Stand-by power mode for power line modem
AssigneeThomson Licensing
InventorsPhilippe Leyendecker, Jean-Yves Moraillon, Philippe Marchand
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The external power supply comprises a modem, a power source for providing an operating voltage for the modem and a supply voltage for an appliance and a power safe control. The power safe control comprises a current sense element for sensing a supply current of the supply voltage and a threshold circuit coupled to the current sense element for switching off the operating voltage when the supply current is below a threshold value, and for switching on the operating voltage when the supply current is above the threshold value. The appliance is in a preferred embodiment a residential gateway or a set-top box and the modem a power line communication modem.
Claims20
A power supply for powering an appliance, the power supply comprising:
- a modem comprising a digital section for digital modulation and demodulation of data and an interface for providing at least one of data transmission and data reception between the modem and the appliance;
- a power source for providing a DC supply voltage for the appliance at a DC power plug that is separate from the interface, and for providing an operating voltage for the modem including the interface;
- and
- a power controller including a current sense element for sensing a supply current of the DC supply voltage for the appliance, and a threshold circuit coupled to the current sense element;
- wherein the threshold circuit is adapted to:
- sense the supply current of the DC supply voltage;
- enable the operating voltage for the modem including the interface to be switched off when the supply current for the appliance is below a first threshold value;
- and
- enable the operating voltage for the modem including the interface to be switched on when the appliance is switched on and the supply current is above a second threshold value;
- and
- wherein the modem switches to a low power standby mode when no data transmission is requested by the appliance and no data is received by the modem from a power line.
A power supply for powering an appliance, the power supply comprising:
- a modem comprising a digital section for digital modulation and demodulation of data and an interface for providing at least one of data transmission and reception between the modem and the appliance;
- a power source for providing an operating voltage for the modem including the interface and for providing a DC supply voltage for the appliance;
- and
- a power controller including a current sense element for sensing a supply current of the DC supply voltage for the appliance, and a threshold circuit coupled to the current sense element;
- wherein:
- the threshold circuit senses the supply current of the DC supply voltage;
- the operating voltage for the modem including the interface is switched off via the threshold circuit when the supply current for the appliance is below a first threshold value;
- the operating voltage for the modem including the interface is switched on via the threshold circuit when the appliance is switched on and the supply current is above a second threshold value;
- and
- the modem switches to a low power standby mode when no data transmission is requested by the appliance and no data is received by the modem from a power line.
A method for providing a power supply for an appliance, the method comprising:
- providing a modem comprising a digital section for digital modulation and demodulation of data and an interface for providing at least one of data transmission and reception with the appliance;
- providing an operating voltage for the modem;
- providing a supply voltage for the appliance;
- sensing a supply current of the supply voltage;
- switching the operating voltage for the modem including the interface off if the supply current for the appliance is below a first threshold value;
- switching the operating voltage for the modem including the interface on if the appliance is switched on and the supply current is above a second threshold value;
- and
- switching the modem to a low power standby mode when no data transmission is requested by the appliance and no data is received by the modem from a power line.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.