Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Allowable Subject Matter
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: applicant’s invention is directed towards management of power delivery of USB type C for multiple charging ports using a single charging circuit. The best prior art discovered during search however fails to teach either alone or in combination the limitations “…based on determining that the first magnitude of the first power is smaller than the second magnitude of the second power, change the second magnitude of the second power to be equal to the first magnitude of the first power….” The claims would be allowable upon resolution of the uncertainty of the “sum of multiple power values” limitation as described below. The problem to be addressed is what power level to set an input port to when input ports have differing capabilities (e.g. 15W and 45W).
NGE et al. US 2016/0094071 A1 addresses this issue by balancing the power on each port so as to reduce likelihood overheating. See para. 0011 and para. 0016, “For example, if the battery 40 may only be charged at 3A, then the charge controller 52 may adjust the control signals so that both the first bus port 46 and the second bus port 50 supply approximately 1.5 A each (e.g., rather than one supplying 2 A and the other supplying 1 A). Such an approach may prevent overheating along any particular path.”
Sporck et al. US 2019/0065422 A1 addresses this issue when all input ports are in sink mode by combining the power of each sink but not derating or reducing any. Para. 0045, “Based on the ports that are attached, the control system determines whether the ports are in sink or source mode. If all the ports are in sink mode, then power is combined (block 758).”
Hijazi et al. US 2019/0324510 A1 simply blocks additional power supplies when detected (only one is allowed, no combined power.) See para. 0007, “An information handling system may address problems that arise from multiple connected power supplies by accepting power input from a single external power source while blocking power input from any remaining power sources using a hardware arbitration scheme.”
Sultenfuss et al. US 2020/0083740 A1 teaches combining the various input power supplies, however it teaches adjusting of the multiple power inputs to match the load. The reference teaches de-rating power supplies if necessary to match the load, but not de-rating a larger supply to match a smaller power. See para. 0073, “In one example, if two DC power source adapters are connected to an information handling system and the adapter with the lower power delivery capability has a higher voltage, it may be de-rated to a maximum load that it can support continuously. In this example, the other adapter would take a larger share of the load. In the first example shown above, if one 45-watt adapter and one 90-watt adapter are connected to an information handling system, the combined output may be de-rated to 120 watts rather than to the maximum theoretical output of 135 watts.”
Hand et al. US 2020/0142463 A1 does not teach derating either adapter, but switching continuously between the two so as to maintain both at maximum peak output. See Fig. 6 with two adapters of dissimilar sustained power rating (15 watt and 45 watt) but having 60 watt peak and 40 watt peak capabilities. The timing charge of teaches alternating between the two. The hybrid adapters are providing “combined” power output but not in addition to each other but rather “taking turns.”
Files et al. US 2020/0161872 A1 teaches providing multiple input power sources but does not combine them. The reference teaches a power path multiplexer so as to have flexibility to route either input port to either battery charger. While the two input ports are capable of connecting to a single battery charger individually, the input ports are not connected simultaneously to a single charger.
QU US 2021/0194287 A1 teaches changing the input sources power levels to match the required charging current of the battery. See para. 0152, “After receiving the charging information fed back by the control module 707, the wireless charging device 22 may adjust the first wireless transmitting circuit 221a based on the received charging information, so that the output voltage and/or current of the first wireless receiving circuit 204a matches the charging voltage and/or the charging current required by the battery 201;” The reference does teach adjusting charging power by reducing power levels but based on temperature (see para. 0160).
QU US 2022/0329107 A1 teaches combining multiple input sources but not derating either when hybrid inputs are detected. See para. 0084-0087, two 40-watt chargers are combined with a 120 watt charger for combined charging ability of 200 W.
OOI et al. US 2023/0291220 A1 - capable of charging using a single charging circuit with multiple ports when enabled via charging gate 2 on 115b-115n. However, no de-rating is taught for hybrid inputs.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claims 1, 7 and 13 recite the limitation, “sum of multiple power values.” The limitation recited states, “based on identifying that the second magnitude of the second power is smaller than the magnitude of the sum of multiple power values, control the second magnitude of the second power to be equal to the first magnitude of the first power” and is unclear because it appears that this condition (the second being less than the sum of multiple) will always be true and thus always trigger the derating of the second power source to be equal to the first.
Conclusion
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/GARY COLLINS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2115
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