Watchdog Circuit Backup Power Isolation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing systems for monitoring and responding to faults in electronic devices, such as power outages and malfunctions, often fail to ensure continuous operation and timely recovery due to reliance on primary power supplies, which can be disrupted during failures.
Innovation Solution
A watchdog circuit that utilizes a backup power supply, such as a charge storage device or battery, to isolate the primary power and provide emergency power, triggering reset signals or reboot commands when a fault is detected, including through a timer mechanism that equates absence of a keep-alive signal to a fault condition.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a primary power supply is used to operate electronic devices, then the device can function normally during regular operation, but the system fails when the primary power supply is disrupted during faults
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by implementing a backup power supply that is pre-configured and ready to activate immediately when the primary power supply fails. The watchdog circuit continuously monitors the primary power supply status and has the backup power supply prepared in advance, so that when a fault occurs, the system can seamlessly switch to backup power without interruption, ensuring continuous operation during faults.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses the watchdog circuit as an intermediary component that monitors the primary power supply and controls the switching between primary and backup power supplies. This intermediary mechanism detects power supply disruptions and activates the backup power supply, serving as a mediator that protects the electronic device from the harmful effect of power supply failures.
2Reliability
If a backup power supply is added to the system, then system reliability during faults is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The watchdog circuit serves multiple functions: it monitors the primary power supply status, detects faults, controls the grounding switch, and manages the backup power supply activation. By making the watchdog circuit multi-functional, the patent reduces the need for separate dedicated components for each function, thereby managing device complexity while maintaining improved fault tolerance.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges the monitoring, control, and power management functions into a single integrated watchdog circuit system. The backup power supply is combined with the existing power management infrastructure, sharing common control logic and signaling pathways with the primary power supply, which reduces overall system complexity compared to having completely separate independent systems.
3Measurement precision
If the watchdog circuit continuously monitors for faults, then fault detection capability is improved, but the energy consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The watchdog circuit implements periodic monitoring of the primary power supply status rather than continuous monitoring. The circuit checks the power supply status at regular intervals using periodic polling or interrupt-driven detection, which maintains adequate fault detection capability while significantly reducing energy consumption compared to continuous real-time monitoring.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables continuous operation and timely recovery of electronic devices by isolating primary power and providing backup power during faults, ensuring system safety and stability by initiating corrective actions like resets or emergency power supply.
Implementation Method 1
the backup power supply is at least one of: a charge storage device, a storage capacitor, or a battery
Implementation Method 2
a ground switch coupled between the primary ground and the backup ground
Data Source
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AI summary
One example discloses a watchdog circuit: wherein the watchdog circuit is configured to receive a primary ground from a primary power supply, and a backup ground from a backup power supply; wherein the watchdog circuit includes a ground switch coupled to the primary ground and the backup ground; and wherein the ground switch is configured to isolate the primary ground from the backup ground in response to a fault signal.