Coherent power management system for managing clients of varying power usage adaptability

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11513576-B2
Application number	US-202016889232-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 1, 2020
Priority date	Jun 1, 2019
Publication date	Nov 29, 2022
Grant date	Nov 29, 2022

Abstract

Systems and methods are disclosed for allocating and distributing power management budgets for subsystems (e.g., power usage clients) of a computer system. A power budget allocation subsystem may include a plurality of feedback branches having different associated time constants. Power usage clients with slower power response times may be provided power budgets based on a feedback branch having an associated longer time constant, while power usage clients with faster power response times may be provided with power budgets based on a feedback branch having an associated shorter time constant. The power budgets may be determined in the feedback branches based on power budgeting policies weighting the power budget of each subsystem relative to total power mitigation.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus comprising:
a memory storing software instructions; and
a processor configured to execute the software instructions to:
generate a first set of power budgets including a respective power budget for each client of a first set of clients, wherein the first set of power budgets is generated based on a first feedback loop configured to prioritize rapid changes in power usage by the first set of clients;
generate a second set of power budgets including a respective power budget for each client of a second set of clients, wherein the second set of power budgets is generated based on a second feedback loop configured to prioritize slower changes in power usage by the second set of clients, wherein the clients of the first set of clients are configured to change their respective power usage more rapidly than the clients of the second set of clients, and wherein the first feedback loop and the second feedback loop are feedback loops operating in parallel; and
provide the power budgets to the respective clients.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to execute the software instructions to:
obtain periodic samples of current power usage of a battery; and
filter the samples according to a plurality of sampling rates to produce a respective plurality of power measurement signals, wherein the first feedback loop includes a different set of the power measurement signals than the second feedback loop.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising:
power-sampling circuitry configured to obtain periodic samples of current power usage of a battery, wherein the apparatus is comprised in a single integrated circuit.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein each power budget includes a plurality of power limits defined for a respective plurality of time values.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the power limits include a maximum instantaneous power limit and a maximum time-averaged power limit defined for a specific time value.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein each power budget limits the power level of the respective client, relative to an unmitigated power level, by an amount determined based on predetermined characteristics of the respective client.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein generating the power budgets comprises determining one or more maximum power levels for each of the clients, based on a level of total system power mitigation, wherein the one or more maximum power level of at least one of the clients is scaled disproportionately to the total system power mitigation.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the first set of power budgets and the second set of power budgets are generated periodically.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the first set of power budgets is generated more frequently than the second set of power budgets.

10. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the processor is further configured to execute the software instructions to:
determine that one or more values included in a power budget have changed by at least a threshold value relative to a value included in a previous instance of the power budget, wherein the power budget is provided to the respective client in response to the determining.

11. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the first set of power budgets or the second set of power budgets is further based on one or more additional battery state parameters including at least one of: thermal conditions, age, impedance, state-of-charge, or open-circuit voltage of a battery.

12. A battery-powered device comprising:
a battery;
a plurality of client modules drawing power from the battery, and configured to adjust their power usage based on a respective power budget, wherein a first subset of the client modules is configured to adjust their power usage more quickly than a second subset of the client modules; and
a power management module configured to:
generate a first set of power budgets including a respective power budget for each client module of the first subset of the client modules, wherein the first set of power budgets is generated based on a first feedback loop configured to prioritize rapid changes in power usage by the first subset of client modules;
generate a second set of power budgets including a respective power budget for each client module of the second subset of client modules, wherein the second set of power budgets is generated based on a second feedback loop configured to prioritize slower changes in power usage by the second subset of client modules, wherein the first feedback loop and the second feedback loop are feedback loops operating in parallel; and
provide the power budgets to the plurality of client modules.

13. The battery-powered device of claim 12 , wherein the power management module is further configured to:
obtain periodic samples of current power usage of the battery; and
filter the samples according to a plurality of sampling rates to produce a respective plurality of power measurement signals, wherein the first feedback loop includes a different set of the power measurement signals than the second feedback loop.

14. The battery-powered device of claim 12 , wherein each power budget includes a plurality of power limits defined for a respective plurality of time values.

15. The battery-powered device of claim 12 , wherein each power budget limits the power level of the respective client module, relative to an unmitigated power level, by an amount determined based on predetermined characteristics of the respective client module.

16. A non-transitory computer-readable memory medium storing software instructions executable by processor circuitry to cause the processor circuitry to:
generate a first set of power budgets including a respective power budget for each client of a first set of clients, wherein the first set of power budgets is generated based on a first feedback loop configured to prioritize rapid changes in power usage by the first set of clients;
generate a second set of power budgets including a respective power budget for each client of a second set of clients, wherein the second set of power budgets is generated based on a second feedback loop configured to prioritize slower changes in power usage by the second set of clients, wherein the clients of the first set of clients are configured to change their respective power usage more rapidly than the clients of the second set of clients, and wherein the first feedback loop and the second feedback loop are feedback loops operating in parallel;
provide the power budgets to the respective clients.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable memory medium of claim 16 , wherein the first set of power budgets and the second set of power budgets are generated periodically.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable memory medium of claim 17 , wherein the first set of power budgets is generated more frequently than the second set of power budgets.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable memory medium of claim 17 , wherein the processor is further configured to execute the software instructions to:
determine that one or more values included in a power budget have changed by at least a threshold value relative to a value included in a previous instance of the power budget, wherein the power budget is provided to the respective client in response to the determining.

Assignees

• Apple Inc

Inventors

• Zahir Achmed R
• Tundlam Diwakar N
• Ismail James S
• Cox Keith
• Arastoo Reza
• Mackay Douglas A
• Ananny John M
• Eng Michael

Classifications

• H02J7/855

  with circuits adapted for supplying loads from the battery · CPC title

• H02J7/82

  Control of state of charge [SOC] · CPC title

• H02J7/63

  against overdischarge · CPC title

• H02J2105/54

  according to a non-electrical condition, e.g. temperature · CPC title

• H02J2105/53

  for partial power limitation, e.g. entering degraded or current limitation modes · CPC title