Power supply device and power supply method

This application claims priority to Taiwan Application Serial Number, 105214748, filed Sep. 26, 2016, which is herein incorporated by reference.

The present disclosure relates to a power supply technology. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a power supply device and a power supply method.

Universal serial buses (USB) have been widely utilized in electronic devices. With the increased demand for the data transfer speed and the charging speed, USB interfaces have been developed from a Type-A connection interface to a Type-C connection interface.

However, as the electronic devices, which employ Type-A connection interfaces, have been existed for a long time, a power supply device which able to support charging of electronic devices having different types of connection interfaces is required during the transition period, in order to popularize the Type-C connection interface.

Some aspects of the present disclosure are to provide a power supply device that includes a first voltage conversion unit and a second voltage conversion unit. The first voltage conversion unit is configured to perform a step-down operation according to a first voltage, in order to output a first output voltage via a first connection interface. The second voltage conversion unit is coupled to the first voltage conversion unit, and includes a first rectifying circuit and a power delivery circuit. The first rectifying circuit is configured to perform a first rectifying operation based on a load information of a load and the first voltage, in order to generate a second voltage. The power delivery circuit is coupled to the first rectifying circuit, and is configured to determine, according to the load information and the second voltage, whether to output the second voltage as a second output voltage to the load via a second connection interface. The power delivery circuit is coupled to the second connection interface to detect the load information, the first connection interface is different from the second connection interface, and the second output voltage is higher than or equal to the first output voltage.

Another aspects of the present disclosure are to provide a power supply method that includes: performing a step-down operation according to a first voltage, in order to output a first output voltage via a first connection interface; and performing a first rectifying operation based on a load information of a load and the first voltage, in order to generate a second voltage; and determining, according to the load information and the second voltage, whether to output the second voltage as an second output voltage to the load via a second connection interface, in which load information is detected by a power delivery circuit that is coupled to the second connection interface, the first connection interface is different from the second connection interface, and the second output voltage is higher than or equal to the first output voltage.

As discussed above, the power supply device and the power supply method of the present disclosure are able to simultaneously provide electrical energy to electronic devices, which have different types of connection interfaces, with multiple arrangements.

Aspects of the present disclosure are best understood from the following detailed description when read with the accompanying figures.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a power supply device, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2A is a schematic diagram of a power supply device, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2B is a circuit diagram of the transformer in FIG. 2A , in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a power supply device, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a power supply device, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart of a power supply method, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

The following embodiments are disclosed with accompanying diagrams for detailed description. For illustration clarity, many details of practice are explained in the following descriptions. However, it should be understood that these details of practice do not intend to limit the present disclosure. That is, these details of practice are not necessary in parts of embodiments of the present embodiments. Furthermore, for simplifying the drawings, some of the conventional structures and elements are shown with schematic illustrations.

In this document, the term “coupled” or “connected” indicates that two or more elements are in “direct” physical or electrical contact with each other, that two or more elements have “indirect” physical or electrical contact with each other, or that two or more elements cooperate or interact with each other.

It will be understood that, although the terms “first,” “second,” etc., may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are used to distinguish one element from another. For example, a first element could be termed a second element, and, similarly, a second element could be termed a first element, without departing from the scope of the embodiments.

Reference is now made to FIG. 1 . FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a power supply device 100 , in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

The power supply device 100 includes a connection interface 101 and a connection interface 102 , in which the connection interface 101 is configured to connect with an electronic device A, and the connection interface 102 is configured to connect with an electronic device B. In some embodiments, the connection interface 101 is different from the connection interface 102 . For example, the connection interface 101 is a universal serial bus (USB) Type-A interface, and the connection interface 102 is an USB Type-C interface. The electronic device A and the electronic device B can be, for example, tablets, laptops, hard disks, smart phones, servers, cameras, recorder, etc.

The implementations of the connection interface 101 and the connection interface 102 are given for illustrative purposes only. Various types of the connection interface 101 and the connection interface 102 are within the contemplated scope of the present disclosure. The implementations of the electronic device A and the electronic device B are given for illustrative purposes only. Various implementations of the electronic device A and the electronic device B are within the contemplated scope of the present disclosure.

As shown in FIG. 1 , the power supply device 100 includes an input stage circuit 120 , a voltage conversion unit 140 , and a voltage conversion unit 160 . The input stage circuit 120 is coupled to an input power source SV 1 to receive a voltage VIN provided by the input power source SV 1 . The input stage circuit 120 is coupled to the voltage conversion unit 140 and the voltage conversion unit 160 . In some embodiments, the voltage conversion unit 140 is configured to perform a step-down operation according to the voltage VIN, in order to output an output voltage VO 1 to the electronic device A via the connection interface 101 . In some embodiments, the output voltage VO 1 is about 5.1 Volts.

In some embodiments, the voltage conversion stage 160 is configured to generate an output voltage VO 2 according to the voltage VIN, in order to output the output voltage VO 2 to the electronic device B via the connection interface 102 . In some embodiments, the output voltage VO 2 is configured to be higher than or equal to the output voltage VO 1 . For example, in some embodiments, the output voltage VO 2 is about 5.1 Volts, 5.5 Volts, or 12 Volts.

The values of the output voltages VO 1 and VO 2 are given for illustrative purposes only. Various values of the output voltages VO 1 and VO 2 are within the contemplated scope of the present disclosure.

Reference is now made to FIG. 2A . FIG. 2A is a schematic diagram of a power supply device 200 , in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. For ease of understanding, similar elements in FIG. 2A are designated with the same reference number with respect to FIG. 1 .

As shown in FIG. 2A , the input stage circuit 120 includes a filter circuit 122 , a transformer 123 , a switch 124 , a pulse width modulation (PWM) controller 125 . The filter circuit 122 is coupled to the input power source SV 1 , in order to filter noises on the voltage VIN to generate a filtered voltage VF. In some embodiments, the filter circuit 122 can be implemented with an electromagnetic interference (EMI) filter and a bulk capacitor. The implementation given above is only for illustrative purposes, and various arrangements of the filter circuit 122 are within the contemplated scope of the present disclosure.

The transformer 123 is coupled between the filter circuit 122 and the voltage conversion units 140 and 160 , in order to receive the filtered voltage VF. In some embodiments, the transformer 123 outputs at least one driving voltage VDn to the voltage conversion units 140 and 160 in response to the filtered voltage VF.

The switch 124 is coupled to the transformer 123 to regulate the at least one driving voltage VDn according to a pulse signal VPWM 1 . The PWM controller 125 is coupled to the switch 124 . In some embodiments, the switch 124 can be implemented with an N-type field-effect transistor (FET), but the present disclosure is not limited thereto. The PWM controller 125 is configured to output the pulse signal VPMW 1 based on a load information Sload associated with the electronic device B. In some embodiments, the load information Sload includes electronic signals that indicate a value of the output voltage VO 2 required by the electronic device B.

As shown in FIG. 2A , the voltage conversion unit 140 includes a rectifying circuit 142 and a DC-to-DC controller 144 . The rectifying circuit 142 is electrically coupled to the transformer 123 to receive the at least one driving voltage VDn (e.g., the driving voltage VD 1 as discussed below). The rectifying circuit 142 is configured to perform a rectifying operation according to the at least one driving voltage VDn (e.g., the driving voltage VD 1 as discussed below) to generate a voltage V 1 . For example, the at least one driving voltage VDn is an AC voltage, and the rectifying circuit 142 can convert the at least one driving voltage VDn to a DC voltage (i.e., the voltage V 1 ).

The DC-to-DC controller 144 is coupled between the rectifying circuit 142 and the connection interface 101 . The DC-to-DC controller 144 is configured to perform the step-down operation on the voltage V 1 , in order to generate the output voltage VO 1 to the electronic device A.

In some embodiments, the electronic device 200 further includes a USB dedicated charging port (DCP) controller 140 A. The USB DCP controller 140 A is coupled between the DC-to-DC controller 144 and the connection interface 101 . The USB DCP controller 140 A is configured to support an USB Charging Specification, Revision 1.2. For example, the USB DCP controller 140 A can provide functions, which include, for example, a short mode for a D+ pin and a D− pin of the USB interface and applying voltages which have various values to the D+ pin and the D− pin. The above functions of the USB DCP controller 140 A are given for illustrative purposes only, and the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

As shown in FIG. 2A , the voltage conversion unit 160 includes a rectifying circuit 162 and a power delivery (PD) circuit 164 . The rectifying circuit 162 is configured to perform a rectifying operation based on the load information Sload of the electronic device B and the voltage VIN, in order to generate a voltage V 2 . The rectifying circuit 162 is electrically coupled to the transformer 123 to receive at least one driving voltage VDn (e.g., a driving voltage VD 2 as discussed below). In some embodiments, the rectifying circuit 162 can perform a synchronous rectifying operation on the at least one driving voltage VDn (e.g., a driving voltage VD 2 as discussed below) in order to generate the voltage V 2 .

In some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 2A , the rectifying circuit 162 includes a synchronous rectifying switch 162 A and a synchronous rectifying controller 162 B. The synchronous rectifying switch 162 A is configured to perform the rectifying operation according to a control signal VC 1 and the at least one driving voltage VDn (e.g., the driving voltage VD 2 as discussed below), in order to generate the voltage V 2 . The synchronous rectifying controller 162 B is configured to generate the control signal VC 1 based on the load information Sload.

In some embodiments, the PD circuit 164 is coupled to the connection interface 102 , in order to detect the load information Sload of the electronic device B. The PD circuit 164 is configured to, according to the voltage V 2 and the load information Sload, determine whether to output the voltage V 2 as the output voltage VO 2 to the electronic device B.

For example, the PD circuit 164 includes a power switch 164 A and a PD controller 164 B. The power switch 164 A is coupled between the synchronous rectifying switch 162 A and the connection interface 102 . The power switch 164 A is configured to be turned on according to a power supply control signal VPD, in order to output the voltage V 2 as the output voltage VO 2 to the electronic device B.

The PD controller 164 B is coupled to the synchronous rectifying switch 162 A, the synchronous rectifying controller 162 B, the power switch 164 A, and the connection interface 102 . In some embodiments, the PD controller 164 B is configured to output the power supply control signal VPD when the voltage V 2 meets the voltage requirements of the load information Sload, in order to turn on the power switch 164 A.

For example, based on the load information Sload that is transmitted from the electronic device B, the PD controller 164 B detects that the connection interface 102 is already connected to the electronic device B, and the electronic device B requires the output voltage VO 2 having 12 Volts. Accordingly, the PD controller 164 B outputs the power supply control signal VPD when the voltage V 2 is rectified to be 12 Volts, in order to turn on the power switch 164 A. As a result, the voltage V 2 is outputted as the output voltage VO 2 , and is transmitted to the electronic device B via the connection interface 102 .

In some embodiments, the PWM controller 125 is coupled to the PD controller 164 B, in order to adjust the duty cycle of the pulse signal VPWM 1 based on the load information Sload. For example, based on the load information Sload, the PD controller 164 B outputs a control signal VC 2 to the PWM controller 125 . The PWM controller 125 generates the pulse signal VPWM 1 having different duty cycles according to the control signal VC 2 . In some embodiments, the PWM controller 125 is coupled to the PD controller 164 B via an optical coupler (not shown), but the present disclosure is not limited thereto. Various arrangements of wireless transmission are within the contemplated scope of the present disclosure.

In some other embodiments, the PD controller 164 B is configured to control the synchronous rectifying controller 162 B based on the load information Sload, in order to adjust the voltage V 2 . Alternatively, in some yet other embodiments, the PD controller 164 B is configured to adjust the pulse signal VPWM 1 and/or the voltage V 2 based on the load information Sload. In some embodiments, the above arrangements are also able to be integrated with cable compensation operations, in order to compensate actual voltage drops over the cables.

The above arrangements of the PD controller 164 B are given for illustrative purposes only. Various arrangements of the PD controller 164 B are within the contemplated scope of the present disclosure.

Reference is now made to FIG. 2B . FIG. 2B is a circuit diagram of the transformer 123 in FIG. 2A , in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. For ease of understanding, similar elements in FIG. 2B are designated with the same reference numbers with respect to FIG. 2A .

As shown in FIG. 2B , in some embodiments, the transformer 123 includes a primary winding 123 A and a secondary winding 123 B. A first terminal of the primary winding 123 A is coupled to the filter circuit 122 , in order to receive the filtered voltage VF. A second terminal of the primary winding 123 A is coupled to the switch 124 . The secondary winding 123 B includes an auxiliary winding 123 B_ 1 and an auxiliary winding 123 B_ 2 . The auxiliary winding 123 B_ 1 is electrically coupled to the auxiliary winding 123 B_ 2 in series. The auxiliary winding 123 B_ 1 is electrically coupled with the primary winding 123 A, in order to generate the driving voltage VD 1 to the rectifying circuit 142 . The auxiliary winding 123 B_ 2 is electrically coupled with the primary winding 123 A, in order to generate the driving voltage VD 2 to the synchronous rectifying switch 162 A.

The above arrangements of the transformer 123 are given for illustrative purposes only. Various arrangements to generate the at least one driving voltage VDn are within the contemplated scope of the present disclosure.

Reference is now made to FIG. 3 . FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a power supply device 300 , in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. For ease of understanding, similar elements in FIG. 3 are designated with the same reference numbers with respect to FIG. 2A .

Compared with FIG. 2A , the power supply device 300 further includes a power switch 310 , and the voltage conversion unit 140 thereof only includes the DC-to-DC controller 144 . In the example of FIG. 3 , the DC-to-DC controller 144 is configured to receive the voltage V 2 , and to perform the step-down operation on the voltage V 2 to generate the output voltage VO 1 to the electronic device A.

The power switch 310 is coupled between the rectifying circuit 162 and the connection interface 101 . In this example, the PD controller 164 B is further configured to detect the voltage V 2 , and to turn on the power switch 310 on condition that the voltage V 2 is at a predetermined voltage level. As a result, the power switch 310 can transmit the voltage V 2 to the connection interface 101 . Effectively, the voltage V 2 is outputted as the output voltage VO 1 to the electronic device A. In some embodiments, the power switch 310 is implemented with a P-type FET, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

In some embodiments, the predetermined voltage level is about 5 . 1 Volts. As described above, in some embodiments, the output voltage VO 2 is about 5.1 Volts, 5.5 Volts, or 12 Volts. In this example, on condition that the voltage V 2 is about 5.1Volts, the power switch 310 is turned on to output the voltage V 2 as the output voltage VO 1 . In some embodiments, on condition that the voltage V 2 is not at the predetermined voltage level, the power switch 310 is not turned on. Under this condition, the DC-to-DC controller 144 performs the step-down operation on the voltage V 2 , in order to generate the output voltage VO 1 having other values (e.g., 5.5 Volts and 12 Volts).

With the above arrangements, the voltage conversion unit 140 and the voltage conversion unit 160 both share part of circuits (i.e., the synchronous rectifying switch 162 A, the synchronous rectifying controller 162 B, and the PD controller 164 B). Therefore, compared with the power supply device 200 in FIG. 2A , the number of the circuits employed in the power supply device 300 is reduced. As a result, the size of the power supply device 300 is also reduced. Accordingly, the costs for implementing the power supply device 300 are also saved.

Reference is now made to FIG. 4 . FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a power supply device 400 , in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. For ease of understanding, similar elements in FIG. 4 are designated with the same reference numbers with respect to FIG. 2A .

Compared with FIG. 2A , the power supply device 400 further includes a feedback circuit 404 , and the input stage circuit 120 thereof further includes a transformer 423 , a switch 424 , and a PWM controller 425 . The transformer 423 is coupled between the filter circuit 122 and the voltage conversion circuit 140 . The transformer 423 is configured to output a driving voltage VD 3 to the voltage conversion unit 140 based on the filtered voltage VF. The switch 424 is coupled to the transformer 423 , and is configured to regulate the driving voltage VD 3 according to a pulse signal VPWM 2 . The PWM controller 425 is coupled to the switch 424 , and is configured to output the pulse signal VPWM 2 according to a feedback signal VFB. The feedback circuit 401 is coupled between the voltage conversion unit 140 and the connection interface 101 , and is configured to generate the feedback signal VFB based on the output voltage VO 1 . In some embodiments, the feedback circuit 401 can be implemented with a voltage divider, in order to divide the output voltage VO 1 to generate the feedback signal VFB. The above implementation of the feedback circuit 401 is given for illustrative purposes only, and the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

In this example, the voltage conversion unit 140 includes an output rectifier 442 and an output filter 444 . The output rectifier 442 is coupled to the transformer 401 to receive the driving voltage VD 3 . The output rectifier 442 is configured to perform the step-down operation on the driving voltage VD 3 to generate a voltage V 3 . The output filter 444 is coupled to the output rectifier 442 , and is configured to filter noises on the voltage V 3 to generate the output voltage VO 1 .

Compared with the above embodiments, the input stage circuit 120 of this example employs two transformers to generate two independent driving voltages VD 2 and VD 3 . With such arrangements, the stability and the regulation rate of the output voltages VO 1 and VO 2 are able to be improved.

In various embodiments above, the input stage circuit 120 , the voltage conversion unit 140 , and the voltage conversion unit 160 are able to be implemented with various active or passive components or combinations thereof. In some embodiments, the passive components include resistors, capacitors, and/or inductors. In some embodiments, the active components include an electronic energy conversion chip, a power management chip, a micro controller, an analog circuit chip, a digital circuit chip, and/or application-specific integrated circuits.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart of a power supply method 500 , in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. Reference is now made to FIGS. 2A, 2B, and 5 , and operations of the power supply device 200 are described with reference to the power supply method 500 .

In operation S 510 , the input stage circuit 120 generates a driving voltage VD 1 and a driving voltage VD 2 according to the voltage VIN.

In operation S 520 , the voltage conversion unit 140 performs a step-down operation according to the driving voltage VD 1 , in order to provide the output voltage VO 1 to the electronic device A via the connection interface 101 . For example, as shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B , the rectifying circuit 142 cooperates with the DC-to-DC controller 144 in response to the driving voltage VD 1 , in order to generate the output voltage VO 1 .

In operation S 530 , the voltage conversion unit 160 performs a rectifying operation according to the driving voltage VD 2 , in order to provide the output voltage VO 2 to the electronic device B via the connection interface 102 . For example, as shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B , the rectifying circuit 162 cooperates with the PD circuit 164 in response to the driving voltage VD 2 , in order to generate the output voltage VO 2 .

The above description of the power supply method 500 includes exemplary operations, but the operations of the power supply method 500 are not necessarily performed in the order described above. The operations of the power supply method 500 disclosed in the present disclosure can be added, replaced, omitted, or performed in different orders, in accordance with the spirit and scope of various embodiments of the present disclosure.

The operations of the power supply method 500 , which are described with reference to the power supply device 200 , are given for illustrative purposes only. In various embodiments, the above operations are also able to be performed by the power supply device 300 or the power supply device 400 .

As discussed above, the power supply device and the power supply method of the present disclosure are able to simultaneously provide electrical energy to electronic devices, which have different types of connection interfaces, with multiple arrangements.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the structure of the present disclosure without departing from the scope or spirit of the disclosure. In view of the foregoing, it is intended that the present disclosure cover modifications and variations of this disclosure provided they fall within the scope of the following claims.