Power supply control system
AssigneeIntel Corporation
InventorsAlexander B. Uan-Zo-li, Xiaoguo Liang
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method and apparatus for controlling the power supply for a system. In one embodiment, a power supply apparatus comprises a rechargeable battery; and a battery charger coupled to the battery and comprising a first circuit to generate an output that controls whether the battery is to provide power to the system to supplement the power provided by the power source when an input voltage from the power source of undetermined output power is less than a predetermined level.
Claims20
A power supply apparatus for use with a power source of undetermined output power that provides power to a system load, the power supply apparatus comprising:
- a rechargeable battery;
- and
- a battery charger coupled to provide a charging current to the battery and comprising
- a first circuit to generate, when the power source voltage of the undetermined output power is less than a predetermined level, an output that controls whether the battery is to provide power to the system to supplement the power provided by the power source or the charger is to lower the charging current of the battery until the input voltage returns to the predetermined level.
A battery charger for coupling to a rechargeable battery, a system load, and a power source of undetermined output power that provides power to the system load, the battery charger comprising:
- a first circuit to generate an output that controls whether the battery is to provide power to the system to supplement the power provided by the power source when an input voltage from the power source of undetermined output power is less than a predetermined level, wherein the first circuit comprises a first operational amplifier to amplify a difference between a first reference voltage value and the input voltage from the power source to produce a first output, wherein the first reference voltage represents a lower voltage limit below which the battery charger causes the battery to provide power to the system to supplement the power provided by the power source.
A method for controlling a battery charger that is coupled to a rechargeable battery, a system load, and a power source of undetermined output power that provides power to the system load, the method comprising:
- receiving at least one reference voltage value from a reference source, the at least one reference voltage value representing a lower voltage limit below which the battery charger causes the battery to provide power to the system to supplement the power provided by the power source or the charger to lower the charging current of the battery until the power source voltage is returned to predetermined level;
- and
- generating a first output that controls whether the battery is to provide power to the system to supplement the power provided by the power source when the power source voltage from the power source of undetermined output power is less than the predetermined level, including generating the first output by amplifying, with an operational amplifier, a difference between a first reference voltage value and the input voltage from the power source.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.