# US 10,120,828 B2 · Bridge for bus-powered peripheral device power management

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- Number: US 10,120,828 B2
- Document ID: US10120828B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 14/549,311
- Filed: 2014-11-20
- Published: 2016-05-26
- Granted: 2018-11-06
- Earliest claimed: 2014-11-20
- Assignees: Seagate Technology LLC
- Applicants: Seagate Technology LLC
- Inventors: BongKyom Kim; DongWook Lee; ByungWook Kim; NamGeun Kim
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10120828B2

## CPC

- G06F 13/4221: {being an input/output bus, e.g. ISA bus, EISA bus, PCI bus, SCSI bus}
- 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}
- G06F 13/382: {using universal interface adapter}
- G06F 13/4027: {using bus bridges (G06F13/4022 takes precedence)}
- G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N)

## Abstract

Technologies are described herein for power management in a peripheral device. A bridge is coupled to a communication link that provides power. The bridge determines an available power from the communication link. The bridge informs a peripheral device coupled to the bridge of the available power.

## Claims

### Claim 1

An apparatus comprising:
a first interface configured to be coupled to a host with a first communication link, the first interface further configured to receive power from the host through the first communication link;
a second interface configured to be coupled to a peripheral device with a second communication link, the second interface further configured to pass power from the host to the peripheral device through the second communication link; and
control circuitry coupled to the first and second interfaces, and configured to:
determine a version of a protocol utilized by the first communication link, and
based on the determined version of the protocol, inform the peripheral device of a maximum available power from the host.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first communication link comprises a Universal Serial Bus link and the second communication link comprises a Serial Advanced Technology Attachment.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the peripheral device is a mass storage device, and the maximum available power information is provided to the mass storage device through the second interface over a channel of the second communication link that is unused.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the peripheral device is a mass storage device, and the maximum available power information is provided to the mass storage device over a channel that is external to the second interface.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the maximum available power information comprises one of two maximum power levels associated with two different versions of the protocol utilized by the first communication link.

### Claim 6

A method comprising:
coupling a bridge to a first communication link that provides power;
coupling the bridge to a peripheral device over a second communication link that passes the power to the peripheral device;
determining a version of a protocol utilized by the first communication link, the version of the protocol associated with a maximum available power from the first communication link; and
informing the peripheral device of the maximum available power from the first communication link based on the determined version of the protocol.

### Claim 7 (depends on 6)

The method of claim 6 wherein the peripheral device is a mass storage device.

### Claim 8 (depends on 6)

The method of claim 6 further comprising providing the maximum available power to the peripheral device.

### Claim 9 (depends on 6)

The method of claim 6, wherein the peripheral device is informed of the maximum available power over an unused channel of the second communication link.

### Claim 10

A method comprising:
coupling a mass storage device to a bridge through a first communication link, the bridge coupled to a host by a second communication link, the host providing power over the second communication link;
receiving power at the mass storage device from the host through the bridge over the first communication link;
receiving available power information comprising a maximum current amount available from the host at the mass storage device from the bridge, the available power information determined by the bridge based on a version of a protocol utilized by the second communication link between the host and the bridge; and
configuring power usage of the mass storage device responsive to the available power information.

### Claim 11 (depends on 10)

The method of claim 10 wherein the mass storage device is a disc drive, the method further comprising controlling at least one of a spin up and a seek of the disc drive responsive to the available power information.

### Claim 12 (depends on 10)

The method of claim 10, wherein the second communication link is a Universal Serial Bus link and the first communication link is a Serial Advanced Technology Attachment link.