EP-4742489-A1 - ELECTRONIC DEVICE FOR SUPPLYING POWER TO LOAD CIRCUIT OR BATTERY

EP4742489A1EP 4742489 A1EP4742489 A1EP 4742489A1EP-4742489-A1

Abstract

This electronic device may be configured such that, on the basis of a first specific event occurring while a power conversion circuit is being used to charge a first battery and a second battery, a controller: deactivates the power conversion circuit; communicates with a power supply device via a communication circuit to set the output voltage value of a power signal to be output, set the maximum input current value of a power signal to be supplied to a load circuit via the power conversion circuit, set a first current limiting circuit to a first switching state so that the first battery can be discharged without being charged, and set a second current limiting circuit to a second switching state so that the second battery can be discharged without being charged; and then activates the power conversion circuit.

Inventors

KIM, KYOUNGWON
SON, Kwanbae
Kim, Minjae

Assignees

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260513
Application Date: 20240422

Claims (15)

An electronic device, comprising: a connector including a power terminal and a data terminal; a communication circuit connected to the data terminal; a power conversion circuit configured to lower a voltage of a power signal input from a power supply device through the power terminal by 1/N times and output a current increased by N times; a battery module including a pair of a first battery and a first current limiting circuit and another pair of a second battery and a second current limiting circuit; a controller; and a load circuit, wherein the first battery is connected to an output terminal of the power conversion circuit via the first current limiting circuit, the second battery is connected to an output terminal of the power conversion circuit via the second current limiting circuit, the load circuit is connected in parallel to the output terminal of the power conversion circuit together with the first battery and the second battery, the controller is configured to, based on an occurrence of a first specific event while the power conversion circuit is used to charge the first battery and the second battery, deactivate the power conversion circuit, perform communication with the power supply device via the communication circuit to set an output voltage value of a power signal to be output by the power supply device, set a maximum input current value of a power signal to be supplied to the load circuit via the power conversion circuit, set the first current limiting circuit to a first switching state so that the first battery is dischargeable without being charged, set the second current limiting circuit to a second switching state so that the second battery is dischargeable without being charged, and activate the power conversion circuit after the first current limiting circuit is set to the first switching state and the second current limiting circuit is set to the second switching state.
The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to deactivate a protection function that prevents a reverse current from being generated from the battery module to the power terminal and sets a switching frequency for power conversion in the power conversion circuit based on the set maximum input current value, and activate the power conversion circuit based on the deactivated protection function and the set switching frequency.
The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to set the output voltage value to be higher than a value obtained by multiplying an input voltage of the battery module by N.
The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to receive information indicating the maximum output current value that the power supply device is capable of outputting from the power supply device via the communication circuit, and set a maximum input current value based on the maximum output current value.
The electronic device of claim 4, wherein the controller is configured to set the maximum input current value to the maximum output current value * N.
The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to recognize an execution of a designated application as the first specific event.
The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to deactivate the power conversion circuit based on an occurrence of a second specific event while the first current limiting circuit is set to the first switching state and the second current limiting circuit is set to the second switching state, set the first current limiting circuit to a third switching state so that the first battery is chargeable and dischargeable, set the second current limiting circuit to a fourth switching state so that the second battery is chargeable and dischargeable, and activate the power conversion circuit after the first current limiting circuit is set to the third switching state and the second current limiting circuit is set to the fourth switching state.
The electronic device of claim 7, wherein, when a protection function that prevents a reverse current from being generated from the battery module to the power terminal is deactivated, the controller is configured to activate the power conversion circuit after activating the protection function.
The electronic device of claim 7, wherein the controller is configured to recognize a termination of execution of a designated application as the second specific event.
The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to transmit, via the communication circuit to the power supply device, a message requesting to increase the output voltage value based on the power of the battery module being discharged to the load circuit.
An electronic device, comprising: a connector including a power terminal and a data terminal; a communication circuit connected to the data terminal; a power conversion circuit configured to lower a voltage of a power signal input from a power supply device through the power terminal by 1/N times and output a current increased by N times; a battery module including a pair of a first battery and a first current limiting circuit and another pair of a second battery and a second current limiting circuit; a controller; a load circuit; and a memory storing instructions, wherein the first battery is connected to an output terminal of the power conversion circuit via the first current limiting circuit, the second battery is connected to an output terminal of the power conversion circuit via the second current limiting circuit, the load circuit is connected in parallel to the output terminal of the power conversion circuit together with the first battery and the second battery, when executed by the controller, the instructions causes the electronic device to deactivate the power conversion circuit based on an occurrence of a first specific event while the power conversion circuit is used to charge the first battery and the second battery, perform communication with the power supply device via the communication circuit to set an output voltage value of a power signal to be output by the power supply device, set a maximum input current value of a power signal to be supplied to the load circuit via the power conversion circuit, set the first current limiting circuit to a first switching state so that the first battery is dischargeable without being charged, set the second current limiting circuit to a second switching state so that the second battery is dischargeable without being charged, and activate the power conversion circuit after the first current limiting circuit is set to the first switching state and the second current limiting circuit is set to the second switching state.
The electronic device of claim 11, wherein, when executed by the controller, the instructions causes the electronic device to deactivate a protection function that prevents a reverse current from being generated from the battery module to the power terminal, and set a switching frequency for power conversion in the power conversion circuit based on the set maximum input current value, and activate the power conversion circuit based on the deactivated protection function and the set switching frequency.
The electronic device of claim 11, wherein, when executed by the controller, the instructions causes the electronic device to set the output voltage value to be higher than a value obtained by multiplying the input voltage of the battery module by N.
The electronic device of claim 11, wherein, when executed by the controller, the instructions causes the electronic device to receive information indicating a maximum output current value that the power supply device is capable of outputting from the power supply device via the communication circuit, and set a maximum input current value based on the maximum output current value.
The electronic device of claim 14, wherein, when executed by the controller, the instructions causes the electronic device to set the maximum input current value to the maximum output current value * N.

Description

[Technical Field] Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to an electronic device for supplying power to a load circuit or a battery. [Background Art] A power supply device (e.g., a travel adapter (TA)) may perform power delivery (PD) communication with an electronic device via a cable and supply power to the electronic device. A power receiving device (e.g., a smartphone) may use power input from the power supply device to charge a battery of the power receiving device and supply power to a load circuit (in other words, system) of the power receiving device. For example, the power input from the power supply device to the power receiving device may be distributed to the battery and/or load circuit via a charging circuit of the power receiving device. When the power consumed by the load circuit is greater than the power supplied to the load circuit, power from the battery may be discharged to the load circuit to balance supply and consumption. When the power consumption is relatively low, a portion of the supplied power may be supplied to the battery, thereby charging the battery. The above-described information may be provided as related art for the purpose of assisting in understanding the present disclosure. No assertion or determination is made as to whether any of the above-described contents is applicable as prior art related to the present disclosure. [Disclosure of Invention] [Technical Problem] The electronic device may include a direct charging circuit and/or a switching charging circuit. The electronic device may set an input voltage value (a voltage value of the power input from the power supply device to the electronic device) via the PD communication with the power supply device. The electronic device may change an output voltage value (a voltage value of the power output from the battery) using the switching charging circuit while charging the battery using the power received from the power supply device. The switching charging circuit may be configured to change a ratio (a voltage conversion ratio) of an output voltage to an input voltage. In the direct charging circuit, the voltage conversion ratio may be fixed. For example, the direct charging circuit may be configured to output an input voltage bucked by 1/N times and an input current increased by N times. The electronic device may change the output voltage value of power output from the direct charging circuit to the battery by changing the input voltage value via the PD communication with the power supply device while charging the battery using the power received from the power supply device. The power supply device may support a function for regulating the output voltage, namely programmable power supply (PPS). The power supply device supporting the PPS may transmit, to the electronic device, a power signal having voltage value requested by the electronic device within a designated voltage range (e.g., 3.3 to 11 V, 3.3 to 20 V). When the electronic device recognizes the power supply device connected via the connector as a PPS-supported model, the electronic device may charge the battery and supply power to the load circuit using the direct charging circuit. The battery voltage increases as the battery is charged. The electronic device may charge the battery in a constant current (CC) mode or a constant voltage (CV) mode, depending on the battery voltage. In the CC mode, the electronic device may maintain the current supplied to the battery at a preset value. In the CV mode, the electronic device may maintain the battery voltage at a preset value. For example, the electronic device may charge the battery in the CC mode when the battery voltage is below a threshold voltage value, and charge the battery in the CV mode when the battery voltage is greater than or equal to the threshold voltage value. The load circuit may consume a relatively large amount of power while applications (e.g., games, video recording) requiring high-specification performance are running. In this case, when a PPS-supported power supply device is connected to the electronic device, the battery charging may be performed in the CV mode to ensure that most of the power output from the direct charging circuit is supplied to the load circuit. Even if the battery charging is performed in the CV mode, a portion of the power may be distributed to the battery side, and as a result, heat may be generated due to power losses along a charging path from the direct charging circuit to the battery. The heat generation may result in voice of customer (VOC) (e.g., user complaints about excessive heat during gaming). In order to perform the battery charging in the constant voltage (CV) mode, the battery voltage needs to be periodically monitored, which results in a problem of power consumption. The current value of the power output from the direct charging circuit may be limited to a designated threshold current value (in other words, a current value required for battery warran