Patent Document

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention is related to the power management device and control method thereof in electronic devices. 
     2. Description of the Prior Art 
     As technology advances, the awareness of environmental protection arises such that designing electronic devices with minimizing power consumption and carbon dissipation has become a widespread trend. More particularly, more and more regulations have been legislated to regulate the power saving standard for electronic devices. For instances, Energy Star is a standard set to regulate the power consumption of the electronic devices. Therefore, designing electronic devices with effective power saving function is always an objective to be pursuit on. 
       FIG. 1  is a diagram illustrating a conventional power converting system. Alternating Current (AC) input  20  is coupled to a commercial power source such as the AC power source of 110 volt (V) or 220V. Power source board  30  converts the commercial power source V AC  to an output power source V OUT  with appropriate voltage level, to be provided to mother board  40  of a computer. To enhance the power-saving function, mother board  40  transmits source standby signal S SDO  to shut down power board  30  when mother board  40  determines output power source V OUT  supplied by power source board  30  is not required (for example, when mother board  40  is not turned on or in a standby state). The power converting system disclosed in  FIG. 1  is not only limited to computers but also applicable to other electronic devices such as LCD monitors. 
     However, methods to shut down power source board  30  are different, depending on system requirements. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a diagram illustrating a conventional power converting system. 
         FIG. 2  is a diagram illustrating one embodiment of power source board of the present invention. 
         FIG. 3  is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of power management IC of  FIG. 2 . 
         FIG. 4A  is a diagram illustrating one embodiment of standby controller in  FIG. 3 . 
         FIG. 4B  is a diagram illustrating one embodiment of startup circuit in  FIG. 3 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Further objects of the present invention and more practical merits obtained by the present invention will become more apparent from the description of the embodiments which will be given below with reference to the accompanying drawings. For explanation purposes, components with equivalent or similar functionalities are represented by the same symbols. Hence components of different embodiments with the same symbol are not necessarily identical. Here, it is to be noted that the present invention is not limited thereto. 
       FIG. 2  is a diagram illustrating one embodiment of power source board  30   a  of the present invention. Power source board  30   a  comprises a flyback power source converter used for converting the electrical energy received from AC power source V AC  to output power source V OUT  with desired specification. Bridge rectifier  304  roughly rectifies AC power source V AC  to generate rectified high-voltage power source V IN . Power switch SW is coupled to gate terminal GATE of power management integrated circuit (IC)  306  to control the current of primary winding L P  of the transformer. When power switch SW is turned on, the electrical energy stored in the transformer increases; when the power switch SW is turned off, the electrical energy stored in the transformer is released via secondary winding L S  and auxiliary winding L A . The electrical energy released by secondary winding L S  is transmitted via the rectifier to be stored in an output capacitor so as to generate output power source V OUT . The electrical energy output by auxiliary winding L A  is transmitted to power source terminal VCC of power management IC  306  to supply the operational power source V CC  required by power management IC  306 . 
     Feedback circuit  308  monitors the amplitude (i.e. the amplitude may be current, voltage, or power) of output power source V OUT  and provides feedback signal S FB  to feedback terminal FB of power management IC  306 . High-voltage terminal HV of power management IC  306  is coupled to rectified high power source V IN  via start resistor R STRT . The peak voltage of rectified high power source V IN  may be ranged from 90 to 700 volts. Here in this specification, a “High-voltage” represents a voltage equal to or higher than 90 volt. Current detecting terminal CS of power management IC  306  is utilized to detect the current flowing through power switch SW by detecting voltage V CS  across detection resistor R CS . Photo coupler  310  is coupled to standby control terminal SD. When standby signal S SDO  is at a logic high level, standby signal S SD  is at a logic low level, deemed to be “deasserted”. Consequently power management IC  306  operates normally to turn on/off power switch SW to generate output power source V OUT . When standby signal S SDO  is at a logic low level, standby signal S SD  is at a logic high level, deemed to be “asserted”. Consequently power management IC  306  enters standby state (OFF mode), turning and keeping off power switch SW. 
     Taking standby signal S SD  at a logic high level as to be deasserted may have the following advantage. When power source board  30  is not coupled to the load, i.e. mother board  40  is not coupled to power source board  30 , standby signal S SDO  is at a logic low level, and standby signal S SD  is at a logic high level. Accordingly, power source board  30  enters standby state directly, which reduces power consumption. 
       FIG. 3  is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of power management IC  306  of  FIG. 2 . As illustrated in  FIG. 3 , power management IC  306   a  has a high-voltage startup function, realized by startup circuit  414 . Startup circuit  414  receives a rectified voltage signal of rectified high power source V IN  from high-voltage terminal HV. Within a startup period, prior the voltage of operational power source V CC  has reached a predetermined voltage level (for instances, 20V), startup circuit  414  supplies a current to charge filter capacitor C VCC  via power source terminal VCC to generate operational power source V CC . Switch controller  427  and clock generator  406  may start to operate after the voltage of operational power source V CC  is higher than the predetermined voltage level. 
     Switch controller  427  comprises Pulse width modulator (PWM) controller  428  and driving circuit  430 . PWM controller  428  controls driving circuit  430  according to feedback signal S FB  from feedback terminal FB, current detecting signal S CS  from current detecting terminal CS, and the clock signal from clock generator  406 . Driving circuit  430  controls power switch SW in  FIG. 2  via gate terminal GATE so as to control the electric energy of the transformer to be increased or released. 
     In  FIG. 3 , PWM controller  428  controls the duty cycle of power switch according to the constant frequency of the clock signal provided by clock generator  406 . In yet another embodiment, the PWM controller may fix the on time (constant ON time) but vary the off time or clock frequency of power switch SW. In yet another embodiment, the PWM controller may fix the off time (constant OFF time) but vary the on time or clock frequency of power switch SW. 
     Standby controller  426  is coupled to high-voltage terminal HV and powered by rectified high-voltage power source V IN . Through standby control terminal SD, standby controller  426  determines whether standby signal S SD  is asserted or deasserted. In the embodiments of  FIG. 2  and  FIG. 3 , when standby controller  426  determines standby signal S SD  is asserted, standby controller  426  makes startup circuit  414  and PWM controller  428  disabled through signals EN-STUP and En-PWM respectively. In a disabled state, PWM controller  428  keeps driving circuit  430  turning off power switch SW; startup circuit  414  does not provide charge current for generating operational power source V CC  no matter the voltage of operational power source V CC  is. Therefore, in the disabled state, the voltage of operational power source V CC  possibly gradually decreases because switch controller  427  and clock generator  406  may still consume some electrical energy but operational power source V CC  cannot be supplied from startup circuit  414  or auxiliary winding L A . If the voltage of operational power source V CC  is lower than a certain level, switch controller  427  and clock generator  406  even possibly stop operating, while power switch is still turned off. 
     In one embodiment, when standby controller  426  determines that standby signal S SD  is asserted, standby controller  426  disables not only startup circuit  414  and PWM controller  428  but also clock generator  406 , which is stopped from outputting the clock signal. Moreover, when standby signal S SD  is asserted, driving circuit  430  can also be optionally disabled such that power switch SW is turned off continuously. 
     It is worth of mentioning that the said disabled state of a device indicates that the output of the device is kept on a fixed digital logic level, and/or that the direct current in the device is substantially stopped. For example, when in the disabled state, clock generator  406  stays outputting the clock signal on logic level “0”, and, optionally, stops from being powered by a power source. 
     When standby controller  426  determines standby signal S SD  is deasserted, both of startup circuit  414  and switch controller  427  are enabled, and switch controller  427  and clock generator  406  may start to operate normally for controlling power switch SW, depending on the voltage of operational power source V CC . 
       FIG. 4A  is a diagram illustrating one embodiment of standby controller  426  in  FIG. 3 . Standby controller  426   a  is coupled to high-voltage terminal HV, powered by rectified high-voltage power source V IN . Current source  502  provides power required by logic determining device  506  and resistor  504 . A zener diode is coupled between resistor  504  and ground line GND for clamping the highest voltage level of standby signal S SD . Standby terminal SD is coupled to resistor  504  for making the default voltage of standby signal S SD  to be the high voltage logic level. Logic determining device  506  generates signals En-STUP and En-PWM according to standby signal S SD  from standby terminal SD. For example, when standby signal S SD  is asserted (logic high level), both signals En-STUP and En-PWM are deasserted; when standby signal S SD  is deasserted (logic low level), both signals En-STUP and En-PWM are asserted. 
       FIG. 4B  is a diagram illustrating one embodiment of startup circuit  414  in  FIG. 3 . Startup circuit  414   a  comprises a controllable current source  508  coupled between high-voltage terminal HV and power source terminal VCC. Signal En-STUP is transmitted to the control terminal of controllable current source  508 . When signal En-STUP is asserted, controllable current source  508  provides charge current to power source terminal VCC. Deasserted signal En-STUP disables controllable current source  508 , such that substantially no current or power is drained from high-voltage terminal HV to supply operational power source V CC . Voltage detector  510  is coupled between power source terminal VCC and the control terminal of controllable current source  508 . If the voltage on power source terminal VCC is approximately higher than a first predetermined value, voltage detector  510  may turn off controllable current source  508  to stop charging power source terminal VCC; if the voltage on power source terminal VCC is approximately lower than a second predetermined value, which is not higher than the first one, voltage detector  510  may turn on controllable current source  508  to start charging power source terminal VCC. 
     Please refer to  FIGS. 2-4A  and  4 B. When power source board  30   a  is only coupled to AC power source V AC  but not coupled to any mother board, standby signal S SDO  is at a logic low level and standby signal S SD  is at a logic high level, so startup circuit  414  is turned off. Without current supplied from auxiliary winding or high-voltage terminal HV, the voltage of operational power source V CC  is kept at a low-voltage level, and therefore PWM controller  428  and driving circuit  430  cannot operate to turn on power switch SW. Power management IC  306   a  enters the standby state, which means only standby controller  426  consumes a very little current and other parts of power management IC  306   a  can be deemed as consuming no power. Therefore, the overall power consumed by power management IC  306   a , in the standby state, will be very little. 
     When power source board  30   a  is coupled to AC power source V AC  and the mother board, and the mother board requires power, standby signal S SDO  will is deasserted, being raised to the logic high level, and causing standby signal S SD  at the logic low level. Thus, startup circuit  414  starts to charge operational power source V CC . When the voltage of operational power source V CC  reaches a certain high level, PWM controller  428  and driving circuit  430  start turning on/off power switch SW and meanwhile supply power to operational power source V CC  and output power source V OUT . Furthermore, voltage detector  510  turns off startup circuit  414  timely so that operational power source V CC  is solely supplied by auxiliary winding L A . 
     When power source board  30   a  is coupled to AC power source V AC  and the mother board, but the mother board requires no power, standby signal S SDO  is then asserted, being at a logic low level and causing standby signal S SD  at a logic high level. Consequently, startup circuit  414  is turned off, and driving circuit  430  is forced to keep turning off power switch SW. Thus, power management IC  306   a  enters the standby state, consuming very little power. 
     Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerous modifications and alterations of the device and method may be made while retaining the teachings of the invention.

Technology Category: g