Efficiency adjustments in power supply system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9513684-B2
Application number	US-201414552540-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 25, 2014
Priority date	Dec 31, 2013
Publication date	Dec 6, 2016
Grant date	Dec 6, 2016

Abstract

A power supply system for maintaining the efficiency of an AC/DC power conversion unit in relation to a load is disclosed. The load varies in response to power usage during operation of the power supply system. An AC power input and a DC power output of the power conversion unit direct DC power to attached components. A master controller disposed in the power supply system detects the load of an attached computer system through a DC meter and executes an algorithm to determine the values of circuit parameters of conversion circuits in the AC/DC power conversion unit. The master controller sends the values to a mode controller through a digital signal interface. The mode controller adjusts the operating mode of the conversion circuits and thus changes the efficiency of the AC/DC power conversion unit.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A power supply system, comprising:
an alternating current (AC) power input;
a direct current (DC) power output configured to output DC power to a load of the power supply system;
a power conversion unit configured to convert AC power from the AC power input to DC power for the DC power output, the power conversion unit comprising a power conversion circuit and a first controller, the first controller configured to adjust an operating mode of the power conversion circuit according to a circuit parameter, the first controller further configured to set the circuit parameter to a factory default;
the power conversion unit further comprises a phase modulation circuit connected to the first controller and the DC power output, the phase modulation circuit configured to determine a variable power of the DC power output and further configured to send a recovery signal to the first controller in response to the variable power exceeding the threshold value, and the first controller configured to set the circuit parameter to a recovery value in response to the recovery signal;
a DC meter configured to measure the DC power of the DC power output and further configured to send a power signal indicative of the measured power; and
a second controller configured to receive the power signal from the DC meter and further configured to output a parameter setting signal to the first controller based on the measured power indicated by the power signal, and the second controller further configured to make a determination that the measured power is less than a threshold value and further configured to send the parameter setting signal to the first controller in response to the determination that the measured power is less than the threshold value, wherein the first controller is configured to determine a value of the circuit parameter based on the parameter setting signal.

2. The power supply system of claim 1 , wherein the recovery value is the factory default.

3. The power supply system of claim 1 , wherein the second controller is configured to send the parameter setting signal to the first controller by a digital signal protocol.

4. The power supply system of claim 1 , wherein the second controller is configured to send the parameter setting signal to the first controller by a Power Management Bus protocol.

5. The power supply system of claim 1 , wherein the power conversion unit further comprises an active heat dissipation module, wherein the first controller is configured to adjust the power consumed by the active heat dissipation module in response to values of the circuit parameters.

6. The power supply system of claim 1 , wherein the second controller further comprises a list, wherein the first controller is configured to search the list for a value of the parameter setting signal matching the measured power.

7. The power supply system of claim 1 , wherein the second controller operates without a compensation unit.

8. A power supply system, the power supply system manages an efficiency in response to a load that may vary, the power supply system comprising:
an alternating current (AC) power input configured to receive and direct AC power;
a direct current (DC) power output configured to output DC power to the load of the power supply system;
a power conversion unit configured to convert from the AC power to the DC power, the power conversion unit comprising at least one power conversion circuit configured to operate in one or more operating modes that alter the efficiency of the power conversion circuit, the power conversion unit further comprising a first controller configured to adjust the one or more operating modes of the power conversion circuit by altering one or more circuit parameters and in response to a parameter setting signal and the first controller further configured to set the one or more circuit parameters to a factory default, the power conversion unit further comprising a phase modulation circuit connected to the first controller and the DC power output and configured to determine a wattage of the DC power output and further configured to send a recovery signal to the first controller in response to the wattage exceeding a threshold value, the first controller further configured to set the one or more circuit parameters to a recovery value in response to the recovery signal;
a DC meter configured to measure the DC power of the DC power output and send power measurements indicative of the DC power; and
a second controller configured to receive the power measurements from the DC meter, and the second controller further configured to output the parameter setting signal to the first controller in response to a given power measurement of the power measurements indicative of the DC power that is lower than the threshold value.

9. The power supply system of claim 8 , wherein the recovery value is the factory default.

10. The power supply system of claim 8 , wherein the power conversion unit further comprises an active heat dissipation module, and the first controller is further configured to adjust power consumption of the active heat dissipation module.

11. The power supply system of claim 8 , wherein the second controller further comprises a list of values for the parameter setting signal corresponding to the power output of the power supply system, and the second controller is further configured to search the list in response to the power measurements received by the DC meter.

12. The power supply system of claim 8 , wherein the second controller operates without a compensation unit.

Assignees

• IBM

Inventors

• Chen Jenseng
• Chen Jung-Tai
• Lin Tzongli
• Lin Yu-Chen
• Smith Bruce A

Classifications

• H02M1/08

  Circuits specially adapted for the generation of control voltages for semiconductor devices incorporated in static converters · CPC title

• H02M1/32

  Means for protecting converters other than automatic disconnection · CPC title

• G06F1/3203 Primary

  Power management, i.e. event-based initiation of a power-saving mode · CPC title

• H02M2001/0048

  Electricity · mapped topic

• Y02B70/1491

  Cross-Sectional Technologies · mapped topic