PeakShift Charging Control for 2-in-1 PC Battery Power Management
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Solution Overview
Problem
In 2-in-1 PCs with a built-in battery in the Keyboard Dock, there is a need to suppress power consumption by switching from AC adapter charging to battery driving during high power consumption periods, but existing technologies lack a mechanism to control the charging period of the secondary battery effectively.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of a PeakShift function that uses a Peakshift application to manage the charging of the secondary battery by setting start and end times, allowing the system to switch from AC adapter power to battery driving during high power consumption periods and back when necessary, using communication between the tablet and keyboard dock EC/KBC controllers via an IIC interface.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of energy
If the KB Dock 2nd Battery is charged continuously from AC adapter, then the battery capacity is maintained, but power consumption increases during high power consumption periods
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic charging control by making the charging state changeable based on temporal conditions. The charging prohibition function dynamically switches between charging and non-charging states according to predetermined time periods, allowing the system to adapt to varying power consumption demands while maintaining battery reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary setup by predetermining charging prohibition start and end times in advance. This preliminary action allows the PeakShift function to automatically switch between AC adapter and battery power sources without real-time intervention, ensuring power consumption suppression is ready when high demand periods occur.
2Loss of energy
If the PeakShift function switches to battery driving during high power consumption periods, then power consumption is suppressed, but the charging control mechanism is complex
Solution Approach 1:
The charging control system operates autonomously by automatically determining whether to charge or prohibit charging based on the current time relative to predetermined periods. The EC/KBC controllers self-manage the charging state without requiring complex external control mechanisms, simplifying the overall system while achieving power consumption suppression.
Solution Approach 2:
The system incorporates feedback through the IIC interface communication between tablet and dock EC/KBC controllers. This feedback mechanism allows the system to monitor the charging state and time conditions, automatically adjusting the charging prohibition status to maintain optimal power consumption levels during PeakShift periods.
3Measurement precision
If the charging prohibition is implemented via EC/KBC communication, then charging control is precise, but the communication protocol complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The IIC interface, originally designed for general communication between EC/KBC controllers, is utilized for the specific function of charging prohibition control. This multi-functional use of an existing communication protocol achieves precise charging control without introducing a dedicated complex communication system, as the IIC interface handles both general controller communication and specific charging management.
Data Source
AI summary
One embodiment provides an electronic device including an application which is configured to obtain peak shift information, a BIOS which is configured to receive the peak shift information from the application to calculate peak shift start and end times based on the peak shift information, a first unit, a first controller which is included in the first unit to execute a peak shift for a first battery based on the start and end times, a second unit, and a second controller which is included in the second unit. The second controller is configured to execute a peak shift for a second battery based on the start and end times received from the first controller.