Low-voltage operation microprocessor integrated circuit and method for prolonging service life of battery

Abstract

The invention provides a low-voltage operation microprocessor integrated circuit and a method for prolonging the service life of a battery, the low-voltage operation microprocessor integrated circuit is used for operating by using a single battery, and the low-voltage operation microprocessor integrated circuit comprises a power supply voltage point, a common voltage point, a voltage boosting circuit and a microprocessor circuit. The power supply voltage point is coupled to the anode of the single battery. The common voltage point is coupled to the negative electrode of the single battery. The voltage boosting circuit is coupled to the power supply voltage point and the common voltage point, and is used for generating an operation voltage according to a voltage difference between the power supply voltage point and the common voltage point. The power input end of the microprocessor circuit is coupled with the output end of the voltage boosting circuit and receives the operation voltage.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to a technology for extending the battery usage time, and particularly to a low-voltage operating microprocessor integrated circuit and a method for extending the battery usage time. Background Art

[0002] Currently, many products still use disposable batteries. However, due to the limited battery capacity, it is hoped that products using batteries can save power as much as possible to reduce the frequency of battery replacement. Taking two 1.5V dry batteries connected in series as an example, the voltage of a brand-new series-connected battery is 3.1 - 3.2V. After drawing a load for a period of time, the voltage will drop below 2.8V. At this time, the product will malfunction due to insufficient voltage. Generally, during engineering debugging, it is considered that the battery power is insufficient. However, from a practical perspective, perhaps the power consumption of the product is too high. Therefore, in the field of products using batteries, it is hoped to develop in the direction of power saving.

[0003] The power consumption of a microprocessor not only depends on the designer to check or use low-power components, but also is affected by process factors. However, for power-saving designs, it is also necessary to consider whether the functions can work properly. Therefore, we hope that the product is both power-saving, has normal functions, and high reliability, which is a challenge for product developers. Taking the current minimum operating voltage of microprocessors, although it has dropped from 2.5V to 1.8V, taking common 1.5V dry batteries or alkaline batteries as an example, two or three batteries still need to be connected in series to supply power to the microprocessor. Summary of the Invention

[0004] This application provides a low-voltage operating microprocessor system and a method for extending the battery usage time to reduce waste and extend the battery usage time.

[0005] An embodiment of this application provides a low-voltage operating microprocessor integrated circuit for operating with a single cell battery. This low-voltage operating microprocessor integrated circuit includes a power supply voltage point, a common connection voltage point, a voltage boost circuit, and a microprocessor circuit. The power supply voltage point is coupled to the positive electrode of the single cell battery. The common connection voltage point is coupled to the negative electrode of the single cell battery. The voltage boost circuit is coupled to the power supply voltage point and the common connection voltage point and includes an output terminal for generating an operating voltage according to a voltage difference between the power supply voltage point and the common connection voltage point, wherein the operating voltage is greater than the voltage difference. The microprocessor circuit includes a power supply input terminal, and the power supply input terminal of the microprocessor circuit is coupled to the output terminal of the voltage boost circuit to receive the operating voltage.

[0006] Another embodiment of the present application provides a method for extending the battery usage time. The method for extending the battery usage time includes: in a microprocessor integrated circuit, setting up a voltage boosting circuit to receive the voltage difference between a power supply voltage point and a common connection voltage point to generate an operating voltage; in the microprocessor integrated circuit, setting up a microprocessor circuit, wherein the microprocessor circuit receives the above-mentioned operating voltage to operate; using a single battery as the power supply, which is coupled between the power supply voltage point and the common connection voltage point; and using the above-mentioned voltage boosting circuit to maintain the operation of the microprocessor circuit when the power of the single battery is low until the power of the single battery is exhausted.

[0007] In summary, the embodiment of the present application sets up a voltage boosting circuit inside the microprocessor integrated circuit. By this means, only a single 1.5V standard battery can be used for operation. Since the voltage boosting circuit is the main circuit providing the internal operating voltage, even if the battery voltage has dropped to 1.2V, that is, a very low power level and generally unable to operate, in this embodiment, it can still continue to operate until the power is substantially completely exhausted. In this way, resource waste can be reduced and the battery usage time can be extended.

[0008] To further understand the technology, means and effects of the present application, the following detailed description and drawings can be referred to, so as to thoroughly and specifically understand the purpose, features and concepts of the present application. However, the following detailed description and drawings are only used for reference and illustration of the implementation manner of the present application, and are not used to limit the present application. Description of the Drawings

[0009] The provided drawings are used to enable those skilled in the art to which the present application belongs to further understand the present application, and are incorporated into and constitute a part of the specification of the present application. The drawings show exemplary embodiments of the present application and are used together with the specification of the present application to explain the principles of the present application.

[0010] Figure 1 It is a circuit block diagram of a low-voltage operating microprocessor integrated circuit according to a preferred embodiment of the present application.

[0011] Figure 2 It is a circuit diagram of a charge pump 110 according to a preferred embodiment of the present application.

[0012] Figure 3 It is a circuit diagram of a charge pump 110 according to a preferred embodiment of the present application.

[0013] Figure 4 It is a flowchart of a method for extending the battery usage time according to a preferred embodiment of the present application.

[0014] Symbol Explanation

[0015] 101: Power supply voltage point

[0016] 102: Common connection voltage point

[0017] 103: Voltage boosting circuit

[0018] 104: Microprocessor circuit

[0019] 110: Charge pump

[0020] P1, P2, P3: Voltage points for external capacitors

[0021] MCU_VDD: Operating voltage required for the microprocessor circuit 104

[0022] M1, M2, M3, M4, M5: Transistors

[0023] C1, C2, C3, C4, C5: Capacitors

[0024] CLK: Clock signal

[0025] φ1: Clock

[0026] φ2: Inverted clock

[0027] 301: Voltage doubling circuit

[0028] 302: Rectifier circuit

[0029] S401~S406: Process steps of the method for extending battery usage time in a preferred embodiment of the present application Detailed implementation

[0030] Now, a detailed reference will be made to the exemplary embodiments of the present application, and the exemplary embodiments will be illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same component symbols are used in the drawings and the specification to refer to the same or similar components. Additionally, the practices of the exemplary embodiments are merely one of the implementation manners of the design concept of the present application, and the following examples are not used to limit the present application.

[0031] Figure 1 It is shown as a circuit block diagram of a low-voltage operating microprocessor integrated circuit in a preferred embodiment of the present application. Please refer to Figure 1 , this low-voltage operating microprocessor integrated circuit includes a power supply voltage point 101, a common connection voltage point 102, a voltage boosting circuit 103, and a microprocessor circuit 104. Since this case adopts low-voltage operation, a single cell battery 100 is also shown in this embodiment. The single cell battery in this embodiment is, for example, a dry battery or a lithium battery with a specification of 1.5V. Additionally, in addition to the power supply voltage point 101 and the common connection voltage point 102, this low-voltage operating microprocessor integrated circuit also includes voltage points P1~P3 for external capacitors. This part will be described in detail later.

[0032] The power supply voltage point 101 is coupled to the positive electrode of the above-mentioned single battery 100. The common connection voltage point 102 is coupled to the negative electrode of the above-mentioned single battery 100. The voltage boosting circuit 103 is coupled to the power supply voltage point 101 and the common connection voltage point 102, and is used to boost the 1.5V voltage difference between the power supply voltage point 101 and the common connection voltage point 102 to further generate the operating voltage MCU_VDD required by the microprocessor circuit 104 and input it to the power input terminal of the microprocessor circuit 104.

[0033] Since the minimum operating voltage of the current microprocessor circuit 104 can be reduced to 1.8V by using a low-voltage process, the 1.5V battery is still not sufficient to operate the microprocessor circuit 104. Moreover, the above-mentioned single battery 100 will have a decrease in power and a decrease in output voltage as it is used. Therefore, in this embodiment, the voltage boosting circuit 103 is implemented by, for example, a very low voltage bPOR (backup system start-up reset circuit), bLDO (backup system low-dropout linear voltage regulator circuit), bOSC (backup system clock generation circuit), and a charge pump 110.

[0034] In addition, since this charge pump 110 is used to supply the operating voltage MCU_VDD required for the operation of the microprocessor circuit 104, there are driving force and voltage regulation requirements. Considering that there may be instantaneous power draw or load changes in the application, external capacitors are used at the voltage points P1 to P3 of the external capacitors, and the capacitors are coupled externally.

[0035] Figure 2 The circuit diagram of the charge pump 110 according to a preferred embodiment of the present application is shown. Please refer to Figure 2 , in this embodiment, the charge pump 110 includes a first transistor M1, a first capacitor C1, a second transistor M2, and a second capacitor C2. The gate of the first transistor M1 and the first source-drain of the first transistor M1 are coupled to the power supply voltage point 101. The gate of the second transistor M2 and the first source-drain of the second transistor M2 are coupled to the second source-drain of the first transistor M1, and the second source-drain of the second transistor M2 outputs the operating voltage MCU_VDD required by the microprocessor circuit 104. The first end of the first capacitor C1 is coupled to the second source-drain of the first transistor M1, and the second end of the first capacitor C1 receives the clock signal CLK. The first end of the second capacitor C2 is coupled to the second source-drain of the second transistor M2, and the second end of the second capacitor C2 is coupled to the common connection voltage point 102.

[0036] The above embodiments take a single-phase double voltage as an example. As long as the battery power is higher than 1.0V, the above standby system startup reset circuit bPOR enables the standby system low-dropout linear voltage regulator circuit bLDO. The standby system low-dropout linear voltage regulator circuit bLDO then supplies power to the standby system clock generation circuit bOSC. The standby system clock generation circuit bOSC then provides a clock to the first capacitor C1 of the charge pump 110, raising the input voltage of the battery (1.0V to 1.5V) to 2 times, and then outputting and supplying the operating voltage MCU_VDD to the microprocessor circuit 104.

[0037] Figure 3 It is a circuit diagram of the charge pump 110 shown in a preferred embodiment of the present application. Please refer to Figure 3 , in this embodiment, the charge pump 110 is implemented with a five-fold voltage circuit. This charge pump 110 includes transistors M1 to M5 and capacitors C1 to C5. According to the circuit function, it can be divided into a voltage multiplication circuit 301 and a rectification circuit 302. In this embodiment, each of the transistors M1 to M5 is connected in a diode connection manner and is connected in series, and each of the transistors M1 to M5 mainly constitutes a unidirectional conduction circuit. In addition, one end of capacitors C1 and C3 receives the clock One end of capacitors C2 and C4 receives the clock the inverted clock of In addition, the transistor M5 and the capacitor C5 serve as the rectification circuit 302.

[0038] In the prior art, in addition to the need to stack two single batteries to operate, when the remaining power of the dry battery is 10% to 20%, the battery must be replaced, which is not environmentally friendly and wastes energy. Through the above embodiments, the microprocessor integrated circuit can be applied at a lower voltage, and the remaining battery power (about 10% to 20%) can be extracted and used, thereby achieving the effects of power saving of the product and extending the battery usage time. In addition, since the charge pump 110 is integrated into the microprocessor integrated circuit, the cost is saved, and the actual working voltage of the microprocessor integrated circuit can be reduced, making the application wider.

[0039] Although the microprocessor integrated circuit design has POR (power on reset) / BOD (brown out detection) / LVR (low voltage release) for power-off protection, sometimes for power saving, it will be turned off or enter the power-saving mode. And the microprocessor integrated circuit generally has built-in flash memory. Since the flash memory must work above a specific voltage to ensure the correctness of reading. If the voltage is below the operating voltage, and at this time if POR / BOD / LVR are all turned off or enter the power-saving mode, resulting in the failure to send the reset signal in time, making the flash memory unable to continue working, it may cause the microprocessor circuit to fetch incorrect code, leading to unpredictable situations.

[0040] In this embodiment, the voltage region where the flash memory cannot work can be avoided. Even if POR / BOD / LVR are turned off or enter the power-saving mode, because the charge pump 110 can raise the operating voltage MCU_VDD voltage, that is, the flash memory can work above a specific voltage, and it will not cause the microprocessor circuit to fetch incorrect code, resulting in unpredictable situations. The above embodiment proposes a charge pump 110 circuit with double voltage and five-fold voltage. Those skilled in the art should be able to infer and adopt other voltage multiplier circuits according to different applications, which will not be elaborated here.

[0041] From the above embodiment, a method for extending the battery usage time can be summarized. Figure 4 It is shown as a flowchart of the method for extending the battery usage time of a preferred embodiment of the present application. Please refer to Figure 4 , this method for extending the battery usage time includes the following steps:

[0042] Step S401: Start.

[0043] Step S402: In the microprocessor integrated circuit, set a voltage boosting circuit to receive the voltage difference between the power supply voltage point and the common connection voltage point to generate an operating voltage. Generate the operating voltage MCU_VDD in the manner of the above embodiment.

[0044] Step S403: In the microprocessor integrated circuit, set a microprocessor circuit, where the microprocessor circuit receives the operating voltage to operate.

[0045] Step S404: Use a single battery as the power supply and couple it between the power supply voltage point and the common connection voltage point.

[0046] Step S405: Utilize the voltage boosting circuit to maintain the operation of the microprocessor circuit when the single battery has a low power level until the single battery runs out of power.

[0047] Step S406: End.

[0048] As described above, an embodiment of the present application provides a voltage boosting circuit inside a microprocessor integrated circuit. Thus, only a single 1.5V battery can be used for operation. Since the voltage boosting circuit is mainly responsible for providing the internal operating voltage, even when the battery voltage drops to 0.9V, which is a very low power level and usually unable to support operation, the circuit in this embodiment can still continue to operate until the power is substantially exhausted. This can reduce waste of resources and extend the battery life.

[0049] It should be understood that the examples and embodiments described herein are for illustrative purposes only, and various modifications or changes thereto will be suggested to those skilled in the art and will be included within the spirit and scope of the present application and the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

1. A low-voltage operating microprocessor integrated circuit for operating with a single battery, characterized in that, The low-voltage operating microprocessor integrated circuit includes: A power supply pad, coupled to the positive electrode of the single battery; A common connection voltage pad, coupled to the negative electrode of the single battery; A voltage boosting circuit, coupled to the power supply pad and the common connection voltage pad, including an output terminal for generating an operating voltage according to a voltage difference between the power supply pad and the common connection voltage pad, wherein the operating voltage is greater than the voltage difference; and A microprocessor circuit, including a power supply input terminal, wherein the power supply input terminal of the microprocessor circuit is coupled to the output terminal of the voltage boosting circuit to receive the operating voltage.

2. The low-voltage operating microprocessor integrated circuit according to claim 1, characterized in that, The voltage boosting circuit includes: A clock generating circuit for outputting a clock signal; and A charge pump, including an input terminal, a clock input terminal, and an output terminal, wherein the input terminal of the charge pump receives the voltage difference, the clock input terminal of the charge pump receives the clock signal, and the output terminal of the charge pump outputs the operating voltage.

3. The low-voltage operating microprocessor integrated circuit according to claim 2, wherein The charge pump includes: A first transistor, including a gate, a first source-drain terminal, and a second source-drain terminal, wherein the gate of the first transistor and the first source-drain terminal of the first transistor are coupled to the power supply pad; A first capacitor, including a first terminal and a second terminal, wherein the first terminal of the first capacitor is coupled to the second source-drain terminal of the first transistor, and the second terminal of the first capacitor receives the clock signal; A second transistor, including a gate, a first source-drain terminal, and a second source-drain terminal, wherein the gate of the second transistor and the first source-drain terminal of the second transistor are coupled to the second source-drain terminal of the first transistor, and the second source-drain terminal of the second transistor is coupled to the output terminal of the charge pump; and A second capacitor, including a first terminal and a second terminal, wherein the first terminal of the second capacitor is coupled to the second source-drain terminal of the second transistor, and the second terminal of the second capacitor is coupled to the common connection voltage pad.

4. The low-voltage operating microprocessor integrated circuit according to claim 2, wherein The charge pump includes: N unidirectional conduction circuits, including a first terminal and a second terminal, wherein the second terminal of the Kth unidirectional conduction circuit is coupled to the first terminal of the (K + 1)th unidirectional conduction circuit, and the first terminal of the first unidirectional conduction circuit is coupled to the power supply pad; N capacitors, including a first terminal and a second terminal, wherein the first terminal of the Kth capacitor is coupled to the second terminal of the Kth unidirectional conduction circuit, the second terminal of the (2Q + 1)th capacitor receives the clock signal, and the second terminal of the (2Q + 2)th capacitor receives an inverted signal of the clock signal; and A rectifying circuit, including an input terminal and an output terminal, wherein the input terminal of the rectifying circuit is coupled to the second terminal of the Nth unidirectional conduction circuit, and the output terminal of the rectifying circuit outputs the operating voltage, wherein N, K, and Q are natural numbers, where 0 < K < N and 0 ≤ Q < N / 2.

5. The low-voltage operating microprocessor integrated circuit according to claim 4, characterized in that, Each of the unidirectional conduction circuits includes: A transistor includes a gate, a first source / drain, and a second source / drain. Among them, the gate of the transistor and the first source / drain of the transistor are the first ends of each of the unidirectional conduction circuits, and the second source / drain of the transistor is the second end of each of the unidirectional conduction circuits.

6. The low-voltage operating microprocessor integrated circuit according to claim 4, wherein, The rectification circuit includes: A rectification transistor includes a gate, a first source / drain, and a second source / drain. Among them, the gate of the rectification transistor and the first source / drain of the rectification transistor are coupled to the second end of the Nth unidirectional conduction circuit, and the second source / drain of the rectification transistor is coupled to the output end of the charge pump; and A rectification capacitor includes a first end and a second end. Among them, the first end of the rectification capacitor is coupled to the second source / drain of the rectification transistor, and the second end of the rectification capacitor is coupled to the common connection voltage point.

7. A method for extending the battery usage time, characterized in that, It includes: In a microprocessor integrated circuit, a voltage boosting circuit is provided to receive the voltage difference between the power supply point and the common connection voltage point to generate an operating voltage; In the microprocessor integrated circuit, a microprocessor circuit is provided. Among them, the microprocessor circuit receives the operating voltage to operate; A single battery is used as the power supply and is coupled between the power supply point and the common connection voltage point; and Using the voltage boosting circuit, when the single battery has a low power level, the operation of the microprocessor circuit is maintained until the single battery runs out of power.

8. The method for extending battery usage time according to claim 7, wherein The voltage boosting circuit includes: A clock generation circuit for outputting a clock signal; and A charge pump includes an input end, a clock input end, and an output end. Among them, the input end of the charge pump receives the voltage difference, the clock input end of the charge pump receives the clock signal, and the output end of the charge pump outputs the operating voltage.

9. The method for extending battery usage time according to claim 8, wherein The charge pump includes: A first transistor includes a gate, a first source / drain, and a second source / drain. Among them, the gate of the first transistor and the first source / drain of the first transistor are coupled to the power supply point; A first capacitor includes a first end and a second end. Among them, the first end of the first capacitor is coupled to the second source / drain of the first transistor, and the second end of the first capacitor receives the clock signal; A second transistor includes a gate, a first source / drain, and a second source / drain. Among them, the gate of the second transistor and the first source / drain of the second transistor are coupled to the second source / drain of the first transistor, and the second source / drain of the second transistor is coupled to the output end of the charge pump; and A second capacitor includes a first end and a second end. Among them, the first end of the second capacitor is coupled to the second source / drain of the second transistor, and the second end of the second capacitor is coupled to the common connection voltage point.

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