Electronic devices and stereo headphones

Abstract

This specification provides an electronic device and stereo headphones. The electronic device includes a battery, a first chip, a second chip, and a bridge connecting the first and second chips. The first chip detects the battery voltage to determine the charging current and transmits this information to the second chip, so that the second chip's charging curve matches the first chip's charging curve.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to charging electronic devices, and more particularly to electronic devices and stereo headphones that utilize dual charging routes for parallel charging. The parallel charging can conform to a preset charging curve of a battery. Background Art

[0002] When charging a battery (eg, a lithium battery), a conventional constant current constant voltage (CC-CV) charging method can avoid damaging the battery and prevent dangerous conditions during the charging process.

[0003] In some cases, a device's operating time can be extended by using a high-capacity lithium-ion battery. However, high-capacity lithium-ion batteries also require a higher charging current to reduce charging time. Furthermore, not all charging circuits can provide sufficient charging current. For example, the integrated charger in a Bluetooth chip has a charging current limit. Traditionally, an alternative high-current charger can be used to replace the Bluetooth chip's embedded charger to charge a high-capacity lithium-ion battery, but this wastes the purpose of the embedded charger.

[0004] Thus, the present invention provides a charging system having two charging circuits that does not require the use of an alternative battery charger. Summary of the Invention

[0005] The present disclosure provides an electronic device and a stereo headset with two charging circuits. The charging circuits have matching battery charging curves to fully utilize the advantages of using two charging circuits.

[0006] The present disclosure also provides an electronic device and a stereo headset that use a detection circuit of a charging circuit to detect a voltage change of a battery. The one charging circuit notifies the other charging circuit of the charging process to avoid mismatching of the two charging curves.

[0007] To achieve the above objectives, the present disclosure provides an electronic device comprising a battery, a first chip, a bridge, and a second chip. The battery has a voltage. The first chip is configured to detect the battery voltage to determine a charging current for the battery. The second chip is coupled to the first chip via the bridge and is configured to receive charging information about the charging current from the first chip and charge the battery based on the charging information.

[0008] The present disclosure also provides an electronic device comprising a battery, a first chip, a bridge, and a second chip. The battery has a voltage. The first chip is configured to detect the battery voltage when the electronic device is coupled to an external power source to determine a time point at which a first charging current of the first chip is reduced. The second chip is coupled to the first chip via the bridge and is configured to receive information from the first chip regarding a time point when the electronic device is coupled to the external power source, and to reduce a second charging current of the battery supplied by the second chip corresponding to the time point.

[0009] The present disclosure also provides a stereo headset comprising a first headset, a bridge, and a second headset. The first headset comprises a battery and an adapter port. The second headset is coupled to the first headset via the bridge. When the first headset is connected to an external power source via the adapter port, the first headset and the second headset simultaneously charge the battery. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0010] Other objects, advantages, and novel features of the present disclosure will become more apparent with reference to the following embodiments and the accompanying drawings.

[0011] Figure 1 FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an electronic device with dual charging circuits according to a first embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0012] Figure 2 for Figure 1 Current curve and voltage curve of an electronic device with dual charging circuits.

[0013] Figure 3 FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an electronic device with dual charging circuits according to a second embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0014] Figure 4 FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a chip of an electronic device with dual charging circuits according to a second embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0015] The reference numerals are as follows:

[0016] 11: First Headphones / First Device

[0017] 13: Second earphone / second device

[0018] 15,35: Bridge

[0019] 19,39: Transfer port

[0020] 31: First Device

[0021] 33: Second Device

[0022] 38: Communication Path

[0023] 90: Battery

[0024] 97: Battery Electrode

[0025] 100,300: Electronic devices

[0026] 101, 103, 301, 303: Power cord

[0027] 111, CP1, 311: First chip

[0028] 111R, 131R, 311R, 331R: Charging line

[0029] 131,CP2,331: Second chip

[0030] 313,333: Microcontroller Unit (MCU)

[0031] 3111: First voltage detection circuit

[0032] 3113,3313: local circuit

[0033] 3115: First digital-to-analog converter (first DAC)

[0034] 3311: Second voltage detection circuit

[0035] 3315: Second digital-to-analog converter (second DAC)

[0036] MUX1: The first multiplexer DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0037] It should be noted that the same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings wherever possible to refer to the same or like parts.

[0038] The electronic device disclosed herein uses two charging circuits or paths to charge the same battery, thereby reducing total charging time. In one embodiment, to match the charging curves of the two charging circuits, the charging circuit of only one charging circuit is used to detect the battery voltage, while the other charging circuit is stopped (e.g., shut down or bypassed) from detecting the battery voltage, or its detected battery voltage is ignored.

[0039] Please refer to Figure 1 , Figure 1This is a schematic diagram of an electronic device 100 with dual charging circuits (indicated by dotted lines) according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure. The electronic device 100 is, for example, a stereo headset, comprising a first headset 11 (e.g., a left headset) and a second headset 13 (e.g., a right headset), and the first headset 11 and the second headset 13 are connected via a bridge 15. The bridge 15 is wrapped with a plastic material or a rubber material to achieve a protective effect and make it easier to wear on the user's head. The communication protocol between the bridge 15 and the first headset 11 and the second headset 13 can be, but is not limited to, an Inter-Integrated Circuit (I2C) Bus, a serial peripheral interface bus (SPI bus), a universal asynchronous receiver transmitter (UART) bus, or a transmission line that complies with other transmission protocols.

[0040] The first earphone 11 includes a first chip 111 (also referred to as first chip CP1), a transfer port 19, and a battery 90. Battery 90 is, for example, but not limited to, a lithium battery. Preferably, battery 90 has a high capacity, for example, but not limited to, 500 mAh. The second earphone 13 includes a second chip 131 (also referred to as second chip CP2).

[0041] The adapter port 19 may have any suitable structure without particular limitation, as long as an external power source (not shown) can be coupled to the electronic device 100 when an adapter is plugged into the adapter port 19 to provide power to the first chip 111 and the second chip 131 via power lines 101 and 103, respectively. The external power source provides power for chip operation and battery charging.

[0042] In one embodiment, to reduce manufacturing costs, the first chip CP1 and the second chip CP2 have the same hardware structure and each chip CP1 and the second chip CP2 include charging circuits for charging the battery 90. To speed up charging, the first chip CP1 and the second chip CP2 each charge the battery 90 through their own charging circuits.

[0043] The first chip 111 and the second chip 131 are, for example, Bluetooth chips, which integrate the function of charging the battery 90 when receiving power from an external power source via power lines 101 and 103 respectively. Figure 1The first chip CP1 is shown charging the battery 90 via the charging line 111R and the battery electrode 97, and the second chip CP2 is shown charging the battery 90 via the charging line 131R and the battery electrode 97. In one embodiment, the charging current provided by the first chip CP1 and the second chip CP2 can be, but is not limited to, approximately 0.5C (0.5C is 250mA). Therefore, when the adapter port 19 on the first earphone 11 is coupled to an external power source, the first earphone 11 and the second earphone 12 simultaneously charge the battery 90 via the battery electrode 97.

[0044] Please refer to Figure 2 , Figure 2 Displays the current and voltage changes of the first earphone 11 (or the first chip CP1) and the second earphone 13 (or the second chip CP2) during the charging of the battery 90. Because the voltage Vb of the battery 90 detected by the second earphone 13 during the charging period passes through a longer detection path (such as the charging circuit 131R), the resistance in the detection path causes the second earphone 13 to detect a higher voltage Vb during the constant current stage (compared to the voltage value detected by the first earphone 11), causing the second charging curve of the second earphone 13 to enter the constant current constant voltage (CC-CV) transition earlier, resulting in a mismatch with the first charging curve of the first earphone 11. For example, if the voltage detection path of the first earphone 11 is the charging circuit 111R. Figure 2 The conversion time CC-CV2 is earlier than the conversion time CC-CV1 , so the total charging current formed by the sum of the first charging current and the second charging current decreases earlier, resulting in a decrease in charging efficiency.

[0045] In another embodiment, the present disclosure provides an electronic device having a first charging curve and a second charging curve matching the first charging curve. Figure 3 , Figure 3 This figure illustrates an electronic device 300 with dual charging circuits according to a second embodiment of the present disclosure. The electronic device 300 includes a first device 31 (e.g., a left earphone) and a second device 33 (e.g., a right earphone). Although the first and second devices 31 and 33 are connected via a bridge 35, they each have their own chips to control their respective operations.

[0046] The first device 31 includes a first chip 311 (also referred to as first chip CP1) and a transfer port 39. The first chip 311 and transfer port 39 have the same electrical architecture as the first chip 111 and transfer port 19, respectively. The first device 31 includes a battery 90, which is preferably charged using a predetermined charging curve. The second device 33 includes a second chip 331 (also referred to as second chip CP2), which has the same electrical architecture as the second chip 131.

[0047] The second embodiment differs from the first embodiment in that the second embodiment embeds firmware to control one of the first chip CP1 and the second chip CP2 to detect the battery voltage and to control the other chip not to detect the battery voltage, even if the other chip is already integrated with a voltage detection circuit. An example is described below.

[0048] In the second embodiment, the first chip CP1 detects the voltage Vb of the battery 90 and determines a first charging current. The first charging current is used to charge the battery 90 through the charging circuit 311R. For example, Figure 2 It shows that when the electronic device 300 is coupled to an external power source (i.e., when the adapter is plugged into the adapter port 39), the first chip CP1 obtains power from the power line 301, detects the voltage Vb of the battery 90, and determines (multiple) time points when the first charging current decreases, such as the conversion time on CC-CV1 and other multiple time points after CC-CV1.

[0049] The second chip CP2 is connected to the first chip CP1 via the bridge 35 to receive charging information (or information at each time point) via the communication path 38 in the bridge 35 and charge the battery 90 accordingly. For example, when the electronic device 300 is coupled to an external power source, the second chip CP2 receives power from the power line 303 and receives information about (multiple) time points from the first chip CP1 via the communication path 38 to reduce the second charging current of the second chip CP2 for the battery 90 based on the received (multiple) time points. In one embodiment, the second chip CP2 does not detect the voltage Vb of the battery 90 when charging the battery 90 via the charging line 331R. The communication protocol used by the communication path 38 can be, but is not limited to, an I2C bus, an SPI bus, a UART bus, or a transmission line that complies with other transmission protocols.

[0050] Please refer to Figure 4 , Figure 43 is a block diagram of the first chip 311 and the second chip 331 of the electronic device 300 in charging mode. The first chip 311 and the second chip 331 have the same circuit, for example, both are Bluetooth chips. In addition to transmitting information about the charging current, the bridge 35 also transmits synchronizing data and audio data between the first chip 311 and the second chip 331 according to the different operating modes of the Bluetooth chip. For example, when the Bluetooth chip is in snoop mode, the bridge 35 does not transmit audio data; and when the Bluetooth chip is in relay mode, the bridge 35 transmits audio data, wherein the above-mentioned snoop mode and the above-mentioned relay mode are technologies well known in the art and are not the main content of this disclosure, so they are not described here. The bridge 35 also includes a charging circuit 331R.

[0051] The first chip 311 includes a first charging circuit and a microcontroller unit (MCU) 313. The first charging circuit charges the battery 90 and includes a first voltage detection circuit 3111, a local machine circuit 3113, a first multiplexer MUX1, and a first digital-to-analog converter (DAC) 3115. The MCU 313 is coupled to the first charging circuit and performs various functions other than battery charging. These functions include, for example, exchanging information with the second chip 331 via the bridge 35 and executing various functions of the Bluetooth chip. The local machine circuit 3113 is a digital circuit, such as, but not limited to, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) or a field-programmable gate array (FPGA).

[0052] The second chip 331 includes a second charging circuit and a microcontroller unit (MCU) 333. The second charging circuit charges the battery 90 and includes a second voltage detection circuit 3311, a local circuit 3313, a second multiplexer MUX2, and a second digital-to-analog converter (DAC) 3315. The MCU 333 is coupled to the second charging circuit and performs various functions other than battery charging. These functions include, for example, exchanging information with the first chip 311 via the bridge 35 and executing various Bluetooth chip functions. The local circuit 3313 is also a digital circuit, such as an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) or a field-programmable gate array (FPGA).

[0053] In a second embodiment, the first chip CP1 is not coupled to an external power source via the bridge 35 (e.g., via an adapter), and the second chip CP2 is coupled to the external power source via the bridge 35. When the electronic device 300 is coupled to an external power source (e.g., in charging mode), the first chip CP1 and the second chip CP2 charge the battery 90 via the charging lines 311R and 331R, respectively. In other embodiments, the first chip CP2 is not coupled to an external power source via the bridge 35 (e.g., via an adapter), and the first chip CP1 is coupled to the external power source via the second chip CP2 and another bridge.

[0054] In one embodiment, when the electronic device 300 is coupled to an external power source, the second charging circuit of the second chip CP2 does not detect the voltage Vb of the battery 90, and the charging circuit of the second chip CP2 receives charging information from the first chip CP1 via the MCU 333 of the second chip CP2. For example, the MCU 333 of the second chip CP2 is configured to turn off or bypass the second voltage detection circuit 3311 (optionally, together with the local circuit 3313) of the charging circuit in the second chip CP2 to stop the voltage detection function of the charging circuit of the second chip CP2. In this way, the first chip CP1 and the second chip CP2 both detect the voltage Vb of the battery 90 according to the charging current of the first chip CP1 (in Figure 2 The battery 90 is charged by the first chip CP1 charging current to obtain a matching charging curve.

[0055] In another embodiment, even in the charging mode, the charging circuit of the second chip CP2 is not shut down and continues to detect the voltage Vb of the battery 90. However, the charging circuit of the second chip CP2 does not reduce the second charging current of the battery 90 based on the detected voltage Vb of the battery 90, but instead reduces the second charging current of the battery 90 based on information received from the first chip CP1 (e.g., the multiple time points described above).

[0056] For example, the operation of the electronic device 300 in the charging mode includes: (1) before the voltage Vb of the battery 90 detected by the first voltage detection circuit 3111 reaches a predetermined voltage (for example, but not limited to 4.2V), the digital value CC set to 1 and the digital value CV set to 0 are transmitted to the local circuit 3113, and the local circuit 3113 transmits the corresponding control signal Scc_cv to the first multiplexer MUX1. In this case, the first multiplexer MUX1 is configured not to receive the signal Ssoc from the MCU 313 (e.g., shut down or bypass), and the first DAC 3115 controls the P-type metal oxide semiconductor (PMOS) switch to perform constant current charging only according to the control signal Scc_cv; (2) when the voltage Vb of the battery 90 detected by the first voltage detection circuit 3111 reaches a predetermined voltage, the digital value CC set to 0 and the digital value CV set to 1 are transmitted to the local circuit 3113, and the local circuit 3113 transmits the corresponding control signal Scc_cv to the first multiplexer MUX1 to reduce the charging current to prevent the battery voltage from continuing to rise, that is, to enter the so-called constant voltage charging. In the above constant voltage charging, the charging current will decrease and the detected battery voltage Vb will also decrease at the same time; and (3) the above steps (1) and (2) are repeated until the battery charging is completed. The details of the CC-CV charging process are well known in the art. The present disclosure determines the CC-CV charging curve by one of the two charging circuits.

[0057] Meanwhile, during the above steps, local circuit 3113 transmits the received digital value CC and digital value CV to MCU 313, for example, as information Sinfo. When MCU 313 is notified that digital value CC is 0 and digital value CV is 1, information Sinfo is transmitted to MCU 333 via bridge 35 or other dedicated signal line (e.g., used only to transmit information Sinfo).

[0058] As described above, the second chip 331 has the same structure as the first chip 311. After entering the charging mode, the second voltage detection circuit 3311 and the local circuit 3313 are turned off or bypassed, and the second DAC 3315 controls the PMOS switch to determine the second charging current for the battery 90 based only on the information Sinfo (received via the multiplexer MUX2). In other words, when the transition time point CC-CV1 of the first charging curve is reached (transition time CC-CV1), the second charging curve also begins the CC-CV transition. The second charging current is Figure 2 The conversion time point CC-CV2 (conversion time CC-CV2) will not decrease.

[0059] According to the above operation, in a stereo headset application, when the adapter port 19 (or adapter port 39) of the first headset 11 (or the first headset 31) is coupled to an external power source, the first headset 11 (or the first device 31) detects the voltage Vb of the battery 90, while the second headset 13 (or the second device 33) does not detect the voltage Vb of the battery 90. The first headset 11 (or the first headset 31) determines charging information (e.g., information Sinfo) for the battery 90 and transmits the charging information Sinfo (information Sinfo) to the second headset 13 (or the second device 33) via the bridge 15 (or the bridge 35) or other dedicated signal lines.

[0060] It should be noted that while the adapter port 19 (or adapter port 39) is shown in the figures as being located only on the first device 11 (first headset 11) (or first device 31) and the second device 13 (second headset 13) (or second device 33), the present disclosure is not limited thereto. In other embodiments, both the first device 11 (or first device 31) and the second device 13 (or second device 33) have adapter ports for coupling to an external power source. In the case where the battery 90 is located in the first device 11 (or first device 31), the stereo headset still operates according to the above-described embodiment regardless of whether the first device 11 (or first device 31) or the second device 13 (or second device 33) is plugged into the adapter, because the first chip is closer to the battery 90.

[0061] It should be noted that while in the above embodiment, the second chip CP2 directly determines the charging current based on the charging information from the first chip CP1, the present disclosure is not limited thereto. In other embodiments, the first chip CP1 transmits the detected first battery voltage to the second chip CP2 (e.g., via the MCU 313) to calibrate the second battery voltage detected by the second chip CP2. The second chip CP2 then determines its own charging current based on the calibrated second battery voltage. For example, the MCU 333 may first add or subtract the first battery voltage from the second battery voltage to determine the charging current of the second chip CP2.

[0062] It should be noted that although the above embodiments are described using stereo headphones as an example, the present disclosure is not limited thereto. The electronic device of the present disclosure can be any electronic device that uses two chips to charge the same battery at the same time.

[0063] It should be noted that while the above embodiment uses two charging circuits as an example, the present invention is not limited thereto. In other embodiments, more than two charging circuits may be used to charge the same battery, and the charging circuit of one charging circuit detects the battery voltage being charged and notifies the other charging circuits of the detected battery voltage, thereby matching multiple charging curves.

[0064] It should be noted that although the above embodiments are described by using a signal line (such as a bridge) to transmit charging information, the present invention is not limited thereto. In other embodiments, wireless communication technology is used to transmit charging information.

[0065] As mentioned above, in order to charge a lithium battery, it is best to use the so-called CC-CV charging to improve the charging efficiency. However, when two charging paths are used to charge the battery at the same time, the two charging curves may not match each other. Therefore, the present disclosure provides an electronic device and a stereo headset (e.g., a pair of charging paths) having two charging circuits. Figures 3 and 4 ), the electronic device and the stereo headphones use a charging circuit to determine the charging curves of the two charging lines to eliminate the undesirably prolonged charging time.

[0066] Although the present disclosure is described with reference to preferred embodiments, the present invention is not limited thereto. It should be understood that those skilled in the art can make many other possible modifications and variations without exceeding the scope of the present disclosure and the following embodiments.

Claims

1. An electronic device comprising: a battery having a voltage; a first chip coupled to the battery and configured to charge the battery via a first charging circuit, wherein the first chip is configured to detect the voltage of the battery to determine a charging current for the battery; a bridge; as well as a second chip coupled to the first chip and the battery via the bridge, the second chip being configured to receive charging information about the charging current from the first chip via a second charging line, and to charge the battery according to the charging information; The first charging circuit is shorter than the second charging circuit.

2. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein: The first chip and the second chip have the same circuit; and The second chip does not detect the voltage of the battery during charging of the battery.

3. The electronic device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the bridge uses a communication protocol selected from an integrated circuit interface bus, a serial peripheral interface bus, or a universal asynchronous receiver transmitter bus.

4. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein: The first chip and the second chip are Bluetooth chips; and The bridge is further configured to transmit synchronous data and audio data between the first chip and the second chip.

5. The electronic device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the first chip and the second chip comprise: a charging circuit configured to charge the battery using the charging current; and A microcontroller unit is coupled to the charging circuit, and the microcontroller unit is configured to exchange information via the bridge. 6 . The electronic device as claimed in claim 5 , wherein in a charging mode, the first chip and the second chip simultaneously use their own charging circuits to charge the battery.

7. The electronic device of claim 6 , wherein in the charging mode, the charging circuit of the second chip is configured to: bypassing the voltage of the battery; and The charging information is received from the first chip via the microcontroller unit of the second chip. 8 . The electronic device as claimed in claim 6 , wherein in the charging mode, the microcontroller unit of the second chip turns off a voltage detection circuit of the charging circuit of the second chip.

9. An electronic device comprising: a battery having a voltage; a first chip coupled to the battery and configured to charge the battery via a first charging circuit, wherein the first chip is further configured to detect the voltage of the battery when the electronic device is coupled to an external power source to determine a time point to reduce a first charging current of the first chip; a bridge; and a second chip coupled to the first chip and the battery via the bridge and configured to charge the battery via a second charging circuit, wherein: The second chip is configured to receive information about the time point from the first chip when the electronic device is coupled to the external power source, so as to reduce a second charging current of the battery by the second chip corresponding to the time point.

10. The electronic device of claim 9, wherein: The first chip is not coupled to the external power supply via the bridge; and The second chip is coupled to the external power supply via the bridge; The first charging circuit is shorter than the second charging circuit.

11. The electronic device as claimed in claim 9, wherein the bridge uses a communication protocol selected from an integrated circuit interface bus, a serial peripheral interface bus, or a universal asynchronous receiver transmitter bus.

12. The electronic device according to claim 9, wherein: The first chip and the second chip are Bluetooth chips; and The bridge is further configured to transmit synchronous data and audio data between the first chip and the second chip.

13. The electronic device as claimed in claim 12, wherein the first chip and the second chip comprise: a charging circuit configured to charge the battery; and A microcontroller unit is coupled to the charging circuit, and the microcontroller unit is configured to exchange information via the bridge. 14 . The electronic device as claimed in claim 13 , wherein when the electronic device is coupled to the external power source, the first chip and the second chip use their own charging circuits to charge the battery simultaneously. 15 . The electronic device as claimed in claim 14 , wherein when the electronic device is coupled to the external power source, the charging circuit of the second chip does not reduce the second charging current according to the detected voltage of the battery. 16 . The electronic device as claimed in claim 14 , wherein when the electronic device is coupled to the external power source, the microcontroller unit of the second chip disables a voltage detection function of the charging circuit of the second chip.

17. A stereo headset comprising: a first headset comprising a battery and a switching port, wherein the first headset is configured to charge the battery via a first charging circuit; a bridge; and a second headset coupled to the first headset via the bridge, wherein the second headset is configured to charge the battery via a second charging circuit; When the first earphone is coupled to an external power source via the adapter port, the first earphone and the second earphone charge the battery simultaneously; in, The first charging circuit is shorter than the second charging circuit.

18. The stereo headset as claimed in claim 17, wherein when the first headset is coupled to the external power source via the adapter port: The first earphone is configured to detect a voltage of the battery; and The second earphone is not configured to detect the voltage of the battery.

19. The stereo headset as claimed in claim 17, wherein when the first headset is coupled to the external power source via the adapter port: The first earphone is configured to determine charging information for charging the battery and transmit the charging information to the second earphone. 20 . The stereo headset of claim 19 , wherein the first headset is configured to transmit the charging information to the second headset via the bridge or an additional dedicated line.

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