PEAK CURRENT SUPPORT FOR A POWER RAIL SYSTEM VIA A SHARED SECONDARY POWER SUPPLY

• US 20170277238A1
• Filed: 03/23/2016
• Published: 09/28/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 03/23/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: PARK, HEE JUN, KWAK, TAEWOO, CHUN, CHRISTOPHER KONG YEE
• Granted Patent: US 10,642,329 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/263 Arrangements for using multiple switchable power supplies, e.g. battery and AC G06F1/30 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/266 Arrangements to supply power to external peripherals either directly from the computer or under computer control, e.g. supply of power through the communication port, computer controlled power-strips
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/32 Means for saving power

Abstract

Systems, methods, and computer programs are provided for controlling power in a computing device. One embodiment is a system comprising a plurality of power rails coupled to one or more computing device components. Each power rail has a primary power supply for producing current at a corresponding requested voltage. The system further comprises a shared secondary power supply selectively coupled to the plurality of power rails for providing a current increase. A controller selects one of the plurality of power rails to receive the current increase. The controller generates a control signal to electrically couple the shared secondary power supply to the selected power rail to receive the current increase.

Claims

1. A method for controlling power in a computing device, the method comprising:

selecting one of a plurality of power rails to receive a current increase, each of the plurality of power rails having a corresponding primary power supply for producing current at a corresponding requested voltage;

generating a control signal to electrically couple a shared secondary power supply to the selected power rail to receive the current increase; and

the shared secondary power supply providing the current increase to the selected power rail.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the selecting the one of the plurality of power rails to receive the current increase comprises:

determining a power rail priority.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the power rail priority is determined based on data from one or more limit managers associated with the plurality of power rails.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the selected power rail is determined based on one or more counts for reaching a current limit threshold.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the selected power rail is determined based on one or more of a power estimation, a power multiplexer status, a leakage IDDQ, and a temperature or frequency of a component requesting the current increase.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

adjusting a current limit threshold associated with the selected power rail.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the computing device comprises a battery-powered portable computing device.

8. A system for controlling power in a computing device, the system comprising:

means for selecting one of a plurality of power rails to receive a current increase, each of the plurality of power rails having a corresponding primary power supply for producing current at a corresponding requested voltage;

means for generating a control signal to electrically couple a shared secondary power supply to the selected power rail to receive the current increase; and

means for providing the current increase to the selected power rail.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the means for selecting the one of the plurality of power rails to receive the current increase comprises:

means for determining a power rail priority.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the means for determining the power rail priority comprises a rail priority controller and one or more limit managers.

11. The system of claim 8, wherein the selected power rail is determined based on one or more counts for reaching a current limit threshold.

12. The system of claim 8, wherein the selected power rail is determined based on one or more of a power estimation, a power multiplexer status, a leakage IDDQ, and a temperature or frequency of a component requesting the current increase.

13. The system of claim 8, further comprising:

means for adjusting a current limit threshold associated with the selected power rail.

14. The system of claim 8, wherein the means for providing the current increase to the selected power rail comprises the shared power supply electrically coupled to the selected power rail.

15. The system of claim 8, further comprising:

means for multiplexing power inputs from the plurality of power rails to one or more components of the computing device.

16. The system of claim 8, wherein the portable computing device comprises one of a mobile telephone, a personal digital assistant, a pager, a smartphone, a navigation device, and a hand-held computer with a wireless connection.

17. A computer program product for power control in a computing device, the computer program product comprising processor-executable logic embodied in at least one non-transitory storage medium, execution of the logic by one or more processors configuring the computing device to:

select one of a plurality of power rails to receive a current increase, each of the plurality of power rails having a corresponding primary power supply for producing current at a corresponding requested voltage;

generate a control signal to electrically couple a shared secondary power supply to the selected power rail to receive the current increase; and

provide the current increase to the selected power rail.

18. The computer program product of claim 17, wherein the selecting the one of the plurality of power rails to receive the current increase comprises:

determining a power rail priority.

19. The computer program product of claim 18, wherein the power rail priority is determined based on data from one or more limit managers associated with the plurality of power rails.

20. The computer program product of claim 17, wherein the selected power rail is determined based on one or more counts for reaching a current limit threshold.

21. The computer program product of claim 17, wherein the selected power rail is determined based on one or more of a power estimation, a power multiplexer status, a leakage IDDQ, and a temperature or frequency of a component requesting the current increase.

22. The computer program product of claim 17, wherein execution of the logic by one or more processors further configures the computing device to:

adjust a current limit threshold associated with the selected power rail.

23. The computer program product of claim 17, wherein the computing device comprises a battery-powered portable computing device.

24. A system for controlling power in a computing device, the system comprising:

a plurality of power rails coupled to one or more computing device components via one or more power multiplexers, each power rail having a primary power supply for producing current at a corresponding requested voltage;

a shared secondary power supply selectively coupled to the plurality of power rails for providing a current increase; and

a controller configured to;

select one of the plurality of power rails to receive a current increase; and

generate a control signal to electrically couple the shared secondary power supply to the selected power rail to receive the current increase.

25. The system of claim 24, wherein one or more of the primary power supplies and the shared power supply comprises one of a switched-mode power supply and a low-dropout regulator (LDO), and the shared power supply comprises a dependent current source.

26. The system of claim 24, wherein the controller is further configured to select the one of the plurality of power rails by determining a power rail priority.

27. The system of claim 26, wherein the power rail priority is determined based on data from one or more limit managers associated with the plurality of power rails.

28. The system of claim 24, wherein the selected power rail is determined based on one or more counts for reaching a current limit threshold.

29. The system of claim 24, wherein the controller is further configured to:

adjust a current limit threshold associated with the selected power rail.

30. The system of claim 24, wherein the computing device comprises a battery-powered portable computing device.