Patent ID: 7750498

Claim:
An adaptive power management system, comprising: a plurality of load devices including a burst load device configurable to operate with a time-varying load having a controllable duty cycle; a shared power source configured to supply power to the plurality of load devices; a power manager configured to adaptively determine a power allocation for the burst load device based on operational requirements of the plurality of load devices; a multi-level power limiter configured to limit a maximum average power level supplied to the burst load device to one of a plurality of selectable average power levels in response to the power allocation determined by the power manager; and a power storage module configured to store power supplied by the shared power source and to supply sufficient power to permit the burst load device to operate with a peak power that exceeds the maximum average power level during burst periods, wherein the power manager controls the duty cycle of the burst periods of the burst load device to maintain the power stored by the power storage module above a desired level.