CN112868158A

CN112868158A - Charging device and charging method

Info

Publication number: CN112868158A
Application number: CN201980012273.9A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 产竹标; 胡章荣
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2019-08-29
Filing date: 2019-08-29
Publication date: 2021-05-28
Also published as: WO2021035628A1

Abstract

The application provides a charging device and a charging method, which can solve the problem that a battery of electronic equipment cannot be started due to over-discharge and realize normal charging of the battery. The charging device includes: a voltage conversion circuit for receiving an external power source and converting the external power source into a charging power source, the charging power source being coupled to a battery to perform a first charging for the battery; the comparator is used for comparing the current voltage of the battery with a preset first threshold value and outputting a first comparison result; and the enabling circuit is used for receiving the first comparison result from the comparator, and forbidding sending an enabling signal to the processor system to prevent the processor system from starting the software system when the first comparison result indicates that the current voltage is less than the first threshold value.

Description

Charging device and charging method

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to the field of electronic technologies, and in particular, to a charging device and a charging method in the field of electronic technologies.

Background

With the vigorous development of electronic device technology, the performance of electronic devices is being improved year by year. For a chargeable and dischargeable electronic device with system software, the electronic device needs to be powered by a battery. However, due to the limited capacity of the battery, the electronic device is increasingly loaded due to a large screen, a large game and the like, and situations such as shutdown with low power, over-discharge of the battery and the like sometimes occur.

The voltage conversion circuit is one of standard configuration modules of the electronic device, and when the electric quantity of the battery is consumed, the electronic device is in a shutdown state, and after a charger is plugged into the electronic device, the battery can be charged according to the Battery Charging (BC) 1.2 specification. A typical power supply capability of a Universal Serial Bus (USB) is 500mA, that is, after the electronic device is powered on, the default of the voltage conversion circuit can provide a current of up to 500mA to enable the processor system to start the software system, and then the voltage conversion circuit can be controlled by the software system to normally charge the battery. As the performance of devices such as a System On Chip (SOC), a double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDR SDRAM), a universal flash memory (UFS) in a software system is improved year by year, the power consumption for starting the software system will be larger and larger. When the power consumption for starting the software system is more than 500mA, namely the power supply capacity of the voltage conversion circuit is exceeded, the battery can supplement power for the software system, so that the risk of over-discharge of the battery is aggravated, the system starting is influenced, the electronic equipment cannot be started, and the battery cannot be charged. Therefore, how to avoid the power consumption caused by controlling the charging through the software system becomes a problem.

Disclosure of Invention

The application provides a charging device and a charging method, which can realize normal charging of a battery without the control of a software system.

In a first aspect, a charging device is provided, including: a voltage conversion circuit for receiving an external power source and converting the external power source into a charging power source, the charging power source being coupled to a battery to first charge the battery; the comparator is used for comparing the current voltage of the battery with a preset first threshold value and outputting a first comparison result; and the enabling circuit is used for receiving the first comparison result from the comparator, and forbidding sending an enabling signal to the processor system to prevent the processor system from starting the software system when the first comparison result indicates that the current voltage is smaller than the first threshold value.

According to the charging device, the current voltage of the battery is compared with the first threshold value through the comparator, when the current voltage of the battery is detected to be smaller than the first threshold value, the enabling signal is forbidden to be sent to the processor system, the battery is charged for the first time, safety and controllability are achieved, and normal charging of the battery can be achieved under the condition that a software system is not started. The scheme is particularly suitable for solving the problem that the electronic equipment cannot be started due to over-discharge of the battery.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementation manners of the first aspect, the comparator is further configured to compare the current voltage with a preset second threshold, and output a second comparison result; the enabling circuit is further configured to receive the second comparison result from the comparator, and send an enabling signal to the processor system to enable the processor system to start the software system when the second comparison result indicates that the current voltage is greater than or equal to the second threshold. The current voltage of the battery is compared with the second threshold value through the comparator, and the enabling circuit can send an enabling signal to the processor system when the current voltage of the battery is larger than or equal to the second threshold value, so that the software system is started. In this case, the voltage of the battery is sufficient to support the startup of the software system without exacerbating battery overdischarge.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the second threshold is greater than or equal to the first threshold.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the comparator includes a first comparator for comparing the current voltage with the first threshold, and a second comparator for comparing the current voltage with the second threshold.

In the case where the second threshold is larger than the first threshold, the charging device needs to include two comparators, i.e., the first comparator and the second comparator. The case where the charging device includes one comparator corresponds to setting the second threshold equal to the first threshold. Therefore, the circuit structure of the charging device can be simplified, the production cost is reduced, and the charging device is easier to realize. By setting the second threshold to be larger than the first threshold, the charging mode can be controlled in a finer granularity manner, and the risk in the charging process is favorably reduced.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, at least one of the first comparator or the second comparator is a hysteresis comparator.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the processor system is configured to control the voltage conversion circuit to perform the second charging on the battery by running the software system after the software system is started.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the second charging is trickle charging or constant-current charging.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the voltage conversion circuit is further configured to provide electrical energy to the processor system.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the first charging is a trickle charging.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the voltage conversion circuit is further configured to: when the first charging time reaches the preset time length, the first charging is stopped, and the charging safety is improved.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the enable circuit includes at least a low dropout output unit configured to output a preset voltage, where the preset voltage is used to characterize the enable signal or to further generate the enable signal.

In a second aspect, an electronic device is provided, which includes the charging apparatus and the processor system as described in any one of the implementation manners of the first aspect.

With reference to the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, the electronic device further includes a battery.

In a third aspect, a charging method is provided, including: the voltage conversion circuit receives an external power supply and converts the external power supply into a charging power supply, and the charging power supply is coupled to a battery to perform first charging on the battery; the comparator compares the current voltage of the battery with a preset first threshold value and outputs a first comparison result; an enable circuit receives the first comparison result from the comparator; when the first comparison result indicates that the current voltage is less than the first threshold, the enabling circuit disables sending an enabling signal to a processor system to prevent the processor system from starting a software system.

With reference to the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, the method further includes: the comparator compares the current voltage with a preset second threshold value and outputs a second comparison result; the enable circuit receives the second comparison result from the comparator; when the second comparison result indicates that the current voltage is greater than or equal to the second threshold value, the enabling circuit sends an enabling signal to the processor system to enable the processor system to start the software system.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of an application of a charging device according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 2 is another schematic structural diagram of a charging device according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 3 is another schematic structural diagram of a charging device according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an operation principle of a charging device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 5 is a schematic flow chart of a charging method provided herein.

Fig. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

The technical solution in the present application will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The terms "first," "second," and the like, as used herein do not denote any order, quantity, or importance, but rather are used to distinguish one element from another. Also, the use of the terms "a" or "an" and the like do not denote a limitation of quantity, but rather denote the presence of at least one. The terms "connected" or "coupled" and the like are not restricted to physical or mechanical connections, but may include electrical connections, whether direct or indirect, that are equivalent to a broad coupling or communication.

Reference herein to "modules" generally refers to a logically partitioned functional structure, and the "modules" may be implemented by pure hardware or a combination of hardware and software. In the implementation of the present application, "and/or" describes an association relationship of associated objects, which means that there may be three relationships, for example, a and/or B, which may mean: a exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone.

In the embodiments of the present application, words such as "exemplary" or "for example" are used to mean serving as an example, instance, or illustration. Any embodiment or design described herein as "exemplary" or "e.g.," is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments or designs. Rather, use of the word "exemplary" or "such as" is intended to present concepts related in a concrete fashion. In the description of the embodiments of the present application, the meaning of "a plurality" means two or more unless otherwise specified. For example, a plurality of processing units refers to two or more processing units; the plurality of systems refers to two or more systems.

The over-discharge of the battery means that the discharge of the battery is continued when the discharge voltage value of the battery exceeds the discharge termination voltage value, so that the internal pressure of the battery is increased, the reversibility of the positive and negative electrode active materials is damaged, and the capacity of the battery is obviously reduced. The voltage conversion circuit is one of standard modules of the electronic device and is used for performing functions of charging, supplying power to a processor system and the like. When the electric quantity of the battery is consumed, the electronic device is in a shutdown state, and after the charger is plugged into the electronic device, the battery can be charged according to the specification BC1.2 through the voltage conversion circuit. The typical power supply capacity of the USB is 500mA, that is, after the electronic device is powered on, the voltage conversion circuit can provide a maximum current of 500mA by default to enable the processor system to start the software system, and then the voltage conversion circuit can be controlled by the software system to normally charge the battery. In one example, the voltage conversion circuit is a voltage regulator (voltage regulator). Because the performances of devices such as an SOC, a DDR memory, a UFS memory and the like related to a software system are improved year by year, the power consumption for starting the software system is increased more and more. When the power consumption for starting the software system is more than 500mA, namely the power supply capacity of the voltage conversion circuit is exceeded, the battery can supplement power for the software system, so that the risk of over-discharge of the battery is aggravated, the system starting is influenced, the electronic equipment cannot be started, and the battery cannot be charged. Especially for the scenario of electromechanical integration, that is, the battery of the electronic device is not detachable, because the battery is not detachable, the user cannot take out the battery to charge the battery alone, and the electronic device cannot be started due to the over-discharge of the battery. Therefore, there is a need for a charging device that avoids controlling charging by a software system, thereby eliminating the above effects. In view of this, the present application provides a charging device, which does not need the control of a software system, and realizes the normal charging of a battery.

Fig. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of an application of a charging device according to an embodiment of the present application. The application configuration shown in fig. 1 includes a power supply system 100, a charging device 200, and a processor system 300. The power supply system 100 is connected to an input port Vin of the charging device 200 to provide power for the charging device 200. It should be understood that the power supply system 100 may be an active circuit, which typically includes a voltage source. The power supply system 100 may also be a grid power transmission line and an external power adapter, and the charging device 200 may be connected to the grid power transmission line through the external power adapter, so that the power grid supplies power to the charging device 200 through the power adapter. The output port Vout of the charging device 200 is connected to the processor system 300, and is used for supplying the processor system 300 with electric energy required for operation. The charging device 200 may be called a charging/discharging device, and may perform a charging function and a discharging function. The charge and discharge device is used to control the flow of power from the battery to the processor system 300 while performing the discharge function. Since the embodiment of the present application focuses on the charging function, the charging function is described in detail. The processor system 300 may be various processors or other types of devices, such as a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), a Central Processing Unit (CPU), and so on. The processor system 300 may also be various integrated circuit chips including, but not limited to, an artificial intelligence chip, an image processing chip, and the like, which are not limited in this application.

As shown in fig. 1, the charging device 200 may include a voltage conversion circuit 210, a comparator 220, and an enable circuit 230. The voltage conversion circuit 210 is connected to the input port Vin and the output port Vout of the charging device 200. The comparator 220 is connected to the voltage conversion circuit 210. The voltage conversion circuit 210 and the comparator 220 are connected to a battery (the battery is not shown). The battery may be one or more, and is not limited herein. The voltage conversion circuit 210 may receive power from the outside through the input port Vin, so as to charge the battery; the voltage conversion circuit 210 may also provide power to the processor system 300 through the output port Vout. The comparator 220 may obtain a current voltage of the battery and compare the current voltage of the battery with a preset threshold, thereby obtaining a comparison result. The enable circuit 230 is connected to the comparator 220 at one end and the processor system 300 at the other end, and can obtain the comparison result of the comparator 220, so as to send an enable signal to the processor system 230 according to the comparison result, or prohibit sending the enable signal to the processor system 230. The enable signal may enable the processor system 300 to start its corresponding software system.

The charging device 200 may be located in one chip. The chip may further include a processor system 300 forming the aforementioned SOC, or may be a separate chip, which may be a Power Management Unit (PMU). Alternatively, the charging device 200 may be partially located in a chip, and the other part is located outside the chip, that is, the charging device is implemented by using a combination of an on-chip circuit and an off-chip circuit, which is not limited in this embodiment.

Next, the structure and the operation principle of the charging device 200 shown in fig. 1 will be described in detail with reference to fig. 2 to 4. For clarity and completeness of discussion, the battery connected to the voltage conversion circuit 210 and the comparator 220 is shown in both the embodiments shown in fig. 2 and 3. Fig. 2 shows a schematic structural diagram of a charging device provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 2, the charging device 200 may include a voltage conversion circuit (including the charging unit 211 shown in fig. 2), a comparator 220, an enable circuit 230, a battery 240, a control unit 250, a transistor BF, an input port Vin, and an output port Vout. The control unit 250 and the transistor BF may be integrated in the voltage converting circuit 210, i.e. the voltage converting circuit 210 comprises three parts, namely the charging unit 211, the control unit 250 and the transistor BF. Alternatively, the control unit 250 and the transistor BF may be located outside the voltage converting circuit 210, which is not limited in this embodiment.

The input port Vin of the charging device 200 may be a power transmission port, such as a USB port. One end of the input port Vin of the charging device 200 is connected to an input terminal of the charging unit 211. During power supply or during battery charging, the other end of the input port Vin of the charging device 200 is connected to the power supply system 100 shown in fig. 1. An output terminal of the charging unit 211 is connected to an output port Vout of the charging device 200. The output port Vout is connected to the processor system 300 shown in fig. 1, and the power supply system 100 can supply power to the processor system 300 through the charging unit 211 and the output port Vout; or a battery in the charging device 200 may supply power to the processor system 300 through the output port Vout.

The charging unit 211 may receive an external power from the input port Vin and convert the external power into a charging power, which may also be called a charging voltage or a charging current, and the charging power is coupled to the battery 240 to charge the battery 240. The first input terminal of the comparator 220 is connected to the positive electrode of the battery 240 to obtain the current voltage of the battery 240, the second input terminal of the comparator 220 is connected to a reference Voltage (VREF) terminal to obtain a reference voltage (i.e. the preset first threshold value in the embodiment of the present application), and the output terminal of the comparator 220 is connected to the enable circuit 230 to input the comparison result to the enable circuit 230. Specifically, the comparator 220 may compare the current voltage of the battery 240 with a preset first threshold value, and output a first comparison result. The enable circuit 230 has one end connected to the comparator 220 and the other end connected to the processor system 300, and the enable circuit 230 may receive the first comparison result from the comparator 220, and disable the enable signal to be sent to the processor system 300 to prevent the processor system 300 from starting the software system when the first comparison result indicates that the current voltage of the battery 240 is less than the first threshold. Specifically, the enable circuit 230 may send a disable enable signal to effect the above blocking operation. In this way, the comparator 220 is used for judging the current voltage of the battery, when the current voltage of the battery is detected to be lower, the enabling signal is forbidden to be sent to the processor system 300, the first charging is directly carried out on the battery, the safety and the controllability are realized, and the normal charging of the battery can be realized under the condition that a software system is not started. The charging device can particularly solve the problem that the electronic equipment cannot be started due to over-discharge of the battery.

Alternatively, the first charge may be a trickle charge, but the embodiment is not limited thereto. When the charging scheme which is controlled by hardware and does not need to be controlled by a software system is applied to the charging process, the technical problem can be well solved, and the charging method is particularly suitable for the trickle charging process, and the problem of over-discharge of the battery in the trickle charging process at the beginning of charging is avoided.

In this embodiment, the enable signal is used for starting the software system by the processor system, and may also be referred to as a first signal or other names, which are not limited in this embodiment. The disable enable signal may be a second signal and may be a signal opposite to the first signal, which is not limited in this embodiment.

As an alternative embodiment, the enable circuit 230 includes at least a low dropout output unit for outputting a preset voltage, which is used for characterizing the enable signal or for further generating the enable signal. Illustratively, the enable signal may be generated by a Low Drop Out (LDO) unit included in the enable circuit 230, or may be output by another digital signal generating unit located after the LDO unit instead of being directly generated by the LDO unit, where the digital signal generating unit is configured to further convert the preset voltage generated by the LDO unit into a digital signal as the start signal. If the digital signal generating unit does not exist, the preset voltage generated by the LDO unit can be directly used as a start signal, which is not limited in the embodiment of the present application. For example, when the disable enable signal and the enable signal are both generated by the LDO unit and are both analog signals, the disable enable signal and the enable signal may be two opposite voltages, for example, the disable enable signal is a low voltage and the enable signal is a high voltage, which is not limited in the embodiment.

In one possible implementation, the charging unit 211 may be a voltage regulator, such as a BOOST-BUCK (BOOST-BUCK) type conversion circuit, a BUCK (BUCK) conversion circuit, or the like. Generally, the power input from the outside to the charging device 200 cannot directly supply power to the processor system 300 or charge the battery, and the externally input voltage signal or current signal needs to be adjusted by the charging unit 211 and converted into a voltage signal or current signal that can directly supply power to the processor system 300 or meet the charging requirement of the battery, and the voltage signal or current signal can supply power to the processor system 300 or charge the battery (i.e., can be used as a charging power source).

In the embodiment of the present application, a first terminal of the transistor BF is connected to the output port Vout of the charging unit 211, a second terminal of the transistor BF is connected to the anode of the battery 240, and a gate of the transistor BF is connected to the control unit 250. The cathode of the battery 240 is connected to a common ground of the charging system.

Illustratively, the transistor BF may be a battery field effect transistor (BATFET). The BATFET can be viewed as a special type of transistor. That is, its voltage-based control may operate in an on state or an off on state. The operation principle of the transistor will be explained in detail below. As shown in fig. 2, the transistor BF may be turned on under the control of the control unit 250, and the control unit 250 may also apply an enable signal to the transistor BF (e.g., apply a high level signal when the transistor BF is an N-channel transistor, and apply a low level signal when the transistor BF is a P-channel transistor). When the voltage difference between the first terminal potential and the second terminal potential of the transistor BF is smaller than a preset threshold (the preset threshold is usually small, and the potential values of the first terminal potential and the second terminal potential can be made approximately equal), the transistor BF is bidirectionally turned on. That is, at this time, the current of the first terminal of the transistor BF may flow to the second terminal, and the current of the second terminal may also flow to the first terminal. When the voltage difference between the first terminal potential and the second terminal potential of the transistor BF is greater than the preset threshold and the first terminal potential of the transistor BF is higher than the second terminal potential, the transistor BF is turned on in a single direction, and at this time, the first terminal current of the transistor BF flows to the second terminal. When the voltage difference between the first terminal potential and the second terminal potential of the transistor BF is greater than the preset threshold and the first terminal potential of the transistor BF is lower than the second terminal potential, the transistor BF is turned on in a single direction, and at this time, the second terminal current of the transistor BF flows to the first terminal. When the control unit 250 applies an off signal (e.g., applies a low level signal when the transistor BF is an N-channel transistor, and applies a high level signal when the transistor BF is a P-channel transistor) to the transistor BF, the transistor BF is turned off. In addition, in some scenarios, the control unit 250 may also be implemented by a logic circuit, a controller, or other means (e.g., a Programmable Logic Controller (PLC)).

As an alternative embodiment, when the first comparison result indicates that the current voltage of the battery 240 is greater than or equal to the first threshold value, an enable signal is sent to the processor system 300 to enable the processor system 300 to start the software system. In this embodiment of the application, by obtaining the comparison result of the comparator 220 on the current voltage and the first threshold, the enabling circuit 230 may not only prohibit sending the enabling signal to the processor system 300 when the current voltage of the battery is less than the first threshold, so as to avoid starting the software system, but also send the enabling signal to the processor system 300 when the current voltage of the battery is greater than or equal to the first threshold, so as to start the software system, thereby implementing normal charging of the battery.

For example, after the battery 240 is charged for the first time, the comparator 220 may determine whether the current voltage of the battery 240 is greater than or equal to the first threshold (this embodiment may also be referred to as meeting a power-on condition, or a start condition), and when the current voltage of the battery 240 is greater than or equal to the first threshold, the enabling circuit 240 may send an enabling signal to the processor system 300, so that the processor system 300 starts the software system. In this case, the voltage of the battery 240 is sufficient to support the startup of the software system without exacerbating battery overdischarge.

As an alternative embodiment, the charging device 200 includes a first comparator for comparing the present voltage with a preset first threshold value and a second comparator for comparing the present voltage with a preset second threshold value. The first comparator may send a first comparison result to the enable circuit 230 and the second comparator may send a second comparison result to the enable circuit 230. The enabling circuit 230 may not only prohibit sending the enabling signal to the processor system 300 when the current voltage of the battery is less than the first threshold, so as to avoid starting the software system, but also send the enabling signal to the processor system 300 when the current voltage of the battery is greater than or equal to the second threshold, so as to start the software system, thereby implementing normal charging of the battery.

Fig. 3 shows another schematic structural diagram of a charging device provided in an embodiment of the present application. In fig. 3, a first comparator 221 is used for comparing the current voltage of the battery 240 with a preset first threshold, and a second comparator 222 is used for comparing the current voltage of the battery 240 with a preset second threshold. A first input terminal of the first comparator 221 is connected to the positive electrode of the battery 240 to obtain a current voltage of the battery 240, a second input terminal of the first comparator 221 is connected to the first VREF terminal to obtain a first reference voltage (i.e., a preset first threshold value in the embodiment of the present application), and an output terminal of the first comparator 221 is connected to the enable circuit 230 to input a first comparison result to the enable circuit 230. Similarly, a first input terminal of the second comparator 222 is connected to the positive electrode of the battery 240 to obtain the current voltage of the battery 240, a second input terminal of the second comparator 222 is connected to the second VREF terminal to obtain a second reference voltage (i.e. a preset second threshold value in the embodiment of the present application, the second threshold value is greater than the first threshold value), and an output terminal of the second comparator 222 is connected to the enable circuit 230 to input the second comparison result to the enable circuit 230. It should be understood that the first comparator 221 in fig. 3 is equivalent to the comparator 220 in fig. 2, and reference may be made to fig. 2 for other devices (e.g., the charging unit 211, the control unit 250, etc.) in fig. 3, and details are not repeated here.

For example, after the battery 240 is charged for the first time, the second comparator 222 may determine whether the current voltage of the battery 240 is greater than or equal to the second threshold (this embodiment may also be referred to as meeting a power-on condition, or a start condition), and when the current voltage of the battery 240 is greater than or equal to the second threshold, the enabling circuit 240 may send an enabling signal to the processor system 300, so that the processor system 300 starts the software system. In this case, the voltage of the battery 240 is sufficient to support the startup of the software system without exacerbating battery overdischarge.

It should be understood that two possible implementations are listed above, and in a first possible implementation, a threshold value may be preset, so that, as shown in fig. 2, the charging device 200 includes a comparator 220, which corresponds to a first threshold value for prohibiting the start of the software system being equal to a second threshold value for enabling the start of the software system, i.e. a threshold value is determined to prohibit or enable the start of the software system. In a second possible implementation manner, two thresholds may be preset, so that, as shown in fig. 3, the charging device 200 may include two comparators, that is, the first comparator 221 and the second comparator 222, and the operating principles of the first comparator 221 and the second comparator 222 may be the same and may each operate independently, which is not limited in this embodiment of the application. In fig. 2, the second threshold is set to be equal to the first threshold, so that the circuit structure of the charging device is simplified, only one comparator is reserved, the production cost is reduced, and the charging device is easier to implement. In fig. 3, by setting the second threshold to be greater than the first threshold, the charging mode can be controlled in a finer granularity, which is beneficial to reducing risks in the charging process.

Optionally, at least one of the first comparator 221 or the second comparator 222 in fig. 3 is a hysteresis comparator. Similarly, the comparator 220 in fig. 2 may also be a hysteresis comparator. Further, at least one of the first threshold value and the second threshold value may be preset. For example, the first threshold may be 3.5V, the second threshold may be 4V; for another example, when only the first threshold value is present, or when the first threshold value and the second threshold value are equal, both the values may be 3.5V, which is not limited in the embodiment of the present application.

Optionally, the charging device may further include another comparator, referred to herein as a third comparator, on the basis of the comparator 220 (or the first comparator 221 and the second comparator 222). The first input end of the third comparator is connected to the input port Vin to obtain the USB voltage, the second input end of the third comparator is connected to the third VREF end to obtain a third reference voltage (which may also be referred to as a preset third threshold) for starting the charging process, and the output end of the third comparator is connected to the charging unit 211, specifically, the third comparator may compare the USB voltage with the preset third threshold to obtain a comparison result, so that the charging unit 211 determines whether the charging device 200 is connected to the external power source according to the comparison result. For example, if the USB voltage is greater than the third threshold (e.g., 4V), the charging unit 211 may determine that the charging device 200 is connected to the external power source, so as to start the charging process according to the embodiment of the present application. If the USB voltage is less than or equal to the third threshold, the charging unit 211 may determine that the charging device 200 does not access the external power source, and does not perform a charging operation on the battery.

For example, after detecting the external power source (i.e., the insertion of the charging adapter), if the USB voltage is greater than the third threshold 4V, and the current voltage of the battery is greater than the first threshold (fig. 2) or the second threshold (fig. 3)3.5V, the charging device 200 may output the enable signal through the enable circuit 230. Further, if the USB voltage is less than 5V, the enable circuit 230 may enter the through mode, that is, the voltage of the output enable signal is the same as the USB voltage; if VBUS is greater than or equal to 5V, the enable circuit 230 can operate normally, and the voltage of the output enable signal is a constant voltage of 5V.

Optionally, the charging device 200 may further include a storage unit (not shown in the drawings), and the storage unit may be configured to store the preset first threshold, the preset second threshold, the preset third threshold, and other parameters.

As an alternative embodiment, the processor system 300 may control the voltage converting circuit 210 to perform the second charging on the battery by running the software system after starting the software system. Optionally, the second charging is trickle charging or constant current charging, which is not limited in this embodiment. When the second charging is constant current charging, that is, the processor system 300 is started to operate the software system to control and execute the constant current charging, the large current charging can be realized, and a better effect is achieved. When charging is started, the software system is not started, trickle charging is executed under the control of hardware, when charging reaches a preset condition, for example, the charging time reaches a preset time length, trickle charging can be stopped, the software system is started, and constant-current charging is executed under the control of the software system, so that the charging efficiency is improved.

As an optional embodiment, the voltage converting circuit 210 is further configured to stop the first charging when the time of the first charging reaches a preset time length. Alternatively, the voltage converting circuit 210 stops the first charging of the battery, specifically, the control unit 250 in or outside the voltage converting circuit 210 controls to stop the first charging of the battery by the voltage converting circuit 210. For example, the voltage converting circuit 210 includes three parts, namely a charging unit 211, a control unit 250 and a transistor BF, the control unit 250 is a digital circuit or other type of circuit independent from the processor system 300, and does not need to be controlled by the processor system 300, and at this time, the control unit 250 can automatically control the transistor BF to be turned on and off, so as to control the charging process without software. Illustratively, the control unit 250 may count time when the first charging is started, i.e. start a timer, which may be located in the control unit 250, the duration of the timer is a preset duration, e.g. 20min or 30min, and when the timer expires, the control unit 250 may control the transistor BF to be turned off, see in particular fig. 2 or 3.

In a possible implementation manner, since the voltage of the battery gradually increases along with the charging process, after the battery is first charged for a period of time without starting the software system, the current voltage of the battery meets the startup condition (i.e., is greater than or equal to the second threshold), so that the enabling circuit 230 sends an enabling signal to the processor system 300 to start the software system, and then the battery is second charged. Therefore, the control unit 250 may obtain the current charging mode after the charging time reaches the preset time period, turn off the transistor BF if the current charging mode is the first charging and the software system is not started, and continue the second charging if the current charging mode is the second charging and the software system is already started. When the first charging time reaches the preset time, the control unit 250 controls the transistor BF to be turned off, so that the charging safety can be improved. In the scheme, a hardware control mechanism with a comparator is not used for charging the battery all the time, and the process is stopped when the charging reaches a certain time.

Optionally, the charging device 200 according to the embodiment of the present application may further detect whether the battery 240 is in place through the detection unit, execute the charging process only on the premise that the battery 240 is in place, and stop charging when the battery 240 is not in place, so as to avoid invalid charging, and reduce the loss of the circuit. Alternatively, the detection unit may detect whether the battery is in place by detecting the temperature of the battery.

Fig. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an operation principle of the charging device 200 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The method specifically comprises the following steps: s501, whether an external power supply is connected is detected. For example, the charging device 200 may determine whether the voltage of the external power source is greater than a preset third threshold (e.g., 4V) through a comparator (e.g., the third comparator described above), and if the voltage of the external power source is greater than or equal to the third threshold, the charging device 200 may be considered to be connected to the external power source; if the voltage is less than the third threshold, it is determined that the charging device 200 is not connected to the external power source. If the charging device 200 does not access the external power source, S502 is executed, and since the battery cannot be charged, the charging process is ended; when the charging device 200 is connected to the external power supply, S503 is executed to detect the current voltage of the battery connected to the charging device 200. S504, whether the current voltage of the battery is smaller than a first threshold value is detected. For ease of understanding, the following description is divided into two cases.

In case 1, if the current voltage of the battery is smaller than the first threshold, the following process is executed: s505, performing first charging (for example, trickle charging) on the battery, and prohibiting sending an enabling signal to the processor system, namely prohibiting starting the software system through the processor system; s506, after a period of time elapses from the first charging, a current voltage of the battery is detected. And S507, judging whether the current voltage of the battery is greater than or equal to a second threshold value. If the current voltage of the battery is greater than or equal to the second threshold, S508 is executed, and the enabling signal is sent, so that the processor system starts the software system, and the voltage conversion circuit is controlled by the software system to perform the second charging on the battery. Alternatively, the charging device 200 may end the charging process until the battery is fully charged or the charging time of the battery is used up. If the current voltage of the battery is smaller than the second threshold, executing S509, determining whether the first charging time exceeds a preset time threshold (for example, 20min or 50min), and if the first charging time exceeds the preset time threshold, stopping charging the battery, and ending the process; if the first charging time does not exceed the preset time threshold, S505 is continuously executed to perform trickle charging on the battery.

And 2, if the current voltage of the battery is greater than or equal to the first threshold, executing S507, and determining whether the current voltage of the battery is greater than or equal to a second threshold. The subsequent process is the same as the process after S507 in case 1, and is not described herein again.

The first threshold value is less than or equal to the second threshold value, for example, the first threshold value may be 3.5V, and the second threshold value may be 4V; for another example, the first threshold and the second threshold may both be 3.5V, which is not limited in this embodiment of the application. If the first threshold and the second threshold are equal, S504 and S507 may be combined into one step, so as to save the internal processing load of the charging device 200, which is beneficial to increase the charging speed and the system start-up speed.

In S508, the process of controlling the voltage conversion circuit to perform the second charging on the battery by the processor system 300 running the software system may refer to the prior art, which is not described in this embodiment. It should be understood that the sequence numbers of the above-mentioned processes do not mean the execution sequence, and the execution sequence of each process should be determined by its function and inherent logic, and should not constitute any limitation to the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application. Based on the charging device shown in the above embodiments, please refer to fig. 5. Fig. 5 is a schematic flow chart of a charging method 600 according to an embodiment of the present application. The method may be performed by the charging device 200, but the embodiment of the present application is not limited thereto.

The method comprises the following steps: s610, a voltage conversion circuit receives an external power supply and converts the external power supply into a charging power supply, and the charging power supply is coupled to a battery to perform first charging on the battery; s620, the comparator compares the current voltage of the battery with a preset first threshold value and outputs a first comparison result; s630, the enable circuit receives the first comparison result from the comparator; and S640, when the first comparison result shows that the current voltage is smaller than the first threshold, the enabling circuit prohibits sending an enabling signal to the processor system to prevent the processor system from starting the software system.

As an optional embodiment, the method 600 further includes: the comparator compares the current voltage with a preset second threshold value and outputs a second comparison result; the enable circuit receives the second comparison result from the comparator; when the second comparison result indicates that the current voltage is greater than or equal to the second threshold value, the enabling circuit sends an enabling signal to the processor system to enable the processor system to start the software system.

According to the charging method, the current voltage of the battery is judged, when the current voltage of the battery is detected to be lower, the enabling signal is forbidden to be sent to the processor system, the battery is directly charged for the first time, safety and controllability are achieved, and normal charging of the battery can be achieved under the condition that a software system is not started. The scheme can particularly solve the problem that the electronic equipment cannot be started due to over-discharge of the battery.

An embodiment of the present application further provides an electronic device, and as shown in fig. 6, fig. 6 shows a schematic structural diagram of an electronic device provided in an embodiment of the present application. The electronic device 700 may be any chargeable and dischargeable device having system software, such as a mobile phone (mobile phone), a tablet computer, a notebook computer, a palm computer, a Mobile Internet Device (MID), a wearable electronic device (e.g., a smart watch), a Virtual Reality (VR) device, an Augmented Reality (AR), or a vehicle-mounted device. Specifically, the electronic device shown in the present application may include the charging device 200 shown in any of fig. 1 to 3. The electronic device further includes a battery to which the voltage conversion circuit 210 and the control circuit (including the comparator 220 and the enable circuit 230) of the electronic device are respectively connected.

While the invention has been described with reference to specific embodiments, the scope of the invention is not limited thereto, and those skilled in the art can easily conceive various equivalent modifications or substitutions within the technical scope of the invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application shall be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

A charging device, comprising:

a voltage conversion circuit for receiving an external power source and converting the external power source into a charging power source, the charging power source being coupled to a battery to first charge the battery;

the comparator is used for comparing the current voltage of the battery with a preset first threshold value and outputting a first comparison result;

and the enabling circuit is used for receiving the first comparison result from the comparator, and forbidding sending an enabling signal to the processor system to prevent the processor system from starting the software system when the first comparison result indicates that the current voltage is smaller than the first threshold value.
The charging device according to claim 1, wherein the comparator is further configured to compare the current voltage with a preset second threshold value, and output a second comparison result;

the enabling circuit is further configured to receive the second comparison result from the comparator, and send an enabling signal to the processor system to enable the processor system to start the software system when the second comparison result indicates that the current voltage is greater than or equal to the second threshold.
A charging arrangement as claimed in claim 2, in which the second threshold is greater than or equal to the first threshold.
A charging arrangement as claimed in claim 2 or 3, in which the comparator comprises a first comparator for comparing the present voltage with the first threshold value, and a second comparator for comparing the present voltage with the second threshold value.
A charging arrangement as claimed in claim 4, in which at least one of the first or second comparators is a hysteresis comparator.
A charging arrangement as claimed in any of claims 2 to 5, in which the processor system is arranged, after the software system has been activated, to control the voltage conversion circuit to charge the battery a second time by operating the software system.
The charging device according to claim 6, wherein the second charging is trickle charging or constant-current charging.
A charging arrangement as claimed in any of claims 2 to 7, in which the voltage conversion circuit is also arranged to provide electrical energy to the processor system.
The charging device according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the first charging is trickle charging.
The charging device of any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the voltage conversion circuit is further configured to:

And stopping the first charging when the first charging time reaches a preset time length.
The charging device according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the enable circuit comprises at least a low dropout output unit for outputting a preset voltage, the preset voltage being used for characterizing the enable signal or for further generating the enable signal.
An electronic device comprising the charging apparatus of any of claims 1 to 11, further comprising the processor system.
The electronic device of claim 12, further comprising the battery.
A method of charging, comprising:

the voltage conversion circuit receives an external power supply and converts the external power supply into a charging power supply, and the charging power supply is coupled to a battery to perform first charging on the battery;

the comparator compares the current voltage of the battery with a preset first threshold value and outputs a first comparison result;

an enable circuit receives the first comparison result from the comparator;

when the first comparison result indicates that the current voltage is less than the first threshold, the enabling circuit disables sending an enabling signal to a processor system to prevent the processor system from starting a software system.
The charging method according to claim 14, further comprising:

the comparator compares the current voltage with a preset second threshold value and outputs a second comparison result;

the enable circuit receives the second comparison result from the comparator;

when the second comparison result indicates that the current voltage is greater than or equal to the second threshold value, the enabling circuit sends an enabling signal to the processor system to enable the processor system to start the software system.