Software based thermal charging regulation loop

• US 20080054853A1
• Filed: 08/29/2006
• Published: 03/06/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 08/29/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Avago Technologies International Sales Pte Limited (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Agere Systems Incorporated (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Inventors: Lopata, Douglas D.
• Granted Patent: US 7,733,064 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• 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 circuit components including battery charger circuitry, the method comprising the following steps:

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

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

(3) monitoring said digital signal at a software control module; and

(4) adjusting a charging power level at said battery charger circuitry as a function of said measured temperature.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein steps (1) through (4) are repeated until said measured temperature of said circuit components falls within a predetermined acceptable range.

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

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

5. The method of claim 4, where said software control module is integrated in a digital base band (DBB) of a cellular telephone.

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

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

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

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

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

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

a software control module operably connected to said converter, said module programmed to monitor said measured temperature and adjust a power level of said circuit components as a function of said measured temperature.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein said circuit components include battery charging circuitry.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein said software control module is further programmed to control said battery charging circuitry.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein said software control module is further programmed to adjust a charging level said battery charging circuitry is set to, thereby altering the thermal heat production of said battery charging circuitry.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein said circuit components are integrated in an analog base band (ABB) of a cellular telephone.

14. The system of claim 13 wherein said temperature sensors are embedded in said ABB to monitor temperatures of silicon components integrated into said ABB.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein said software control module is integrated in a digital base band (DBB) of a cellular telephone.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein said ABB and DBB are operably connected via a serial interface.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein said software control module is integrated into a microcontroller of said cellular telephone.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein said predetermined accepted range of temperatures is between 110 and 115 degrees Celsius.

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

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

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

(3) monitoring said digital signal at a software control module; and

(4) adjusting power levels at select circuit components as a function of said measured temperature.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein said steps (1) through (4) are repeated until said obtained temperature of said circuit components falls within a predetermined acceptable range.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein said circuit components and said battery charger are integrated in an analog base band (ABB) of a cellular telephone.

22. The method of claim 21, where said software control module is integrated in a digital base band (DBB) of a cellular telephone.

23. The system of claim 22, wherein said software control module is integrated into a microcontroller of said cellular telephone.

24. The system of claim 23, wherein said predetermined accepted range of temperatures is between 110 and 115 degrees Celsius.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein said select circuit components comprise keypad LED controls, LCD screen controls, speaker controls and microphone controls.

26. An apparatus for providing temperature control, said apparatus comprising:

means for measuring a temperature of circuit components;

means for monitoring a digital signal corresponding to said measured temperature; and

means for adjusting a charging power and operation of alternate functions of said circuit components as a function of said measured temperature.

27. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein said circuit components are integrated into a cellular telephone.