Method and apparatus for charging a battery

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10135263-B2
Application number	US-201414576402-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 19, 2014
Priority date	Dec 23, 2013
Publication date	Nov 20, 2018
Grant date	Nov 20, 2018

Abstract

A method is provided comprising: detecting a connection between an electronic device and a battery charger; transmitting to the battery charger a first request for at least one of a first voltage level and a first current level; receiving from the battery charger a signal; and charging a battery of the electronic device with the signal.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method in an electronic device, comprising:
detecting a connection with a battery charger; and
transmitting to the battery charger a first request for at least one of a first voltage level and a first current level, wherein the at least one of the first voltage and the first current level are represented by a code;
receiving from the battery charger a signal, wherein:
when the signal from the battery charger is the code representing at least one of the first voltage level and the first current level, charging the battery using the at least one of the first voltage and the first current,
when the signal from the battery charger is a list of supported signal characteristics, transmitting a second request for a second voltage level and a second current level, that are different from the at least one of the first voltage level and the first current level in response to receiving an echo signal, charging the battery using at least one of the second voltage level and second current level, and
when the signal from the battery charger is a NACK (Not Acknowledge), transmitting to the battery charger another request for the at least one of the first voltage level and the first current level, in response to receiving an echo signal, charging the battery based on the results of the another request.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the receiving from the battery charger the signal comprising:
wherein when the signal is the list of supported signal characteristics, the method further comprises:
identifying at least one of (i) a first plurality of voltage levels that the battery charger is capable of providing and (ii) a second plurality of current levels that the battery charger is capable of providing,
wherein the second request is generated, based on the list, wherein the second voltage level is one of the first plurality of voltage level and the second current level is one of the second plurality of current levels.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the list of supported signal characteristics includes a plurality of codes corresponding to the first plurality of voltage levels and wherein transmitting the second request includes retrieving from the list a code corresponding to the second voltage level and inserting the code into the second request.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the list of supported signal characteristics includes a plurality of codes corresponding to the second plurality of current levels, and wherein the second request includes retrieving from the list a code corresponding to the second current level and inserting the code into the second request.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one of the first voltage level and the first current level includes the first voltage level and the first current level, and wherein the first voltage level and the first current level are represented by a single byte.

6. An electronic device comprising:
a battery;
a charging interface; and
a processing circuitry configured to:
detect a connection with a battery charger through the charging interface;
transmit to the battery charger a first request for at least one of a first voltage level and a first current level through the charging interface;
receive from the battery charger a signal through the charging interface, wherein:
when the signal from the battery charger is a duplicate of the first request, charging the battery using the first voltage and the first current,
when the signal from the battery charger is a list of supported signal characteristics, transmitting a second request for a second voltage level and a second current level that are different from the first voltage level and the first current level, and
when the signal from the battery charger is a NACK (Not Acknowledge), transmitting to the battery charger another request for the first voltage level and the first current level.

7. The electronic device of claim 6 , wherein the processing circuitry is configured to:
wherein when the signal is the list of supported signal characteristics, the processing circuitry further configured to:
identify at least one of (i) a first plurality of voltage levels that the battery charger is capable of providing and (ii)a second plurality of current levels that the battery charger is capable of providing,
wherein the second request is generated, based on the list of supported signal characteristics, wherein the second voltage level is one of the first plurality of voltage levels and the second current level is one of the second plurality of current levels.

8. The electronic device of claim 7 , wherein the list of supported signal characteristics includes a plurality of codes corresponding to the first plurality of voltage levels, and wherein the processing circuitry is configured to retrieve from the list a code corresponding to the second voltage level and inserting the code into the second request.

9. The electronic device of claim 7 , wherein the list of supported signal characteristics includes a plurality of codes corresponding to the second plurality of current levels and wherein the processing circuitry is configured to retrieve from the list a code corresponding to the second current level and inserting the code into the second request.

10. A battery charger comprising:
a charging interface; and
a processing circuitry configured to:
detect a connection with an electronic device through the charging interface;
receive from the electronic device a first request for at least one of a first voltage level and a first current level through the charging interface;
detect whether the battery charger is capable of providing a power based on the at least one of the first voltage level and the first current level;
transmit a signal indicating whether the battery charger is capable of providing the power, wherein the signal is either an echo of the first request, a list of supported signal characteristics, or NACK(Not Acknowledge); and
in response to detecting that the battery charger is not capable of providing the power based on the at least one of the first voltage level and the first current level, transmit to the electronic device the list of supported signal characteristics, wherein the list of the supported signal characteristics comprises a plurality of supportable voltage levels and a plurality of supportable current levels and charge the battery with at least one of the plurality of supportable voltage levels and the plurality of supportable current levels.

11. The battery charger of claim 10 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:
extract, from the first request, a code corresponding to the first voltage level; and
compare the code against a data structure identifying a plurality of voltage levels that are supported by the battery charger,
wherein the data structure is stored in a memory of the battery charger.

12. The battery charger of claim 10 , wherein the list further comprises a second plurality of codes corresponding to the plurality of supportable voltage levels, wherein each one of the plurality of plurality of supportable voltage levels is mapped to a different one of the second plurality of codes.

Assignees

• Samsung Electronics Co Ltd
• Fairchild Korea Semiconductor Ltd
• Samsung Electronics Co Ltd

Inventors

• Jung Ku-Chul
• Maier Erik Wilson
• Freitas Oscar
• Lee Kisun
• Yun Chul-Eun
• Lee Kwang-Sub

Classifications

• H02J7/47

  Arrangements for checking compatibility or authentication between one component, e.g. a battery or a battery charger, and another component, e.g. a power source · CPC title

• H02J7/42

  with electronic devices having internal batteries, e.g. mobile phones · CPC title

• H02J7/92 Primary

  with prioritisation of loads or sources · CPC title

• H02J7/44 Primary

  between battery management systems and power sources · CPC title

• H02J2207/30

  Charge provided using DC bus or data bus of a computer · CPC title