TWI778678B - Hub and apparatus for determining power configuration - Google Patents

Abstract

Examples are described herein for determining power configurations. In various examples, an apparatus may include circuitry to determine the power configuration of a hub, a head component, and a removable cable that couples the head component and the hub. The power configuration may include: a first amount of power supplied to the hub via a mains power outlet, and a second amount of power that is deliverable by the hub to the head component via the removable cable. The circuitry may cause an output component that is separate from a display operated by the head component to render output that is modulated to convey an aspect of the power configuration.

Description

Hubs and devices used to determine power configuration

The present disclosure relates to techniques for determining power configuration.

Technologies that facilitate the transfer of both data and power between various electronic devices are becoming more common. For example, the Universal Serial Bus (USB) industry standard provides various specifications for cables and/or connectors for exchanging both power and data between various types of computing devices, peripheral devices, and the like. Different types of USB cables and/or connectors have different data and/or power transfer capabilities. For example, a cable that conforms to the USB-C standard can transmit as much as one hundred watts (five amps at twenty volts).

In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, an apparatus is specifically provided that includes circuitry for determining a hub, a headend assembly, and a removable cable that couples the headend assembly to the hub. A power configuration, wherein the power configuration includes supplying a first amount of power to the hub via a mains power outlet, and a first power that can be delivered by the hub to the headend via the removable cable a second power level; and causing an output component separate from a display operated by the headend component to exhibit an output conditioned to deliver a state of the power configuration.

101: Equipment

102: Head end components

104: Hub

106: Removable cable

108: Touch Screen

110: Power

112: Power cable

114: AC to DC Converter

116: port

118,120: Connector

122: male contact

124, 126: LED

128A, 128B: Circuit system

130: Power Descriptor

202, 204, 302~306, 402~414, 502~514: block

400,500: Method

Features of the present disclosure are described by way of example and not limitation in the following figure(s), wherein like symbols indicate similar elements.

FIG. 1 schematically illustrates an environment in which the present disclosure may be implemented, according to one example of the present disclosure. The chosen aspect of disclosure.

2 schematically illustrates an apparatus implementing selected aspects of the present disclosure, according to one example of the present disclosure.

3 schematically illustrates a hub configured with selected aspects of the present disclosure, according to an example of the present disclosure.

4 illustrates an exemplary method for a hub to practice selected aspects of the present disclosure.

5 illustrates an exemplary method for a headend assembly to practice selected aspects of the present disclosure.

For brevity and illustrative purposes, the present disclosure is primarily described by its various examples. In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present disclosure. However, practice consistent with the present disclosure may not be limited to these specific details. In other instances, some methods and structures have not been described in detail in order to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the present disclosure.

Elements depicted in the figures may include additional components, and some of the components depicted in those figures may be removed and/or modified. The elements shown in the figures are not to scale and such elements may have different sizes and/or configurations than those shown in the figures.

As mentioned above, technologies that facilitate the transfer of both data and power between various electronic devices are becoming more common. Some cables and/or connectors have similar or equivalent form factors, but have different operational capabilities. In some instances, this can lead to confusion. For example, assume that a particular cable or connector (eg, a USB-C cable) cannot deliver sufficient power to a computing device such as a tablet or laptop. The computing device may not be capable of reporting this error to a user using, for example, audio and/or visual output presented by an operating system (OS) executing on the computing device. Without some other means of delivering an error message to the user, the user may not be able to readily discern why the computing device is not functioning, or is not functioning properly.

The examples described herein are used for determining, and for transporting the use of cables and/or connectors, Aspects of a power configuration of a plurality of components coupled to each other, such as USB cables and/or connectors. These connected components may include, for example, a hub and what will be referred to herein as a "headend component" or "headend unit." A "hub" or a "dock" can be a device with a number of ports to which various other electronic devices can be connected such that the hub can facilitate power and / or transfer of data. A "head-end component" may mean a data processing device, such as a laptop, tablet, etc., that processes data in various ways. In some examples, the headend component may be a tablet computing device with an integrated touchscreen display. Some of these tablet computing devices can be designed for use as transaction terminals, such as point-of-sale terminals, although other types of terminals are still contemplated.

A "power profile" as used herein means information related to the ability of a plurality of electronic devices to exchange power among them. A power configuration, for example, may include a data structure that includes various amounts of power that can be delivered to/between those devices, given how the various connected electronic devices are connected to each other and/or to an external power source. For example, using a removable cable (eg, a USB-C cable) to couple a hub and a power configuration for headend components may include, for example, power from a wall outlet via mains (eg, city power) Electricity, hydropower, AC mains, etc.) supplies a first amount of electricity to the hub, and a second amount of electricity that can be delivered by the hub to the headend assembly via a removable cable. The amount of electricity combined to form a power configuration can be determined in various ways and stored in memory (and/or processed), for example, as individual variables (eg: float precision, double precision, integer), As a variable of a power configuration data structure, etc.

The second power can be, for example, based on an operating parameter of the removable cable (as described above, a standard USB-C cable can carry up to one hundred watts), and/or based on a power supplied by mains power. In some examples, this operating parameter may be determined based on information stored on and/or provided by the removable cable, such as via Power Delivery Objects (PDOs) associated with various USB standards . The USB ports of other devices may also provide the corresponding operating parameters of those devices, eg as a PDO.

Once the power configuration is determined, the state of the power configuration can be conveyed to a user by means of various output components such as light emitting diodes (LEDs), speakers (especially embedded speakers). These output components may be separate from output devices, such as displays and "regular" speakers, which present output generated by the headend components' applications and/or an operating system (OS). For example, a headend component that does not have sufficient power may not be able to present the output on its display, but may still have internal circuitry, such as an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), that adjusts the output of the integrated LEDs to transmit a message related to the lack of power in the headend components.

Circuitry implementing selected aspects of the present disclosure may be integrated with one or both of the hub and headend components. In some examples, a hub may include circuitry that operates output components integral with the hub for delivering aspects of a power configuration of the hub and headend components. These aspects may include, for example, that the hub does not receive sufficient power from the mains to power the head-end components, or that the removable cables connecting the hub to the head-end components do not provide sufficient power to the head-end components. The latter may be particularly useful where a number of different cables may be physically connected to ports on hubs and headend components (and those cables may be physically similar or identical), but not all cables that are physically interchangeable can carry carry the same amount of power (or the ability to have the same data transfer rate).

In some examples, the head-end components may also include circuitry to perform selected aspects of the present disclosure, such as an ASIC separate from other processing units of the head-end components. In some examples, the headend circuitry can determine the amount of power that can be delivered by the hub to the headend via a removable cable, eg, from a message (eg, a PDO) received from the headend from the hub. If the power is insufficient to fully or properly power the headend, its circuitry may operate the aforementioned output components (eg: embedded speakers, LEDs) to convey to the user that the headend is not capable of receiving sufficient power.

The output presented by the output components can be adjusted to convey the aspect of the power configuration of the hub and headend components in various ways. With regard to LEDs, for example, LEDs can be selectively enabled to emit temporal patterns (eg, similar to Morse code) and/or colors that deliver one of a power configuration to a user manner. For example, suppose the headend component consumes 140 watts of power, but the removable cable is a standard USB-C cable that can carry up to 100 watts of power. In this scenario, an LED on the hub (or on the headend component) can be enabled to emit one color (eg, red) for a certain number of blinks (eg, five times), followed by a pause, and then emitting another color (eg, : white) a certain number of flashes (eg, five times) that the removable cable used to connect the headend to the hub cannot carry enough power to properly power the headend.

1 schematically illustrates an environment in which selected aspects of the present disclosure may be implemented, according to one example of the present disclosure. In FIG. 1 , the headend assembly 102 is connected to a hub 104 using a removable cable 106 . In FIG. 1 , the headend assembly 102 is a computing device in the form of a tablet-like device with a touch screen 108 . In other examples, headend component 102 may take other forms, such as a computing device having separate input components, such as a mouse and/or keyboard, and/or separate output components, such as a separate display. Other types of computing devices can be contemplated, including but not limited to set-top boxes, smartphones, laptops, and the like.

The hub 104, alternatively referred to as a "docking station" or "port replicator," is a device that can be used to operably couple the headend assembly 102 with any number of electronic peripherals. Peripherals may take various forms, including but not limited to monitors, keyboards, mice, printers, projectors, cameras, such as "webcams," which also include other input devices such as microphones, speakers, and any other input and/or output device.

In many cases, as shown in FIG. 1 , the hub 104 may be connected to and receive power from a power source 110 . In FIG. 1, the power supply 110 is in the form of AC mains, but other forms are also contemplated, such as DC mains, battery power, and the like. "Mains" as used herein means a general purpose power supply that provides AC and/or DC power to homes and businesses. When individuals plug electronic devices and/or appliances into wall sockets, they typically connect those devices to mains power. Mains can also be called by other nicknames in various regions of the world. Some examples of nicknames include "Utility Electric", "Home Service Electricity, Household Electricity, Household Electricity, Household Electricity, Wall Electricity, Line Electricity, City Electricity, Street Electricity, Hydroelectric Power, etc.

In FIG. 1 , a power cable 112 connects the hub 104 to the power source 110 . Because power source 110 is AC based, and various computing devices such as headend assembly 102 often operate on DC power, power cable 112 includes an AC-to-DC converter 114 . Converter 114 may be omitted if power supply 110 is a DC based power supply. In some examples, the power cable 112 may transmit power, but not data. In other examples, such as where a power line communication device is connected between an AC mains outlet and the power cable 112, the power cable 112 may be capable of transmitting both power and data.

The hub 104 distributes the power it receives from the power source 110 to any electronic devices connected to the various ports 116 of the hub 104 . In FIG. 1 , the hub 104 includes four ports, but other hubs incorporating selected aspects of the present disclosure may include other numbers of ports 116 . In some examples, port 116 may be various types of USB ports, including but not limited to those known as USB-C, USB-A, microUSB, Micro-B, Mini-A, Mini-B, etc. . Ports that support other peripheral communication technologies can also be considered, including but not limited to serial, DisplayPort (“DP”) technology, technology that combines Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (“PCI”) (“PCIe”) and DP technology, Various types of Digital Visual Interface ("DVI"), various types of High Definition Multimedia Interface ("HDMI"), Video Graphics Array ("VGA"), etc.

Because the hub 104 is connected to the power source 110, the hub 104 can be used as a power supply to other components connected to it, including but not limited to the headend component 102 and/or also connected to the hub 104 (or connected to to any peripherals to the headend assembly 102). Some of these connected peripherals, such as smartphones, may also include their own internal power supplies, such as batteries, which may or may not be recharged by the hub 104 .

The removable cable 106 includes a first connector 118 and a second connector 120 , which may or may not be identical to the first connector 118 . In FIG. 1, for example, port 116 is a female port, And both the first connector 118 and the second connector 120 each include a male contact 122 . In some examples, port 116 is a male port, and connectors 118 and 120 have female contacts.

The various components shown in Figure 1 may be provided with basic output components, such as lights and/or embedded speakers (emitting simple noises, such as beeps), in addition to further components such as a display (eg, touch screen 108) or speakers Order output components are separated. For example, the headend assembly 102 is equipped with integrated LEDs 124 . Similarly, the hub 104 is equipped with integrated LEDs 126 . The LEDs 124 and/or 126 may be enabled to emit light in various hues (colors), patterns, intervals, and the like. As will be explained in more detail later, the techniques described herein can be used to selectively energize these LEDs 124 and/or 126, for example, for use in headend components 102, hubs 104, and removable Information is carried between cables 106, such as a "power configuration" aspect.

As previously discussed, the power configuration between the headend assembly 102, the hub 104, and the removable cable 106 may include information regarding the ability of these electronic devices to exchange power among them. In some examples, a power configuration may include supplying a first amount of power to the hub 104 via the power supply 110 and a second amount of power may be delivered by the hub 104 to the headend assembly 102 via the removable cable 106 . Based on these two pieces of information, hub 104 and/or headend assembly 102 can selectively adjust the light emitted by LEDs 124 and/or 126 to convey aspects of the power configuration, such as error codes. These error codes can convey various information to a user, such as: a component is improperly connected to another component; a component cannot receive enough power to function properly; a component (eg, cable 106 ) is not connected to other components Compatible etc.

In addition to LEDs, other types of output devices can also be used in a similar manner to convey similar information. For example, embedded speakers (not shown) mounted on a printed circuit board (eg, a motherboard) of headend assembly 102 and/or hub 104 may be operable to emit beeps of various tones and/or lengths . As with blinking LEDs 124 and/or 126, the beeps emitted by such embedded speakers can be adjusted to convey a state of the detected power configuration.

As an illustrative example, the headend component 102 of FIG. 1 takes the form of a tablet-like computing device that can be used for transaction processing, such as as a point-of-sale terminal. Head end assembly 102 A USB port (not shown) may be included, such as a USB-C port, which may be used to connect the headend assembly 102 to another electronic device to receive power and, in some cases, data. If the headend assembly 102 is capable of operating within the operating power parameters of USB-C, eg, 100 watts or less, a standard USB-C cable can be used as the removable cable 106 to connect the headend Terminal assembly 102 is connected to hub 104 .

However, assume that the headend assembly 102 draws more than 100 watts of power, such as 140 watts. Assume further that the physical port (not shown) on the headend assembly 102 is still physically compatible with the USB-C connector. If a standard USB-C cable with a maximum power throughput of 100 watts were used to connect this headend assembly 102 to the hub 104, the headend assembly 102 would not have the ability to function properly. Headend components 102 may not be capable of operating an OS and/or presenting content on touch screen 108, in which case a user may have difficulty discerning where it is incorrect, especially because of the standard USB-C cable connector Physically compatible with the ports on the headend assembly 102 .

Thus, in various examples, circuitry may be provided, such as as part of hub 104 (designated at 128A) and/or as part of headend assembly 102 (designated at 128B), that cause outputs such as LEDs 124 and/or 126 The component presents a conditioned output that conveys information about the power configuration to the user. Unless otherwise indicated, references herein to "circuitry 128" are intended to be circuit system 128A, circuit system 128B, or some combination of the two. The circuitry 128 may take various forms, such as an ASIC, a field programmable gate array (FPGA), and/or a processor executing computer readable instructions stored in memory.

Circuitry 128 may determine a power configuration of headend assembly 102 , hub 104 , and removable cable 106 in various ways. In some examples, circuitry 128A or 128B may read a power descriptor 130 provided by removable cable 106 (eg, stored in the memory of removable cable 106 ) to obtain a power bank state of state. For example, if the removable cable 106 is a USB-C cable, the removable cable 106 can provide its power limitation as part of a PDO. This power limit can Represents the amount of power that can be delivered by the removable cable 106 .

In some examples, circuitry 128 may determine an amount of power that can be delivered by removable cable 106 based on the amount of power supplied by power supply 110 to hub 104 . For example, if the power supply 110 supplies 90 watts of power (and possibly less), the hub 104 may determine that it can deliver at most 90 watts of power through the removable cable 106 , and the difference between the removable cable 106 and the Any power restrictions are irrelevant.

In some examples, the circuitry 128A of the hub 104 can notify downstream components, such as the headend components 102 , of the amount of power that can be delivered by the hub 104 through the removable cable 106 . For example, the circuitry 128A of the hub 104 can transmit to the circuitry 128B of the headend assembly 102 the amount of power that can be delivered through the removable cable 106 . Circuitry 128B may then operate output components, such as LED 124, to present an output adjusted to indicate this aspect of the power configuration.

For example, if the amount of power referred to circuitry 128B by circuitry 128A is below an operating threshold of headend component 102, circuitry 128B may enable LED 124 to emit light in a sequence and/or color that A user conveys the fact that the headend assembly 102 cannot draw sufficient power to function properly. In some examples, circuitry 128B may operate independently of other portions of headend assembly 102, such as a central processing unit that controls its overall function. Therefore, even if the headend assembly 102 is not functioning properly, a user can still be notified of the lack of sufficient power.

To enable circuitry 128 to notify a user of the state of the power configuration so that the user can take remedial action in the event of an error, circuitry 128 may associate the state of the power configuration with, for example, a look-up table compared to. The lookup table may be stored in memory integral to the hub 104 , the headend assembly 102 , another remote computing device or memory, or even the removable cable 106 . This look-up table can indicate how various output components, such as the embedded speakers of the hub 104 and/or headend component 102, or the LEDs 124 and/or 126, should be enabled to emit information that is conditioned by the state of the delivery power configuration the output.

Table 1, provided below, provides an illustrative example (and assumes for the moment that a compatible removable cable connects hub 104 to headend assembly 102):

As shown in Table 1, the minimum power for the hub is 120W, and the minimum power for USB-C is 15W. In some examples, the hub minimum power may be taken from a hub descriptor, which may be data stored in memory associated with, for example, a USB port of hub 104, such as a PDO. For AC power less than 120W supplied to hub 104 (eg, power supply 110 ), the maximum upstream power is 0W. Therefore, the circuitry 128A of the hub 104 may cause the LED 126 to emit an error code for x blinks. If the headend assembly 102 has some other power source, such as an internal battery, the circuitry 128B of the headend assembly 102 can cause the LED 124 to emit an error code y flashes (x and y are integers greater than zero); otherwise the LED 124 Close can be maintained to indicate that no power is being received at the headend assembly 102 .

Similarly, for an AC power supply equal to 120W to the hub 104, the minimum upstream power is still 15W. Therefore, the circuitry 128A of the hub 104 can cause the LED 126 to emit steady light ("ON"), and the circuitry 128B of the headend assembly 102 can remain off, or if some other power source (eg, an internal battery) is available, the headend The circuitry 128B of the component 102 can cause the LED 124 to emit an error code y blinks. In other implementations, the circuitry 128A of the hub 104 may determine that the hub 104 is not delivering sufficient power to the headend assembly 102, and may adjust the output of the LEDs 126 to deliver sufficient power to the headend despite the hub 104 itself having sufficient power. The fact that there is sufficient excess power delivered by the module 102 . For example, if the headend assembly 102 is connected to a port 116 designated "Port 3", the output of the LED 126 of the hub 104 can be adjusted to identify this port, eg, by three flashing to identify.

For an AC power equal to 150W supplied to the hub 104, the maximum upstream power is 45W. This may still be insufficient for the headend assembly 102, which may use 140W, for example. Therefore, the circuitry 128A of the hub 104 can cause the LEDs 126 to emit steady light ("ON"). Because the circuitry 128B of the headend assembly 102 is still receiving some power, the circuitry 128B can cause the LED 124 to emit an error code y blinks. In some examples, operating parameters (eg, PDOs) of the headend assembly 102 may be provided in memory associated with, for example, a USB port of the headend assembly 102 .

For an AC power equal to 280W supplied to the hub 104, the maximum upstream power is 140W (or higher, but for this example it can be assumed that the removable cable 106 has its own 140W power limit). Thus, the headend assembly 102 now receives sufficient power to operate. Therefore, the circuitry 128A of the hub 104 may cause the LEDs 126 to emit steady light ("ON"), and the circuitry 128B of the headend assembly 102 may cause the LEDs 124 to also emit steady light ("ON").

As can be seen in the example shown in Table 1, the user can be presented with different outputs at different output components to convey different error codes (or codes indicating normal function). In some examples, the output components can be operated to generate output that conveys errors related to the electronic device and/or other electronic device hosting the output components. For example, the hub 104 may convey information about itself and/or about the headend components 102 . In some cases, the user may have the ability to consult the documentation associated with the hub 104, headend assembly 102, or even the removable cable 106 to determine what the error code indicates. Then, the user can take appropriate remedial action.

Table 2 below provides an illustrative example of a look-up table that may be consulted by circuitry 128 to determine how to adjust the output presented by output components such as LEDs 124 and/or 126 and/or embedded speakers. Table 2 assumes that the hub 104 uses 120W of power for normal operation, and the headend component 102 uses 140W of power. In various examples, these operating parameters may be taken from corresponding components in the form of, for example, hub descriptors, headend component descriptors, and cable descriptors, any of which are It can be in the form of PDO. In some examples, a combination of one of these various descriptors may specify how to enable and/or condition various output components to deliver information, such as shown in Table 2.

Referring to Table 2, if any power less than 120W is received from the power supply 110, both the LEDs 126 of the hub 104 and the LEDs 124 of the headend components 102 may remain off since neither component is receiving sufficient power. If 120W is received at the hub 104 from the power source 110 , then the circuitry 128 can determine whether a compatible removable cable 106 attaches the hub 104 to the headend assembly 102 . In this context, "compatible" means that the removable cable can deliver 140W to the headend assembly 102 . More generally, "compatible" is used herein to describe a cable capable of delivering sufficient power to downstream components to enable those downstream components to operate according to some desired standard (eg, normal operation) .

The circuitry 128A of the hub 104 may enable the LEDs 126 once the hub 104 is supplied with 120W or more of power. The circuitry 128A then determines whether a compatible removable cable 106 connects the headend assembly 102 to the hub 104 . If the answer is yes, then the LED 126 is enabled to emit steady light ("ON") to indicate that from the hub 104 point of view, everything is functioning properly. However, if an incompatible removable cable 106 is provided (eg, unable to deliver 140W), the circuitry 128A of the hub 104 can follow x red flashes and y white flashes (again, x and y are non-zero integers, which may or may not be each other Equal) energizes LED 126 to indicate the attachment of an incompatible cable.

From the perspective of the headend assembly 102 , once the hub 104 is supplied with 120W or more of power, the circuitry 128B of the headend assembly 102 enables the LEDs 124 . For example, and similar to circuitry 128A, circuitry 128B can determine whether removable cables 106 are compatible. If the answer is yes, but 120W is supplied to the hub 104, the LEDs 124 of the headend assembly 102 can be enabled to emit m red flashes and n white flashes (m and n are positive integers) to indicate that even if possible The removable cable 106 is capable of carrying 140W without supplying enough power to the upstream hub 104 to deliver 140W through the removable cable 106 . Otherwise, if the circuitry 128B of the headend assembly 102 detects a compatible removable cable 106 and the power supplied to the hub 104 is 180W or greater (as shown in Table 2), it may be enabled The LED 124 of the headend assembly 102 emits a steady light to indicate normal operation.

However, if an incompatible removable cable 106 (eg, unable to deliver 140W) is detected (eg, by comparing the PDO to a look-up table such as Table 1 or Table 2), the header The circuitry 128B of the end assembly 102 can energize the LED 124 with x red flashes and y white flashes (again, x and y are non-zero integers, which may or may not be equal to each other) to indicate that an unphased is attached. capacity cable. In various examples, the circuitry 128B of the headend component may receive from the circuitry 128A of the hub 104 a message indicating whether the removable cable 106 is compatible by reading the power descriptor 130 from the removable cable 106 A transmission (eg, circuitry 128A transmits the amount of power it can deliver over cable 106 and circuitry 128B compares this amount to a minimum threshold), and/or by detection from hub 104 over a removable cable The current supplied by the wire 106 is used to determine whether the removable cable 106 is compatible.

FIG. 2 schematically illustrates an apparatus 101 assembled by virtue of selected aspects of the present disclosure, according to an example of the present disclosure. The apparatus 101 of FIG. 2 includes circuitry 128 , which may include all or part of the circuitry 128A of the hub 104 , and/or the circuitry 128B of the headend assembly 102 . In some examples, the circuitry 128 may be fully or partially integral with the removable cable 106 . In this manner, the apparatus 101 depicted in Figure 1 may represent 102, 104, 106 or any other electronic device.

At block 202 , the circuitry 128 is used to determine the power configuration of the hub 104 , the headend assembly 102 , and the removable cable 106 coupling the headend assembly 102 to the hub 104 . As previously described, the power configuration may include supplying a first amount of power to the hub via a mains power outlet, and a second power may be delivered by the hub via the removable cable to the headend assembly power.

At block 204, the circuitry 128 is used to cause an output component separate from a display (eg, 108) operated by the headend component 102 to assume a state adjusted to deliver the power configuration determined at block 202 similar output. Such output components may take, for example, LEDs 124 and/or 126 and/or an embedded speaker integrated with a hub 104 and/or headend components 102 on a printed circuit board such as a motherboard, for example. form. The conditioned output may include emitted light and/or sound that is conditioned to convey information, for example, with blinking, changing color, changing tone, and the like.

3 schematically illustrates a hub 104 configured with selected aspects of the present disclosure, according to one example of the present disclosure. As previously described, the hub 104 includes circuitry 128A, a plurality of ports 116, and an output component, such as an LED 126 in FIG.

At block 302, circuitry 128A is used to determine an amount of power that can be delivered via a cable connecting a computing device to a given one of the plurality of ports of the hub. For example, the circuitry 128A can detect a power it receives from the power source 110 (which can be taken as an actual power limit, as the hub 104 can deliver downstream), and/or can read to indicate a removable A cable descriptor of a power capability of the cable 106 (eg, PDO).

At block 304, the circuitry 128A may compare the amount of power determined at block 302 to an operating parameter of the computing device. At block 306, the circuitry 128A may operate an output component (eg, LED 126) integral with the hub 104 to deliver a result of the comparison. For example, if the power determined at block 302 is less than a minimum power utilized by headend assembly 102, circuitry 128A may cause LED 126 to emit various flashes and/or color sequences to indicate an error. On the other hand, if the power is sufficient, the circuitry 128A can cause the LED 126 to emit steady light to indicate a suitable power pack state for proper operation of the headend assembly 102 .

FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary method 400 for a hub 104 to practice selected aspects of the present disclosure. In various examples, the operations of FIG. 4 described herein as being possible by hub 104 may be performed in whole or in part by circuitry 128A. At block 402 , the hub 104 may determine that an amount of power is supplied to the hub 104 by the power supply 110 . At block 404 , the hub 104 may determine whether the power meets a threshold, such as a minimum operating parameter of the headend assembly 102 . If the answer at block 404 is no, at block 406, the hub 104 may adjust the output of an output component, such as LED 126, to deliver a first error code, such as a blink or flash sequence.

On the other hand, if the answer to block 404 is yes, then at block 408, the hub 104 may read a power descriptor of the removable cable 106, eg, to determine the power of the removable cable 106. A maximum power throughput. At block 410, the hub 104 may determine whether the information it gathered from the power descriptor at block 408 satisfies certain criteria. For example, the headend assembly 102 may have a minimum operating power usage of 140W. If the removable cable 106 is not capable of delivering 140W of power, the headend assembly 102 may not function properly. In this situation, the hub 104 may adjust the output of the LED 126 to convey a second error code that is presumably different from the first error code of block 406 . On the other hand, if the answer at block 410 is yes, then at block 414, the hub 104 may adjust the output of the LED 126 to deliver normal operation, such as a steady white light.

FIG. 5 depicts an exemplary method 500 for a headend assembly 102 to practice selected aspects of the present disclosure. In various examples, the operations of FIG. 5 described herein as being possible by the headend assembly 102 may be performed in whole or in part by the circuitry 128B. The operation of method 500 may be similar to the operation of method 500 in many aspects, and may in fact be performed in parallel or concurrently with the operation of method 500, except from the point of view of headend assembly 102, rather than the point of view of hub 104.

At block 502 , the headend component 102 may determine to supply an amount of power to the hub 104 via the power supply 110 . For example, the circuitry 128A of the hub 104 may transfer the power it receives from the power source 110 An indication is sent to the circuitry 128B of the headend assembly 102 . At block 504 , the headend assembly 102 may determine whether the power level meets a threshold, such as a minimum operating parameter of the headend assembly 102 . If the answer at block 504 is no, at block 506 the headend component 102 may adjust the output of an output component such as LED 124 to deliver a first error code, such as a blink or flash sequence.

On the other hand, if the answer to block 504 is yes, then at block 508 the headend assembly 102 may determine a power configuration of the removable cable 106 , eg, to determine the removable cable 106 One of the maximum power throughput. In some examples, the headend component 102 may determine the power configuration based on a message it receives from the hub 104 indicating the maximum power throughput of the cable that the hub 104 reads directly from the removable cable 106 . In other examples, the circuitry 128B of the headend assembly 102 may independently read the power descriptor 130 of the removable cable 106 itself.

At block 510, the headend component 102 may determine whether the maximum power throughput of the removable cable 106 determined at block 508 satisfies a certain criterion. For example, the headend assembly 102 may have a minimum operating power usage of 140W. If the removable cable 106 is not capable of delivering 140W of power, the headend assembly 102 may not function properly. In this situation, the headend assembly 102 may adjust the output of the LED 124 to deliver a second error code that is presumably different from the first error code of block 506 . On the other hand, if the answer at block 510 is yes, then at block 514 the headend assembly 102 may adjust the output of the LED 124 to deliver normal operation, such as a steady white light.

While the full content of this disclosure has been specified, representative examples of this disclosure are useful for a variety of applications, and the above discussion is not intended and should not be considered limiting, but is provided as an illustration of aspects of this disclosure exposition.

102: Head end components

104: Hub

106: Removable cable

108: Touch Screen

110: Power

112: Power cable

114: AC to DC Converter

116: port

118,120: Connector

122: male contact

124, 126: LED

128A, 128B: Circuit system

130: Power Descriptor

Claims (15)

An apparatus for determining a power configuration, comprising circuitry for determining a hub, a headend assembly, and a power configuration of a removable cable coupling the headend assembly to the hub , wherein the power configuration includes: supplying a first amount of electricity to the hub through a mains power outlet, and delivering a second amount of electricity to the head-end assembly through the hub through the removable cable; and cause an output device separate from a display operated by the headend device to appear modulated to convey an aspect of the power configuration. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the circuitry is integrated with the hub. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the second power delivered by the hub to the headend component includes a power limitation of the removable cable. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the power limit is determined from a power descriptor obtained from the removable cable. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the power descriptor includes a power delivery object (PDO). The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the second power that can be delivered by the hub to the headend component is determined based on the first power. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the output element comprises a light emitting diode or an embedded speaker. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the output assembly is integral with the hub. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the output component is integral with the head-end component, and the circuit system is used to transmit the second power to the head-end component. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the aspect includes the cable being unable to deliver sufficient power to the headend assembly. A hub comprising: a plurality of ports; an output element; and circuitry coupled with the plurality of ports and the output element, the circuitry for performing the following actions: determining a a power level that the cable connects a computing device to a given one of the plurality of ports on the hub; compares the power level with an operating parameter of the computing device; and operates integrally with the hub One of the output components to communicate one of the results of the comparison. The hub of claim 11, wherein the computing device comprises a tablet computer with an integrated touch screen. The hub of claim 11, wherein the power is determined from a power delivery object (PDO) obtained from the cable. The hub of claim 11, wherein the given port includes a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port. The hub of claim 11, wherein the output element comprises a light emitting diode or a speaker.

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