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EP-4555394-B1 - DETECTING A SOFT SHORT CIRCUIT AT A CHARGING INTERFACE OF AN ELECTRONIC DEVICE

EP4555394B1EP 4555394 B1EP4555394 B1EP 4555394B1EP-4555394-B1

Inventors

  • GODIL, AJMAL
  • SMITH, CONRAD

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20220921

Claims (15)

  1. A computer-implemented method (200) for detecting a soft short circuit (134) at a charging interface (130, 350) of an electronic device (100), the computer-implemented method (200) comprising: obtaining, via one or more processors (170), an initial voltage measurement of a voltage reference that is electrically coupled to the charging interface (130, 350) of the electronic device (100); storing, via the one or more processors (170), the initial voltage measurement in one or more memory devices; obtaining, via the one or more processors (170), an additional voltage measurement of the voltage reference; detecting, via the one or more processors (170), the soft short circuit (134) at the charging interface (130, 350) based, at least in part, on the initial voltage measurement and the additional voltage measurement of the voltage reference; and causing, via the one or more processors (170), the electronic device (100) to perform one or more control actions in response to detecting the soft short circuit (134) at the charging interface (130, 350) of the electronic device (100); wherein detecting the soft short circuit (134) at the charging interface (130, 350) includes determining, via the one or more processors (170), the additional voltage measurement is less than the initial voltage measurement by a threshold amount that is indicative of existence of the soft short circuit (134) at the charging interface (130, 350).
  2. The computer-implemented method (200) of claim 1, wherein the threshold amount is at least 0.5 Volts.
  3. The computer-implemented method (200) of claim 1, wherein causing the electronic device (100) to perform the one or more control actions includes automatically, via the one or more processors (170), powering down the electronic device (100).
  4. The computer-implemented method (200) of claim 1, wherein causing the electronic device (100) to perform the one or more control actions includes causing, via the one or more processors (170), a display screen (312) of the electronic device (100) to display a notification to prompt a user to perform a maintenance action on the electronic device (100).
  5. The computer-implemented method (200) of claim 4, wherein the maintenance action includes manually powering down the electronic device (100).
  6. The computer-implemented method (200) of claim 1, wherein obtaining the initial voltage measurement and obtaining the additional voltage measurement occur while a rechargeable battery of the electronic device (100) is not being charged via an external power supply (110).
  7. The computer-implemented method (200) of claim 1, wherein the soft short circuit (134) at the charging interface (130, 350) corresponds to a resistance ranging from 2 ohms to 100 ohms.
  8. The computer-implemented method (200) of claim 1, wherein the electronic device (100) is a wearable computing device (300).
  9. An electronic device (100) comprising: an energy storage device (316); a charging interface (130, 350) configured to electrically couple an external power supply (110) to the energy storage device (316); a power management circuit (140) including a voltage reference that is electrically couplable to the charging interface (130, 350); and one or more processors (170) configured to: obtain an initial voltage measurement of the voltage reference while the voltage reference is electrically coupled to the charging interface (130, 350) of the electronic device (100); store the initial voltage measurement in one or more memory devices; obtain an additional voltage measurement of the voltage reference; detect a soft short circuit (134) at the charging interface (130, 350) based, at least in part, on the initial voltage measurement and the additional voltage measurement; and cause the electronic device (100) to perform one or more control actions in response to detecting the soft short circuit (134) at the charging interface (130, 350) of the electronic device (100); wherein to detect the soft short circuit (134) the one or more processors (170) are configured to determine the additional voltage measurement of the voltage reference is less than the initial voltage measurement of the voltage reference by a threshold amount that is indicative of existence of the soft short circuit (134) at the charging interface (130, 350).
  10. The electronic device (100) of claim 9, wherein the power management circuit (140) includes a switching device (142) electrically coupled between the voltage reference and the charging interface (130, 350), the switching device (142) configured to selectively couple the voltage reference to the charging interface (130, 350), wherein particularly, the switching device (142) is a transistor.
  11. The electronic device (100) of claim 9, wherein the one or more control actions include automatically powering down the electronic device (100).
  12. The electronic device (100) of claim 9, further comprising: a display screen (312); and wherein the one or more control actions include causing the display screen (312) to display a notification to prompt a user to perform a maintenance action on the electronic device (100); wherein particularly, the maintenance action includes manually powering down the electronic device (100).
  13. The electronic device (100) of claim 9, wherein the one or more processors (170) are configured to obtain the initial voltage measurement and the additional voltage measurement while the energy storage device (316) is not being charged via the external power supply (110).
  14. The electronic device (100) of claim 9, wherein the charging interface (130, 350) includes a universal serial bus, USB, charging port.
  15. The electronic device (100) of claim 9, wherein the energy storage device (316) includes a rechargeable battery.

Description

FIELD The present disclosure relates generally to electronic devices having an energy storage device (e.g., rechargeable battery). More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a method for detecting a virtual short at a charging interface of an electronic device. BACKGROUND Electronic devices (e.g., smartphones, smartwatches, laptops, tablets, etc.) can include a rechargeable battery that provides direct current power to electronic components thereof. For instance, the rechargeable battery can be disposed within a housing of the electronic devices. Furthermore, the electronic devices can include a charging interface (e.g., charging port) to facilitate coupling the rechargeable battery to an external power supply (e.g., wall outlet) via a charging cable. In this manner, the electronic device can draw a charging current from the external power supply to charge the rechargeable battery. US 2016/0019773 A1 relates to an electronic device including a port for connecting the electronic device to other electronic devices and a moisture detector configured to detect an electrically conductive liquid in the first port. The moisture detector is configured to maintain a voltage on a first electrical contact of the port and to detect a short circuit between the first electrical contact and a second electrical contact of the port. The moisture detector determines that the electronic device has been exposed to an electrically conductive liquid if the monitor module detects the short circuit. The moisture detector may also put the electronic device into safe mode if it is exposed to an electrically conductive liquid. US 2022/0224128 A1 relates to an electronic device powered by one or more rechargeable battery cells. The electronic device includes a first negative temperature coefficient (NTC) thermistor proximate to the battery cells, and an open capacitor coupled in parallel with the NTC thermistor. The open capacitor has an open area and two electrodes that are at least partially exposed via the open area and electrically isolated. The electronic device further includes a control circuit coupled to the NTC thermistor and the open capacitor. The control circuit is configured to detect a voltage drop across the NTC thermistor and the open capacitor if conductive liquid enters the open area of the capacitor and electrically connects the two electrodes that are at least partially exposed via the open area. SUMMARY Aspects and advantages of embodiments of the present disclosure will be set forth in part in the following description, or can be learned from the description, or can be learned through practice of the embodiments. In one aspect, a computer-implemented method for detecting a soft short circuit at a charging interface of an electronic device, according to claim 1, is provided. The method includes obtaining, via one or more processors, an initial voltage measurement of a voltage reference that is electrically coupled to the charging interface of the electronic device. The method includes obtaining, via the one or more processors, an additional voltage measurement of the voltage reference. The method includes detecting, via the one or more processors, the soft short circuit at the charging interface based, at least in part, on the initial voltage measurement and the additional voltage measurement. The method includes causing, via the one or more processors, the electronic device to perform one or more control actions in response to detecting the soft short circuit at the charging interface of the electronic device. In the present invention, detecting the soft short circuit includes determining, via the one or more processors, the additional voltage measurement of the voltage reference is less than the initial voltage measurement by a threshold amount that is indicative of existence of the soft short circuit at the charging interface. In some implementations, the threshold amount is at least 0.5 Volts. In some implementations, causing the electronic device to perform one or more control actions includes automatically, via the one or more processors, powering down the electronic device. In some implementations, causing the electronic device to perform one or more control actions includes causing, via the one or more processors, a display screen of the electronic device to display a notification to prompt a user to perform a maintenance action on the electronic device. In some implementations, the maintenance action includes manually powering down the electronic device. In some implementations, obtaining the initial voltage measurement and obtaining the additional voltage measurement occur while a rechargeable battery of the electronic device is not being charged via an external power supply. In some implementations, the soft short circuit corresponds to a resistance ranging from 2 ohms to 100 ohms. The method further includes storing, via the one or more processors, the initial voltage measurement in one or mo