Charging cable port detection and current enforcement

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11218007-B1
Application number	US-202016799359-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Feb 24, 2020
Priority date	Mar 30, 2019
Publication date	Jan 4, 2022
Grant date	Jan 4, 2022

Abstract

A charging cable configured to obtain power from different power supply devices for delivery to a chargeable electronic device, and to techniques and equipment to enable the charging cable to identify current limitation of the connected power supply device and to enforce that current limit via the charging cable. The charging cable has a logic circuit coupled to signal pins to detect a signal indicating a power limitation of the power supply device. The logic circuit controls a current limiter connected in the power delivery bus of the charging cable to limit current flowing through the charging cable.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A charging cable comprising:
a first cable connector having signal pins and power delivery pins for engaging contact pads on a port of a power supply device;
a second cable connector having power delivery pins for engaging contact pads on a chargeable electronic device;
a power delivery bus coupled between the power delivery pins of the first cable connector and the power delivery pins of the second cable connector to carry charging current;
a variable current limiter positioned in the charging cable to selectively limit current flow through the power delivery bus of the charging cable from the power supply device to the chargeable electronic device; and
a control circuit coupled to the signal pins of the first cable connector and coupled to the variable current limiter to selectively control the variable current limiter, the control circuit configured to:
detect at least one signal on at least one of the signal pins;
identify a port type for the power supply device from a plurality of port types identifiable by the charging cable responsive to the detected at least one signal;
determine a current limit responsive to the identified port type; and
configure the variable current limiter to limit the current flow through the power delivery bus of the charging cable to the chargeable electronic device in accordance with the identified port type for the power supply.

2. The charging cable of claim 1 , wherein the first cable connector includes a housing containing the variable current limiter and the control circuit.

3. The charging cable of claim 2 , wherein the charging cable further comprises:
a flexible sheath surrounding the power delivery bus and extending between the housing of the first cable connector and the second cable connector.

4. The charging cable of claim 3 , wherein the second cable connector does not include signal pins and the flexible sheath does not surround a data bus.

5. The charging cable of claim 1 , wherein the control circuit comprises:
a lookup table including a plurality of port types, each port type associated with one or more identification values and a current limit value; and
a microcontroller unit coupled to the lookup table and between the signal pins and the current limiter;
wherein the microcontroller unit is configured to detect the at least one signal on at least one of the signal pins, identify at least one characteristic value from the at least one signal, match the at least one identified characteristic value to the one or more identification values associated with the plurality of port types in the lookup table, identify the port type from the plurality of port types having matching characteristic values, select the current limit from the lookup table associated with the identified port type, and configure the current limiter to limit the current flow through the power delivery bus.

6. The charging cable of claim 1 , wherein the control circuit comprises a field programmable gate array configured to implement logic to detect the at least one signal on at least one of the signal pins, identify at least one characteristic value from the at least one signal, match the at least one identified characteristic value to one or more identification values associated with a plurality of port types, identify the port type from the plurality of port types having matching characteristic values, select the current limit associated with the identified port type, and configure the current limiter to limit the current flow through the power delivery bus.

7. The charging cable of claim 1 , wherein the at least one signal is at least one of a voltage level or a data signal.

8. A system comprising:
a chargeable electronic device, including:
a battery;
a battery charger circuit coupled to the battery; and
contact pads coupled to the battery charger circuit; and

a charging cable including:
a first cable connector having signal pins and power delivery pins for engaging contact pads on a port of a power supply device;
a second cable connector having power delivery pins for engaging the contact pads of the chargeable electronic device;
a power delivery bus coupled between the power delivery pins of the first cable connector and the power delivery pins of the second cable connector to carry charging current;
a variable current limiter positioned in the charging cable to selectively limit current flow through the power delivery bus of the charging cable from the power supply device to the chargeable electronic device; and
a control circuit coupled to the signal pins of the first cable connector and coupled to the variable current limiter to selectively control the variable current limiter to a current limit;

wherein the chargeable electronic device further includes:
a device controller responsive to power received via the contact pads of the chargeable electronic device, and configured to control current drawn by the battery charger circuit through the contact pads while charging the battery configured to:
monitor voltage levels across the contact pads and current through the power delivery bus;
detect a drop in voltage across the contact pads due to a level of the current drawn by the battery charger circuit exceeding the current limit due to the variable current limiter of the charging cable; and
responsive to the detected drop in voltage, set a maximum current draw of the battery charger circuit to the current drawn by the battery charger circuit just before the detected drop in voltage.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the chargeable electronic device further comprises:
an analog to digital converter coupled between the contact pads of the chargeable electronic device and the device controller to convert an analog voltage across the contact pads of the chargeable electronic device to a digital voltage signal for processing by the device controller.

10. The system of claim 8 , wherein the control circuit is configured to:
detect at least one signal on at least one of the signal pins;
identify a port type for the power supply device from a plurality of port types identifiable by the charging cable responsive to the detected at least one signal;
determine a current limit responsive to the identified port type; and
configure the variable current limiter to limit the current flow through the power delivery bus of the charging cable to the chargeable electronic device in accordance with the identified port type for the power supply.

11. The system of claim 8 , wherein the first cable connector includes a housing containing the variable current limiter and the control circuit.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the charging cable further comprises:
a flexible sheath surrounding the power delivery bus and extending between the housing of the first cable connector and the second cable connector.

13. The system of claim 8 , wherein the at least one signal is at least one of a voltage level or a data signal.

14. A method for identifying and enforcing current limitations of a power supply device with a charging cable configured to deliver power through a power delivery bus of the charging cable from the power supply device to a chargeable electronic device, the method comprising:
detecting at least one signal on at least one pin interconnecting the charging cable to the power supply device;
identifying, in the charging cable, a port type for the power supply device from a plurality of port types identifiable by the charging cable responsive to the detected at least one signal;
determining a current limit in the charging cable responsive to the identified por

Assignees

• Moubedi Shaheen
• Patton Russell Douglas
• Snap Inc

Inventors

• Moubedi Shaheen
• Patton Russell Douglas

Classifications

• H02J7/90 Primary

  Regulation of charging or discharging current or voltage · CPC title

• H02J7/70

  characterised by the mechanical construction · CPC title

• H02J7/62 Primary

  against overcurrent · CPC title

• H01R2103/00

  Two poles · CPC title

• H01R24/20

  Coupling parts carrying sockets, clips or analogous contacts and secured only to wire or cable · CPC title