Control method and electronic equipment

Abstract

The invention discloses a control method and electronic equipment, and belongs to the technical field of charging and discharging management of equipment power supplies. The capacity of the first battery is greater than that of the second battery; the charging interface is used for obtaining external charging equipment; the power management chip is used for charging the first battery and the second battery by utilizing the external charging equipment based on a virtual power supply device for representing the first battery and the second battery, and charging the first battery and the second battery by utilizing the external charging equipment based on the virtual power supply device for representing the first battery and the second battery. And the first battery and the second battery are used for supplying power to a system circuit.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application belongs to the technical field of charge and discharge management of device power supplies, and particularly relates to a control method and an electronic device. Background Art

[0002] At present, some electronic devices such as folding screen mobile phones adopt a dual-battery design. However, in this design, there are a series of problems in the charging and discharging process of the dual batteries, such as poor control flexibility, easy to cause safety hazards, and affecting battery life. Summary of the Invention

[0003] Therefore, this application discloses the following technical solutions:

[0004] An electronic device, comprising:

[0005] A first battery;

[0006] A second battery, wherein the capacity of the first battery is greater than that of the second battery;

[0007] A charging interface for obtaining an external charging device;

[0008] A power management chip for charging the first battery and the second battery by using the external charging device based on a virtual power supply device representing the first battery and the second battery, and for supplying power to a system circuit by using the first battery and the second battery based on the virtual power supply device representing the first battery and the second battery.

[0009] Optionally, the first battery and the second battery are connected in parallel; the first battery and the second battery are connected to the same access point of the power management chip and at the same location of the power management chip.

[0010] Optionally, the first battery is located in a first path, the second battery is located in a second path, and the first path and the second path are connected in parallel;

[0011] The first path further includes a first control module, wherein the first control module has a first module and a second module; the first module is at least used for charging control of the first battery, and the second module is used for discharging the first battery;

[0012] The second path further includes a second control module, wherein the second control module has a third module and a fourth module; the third module is at least used for charging control of the second battery, and the fourth module is used for discharging the second battery.

[0013] Optionally, the first module and the second module are connected in parallel, and the third module and the fourth module are connected in parallel;

[0014] The first module and the second module are connected in parallel between the first battery and the power management chip; the first module includes a first control chip for controlling the charging or discharging of the first battery, and the second module includes a first discharging path for discharging the first battery.

[0015] The third module and the fourth module are connected in parallel between the second battery and the power management chip; the third module includes a second control chip for controlling the charging or discharging of the second battery, and the fourth module includes a second discharging path for discharging the second battery.

[0016] Optionally, when the first control chip controls the charging of the first battery, it is configured to:

[0017] Obtain the current first charging parameter of the first battery;

[0018] Perform first charging control on the first battery according to the first charging parameter and the charging control strategy;

[0019] When the second control chip controls the charging of the second battery, it is configured to:

[0020] Obtain the current second charging parameter of the second battery;

[0021] Perform second charging control on the second battery according to the second charging parameter and the charging control strategy.

[0022] Optionally, when the first control chip performs first charging control on the first battery according to the first charging parameter and the charging control strategy, it is configured to:

[0023] If the first charging parameter is inconsistent with the first expected charging parameter corresponding to the first battery, perform charging parameter adjustment control on the first battery;

[0024] If the first charging parameter meets the first charging stop condition corresponding to the first battery, control the first battery to stop charging;

[0025] When the second control chip performs second charging control on the second battery according to the second charging parameter and the charging control strategy, it is configured to:

[0026] If the second charging parameter is inconsistent with the second expected charging parameter corresponding to the second battery, perform second charging parameter adjustment control on the second battery;

[0027] If the second charging parameter meets the second charging stop condition corresponding to the second battery, control the second battery to stop charging.

[0028] Optionally, the electronic device further includes a third control module connected to the first control chip and the second control chip;

[0029] The third control module is configured to:

[0030] Obtain a first discharge parameter of the first battery and a second discharge parameter of the second battery;

[0031] According to the first discharge parameter, the second discharge parameter, and a discharge control strategy, perform on-off control on the first control chip and the second control chip, so as to perform discharge control on the first battery and the second battery based on the on-off control.

[0032] Optionally, when performing on-off control on the first control chip and the second control chip according to the first discharge parameter, the second discharge parameter, and a discharge control strategy, the third control module is configured to:

[0033] If a first voltage of the first battery and a second voltage of the second battery meet a proximity condition, control the first control chip and the second control chip to be in an on state;

[0034] If the first voltage and the second voltage do not meet the proximity condition, and the first voltage is higher than the second voltage, control the first control chip to be in an off state;

[0035] If the first voltage and the second voltage do not meet the proximity condition, and the first voltage is lower than the second voltage, control the second control chip to be in an off state.

[0036] Optionally, the electronic device further includes a battery management module;

[0037] The battery management module is connected to the first battery and the second battery and is configured to:

[0038] Determine charging demand information of the virtual power supply device, and send the charging demand information to the power management chip, so that the power management chip controls charging parameters for the virtual power supply device based on the charging demand information;

[0039] Wherein, the charging demand information of the virtual power supply device is obtained by integrating a first charging parameter of the first battery and a second charging parameter of the second battery.

[0040] A control method includes:

[0041] Based on a virtual power supply device characterizing the first battery and the second battery, an external charging device is used to charge the first battery and the second battery;

[0042] Based on a virtual power supply device characterizing the first battery and the second battery, the first battery and the second battery are used to supply power to a system circuit;

[0043] Wherein, when charging the first battery and the second battery, or using the first battery and the second battery to supply power to a system circuit, independent charge or discharge control is performed on the first battery and the second battery respectively. Description of the Drawings

[0044] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application or related technologies, the following will briefly introduce the drawings required for use in the description of the embodiments or related technologies. Obviously, the drawings in the following description are only the embodiments of the present application. For those of ordinary skill in the art, without creative efforts, other drawings can also be obtained according to the provided drawings.

[0045] Figure 1 is the composition structure diagram of the electronic device provided by the present application;

[0046] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of conventional dual-battery charging;

[0047] Figure 3(a) - Figure 3(c) are respectively schematic diagrams of various situations that may exist during the conventional dual-battery power supply process;

[0048] Figure 4 is an example diagram of the closed-loop dual-battery system provided by the present application;

[0049] Figure 5 is an example diagram of the hardware principle of the closed-loop dual-battery system provided by the present application;

[0050] Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of the path control inside the closed-loop dual-battery system provided by the present application;

[0051] Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of avoiding mutual charging between dual batteries provided by the present application;

[0052] Figure 8 is the charging management system diagram provided by the present application;

[0053] Figure 9 is a schematic diagram of one implementation principle of the charging management provided by the present application;

[0054] Figure 10 is a schematic diagram of another implementation principle of the charging management provided by the present application;

[0055] Figure 11 is the flowchart of the control method provided by this application. Detailed implementation manners

[0056] Next, the technical solutions in the embodiments of this application will be clearly and completely described in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of this application. Obviously, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of this application, rather than all the embodiments. All other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art based on the embodiments in this application without creative efforts shall fall within the protection scope of this application.

[0057] The embodiments of this application provide a control method and an electronic device, which are used for an electronic device designed with dual batteries, to improve the flexibility of the charging and discharging control of the dual batteries and reduce potential safety hazards to extend the battery life.

[0058] The electronic device can be, but is not limited to, an electronic device in many general or specific computing device environments or configurations, such as: a personal computer, a server computer, a handheld device or a portable device, a tablet device, a multi-processor device, and so on.

[0059] See Figure 1 In the composition structure diagram of the shown electronic device, the electronic device provided by the embodiments of this application includes a first battery 10, a second battery 20, a charging interface 30, and a power management chip 40.

[0060] Among them, the capacity of the first battery is greater than that of the second battery. That is to say, there are two heterogeneous batteries with different sizes in the electronic device. These two batteries can be respectively called a large battery and a small battery, or can also be called a main battery and a slave battery.

[0061] The charging interface is used to connect to an external charging device to charge the battery of the electronic device through the connected external charging device such as an AC charger.

[0062] The power management chip is used to charge the first battery and the second battery by using an external charging device based on the virtual power supply devices representing the first battery and the second battery, and to supply power to the system circuit by using the first battery and the second battery based on the virtual power supply devices representing the first battery and the second battery.

[0063] Among them, based on the virtual power supply device representing the first battery and the second battery, an external charging device is used to charge the first battery and the second battery, and, based on the virtual power supply device representing the first battery and the second battery, the first battery and the second battery are used to supply power to the system circuit. Specifically, during the charging process of the first battery and the second battery, or during the process of using the first battery and the second battery to supply power to the system circuit of the electronic device, the first battery and the second battery are regarded as a virtual overall power supply, that is, the virtual power supply device. In this way, for the charging system or power supply system of the electronic device, during the charging and discharging process of the battery, there is no need for the power management chip to understand the state of each battery, nor will the power management chip separately control the charging and discharging of each battery. Instead, the first battery and the second battery are used as an overall power supply for unified charging and discharging management.

[0064] Optionally, the power management chip can be a PMIC (Power Management Integrated Circuit). The power management chip such as PMIC can include a variety of functional modules, specifically including but not limited to a charging management chip (Charger IC) for managing and controlling the battery charging process and a discharge / supply management chip for managing and controlling the battery discharge / supply process, etc.

[0065] It is easy to understand that for the charging management chip and the supply management chip in the PMIC, the first battery and the second battery are also regarded as a virtual overall power supply, and the charging or supply management and control of the overall power supply are respectively carried out.

[0066] Among them, the first battery and the second battery are connected in parallel, and the first battery and the second battery are connected in parallel to the same access point of the power management chip and to the same location of the power management chip. Exemplarily, for example, based on the parallel connection method, the positive electrodes of the first battery and the second battery are respectively connected to the same access point of the Charger IC in the PMIC, and the negative electrodes of the first battery and the second battery are respectively connected to the same grounding point of the Charger IC.

[0067] In the above design of the dual batteries of an electronic device (such as a folding mobile phone), the power management chip can manage the first battery and the second battery as a whole based on the virtual power supply device representing the first battery and the second battery, thereby improving the power management efficiency and convenience of the power management chip. However, one drawback is that the power management chip cannot separately manage and control the charging and discharging of the first battery and the second battery, and the flexibility of charging and discharging management and control is poor. At the same time, it may bring other problems such as potential safety hazards and affect the battery life.

[0068] Specifically, see Figure 2The conventional schematic diagram of dual-battery charging is shown. In the above design of the dual batteries of the electronic device, due to the inconsistent capacities of the first battery and the second battery, when charging the dual batteries by driving the ChargerIC to request power from an external charger based on a parallel connection method, it is inevitable that the charging currents of the dual batteries are inconsistent, resulting in the problem of voltage imbalance between the dual batteries. Especially after one of the batteries stops charging due to battery safety regulations or other reasons, the other battery cannot be stopped independently, so only the two batteries can be controlled to stop charging together, and the control flexibility is poor. In addition, in the dual-battery parallel design, when discharging to supply power to the system circuit after the dual-battery charging is completed, the discharge path impedances corresponding to different batteries are different, which will cause voltage imbalance between the dual batteries during the discharge process. This may further lead to the problem of mutual charging between the dual batteries, and in the long run, it will affect the battery life and cause the battery life to decrease.

[0069] Various situations that may exist during the process of the dual batteries supplying power to the system circuit are respectively referred to Figure 3(a) - Figure 3(c) as shown. Among them, 3(a) shows that when the voltages of the dual batteries are equal, the dual batteries supply power to the system simultaneously. Figure 3(b) shows that when the voltage of the large battery is higher than that of the small battery, there may be a situation where the large battery supplies power to the system and charges the small battery at the same time. Figure 3(c) shows that when the voltage of the small battery is higher than that of the large battery, there may be a situation where the small battery supplies power to the system and charges the large battery at the same time.

[0070] To solve the above problems, the embodiment of the present application proposes a closed-loop dual-battery design method for the first battery and the second battery, so as to be able to independently control the charging and discharging of the first battery and the second battery as needed within the closed-loop dual-battery system.

[0071] In this design method, the first battery is located in the first path, and the first path is used for charging and discharging the first battery; the second battery is located in the second path, and the second path is used for charging and discharging the second battery.

[0072] The first path is connected in parallel with the second path.

[0073] Among them, the first path further includes a first control module. The first control module has a first module and a second module. The first module is at least used for controlling the charging of the first battery, and the second module is used for discharging the first battery. The second path further includes a second control module. The second control module has a third module and a fourth module. The third module is at least used for controlling the charging of the second battery, and the fourth module is used for discharging the second battery.

[0074] The first path and the second path connected in parallel, as well as the first battery and the first control module arranged on the first path, and the second battery and the second control module arranged on the second path form a closed-loop dual-battery system, or it can also be called a heterogeneous dual-battery closed-loop system. Inside the closed-loop dual-battery system, the control module corresponding to each battery can perform independent charge and discharge control on that battery. For example, the first control module can perform independent charge and discharge control on the first battery, and the second control module can perform independent charge and discharge control on the second battery. While outside the closed-loop dual-battery system, the first battery and the second battery are regarded as a whole, and the power management chip performs unified management on the dual batteries based on the virtual power supply device representing the first battery and the second battery. That is to say, the internal structure of the closed-loop dual-battery system and the separate charge and discharge control logic of the batteries are shielded and invisible outside the closed-loop dual-battery system, such as being invisible to the power management chip.

[0075] See Figure 4 , which provides an example of a closed-loop dual-battery system. Among them, Battery A (Main-Battery) and Battery B (Flip-Battery) represent the first battery and the second battery respectively. The path where Battery A is located is the first path, and the path where Battery B is located is the second path. A corresponding DDPC (Duo-Direction Power CTL, bidirectional power control module) is arranged on each path. For example, DDPC A is arranged on the first path, representing the first control module corresponding to the first battery, and DDPC B is arranged on the second path, representing the second control module corresponding to the second battery. DDPC A includes at least a first module A1 for charging control of Battery A and a second module A2 for discharging Battery A. DDPC B includes at least a third module B1 for charging control of Battery B and a fourth module B2 for discharging Battery B.

[0076] Furthermore, the first module and the second module in the first control module are connected in parallel between the first battery and the power management chip. The first module may specifically include a first control chip for charging control or discharging of the first battery, and the second module includes a first discharge path for discharging the first battery.

[0077] Similarly, the third module and the fourth module in the second control module are connected in parallel between the second battery and the power management chip; the third module may specifically include a second control chip for charging control or discharging of the second battery, and the fourth module includes a second discharge path for discharging the second battery.

[0078] See Figure 5 , which further providesFigure 4 Example diagram of the hardware principle of the closed-loop dual-battery system. Among them, the first module A1 in DDPC A includes a first control chip, that is Figure 5 the ChargeCurrentlimitIC on the first path where Battery A is located in. The second module A2 in DDPC A includes a first discharge path. The third module B1 in DDPC B includes a second control chip, that is Figure 5 the Charge Current limit IC on the second path where Battery B is located in. The fourth module B2 in DDPC B includes a second discharge path.

[0079] Optionally, as Figure 5 shown, the first discharge path and the second discharge path can each include two parallel diodes.

[0080] Based on the heterogeneous dual-battery closed-loop control design method provided in this embodiment, in implementation, for each battery in the dual-battery, independent charging control of the battery can be completed on the control chip corresponding to the battery through software algorithms, and it can be achieved to separately control the charging process of each path of battery according to the actual charging requirements of each path of battery. For example, independent charging control of the first battery is completed on the first control chip corresponding to the first battery, and independent charging control of the second battery is completed on the second control chip corresponding to the second battery.

[0081] At the same time, during the discharge process of the closed-loop dual-battery system, the charging path corresponding to each battery can be turned off as needed according to requirements, so as to avoid the problem of mutual charging between the dual-batteries due to inconsistent voltages, and further avoid other problems such as potential safety hazards and battery life attenuation caused by this problem.

[0082] In summary, the electronic device provided in the embodiments of the present application can, from the global perspective of the system, perform unified charge and discharge management of the dual-batteries as a whole power source by the power management chip, and can also perform separate charge and discharge control of each battery based on the control modules corresponding to each battery inside the local closed-loop control system of the dual-batteries, thereby improving the flexibility of charge and discharge control of the dual-batteries, reducing potential safety hazards, and improving battery life.

[0083] In an optional embodiment, the electronic device in the present application is a foldable device, including a first body and a second body. The first body includes the first battery, and the second body includes the second battery.

[0084] The first body and the second body are connected by a connecting device, and the connecting device can be but is not limited to a connecting shaft that can be used to connect the first body and the second body into one body.

[0085] The first body and the second body can rotate around the connection axis, and relative movement between the two bodies is generated by rotating around the connection axis. During the relative movement of the two bodies, the angle between the two bodies changes, and correspondingly, the electronic device can form different device forms, such as an unfolded form in which the two bodies are unfolded from each other, a folded form in which they are folded from each other, or an intermediate state between the unfolded form and the folded form, etc.

[0086] The folding structure between the first body and the second body may refer to an up-and-down folding structure or a left-and-right folding structure between the two bodies, which is not limited and depends on the actual structural design of the electronic device.

[0087] The first battery and the second battery are connected in parallel through a flexible cable that crosses a connecting device, and the connecting device such as a connection axis is used to movably connect the first body and the second body of the electronic device.

[0088] Among them, the flexible cable that crosses the connecting device at least includes a target charging cable.

[0089] One end of a charging management chip (ChargerIC) is connected to a charging interface, and the other end is connected to the target charging cable. The target charging cable is connected to a first power access point and a second power access point. The first power access point corresponds to the first battery, and the second power access point corresponds to the second battery.

[0090] The target charging cable may include a flexible connecting cable that crosses a connecting device such as a connection axis, for example, a connecting cable formed by an FPC (Flexible Printed Circuit).

[0091] Optionally, the first body further includes a first circuit board. The first battery is connected to the first circuit board to form a first path on the first circuit board, and the first path is connected to the first power access point.

[0092] The second body further includes a second circuit board. The second battery is connected to the second circuit board to form a second path on the second circuit board, and the second path is connected to the second power access point.

[0093] Optionally, the capacity of the first battery is greater than the capacity of the second battery, and the size of the first circuit board is smaller than the size of the second circuit board.

[0094] The capacity of a battery is usually positively correlated with its size. In the embodiments of the present application, by arranging a relatively large-capacity first battery and a small-sized first circuit board in the same body (the first body) of an electronic device, and arranging a small-capacity second battery and a large-sized second circuit board in the same body (the second body) of the electronic device, the hardware layout space of the electronic device can be reasonably and effectively utilized, achieving an optimized layout at the hardware level. At the same time, by separately arranging different circuit boards and different batteries in different bodies of the electronic device, during the charging and discharging process of the device battery and during the operation of the system, each body can share a small amount of heat generated during charging and discharging or heat generated during system operation, avoiding the accumulation of heat generated by the device, and correspondingly avoiding overheating problems during the charging, discharging, or operation of the device.

[0095] In an alternative embodiment, the charging control process of the first control chip for the first battery may include the following steps 11)-12):

[0096] 11) Obtain the current first charging parameters of the first battery.

[0097] Specifically, it may but is not limited to obtaining information such as the charging current, voltage, and / or temperature corresponding to the first battery during the charging process as the first charging parameters.

[0098] Each battery in the dual-battery is connected to a fuel gauge, and the connected fuel gauge is used to store parameters such as the voltage, current, and temperature of the battery. As Figure 5 shown, BatteryA and Battery B are respectively connected to a fuel gauge, namely Fuel Gauge IC.

[0099] Based on this, in practice, the first control chip can read the first charging parameters such as the charging current, voltage, and temperature of the first battery from the fuel gauge connected to the first battery.

[0100] 12) Perform first charging control on the first battery according to the first charging parameters and the charging control strategy.

[0101] The charging control strategy may include but is not limited to a charging parameter adjustment strategy and / or a charging stop strategy for the battery.

[0102] The charging process of the battery includes different stages such as a constant current charging stage, a constant voltage charging stage, and a charging termination stage. Different charging stages usually have their own charging parameter requirements / specifications, that is, different charging stages usually have different expected charging parameters. Based on this, the charging parameter adjustment strategy may be a strategy for adjusting charging parameters during the charging process set based on the charging parameter requirements / specifications of each charging stage. The charging stop strategy may be a strategy for stopping the charging of the battery set according to the charging stop conditions in the charging termination stage.

[0103] Correspondingly, in this step, specifically based on the charging parameter adjustment strategy, it is determined whether the current first charging parameter of the first battery is consistent with the first expected charging parameter corresponding to the first battery. If they are consistent, there is no need to adjust the charging parameter of the first battery; if they are inconsistent, charging parameter adjustment control is performed on the first battery. For example, a first charging parameter adjustment instruction for the first battery is generated, and the charging parameter adjustment control corresponding to the first charging parameter adjustment instruction is executed to adjust the charging parameter of the first battery to the first expected charging parameter, or at least to a value close to the first expected charging parameter.

[0104] It is easy to understand that the first expected charging parameter can be the parameter indicated by the charging parameter requirement / specification corresponding to the current charging stage of the first battery, such as the charging current, charging voltage, etc. indicated by the charging parameter requirement / specification in the constant current charging stage or the constant voltage charging stage.

[0105] In addition, it is also determined whether the first charging parameter of the first battery meets the first stop charging condition corresponding to the first battery. If it meets, the first battery is controlled to stop charging. For example, a first stop charging instruction for the first battery is generated, and the stop charging control corresponding to the first stop charging instruction is executed, etc. On the contrary, if the first stop charging condition is not met, there is no need to perform stop charging control on the first battery.

[0106] Exemplarily, assuming that in the charging termination stage, it is required to stop charging the battery when the charging current drops to a certain proportion (such as 1 / 10) of the set value, it can be determined whether the current charging current of the first battery drops to the preset proportion of the set value. If so, the first battery is controlled to stop charging; if not, there is no stop charging control on the first battery.

[0107] Similarly, the charging control process of the second control chip for the second battery may include the following steps 21)-22):

[0108] 21) Obtain the current second charging parameter of the second battery.

[0109] Specifically, but not limited to, information such as the charging current, voltage, and / or temperature corresponding to the second battery during charging can be obtained as the second charging parameter.

[0110] In implementation, the second control chip can read the second charging parameter such as the current charging current, voltage, and / or temperature of the second battery from the coulometer corresponding to the second battery.

[0111] 22) Perform second charging control on the second battery according to the second charging parameter and the charging control strategy.

[0112] The step 22) can be further implemented as follows: if the second charging parameter is inconsistent with the second expected charging parameter corresponding to the second battery, perform second charging parameter adjustment control on the second battery; if the second charging parameter meets the second charging stop condition corresponding to the second battery, control the second battery to stop charging.

[0113] The second expected charging parameter can be the parameter indicated by the charging parameter requirement / specification corresponding to the current charging stage of the second battery, such as the charging current, charging voltage, etc. indicated by the charging parameter requirement / specification in the constant current charging stage or constant voltage charging stage.

[0114] The charging control process of the second control chip for the second battery is similar to the charging control process of the first control chip for the first battery. Therefore, for a more detailed implementation process of the charging control of the second control chip for the second battery, reference can be made to the relevant description of the charging control process of the first control chip for the first battery in the foregoing text, which will not be elaborated here.

[0115] In this embodiment, by using the first control chip to control the charging of the first battery and the second control chip to control the charging of the second battery, in a dual-battery device system, the charging process of each battery can be independently controlled according to the actual charging requirements of each battery, thereby improving the flexibility and practicality of the charging and discharging control of the dual batteries. Especially after one of the batteries stops charging due to battery safety regulations or other reasons, the other battery can continue to charge as needed without having to stop charging both batteries together.

[0116] In an optional embodiment, the electronic device provided in this application further includes a third control module connected to the first control chip and the second control chip.

[0117] The third control module can be implemented as, but not limited to, a corresponding control chip.

[0118] The third control module is used to: obtain the first discharge parameter of the first battery and the second discharge parameter of the second battery; perform on / off control on the first control chip and the second control chip according to the first discharge parameter, the second discharge parameter, and the discharge control strategy, so as to implement discharge control on the first battery and the second battery based on the on / off control.

[0119] Optionally, the first discharge parameter of the first battery may include the battery voltage of the first battery, and the second discharge parameter of the second battery may include the battery voltage of the second battery. For the convenience of description, in this embodiment, the battery voltage of the first battery is referred to as the first voltage, and the battery voltage of the second battery is referred to as the second voltage.

[0120] During implementation, optionally, the third control module can specifically obtain the first voltage of the first battery from the coulometer corresponding to the first battery and the second voltage of the second battery from the coulometer corresponding to the second battery during the process of the first battery and the second battery discharging to supply power to the system circuit.

[0121] The third control module performs on-off control of the first control chip and the second control chip according to the first discharge parameter, the second discharge parameter, and the discharge control strategy, which can be further implemented as the following steps 31)-33):

[0122] 31) If the first voltage of the first battery and the second voltage of the second battery meet the proximity condition, control the first control chip and the second control chip to be in the on state.

[0123] 32) If the first voltage and the second voltage do not meet the proximity condition, and the first voltage is higher than the second voltage, control the first control chip to be in the off state.

[0124] 33) If the first voltage and the second voltage do not meet the proximity condition, and the first voltage is lower than the second voltage, control the second control chip to be in the off state.

[0125] Optionally, the proximity condition can be set such that the absolute value of the difference between the first voltage of the first battery and the second voltage of the second battery is less than a threshold.

[0126] Assume the threshold is ΔV, the first voltage of the first battery is V1, and the second voltage of the second battery is V2. After the third control module obtains the first voltage V1 of the first battery and the second voltage V2 of the second battery, it can further determine the voltage difference between the two.

[0127] Among them, if |V1 - V2| < ΔV, it indicates that the voltages of the two batteries are basically equal and meet the proximity condition, so they will not charge each other during discharge. In this case, the first control chip corresponding to the first battery and the second control chip corresponding to the second battery can be controlled to be in the on state. For example, control Figure 6 both the path B and path C in it to be in the on state (in this figure, the first discharge path, the first control chip corresponding to the first battery, the second discharge path, and the second control chip corresponding to the second battery are respectively labeled as A, B, C, and D). In this state, the first battery will discharge through the path formed by its corresponding first discharge path and the first control chip (such as Figure 6 the path A and path B in it), and the second battery will discharge through the path formed by its corresponding second discharge path and the second control chip (such as Figure 6 the path C and path D in it).

[0128] If V1 - V2 ≥ ΔV, that is, V1 ≥ V2 + ΔV, it indicates that the first battery may charge the second battery. Therefore, disconnect the first control chip corresponding to the first battery, such as disconnecting Figure 6 the path B in Figure 6 . In this state, the first battery will discharge through its corresponding first discharge path (such as Figure 6 the path A in

[0129] ), and the second battery will discharge through its corresponding second discharge path and the path formed by the second control chip (such as Figure 6 the paths C and D in Figure 6 ). Figure 6 ).

[0130] In this embodiment, by separately controlling the discharge of the heterogeneous dual batteries based on the discharge parameters of the heterogeneous dual batteries, the problem of mutual charging between the batteries during the discharge process is effectively avoided, as Figure 7 shown, thereby avoiding problems such as potential safety hazards and reduced battery life caused by mutual charging between the batteries.

[0131] In an alternative embodiment, the electronic device provided in the present application further includes a battery management module, which can be represented as Battery Manger.

[0132] The battery management module is connected to the first battery and the second battery and is used for:

[0133] Determine the charging requirement information of the virtual power supply device and send the charging requirement information to the power management chip, so that the power management chip controls the charging parameters for the virtual power supply device based on the charging requirement information.

[0134] Among them, the charging requirement information of the virtual power supply device is obtained by integrating the first charging parameter of the first battery and the second charging parameter of the second battery.

[0135] Specifically, during the process of the power management chip charging the first battery and the second battery by using an external charging device based on the virtual power supply device representing the first battery and the second battery, the battery management module Battery Manger can determine the battery information when the virtual power supply device is charging, so as to further determine the charging requirement information of the virtual power supply device based on the battery information.

[0136] Among them, the battery information during the charging of the virtual power supply device is derived from the information integration of the dual batteries in the closed-loop dual-battery system. That is to say, the battery information during the charging of the virtual power supply device is specifically obtained by integrating the first charging parameter of the first battery and the second charging parameter of the second battery in the closed-loop dual-battery system.

[0137] An exemplary integration method is as follows:

[0138] Combine Battey voltage=(Mainbattery voltage+Flip batteryvoltage) / 2;

[0139] Combine Battery Charge current=Main battery Charge Current+Flipbattery Charge current;

[0140] Combine Battey temperature=Main battery temperature+Flip batterytemperature) / 2。

[0141] Among them, Combine Battey voltage, Main battery voltage, and Flip batteryvoltage respectively represent the voltages of the virtual power supply device, the first battery, and the second battery; CombineBattery Charge current, Mainbattery Charge Current, and Flip battery Chargecurrent respectively represent the charging currents of the virtual power supply device, the first battery, and the second battery; CombineBattey temperature, Main battery temperature, and Flip battery temperature respectively represent the temperatures of the virtual power supply device, the first battery, and the second battery.

[0142] After obtaining the battery information during the charging of the virtual power supply device by integrating the information of the first battery and the second battery during charging in the closed-loop dual-battery system, the battery management module Battery Manger can further determine the current charging demand information corresponding to the virtual power supply device based on the battery information during the charging of the virtual power supply device, such as whether it is necessary to increase the charging voltage or charging current, or how much charging power needs to be applied, etc. After that, refer to Figure 8 andFigure 9 , the Battery Management module sends the charging requirement information of the virtual power supply device to the Charger IC in the power management chip. The Charger IC applies for charging parameters from the AC charger to control the charging of the virtual power supply device, so as to provide the voltage / current that meets its charging requirements to the virtual power supply device.

[0143] Refer to Figure 10 Combined with the overall charging control flowchart of the dual-battery shown, subsequently inside the closed-loop dual-battery system, individual charging control can be further performed on each battery as needed based on the control chip corresponding to each battery. For example, based on the first control chip corresponding to the first battery, individually adjust the charging parameters of the first battery or control the first battery to stop charging, and based on the second control chip corresponding to the second battery, individually adjust the charging parameters of the second battery or control the second battery to stop charging, etc.

[0144] In practical applications, the first control module corresponding to the first battery and the second control module corresponding to the second battery can respectively report the parameter information of their corresponding batteries to the battery management module, so that the battery management module can integrate them to obtain the parameter information of the virtual power supply device, and then determine and apply for the charging requirement information, so as to charge the first battery and the second battery as a whole. Inside the virtual power supply device, each of the above control modules performs fine charging parameter control on the corresponding battery according to the actual requirements of the battery, so as to realize the on-demand distribution of the overall charging parameters provided externally (such as charging current / voltage) to each battery.

[0145] The discharge control process of the dual-battery is the same as that of the dual-battery's charging control process. For the scenario where the battery discharges to supply power to the device system, outside the virtual power supply device, the parameter information of the first battery and the second battery in the discharge scenario can also be integrated to realize the discharge control of the first battery and the second battery as a whole. Inside the first battery and the second battery, fine discharge control adapted to each battery is performed according to the actual parameters of the two batteries.

[0146] For example, assume that the remaining power of the first battery among two batteries is 80% and the remaining power of the second battery is 20%. Then, outside the virtual power supply device, the remaining powers of the two batteries are integrated based on an integration algorithm to obtain the remaining power of the virtual power supply device. Assume that the remaining power of the virtual power supply device is 50%. Then, overall discharge control can be performed on the virtual power supply device based on the 50% remaining power, that is, the discharge parameters of the virtual power supply device are determined according to a discharge strategy matching the 50% remaining power (the remaining power of the battery affects the supply current, and different remaining powers usually result in different supply currents to the system, which correspondingly makes the discharge parameters different). At the same time, inside the virtual power supply device, separate discharge control can be performed on the two batteries based on the actual battery parameter conditions of the two batteries, and the separate discharge controls performed on the two batteries have a self-balancing feature inside the virtual power supply device. For example, in the above example, the first battery has a higher remaining power and the second battery has a lower remaining power. Then, the first battery will be made to discharge at a higher discharge current / power than the second battery as much as possible, or the discharge duration of the first battery will be made longer than that of the second battery as much as possible. For example, the second battery is controlled to discharge at a small current or not to discharge for a period of time, etc., to achieve the self-balancing of parameters between different batteries inside the virtual power supply device.

[0147] In this embodiment, from the global perspective of the system, the dual batteries can be used as an overall power supply for unified charge and discharge management, enabling the closed-loop dual-battery system to form an overall virtual power supply device externally, shielding the processing details of the internal dual batteries, simplifying the control logic of the overall charge and discharge system for heterogeneous battery charge and discharge, and also enabling separate charge and discharge control of each battery based on the control modules corresponding to each battery inside the local closed-loop control system of the dual batteries, ensuring the flexibility and practicality of the charge and discharge control of heterogeneous dual batteries.

[0148] Corresponding to the above electronic device, an embodiment of the present application further provides a control method. Refer to Figure 11 , and the control method may include the following steps 1101-1103:

[0149] Step 1101: Based on the virtual power supply device representing the first battery and the second battery, use the external charging device to charge the first battery and the second battery;

[0150] Step 1102: Based on the virtual power supply device representing the first battery and the second battery, use the first battery and the second battery to supply power to the system circuit.

[0151] Step 1103: When charging the first battery and the second battery, or using the first battery and the second battery to supply power to the system circuit, perform independent charge or discharge control on the first battery and the second battery respectively.

[0152] Specifically, a power management chip in an electronic device can charge the first battery and the second battery based on a virtual power supply device representing the first battery and the second battery by using an external charging device, or supply power to a system circuit by using the first battery and the second battery based on the virtual power supply device representing the first battery and the second battery. That is, during the charging and discharging process of the batteries, it is not necessary for the power management chip to understand the state of each battery, nor will the power management chip separately control the charging and discharging of each battery. Instead, the first battery and the second battery are managed as a whole power supply for charging and discharging.

[0153] At the same time, for the first battery and the second battery, a separate charging and discharging control for each battery is proposed based on a closed-loop dual-battery design method.

[0154] Specifically, for the first battery and the second battery, the heterogeneous dual-battery closed-loop system described above is designed. For each battery in the heterogeneous dual-battery closed-loop system, the corresponding control chip of the battery is used to complete the independent charging control of the battery through a software algorithm, so as to separately control the charging process of each battery according to the actual charging requirements of the battery. For example, the independent charging control of the first battery is completed through a software algorithm on the first control chip corresponding to the first battery, and the independent charging control of the second battery is completed through a software algorithm on the second control chip corresponding to the second battery.

[0155] At the same time, during the discharging process of the closed-loop dual-battery system, a third control module is used to separately control the discharging of each battery. During the discharging control process, the charging path corresponding to each battery is turned off as needed according to the requirements, so as to avoid the problem of mutual charging between the dual batteries due to inconsistent voltages, and further avoid other problems such as potential safety hazards and battery life attenuation caused by this problem.

[0156] In an optional implementation manner, the process of using the first control chip to control the charging of the first battery can be realized as: obtaining the current first charging parameter of the first battery; and performing the first charging control on the first battery according to the first charging parameter and the charging control strategy.

[0157] The process of using the second control chip to control the charging of the second battery can be realized as: obtaining the current second charging parameter of the second battery; and performing the second charging control on the second battery according to the second charging parameter and the charging control strategy.

[0158] Further, the first charging control of the first battery by using the first control chip according to the first charging parameter and the charging control strategy can be implemented as follows: if the first charging parameter is inconsistent with the first expected charging parameter corresponding to the first battery, perform charging parameter adjustment control on the first battery; if the first charging parameter meets the first charging stop condition corresponding to the first battery, control the first battery to stop charging.

[0159] The second charging control of the second battery by using the second control chip according to the second charging parameter and the charging control strategy can be implemented as follows: if the second charging parameter is inconsistent with the second expected charging parameter corresponding to the second battery, perform second charging parameter adjustment control on the second battery; if the second charging parameter meets the second charging stop condition corresponding to the second battery, control the second battery to stop charging.

[0160] In an optional implementation manner, the discharge control process of the first battery and the second battery by using the third control module can be implemented as follows: obtain the first discharge parameter of the first battery and the second discharge parameter of the second battery; according to the first discharge parameter, the second discharge parameter, and the discharge control strategy, perform on-off control on the first control chip and the second control chip, so as to implement discharge control on the first battery and the second battery based on the on-off control.

[0161] Further, the third control module performs on-off control on the first control chip and the second control chip according to the first discharge parameter, the second discharge parameter, and the discharge control strategy, which can be implemented as follows: if the first voltage of the first battery and the second voltage of the second battery meet the proximity condition, control the first control chip and the second control chip to be in the on state; if the first voltage and the second voltage do not meet the proximity condition, and the first voltage is higher than the second voltage, control the first control chip to be in the off state; if the first voltage and the second voltage do not meet the proximity condition, and the first voltage is lower than the second voltage, control the second control chip to be in the off state.

[0162] The control method provided in this embodiment corresponds to the electronic device provided in the above embodiments. For a more detailed implementation process of each step in the control method, reference can be specifically made to the relevant description of the electronic device in the above text, which will not be elaborated here.

[0163] In summary, the control method provided by the embodiments of the present application can, from the global perspective of the system, use the power management chip to uniformly manage the charging and discharging of the dual batteries as a whole power source, shielding the processing details of the internal dual batteries, simplifying the control logic of the overall charging system for charging heterogeneous batteries, and can also, within the local closed-loop control system of the dual batteries, perform separate charging and discharging control on each battery based on the control modules corresponding to each battery, improving the flexibility of the charging and discharging control of the dual batteries, reducing potential safety hazards, and extending the battery life.

[0164] It should be noted that the embodiments in this specification are all described in a progressive manner. Each embodiment focuses on the differences from other embodiments. For the same or similar parts among the embodiments, reference can be made to each other.

[0165] For the convenience of description, when describing the above system or device, various modules or units are described separately according to their functions. Of course, when implementing the present application, the functions of each unit can be realized in one or more software and / or hardware.

[0166] From the description of the above embodiments, those skilled in the art can clearly understand that the present application can be implemented by means of software plus a necessary general hardware platform. Based on such an understanding, the technical solution of the present application, in essence, or the part that makes a creative contribution, can be embodied in the form of a software product. The computer software product can be stored in a storage medium, such as ROM / RAM, magnetic disk, optical disc, etc., and includes several instructions for causing a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to execute the methods described in various embodiments or some parts of the embodiments of the present application.

[0167] Finally, it should also be noted that in this article, relational terms such as first, second, third, and fourth are used to distinguish one entity or operation from another entity or operation, and do not necessarily require or imply any actual relationship or order between these entities or operations. Moreover, the term "comprising", "including" or any other variant thereof is intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, so that a process, method, article or device including a series of elements not only includes those elements, but also includes other elements not expressly listed, or also includes elements inherent to such process, method, article or device. Without further limitation, an element defined by the statement "including a..." does not exclude the presence of additional identical elements in the process, method, article or device including the said element.

[0168] The above are only the preferred embodiments of the present application. It should be noted that for those of ordinary skill in the art, without departing from the principle of the present application, several improvements and refinements can be made, and these improvements and refinements should also be regarded as the protection scope of the present application.

Claims

1. An electronic device, comprising: A first battery; A second battery, wherein the capacity of the first battery is greater than that of the second battery; A charging interface for obtaining an external charging device; A power management chip for charging the first battery and the second battery by using the external charging device based on a virtual power supply device representing the first battery and the second battery, and for powering a system circuit by using the first battery and the second battery based on the virtual power supply device representing the first battery and the second battery.

2. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein, The first battery and the second battery are connected in parallel; the first battery and the second battery are connected to the same access point of the power management chip and at the same location of the power management chip.

3. The electronic device according to claim 2, wherein the first battery is located in a first path, the second battery is located in a second path, and the first path and the second path are connected in parallel; The first path further includes a first control module, wherein, The first control module has a first module and a second module; the first module is at least used for charging control of the first battery, and the second module is used for discharging the first battery; The second path further includes a second control module, wherein the second control module has a third module and a fourth module; the third module is at least used for charging control of the second battery, and the fourth module is used for discharging the second battery.

4. The electronic device according to claim 3, wherein the first module and the second module are connected in parallel, and the third module and the fourth module are connected in parallel; The first module and the second module are connected in parallel between the first battery and the power management chip; the first module includes a first control chip for charging control or discharging of the first battery, and the second module includes a first discharge path for discharging the first battery; The third module and the fourth module are connected in parallel between the second battery and the power management chip; the third module includes a second control chip for charging control or discharging of the second battery, and the fourth module includes a second discharge path for discharging the second battery.

5. The electronic device according to claim 4, when the first control chip performs charging control on the first battery, it is used for: Obtaining a first charging parameter of the first battery currently; Performing first charging control on the first battery according to the first charging parameter and a charging control strategy; When the second control chip performs charging control on the second battery, it is used for: Obtaining a second charging parameter of the second battery currently; Performing second charging control on the second battery according to the second charging parameter and the charging control strategy.

6. The electronic device according to claim 5, when the first control chip performs first charging control on the first battery according to the first charging parameter and the charging control strategy, it is used for: If the first charging parameter is inconsistent with a first expected charging parameter corresponding to the first battery, performing charging parameter adjustment control on the first battery; If the first charging parameter satisfies the first charging stop condition corresponding to the first battery, control the first battery to stop charging; When the second control chip performs second charging control on the second battery according to the second charging parameter and the charging control strategy, it is configured to: If the second charging parameter is inconsistent with the second expected charging parameter corresponding to the second battery, perform second charging parameter adjustment control on the second battery; If the second charging parameter satisfies the second charging stop condition corresponding to the second battery, control the second battery to stop charging.

7. The electronic device according to claim 4, further comprising a third control module connected to the first control chip and the second control chip; The third control module is configured to: Obtain a first discharge parameter of the first battery and a second discharge parameter of the second battery; According to the first discharge parameter, the second discharge parameter, and the discharge control strategy, perform on-off control on the first control chip and the second control chip, so as to perform discharge control on the first battery and the second battery based on the on-off control.

8. The electronic device according to claim 7, when the third control module performs on-off control on the first control chip and the second control chip according to the first discharge parameter, the second discharge parameter, and the discharge control strategy, it is configured to: If the first voltage of the first battery and the second voltage of the second battery satisfy the proximity condition, control the first control chip and the second control chip to be in the on state; If the first voltage and the second voltage do not satisfy the proximity condition, and the first voltage is higher than the second voltage, control the first control chip to be in the off state; If the first voltage and the second voltage do not satisfy the proximity condition, and the first voltage is lower than the second voltage, control the second control chip to be in the off state.

9. The electronic device according to claim 4, further comprising a battery management module; The battery management module is connected to the first battery and the second battery, and is configured to: Determine the charging demand information of the virtual power supply device, and send the charging demand information to the power management chip, so that the power management chip controls the charging parameter for the virtual power supply device based on the charging demand information; Among them, The charging demand information of the virtual power supply device is obtained by integrating the first charging parameter of the first battery and the second charging parameter of the second battery.

10. A control method, comprising: Based on a virtual power supply device representing the first battery and the second battery, use an external charging device to charge the first battery and the second battery; Based on a virtual power supply device representing the first battery and the second battery, use the first battery and the second battery to supply power to the system circuit; Wherein, when charging the first battery and the second battery, or using the first battery and the second battery to supply power to the system circuit, independent charging or discharging control is respectively performed on the first battery and the second battery.

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