Patent ID: 8410764

Claim:
A method for maximizing DC power transferred by a power management unit to an electronic device comprising the steps of: (1) providing a power management unit comprising means to sense an input voltage and an output voltage, means to sense an input current, means to control the input current limit and means to compare voltages, and a control unit; (2) connecting a power source to said power management unit; (3) setting a maximal allowable input current limit to a default value; (4) enabling power transfer between a power source and a load if the input voltage is higher than a threshold voltage and there is sufficient overhead between input voltage and output voltage; (5) ramping up the input current; (6) checking, if the input current is lower than the defined maximal allowable input current limit, and, if positive, repeat the check of step (6), otherwise go to step (7); (7) decreasing input current and go to step (6); (8) checking if an input voltage is higher than the defined input threshold voltage and, if positive go to step (9), else go to step (11); (9) checking, if the actual maximal allowable current limit is lower than the default value, and if negative, go to step (8), otherwise go to step (10); (10) increasing the maximal allowable input current limit and go to step (8); (11) decreasing the maximal allowable input current limit and go to step (8); (12) checking, if the input voltage is lower than the output voltage of the power management unit and lower than input threshold voltage, if negative, repeat step (12), otherwise go to step (13); and (13) disabling the power management unit.