Electric device power control optimized to device operational load state

• US 8,788,851 B2
• Filed: 04/28/2011
• Issued: 07/22/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 02/10/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Panasonic Corporation (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Panasonic Corporation (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Kamijima, Junya
• Primary Examiner(s): Cao, Chun
• Application Number:
  US13/095,908
• Publication Number:
  US 20120210153A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,181 Days
• Field of Search: 713/320, 713/322, 713/340, 713/300
• US Class Current: 713/300
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3206 Monitoring of events, devices or parameters that trigger a change in power modality
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/324 by lowering clock frequency
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 10/00 Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management

Abstract

An electric power control device includes: a power consumption monitoring section for monitoring electric power consumed by an electronic device; a moving average calculation section for calculating a moving average of the power consumption of the electronic device, based on the power consumption monitored by the power consumption monitoring section; a state-of-load determination section for determining state of the operational load on the electronic device, based on the moving average calculated by the moving average calculation section; and a control section configured to control the electronic device to operate either in a restriction mode in which an upper limit corresponding to state of load determined by the state-of-load determination section is imposed, or in a restriction release mode in which the upper limit is not imposed.

Claims

1. An electric power control device connected via a control interface with an electronic device, for controlling electric power supplied from a power supply to, and consumed by, the electronic device, the electric power control device comprising:

a power consumption monitoring section for monitoring, via the control interface, the supply current and voltage of the electronic device, and from the monitored supply current and voltage calculating the actual electric power consumed by the electronic device;

a moving average calculation section for calculating a moving average of the power consumption of the electronic device, based on the actual power consumption monitored by the power consumption monitoring section;

a state-of-load determination section for determining state of the operational load on the electronic device, based on the moving average calculated by the moving average calculation section; and

a control section configured to control, according to the operational load state determined by the state-of-load determination section, the electronic device to operate either in a restriction mode in which the control section imposes an upper limit on the power supplied from the power supply to the electronic device, or in a restriction release mode in which the control section releases imposition of the upper limit on the power supplied from the power supply to the electronic device.

2. The electric power control device according to claim 1, wherein the control section is further configured to select between the restriction mode and the restriction release mode based on a timing signal indicating that the electronic device operates in a restriction period during which the upper limit is imposed on the power supplied from the power supply to the electronic device, or in a restriction release period during which the upper limit is not imposed on the power supplied from the power supply to the electronic device.

3. The electric power control device according to claim 1, wherein the state-of-load determination section determines, based on the moving average calculated by the moving average calculation section, a load zone preestablished in correspondence with the power consumption of the electronic device.

4. The electric power control device according to claim 3, wherein in the restriction mode the control section imposes, in correspondence with the load zone, the upper limit of source power supplied to the electronic device.

5. The electric power control device according to claim 3, wherein in the restriction mode the control section imposes, in correspondence with the load zone, the upper limit of power to a central processing unit of the electronic device.

6. The electric power control device according to claim 3, wherein in the restriction mode the control section imposes, in correspondence with the load zone, the upper limit of operating frequency of a central processing unit of the electronic device.

7. The electric power control device according to claim 3, wherein the load zone is classified into a plurality of load ranges.

8. The electric power control device according to claim 1, wherein the electronic device is any one of a portable personal computer, a portable information terminal, and a mobile telephone.

9. An electric power control method for execution by an electric power control device connected via a control interface with an electronic device, to control electric power supplied from a power supply to, and consumed by the electronic device, the electric power control method comprising:

a power consumption monitoring step of monitoring, via the control interface, the supply current and voltage of the electronic device, and from the monitored supply current and voltage calculating the actual electric power consumed by the electronic device;

a moving average calculation step of calculating a moving average of the power consumption of the electronic device, based on the actual power consumption monitored in the power consumption monitoring step;

a state-of-load determination step of determining state of the operational load on the electronic device, based on the moving average calculated in the moving average calculation step;

a restriction period determination step of determining, according to a preset timing signal, whether the electronic device is operatig in a restriction period during which an upper limit in accordance with the state of load determined in the state-of-load determination step is imposed on the power supplied from the power supply to the electronic device, or in a restriction release period during which the upper limit is not imposed on the power supplied from the power supply to the electronic device; and

an electronic device control step of controlling operation of the electronic device, according to the operational load state determined by the state-of-load determination section, by imposing the upper limit on the power supplied from the power supply to the electronic device when in the restriction period determination step the device is determined to be operating in the restriction period, and by not imposing the upper limit on the power supplied from the power supply to the electronic device when in the restriction period determination step the device is determined to be operating in the restriction release period.