Bridging Device Power Saving via Connection Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional bridging devices fail to effectively enter a power-saving state when the connector is non-floating but the power pin is not energized, leading to unnecessary power consumption and non-compliance with energy-saving directives.
Innovation Solution
A bridging device with a connection detector and a bridging chip that determines the floating or non-floating state of the connector, generating a linked or unlinked signal to execute a power-saving operation based on the host's command, ensuring the device enters a power-saving state even when the power pin is not energized.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of energy
If the control chip is deployed on an add-on card, then power consumption is reduced when the host is in power-saving state, but the external peripheral device cannot receive power-saving commands when the control chip loses power
Solution Approach 1:
The connection detector continuously monitors the floating state of the connector and prepares the bridging chip to execute power-saving operations in advance. When the host enters power-saving state, the bridging chip can immediately respond with the correct operation based on pre-detected connection status, ensuring reliable power-saving command execution even when power is limited.
2Reliability
If the bridging device continuously monitors connection status, then power-saving operations can be executed correctly, but power consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The connection detector performs periodic monitoring of the connector's floating state rather than continuous monitoring. This periodic detection approach maintains awareness of connection status to ensure accurate power-saving operation execution while significantly reducing power consumption compared to continuous monitoring.
3Loss of energy
If the bridging device enters power-saving state immediately, then energy consumption is reduced, but the device may miss important connection status changes
Solution Approach 1:
The bridging device performs preliminary detection of the connector's floating state before entering power-saving operation. This preliminary action ensures that connection status information is captured and stored, allowing the device to enter power-saving state confidently without missing important connection status changes.
Data Source
AI summary
A bridging device and a power saving method thereof are disclosed. The disclosed bridging device includes a connector, a connection detector and a bridging chip. The connector is operative to connect to a host and includes a power pin and a command pin. The connection detector is coupled to the power pin to determine whether the connector is floating, and, outputs a linked signal when the connection is non-floating. The bridging chip is coupled to the command pin and the connection detector. When the bridging chip receives a power saving command transferred from the host via the command pin and the linked signal transferred from the connection detector, the bridging chip executes a power saving operation.