Multi-Port Power Management Interface for Flexible Voltage Rail Assignment
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing power converter systems face challenges in supporting multiple voltage rails due to the restrictive nature of point-to-point interfaces, which require dedicated buses for each rail, leading to increased implementation costs and limited flexibility, especially in systems with distributed voltage rails or shared implementations.
Innovation Solution
A power converter system utilizing a plurality of point-to-point power management communication buses with configuration logic to flexibly assign power converters and electrical loads to dedicated serial communication buses, allowing for efficient communication and reduced port requirements, enabling support for multiple voltage rails while maintaining compatibility with standard interfaces.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a dedicated point-to-point interface is used for each voltage rail, then communication reliability and speed are improved, but implementation cost and device complexity increase due to additional ports, pins and signals
Solution Approach 1:
The power management interface is designed to support multiple voltage rails through a single universal interface that can dynamically configure which rails are active. The interface uses a single port with configuration logic that can assign different voltage rails to the same physical connection, eliminating the need for dedicated ports for each rail while maintaining reliable communication.
Solution Approach 2:
The interface implementation is made dynamic through configuration logic that can adaptively assign voltage rails to available ports based on system requirements. This dynamic configuration allows the same physical interface to serve multiple voltage rails by changing its operational state rather than requiring fixed dedicated connections for each rail.
2Device complexity
If multiple voltage rails are supported over a single interface, then implementation cost is reduced, but the interface is constrained to a single-master, single-slave configuration which limits flexibility
Solution Approach 1:
The interface is segmented into multiple virtual channels or logical paths within a single physical connection. Configuration logic divides the single interface into multiple independent communication paths that can simultaneously handle multiple masters and slaves, effectively creating a multi-point-to-point interface from a single physical port.
Solution Approach 2:
Configuration logic acts as an intermediary layer between the single physical interface and multiple voltage rails. This mediator manages the assignments and routing, enabling multiple masters and slaves to communicate over the single interface by dynamically establishing appropriate communication paths based on which voltage rails are active.
3Adaptability or versatility
If dedicated interfaces are provided for each voltage rail, then adaptability to different rail configurations is improved, but the number of ports, pins and signals increases leading to higher implementation cost
Solution Approach 1:
A single universal power management interface is designed to accommodate multiple voltage rail configurations through dynamic assignment. The interface can adapt to different rail configurations by reconfiguring its operational parameters and assignment logic, providing the same adaptability as multiple dedicated interfaces without requiring multiple physical ports.
Solution Approach 2:
The interface adapts to different voltage rail configurations by changing its operational parameters through configuration logic. Rather than requiring different physical interfaces for different configurations, the system modifies logical parameters such as assigned rails, communication protocols, and routing tables to accommodate various rail configurations using the same physical infrastructure.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
A power converter system is provided that supports multiple voltage rails through a plurality of point-to-point power management communication buses. The power converter system includes a plurality of power converters each of which is operable to output an independent voltage rail regulated at a defined voltage level, a plurality of ports each of which is configured for point-to-point communication over a dedicated serial communication power management bus with single and multiple voltage rail support, each port being dedicated to a single serial communication power management bus, the power converter system having fewer ports than voltage rails, and configuration logic operable to flexibly assign each power converter to one of the ports based on configuration information stored in or provided to the power converter system, so that each power converter communicates over the serial communication power management bus to which the port assigned to that power converter is dedicated.