Power management of voltage regulators in an information handling system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11334133-B2
Application number	US-202016858118-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 24, 2020
Priority date	Apr 24, 2020
Publication date	May 17, 2022
Grant date	May 17, 2022

Abstract

An information handling system including a processor; a battery; a charger module a voltage regulator module connected between the charger module and the processor, the voltage regulator module configured to receive power from the charger module and provide a regulated voltage to the processor; a OVP module configured to determine that the regulated voltage output from the voltage regulator module is above a first threshold, and in response, provide a first signal to the charger module to indicating that the regulated voltage is above the first threshold; a UVP module configured to determine that the charger voltage output from the charger module is below a second threshold, and in response, provide a second signal to the charger module indicating that the charger voltage is below the second threshold, wherein the charger module, in response to receiving both the first signal and the second signal, changes to an off power state.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An information handling system, comprising:
a processor;
a battery;
a charger receiving power from a power source and providing a first voltage i) to the battery to charge the battery, and ii) to a voltage regulator;
the voltage regulator connected between the charger and the processor, the voltage regulator receiving power from the charger module and providing a regulated second voltage to the processor, wherein the battery is coupled between the charger and the voltage regulator;
an over voltage protection (OVP) circuit determining that the regulated second voltage output from the voltage regulator and provided to the processor is above a first threshold, and in response, providing a first signal to the charger to indicate that the regulated second voltage is above the first threshold; and
an under voltage protection (UVP) circuit determining that the first voltage output from the charger and provided to the battery is below a second threshold, and in response, providing a second signal to the charger indicating that the first voltage is below the second threshold,
wherein the charger, in response to receiving both the first signal indicating that the regulated second voltage is above the first threshold and the second signal indicating that the first voltage is below the second threshold and the second threshold being greater than the first threshold, changes to an off power state.

2. The information handling system of claim 1 , wherein the second threshold is based on an operating voltage of the battery.

3. The information handling system of claim 1 , wherein the second threshold is approximately 4.8 volts.

4. The information handling system of claim 1 , wherein the first threshold is approximately 2 volts.

5. The information handling system of claim 1 , wherein the voltage regulator is a buck voltage regulator.

6. The information handling system of claim 1 , wherein the charger includes a narrow output voltage DC (NVDC) charger.

7. The information handling system of claim 1 , wherein the voltage regulator does not receive power when the charger powers down.

8. A computer-implemented method for managing power at an information handling system, comprising:
receiving, at a charger, power from a power source external to the information handling system;
providing, by the charger, a first voltage to a battery of the information handling system using the power received from the external power source to charge the battery, and ii) to a voltage regulator connected between the charger and a processor of the information handling system;
providing, by the voltage regulator, a regulated second voltage to a processor of the information handling system using power received from the external power source, wherein the battery is coupled between the charger and the voltage regulator, wherein the voltage regulator is coupled between the charger and the processor;
determining that the regulated second voltage output from the voltage regulator and provided to the processor is above a first threshold, and in response, providing a first signal to the charger module indicating that the regulated second voltage is above the first threshold;
determining that the first voltage output from the charger and provided to the battery is below a second threshold, and in response, providing a second signal to the charger indicating that the first voltage is below the second threshold, wherein the second threshold is greater than the first threshold; and
in response to both the first signal indicating that the regulated second voltage is above the first threshold and the second signal indicating that the first voltage is below the second threshold and the second threshold being greater than the first threshold, changing the charger to an off power state.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the second threshold is based on an operating voltage of the battery.

10. The method of claim 8 , wherein the second threshold is approximately 4.8 volts.

11. The method of claim 8 , wherein the first threshold is approximately 2 volts.

12. The method of claim 8 , wherein the voltage regulator is a buck voltage regulator.

13. The method of claim 8 , wherein the charger includes a narrow output voltage DC (NVDC) charger.

14. The method of claim 8 , wherein the voltage regulator does not receive power when the charger powers down.

Assignees

• Dell Products Lp

Inventors

• Liu Andy
• Charles Gary
• Wood Merle Jackson

Classifications

• H02J7/64

  against overvoltage · CPC title

• H02J2105/44

  Portable electronic devices · CPC title

• H02J7/663 Primary

  using battery or load disconnect circuits (H02J9/002 takes precedence) · CPC title

• H02J2207/20

  Charging or discharging characterised by the power electronics converter · CPC title

• G06F1/263

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