Patent ID: 8601290

Claim:
A communication device comprising a power unit with distributed processing capability, the power unit comprising: an alternating current to direct current (AC-DC) converter configured to convert an AC voltage to a first DC voltage; a first power control digital processor configured to control the AC-DC converter; a direct current to direct current (DC-DC) converter configured to receive the first DC voltage and convert the first DC voltage to a second DC voltage; a second power control digital processor configured to control the DC-DC converter; a first point-of-load (POL) DC-DC converter configured to receive the second DC voltage, convert the second DC voltage to a third DC voltage, and provide the third DC voltage to a first load; a second point-of-load (POL) DC-DC converter configured to receive the second DC voltage, convert the second DC voltage to a fourth DC voltage, and provide the fourth DC voltage to a second load; and a POL power control digital processor configured to digitally control the first POL DC-DC converter and/or second POL DC-DC converter; wherein (a) the first power control digital processor is further configured to perform (i) a power control loop task used in controlling a voltage converter other than the AC-DC converter or (ii) a power management task or a signal processing task not associated with a process for controlling the AC-DC converter, (b) the second power control digital processor is further configured to perform (i) a power control loop task used in controlling a voltage converter other than the DC-DC converter or (ii) a power management task or a signal processing task not associated with a process for controlling the DC-DC converter, or (c) the POL power control digital processor is further configured to perform (i) a power control loop task used in controlling a voltage converter other than a POL DC-DC converter coupled to the POL power control processor or (ii) a power management task or a signal processing task not associated with a process for controlling a POL DC-DC converter coupled to the POL power control digital processor.