Power Draw Throttle for Electronic Devices
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Solution Overview
Problem
Electronic devices often experience over throttling due to triggering lower Over Current Protection (OCP) thresholds, which can lead to performance issues and prevent turbo events, despite the power supply's capability to handle them, as existing systems do not align throttle behavior with multiple OCP thresholds across different timescales.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a throttling mechanism with multiple throttle domains that target specific timescales, using a power meter to capture real-time input power and a controller to determine average power draws over different intervals, comparing these to distinct thresholds, and adjusting throttle amounts in small steps to align with the power supply's capabilities, thereby reducing unnecessary throttling and allowing turbo events.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a single lower OCP threshold is used for throttling, then power supply protection is improved, but device performance deteriorates due to over-throttling
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the single OCP threshold into multiple thresholds corresponding to different timescales (e.g., 2ms, 30ms, 10s intervals). Each threshold is optimized for its specific timescale, allowing the system to protect against genuine overloads while permitting short-duration turbo events that exceed lower thresholds but remain within overall power limits.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements dynamic threshold selection based on the duration of power draw events. The system adapts which threshold to apply depending on whether the event is brief (allowing higher thresholds) or sustained (applying lower thresholds), enabling flexible performance management that responds to actual power supply capabilities.
2Productivity
If multiple OCP thresholds across different timescales are implemented, then device performance is improved by reducing unnecessary throttling, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the monitoring system into multiple independent threshold checkers, each responsible for a specific timescale. This segmentation allows each component to remain relatively simple while the collective system achieves sophisticated multi-timescale power management.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements multiple threshold checks beyond what a single threshold would provide. By checking against multiple thresholds simultaneously and selecting the appropriate one based on event duration, the system performs more checks than necessary for simple protection, but this excessive action enables precise performance optimization.
Data Source
AI summary
In one example in accordance with the present disclosure, an electronic device is described. An example electronic device a power meter to capture real-time power draw of the electronic device from a power supply. The example electronic device also includes a controller. An example controller determines (1) an average power draw over a first interval, (2) an average power draw over a second interval, and (3) an overall throttle amount for the electronic device based on the average power draw over the first interval and the average power draw over the second interval. The example electronic device also includes a throttling device to reduce the power draw of the electronic device from the power supply based on the overall throttle amount for the electronic device.