External power source voltage drop compensation for portable devices
AssigneeApple Inc.
InventorTimothy M. Johnson
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A portable electronic device has a connector with a first pin and a second pin, and a battery charging circuit having an input coupled to receive current through the second pin to charge a battery of the device. The portable device also has a controller to determine whether the connector is coupled to an external power source (EPS) having a power converter circuit that can provide the current. The controller on that basis drives the first pin to stimulate the power converter circuit to raise voltage on the second pin. Other embodiments are also described and claimed.
Claims25
A portable electronic device comprising:
- a connector having a first pin and a second pin;
- a battery charging circuit having an input coupled to receive current through the second pin to charge a battery;
- and
- a controller to determine whether the connector is coupled to an external power source (EPS) that can provide an amount of current, and on that basis drive the first pin to stimulate the EPS to raise voltage on the second pin to thereby compensate for I*R voltage drop in a cable that connects the connector to the EPS.
A method in a portable electronic device comprising:
- detecting that the device is coupled to an external power source (EPS) that can provide an amount of current through a connector pin of a connector;
- charging a battery using current drawn through said connector pin from the EPS;
- and
- stimulating the EPS, by driving another pin of the connector, to raise voltage on said connector pin to thereby compensate for I*R voltage drop in a cable that connects the connector to the EPS.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.