Electricity: measuring and testing – Impedance – admittance or other quantities representative of... – Lumped type parameters
Reexamination Certificate
1998-10-14
2002-01-15
Brown, Glenn W. (Department: 2858)
Electricity: measuring and testing
Impedance, admittance or other quantities representative of...
Lumped type parameters
C324S429000, C429S092000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06339340
ABSTRACT:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
This application claims the priority benefit of Taiwan application serial no. 87109583, filed Jun. 16, 1998, the full disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for detecting capacity of a standby power and a method therefor. More particularly, the present invention relates to an apparatus and a method, which can automatically detect capacity of a standby power of a power supply in a computer system and ensure normal operation of the computer system. By assistance of a program, the user can decide whether additional functions of the computer system are added or not.
2. Description of Related Art
In the earlier development of a personal computer, the power supply was controlled by hardware. As shown in
FIG. 1
, a power supply
110
provides operating power for the computer system
120
. The power supply is coupled to an external power source
100
through a switch
115
. When the computer system is ready to work, the switch
115
is then turned on, that is, the power supply
110
is coupled to the external power source
100
. In the meantime, the power supply
110
begins to supply power for the computer system
120
.
When the computer system
120
is ready to shut down or in a status of being turned off, the switch
115
is turned off, that is, the power supply
110
is separated from the external power source
100
. The power supply
110
cannot provide any power for the computer system
120
. In the above-mentioned way, it is impossible for the computer system
120
to be turned on automatically.
However, with tremendous development of technology, personal computers are considerably popularized and owned by general consumers, and not restricted in professional persons. Easily learned software and hardware are more and more important. For accommodating the trend, some new specifications have been developed in the personal computer field for providing some functions suitable for general users.
For providing good integration and performance of personal computers, an ATX specification for personal computer was developed. It is not the only way for computers to be turned on or turned off by the power supply in a conventional simple way. The status of being turned on or turned off for personal computers can be controlled by an internal circuit of the computer.
FIG. 2
shows a block diagram of a personal computer corresponding to the ATX specification. The power supply
210
provides operating power PWR for the computer system
220
, and also provides standby power SBPW for a power control device
225
. Whenever the power supply
210
is coupled to a external power source
200
, the power supply
210
can simultaneously provide an operating power PWR to the computer system
220
and standby power SBPW to the power control device
225
. When the computer system
220
is turned off, the power supply
210
stops to provide the PWR to the computer system
220
. But, in the meantime, the power supply
210
still provides the standby power SBPW to the power control device
225
.
The power control device
225
provides multiple ways to turn on the computer system
220
, such as remote wakeup or keyboard wakeup. The standby power SBPW is not only supplied to the power control device
225
, but also applied to execute a function of ceasing operation of the computer system
220
and suspending information to random access memories (RAMs) in some advanced computers. The function of ceasing, and suspending information to RAM, was developed along with multi-tasking and graphic user interface (GUI) of the operating system of the computer system
220
. A resulting disadvantage of multi-tasking and GUI of an operating system is that it takes a comparatively long time to restart the operating system. The computer system
220
also cannot store the configuration while being turned off.
The function of ceasing operation, and suspending information to RAM, can store the configuration in the memory when the computer system is turned off. In the meantime, the standby power SBPW is applied to the memory, by which the information stored in the memory, will not be lost. When the computer system is turned on, the computer system can be restored rapidly to a primary status according to the information stored in the memory.
Because more and more functions are added in the computer system using additional standby power the users have greater convenience when operating a computer system. In the meantime, the demand for a higher capacity of the standby power is increased. But a conventional power supply having standby power corresponds to different specifications. For example, the standby power in the ATX specification of an earlier version is 10 mA, but the standby power in the ATX specification of a later version is 720 mA. The standby powers in different versions are quite different. The conventional computer systems cannot automatically detect the power supplies of different versions. The users have to distinguish the power supply by themselves, and a proper setting is completed according to their judgments. If the users cannot distinguish the power supply, and make some improper settings as a result, the additional functions of the computer system may work improperly. Furthermore, the whole computer system may work improperly, or even may not be able to be turned on. Thus, the greater convenience for the user cannot be achieved, but the additional functions can cause problems for the user.
Accordingly, the conventional computer system, which cannot detect capacity of the standby power, has some drawbacks. One of the drawbacks is that users have to judge the capacity of the standby power by themselves. If a label of the power supply is not clear or the user makes an incorrect judgment, the computer system may, as described above, work improperly, or even may not be able to be turned on.
In light of the foregoing, there is a need to provide a computer system that can automatically detect the capacity of the standby power, to ensure the normal operation of the computer system and bring users some additional convenient functions.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, the present invention provide an apparatus for detecting capacity of a standby power of a power supply for a computer system and ensure normal operation of the computer system. By assistance of a program, the user can turn on or turn off an additional function of the computer system.
To achieve these and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of the invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, the invention provides an apparatus for detecting capacity of a standby power of a power supply. The apparatus comprises a control unit, a dummy-loading circuit and a voltage monitoring circuit. The control unit is used for operating the apparatus. The dummy-loading circuit coupled to the standby power and the control unit is used for providing a load to the standby power under the control of the control unit. The voltage monitoring circuit coupled to the dummy-loading circuit and the control unit is used for monitoring the standby power through the dummy-loading circuit and for outputting a signal to the control unit. While the standby power is being detected, the control unit activates the dummy-loading circuit and receives information about variations of the standby power from the signal outputted from the voltage monitoring circuit. Thus, when the variation of the standby power exceed a prescribed voltage, the capacity of the standby power is not enough.
In the above-described apparatus, the dummy-loading circuit comprises a loading device and a switch. The loading device is coupled to the standby power through the switch. The switch is under control of the control unit. When the switch is turned on, the loading device is coupled to the standby power and is the load of the standby power. When the switch is turned off, the loading device is separated from the standby power and is not the
ASUSTek Computer Inc.
Brown Glenn W.
Rabin & Berdo P.C.
LandOfFree
Apparatus for detecting capacity of a standby power and... does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Apparatus for detecting capacity of a standby power and..., we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Apparatus for detecting capacity of a standby power and... will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2821064