Method and apparatus for charging a battery

摘要

A portable communication device (300) powered by a battery (210) has an external connector (202) that includes an external power node (220) and a data bus (204) having an integral power node (218). A processing system (228) of the device senses (402) whether power is available at the external power node, and controls a charging switcher (216) to charge (406) the battery from the external power node whenever power is available at the external power node. The processing system enables (412) battery charging from the integral power node when power is not available at the external power node.