System for limiting inrush current in a battery endpoint
AssigneeLandis+Gyr Innovations, Inc.
InventorDaniel E. Fabrega
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Described is a system that includes a solid-state switch in series with a battery and a controller. The system also includes a capacitor coupled between a source and a gate of the solid-state switch and a resistor coupled between the gate of the solid-state switch and ground. The solid-state switch gradually transitions from an open state to a closed state over a time constant of the capacitor and the resistor upon application of power from the battery to the solid-state switch. The system further includes a first switching device that controls the application of power from the battery to the solid-state switch. Additionally, the system includes a second switching device that provides a discharge path of the capacitor upon completion of a task by the controller.
Claims16
A resource metering system, comprising:
- a resource metrology module;
- a transmitter configured to send data packets associated with the resource metrology module to a head-end system or other resource metering systems;
- a battery configured to provide power to the transmitter;
- an inrush current limiter comprising:
- a solid-state switch in series with the battery and the transmitter;
- a capacitor coupled between a source and a gate of the solid-state switch;
- a first switching device configured to control application of the power from the battery to the solid-state switch;
- a second switching device configured to provide a discharge path of the capacitor upon completion of a task by the transmitter;
- and
- a resistor coupled between the gate of the solid-state switch and ground, wherein the solid-state switch is configured to gradually transition from an open state to a closed state over a time constant of the capacitor and the resistor upon application of power from the battery to the solid-state switch, and wherein the closed state of the solid-state switch enables transmission of the power from the battery to the transmitter;
- and
- a controller configured to receive the power from the battery and to control the transmitter, wherein the solid-state switch is configured to maintain a voltage of the power received by the controller above a power-on-reset threshold voltage of the controller, and wherein the controller provides a control signal to control the first switching device and the second switching device.
A method, comprising:
- receiving an input power from an input power source at (i) a solid-state switch of an inrush current limiting device and (ii) a resistor-capacitor circuit of the inrush current limiting device, wherein the inrush current limiting device is in a resistive mode configured to prevent transmission of an output power from the inrush current limiting device to a transceiver of a resource metering device;
- gradually transitioning the solid-state switch from the resistive mode to a conductive mode over a resistor-capacitor time constant of the resistor-capacitor circuit while maintaining a voltage of the input power above a power-on-reset voltage threshold of a microprocessor controlling the transceiver of the resource metering device;
- and
- closing a discharging switch to discharge a capacitor of the resistor-capacitor circuit upon completion of a packet transmission by the transceiver.
A system, comprising:
- a resource metrology module;
- a controller configured to control components of the resource metrology module, wherein the controller comprises a power-on-reset voltage threshold;
- a battery configured to provide power to the controller;
- a solid-state switch in series with the battery and the controller;
- a capacitor coupled between a source and a gate of the solid-state switch;
- a resistor coupled between the gate of the solid-state switch and ground, wherein the solid-state switch gradually transitions from an open state to a closed state over a time constant of the capacitor and the resistor upon application of power from the battery to the solid-state switch, and wherein a voltage of the power from the battery to the solid-state switch is maintained above the power-on-reset voltage threshold while the solid-state switch transitions from the open state to the closed state;
- a first switching device configured to control the application of power from the battery to the solid-state switch;
- and
- a second switching device configured to provide a discharge path of the capacitor upon completion of a task by the controller.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.