POWER COORDINATION AMONG PORTABLE DEVICES WITH MULTIPLE POWER SOURCES

摘要

A power management system includes a plurality of inputs that may be coupled to a plurality of devices to receive power therefrom and a plurality of outputs that may be coupled to the plurality of devices to provide power thereto. A device may include a load and an internal power sources that may be used to power the load or may be coupled by the power management system to another device. Likewise, the load may receive power from another device. The power management system couples each input to one of the outputs. An output is selected for an input based on priorities associated with the outputs and inputs. Each input and output may be coupled to a power bus by a multiplexer such that each input may be coupled to any output by coupling both to a common bus line.

主权项

1. A system comprising:
a plurality of devices collectively including plurality of loads and a plurality of sources at least a portion of the plurality of devices including both of one of the loads of the plurality of loads and one of the sources of the plurality of sources, each source of the plurality of sources storing electrical power and each load of the plurality of loads being an electronic device that consumes electrical power; and a controller coupled to the plurality of devices, the controller programmed to:
assign a priority to each load of the plurality of loads;assign a priority to each source of the plurality of sources according to a current state of the each source; andcouple the plurality of loads to the plurality of sources such that each load of the plurality of loads is coupled to a selected source of the plurality of sources, the selected source being selected according to the priority of the each load and the priority of the selected source, wherein each load of the plurality of loads is coupled to a different source of the plurality of sources.