Electrical adapter power rating determination

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9325133-B2
Application number	US-201013643138-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 4, 2010
Priority date	Aug 4, 2010
Publication date	Apr 26, 2016
Grant date	Apr 26, 2016

Abstract

Electronic circuits are provided for use with various electrical adapters. Two resistors define a voltage divider circuit. One or more resistors are coupled in parallel arrangement with the voltage divider by way of controlled switching. A voltage present within the voltage divider is converted into a digital signal, which is used to determine a power rating for the respective electrical adapter. The power rating is used to control normal operations of a computer or other device. The electrical adapter can optionally include a second resistor that is switched into parallel circuit arrangement with a first resistor during the power rating determination process.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An electronic circuit, comprising:
a first resistor connected between a signal node and a ground node, the signal node to be electrically coupled to at least one power rating component of an electrical adapter, wherein the electronic circuit is included in an electronic device to receive electrical power from the electrical adapter;
a second resistor and a switch connected in series circuit relationship between the signal node and the ground node;
an analog-to-digital converter to provide a digital signal corresponding to a voltage present at the signal node; and
control circuitry to, in response to determining that the voltage present at the signal node is outside an operating range:
close the switch; and
while the switch is closed, determine a power rating for the electrical adapter using the digital signal.

2. The electronic circuit according to claim 1 , the at least one power rating component including a resistor, or a current source.

3. The electronic circuit according to claim 1 , the electrical adapter configured to be coupled to a source of alternating-current electrical energy.

4. The electronic circuit according to claim 1 , the controller further configured to determine the power rating of the electrical adapter using a lookup table.

5. The electronic circuit according to claim 4 , the electronic circuit being part of a computer, the lookup table being provided as a computer-readable code stored within the computer.

6. The electronic circuit according to claim 1 , further comprising a second switch connected in series circuit relationship with the first resistor.

7. The electronic circuit according to claim 1 , the control circuitry further to, in response to determining that the voltage present at the signal node is within the operating range:
cause the switch to remain open; and
while the switch is open, determine a second power rating for the electrical adapter using the digital signal.

8. The electronic circuit according to claim 6 , the controller further configured to selectively open and close the second switch based on whether or not the digital signal represents a voltage outside of a predetermined range.

9. The electronic circuit according to claim 1 further comprising a voltage clamping component electrically coupled to the signal node.

10. The electronic circuit according to claim 9 , the the electronic device to control one or more operations based on the power rating of the electrical adapter.

11. A method, comprising:
generating, by an electronic device connected to an electrical adapter, a first digital signal indicating a first voltage present at a signal node of the electronic device, the electronic device comprising a first resistor connected between the signal node and a ground node, the electronic device further comprising a second resistor and a switch connected in series between the signal node and the ground node;
determining, based on the digital signal, that the first voltage present at the signal node when the switch is in an open position lies outside of a predetermined range;
in response to a determination that the first voltage present at the signal node is not within the specified operating range, closing the switch;
while the switch is closed, converting a second voltage present at the signal node into a second digital signal; and
correlating the second digital signal to a power rating for the electrical adapter.

12. The method according to claim 11 further comprising controlling one or more operations of an electrical load in accordance with the power rating.

13. The method according to claim 11 , further comprising:
in response to a determination that the voltage present at the signal node is within the specified operating range, causing the switch to remain open; and
correlating the first digital signal to the power rating for the electrical adapter, wherein the signal node is electrically coupled to a power rating component of the electrical adapter.

14. An electronic device, comprising:
a power connector to couple to a power adapter;
an electronic circuit, comprising:
a first resistor connected between a signal node and a ground node, the signal node to be electrically coupled to at least one power rating component of an electrical adapter, wherein the electronic circuit is included in an electronic device to receive electrical power from the electrical adapter;
a second resistor and a switch connected in series circuit relationship between the signal node and the ground node;
an analog-to-digital converter to provide a digital signal corresponding to a voltage present at the signal node; and
a control circuit to:
determine, using the digital signal, whether the voltage present at the signal node is within a specified operating range;
cause the switch to remain open in response to a determination that the voltage present at the signal node is within the specified operating range;
cause the switch to close in response to a determination that the voltage present at the signal node is not within the specified operating range; and
subsequent to causing the switch to open or close, determine a power rating for the electrical adapter using the digital signal.

15. The electronic device according to claim 14 , the control circuit further to control one or more operations of an electrical load in accordance with the power rating.

16. The electronic device according to claim 14 , the control circuit further to determine the power rating of the electrical adapter using a lookup table.

Assignees

• Sawyers Thomas Paul
• Hewlett Packard Development Co

Inventors

• Sawyers Thomas Paul

Classifications

• Y10T307/858

  Cross-Sectional Technologies · mapped topic

• G01R19/25

  using digital measurement techniques · CPC title

• H01R31/065 Primary

  with built-in electric apparatus · CPC title

• H01R13/665

  with built-in electronic circuit (H01R13/70, H01R13/719 take precedence) · CPC title

• H01R13/70

  with built-in switch · CPC title