METHODS AND APPARATUSES FOR DUAL PORT BATTERY CHARGING

A dual port charging architecture is generally disclosed. For example, the dual charging architecture may include a first board portion having a first battery port configured to be coupled to a first set of battery terminals of a battery, a second board portion having a second battery port configured to be coupled to a second set of battery terminals of the battery, a connection portion electrically coupled between the first board portion and the second board portion, a first power path coupling a power input port of the second board portion to the first battery port via the connection portion, and a second power path coupling the power input port to the second battery port.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Certain aspects of the present disclosure generally relate to electronic circuits and, more particularly, to a dual port battery charging architecture.

BACKGROUND

Battery powered devices, such a mobile telephones, can have a battery charge rate limited based on the amount of power delivered to the device via a charging device, such as a plug-in wall charger. As consumers demand faster battery charging rates, it would be beneficial to provided battery powered devices that can charge using larger amounts of received power.

SUMMARY

Certain aspects of the present disclosure generally relate to dual port battery charging apparatus. The dual port battery charging apparatus generally includes a first board portion having a first battery port configured to be coupled to a first anode terminal and a first cathode terminal of a battery, a second board portion having a second battery port configured to be coupled to a second anode terminal and a second cathode terminal of the battery, a connection portion electrically coupled between the first board portion and the second board portion, a first power path configured to couple a power input port of the second board portion to the first battery port via the connection portion, and a second power path configured to couple the power input port to the second battery port.

Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide for a dual port battery cell. The dual port battery cell generally includes one or more anode layers including a first anode terminal extending from a first side of the battery cell configured to be coupled to a first power path of a device and a second anode terminal extending from a second side of the battery cell configured to be coupled to a second power path of the device, and one or more cathode layers including a first cathode terminal extending from the first side and configured to be coupled to the first power path and a second cathode terminal extending from the second side configured to be coupled to the second power path.

Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide for a method for dual port battery charging. The method generally includes providing current to a first battery port coupled to a first cathode terminal and a first anode terminal of a battery via a first power path, and providing current to a second battery port coupled to a second cathode terminal and a second anode terminal of the battery via a second power path, the second cathode terminal and the second anode terminal being electrically coupled to the first cathode terminal and the first anode terminal respectively.

Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide for an apparatus for dual port battery charging. The apparatus generally includes means for providing current to a first battery port coupled to a first cathode terminal and a first anode terminal of a battery via a first power path, and means for providing current to a second battery port coupled to a second cathode terminal and a second anode terminal of the battery via a second power path, the second cathode terminal and the second anode terminal being electrically coupled to the first cathode terminal and the first anode terminal respectively.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As used herein, the term “connected with” in the various tenses of the verb “connect” may mean that element A is directly connected to element B or that other elements may be connected between elements A and B (i.e., that element A is indirectly connected with element B). In the case of electrical components, the term “connected with” may also be used herein to mean that a wire, trace, or other electrically conductive material is used to electrically connect elements A and B (and any components electrically connected therebetween).

An Example Wireless System

FIG. 1illustrates a wireless communications system100with access points110and user terminals120, in which aspects of the present disclosure may be practiced. For simplicity, only one access point110is shown inFIG. 1. An access point (AP) is generally a fixed station that communicates with the user terminals and may also be referred to as a base station (BS), an evolved Node B (eNB), or some other terminology. A user terminal (UT) may be fixed or mobile and may also be referred to as a mobile station (MS), an access terminal, user equipment (UE), a station (STA), a client, a wireless device, or some other terminology. A user terminal may be a wireless device, such as a cellular phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a handheld device, a wireless modem, a laptop computer, a tablet, a personal computer, etc.

Access point110may communicate with one or more user terminals120at any given moment on the downlink and uplink. The downlink (i.e., forward link) is the communication link from the access point to the user terminals, and the uplink (i.e., reverse link) is the communication link from the user terminals to the access point. A user terminal may also communicate peer-to-peer with another user terminal. A system controller130couples to and provides coordination and control for the access points.

Wireless communications system100employs multiple transmit and multiple receive antennas for data transmission on the downlink and uplink. Access point110may be equipped with a number Napof antennas to achieve transmit diversity for downlink transmissions and/or receive diversity for uplink transmissions. A set Nuof selected user terminals120may receive downlink transmissions and transmit uplink transmissions. Each selected user terminal transmits user-specific data to and/or receives user-specific data from the access point. In general, each selected user terminal may be equipped with one or multiple antennas (i.e., Nut≥1). The Nuselected user terminals can have the same or different number of antennas.

Wireless communications system100may be a time division duplex (TDD) system or a frequency division duplex (FDD) system. For a TDD system, the downlink and uplink share the same frequency band. For an FDD system, the downlink and uplink use different frequency bands. Wireless communications system100may also utilize a single carrier or multiple carriers for transmission. Each user terminal120may be equipped with a single antenna (e.g., to keep costs down) or multiple antennas (e.g., where the additional cost can be supported). In addition, the user terminal120includes a battery to power the electronics of the user terminal120. In certain aspects of the present disclosure, the user terminal120may include a dual port battery charging architecture to charge the battery, as described in more detail herein.

WhileFIG. 1provides a wireless communication system as an example application in which certain aspects of the present disclosure may be implemented to facilitate understanding, certain aspects provided herein can be applied to charging a battery using dual ports in any of various other suitable systems.

Example Dual Port Charging Architecture

FIG. 2illustrates a block diagram of an example of a battery powered device200with a dual port charging architecture. In one embodiment, the battery powered device200includes a printed circuit board (PCB) assembly comprising a first board portion202and a second board portion204. In one implementation, the first board portion202and the second board portion204are defined as different areas of a single PCB. In another implementation, the first board portion202and the second board portion204reside on separate PCBs.

The first board portion202and the second board portion204are electrically coupled together via a connection portion206. In one implementation, the connection portion206comprises a PCB portion of the first board portion202and/or the second board portion204. In another implementation, the connection portion206comprises a separate structure from the first board portion202and the second board portion204. In one example, the connection portion206comprises a PCB configured to connected, such as via board connectors, with the first board portion202and the second board portion204. The PCB may comprise a rigid structure or a flexible structure (e.g., a flex PCB). In another example, the connection portion comprises a cable (e.g., a flex cable) configured to electrically couple the first board portion202and the second board portion204.

The second board portion204further includes a power input port208configured to receive power from an external source (not shown). The power input port208may be configured accordingly to a standardized connector (e.g., Universe Serial Bus) or implemented according to a propriety connector architecture. The second board portion204is further configured to couple to at least one battery210via a second battery port214while the first board portion202is configured to couple to the battery210via a first battery port212. The first and second battery ports212,214may be hard-wired to the battery210or may comprise pluggable connectors, thereby allowing removable of the battery210from the battery powered device200.

The battery210comprises one or more battery cells (not shown). In one embodiment, the battery210includes protection circuit modules216electrically coupled to the first and second battery ports212,214. The protection circuit modules216are configured to protect the one or more battery cells for being exposed to electrical conditions that exceed one or more operational parameters that may cause damage to the one or more battery cells. For example, the protection circuit modules216may include circuitry to protect the one or more battery cells from under/overvoltage conditions, exceeding in-rush current and/or discharge current, etc. that appear at the one or more of the first and second battery ports212,214. While the embodiment ofFIG. 2shows two protection circuit modules216, it should be appreciated that the protection circuit modules may comprise a single protection circuit module configured to protect a single battery port or both battery ports. In addition, the protection circuit modules216may be located outside the battery210, such as on the first board portion202and the second board portion204.

In dual charging operation, power is provided to charge the battery210using a first power path218comprising an electrical connection from the power input port208of the second board portion204to the first battery port212of the first board portion via the connection portion206. The connection of the first board portion202receiving power from the connection portion206may be referred to as the power input of the first board portion202. In addition, power is provided to charge the battery210using a second power path220comprising an electrical connection from the power input port208to the second battery port214. The first and second power paths218,220may include additional circuitry. For example, the first and second power paths may each include and/or share overvoltage protection circuity, one or more battery charger circuits, voltage regulator circuits, etc., in order to provide regulated power to the first and second battery ports212,214. Additionally, the first and second power paths218,220may comprise one or more sub-power paths. Examples of such sub-power paths will be described below in relation toFIG. 3.

In addition, a power path is created between the first battery port212and the second battery port214, thereby allowing current to be sourced and/or sinked between components of the first board portion202and components of the second board portion204via the battery210, as will be explained in further detail in relation toFIG. 4. This electrical connection to the first board portion202and the second board portion204permits another path to source and sink current between the first and second board portions202,204distinct from the first power path218provided via the connection portion206.

An exemplary benefit of providing first and second power paths to the battery is that current being provided from the power input port may be divided among the power paths allowing for less power to be dissipated due to the resistance of any one component in the power path as dissipated power (P) is a function of current (I) and resistance (R), given by P=I2R. For example, if the battery powered device were receiving 6 amperes (A) at the power input port, 3A of the current could be split over the first power path and 3A of the current could be split over the second power path. As the power dissipated is a function of the square of the current, by halving the current, a reduction in dissipated power may be achieved as compared to not splitting the current. In addition, as power is dissipated in the form of heat, a reduction of thermal generation by any particular component in the power path may be achieved by the current splitting.

In addition, one particular component in the power path, such as a protection circuit module, may generate a predominant amount of the overall heat due to a larger component resistance thereby creating a thermal hot spot on the battery powered device. As charging currents increase to perform faster battery charging, these thermal hot spots may exceed temperature ratings of surrounding components resulting in possible damage or making the battery powered device uncomfortable or too hot to be held by a user (e.g., by exceeding a desired skin temperature of the device). Accordingly, by splitting the currents, the components may be able operate within desired temperature ratings, even at increasing charging currents.

Furthermore, while the resistance of the components in the power path may be reduced in an effort to generate less power dissipation, this may result in an increase in the component size. However, splitting the current among the power paths may allow the components to operate at higher resistances values which may result in a component area savings.

Referring now toFIG. 3, a block diagram of the battery powered device300is illustrated implementing an example dual port charging architecture with multiple sub-power paths, in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure. Akin to the embodiment ofFIG. 2, the battery powered device300includes a first board portion302electrically coupled to a second board portion304via a connection portion306. The second board portion304includes a power input port308configured to receive power from an external power source (not shown). Power received from the power input port308is provided to the first battery port314of the first board portion302via a first power path310. The first power path310includes a first sub-power path310aand a second sub-power path310b.Each of the sub-power paths310a-binclude one or more battery charger circuitries312a-bconfigured to support power delivery to the first power port314. For example, the battery charger circuitry312may perform such functions as output voltage regulation (e.g., via buck, boost, buck-boost, linear regulators), output current regulation, battery monitoring, etc. The battery charger circuitry312may be configured to operate independently or in a master-slave relationship with one or more of the battery charger circuitries312. Similarly to the first power path310, power received from the power input port308is provided to the second battery port318of the second board portion via a second power path316. The second power path316includes a first sub-power path316aand a second sub-power path316b,where each of the sub-power paths316a-binclude battery charger circuitry312c-d.The first power path310and the second power path316may optionally be routed from the power input port308via protection circuitry307. The protection circuitry307is configured to protect against influxes of power from the external power source, such as an overvoltage to provide addition protection to the battery powered device300while charging.

By further splitting the first and second power paths into sub-power paths, the current received from the power input port may be further split by a factor of the number of sub-power paths. For example, by having two sub-power paths, the current in the power path is further divided by two thereby allowing for further reductions in the power dissipated by the components in the sub-power paths as compared to using less power paths. However, it should be appreciated that a power path can have more than sub-power paths (e.g., three or more sub-power paths) depending on the application. In addition, by using sub-power paths, thermal hot spots may further be reduced by spreading the dissipated power among different battery charger circuitries, which may be dispersed apart from one another on their respective board portion. It also should be noted that additional battery charger circuitry may be placed in the power path prior to splitting into sub-power paths where not all of the sub-power paths may include their own battery charger circuitry.

In an example operational scenario of the battery powered device300, the power input port308receives6A of current via the external power supply. Accordingly, as the battery powered device300contains two power paths310,316to the battery210, 3A of the current may be provided to each of first and second power paths310,316. As the first and second power paths310,316contain two sub-power paths, the 3A current of each of the power paths may be further split into 1.5A of current for each of the sub-power paths. Battery charger circuitries312in the sub-power paths may be configured to perform a current doubling operation thereby doubling the received 1.5A of current to output 3A of current to each to their respective battery ports314,318. Thus, 6A of current is provided to the first battery port314via the first power path310and 6A of current is provided to the second battery port318for a total of 12A of current delivered to charge the battery210. Thus, the power path architecture ofFIG. 3allows for an increase in charging current for the battery210while no components in each of the power paths handle the full increased current thereby mitigating power dissipation, and accordingly heat generation, by the power path components.

Referring now toFIG. 4, an illustration of an example dual port charging battery cell400is shown, in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure. Referring briefly back toFIG. 2, battery210may include one or more battery cells400. For example, the battery210may comprise a single battery cell400or comprise a plurality of battery cells400connected in series or parallel.

In one embodiment, the battery cell400comprises a cylindrical battery cell with a battery casing402constructed using one or more rolled cathode layers and anode layers, separated by one or more insulation layers (not shown), where the layers are rolled around a center axis408. This rolled battery cell construction may be referred to as a “jelly roll” design. In other embodiments, the rolled battery cell may be rolled into other substantially non-cylindrical shapes (e.g., substantially rectangular). The battery cell400includes a first cathode terminal404aelectrically coupled to a second cathode terminal404b(i.e., cathode terminal set) and a first anode terminal406aelectrically coupled to a second anode terminal406b(i.e., anode terminal set). A terminal set is defined as two or more terminals of the battery cell. The respective terminals may each comprise tabs extending from respective sides of the battery cell400from the corresponding cathode or anode layer. Alternatively, the terminals each comprise a single terminal pin running the length (i.e., center axis408) of the battery cell400to form corresponding first and second terminals.

By including the cathode terminal set and the anode terminal set, dual charging of the battery cell may be performed by forming a first charging path between the first cathode terminal404aand the first anode terminal406aand a second charging path between the second cathode terminal404band the second anode terminal406b.The first and second charging paths of the battery cell400allow current to be sourced and/or sinked from a first battery port (e.g., battery port212) connected to the first cathode terminal404aand first anode terminal406aand a second battery port (e.g., battery port214) connected to the second cathode terminal404band the second anode terminal406b.

While the battery cell400is discussed as being constructed according to a rolled topology, other battery topologies may be used to construct the battery cell400. For example, the battery cell400may be constructed using a stacked layered topology where the anode, cathode, and insulation sheets are layered without rolling the layers.

Now referring toFIG. 5, an example operation500of charging a battery cell using dual ports is illustrated, in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.

At block502, a current is provided to a first battery port coupled to a first cathode terminal and a first anode terminal of a battery via a first power path. For example, the first power path may be formed via an electrical coupling from a power input port of a second board portion to the first battery port of a first board portion via a connection portion. In one implementation, the current path may be provided via a single power path from the first battery port to the first cathode terminal and the first anode terminal of a battery. In another implementation, the current may be provided from the power input port to the battery via multiple power paths comprising the first power path. For example, the current may be provided by splitting the first power path from the power input port into two or more sub-power paths on the first board portion. As another example, the sub-power paths be separate routing of the sub-power paths on the connection portion to the first board portion.

In one embodiment, the first power path is regulated using one or more components disposed along the first power path. For example, the first power path may include one or more battery charger circuitries to regulate operational parameters associated with the first power path, such as current and voltage to be provided to the battery. In an implementation where the first power path is split into two or more sub-power paths, the one or more components may be disposed along one or more of the sub-power paths or may be disposed on all of the sub-power paths.

At block504, a current is provided to a second battery port coupled to a second cathode terminal and a second anode terminal of a battery via a second power path, where the second cathode terminal and the second anode terminal are coupled to the respective first cathode terminal and the first anode terminal. For example, the second power path may be formed via an electrical coupling from the power input port of a second board portion to the second battery port of the second board portion. The second power path, similar to the first power path, may be consist of a single power path to the battery or more comprise two or more sub-power paths.

In one embodiment, the second power path is regulated using one or more components disposed along the second power path. For example, the second power path may include one or more battery charger circuitries to regulate operational parameters associated with the second power path, such as current and voltage to be provided to the battery. In an implementation where the second power path is split into two or more sub-power paths, the one or more components may be disposed along one or more of the sub-power paths or may be disposed on all of the sub-power paths.

The various operations of methods described above may be performed by any suitable means capable of performing the corresponding functions. The means may include various hardware component(s) and/or module(s), including, but not limited to one or more circuits. For example, means for providing current to a first battery port coupled to a first cathode terminal and a first anode terminal of a battery via a first power path may include a first power path, such as the first power path218including the first board portion202, and second board portion204, and the connection portion206. Means for providing current to a second battery port coupled to a second cathode terminal and a second anode terminal of the battery via a second power path may include a second power path, such as second power path220including the second board portion204. Means for regulating a power input coupled to the first power path and the second power may include protection circuitry, such as protection circuitry307. Means for regulating the current provided to the first battery port via the first power path may include battery charger circuitry, such as battery charger circuitry312a-b.Means for regulating the current provided to the second battery port via the second power path may include battery charger circuitry, such as battery charger circuitry312c-d.

The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with the present disclosure may be implemented or performed with discrete hardware components designed to perform the functions described herein.