Staged power distribution control

• US 9,727,122 B2
• Filed: 07/01/2015
• Issued: 08/08/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 12/28/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Original Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Inventors: Glennan, William T., Vilhauer, Reed D.
• Primary Examiner(s): TRAN, VINCENT HUY
• Application Number:
  US14/789,827
• Publication Number:
  US 20160034020A1
• Time in Patent Office: 769 Days
• Field of Search: 713320
• 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 1/3234 Power saving characterised by the action undertaken
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3243 Power saving in microcontroller unit
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3287 by switching off individual functional units in the computer system
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3293 by switching to a less power-consuming processor, e.g. sub-CPU
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3296 by lowering the supply or operating voltage
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 10/00 Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management

Abstract

Various embodiments are directed to restrictions in portable computing device electric power to accommodate reductions in the voltage level of a power source. An apparatus comprises a controller caused to receive configuration data from a main processor circuit specifying a voltage level threshold and selected action to take to reduce electric power to a first component in response to the voltage level falling below the first voltage level threshold, recurringly monitor the voltage level; based on the voltage level falling below the first voltage level threshold, take the first selected action and transmit a signal to the main processor circuit indicating that the voltage level has fallen below the first voltage level threshold and that the first selected action has been taken; transmit the voltage level to the main processor circuit; receive a signal from the main processor circuit to undo the first selected action; and so undo.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising:

logic, at least a portion of which is implemented in hardware, the logic to;

send a first control signal to a component of a computing device based on a detection that a voltage level has fallen below a first voltage threshold, the first control signal to include an indication to take a first action to reduce electric power;

send a second control signal to the component based on a detection that the voltage level has risen above the first voltage threshold and a debounce period has expired, the second control signal to include an indication to undo the first action; and

send a third control signal to the component based on a detection that the voltage level has fallen below a second voltage threshold lower than the first voltage threshold, the third control signal to include an indication to take a second action to reduce electric power;

the first action to reduce an amount of electric power consumed by the component while enabling the component to provide first feature and the second action to reduce an amount of electric power consumed by the component while disabling the component to provide the first feature.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, comprising a power switching component, the logic to send the first control signal to the power switching component to cause the power switching component to reduce the amount of electric power supplied by the power switching component to the component.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the component comprises a camera, a flash, a vibration motor, an audio amplifier, a graphics interface, a backlight of a display, an interface controller, a wireless transceiver, or a clock circuit.

4. At least one non-transitory machine-readable storage medium comprising instructions that when executed by a controller, cause the controller to:

send a first control signal to a component of a computing device based on a detection that a voltage level has fallen below a first voltage threshold, the first control signal to include an indication to take a first action to reduce electric power;

send a second control signal to the component based on a detection that the voltage level has risen above the first voltage threshold and a debounce period has expired, the second control signal to include an indication to undo the first action; and

send a third control signal to the component based on a detection that the voltage level has fallen below a second voltage threshold lower than the first voltage threshold, the third control signal to include an indication to take a second action to reduce electric power;

the first action to reduce an amount of electric power consumed by the component while enabling the component to provide first feature and the second action to reduce an amount of electric power consumed by the component while disabling the component to provide the first feature.

5. The least one non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 4, comprising instructions that when executed by the controller, cause the controller to send the first control signal to a power switching component, the power switching component electrically coupled to the component, the first control signal to cause the power switching component to reduce the amount of electric power supplied by the power switching component to the component.

6. The least one non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 4, wherein the component comprises a camera, a flash, a vibration motor, an audio amplifier, a graphics interface, a backlight of a display, an interface controller, a wireless transceiver, or a clock circuit.

7. A method comprising:

sending a first control signal to a component of a computing device based on a detection that a voltage level has fallen below a first voltage threshold, the first control signal to include an indication to take a first action to reduce electric power;

sending a second control signal to the component based on a detection that the voltage level has risen above the first voltage threshold and a debounce period has expired, the second control signal to include an indication to undo the first action; and

sending a third control signal to the component based on a detection that the voltage level has fallen below a second voltage threshold lower than the first voltage threshold, the third control signal to include an indication to take a second action to reduce electric power;

the first action to reduce an amount of electric power consumed by the component while enabling the component to provide first feature and the second action to reduce an amount of electric power consumed by the component while disabling the component to provide the first feature.

8. The method of claim 7, comprising sending the first control signal to a power switching component, the power switching component electrically coupled to the component, the first control signal to cause the power switching component to reduce the amount of electric power supplied by the power switching component to the component.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the component comprises a camera, a flash, a vibration motor, an audio amplifier, a graphics interface, a backlight of a display, an interface controller, a wireless transceiver, or a clock circuit.

10. A system comprising:

a component;

a power source to supply an amount of electric power to the component via a voltage rail; and

a power controller to;

send a first control signal to the component based on a detection that a voltage level of the voltage rail has fallen below a first voltage threshold, the first control signal to include an indication to take a first action to reduce the amount of electric power;

send a second control signal to the component based on a detection that the voltage level has risen above the first voltage threshold and a debounce period has expired, the second control signal to include an indication to undo the first action; and

send a third control signal to the component based on a detection that the voltage level has fallen below a second voltage threshold lower than the first voltage threshold, the third control signal to include an indication to take a second action to reduce electric power;

the first action to reduce an amount of electric power consumed by the component while enabling the component to provide first feature and the second action to reduce an amount of electric power consumed by the component while disabling the component to provide the first feature.

11. The system of claim 10, comprising the power source a switching power supply, the power controller to send the first control signal to the switching power supply to cause the switching power supply to reduce the amount of electric power supplied by the switching power supply to the component.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the component comprises a camera, a flash, a vibration motor, an audio amplifier, a graphics interface, a backlight of a display, an interface controller, a wireless transceiver, or a clock circuit.