Power excursion tolerant power system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10152106-B2
Application number	US-201615135240-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 21, 2016
Priority date	Sep 28, 2012
Publication date	Dec 11, 2018
Grant date	Dec 11, 2018

Abstract

A power excursion tolerant power system includes at least one powered component. A system capacitance and at least one power supply are coupled to the at least one powered component. The at least one power supply is operable as a voltage controlled current source to supply power to the at least one powered component when a system load is below a predetermined threshold. The at least one power supply is operable as a constant current source, and together with the system capacitance, to supply power to the at least one powered component when the system load is above the predetermined threshold. A load reduction mechanism is coupled to the at least one powered component and operable to perform at least one load reduction action when the system load is above the predetermined threshold.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A power system, comprising:
at least one powered component coupling that is configured to couple to at least one powered component; and
at least one power supply that is coupled to the powered component coupling and that is configured to:
operate as a voltage controlled current source to supply power through the at least one powered component coupling when a signal that is indicative of a system load indicates that the system load is below a predetermined threshold:
transition, in direct response to the signal that is indicative of the system load indicating a system load increase above the predetermined threshold, from operation as the voltage controlled current source to operation as a constant current source; and
operate as the constant current source to supply power through the at least one powered component coupling when the signal that is indicative of the system load indicates that the system load is above the predetermined threshold.

2. The power system of claim 1 , further comprising:
a power supply output monitoring subsystem that is coupled to the at least one power supply and that is configured to generate the signal that is indicative of the system load.

3. The power system of claim 2 , wherein the power supply output monitoring subsystem includes:
an output measurement device that is coupled to the at least one power supply and that is configured to measure a power output of the at least one power supply; and
a signal generator that is configured to determine that the power output measured by the output measurement device is greater than the predetermined threshold and, in response, generate the signal that is indicative of the system load.

4. The power system of claim 1 , further comprising:
an energy storing subsystem that is coupled to the at least one powered component coupling and that is configured to supply power through the at least one powered component coupling when the at least one power supply is operating as the constant current source.

5. The power system of claim 4 , wherein the energy storing subsystem includes at least one capacitor.

6. The power system of claim 4 , wherein the energy storing subsystem is sized based on a predetermined system power excursion amount in order to provide supplemental power through the at least one powered component coupling that is in addition to the primary power provided through the at least one powered component by the at least one power supply operating as the constant current source.

7. An information handling system (IHS), comprising:
at least one powered component;
an energy storing subsystem that is coupled to the at least one powered component; and
at least one power supply that is coupled to the at least one powered component and that is configured to:
operate as a voltage controlled current source to supply power to the at least one powered component when a signal that is indicative of a system load indicates that the system load is below a predetermined threshold;
transition, in direct response to the signal that is indicative of the system load indicating a system load increase above the predetermined threshold, from operation as the voltage controlled current source to operation as a constant current source; and
operate as the constant current source to supply power, together with the energy storing subsystem, to the at least one powered component when the signal that is indicative of the system load indicates that the system load is above the predetermined threshold.

8. The IHS of claim 7 , further comprising:
a load reduction mechanism that is coupled to the at least one powered component and that is configured to cause at least one load reduction action to be performed when the signal that is indicative of the system load indicates that the system load is above the predetermined threshold.

9. The IHS of claim 8 , wherein load reduction mechanism is configured to cause the at least one powered component to perform a first level load reduction action in response to the signal that is indicative of the system load indicating that the system load is above the predetermined threshold, and subsequently cause the at least one powered component to perform a second level load reduction action in response to the signal that is indicative of the system load continuing to indicate that the system load is above the predetermined threshold.

10. The IHS of claim 8 , wherein the powered component includes a processing system and the at least one load reduction action includes reducing a speed of the processing system.

11. The IHS of claim 7 , further comprising:
a power supply output monitoring subsystem that is coupled to the at least one power supply and that is configured to generate the signal that is indicative of the system load.

12. The IHS of claim 11 , wherein the power supply output monitoring subsystem includes:
an output measurement device that is coupled to the at least one power supply and that is configured to measure a power output of the at least one power supply; and
a signal generator that is configured to determine that the power output measured by the output measurement device is greater than the predetermined threshold and, in response, generate the signal that is indicative of the system load.

13. The IHS of claim 7 , wherein the energy storing subsystem includes at least one capacitor.

14. The IHS of claim 7 , wherein the energy storing subsystem is sized based on a predetermined system power excursion amount in order to provide supplemental power through the at least one powered component coupling that is in addition to the primary power provided through the at least one powered component by the at least one power supply operating as the constant current source.

15. A method for supplying power, comprising:
providing, by at least one power supply operating as a voltage controlled current source in response to a signal that is indicative of a system load indicating that the system load is below a predetermined threshold, power to at least one powered component coupling;
transitioning, by the at least one power supply in response to the signal that is indicative of the system load indicating a system load increase above the predetermined threshold, from operation as the voltage controlled current source to operation as a constant current source; and
providing, by the at least one power supply operating as the constant current source in response to the signal that is indicative of the system load indicating that the system load is above the predetermined threshold, power to the at least one powered component coupling.

16. The method of claim 15 , further comprising:
generating, by a power supply output monitoring subsystem that is coupled to the at least one power supply, the signal that is indicative of the system load.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the generating the signal that is indicative of the system load includes:
measuring, an output measurement device in the power supply output monitoring subsystem that is coupled to the at least one power supply, a power output of the at least one power supply; and
determining, by a signal generator in the power supply output monitoring subsystem, that the power output measured by the output measurement device is greater than the predetermined threshold and, in response, generating the signal that is indicative of the system load.

18. The method of claim 15 , further comprising:
supplying, by an energy storing subsystem that is coupled to the at least one powered co

Assignees

• Dell Products Lp

Inventors

• Muccini Mark
• Dube Shawn Joel

Classifications

• Y02D10/172

  Cross-Sectional Technologies · mapped topic

• G06F1/3293

  by switching to a less power-consuming processor, e.g. sub-CPU · CPC title

• G06F1/3231

  Monitoring the presence, absence or movement of users · CPC title

• G06F1/3296 Primary

  by lowering the supply or operating voltage · CPC title

• G06F1/263

  Arrangements for using multiple switchable power supplies, e.g. battery and AC (G06F1/30 takes precedence) · CPC title