Apparatus, system, and method for a high efficiency redundant power system
View Patent ↗An apparatus, system, and method are disclosed for a high efficiency redundant power system. First and second power supplies are connected in parallel to power a load. Each power supply includes a primary stage and a regulator stage. Each primary stage regulates voltage on an internal bus that is input for each regulator stage. Each regulator stage regulates a regulated bus connected to the load. A power meter detects power provided to the load and determines if the provided power is below a predefined power threshold. A regulator control module shuts down the regulator stage of the first power supply after the provided power falls below the predefined power threshold so the second power supply powers the load and the primary stage of the first power supply remains operational. A recovery module starts up the regulator stage of the first power supply after failure of the second power supply.
1. An apparatus comprising:
a first power supply and a second power supply operated in parallel to provide power to a load wherein each power supply is configured to supply full power to the load in response to a failure of the other power supply and wherein each power supply comprises two or more power stages, the two or more power stages comprising a primary stage and a regulator stage, the primary stage configured to regulate voltage on an internal bus that serves as an input for the regulator stage, the regulator stage configured to regulate voltage on a regulated bus connected to the load;
a power meter configured to detect an amount of power provided by the power supplies to the load and to determine if the provided power is below a predefined power threshold;
a regulator control module configured to control the operation of the regulator stages of the power supplies such that the regulator stage of the first power supply is shut down in response to the provided power falling below the predefined power threshold such that only the second power supply provides power to the load and wherein the primary stage of the first power supply remains operational; and
a recovery module configured to start up the regulator stage of the first power supply in response to a failure of the second power supply such that the first power supply provides power to the load.
2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the predefined power threshold is an amount of provided power that correlates to a minimum allowable efficiency of the power supplies operating in parallel.
3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the predefined power threshold comprises 100% of a load capacity of one of the two power supplies such that the power supplies operating in parallel each supply about 50% of the power to the load.
4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the recovery module is further configured to start up the regulator stage of the first power supply in response to the provided power rising above the predefined power threshold.
5. The apparatus of claim 4 , further comprising an alternating module that causes the regulator module to alternate between shutting down the regulator stage of the first power supply and the regulator stage of the second power supply each time the provided power falls below the predefined threshold, a shutdown occurring after a regulator stage is restarted in response to the provided power rising above the predefined threshold.
6. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the predefined power threshold comprises a hysteresis band with an upper limit and lower limit, and wherein the regulator module shuts down the regulator stage of the first power supply in response to the provided power falling below the lower limit, and wherein the recovery module starts up the regulator stage of the regulator stage of the first power supply in response to the provided power rising above the upper limit.
7. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the recovery module is configured to start up the regulator stage of the first power supply such that the first power supply provides power to the load within a predefined period of time, the predefined period of time being less than a start up time for both the regulator stage and the primary stage of the first power supply.
8. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the load is an electrical device and wherein the predefined period of time is configured such that power is provided to the electrical device prior to a shutdown of the electrical device.
9. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the predefined period of time is less than a holdup time, wherein the holdup time comprises a minimum time after a failure wherein the regulated bus remains above a minimum acceptable voltage level.
10. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising an alternating module that starts up the regulator stage that is shut down by the regulator control module and shuts down the regulator stage that is providing power to the load in response to the power meter detecting that the provided power is below the predefined power threshold for a predetermined amount of time.
11. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the primary stage is a boost stage configured to regulate the internal bus to a voltage greater than an input voltage provided to the boost stage.
12. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the primary stage is a buck stage configured to regulate the internal bus to a voltage less than an input voltage provided to the buck stage.
13. A system comprising:
an electrical device comprising a load that receives power from a first power supply and a second power supply;
a regulated bus connected between the power supplies and the electrical device such that the regulated bus delivers power from the power supplies to the electrical device;
the first power supply and second power supply operated in parallel to provide power to the load wherein each power supply is configured to supply full power to the load in response to a failure of the other power supply and wherein each power supply comprises two or more power stages, the two or more power stages comprising a primary stage and a regulator stage, the primary stage configured to regulate voltage on an internal bus that serves as an input for the regulator stage, the regulator stage configured to regulate voltage on the regulated bus connected to the electrical device;
a power meter configured to detect an amount of power provided by the power supplies to the load and to determine if the provided power is below a predefined power threshold;
a regulator control module configured to control the operation of the regulator stages of the power supplies such that the regulator stage of the first power supply is shut down in response to the provided power falling below the predefined power threshold such that only the second power supply provides power to the load and wherein the primary stage of the first power supply remains operational; and
a recovery module configured to start up the regulator stage of the first power supply in response to a failure of the second power supply such that the first power supply provides power to the load.
14. The system of claim 13 , wherein each power supply further comprises an input filter that rectifies an alternating current (“AC”) input voltage and filters out harmonic content.
15. The system of claim 14 , wherein the input filter and the corresponding primary stage of a power supply comprise an active harmonic filter configured to provide approximately unity power factor correction and harmonic filtering.
16. The system of claim 13 , wherein the electronic device comprises two or more electronic devices connected to the regulated bus.
17. The system of claim 14 , further comprising one or more additional power supplies operated in parallel to provide power to the load via the regulated bus wherein the regulator control module shuts down one or more regulator stages in response to the provided power falling below a predefined power threshold, wherein the corresponding primary stages of the power supplies remain operational, and wherein the recovery module starts up one or more regulator stages, previously shutdown by the regulator control module, in response to failure of one or more power supplies.
18. A method for controlling a power supply system, the method comprising:
controlling a first power supply and a second power supply operated in parallel to provide power to a load wherein each power supply is configured to supply full power to the load in response to a failure of the other power supply and wherein each power supply comprises two or more power stages, the two or more power stages comprising a primary stage and a regulator stage, the primary stage configured to regulate voltage on an internal bus that serves as an input for the regulator stage, the regulator stage configured to regulate voltage on a regulated bus connected to the load;
receiving data from a power meter configured to detect an amount of power provided by the power supplies to the load and to determine if the provided power is below a predefined power threshold;
controlling the operation of the regulator stages of the power supplies such that the regulator stage of the first power supply is shut down in response to the provided power falling below the predefined power threshold such that only the second power supply provides power to the load and wherein the primary stage of the first power supply remains operational; and
starting up the regulator stage of the first power supply in response to a failure of the second power supply such that the first power supply provides power to the load.
19. The method of claim 18 , wherein the predefined power threshold is an amount of provided power that correlates to a minimum allowable efficiency of the power supplies operating in parallel.
20. The method of claim 18 , wherein the recovery module is further configured to start up the regulator stage of the first power supply in response to the provided power rising above the predefined power threshold.