Patent ID: 6571091
Filing Date: 2003-05-27
Classification: G01R,H02J,H04B,H04M,Y02D

Abstract:
A power control apparatus for controlling power supplied from a battery to a portable electronic device, the power control apparatus comprising:a boost regulator, coupled to a battery output signal contact for receiving a battery voltage signal, for generating a regulator output signal; a reference generator, coupled to the boost regulator, for generating an internal reference signal from the regulator output signal; an analog-to-digital converter (ADC), coupled to the battery output signal contact and the reference generator, for generating a digitized battery voltage signal responsive to the battery voltage signal and the internal reference signal; and a processor, coupled to the ADC, for comparing the digitized battery voltage signal to a software undervoltage threshold and selectively powering-off the portable electronic device in response to said comparing; a hardware comparator, coupled to the battery output signal contact, for comparing the battery voltage signal to a hardware undervoltage threshold, wherein the hardware undervoltage threshold is less than the software undervoltage threshold.