputs the disable signal to the electronic device based at least in part on the health condition of the power source.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the wake-up circuit further outputs a disable signal and the electronic device further receives the disable signal, the disable signal disabling function of the electronic device irrespective of the status of the at least one enable signal.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein an enable signal of the at least one enable signal is in the form of power for operation of the electronic device.

9. A method comprising:

receiving at least one enable signal and external data at an electronic device;

receiving at least one informational signal at a wake-up circuit;

outputting the at least one enable signal from the wake-up circuit to the electronic device;

determining that the at least one informational signal satisfies predefined criteria;

enabling the electronic device by way of the at least one enable signal before receiving external data at the electronic device; and

configuring the wake-up circuit through a data interface.

10. The method of claim 9, the wake-up circuit operating independently of the data interface.

11. The method of claim 9, including the receiving of the at least one informational signal from a communications link as part of a message.

12. The method of claim 9, the at least one informational signal including a signal representing time information.

13. The method of claim 9, the at least one informational signal including a signal representing a health condition of a power source.

14. The method of claim 13, the wake-up circuit further outputting a disable signal and the electronic device further receiving the disable signal, the wake-up circuit outputting the disable signal to the electronic device based on a health condition of the power source.

15. The method of claim 9, the electronic device further receiving a disable signal, the disable signal disabling function of the electronic device irrespective of the status of the at least one enable signal.

16. The method of claim 9, wherein an enable signal of the at least one enable signal is in the form of power for operation of the electronic device.

17. A system comprising:

a data logger including

an input for receiving external data, and

an input for receiving an enable signal;

a wake-up circuit including

an input for receiving at least one informational signal, the at least one informational signal including at least one of time information and power source health information,

a computing device that uses the at least one informational signal to determine actions to take, the actions including transitioning the wake-up circuit to a low power state in response to the at least one of time information and power source health information,

an output for sending the enable signal to the data logger in response to an instruction received from the computing device, and

a data interface for external configuration of the wake-up circuit;

wherein, if the at least one informational signal satisfies first predefined criteria, the wake-up circuit enables the data logger by way of applying the enable signal before the external data is received by the data logger; and

wherein, if the at least one of time information and power source health information satisfies second predefined criteria, the wake-up circuit disables the data logger.

18. The system of claim 17, the data logger further comprising:

a disable signal that, when received by the data logger, disables its functionality,

wherein the disable signal disables function of the data logger irrespective of the status of the enable signal.

19. The system of claim 17, the data logger further comprising:

a power feed that, when received by the data logger, enables its functionality,

wherein the enable signal and the power feed must be present to enable operation of the data logger.

20. The system of claim 17, the data logger further comprising:

a power feed that, when received by the data logger, enables its functionality, and

a disable signal that, when received by the data logger, disables its functionality,

wherein the disable signal disables function of the data logger irrespective of the status of the enable signal and the power feed.