Dynamic USB-C mode configuration

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11513575-B1
Application number	US-202117346434-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Jun 14, 2021
Priority date	Jun 14, 2021
Publication date	Nov 29, 2022
Grant date	Nov 29, 2022

Abstract

An information handling system includes a USB-C port and a USB-C power delivery controller. The USB-C power delivery controller includes connection preference information, and is configured to detect that a device has been plugged into the USB-C port, determine that the device supports a first connection type and a second connection type, determine that the first connection type has a higher connection priority than the second connection type, and establish a connection between the information handling system and the device utilizing the second connection type based upon the connection preference information.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An information handling system, comprising:
a USB-C port; and
a USB-C power delivery controller including connection preference information, the USB-C power delivery controller configured to:
detect that a device has been plugged into the USB-C port;
determine that the device supports a first connection type and a second connection type;
determine that the first connection type has a higher connection priority than the second connection type;
determine that a first workload running on the information handling system is a first workload type that operates optimally with the second connection type; and
establish a connection between the information handling system and the device utilizing the second connection type based upon the first workload being of the first workload type.

2. The information handling system of claim 1 , wherein the connection preference information includes a user graphics source preference.

3. The information handling system of claim 2 , further comprising:
a data processor including an integrated USB controller; and
a graphics processor, wherein the user graphics source preference includes a user preference for one of the data processor and the graphics processor.

4. The information handling system of claim 1 , wherein the connection preference information includes a user USB connection mode preference.

5. The information handling system of claim 4 , wherein the user USB connection mode preference is selected from one of a USB4 connection mode, a Thunderbolt connection mode, and a DisplayPort connection mode.

6. The information handling system of claim 1 , wherein the connection preference information includes a system graphics bandwidth preference.

7. The information handling system of claim 6 , wherein the system graphics bandwidth preference is selected from one of a High Bit Rate-3 (HBR3) bandwidth, an Ultra-High Bit Rate-10 (UHBR10) bandwidth, and an Ultra-High Bit Rate-20 (UHBR-20) bandwidth.

8. The information handling system of claim 1 , wherein subsequent to determining that the first workload is the first workload type, the USB-C power delivery controller is further configured to:
determine that a second workload running on the information handling system is a second workload type that operates optimally with the first connection type; and
reestablish the connection between the information handling system and the device utilizing the first connection type based upon the second workload being of the second workload type.

9. The information handling system of claim 1 , wherein the first connection type include one of a USB4 connection, a Thunderbolt connection, a DisplayPort connection, and a tunneled PCIe connection.

10. A method, comprising:
detecting, by a USB-C power delivery controller of an information handling system, that a device has been plugged into a USB-C port of the information handling system;
determining that the device supports a first connection type and a second connection type;
determining that the first connection type has a higher connection priority than the second connection type;
determining that a first workload running on the information handling system is a first workload type that operates optimally with the second connection type; and
establishing a connection between the information handling system and the device utilizing the second connection type based upon the first workload being of the first workload type.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the connection preference information includes a user graphics source preference.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the user graphics source preference includes a user preference for one of a data processor of the information handling system and a graphics processor of the information handling system.

13. The method of claim 10 , wherein the connection preference information includes a user USB connection mode preference.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the user USB connection mode preference is selected from one of a USB4 connection mode, a Thunderbolt connection mode, and a DisplayPort connection mode.

15. The method of claim 10 , wherein the connection preference information includes a system graphics bandwidth preference.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the system graphics bandwidth preference is selected from one of a High Bit Rate-3 (HBR3) bandwidth, an Ultra-High Bit Rate-10 (UHBR10) bandwidth, and an Ultra-High Bit Rate-20 (UHBR-20) bandwidth.

17. The method of claim 10 , wherein subsequent to determining that the first workload is the first workload type, the method further comprises:
determining that a second workload running on the information handling system is a second workload type that operates optimally with the first connection type; and
reestablishing the connection between the information handling system and the device utilizing the first connection type based upon the second workload being of the second workload type.

18. The method of claim 10 , wherein the first connection type include one of a USB4 connection, a Thunderbolt connection, a DisplayPort connection, and a tunneled PCIe connection.

19. An information handling system, comprising:
a USB-C port;
a device coupled to the USB-C port; and
a USB-C power delivery controller including connection preference information, the USB-C power delivery controller configured to:
detect that the device has been plugged into the USB-C port;
determine that the device supports a first connection type and a second connection type;
determine that the first connection type has a higher connection priority than the second connection type;
determine that a workload running on the information handling system is a particular workload type that operates optimally with the second connection type; and
establish a connection between the information handling system and the device utilizing the second connection type based upon the workload being of the particular workload type, wherein the connection preference information includes information that describes a function of the device.

20. The information handling system of claim 19 , wherein the first and second connection types include one of a USB4 connection, a Thunderbolt connection, a DisplayPort connection, and a tunneled PCIe connection.

Assignees

• Dell Products Lp
• Dell Products Lp

Inventors

• Nicholas Ken
• Nowak Marcin M

Classifications

• G06F13/4282 Primary

  on a serial bus, e.g. I2C bus, SPI bus (on daisy chain buses G06F13/4247) · CPC title

• G06F13/4068

  Electrical coupling · CPC title

• G06F2213/0042

  Universal serial bus [USB] · CPC title

• G06F1/266 Primary

  Arrangements to supply power to external peripherals either directly from the computer or under computer control, e.g. supply of power through the communication port, computer controlled power-strips · CPC title