Power management apparatus and methods
First Claim
1. A power management integrated circuit being operable, in use, to provide a plurality of power states, wherein the power management integrated circuit is configured to transition from a present power state to another power state in response to a power state transition command, and wherein the power management integrated circuit is arranged to provide a predetermined delay between receipt of a power state transition command and start of the appropriate power state transition, wherein the power management integrated circuit is configured to receive at least some power state transition commands from an operating system of a host device and to apply said predetermined delay in response to a power state transition command received from said operating system, wherein the duration of the predetermined delay is configurable.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Power management integrated circuits (PMICs) and related methods. In one aspect a PMIC which is operable to provide a plurality of PMIC power states is arranged to provide a predetermined delay before a power state transition. The delay is applied after receipt by the PMIC control circuitry of a power state transition command. Applying a delay allows time for the system powered by the PMIC to perform any necessary shut-down procedures and terminate active processes before power is removed, preventing corruption of the system. The delay is preferably configurable. The PMIC may also be arranged to control power converters which are external to the PMIC. In another aspect the PMIC has translation circuitry for providing the control settings of one power block, e.g. power converter, with any necessary modifications to be used by another power block. This means that only one set of control settings needs to be updated to change the output of both power blocks simultaneously.
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Citations
29 Claims
- 1. A power management integrated circuit being operable, in use, to provide a plurality of power states, wherein the power management integrated circuit is configured to transition from a present power state to another power state in response to a power state transition command, and wherein the power management integrated circuit is arranged to provide a predetermined delay between receipt of a power state transition command and start of the appropriate power state transition, wherein the power management integrated circuit is configured to receive at least some power state transition commands from an operating system of a host device and to apply said predetermined delay in response to a power state transition command received from said operating system, wherein the duration of the predetermined delay is configurable.
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20. A power management integrated circuit for managing power supply to a device, the integrated circuit being operable, in use, to provide a plurality of power states, wherein the integrated circuit is configured to transition from a current power state to another power state in response to a power state transition command, and wherein the integrated circuit is configurable so that a predetermined delay can be applied between receipt of a power state transition command and start of the appropriate power state transition, and wherein the integrated circuit is also configurable so that no delay is applied between receipt of a power state transition command and start of the appropriate power transition, and wherein the integrated circuit is configured to receive at least some power state transition commands from an operating system of a host device and is configurable to apply said predetermined delay in response to a power state transition command received from said operating system.
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21. A method of performing a power state transition in a device comprising the steps of:
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receiving in a power management integrated circuit of the device a power state transition command from an operating system of the device; applying a predetermined delay, wherein the duration of the predetermined delay is configurable; and after said predetermined delay, starting the appropriate power transition. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23)
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28. A power management integrated circuit being operable, in use, to provide a plurality of power states, wherein the power management integrated circuit is configured to transition from a present power state to another power state in response to a power state transition command, and wherein the power management integrated circuit is arranged to provide a predetermined delay between receipt of a power state transition command and start of the appropriate power state transition, wherein the power management integrated circuit is configured to receive at least some power state transition commands from an operating system of a host device and to apply said predetermined delay in response to a power state transition command received from said operating system, wherein the power management integrated circuit is arranged, on receipt of a power transition command, to send a power transition indication signal to at least one output, wherein the power transition indication signal is an interrupt signal for a device processor.
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29. A power management integrated circuit being operable, in use, to provide a plurality of power states, wherein the power management integrated circuit is configured to transition from a present power state to another power state in response to a power state transition command, and wherein the power management integrated circuit is arranged to provide a predetermined delay between receipt of a power state transition command and start of the appropriate power state transition, wherein the power management integrated circuit is configured to receive at least some power state transition commands from an operating system of a host device and to apply said predetermined delay in response to a power state transition command received from said operating system, and wherein the power management integrated circuit is adapted to, on power up of the power management integrated circuit, to set the duration of the predetermined delay based on a setting in a non-volatile memory.
Specification