CA2869544C - A software controlled power supply - Google Patents

Abstract

A method of controlling a power supply using software comprises setting a nominal output level through a waveform controlled by a micro-controller. The method identifies when a device is fully charged, and moves to a keep-alive mode, in which the output level is decreased below the nominal output level when the device is fully charged. The method further provides a failsafe to move the system to the keep-alive mode when the micro-controller is halted, crashed, in an error state.

Description

CA 2,869,544 CPST Ref: 11744/00002

2

3 FIELD OF THE INVENTION

4 [0001] The present invention relates to power supplies, and more particularly to a software-controlled power supply.

8 [0002] Pulse frequency modulated power supplies are common for producing the 9 fixed voltage DC output required to charge battery powered mobile devices from a variety of AC
inputs. While smaller, more flexible, and more efficient than simple transformer power supplies, 11 pulse frequency modulated power supplies are still active mechanisms that consume power.
12 With the growth of mobile devices, now numbering in the billions, cumulative standby power 13 consumption by charging power supplies is becoming a problem. The problem being that power 14 supplies that remain attached to a power source consume standby power in order to remain active and achieve regulated output voltage.
16 [0003] Furthermore, power supplies that remain attached to both a power source 17 and to a charged device consume additional standby power because the coupled device 18 continues to draw trickle power, even when fully charged. This wasted power is costly to both 19 individual device owners and to society as a whole.
[0004] Figure 1 illustrates a prior art fixed voltage power supply using DC/DC pulse 21 frequency modulation. The high voltage DC current, which can be created by rectifying high 22 voltage AC current (not shown), powers charge pump oscillator (101) operating at a high 23 frequency (typically 50-150 kHz).
24 [0005] The charge pump oscillator (101) controls the gate of MOSFET
(102), which in turn, induces a high frequency, high voltage AC signal from the DC supply current through 26 transformer (103). Transformer (103) outputs a magnetically isolated high frequency, low 27 voltage AC signal, rectified by diode (104). Rectifier (104) feeds bulk capacitor (105), which 28 removes ripple from the low voltage rectified signal, producing a DC
output.
29 [0006] The Zener diode network (106) allows current to flow through the LED of optical isolator (107) when the output voltage exceeds the Zener threshold.
Optical isolator 31 (107), when illuminated, disables the output of the AC waveform from charge pump oscillator 32 (101) to MOSFET (102) and through transformer (103). With charge pump oscillator (101) CPST Doc: 391970.1 1 Date Recue/Date Received 2021-12-08 CA 2,869,544 CPST Ref: 11744/00002 1 .. disabled, output voltage will begin to fall until current no longer flows through Zener diode 2 network (106) and optical isolator (107), allowing charge pump oscillator (101) to become active 3 again.
4 [0007] The resulting pulse frequency modulated waveform (108) generated by charge pump oscillator (101) and feedback network (104-107) is enabled whenever the 6 regulated output voltage is below the regulated threshold and disabled whenever the regulated 7 output voltage is above the regulated threshold. The result is a fixed DC
voltage output from an 8 arbitrary high voltage AC input.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
11 [0008] The present invention is illustrated by way of example, and not by way of 12 limitation, in the figures of the accompanying drawings and in which like reference numerals 13 refer to similar elements and in which:
14 [0009] Figure 1 is a prior art pulse frequency modulated power supply.
[0010] Figure 2 is a block diagram of a power supply in accordance with one 16 embodiment of the present invention.
17 [0011] Figure 3 is a block diagram of a software-controlled power supply including a 18 standby safety mechanism, in accordance with one embodiment of the invention.
19 [0012] Figure 4 is a block diagram of a software controlled power supply including a standby safety mechanism and an output switch, in accordance with one embodiment of the 21 invention.
22 [0013] Figure 5 is a block diagram of one embodiment of the standby safety 23 mechanism.
24 [0014] Figure 6 is a circuit diagram of one embodiment of the system.
[0015] Figure 7 is a state diagram of the micro-controller, in one embodiment.
26 [0016] Figure 8 is an illustration of an exemplary power consumption curve.
27 [0017] Figure 9 is a flowchart of one embodiment of using the micro-controller for 28 providing additional features with the charger system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION
31 [0018] The present invention is a power supply for charging battery powered mobile 32 devices from a variety of alternating current (AC) inputs. The power supply has the ability to CPST Doc: 391970.1 2 Date Recue/Date Received 2021-12-08 CA 2,869,544 CPST Ref: 11744/00002 1 disengage power to rechargeable devices that remain coupled but have completed charging, 2 eliminating trickle power draw. The power supply in one embodiment further can modally 3 regulate power output such that when no device is coupled to the power supply the standby 4 power consumed by the power supply itself is reduced. This is accomplished by using a software-controlled regulator, with a micro-controller, or microprocessor.
6 [0019] The following detailed description of embodiments of the invention makes 7 reference to the accompanying drawings in which like references indicate similar elements, 8 showing by way of illustration specific embodiments of practicing the invention. Description of 9 these embodiments is in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention. One skilled in the art understands that other embodiments may be utilized and that 11 logical, mechanical, electrical, functional and other changes may be made without departing 12 from the scope of the present invention. The following detailed description is, therefore, not to 13 be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of the present invention is defined only by the 14 appended claims.
[0020] Figure 2 is a block diagram of a simplified diagram of one embodiment of 16 embodiment of a software-controlled regulator. The fixed Zener regulator of Figure 1 is 17 replaced with a software-controlled regulator using a micro-controller 209, and elements 18 identified by reference numerals 202-205 parallel the features identified by reference numerals 19 102-105 in Figure 1. The reference voltage is derived from the output voltage by a divider network 206, which is then fed into the micro-controller 209. The micro-controller 209 monitors 21 this reference voltage using either analog to digital conversion or an analog comparator. Many 22 modern embedded micro-controllers include one or both of these capabilities. In one 23 embodiment, the micro-controller used is the ATTiny13A by ATM EL
CORPORATION TM.
24 [0021] In one embodiment, the reference voltage from voltage divider network (206) is input to micro-controller (209), which compares it against a target value, and produces a 26 Boolean enable state. In one embodiment, the enable state is true when the voltage is below 27 the target value, and false when the voltage is above the target value.
28 [0022] Micro-controller (209) outputs the Boolean enable state, generated by 29 examining the reference voltage from divider network (206), to optical isolator (207). In one embodiment, optical isolator (207) is "on" when the enable state is true, and "off" when the state 31 is false. This produces the enabled and disabled periods shown in waveform (208).
CPST Doc: 391970.1 3 Date Recue/Date Received 2021-12-08 CA 2,869,544 CPST Ref: 11744/00002 1 [0023] The micro-controller 209 uses the voltage reference to generate a digital 2 enable signal, which is fed back to charge pump oscillator (201). The charge pump oscillator 3 (201) is enabled whenever software in the micro-controller 209 determines that the voltage is 4 too low and disabled when software determines that it is too high.
Because the feedback is software controlled, it can be set to any arbitrary voltage. In one embodiment, this enables the 6 system to act as a charger to various devices, including devices that require a variety of voltage 7 and/or current profiles.
8 [0024] Because standby power consumption is a product of both voltage and current 9 (P = V* l), the system can leverage software controlled voltage to reduce standby consumption.
When the "nominal" voltage, the voltage required by a coupled rechargeable device, is no 11 longer required, the software can downshift the voltage to a significantly lower "keep-alive" level.
12 This level is sufficient to keep the micro-controller alive while considerably reducing standby 13 power consumption. Software voltage control can also remove the ripples in the DC output and 14 provide a completely stable output voltage for charging.
[0025] Those skilled in the art will realize that the tight regulation and filtration 16 mechanisms, required to make a fixed Zener feedback mechanism operate successfully, are not 17 required for the micro-controller implementation. Because the feedback signal is digital, it is 18 either on or off and can be timed and aligned to satisfy the charge pump oscillator of the DC/DC
19 converter mechanism.
[0026] Those skilled in the art will also realize that, in one embodiment, the output 21 voltage can be directly fed to the micro-controller without the need for a voltage divider network.
22 Additionally, other reference implementations, including those that involve Zener diodes or fixed 23 voltage references, can be substituted for or enhance the voltage divider.
24 [0027] In one embodiment, micro-controller 209 controls an indication mechanism (not shown), which shows the status of the system. In one embodiment, the indication 26 mechanism is visual, such as an LED (light emitting diode). In one embodiment, the LED may 27 be a multi-colored LED, or a plurality of separate LEDs that together output a spectrum of 28 colors, with different colors indicating different statuses. In one embodiment, indication 29 mechanism is auditory, such as a speaker or piezoelectric element. In one embodiment, the indicator is data transmitted to an external device or application. In one embodiment the 31 indication mechanism shows the status of the coupled device, such as charging or charged. In 32 one embodiment the indication mechanism shows the status of the system, such as over CPST Doc: 391970.1 4 Date Recue/Date Received 2021-12-08 CA 2,869,544 CPST Ref: 11744/00002 1 temperature or over current. In one embodiment, the indication mechanism provides a plurality 2 of metrics and statuses in graphical form within an external application.
3 [0028] The software-controlled power supply has several advantages.
Regulation 4 circuitry is simpler but can be made more precise by software. The feedback to the DC/DC
voltage converter is digital, eliminating the ripple created by partial on and partial off states.
6 Using software-controlled power supply also enables the reduction of standby power by 7 lowering the regulated voltage from nominal levels to keep-alive levels when a device is not 8 being charged. Additionally, the same power supply can be programmed to different nominal 9 power output levels, or even multiple power output levels, depending on application.
[0029] In one embodiment, the coupled device being charged may also connect to 11 the charger system via a wireless connection, such as Bluetooth Tm, or via a wired connection, 12 such as USB. The system can in one embodiment, read data from the device being charged, 13 such as device specification, model and status, and adjust the power supply output levels, in 14 response. In one embodiment, the system adjusts maximum current output based on data communicated over the connection. In one embodiment, the system adjusts regulated voltage 16 output based on data communicated over the connection. In one embodiment, the system 17 adjusts maximum charge time based on data communicated over the connection.
18 [0030] Figure 3 illustrates one embodiment of a software-controlled power supply 19 that provides a practical implementation to address software-failure issues. Because the power supply is controlled by a micro-controller, the system addresses what occurs if the micro-21 controller fails, crashes, or needs to be taken offline for reprogramming or other reasons. A
22 crashed, frozen, or halted micro-controller will no longer provide regulation feedback and, thus, 23 without a control mechanism can lead to an over-voltage or under-voltage situation, potentially 24 damaging itself or any coupled device. This embodiment of the power supply provides an analog backstop regulation, in case the software crashes, while the elements identified by 26 reference numerals 301-305 and 308 parallel the features identified by reference numerals 101-27 105 and 108 in Figure 1.
28 [0031] Figure 3 illustrates one embodiment of the software controlled power supply 29 with an analog backstop acting as a standby safety mechanism.
[0032] The digital enable state generated by micro-controller (309) by observing the 31 reference voltage produced by divider network (306) is no longer directly coupled to optical 32 isolator (307), as in Figure 2, but connected through standby safety mechanism (310) instead.
CPST Doc: 391970.1 5 Date Recue/Date Received 2021-12-08 CA 2,869,544 CPST Ref: 11744/00002 1 [0033] The standby safety mechanism (310) protects the regulated output by 2 overriding the digital enable state from micro-controller (309) if the regulated output voltage 3 exceeds a fixed upper safety limit.
4 [0034] The standby safety mechanism (310) ensures that the regulated output does not fall to zero by overriding the digital disable state from the micro-controller (309) if the output 6 voltage falls below a fixed lower keep-alive limit.
7 [0035] The standby safety mechanism 310 provides two overrides, in one 8 embodiment. The digital feedback from the micro-controller is allowed to pass through to the 9 feedback circuitry if, and only if, the regulated output is below a safe upper limit, and the regulated output is above a minimum keep-alive limit. The standby safety mechanism allows for 11 arbitrary software controlled nominal voltage regulation between and upper safety limit and 12 lower keep-alive limit by passing the digital feedback from the micro-controller through the 13 optical feedback circuitry.
14 [0036] Those skilled in the art will realize that, in addition to protection against software failure, the standby safety mechanism can be designed to allow the micro-controller to 16 "lock" the regulation to either the upper safety limit or the lower keep-alive limit. This also 17 enables the micro-controller to go to sleep, thereby disabling software regulation, with the logic 18 state set to keep-alive during sleep. This is advantageous for additional standby power savings.
19 Disabling software regulation and defaulting the logic state (or tristate) to the upper safety limit can also be used when the micro-controller is offline for in-circuit software programming.
21 [0037] Figure 4 illustrates one embodiment of a software controlled power supply 22 with a standby safety mechanism and load attachment detector. The regulated output power 23 controlled by micro-controller (409) and standby safety mechanism (410) is fed through 24 MOSFET switch (411) and through shunt (412), and the elements identified by reference numerals 401-408 parallel the features identified by reference numerals 101-108 in Figure 1.
26 The gate of MOSFET switch (411) is enabled and disabled by micro-controller (409) through 27 signal (413) in order to switch on and off the output of regulated power to a coupled device.
28 Voltage on the output side of shunt (412) is fed back to micro-controller (409) via feedback 29 signal (414) in order to provide current output measurement.
[0038] When MOSFET switch (411) is disabled using signal (413), voltage on the 31 output side of shunt (412) can be pulled up with a high-impedance input by the micro-controller 32 (409) on feedback signal (414) and used to detect the presence of coupled devices at the output CPST Doc: 391970.1 6 Date Recue/Date Received 2021-12-08 CA 2,869,544 CPST Ref: 11744/00002 1 port. In one embodiment, voltage feedback on the output is pulled up by a resistor internal to the 2 micro-controller. In one embodiment, voltage feedback on the output is pulled up by an external 3 resistor.
4 [0039] Rather than tie the regulated output to the connection between the power supply and the charging device, an output switch controlled by digital logic in the micro-6 controller connects and disconnects power to the coupled device. In one embodiment, the 7 output switch is a MOSFET transistor.
8 [0040] A current sensing mechanism provides feedback to the micro-controller to 9 determine the amount of power flowing to the coupled device. Software in the micro-controller monitors power flowing to the coupled device and, once it has determined that the device is fully 11 charged, disconnects it by disabling the switch. In one embodiment, the current sensing 12 mechanism is a resistive shunt.
13 [0041] Additionally, the voltage feedback from the output stage of the current 14 sensing mechanism to the micro-controller can be used as a device detection mechanism when the output switch is disabled. By adding a pull-up resistor (or using an internal micro-controller 16 pull-up) and monitoring the voltage drop on the output stage, a simple device detection 17 mechanism can be realized.
18 [0042] Those skilled in the art will realize that using a shunt to provide current (and 19 thus power) feedback is an implementation choice. In one embodiment, the current feedback is derived from the voltage drop across the output switch. Power delivered to the coupled device 21 can also be derived from the digital output signal supplied by the micro-controller. The ratio of 22 enabled to disabled states over a fixed period of time is proportional to the amount of power 23 being delivered.
24 [0043] Of course, because of the presence of a micro-controller, those skilled in the art will see that a variety of alternate or additional device detection mechanisms are made 26 available, including but not limited to optical sensors, mechanical switches and capacitive 27 discharge circuits.
28 [0044] The software controlled power supply with a standby safety mechanism and 29 load attachment detector has numerous advantages. Device attachment and detachment can be detected. The power flow to the coupled device can be monitored, and disabled, once it is 31 determined that the device is fully charged or no longer requires charging. This eliminates 32 trickle loss. Once power is disabled to the coupled device, nominal output can be reduced to a CPST Doc: 391970.1 7 Date Recue/Date Received 2021-12-08 CA 2,869,544 CPST Ref: 11744/00002 1 keep-alive level, and the micro-controller can be mostly disabled, minimizing standby power 2 consumption.
3 [0045] Figure 5 is one embodiment of the standby safety mechanism that overrides 4 the digital enable signal from the micro-controller. In one embodiment, this standby safety mechanism is used in the circuits described above, in Figure 3 and Figure 4.
Zener network 6 (501) becomes active when the output voltage exceeds the Zener threshold, forcing the LED in 7 the optical isolator to become active. The Zener threshold is set for the upper safety limit, in one 8 embodiment.
9 [0046] Diode network (502) remains inactive as long as the digital enable signal (503) from the micro-controller is at logic high or in a high-impedance state, leaving Zener 11 network (501) as the only method of regulation.
12 [0047] Diode network (502) becomes active when the digital enable signal (503) 13 from the micro-controller is at logic low, and the output voltage exceeds the keep-alive 14 threshold, determined by the voltage drop across diode network (502) and the optical isolator.
[0048] A digital waveform supplied on digital enable signal (503) from the micro-16 controller will pass through to the LED on the optical isolator and can be used to regulate output 17 voltage at any level between the minimum enforced by diode network (502) and the maximum 18 enforced by Zener network (501).
19 [0049] One embodiment of the standby safety mechanism emphasizes simplicity over accuracy and is ideal for applications where precise regulation is only required for the 21 nominal output level. However, those skilled in the art will note that a variety of alternative 22 embodiments of the standby safety mechanism can be realized by substituting or adding to the 23 recommended components. For instance, the diode drop mechanism in network (502) can be 24 replaced by a Zener network. Also, fixed voltage references, such as the Texas Instruments LM431, can be used in place of diodes, if more precision is required for the minimum keep-alive 26 level or maximum safe limit.
27 [0050] The standby safety mechanism defaults to the keep-alive limit whenever the 28 digital logic input is pulled low. It defaults to the upper safety limit whenever the digital logic 29 input is set high. Additionally, it remains in the upper safety limit when the digital logic input is set to a high-impedance state, such as during micro-controller programming.
31 [0051] The standby safety network provides the ability to set a preferred DC output 32 level at any level between a keep-alive minimum and a safe upper maximum, through a digitally CPST Doc: 391970.1 8 Date Recue/Date Received 2021-12-08 CA 2,869,544 CPST Ref: 11744/00002 1 supplied waveform. It also allows a micro-controller to assert a digital logic level and go to sleep, 2 locking regulation at one of the two enforced limits. The most practical use of the latter feature is 3 to lock regulation at the lower keep-alive limit and go to sleep for maximum power savings.
4 Finally, the standby safety network allows power to be supplied to the micro-controller by the power supply while the micro-controller is in a passive or halted state, such as during debug or 6 reprogramming.
7 [0052] If a digital square wave signal is provided by the micro-controller, this signal 8 will pass through the standby safety mechanism to the feedback circuitry.
This allows for an 9 arbitrary software controlled nominal level anywhere between the upper safety limit and the lower keep-alive limit.
11 [0053] The logic table enforced by the standby safety mechanism is as follows:

Digital Logic Safety Mode Output Passive (high impedance) Blocked Upper safety limit Enable (low) Blocked Upper safety limit Disable (high) Blocked Lower keep-alive limit Waveform Pass through Software controlled 14 [0054] In one embodiment of the standby safety mechanism provides numerous advantages. It enables software to control the nominal regulation level through a waveform.
16 Furthermore, software can force the mechanism into a keep-alive mode and most of the micro-17 controller can go to sleep, saving power. Furthermore, the system ensures that software 18 crashes or bugs cannot cause over voltage failure conditions or under voltage brown-outs.
19 Additionally, the system enables the micro-controller to remain powered by the power supply while halted or during programming.
21 [0055] Figure 6 is a circuit diagram of one embodiment of the system, with which the 22 present invention may be used. Figure 6 includes additional blocks outside the scope of this 23 invention to provide an example of a practical implementation.
24 [0056] The system is coupled to alternating current (AC) power, such as the power provided by a wall outlet. The AC power is rectified by rectifier block (600) using diode bridge CPST Doc: 391970.1 9 Date Recue/Date Received 2021-12-08 CA 2,869,544 CPST Ref: 11744/00002 1 (603) and bulk capacitor (604). In one embodiment, fuse (602) is included for safety. Capacitor 2 (601) is included to minimize emissions from the charge pump oscillator.
The output from 3 rectifier block (600) is high voltage DC.
4 [0057] Charge pump oscillator (640) is implemented, in one embodiment, using an integrated oscillator controller and MOSFET (641) available from a variety of vendors. In one 6 embodiment, the TinySwitch from POWER INTEGRATIONSTm is used. The oscillator (640) is 7 .. powered by bypass capacitor (642). Optical isolator (645) provides electrically isolated enable 8 signal (646) to integrated oscillator controller (641), which, in turn, powers transformer (630) 9 through its integrated MOSFET.
[0058] Snubber network (610) is included for illustrative purposes only but would be 11 used in a practical implementation to protect the MOSFET in integrated oscillator controller 12 (641) from over-voltage spikes generated by excess energy in transformer (630) during 13 switching cycles. Those skilled in the art will recognize that there are many suitable variations of 14 a snubber network and that the values of the components within the snubber network should be tuned to match the characteristics of the transformer and other components.
16 [0059] Safety capacitor (620) is included for illustrative purposes only. It is used to 17 provide a safe ground reference for the isolated portion of the circuit.
18 [0060] Rectifier block (650), consisting of Schottky diode (651) and bulk capacitor 19 (652), converts the high frequency, isolated AC output of transformer (630) into isolated DC.
[0061] Standby safety block (660), consisting of Zener network (661) and diode 21 network (662), implements the standby safety mechanism discussed above.
Signal diode (663) 22 provides a pathway for micro-controller (670) to send an enable signal waveform via output pin 23 (675) through standby safety block (660) to optical isolator 645, thereby setting the regulated 24 output voltage.
[0062] Output control block (680) provides regulated output voltage feedback to 26 micro-controller (670) on comparator input pin (672) via voltage divider network (683). Those 27 skilled in the art will recognize that the values in divider network (683) must be tuned to provide 28 a feedback voltage proportional to the output voltage, such that the feedback voltage on input 29 pin (672) are within the limits of the micro-controller (670).
[0063] Output control block (680) provides current feedback to micro-controller (670) 31 via positive input pin (671), which provides voltage before resistive shunt (681), and negative 32 input pin (674), which provides voltage after output gate switch (682).
The voltage drop between CPST Doc: 391970.1 10 Date Recue/Date Received 2021-12-08 CA 2,869,544 CPST Ref: 11744/00002 1 pins (671) and (674) is proportional to the current flowing through shunt (681) to the coupled 2 charging device.
3 [0064] Output control block (680) includes output gate MOSFET switch (682), which 4 allows micro-controller (670) to enable or disable current flow to the coupled device via output signal (673). When signal (673) is disabled and no current is allowed to flow through gate (682), 6 input pin (674) can be combined with an internal pull-up within micro-controller (670) to create 7 an attachment and detachment detection mechanism.
8 [0065] Micro-controller (670) utilizes system software (690) to provide output voltage 9 regulation and state. The logics described, in one embodiment, are software running on micro-controller (670). Regulate logic (692) controls output on enable pin (675) by monitoring 11 reference voltage at pin (672) in combination with feedback from monitor logic (693). Monitor 12 .. logic (693) monitors current flow through shunt (681) via pins (671) and (674) and calculates the 13 charge state of the coupled device as well as other factors, such as maximum safe current and 14 temperature, and reports results back to regulate logic (692) and state logic (691). State logic (691) determines the state of the system and controls output through gate (682) via signal (673).
16 [0066] The micro-controller, in one embodiment, uses a state machine-based 17 switching mechanism. The state machine switches the power output among the states of the 18 power supply. In one embodiment, at a minimum the power supply has two states, a keep-alive 19 level with power output to the coupled device disabled (standby), and a nominal level with power output to the coupled device enabled (charging). In one embodiment, when no device is 21 connected or the connected device is fully charged, the micro-controller is at a keep-alive level.
22 [0067] In one embodiment, the micro-controller includes software that provides a 23 regulator feedback loop for providing digital enable signal to the standby protection mechanism.
24 The micro-controller, in one embodiment, further includes a monitor feedback loop to measure power flow to the coupled device.
26 [0068] In one embodiment, each of these components (state machine, regulator 27 feedback loop, monitor feedback loop) is implemented as an independent thread in the micro-28 controller. Alternatively, each of feedback loops can be implemented as hardware timer events, 29 and the state machine as an endless main loop. Those skilled in the art will recognize that all three software components also can be implemented as a single continuous running loop.
31 [0069] The software controlled charger has numerous benefits. It regulates the 32 power very precisely. It also provides current fold-back when the load attempts to draw CPST Doc: 391970.1 11 Date Recue/Date Received 2021-12-08 CA 2,869,544 CPST Ref: 11744/00002 1 excessive current from the supply. Fold-back reduces both the output voltage and current to 2 below the normal operating limits. In one embodiment, the current limit that initiates fold-back is 3 a variable value maintained by the micro-controller.
4 [0070] In one embodiment, the system also provides temperature triggered fold-back, reducing the voltage and current when the system approaches the temperature limit. In 6 one embodiment, the temperature level which initiates fold-back is a variable value maintained 7 by the micro-controller. In one embodiment, temperature fold-back causes the algorithm in the 8 micro-processor to incrementally back off the current over a time period.
Because the micro-9 controller can precisely control current levels, and there is no need for hardware to limit current strictly. This enables the system to slowly reduce the current, until it reaches an acceptable 11 temperature. It can then iteratively increase the current, until it stabilizes at maximum 12 temperature limit. In one embodiment, above an upper threshold, the system may lock. This 13 ensures that, unlike some existing chargers which have an overheating problem, this charging 14 system will not overheat.
[0071] In one embodiment, the micro-controller may include a temperature sensor.
16 In one embodiment, the ambient temperature may be used to change the set point for the 17 current limit, since the current limit is controlled by software, and thus fully adjustable. T his 18 means that the system can adjust based on environmental conditions, and exhibit different 19 behaviors based on ambient conditions, for example hot or cold weather, or high or low humidity. This enables the system to adjust for current conditions, rather than having to account 21 for the worst case scenario in the design.
22 [0072] One embodiment of the state machine used by the micro-controller is shown 23 in Figure 7. In the standby state 710, the system instructs the regulator feedback loop to lock to 24 the keep-alive limit, and ensures that power flow through the power output port is disabled. In the standby state 710, the device detection circuitry is active. When a device attachment is 26 detected, the system moves to the charge state 720. Otherwise, the system stays in the 27 standby state 710. In one embodiment, when the system moves to the charge state, the 28 minimum, maximum and count values tracked by the monitor are reset.
29 [0073] In the charge state 720, the process instructs the regulator feedback loop to regulate at nominal output, and enables power flow through power output port.
In one 31 embodiment, device detection circuitry is disabled. In the charge state 720, the monitor 32 feedback loop is enabled to monitor power flow to the coupled device and report back the CPST Doc: 391970.1 12 Date Recue/Date Received 2021-12-08 CA 2,869,544 CPST Ref: 11744/00002 1 charge state. When the monitor feedback loop reports that the charge is complete, the system 2 moves to the complete state 730. Additionally, in one embodiment, if current stops flowing 3 through the charge port (indicating probable device disconnection), the system moves to the 4 complete state 730. In one embodiment, when an optional running timer, which times a maximum allowed charge time, expires, the system moves to the complete state 730.
6 [0074] In one embodiment, if monitor feedback loop reports an over-current 7 condition, charge state 720 temporarily switches to current limit state 725 until current falls 8 below the limit and it can switch back to charge state 720.
9 [0075] In the complete state 730, the process disables power flow through the power output port. The process then transitions back to the standby state 710.
11 [0076] Those skilled in the art will note that the above embodiment is a minimal, 12 exemplary implementation and that a number of practical enhancements can be added. Such 13 enhancements include, but are not limited to, features such as providing user feedback through 14 illumination or audible sounds, measurement output through serial or other interfaces, and additional states and timers, such as wake-up and re-charge. Further enhancements include, 16 but are not limited to, wireless or wired communication of measurements and states.
17 [0077] Those skilled in the art will also recognize that several enhancements to the 18 above implementation may be required for regulatory approval and safety.
Such enhancements 19 include but are not limited to features such as temperature monitoring and current limiting.
Finally, practical additions such as device attachment and detachment detection via voltage 21 drop, mechanical or optical switching, capacitive discharge or other methods may be utilized.
22 [0078] In one embodiment, a regulator feedback loop controls the enable signal to 23 the standby protection mechanism. This control loop for the regulator feedback sets the digital 24 enable state input to the standby safety mechanism. In one embodiment, the control loop may be cyclical or execute this process at a fixed interval. In one embodiment, the control loop may 26 be run within charging state 720.
27 [0079] The control loop for the regulator feedback asserts the digital input to the 28 standby protection mechanism in order to control the regulated voltage level in response to 29 certain events. In one embodiment, these events are:
o If the keep-alive flag is set, assert the standby input to logic low, locking voltage 31 to keep-alive level;
CPST Doc: 391970.1 13 Date Recue/Date Received 2021-12-08 CA 2,869,544 CPST Ref: 11744/00002 1 o else, if over-current flag is set, assert the standby input to logic low, lowering the 2 voltage;
3 o else, if the reference voltage supplied to the micro-controller is above the software 4 limit, assert the standby input to logic low, lowering the voltage;
o else, assert the standby input to logic high, raising the voltage.
6 [0080] In one embodiment, the regulator feedback loop cycles at a frequency 7 sufficient to achieve stable nominal regulation. This frequency is likely to be in the 1kHz-20kHz 8 range, depending on application.
9 [0081] The monitor feedback loop, as discussed above, monitors the power flow to the coupled device and, via computations on the power flow, determines when the device is 11 charged and no longer requires power. Typical rechargeable devices begin the charge process 12 by consuming maximum power, usually at a steady state level. This is then followed by a 13 gradual drop-off in power consumption as charging approaches completion.
In the final phase, 14 the slope of the drop-off in power becomes more gradual, asymptotically approaching steady state again. Figure 8 is a graph illustrating the power consumption curve.
16 [0082] The monitor feedback loop may be executed cyclically or at a fixed 17 frequency. In one embodiment, the monitor feedback loop is active when a device is connected 18 to the charger.
19 [0083] The monitor feedback loop checks the current flowing through the shunt by measuring the voltage drop across it, in one embodiment. In one embodiment, the monitor 21 feedback loop uses a ratio of enable to disable cycles generated by the regulator feedback loop 22 over a set time interval to determine the current flow. If the current exceeds a soft current limit, 23 the system sets the current limit flag (see regulator feedback loop) and allows nominal voltage 24 to fall below the regulated level, limiting current flow to the coupled device.
[0084] The monitor feedback loop computes and records power flowing to the 26 coupled device from the measured current. The below exemplary process is designed to 27 deduce the power curve, shown in Figure 8, based on the power flow measurements. Note that 28 the specific details are merely exemplary, and could be altered.
29 [0085] If power flowing to the coupled device exceeds the recorded maximum, in one embodiment, the system sets a new maximum, sets the minimum to the maximum, and 31 resets the time-between-minimums counter. Note that the "recorded maximum" is below the CPST Doc: 391970.1 14 Date Recue/Date Received 2021-12-08 CA 2,869,544 CPST Ref: 11744/00002 1 nominal maximum power, and rather a reflection of how much power the coupled device is 2 accepting rather than how much power the charger can produce.
3 [0086] If power flowing to the coupled device is below the recorded minimum, in one 4 embodiment, the system sets a new minimum, and resets the time-between-minimums counter.
[0087] If power flowing the coupled device is above the recorded minimum and at a 6 point below the recorded maximum, the process increases the time-between-minimums 7 counter. In one embodiment, the point below the recorded maximum is derived as half of the 8 recorded maximum.
9 [0088] If the time-between-minimums counter exceeds a set limit, the system sets the charge-complete flag.
11 [0089] In one embodiment, the system may perform additional optional 12 measurements and set additional flags. For example, the monitor feedback loop may also 13 monitor whether the device is over-temperature, or whether the charging conditions otherwise 14 exceed specification.
[0090] The above embodiment is designed to observe the drop from the initial 16 steady state maximum, here arbitrarily set to one-half of the maximum observed power, and 17 begin an analysis of the drop-off slope. As the slope gradually approaches steady state, the 18 time between observed new minimums will increase and is tracked by a running counter. Once 19 this counter has exceeded a set limit in state, the drop-off has become essentially flat or steady state. When that occurs, the device is fully charged, and the system can switch to the complete 21 state.
22 [0091] Those skilled in the art will realize that the advantage of the proposed 23 embodiment is that it functions for devices with both small and large power draws because it 24 does not require any pre-programmed fixed values or thresholds. It also works with devices that continue to draw significant levels of standby power after charge completion as well as those 26 that do not. It relies on shape analysis of the power curve and not on any fixed values.
27 [0092] Finally, those skilled in the art will note that the transition point for starting the 28 time-between-minimums analysis is arbitrarily set to the half of the maximum observed power 29 but that any realistic point between the maximum and anticipated minimums will suffice. Those skilled in the art will also realize that additional checks can be added to the monitor feedback 31 loop. For instance, an over temperature check could be combined with the over current check to 32 throttle back the current limit until the temperature stabilizes to an acceptable level.
CPST Doc: 391970.1 15 Date Recue/Date Received 2021-12-08 CA 2,869,544 CPST Ref: 11744/00002 1 [0093] As mentioned earlier, in one embodiment, the current measured via shunt 2 and observed in the standby state of the current feedback loop can be replaced by an internal 3 ratio of enable and disable states set by the regulator feedback loop over a fixed interval. This 4 ratio is a proxy for power output. Current is a proxy for power when output voltage is fixed to a known value.
6 [0094] Figure 9 is a flowchart of one embodiment of using the micro-controller for 7 providing additional features to the charging system. In one embodiment, these features may 8 take advantage of the processor in the device coupled to the charging system, which may be a 9 mobile phone or other mobile computing system.
[0095] At block 910, the micro-controller detects the device coupled to the charging 11 system. Optionally, at block 910, the charging system can request data from the coupled device.
12 In one embodiment, data requested from the coupled device is supplemented by data stored in 13 the charger system. In one embodiment, the data is stored in a table in a memory, and provides 14 information about various devices (e.g. model number data supplied by the device is matched to battery capacity in a table). In one embodiment, this may be done via the USB
plug. In one 16 embodiment, though, the USB data lines are shorted together in order to conform to Battery 17 Charging Device (BCD) specifications, and thus no data can be obtained from the USB
18 connection. In one embodiment, data may be requested via a Bluetooth or other wireless 19 connection.
[0096] In one embodiment, prior to receiving this information, the charger system 21 may provide a lower power output level to the coupled device. This ensures that if the coupled 22 device is a low power device, it is not damaged. The system then may increase the power 23 level, once the device data is received from the coupled device, and the actual power settings 24 are available. In one embodiment, if no data is received, the charger system assumes safe power settings for all allowed coupled devices.
26 [0097] At block 915, device data is received from the coupled device.
In one 27 embodiment, the device data is received via a Bluetooth or other wireless connection. In one 28 embodiment, the data may be the brand identity, model number, device ID, or some other data 29 that identifies the coupled device. In one embodiment, the coupled device data may be obtained from an application residing on the coupled device. The application is associated with 31 the charger system, and interacts with the charger system without requiring user action, in one CPST Doc: 391970.1 16 Date Recue/Date Received 2021-12-08 CA 2,869,544 CPST Ref: 11744/00002 1 embodiment. In one embodiment, if there is an application, the charger system may not request 2 the data directly, but rather wait for the application to send the data to it.
3 [0098] At block 920, when the data from the coupled device is received, the process 4 determines the power and charging configuration for the coupled device.
In one embodiment, this is done using a look-up table. In another embodiment, the power and charging 6 configuration is provided directly by an application residing on the coupled device. The charging 7 configuration may define the voltage and current levels used in charging the coupled device. In 8 one embodiment, the charging configuration may define the instantaneous power level (e.g.
9 10VV). In yet another embodiment, the data provided by an application instructs the charging system to relinquish power output and state control to the application itself.
11 [0099] At block 925, the coupled device is charged, based on the available data. In 12 one embodiment, charge status is derived through analysis of the power curve. In one 13 embodiment, the coupled device supplies charge status to the charger system as data.
14 [00100] At block 930, the process determines whether the system is overheating. If so, at block 935, the process backs off slowly from the current and voltage level, to ensure that 16 the device does not overheat.
17 [00101] At block 940, the process determines whether the system has a setting other 18 than full charge. In one embodiment, such settings may be made via an application. For 19 example, in one embodiment, the user may set the device or charger to provide a quick boost, for example to 50% power, after 10 minutes or 75% of power, whichever happens first.
21 [00102] If there is a setting other than a full charge, the process considers charging 22 complete, when the set level is reached.
23 [00103] At block 950, the process determines whether charging is complete. In one 24 embodiment, the process detects that the coupled device is fully charged. In one embodiment, the process detects that the coupled device has reached the setting other than full charge 26 indicated by the user. If not, the process returns to block 925, to continue charging the coupled 27 device. If charging is complete, the process proceeds to block 960.
28 [00104] In one embodiment, at block 960 when there is an available application, the 29 system may send a notification to the user, indicating that the coupled device is fully charged, or charged to the level indicated by the user (e.g. quick charge). In one embodiment, the 31 application resides on the coupled device. In another embodiment, the application resides on a 32 different device, such as a smart watch, computer, or other device that can connect to the CPST Doc: 391970.1 17 Date Recue/Date Received 2021-12-08 CA 2,869,544 CPST Ref: 11744/00002 1 coupled device. In one embodiment, the charger system provides additional data to the 2 application, at block 965. In one embodiment, for example, the application may have a 3 dashboard to show how much power was saved by using the charger system.
In one 4 embodiment, the application shows an estimate of time until complete charge. In one embodiment, the application provides an estimate, based on an initial evaluation by the charger 6 system, and periodically communicates with the charger system, to update the estimate with 7 real data.
8 [00105] At block 970, in one embodiment, the process utilizes the Bluetooth 9 connection between the charger system and the coupled device to determine whether a forgotten charger alert is needed. A forgotten charger alert is used, if after charging, the 11 charger is left behind, while the coupled device is moved away. If so, at block 975, an alert is 12 sent. In one embodiment, if the charger system interfaces with other devices of the user, in 13 addition to the coupled device, the alert may be provide in connection with any of those devices, 14 and using any of those devices.
[00106] At block 980, the process determines whether the user has overridden the 16 alert. In one embodiment, the user may override the forgotten charger alert, on the mobile 17 device, by indicating that the location in question is one where the charger is OK to be left 18 behind (e.g., at home). If the user overrides the alert, in one embodiment, the system uses 19 location data, from GPS, cellular triangulation, or other location information to tag the location, at block 985. The process then ends, at block 990. In one embodiment, the left-behind alerts 21 may also be made if the user leaves the mobile device behind, but takes the charger system.
22 [00107] Of course, though this process, is shown as a flowchart, it should be 23 understood by one of the skill in the art that the ordering of the actions is not necessarily limited 24 by what is shown. In one embodiment this is implemented as an interrupt-driven system, such that the system continuously monitors proximity and charge level, when appropriate.
26 Additionally, the ordering of the process flow may be different, and many of these steps may 27 take place concurrently. One of skill in the art should understand that the flowchart format is 28 simply used for convenience in this figure.
29 [00108] In the foregoing specification, the invention has been described with reference to specific exemplary embodiments thereof. It will, however, be evident that various 31 modifications and changes may be made thereto without departing from the broader spirit and CPST Doc: 391970.1 18 Date Recue/Date Received 2021-12-08 CA 2,869,544 CPST Ref: 11744/00002 1 scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims. The specification and drawings are, 2 accordingly, to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense.
CPST Doc: 391970.1 19 Date Recue/Date Received 2021-12-08

Claims (59)

WE CLAIM:

1. A method of controlling a power supply to charge a device, wherein the method is implemented by software and comprises:
setting a nominal power output level for power supplied to the device by a battery charge circuitry through a waveform controlled by a micro-controller;
identifying when the device connected to the power supply is fully charged based on an observed drop of power flow to the device, switching off the power to the device, and moving the micro-controller to a keep-alive mode;
providing an analog failsafe mechanism to move the power supply to the keep-alive mode when the micro-controller is halted, crashed, or in an error state.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
overriding a digital enable signal from the micro-controller, when an output voltage of the power supply exceeds an upper safety limit threshold.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:
regulating the output voltage at any level between a minimum enforced limit and a maximum enforced limit.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:
setting the output voltage based on data from the device, received via a connection with the device.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the connection comprises a USB
connection.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the connection comprises a Bluetooth connection.

7. The method of any one of claims 4 to 6, further comprising:
the power supply communicating with an application via the connection, wherein the application resides on one of: the device and a second device different from the device.
CPST Doc: 322451.3 20 Date Recue/Date Received 2021-12-08

8. A software-controlled power supply comprising:
a micro-controller to regulate output power of the software-controlled power supply;
a mechanism to provide feedback to the micro-controller to determine an amount of power flowing to a coupled device to be charged;
software in the micro-controller to monitor the power flowing to the coupled device;
a switch to disconnect the coupled device once the micro-controller has determined that the coupled device is fully charged based on an observed drop of the power flowing to the coupled device; and a standby safety mechanism to provide analog clamping of voltage when the micro-controller is non-functional.

9. The software-controlled power supply of claim 8, wherein the mechanism providing power feedback is selected from among:
a voltage across a resistive shunt, a voltage across the switch to disconnect the coupled device; and a pulse frequency measurement.

10. The software-controlled power supply of claim 8 or 9, further comprising:
the standby safety mechanism controlled by the micro-controller, an output of the standby safety mechanism used to regulate the power flowing to the coupled device between an allowed upper limit and an allowed lower limit.

11. The software-controlled power supply of any one of claims 8 to 10, wherein the mechanism allows the micro-controller to lock one or more of:
an upper safety limit, a lower safety limit.

12. The software-controlled power supply of any one of claims 8 to 11, wherein the mechanism automatically locks to a safety limit when the micro-controller stops providing input.

13. The software -controlled power supply of any one of claims 8 to 12, further comprising:
CPST Doc: 322451.3 21 Date Recue/Date Received 2021-12-08 CA 2,869,544 CPST Ref: 11744/00002 a device attachment detection mechanism to provide attachment status of the coupled device to the micro-controller.

14. The software-controlled power supply of any one of claims 8 to 13, further comprising:
an indication mechanism to indicate a status of the software-controlled power supply, the indication mechanism comprising one or more of: an illuminated element and an audible alert;
and the indication mechanism is provided using one or more of: a wired signal path, a wireless signal path, an external application, and an external device.

15. The software-controlled power supply of any one of claims 8 to 14, further comprising:
a state machine to control power states of the software-controlled power supply, the power states comprising a low power standby state, and a charging state.

16. The software-controlled power supply of claim 15, wherein each power state is influenced by data made available through a connection, and each power state affects one or more of a maximum output power, a maximum charge time, output voltage.

17. A software-controlled power supply comprising:
a micro-controller providing software control;
a feedback network to provide a reference voltage, based on an output voltage of the software-controlled power supply, the reference voltage provided as an input to the micro-controller;
the micro-controller to compare the reference voltage to a target value, and set a digital enable signal when the output voltage is below the target value;
a charge pump oscillator controlled by the digital enable signal, the charge pump oscillator enabled when the micro-controller determines that the output voltage is below a threshold, and disabled when the micro-controller determines that the output voltage is above a second threshold, enabling the software-controlled power supply to be set to any arbitrary voltage level;
CPST Doc: 322451.3 22 Date Recue/Date Received 2021-12-08 a standby safety mechanism to set the software-controlled power supply to a nominal voltage when the micro-controller is crashed, frozen, or halted, the standby safety mechanism to override the digital enable signal when the output voltage exceeds an upper safety limit.

18. The software-controlled power supply of claim 17, further comprising:
the standby safety mechanism is further to override a digital disable signal from the micro-controller when the output voltage falls below a lower keep-alive limit.

19. The software-controlled power supply of claim 18, further comprising:
the standby safety mechanism to lock regulation to the lower keep-alive limit when no device is coupled to the software-controlled power supply, enabling the micro-controller to go into a sleep state.

20. The software-controlled power supply of any one of claims 17 to 18, further comprising:
a load attachment detector to detect when no device is coupled to the software-controlled power supply, the load attachment detector to trigger the standby safety mechanism to lock regulation to the lower keep alive limit, to enable the micro-controller to go into a sleep state.

21. The software-controlled power supply of any one of claims 17 to 20, further comprising:
the micro-controller utilizing a communication mechanism, to communicate with a device for charging, the communication mechanism enabling customizing charging parameters, the parameters being one or more of: the output voltage, maximum current, charge time, and charge status.

22. The software-controlled power supply of any one of claims 17 to 21, wherein the micro-controller utilizes a charge completion algorithm comprising:
a power output measurement yielding a maximum and a minimum power measurement;

a timer to determine elapsed time between minimum power measurements; and a metric to establish when the elapsed time between minimum measurements constitutes charge completion.

CA 2,869,544 CPST Ref: 11744/00002

23. A method of controlling a power supply to charge a device, wherein the method is implemented by software and comprises:
setting a nominal power output level for the power supply through a waveform controlled by a micro-controller (209; 309; 409);
providing a charge pump oscillator (201; 301; 401; 601) controlled by a digital enable signal of the micro-controller, enabling the charge pump oscillator when the micro-controller determines that a voltage level output by the power supply is below a target value, and disabling the charge pump oscillator when the micro-controller determines that the voltage level output by the power supply is above the target value;
identifying when the device is fully charged based on a voltage drop to the device, the voltage drop being proportional to current flowing to the device, switching off power to the device, and moving the power supply to a keep-alive mode, in which an output level for the power supply is decreased below the nominal power output level;
providing an analog standby safety mechanism (310; 410; 610) to move the power supply to the keep-alive mode of the power supply when the micro-controller is halted, crashed, or in an error state, the keep-alive mode ensuring that the voltage level output by the power supply does not fall to zero.

24. The method of claim 23, the analog standby safety mechanism further comprising:
overriding the digital enable signal from the micro-controller, when the output voltage level exceeds an upper safety limit threshold.

25. The method of claim 23 or 24, further comprising:
regulating an output voltage at any level between a minimum enforced limit and a maximum enforced limit.

26. The method of claim 25, further comprising:
setting the output voltage based on data from the device to be charged, received via a connection with the device to be charged.
CPST Doc: 322451.3 24 Date Recue/Date Received 2021-12-08 CA 2,869,544 CPST Ref: 11744/00002

27. The method of claim 26, wherein the connection comprises one of a USB
connection and a Bluetooth connection.

28. The method of claim 26, further comprising:
the power supply communicating with an application via the connection, wherein the application resides on one of the device to be charged and a device different from the device to be charged.

29. The method of claim 23, wherein the identifying based on the voltage drop to the device comprises:
observing the voltage drop from an initial steady state to a reduced power level;
analyzing a drop-off slope;
identifying a steady state for the drop-off slope; and determining that the device is fully charged.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein the drop-off slope is analyzed by comparing a time between observed new minimums.

31. A software-controlled power supply to charge a device, the software-controlled power supply comprising:
a micro-controller (209; 309; 409) to regulate output power of the software-controlled power supply;
software in the micro-controller to monitor power flowing to the device;
a charge pump oscillator (201; 301; 401; 601) controlled by a digital enable signal from the micro-controller, the charge pump oscillator configured to be enabled when the micro-controller determines that the software-controlled power supply is below a target value, and disabled when the micro-controller determines that the software-controlled power supply is above the target value;
the micro-controller configured to identify when the device is fully charged based on an observed voltage drop of the software-controlled power supply, the voltage drop being CPST Doc: 322451.3 25 Date Recue/Date Received 2021-12-08 CA 2,869,544 CPST Ref: 11744/00002 proportional to current flowing to the device, and configured to switch off power to the device, and move the software-controlled power supply to a keep-alive mode; and an analog standby safety mechanism (310; 410; 610) coupled to the micro-controller, configured to provide analog clamping of the software-controlled power supply voltage when the micro-controller is halted, crashed, or in an error state, the analog standby safety mechanism to ensure that the output of the software-controlled power supply does not fall to zero.

32. The software-controlled power supply of claim 31, further comprising:
a current sensing mechanism, wherein the current sensing mechanism uses one of:
a voltage drop across a resistive shunt , a voltage drop across an output switch; and a pulse frequency measurement.

33. The software-controlled power supply of claim 31 or 32, further comprising at least one of the following:
(i) the analog standby safety mechanism (310; 410; 610) controlled by the micro-controller, the output of the analog standby safety mechanism used to regulate the power output between an allowed upper limit and an allowed lower limit;
(ii) a device attachment detection mechanism configured to provide attachment status of the coupled device to the micro-controller;
(iii) an indication mechanism to indicate a status of the software-controlled power supply, the indication mechanism comprising one or more of: an illuminated element and an audible alert; and the indication mechanism is provided via one or more of: a wired signal path, a wireless signal path, via an external application, and via an external device.

34. The software-controlled power supply of any one of claims 31 to 33, wherein the analog standby safety mechanism (310; 410; 610) is configured to perform at least one of the following functions:
(i) allowing the micro-controller (209; 309; 409) to lock one or more of an upper safety limit and a lower safety limit; and (ii) automatically locking to a safety limit when the micro-controller stops providing input.
CPST Doc: 322451.3 26 Date Recue/Date Received 2021-12-08 CA 2,869,544 CPST Ref: 11744/00002

35. The software-controlled power supply of any one of claims 31 to 34, further comprising:
a state machine to control power states of the software-controlled power supply, the power states comprising a low power standby state, and a charging state, and wherein optionally each power state is influenced by data made available through a connection, and each power state affects one or more of a maximum output power, a maximum charge time, output voltage.

36. The software-controlled power supply of claim 33, further comprising:
a feedback network to provide a reference voltage, based on an output voltage of the software-controlled power supply, the reference voltage provided as an input to the micro-controller;
the micro-controller configured to compare the reference voltage to the target value, and set the digital enable signal when the voltage is below the target value.

37. The software-controlled power supply of claim 36, further comprising:
a receiver configured to receive data from the device to be charged, the data used to set the output voltage, the data received via a connection which comprises one of a USB
connection and a Bluetooth connection.

38. A method of controlling a power supply using software comprising:
setting a nominal output voltage level as an output voltage through a waveform controlled by a micro-controller;
identifying when a device is fully charged, and moving to a keep-alive mode, in which the output voltage is decreased below the nominal output voltage level;
providing a failsafe to move the system to the keep-alive mode when the micro-controller is halted, crashed, or in an error state;
determining whether the device is disconnected from the power supply;
in response to determining the device is disconnected from the power supply, reducing the output voltage to a lower keep-alive limit and enabling the micro-controller to go into a sleep state.
CPST Doc: 322451.3 27 Date Recue/Date Received 2021-12-08 CA 2,869,544 CPST Ref: 11744/00002

39. The method of claim 38, further comprising: overriding a digital enable signal to trigger a standby safety mechanism from the micro-controller, when the output voltage exceeds an upper safety limit threshold.

40. The method of claim 38 or 39, further comprising:
regulating the output voltage at any level between a minimum enforced limit and a maximum enforced limit.

41. The method of claim 40, further comprising: setting the output voltage based on data from the device to be charged, received via a connection with the device to be charged.

42. The method of claim 41, wherein the connection comprises a USB
connection.

43. The method of claim 41, wherein the connection comprises a Bluetooth connection.

44. The method of claim 41, further comprising:
a charger communicating with an application via the connection, wherein the application resides on another device different from the device to be charged.

45. A software-controlled power supply comprising:
a micro-controller to regulate output power of the software-controlled power supply;
a mechanism to provide feedback to the micro-controller to determine the amount of power flowing to a coupled device to be charged;
software in the micro-controller to monitor power flowing to the coupled device; and a switch to disconnect the coupled device once the micro-controller has determined that the coupled device is fully charged based on the power flowing to the coupled device; and a standby safety mechanism to provide analog clamping of voltage when the micro-controller is non-functional;
determining whether the coupled device is disconnected from the software-controlled power supply;
CPST Doc: 322451.3 28 Date Recue/Date Received 2021-12-08 CA 2,869,544 CPST Ref: 11744/00002 in response to determining whether the coupled device is disconnected from the software-controlled power supply, reducing an output voltage to a lower keep-alive limit and enabling the micro-controller to go into a sleep state.

46. The software-controlled power supply of claim 45, wherein the mechanism providing power feedback is selected from among: a voltage across a resistive shunt, a voltage across a switch to disconnect the coupled device, and a pulse frequency measurement.

47. The software-controlled power supply of claim 45 or 46, further comprising: the standby safety mechanism controlled by the micro-controller, an output of the standby safety mechanism used to regulate power output between an allowed upper limit and an allowed lower limit.

48. The software-controlled power supply of any one of claims 45 to 47, wherein the standby safety mechanism allows the micro-controller to lock one or more of: an upper safety limit, a lower safety limit.

49. The software-controlled power supply of any one of claims 45 to 48, wherein the standby safety mechanism automatically locks to a safety limit when the micro-controller stops providing input.

50. The software-controlled power supply of any one of claims 45 to 49, further comprising:
a device attachment detection mechanism to provide attachment status of the coupled device to the micro-controller.

51. The software-controlled power supply of any one of claims 45 to 50 further comprising:
an indication mechanism to indicate a status of the software-controlled power supply, the indication mechanism comprising one or more of: an illuminated element and an audible alert;
and the indication mechanism is provided via one or more of: a wired signal path, a wireless signal path, an external application, and an external device.
CPST Doc: 322451.3 29 Date Recue/Date Received 2021-12-08 CA 2,869,544 CPST Ref: 11744/00002

52. The software-controlled power supply of any one of claims 45 to 51, further comprising:
a state machine to control power states of the software-controlled power supply, the power states comprising a low power standby state, and a charging state.

53. The software-controlled power supply of claim 52, wherein each power state is influenced by data made available through a connection, and each power state affects one or more of a maximum output power, a maximum charge time, output voltage.

54. A software-controlled power supply comprising:
a micro-controller providing software control;
a feedback network to provide a reference voltage, based on an output voltage of the software-controlled power supply, the reference voltage provided as an input to the micro-controller;
the micro-controller to compare the reference voltage to a target value, and set a digital enable signal when the reference voltage is below the target value;
a charge pump oscillator controlled by the digital enable signal, the charge pump enabled when the micro-controller determines that the reference voltage is below the target value, and disabled when the micro-controller determines that the reference voltage is above the target value, enabling the software-controlled power supply to be set to any arbitrary voltage level;
a standby safety mechanism to set the software-controlled power supply to a nominal voltage when the micro-controller is crashed, frozen, or halted, the standby safety mechanism to override the digital enable signal when the output voltage exceeds an upper safety limit.

55. The software-controlled power supply of claim 54, wherein the standby safety mechanism is further to override a digital disable signal from the micro-controller when the output voltage falls below a lower keep-alive limit.

56. The software-controlled power supply of claim 54 or 55, wherein the standby safety mechanism is further to lock regulation to the lower keep-alive limit when no device is coupled to the software-controlled power supply, enabling the micro-controller to go into a sleep state.
CPST Doc: 322451.3 30 Date Recue/Date Received 2021-12-08 CA 2,869,544 CPST Ref: 11744/00002

57. The software-controlled power supply of any one of claims 56 , further comprising: a load attachment detector to detect when no device is coupled to the software-controlled power supply, the load attachment detector to trigger the lock regulation to the lower keep alive limit, to enable the micro-controller to go into the sleep state.

58. The software-controlled power supply of any one of claims 54 to 57, further comprising:
the micro-controller utilizing a communication mechanism, to communicate with a device for charging, the communication mechanism enabling customizing charging parameters, the parameters being one or more of: output voltage, maximum current, charge time, and charge status.

59. The software-controlled power supply of any one of claims 54 to 57, wherein the micro-controller utilizes a charge completion algorithm comprising: a power output measurement yielding a maximum and a minimum power measurement; a timer to determine elapsed time between minimum power measurements; and a metric to establish when the elapsed time between minimum measurements constitutes charge completion.
CPST Doc: 322451.3 31 Date Recue/Date Received 2021-12-08