Programmable power management circuit for a power supply in a computer system

摘要

A programmable power management circuit for a computer which allows a power supply to be configured prior to and after bootup of the computer. A switch applies power from a power supply to a processor within the computer. A first memory stores default configuration data for controlling the power supply. A power control circuit senses power from the power supply and controls the switch. A loader circuit produce a signal and replaces the default configuration data in the first memory with the configuration data specific to the computer. The power control circuit produces a control signal, after receiving the signal from the loader circuit, that causes the switch to apply power to the processor so that the computer can boot up. The loader circuit may additionally check for errors in the configuration data specific to the computer. Loader circuit replaces the default configuration data with the configuration data specific to the computer only if the loader circuit finds no errors, A software utility allows the configuration data to be changed after bootup.