Inhibiting excessive battery discharge using battery voltage and capacity measurements
A system for inhibiting the excessive discharge of a battery in an electronic device, in some embodiments, comprises: a battery to supply power to the electronic device; and a fuel gauge coupled to the battery to monitor said power, wherein the fuel gauge enters a standby mode upon determining that a voltage supplied by the battery is at or below a voltage threshold and that a capacity of the battery is at or below a capacity threshold.
1. A system for inhibiting the excessive discharge of a battery in an electronic device, comprising:
a battery to supply power to the electronic device; and
a fuel gauge monitoring said power via a direct connection to the battery,
wherein the entire fuel gauge enters a standby mode upon the fuel gauge determining:
that a voltage supplied by the battery is at or below a voltage threshold; and
that concurrently a capacity of the battery is at or below a capacity threshold,
wherein the standby mode comprises an enabled low power consumption state,
wherein the fuel gauge is configured to communicate with a processor via a port, and wherein the fuel gauge is configured to open, by mode control logic,
the port to enter the standby mode; wherein said voltage threshold is in the range of 2.0 Volts to 2.5 Volts, inclusive, and said capacity threshold is in the range of 0% to 5%, inclusive.
2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the battery is a lithium ion battery.
3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the fuel gauge enters said standby mode if and only if the fuel gauge determines that the voltage supplied by the battery is at or below said voltage threshold and that said capacity of the battery is at or below the capacity threshold.
4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the system determines said capacity of the battery using a Coulomb counting technique.
5. The system of claim 1 , wherein said standby mode is the lowest power mode available on said fuel gauge.
6. The system of claim 1 , wherein, to enter the standby mode, the fuel gauge is configured to open the port and to stop a clock associated with the fuel gauge.
7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the voltage and capacity thresholds are programmable.
8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the fuel gauge autonomously makes said determinations and autonomously enters the standby mode.
9. The system of claim 1 , wherein, upon detecting that said voltage has risen above the voltage threshold or that said capacity has risen above the capacity threshold, the fuel gauge exits the standby mode.
10. The system of claim 9 , wherein, to exit the standby mode, the fuel gauge enters a power mode higher than the standby mode.
11. An electronic device comprising a fuel gauge monitoring power supplied by a battery via a direct connection to said battery, wherein said entire fuel gauge enters a standby power mode comprising an enabled low power consumption state upon said fuel gauge detecting that a voltage supplied by a said battery in said electronic device is at or below a voltage threshold and concurrently that a capacity of the battery is at or below a capacity threshold, wherein, to enter the standby power mode, the fuel gauge disables a port, by mode control logic, via which the fuel gauge communicates with a processor; wherein said voltage threshold is in the range of 2.0 Volts to 2.5 Volts, inclusive, and said capacity threshold is in the range of 0% to 5%, inclusive.
12. The electronic device of claim 11 , wherein said capacity threshold is between 0% and 1%, inclusive.
13. The system of claim 11 , wherein the electronic device is selected from the group consisting of: a smart phone, a tablet, a laptop, a video camera and a handheld game console.
14. The electronic device of claim 11 , wherein said capacity is determined using a Coulomb counting technique.
15. A method for inhibiting the excessive discharge of a battery in an electronic device, comprising:
determining, by a fuel gauge directly connected to the battery, that a voltage supplied by the battery is at or below a voltage threshold and concurrently that a capacity of the battery is at or below a capacity threshold; and
causing, by mode control logic, said entire fuel gauge in said electronic device to autonomously enter a standby power mode comprising an enabled low power consumption state based on said determination by deactivating a port through which the fuel gauge communicates with an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC); wherein said voltage threshold is in the range of 2.0 Volts to 2.5 Volts, inclusive, and said capacity threshold is in the range of 0% to 5%, inclusive.
16. The method of claim 15 , wherein said capacity threshold is between 0% and 0.5%, inclusive.
17. The method of claim 15 , wherein said standby power mode is the lowest power mode available on said fuel gauge.