阅读说明：本技术 Usb电力输送中的可编程vbus放电 (Programmable VBUS discharge in USB power delivery ) 是由 德尔温·W·马托斯 戈德温·杰拉尔德·阿鲁拉潘 赛义德·巴巴尔·拉扎 阿努普·纳亚克 苏米特 于 2019-03-05 设计创作，主要内容包括：本文描述了用于从USB电力输送(USB-PD)VBUS线进行电压放电的技术。在示例实施例中,集成电路包括耦合到第一放电电路和第二放电电路的放电控制逻辑。第一放电电路被配置为耦合到VBUS线上的电源节点。第二放电电路被配置为耦合到VBUS线上的输出节点。放电控制逻辑被配置为独立地控制第一放电电路和第二放电电路以使VBUS线上的电压放电。(Techniques for voltage discharging from a USB power delivery (USB-PD) VBUS line are described herein. In an example embodiment, an integrated circuit includes discharge control logic coupled to a first discharge circuit and a second discharge circuit. The first discharge circuit is configured to be coupled to a power supply node on the VBUS line. The second discharge circuit is configured to be coupled to an output node on the VBUS line. The discharge control logic is configured to independently control the first discharge circuit and the second discharge circuit to discharge the voltage on the VBUS line.)

1. An Integrated Circuit (IC) for controlling power transfer on a Universal Serial Bus (USB) Voltage (VBUS) line, the IC comprising:

a USB Power delivery (USB-PD) subsystem, wherein the USB-PD subsystem comprises:

a first discharge circuit configured to be coupled to a power supply node on the VBUS line;

a second discharge circuit configured to be coupled to an output node on the VBUS line; and

A discharge control logic coupled to the first discharge circuit and the second discharge circuit, the discharge control logic configured to independently control the first discharge circuit and the second discharge circuit to discharge a voltage on the VBUS line.

2. The integrated circuit of claim 1, wherein the power supply node is disposed on one side of a power switch on the VBUS line and the output node is disposed on the other side of the power switch on the VBUS line.

3. The integrated circuit of claim 1, further comprising:

a first input pin coupled to the first discharge circuit;

a second input pin coupled to the second discharge circuit; and

one or more ground output pins coupled to the first discharge circuit and the second discharge circuit.

4. The integrated circuit of claim 1, further comprising firmware instructions to control a drive strength schedule applied by the discharge control logic to at least one of the first discharge circuit and the second discharge circuit.

5. The integrated circuit of claim 1, wherein the USB-PD subsystem further comprises a voltage threshold detector coupled to the discharge control logic, the voltage threshold detector configured to monitor a voltage on the VBUS line at the power supply node and at the output node.

6. The integrated circuit of claim 5, wherein the voltage threshold detector is configured to monitor the voltage on the VBUS line with respect to a plurality of voltage levels.

7. The integrated circuit of claim 1, wherein the USB-PD subsystem further comprises protection logic coupled to the discharge control logic, the protection logic configured to monitor a discharge rate of the voltage on the VBUS line.

8. The integrated circuit of claim 7, wherein the protection logic is configured to be protected from discharge of a live supply voltage on the VBUS line.

9. The integrated circuit of claim 7, wherein the discharge control logic is configured to generate a multi-bit control signal applied to the first discharge circuit and the second discharge circuit.

10. The integrated circuit of claim 1, wherein each of the first and second discharge circuits includes one or more Drain Extended Field Effect Transistors (DEFETs).

11. The integrated circuit of claim 1, wherein the discharge control logic is configured to control the first discharge circuit to discharge the voltage on the VBUS line at a first discharge rate and to control the second discharge circuit to discharge the voltage on the VBUS line at a second discharge rate.

12. The integrated circuit of claim 1, wherein the discharge control logic is configured to stop discharging the voltage on the VBUS line at a non-zero voltage level.

13. The integrated circuit of claim 1, wherein the USB-PD subsystem further comprises:

a voltage threshold detector configured to monitor a voltage on the VBUS line;

a current sense detector configured to monitor current returned on a USB ground; and

a fault detector coupled to the current sensing detector and the voltage threshold detector, the fault detector configured to detect one or more fault events on the VBUS line.

14. An apparatus, comprising:

a Universal Serial Bus (USB) Type-C connector including a Voltage (VBUS) line; and

An Integrated Circuit (IC) coupled to control power transfer on the VBUS line, the IC comprising:

a first discharge circuit coupled to a power supply node on the VBUS line;

a second discharge circuit coupled to an output node on the VBUS line; and

a discharge control logic coupled to the first discharge circuit and the second discharge circuit, the discharge control logic configured to independently control the first discharge circuit and the second discharge circuit to discharge a voltage on the VBUS line.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, further comprising a power switch coupled on the VBUS line, wherein the power node is disposed on one side of the power switch and the output node is disposed on another side of the power switch.

16. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the IC comprises:

a first input pin coupling the first discharge circuit to the power supply node;

a second input pin coupling the second discharge circuit to the output node; and

One or more ground output pins coupling the first discharge circuit and the second discharge circuit to a local ground.

17. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the IC is configured to control power transfer over the VBUS line according to a USB power delivery (USB-PD) specification.

18. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the IC is configured to control a discharge rate of the voltage on the VBUS line.

19. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the IC is configured to monitor the voltage on the VBUS line with respect to a plurality of voltage levels.

20. The device of claim 14, wherein the device is one of a Personal Computer (PC) power adapter, a mobile phone charger, a wall outlet, an in-vehicle charger, or a mobile power supply.

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to integrated circuits that control power delivery to electronic devices.

Background

Various electronic devices (e.g., such as smartphones, tablets, notebook computers, laptops, hubs, chargers, adapters, etc.) are configured to transfer power over a Universal Serial Bus (USB) connector according to a USB power delivery protocol defined in various versions of the USB power delivery (USB-PD) specification. For example, in some applications, an electronic device may be configured as a consumer that receives power through a USB connector (e.g., for battery charging), while in other applications, the electronic device may be configured as a power provider that provides power to another device connected thereto through the USB connector. However, the USB-PD specification allows power providers and consumers to dynamically negotiate the voltage and current levels provided. Thus, under certain power delivery conditions, the supplied voltage/current may require rapid discharge, but this may expose the integrated circuit devices controlling the supply of such voltage/current to heating and latch-up effects.