TW201814430A - Electronic devices and power management methods - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides an electronic device, including a battery, an adapter, a power management unit, a CPU and an embedded controller. The power management unit connects to the battery and the adapter, and controls to the battery or the adapter to supply power. The CPU executes at least one instruction, and outputs a load of the CPU. The embedded controller receives the load from the CPU, and controls the power management unit to supply the power from the battery or the adapter according to the load.

Description

 Electronic device and power management method  

The present invention relates to an electronic device and a power management method, and more particularly to an electronic device and a power management method for determining power supply by a battery or an adapter according to a load of the system.

In general, when a laptop with a battery is not plugged into an adapter, the notebook is usually powered by a battery (DC power). However, when the adapter is plugged into the battery, the notebook is switched directly to the adapter (AC power). But this is not the most power-saving situation for laptops. Therefore, how to power a notebook in a more energy-efficient manner while having a battery and an adapter is currently a problem to be solved.

To solve the above problems, the present invention provides an electronic device including a battery, an adapter, a power management unit, a central processing unit, and an embedded controller. The power management unit is connected to the battery and the adapter, and controls the battery or adapter to provide power. The central processor is configured to execute at least one computer command and one of the central processor loads. The embedded controller is configured to receive the load from the central processing unit and control the power management unit to be powered by the battery or the adapter according to the amount of load and the remaining power.

Another embodiment of the present invention provides a power management method, which is applicable to an electronic device, including: executing at least one computer command through a central processing unit, and outputting a load of one of the central processing units; The processor receives the load; and controls the power management unit to supply power from a battery or an adapter according to the load amount through the embedded controller, wherein the power management unit is simultaneously connected to the battery and the adapter.

100‧‧‧Electronic devices

110‧‧‧Central Processing Unit

120‧‧‧ embedded controller

130‧‧‧Power Management Unit

140‧‧‧Battery

150‧‧‧Adapter

S _C1 ‧‧‧First control signal

S _C2 ‧‧‧second control signal

S _Ch1 ‧‧‧First charging signal

S _Ch2 ‧‧‧Second charging signal

S201~S205‧‧‧Step procedure

1 is a schematic view showing an electronic device according to an embodiment of the invention.

2 is a flow chart showing a power management method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Other ranges applicable to the apparatus and method of the present invention will be apparent from the detailed description provided hereinafter. It is to be understood that the following detailed description, as well as specific embodiments, are intended to be illustrative of the embodiments of the invention, and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention.

1 is a schematic view showing an electronic device 100 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1 , the electronic device 100 includes a central processing unit 110 , an embedded controller 120 , a power management unit 130 , a battery 140 , and an adapter 150 . The central processing unit 110 is configured to execute at least one computer command and output a current load amount according to the operating state thereof. A power management unit (PM) 130 is simultaneously connected to the battery 140 and the adapter 150 for determining the remaining power of the battery 140 and outputting the remaining power information to the embedded controller 120, and controlling the battery 140 or the adapter 150. Provide power. It should be noted that when the adapter 150 is connected to the electronic device 100, the power management unit 130 receives the connection notification of the adapter 150 and outputs the connection notification to the embedded controller 120, but the embedded controller 120 does not The enabled power management unit 130 directly switches power supply by the adapter 150. The embedded controller (EC) 120 can be a 16-bit single chip for receiving the load of the system from the central processing unit 110, and receiving the remaining battery information of the battery 140 from the power management unit 130, and according to the load. The quantity control power management unit 130 is powered by the battery 140 or the adapter 150.

According to an embodiment of the invention, when the central processing unit 110 is operating under a low load (for example, when the system is operating in the S3/S5 state), the embedded controller 120 outputs a first control signal S _C1 to The power management unit 130 controls the power supply provided by the battery 140 for the electronic device 100 to operate according to the first control signal S _C1 . On the other hand, when the central processing unit 110 is operating under a high load (for example, when the system operates in a state other than S3/S5), the embedded controller 120 outputs a second control signal S _C2 to the power management unit 130. The power management unit 130 controls the power supply provided by the adapter 150 for the electronic device 100 to operate according to the second control signal S _C2 . Among them, according to the computer power management specifications - Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (Advanced Configuration and Power Interface) developed by Intel, Microsoft, Phoenix, HP and Toshiba, the computer system can be divided into seven working states, respectively It is G0(S0), G1 (subdivided into S1, S2, S3, S4) and G2 (S5). G0 refers to the normal working state of the computer. At this time, the operating system and the application are all in the execution state. G1 refers to the sleep state of the computer, which is subdivided into S1, S2, S3 and S4 from short to long according to the length of waiting time for waking up the computer system. The S1 is the most power-hungry sleep mode, and the system continues to supply power to the CPU and internal memory. S2 is a deeper sleep mode than S1, but the system does not supply power to the CPU. The S3 is in standby mode or sleep mode. It is called "Suspend to RAM/STR" in the BIOS. At this time, the system continues to supply power to the main memory (RAM). S4 is a sleep mode or a safe sleep mode (sleep), also known as "hanging to a hard disk". The contents of all main memory are stored in non-volatile memory, such as a hard disk, to protect the current state of the operating system. G2, also known as S5, is a soft off mode. The system continues to power certain components so that the computer can be woken up by some devices. In this embodiment, the battery 140 is powered when the system enters the standby mode or the soft power off mode.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, the embedded controller 120 can further determine the charging current according to the remaining power information of the battery 140. For example, when the remaining power of the battery 140 is greater than a predetermined power (for example, the remaining power is greater than 30%), the embedded controller 120 outputs a first charging signal S _Ch1 to the power management unit 130, and the power management unit 130 A charging signal S _Ch1 charges the battery 140 through the adapter 150 with a smaller first current. On the other hand, when the remaining power of the battery 140 is less than or equal to the predetermined power (for example, the remaining power is less than or equal to 30%), the embedded controller 120 outputs a second charging signal S _Ch2 to the power management unit 130, and the power management unit 130 The second charging signal S _Ch2 charges the battery 140 through the adapter 150 with a second current greater than one of the first currents.

It is worth noting that the embedded controller 120 is powered by the battery 140 or the adapter 150 only according to the load selection of the system, and the remaining power of the battery 140 does not affect the selection of the embedded controller 120. For example, although the remaining power of the battery 140 is less than 30%, when the central processing unit 110 operates at a low load, the embedded controller 120 still outputs the first control signal S _C1 to be powered by the battery 140. At the same time, the embedded controller 120 further outputs a second charging signal S _Ch2 to control the adapter 150 to charge the battery 140 with a larger second current. On the other hand, when the remaining power of the battery 140 is greater than 30%, but the central processing unit 110 operates under high load, the embedded controller 120 outputs the second control signal S _C2 to be powered by the adapter 150, and simultaneously outputs the first A charging signal S _Ch1 charges the battery 140 with a smaller first current.

2 is a flow chart showing a power management method according to an embodiment of the present invention. In step S201, the central processing unit 110 executes at least one computer instruction, and outputs the load amount corresponding to the central processing unit 110 to the embedded controller 120. In step S202, the embedded controller 120 receives its load from the central processor 110. In step S203, the embedded controller 120 determines whether the load of the central processing unit 110 is greater than a predetermined value. If the load amount is less than or equal to the predetermined value, the process proceeds to step S204, and the embedded controller 120 outputs the first control signal S _{C1 to} control the power management unit 130 to provide power from the battery 140 for the electronic device 100 to operate. On the other hand, if the load amount is greater than the predetermined value, the process proceeds to step S205, and the embedded controller 120 outputs the second control signal S _{C2 to} control the power management unit 130 to be powered by the adapter 150 for the electronic device 100 to operate.

In summary, according to the electronic device and the power management method of the embodiment of the present invention, when the electronic device is connected to the adapter and the battery at the same time, the embedded controller is determined by the battery or the adapter according to the load of the system or the central processing unit. The power supply is not directly powered by the adapter, and the battery can be properly charged through the adapter according to the remaining power of the battery to improve the efficiency of the power supply.

The features of many embodiments are described above to enable those of ordinary skill in the art to clearly understand the form of the specification. Those having ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the objectives of the above-described embodiments and/or advantages consistent with the above-described embodiments can be accomplished by designing or modifying other processes and structures based on the present disclosure. It is also to be understood by those skilled in the art that <RTIgt; </ RTI> <RTIgt; </ RTI> <RTIgt; </ RTI> <RTIgt; </ RTI> <RTIgt;

Claims (10)

 An electronic device comprising: a battery; an adapter; a power management unit simultaneously connected to the battery and the adapter, and controlling the battery or the adapter to provide power; a central processor for executing at least one computer command, and And outputting the load of one of the central processing units; and an embedded controller for receiving the load amount from the central processing unit, and controlling the power management unit to provide the power supply by the battery or the adapter according to the load amount.    The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the embedded controller controls the power management unit to provide the power source through the battery when the load amount is less than a predetermined value.    The electronic device of claim 2, wherein the embedded controller controls the power management unit to provide the power source through the adapter when the load amount is greater than the predetermined value.    The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the power management unit further monitors a remaining power of the battery, and when the remaining power is less than a first predetermined power, the embedded controller controls the power management unit to transmit The adapter charges the battery with a first current.    The electronic device of claim 4, wherein the embedded controller controls the power management unit to charge the battery by a second current when the remaining power is greater than the first predetermined power. The second current system is smaller than the first current.    A power management method, applicable to an electronic device, comprising: executing at least one computer command through a central processing unit, and outputting a load of one of the central processing units; receiving the load from the central processing unit through an embedded controller And controlling, by the embedded controller, a power management unit to provide power from a battery or an adapter according to the load amount; wherein the power management unit is simultaneously connected to the battery and an adapter.    The power management method according to claim 6, wherein when the load amount is less than a predetermined value, the power management unit is controlled by the embedded controller to provide the power source from the battery.    The power management method according to claim 7, wherein the embedded controller controls the power management unit to provide the power source by the adapter when the load amount is greater than the predetermined value.    The power management method of claim 6, further comprising: monitoring, by the power management unit, a remaining power of the battery, and outputting the remaining power to the embedded controller; and determining by using the embedded controller The remaining power; wherein, when the embedded controller determines that the remaining power is less than a predetermined power, the power management unit is controlled by the embedded controller to charge the battery by the first current by the adapter.    The power management method of claim 9, wherein when the remaining power is greater than the predetermined power by the embedded controller, the power management unit is controlled by the embedded controller to be a second The current charges the battery, wherein the second current is less than the first current.