ELECTRONIC DEVICE AND PERFORMANCE OPTIMIZATION METHOD THEREOF

An electronic device and a performance optimization method thereof are provided. The electronic device includes a battery module, a processor and a controller. The battery module is configured to supply power to the electronic device. The processor has a power consumption limit. In a power connection state, the controller determines whether to disable a power consumption limit adjustment function of the processor according to a source power provided by a power adapter and a system performance use setting of the electronic device. When the power consumption limit adjustment function is disabled, the processor executes an application program to monitor a storage capacity of the battery module and adjusts the system performance usage setting according to the storage capacity.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the priority benefit of Taiwan application serial no. 112105131, filed on Feb. 14, 2023. The entirety of the above-mentioned patent application is hereby incorporated by reference herein and made a part of this specification.

BACKGROUND

Technical Field

The disclosure relates to an electronic device for dynamically adjusting a system performance and a performance optimization method thereof.

Description of Related Art

Today's handheld electronic products (such as notebook computers, mobile phones and tablet computers) are supplied with power adapters and built-in or external batteries when they are ready for sale. Due to cost considerations, a power adapter with a lower wattage may be included, which limits a performance of the product. Therefore, in some product designs, while being powered by the power adapter, an internal or external battery is also used to provide additional power to enhance a system performance. However, in the case of long-term use of high system performance, the built-in or external battery cannot be charged and is continuously discharged. Once the user temporarily needs to move a location and pulls out the power adapter, a battery storage capacity may be only 5% to 0%, resulting in a poor user experience.

SUMMARY

The disclosure provides an electronic device including a battery module, a processor and a controller. The battery module is configured to supply power to the electronic device. The processor has a power consumption limit. The controller is coupled to the battery module and the processor. In a power connection state, the controller determines whether to disable a power consumption limit adjustment function of the processor according to a source power provided by a power adapter and a system performance usage setting of the electronic device. In response to the power consumption limit adjustment function being disabled, the processor executes an application program to monitor a storage capacity of the battery module and adjusts the system performance usage setting according to the storage capacity.

The disclosure further provides a performance optimization method adapted to an electronic device including a processor and a battery module. The method includes: in a power connection state, determining whether to disable a power consumption limit adjustment function of the processor according to a source power provided by a power adapter and a system performance usage setting of the electronic device; executing an application program to monitor a storage capacity of the battery module in response to the power consumption limit adjustment function being disabled and adjusting the system performance usage setting according to the storage capacity.

Based on the above description, the electronic device and its performance optimization method of the disclosure may dynamically adjust the system performance of the electronic device with reference of the storage capacity of the battery module, and achieve a balance between power consumption and performance. In this way, it not only allows users to maintain a high system performance environment for a certain period of time, but also avoids the dilemma of low battery power, so that the users may have a better user experience.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Referring toFIG.1, an electronic device100of the embodiment is, for example, a handheld electronic product such as a notebook computer, a mobile phone, a tablet computer, etc. The electronic device100includes a battery module110, a processor120, a controller130and a power delivery IC140.

The battery module110may be used to power the electronic device100, and may be a built-in or external battery module. The battery module110includes, for example, a battery cell set and a control circuit. A battery cell set is, for example, composed of one or more battery cells. The control circuit includes, for example, a battery gauge IC, which may calculate a storage capacity and a charging and discharging current of the battery module110. In the embodiment, in response to the battery module110being charged by a power adapter200to be in a charging state, the battery gauge IC may report that the charging and discharging current is a positive value, and in response to the battery module110supplying power to the electronic device100to be in a discharging state, the battery gauge IC may report that the charging and discharging current is a negative value.

The processor120is, for example, a central processing unit (CPU), or other programmable general purpose or special purpose microprocessor, digital signal processor (DSP), programmable controller, application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) or other similar components or a combination of the above components. Processor120has a power consumption limit. The power consumption limit in the embodiment is, for example, a long duration power consumption limit PL1specified in a package power management specification of Intel, and a unit thereof is watts. After the electronic device100enters an operating system OS, the processor120may also load an application program AP from the memory and execute the same, so as to monitor a storage capacity of the battery module110through the operating system OS. The application program AP is, for example, system performance control software developed by product developers, which is executed on the operating system OS and may perform related settings of performance optimization, screen brightness adjustment, or battery life, etc.

The controller130is coupled to the battery module110, the processor120and a power delivery IC (PD IC)140. The controller130is, for example, a programmable chip such as an embedded controller (EC) or a microcontroller etc., capable of exchanging data and communicating with the battery module110and the power delivery IC140through a communication protocol. The controller130may be used to monitor a charging and discharging current of the battery module110. The communication protocol is, for example, a system management bus (SMBus) or an inter-integrated circuit (I2C), but the embodiment is not limited thereto.

The power adapter200is, for example, an AC adapter. In the embodiment, in response to the power adapter200being inserted into the electronic device100, the electronic device100may be in a power connection state indicating that the power adapter200is connected. In addition, in response to the power adapter200being pulled out from the electronic device100, the electronic device100releases the power connection state.

In the embodiment, the controller130may dynamically adjust the system performance of the electronic device100according to the storage capacity of the battery module110, thereby perform performance and heat dissipation optimization. The following examples illustrate detailed steps of a performance optimization method of the disclosure.

Referring toFIG.1andFIG.2at the same time, the method of the embodiment may be applied to the electronic device100inFIG.1, and steps of the method are described as follows:

In step S202, in the power connection state, the controller130determines whether to disable the power consumption limit adjustment function of the processor120according to a source power provided by the power adapter200and a system performance usage setting of the electronic device100. In the embodiment, the system performance usage setting may be set to, for example, three modes of a performance mode, a standard mode, and an energy saving mode. In the performance mode, for example, the performance and heat dissipation capability of the electronic device100may be maximized (the power consumption limit of the processor120and a fan speed are adjusted to maximum values) to handle high-load work (such as playing computer or mobile games). In the standard mode, for example, the performance and heat dissipation capability of the electronic device100may be adjusted according to general daily use conditions (such as processing files or sending and receiving emails). The energy-saving mode is, for example, a mode that aims at quietness, energy saving and power saving, and may provide all-day battery service. A user may manually set suitable system performance usage settings according to different usage scenarios through the application program AP or shortcut keys on a keyboard of the electronic device100.

In addition, the so-called power consumption limit adjustment function, for example, refers to a processor function that automatically adjusts the long duration power consumption limit PL1with a goal of not reducing the storage capacity of the battery module110in the power connection state. In brief, when such function is enabled, if it is found that the source power provided by the power adapter200is not enough, the long duration power consumption limit PL1is automatically reduced to lower the performance of the processor120, so that the storage capacity of the battery module110does not drop significantly. Comparatively, if the electronic device100is desired to maintain a high performance for a certain period of time even when the source power is insufficient, the power consumption limit adjustment function of the processor120has to be disabled.

The controller130may first determine whether the electronic device100is in the power connection state. In response to the electronic device100being in the power connection state, the controller130starts to analyse the source power provided by the power adapter200and the system performance usage setting of the electronic device100for judgment and adjustment. A detailed implementation of step S202may be deduced by referring to each step inFIG.3AtoFIG.3C.

Referring toFIG.1andFIG.3AtoFIG.3Cat the same time, in step S302, in the power connection state, the controller130determines whether the power adapter200is inserted into the electronic device100through a type-C interface. The type-C interface is, for example, a hardware connection interface conforming to a type-C communication standard of the universal serial bus (USB).

In response to the power adapter200being inserted into the electronic device100through the type-C interface, in step S304, the controller130determines through the power delivery IC140whether the source power provided by the power adapter200is sufficient to supply a sum of a system power consumption of the electronic device100and a processor power consumption of the processor120. In the embodiment, the system power consumption is, for example, a power consumed by an internal system platform of the electronic device100(for example, 45 watts, 65 watts, or 90 watts), and the processor power consumption is, for example, a power consumed by the processor120(for example, 15 watts, 28 watts or 45 watts).

In response to the source power not being enough to supply the sum of the system power consumption of the electronic device100and the processor power consumption of the processor120, in step S306, the power delivery IC140notifies the controller130to disable the power consumption limit adjustment function of the processor120.

In response to the source power being sufficient to supply the sum of the system power consumption of the electronic device100and the processor power consumption of the processor120, the process proceeds to step S308ofFIG.3Bthrough a step node A.

In addition, if the controller130determines in step S302that the power adapter200is not plugged into the electronic device100through the type-C interface (for example, through a DC Jack), then the process directly proceeds to step S308ofFIG.3Bthrough the step node A.

In step S308, the controller130determines whether the source power provided by the power adapter200is sufficient to supply the sum of the system power consumption of the electronic device100and the processor power consumption of the processor120.

In response to the source power not being enough to supply the sum of the system power consumption of the electronic device100and the processor power consumption of the processor120, in step S310, the controller130determines whether a thermal design power (TDP) is greater than or equal to a predetermined power threshold. In the embodiment, a magnitude of the power threshold may depend on a specification of the processor120(for example, the processor power consumption), for example, 45 watts, but the disclosure is not limited thereto.

In response to the thermal design power of the processor120being greater than or equal to the power threshold, in step S312the controller130determines whether the system performance usage setting of the electronic device100is the performance mode. If yes, the controller130disables the power consumption limit adjustment function of the processor120in step S314. If not, the process proceeds to step S316.

In addition, in step S308, if the controller130determines that the source power provided by the power adapter200is sufficient to supply the sum of the system power consumption of the electronic device100and the processor power consumption of the processor120, then the process directly proceeds to step S316.

In step S310, if the controller130determines that the thermal design power of the processor120is not greater than or equal to the predetermined power threshold, the process also proceeds to step S316.

In step S316, the controller130determines whether the processor power consumption of the processor120meets a predetermined specification. In detail, a product developer may decide to let some processors that do not meet the predetermined specification to disable their power consumption limit adjustment function, so that the controller130may determine whether the processor power consumption of the processor120meets the predetermined specification (for example, greater than 45 watts), to as to filter out the processors whose power consumption limit adjustment function is to be disabled. In response to the processor power consumption of the processor120not meeting the predetermined specification, in step S314, the controller130disables the power consumption limit adjustment function of the processor120.

In response to the processor power consumption of the processor120meeting the predetermined specification, in step S318, the controller130determines whether the battery module110is allowed to be charged according to a logic level of a charging flag bit. Regarding the charging flag bit, the controller130may control the charging flag bit according to a charging standard set by the user through an application program related to power management. For example, the user may set the charging standard to 60%, 80% or 100% through the application program of power management. Taking the charging standard set as 60% as an example, in response to the storage capacity of the battery module110not reaching 60% (for example, lower than 58%), the charging flag bit remains at logic 0 (a low logic level). In response to the controller130detecting that the storage capacity of the battery module110reaches or exceeds 60%, the controller130may set the charging flag bit to logic 1 (a high logic level). Therefore, in response to the charging flag bit being logic 0, the controller130may determine that the battery module110is allowed to be charged, and in response to the charging flag bit being logic 1, the controller130may determine that the battery module110is not allowed to be charged.

In response to the battery module110not being allowed to be charged (the charging flag bit is logic 1, indicating that there is enough storage capacity), in step S314, the controller130disables the power consumption limit adjustment function of the processor120.

In response to the battery module110not being allowed to be charged (the charging flag bit is logic 0), the process proceeds to step S320ofFIG.3Cthrough a step node B. In step S320, the controller130monitors the charging and discharging current of the battery module110. For example, the battery gauge IC in the battery module110may report a current value of the charging and discharging current to the controller130every 0.25 seconds. After the controller130collects 4 current values at an interval of 0.25 seconds, the 4 current values may be averaged as the current value of the charging and discharging current of the current second, and the charging and discharging current of the next second may be continuously monitored in the same way.

In step S322, the controller130determines whether the charging and discharging current is continuously less than 0 within a first specified time. The first predetermined time is, for example, 10 seconds to determine a steady state of the charging and discharging current. In response to the charging and discharging current being continuously less than 0 within the first specified time, it means that the battery module110is in a discharging state. In step S324, the controller130may determine whether the power consumption limit is greater than the minimum value of the power consumption limit (for example, the minimum value that the long duration power consumption limit PL1may be adjusted to in the system of the electronic device100). If yes, in step S326, the controller130decrements the power consumption limit, i.e., subtracts 1 watt from the current power consumption limit. If not, the process ends directly without adjusting the power consumption limit.

In step S322, if the controller130determines that the charging and discharging current is not continuously less than 0 within the first specified time, it means that the battery module110is in a charging state. In step S328, the controller130determines whether the charging and discharging current is continuously greater than or equal to 0 and less than a current threshold within a second specified time. The second specified time is, for example, 50 seconds, and the current threshold is, for example, 50 mA. If not, it means that the battery module110is not in a trickle charging state, and in step S330, the controller130determines whether the charging and discharging current is continuously greater than a design capacity threshold within a third specified time. The third specified time is, for example, 10 seconds to determine the steady state of the charging and discharging current. The design capacity threshold is, for example, a value obtained by multiplying a design capacity of the battery cell set in the battery module110by 0.07.

In response to the charging and discharging current being continuously greater than the design capacity threshold within the third specified time, in step S332, the controller130may determine whether the power consumption limit is less than the maximum value of the power consumption limit (for example, the maximum value that the long duration power consumption limit PL1may be adjusted to in the system of the electronic device100). If yes, in step S334, the controller130increments the power consumption limit, i.e., increases the current power consumption limit by 1 watt. If not, the process ends directly without adjusting the power consumption limit.

In step S330, if the controller130determines that the charging and discharging current is not continuously greater than the design capacity threshold within the third specified time, the process ends directly without adjusting the power consumption limit.

On the other hand, in step S328, if the controller130determines that the charging and discharging current is continuously greater than or equal to 0 and less than the current threshold within the second specified time, it means that the battery module110is in the trickle charging state. At this time, in order to avoid poor system performance due to the failure in full charging of the battery module110, the process also proceeds to step S332to increment the power consumption limit.

Then, returning toFIG.2, in step S204, in response to the power consumption limit adjustment function being disabled, the processor120executes the application program AP to monitor the storage capacity of the battery module110and adjusts the system performance usage setting of the electronic device100according to the storage capacity. In detail, since the power consumption limit adjustment function of the processor120has been disabled, in response to the system performance usage setting being set to the performance mode, the battery module110is allowed to be temporarily in the discharging state, so as to work together with the power adapter200to supply electric power required by the electronic device100. In response to the storage capacity of the battery module110being lower than a capacity threshold, the application program AP may notify the processor120that the current storage capacity of the battery module110is too low, and the processor120may automatically switch the system performance usage setting to the standard mode to reduce the performance of the processor120, so that the battery module110is changed to the charging state until the user manually switches the system performance usage setting to the performance mode again. The capacity threshold is, for example, 40% of the design capacity of the battery cell set in the battery module110, which may be set by the user through the application program AP. In some embodiments, in response to the storage capacity of the battery module110being lower than the capacity threshold, the processor120may also automatically switch the system performance usage setting to the energy-saving mode, which also makes the battery module110to be in the charging state.

In addition, in response to the power adapter200being pulled out and the electronic device100is released from the power connection mode, the controller130may adjust the power consumption limit to a predetermined value, so as to continue processing when entering the power connection mode next time. The predetermined value is, for example, 34 watts, which is equal to the maximum value that the long duration power consumption limit PL1may be adjusted to, so that the processor120may play a higher performance. In an embodiment, the maximum value of the long duration power consumption limit PL1is also equal to a short duration power consumption limit PL2stipulated in Intel's package power management specification.

In summary, the electronic device and its performance optimization method of the disclosure may dynamically adjust the system performance of the electronic device with reference of the storage capacity of the battery module. With the assistance of the application program, once the storage capacity is too low, the system performance usage setting is automatically switched to the standard mode. In this way, it not only allows users to maintain a high system performance environment for a certain period of time, but also avoids the dilemma of low battery power, so that the users may have a better user experience.