TWI548996B - Computer device - Google Patents

Description

Computer device

The present invention relates to a charging technology for a computer device, and more particularly to a computer device and a charging method for a computer device that are charged through a universal serial bus (USB) interface.

Advances in semiconductor technology have enabled electronic products (especially portable electronic devices such as smart phones, tablets, and notebook computers) to increase their performance, and the volume has become smaller and the price has become lower and lower. Work needs or life entertainment can be achieved through electronic products.

At present, the power supply modes of portable electronic devices are mainly divided into two types, one is powered by an external power source (for example, a commercial power), and the other is powered by a battery. There are many mobile communication devices (such as mobile phones, tablets, etc.) that are gradually adopting the universal serial bus (USB) specification or the micro universal serial bus (Micro-USB) specification for data transmission and power supply. The standard interface makes the USB/Micro-USB specification power supply/transformer/charger (collectively referred to as adapters) easy to obtain.

On the other hand, notebook computers and some personal mobile devices still do not have a unified standard power supply interface, and the USB slot/interface on the notebook computer is used to output power or transmit data. When a user forgets to carry the power supply of the corresponding specification of the notebook computer, even if the power supply is found The socket can't charge the notebook, which is inconvenient for the user.

The invention provides a computer device and a charging method of a computer device. The computer device can be coupled to an adapter (for example, a power supply/transformer/charger) through a USB interface to obtain power of an external power source, or The battery is charged.

The invention provides a computer device comprising a universal serial bus (USB) interface, a detecting unit, a switching unit, and a charging unit. The USB interface includes a first data end, a second data end, and a power supply lead end. The detecting unit is coupled to the first data end and the second data end of the USB interface. The detecting unit determines whether the external device electrically connected to the USB interface is an adapter according to the signal transmitted on the first data end and the second data end. The input end of the switching unit is coupled to the power guiding end, the first output end of the switching unit is coupled to the internal power terminal, and the control end is coupled to the detecting unit. The input end of the charging unit is coupled to the second output end of the switching unit. When the detecting unit determines that the external device is an adapter, the switching unit is controlled to switch the power guiding end from the internal power end to the input end of the charging unit. The charging unit boosts and converts an external rated power transmitted by the power supply terminal into a charging power source to supply power from the USB interface to the computer device.

In an embodiment of the invention, the charging unit includes a boosting module and an internal charging module. The boost module receives and externally rated The source is boosted to a boost supply. The internal charging module is coupled to the boosting module, and receives and converts the boosting power source into a charging power source.

In an embodiment of the invention, the internal charging module is an internal voltage adjustment circuit that presets an external power supply in the computer device.

In another aspect, the present invention provides a method of charging a computer device. The computer device includes a USB interface. The charging method includes the following steps. The external device electrically connected to the USB interface is determined to be an adapter according to the signal transmitted on the first data end and the second data end of the USB interface. When it is determined that the external device is an adapter, the power guiding end of the USB interface is separated from the internal power terminal. And, the external rated power source transmitted by the power supply terminal is boosted and converted into a charging power source to supply power to the computer device from the USB interface.

Please refer to the above description for the remaining implementation details of the charging side of the computer device, and no further details are provided here.

The computer device according to the embodiment of the present invention can automatically detect whether the coupled object is an ordinary USB data transmission device or is connected to an external power source through the USB interface. USB adapter (power supply / transformer / charger). When the USB interface of the computer device is coupled to the adapter and the other end of the adapter is coupled to an external power source, the USB interface can be used to provide power to the computer device or to charge the battery in the computer device.

The above described features and advantages of the present invention will be more apparent from the following description.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Reference will now be made in detail to the exemplary embodiments embodiments In addition, wherever possible, the elements and/

1 is a schematic diagram of a computer device 100 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the computer device 100 may be a computer device such as a notebook computer, a desktop computer, a server computer, or the like, or may be a partial type of personal mobile device. Referring to FIG. 1 , the computer device 100 includes a universal serial bus (USB) interface 110 , a detecting unit 120 , a switching unit 130 , and a charging unit 140 . The USB interface 110 can also be referred to as a USB port or a USB port. Therefore, it should be known to those skilled in the application that the USB interface 110 does not include a USB interface controller. The USB interface 110 includes a ground terminal 112, a first data terminal D+, a second data terminal D-, and a power supply terminal 116. The ground terminal 112 receives the ground voltage GND.

The detecting unit 120 is coupled to the first data end D+ and the second data end D- of the USB interface 110. The input terminal NI of the switching unit 130 is coupled to the power supply terminal 116 of the USB interface 110. The first output terminal NO1 of the switching unit 130 is coupled to the internal power terminal of the power supply unit 150. The second output end of the switching unit 130 is coupled to the input end of the charging unit 140. The control end of the switching unit 130 is coupled to the detecting unit 130, so that the detecting unit 130 can control the switching unit 130. The switching unit 130 can be implemented in the present embodiment by using a switch or a 1-to-2 demultiplexer.

In this embodiment, the detecting unit 120 is disposed in the system chip set 170 of the computer device 100, and the system chip set 170 is composed of a south bridge wafer and a north bridge wafer. In this embodiment, the system chipset 170 can also refer to all power-consuming related devices in the computer device 100. Some embodiments may use a USB interface controller as the detection unit 120 described in the embodiment of the present invention, but the USB interface controller will adjust its structure for the functions proposed by the embodiments of the present invention. In other embodiments, the detection unit 120 can also be implemented by using a platform management controller in the south bridge chip.

The detecting unit 120 detects the signals transmitted on the first data terminal D+ and the second data terminal D-, and determines whether the external device 180 electrically connected to the USB interface 110 is a USB type adapter according to the signals. Adapter). In this embodiment, if the external device 180 is a data transmission device having a USB interface, the system chipset 170 transmits data packets to and from the external device 180 according to the USB specification to implement data transmission, so as to implement the USB interface in the computer device 100. The original function of 110. At this time, the first data line D+ and the second data line D- of the USB interface 110 are not short-circuited with each other. Therefore, the detecting unit 120 will control the switching unit 120 to couple the power guiding end 116 of the USB interface 110 to the internal power terminal of the power supply unit 150 (such as a dotted arrow in the switching unit 130). The power supply unit 150 of the computer device 100 will automatically provide an internal rated voltage (for example, 5V) to the internal power supply terminal and the power supply terminal 116 after the computer device 100 is activated, so that the USB interface 110 can be powered from the power supply terminal 116. Provide 5V Power supply. The voltage level of the internal rated voltage here is determined by the USB specification.

On the other hand, when the detecting unit 120 determines that the first data terminal D+ and the second data terminal D- issue a special signal, and the detecting unit 120 determines that the external device 180 is a USB adapter, the detecting unit 120 controls The switching unit 130 switches the power supply leading end 116 from the internal power supply end of the power supply unit 150 to the input end of the charging unit 140 (such as a solid arrow in the switching unit 130), in other words, the original power supply leading end 116. The coupling with the internal power supply end of the power supply unit 150 switches to coupling the power supply end 116 to the input of the charging unit 140.

What is specifically mentioned here is that the USB adapter referred to herein can be a commercially available USB power supply/transformer/charger, one end of which is electrically connected to the mains or mobile power supply, and the other end is a USB male plug. The adapter can also be a micro-USB power supply/transformer/charger with a micro-USB male plug to a USB male plug adapter to form a supplier/transformer/charger with the same function. Thereby, the USB adapter in this embodiment converts the power provided by the commercial power or the mobile power source into an external rated power source of a fixed voltage level (for example, 5V), and supplies the external rated power source to the USB interface of the computer device 100. The power supply terminal 116 of 110. In addition, the USB adapter also provides a specific signal to the first data terminal D+ and the second data terminal D-, so that the detecting unit 120 can determine the external device 180 to which the USB interface 110 is coupled.

In this embodiment, the endpoints corresponding to the first data end D+ and the second data end D- in the USB adapter are short-circuited to each other. When the detecting unit 120 determines the first When the data terminal D+ and the second data terminal D- are short-circuited with each other, it can be judged that the external device 180 is a USB adapter. However, the embodiment of the present invention is not limited thereto. The USB adapter provided by some manufacturers (for example, APPLE) provides the corresponding voltage level for the endpoints corresponding to the first data end D+ and the second data end D- respectively. The bit (for example, let the first data terminal D+ provide 2.1V±0.5V and the second data terminal D− provide 2.7V±0.5V), and the detecting unit 120 can also use this as a judgment that the external device 180 is a USB adapter. Another implementation. On the other hand, the application of the embodiment can also customize the relevant signal, so that the detecting unit 120 can correctly determine whether the external device 180 is a USB adapter.

When the detecting unit 120 determines that the external device 180 is a USB adapter, and the switching unit 130 switches and couples the power guiding end 116 to the input end of the charging unit 140, the charging unit 140 converts the USB adapter and the power guiding end. The external rated power source (eg, 5V) transmitted by 116 is boosted and converted to a charging power source 142. Therefore, in the embodiment of the present invention, the charging power source 142 can be powered from the USB interface 110 of the computer device 100 to the system chipset 170 of the computer device 100 and related devices (such as the power supply unit 150) through the USB adapter, or can be utilized. The charging power source 142 charges the battery of the computer device 100.

2 is a circuit diagram illustrating a charging unit 140 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The charging unit 140 includes a boosting module 210 additionally added to the computer device 100 in the embodiment of the present invention, and an internal charging module 220 originally located in the computer device 100. In other words, the internal charging module 220 is originally an internal voltage adjusting circuit preset in the computer device 100 for processing an external power source.

Referring to FIG. 2, the boosting module 210 receives an external rated power source transmitted from the power supply leading end, and boosts the external rated power supply to a boosting power supply 215. The internal charging module 220 is coupled to the boosting module 210 for receiving the boosting power supply 215 and converting the boosting power supply 215 into the charging power supply 142. In this embodiment, the boosting module 210 is implemented by a power booster. The boosting module 210 can be implemented by using the known power booster related circuit in this embodiment. An example of the boost module 210 is provided. The boost module 210 includes an inductor L1, a diode D1, a capacitor C1, and a first switch (with the first transistor M1 as a suitable example). The first end of the inductor L1 serves as a receiving end of the boost module 210. The first end of the diode D1 is coupled to the second end of the inductor L1, and the second end of the diode D1 is used as the output end of the boost module 210. The first end of the capacitor C1 is coupled to the second end of the diode D1, and the second end of the capacitor C1 is coupled to the ground voltage GND. The first end of the first switch (the drain of the first transistor M1) is coupled to the second end of the inductor C1, and the second end of the first switch (the source of the first transistor M1) is coupled to the ground voltage GND. Thereby, the boosting module 120 can receive an external rated power from its input terminal, and is boosted to have a first voltage standard through the corresponding actuation of the capacitor C1, the diode D1 and the first switch (the transistor M1). The boosting power supply 215 of a bit (for example, 19 V) can be achieved by those skilled in the art by a related art such as a booster circuit.

In the present embodiment, the internal charging module 220 of the present embodiment includes a second switch (second transistor M2), a third switch (third transistor M3), an inductor L2, and a capacitor C2. The first end of the second switch (the 汲 terminal of the second transistor M2) is coupled to the output of the boost module 120. The first end of the third switch (the 汲 terminal of the third transistor M3) is coupled to the second end of the second switch (the second transistor The source terminal of the body M2), and the second terminal of the third switch (the source terminal of the third transistor M3) is coupled to the ground voltage GND. The first end of the inductor L2 is coupled to the second end of the second switch (the source terminal of the second transistor M2), and the second end of the inductor L2 is used as the output end of the internal charging module 220. The first end of the capacitor C2 is coupled to the second end of the inductor L2, and the second end of the capacitor C2 receives the ground voltage GND. The internal charging module 220 is an internal voltage adjustment circuit preset for processing an external power supply in a computer device. Therefore, different computer devices may have different circuit configurations of the internal charging module 220, and the application of this embodiment should not be used. Limited to this.

In view of the above, the present invention utilizes another aspect to propose a charging method for a computer device, which is applicable to the computer device 100 of FIG. 1, and the computer device 100 includes a USB interface 110. 3 is a flow chart illustrating a method of charging a computer device 100 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 3 simultaneously, in step S310, the detecting unit 120 determines the external connection electrically connected to the USB interface 110 according to the signal transmitted on the first data end D+ and the second data end D- of the USB interface 110. Whether the device 180 is an adapter. When it is determined that the external device is an adapter, step S310 proceeds to step S320, and the detecting unit 120 controls the switching unit 130 to separate the power guiding end 116 of the USB interface 110 from the internal power end of the power supply unit 150, and The power guiding end 116 is coupled to the input end of the charging unit 140. In step S330, the charging unit 140 boosts and converts the external rated power source transmitted by the power source leading end 116 into the charging power source 142. Thereby, power can be supplied from the USB interface 110 to the computer device 100. Or when the computer device 100 is turned off At step S330, the battery 160 of the computer device 100 can also be charged from the USB interface 110.

Going back to step S310, when the detecting unit 120 determines that the external device 180 electrically connected to the USB interface 110 is a data transmission device having a USB interface, the process proceeds from step S310 to step S340, and the system chipset 170 is based on the USB specification. The external device 180 transmits data packets to each other for data transmission to implement the original functions of the USB interface 110 in the computer device 100. For the related procedure of the charging method, refer to the foregoing embodiment, and details are not described herein again.

In summary, since the computer device is equipped with a USB interface as a standard, the computer device according to the embodiment of the present invention can automatically detect the coupled object as a normal USB data transmission device or connect to the external device through the USB interface. USB adapter for power supply (power supply / transformer / charger). When the USB interface of the computer device is coupled to the adapter and the other end of the adapter is coupled to an external power source, the USB interface can be used to provide power to the computer device or to charge the battery in the computer device.

Although the present invention has been disclosed in the above embodiments, it is not intended to limit the invention, and any one of ordinary skill in the art can make some modifications and refinements without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. The scope of the invention is defined by the scope of the appended claims.

100‧‧‧ computer equipment

110‧‧‧Common Serial Bus (USB) Interface

112‧‧‧ Grounding terminal

116‧‧‧Power guide

120‧‧‧Detection unit

130‧‧‧Switch unit

140‧‧‧Charging unit

142‧‧‧Charging power supply

150‧‧‧Power supply unit

160‧‧‧Battery

170‧‧‧System Chipset

180‧‧‧External devices

210‧‧‧Boost Module

215‧‧‧Boost power supply

220‧‧‧Internal charging module

C1, C2‧‧‧ capacitor

D1‧‧‧ diode

D+‧‧‧ first data end

D-‧‧‧Second data side

L1, L2‧‧‧ inductance

M1~M3‧‧‧O crystal

Input to the NI‧‧‧ switching unit

The first output of the NO1‧‧‧ switching unit

The second output of the NO2‧‧‧ switching unit

1 is a schematic diagram of a computer device in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a circuit diagram illustrating a charging unit in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a flow chart illustrating a method of charging a computer device in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

100‧‧‧ computer equipment

110‧‧‧Common Serial Bus (USB) Interface

112‧‧‧ Grounding terminal

116‧‧‧Power guide

120‧‧‧Detection unit

130‧‧‧Switch unit

140‧‧‧Charging unit

150‧‧‧Power supply unit

160‧‧‧Battery

170‧‧‧System Chipset

180‧‧‧External devices

D+‧‧‧ first data end

D-‧‧‧Second data side

Input to the NI‧‧‧ switching unit

The first output of the NO1‧‧‧ switching unit

The second output of the NO2‧‧‧ switching unit

Claims (7)

A computer device, comprising: a universal serial bus interface, comprising a first data end, a second data end, and a power guiding end; a detecting unit coupled to the universal serial bus interface a data end and the second data end, wherein the detecting unit determines whether an external device electrically connected to the universal serial bus interface is based on the signal transmitted on the first data end and the second data end An adapter unit having an input end coupled to the power supply lead end, the first output end of the switching unit is coupled to an internal power supply end, and the control end is coupled to the detection unit; and a charging unit, The input end is coupled to the second output end of the switching unit, wherein when the detecting unit determines that the external device is the adapter, the switching unit is controlled to switch the power guiding end from the internal power terminal to the charging At the input end of the unit, the charging unit boosts and converts an external rated power source transmitted by the power supply terminal into a charging power source to supply power to the computer device from the universal serial bus interface. The computer device of claim 1, wherein the charging unit comprises: a boosting module, receiving and boosting the external rated power supply to a boosting power supply; and an internal charging module coupled to the The boosting module receives and converts the boosting power supply to the charging power source. The computer device of claim 2, wherein the boosting module comprises: a first inductor having a first end as a receiving end of the boosting module; a first diode, the first The first end of the first inductor is coupled to the second end of the first inductor, and the second end of the first diode is used as an output end of the boosting module; a first capacitor coupled to the first diode The second end of the first switch is coupled to the ground voltage; and the first end of the first switch is coupled to the second end of the first inductor, and the second end of the first switch is coupled Connected to a ground voltage, wherein the boost module receives the external rated power, and is boosted to have a first voltage level through actuation of the first capacitor, the first diode, and the first switch The boost power supply. The computer device of claim 2, wherein the internal charging module comprises: a second switch having a first end coupled to the output end of the boosting module; and a third switch having a first end The second end of the second switch is coupled to a ground voltage; the second end of the second switch is coupled to the second end of the second switch, and the first end a second end of the second inductor serves as an output end of the internal charging module; and a second capacitor, the first end of which is coupled to the second end of the second inductor, and the second end of the second capacitor receives the ground voltage . The computer device according to claim 2, wherein the internal charging module is an internal voltage adjusting circuit that presets an external power supply in the computer device. The computer device of claim 1, wherein the detecting unit determines that the first data end and the second data end are short-circuited with each other, and determines that the external device is the adapter. The computer device of claim 1, wherein the computer device further comprises a power supply unit that provides an internal rated voltage to the internal power supply terminal.