IP Library Granted Patent US 11,073,886
Granted Patent B2
US 11,073,886 · App. 16/158,116 · Granted Jul 27, 2021

Balance input current of power supplies

Inventors: Mingchun Xu (Danville, CA); Michael Timothy Kauffman (Campbell, CA)
Assignee: Facebook, Inc.
G06F1/3212G01R15/144H02J7/0014H02M7/02
View Patent ↗
Loading inventors, assignments & file history…
Monitor This Case
Get email alerts when status or documents change.
Order Certified Copies
Most orders are placed with the USPTO same day — all within 24 business hours.
Order via The Patent Place →
Pre-filled with this patent's details
Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 11,073,886
App. No.
16/158,116
Granted
Jul 27, 2021
Kind
B2
Abstract

In an embodiment, a system for balancing input current for power supplies a voltage detector configured to detect an input voltage to a power supply of a plurality of different power supplies. The system further includes one or more circuit elements configured to adjust one or more properties of the one or more circuit elements based at least in part on the detected input voltage in an attempt to maintain a consistent current input across the plurality of different power supplies.

Claims (20)

1. A system comprising:

a voltage detector configured to detect an input voltage to a power supply of a plurality of different power supplies; and

one or more circuit elements configured to adjust one or more properties including a droop coefficient of the one or more circuit elements based at least in part on a detected input voltage and a reference droop coefficient corresponding to a reference voltage in an attempt to maintain a consistent current input across the plurality of different power supplies.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein:

the input voltage corresponds to a phase of a multi-phase AC input and each of the plurality of different power supplies receives a different one from the phase of the multi-phase AC input; and

the one or more circuit elements is configured to adjust the droop coefficient in an attempt to reduce contribution of the plurality of different power supplies to voltage imbalances across phases of the multi-phase AC input.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the droop coefficient is adjusted dynamically in response to the detected input voltage.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more properties include at least one of a resistance value or an impedance value.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more circuit elements include a controller and one or more adjusted properties include a resistance value of a resistor coupled in series with a component of the power supply.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more circuit elements include a controller and one or more adjusted properties include a resistance value of a resistor coupled in series with the power supply.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of different power supplies provide power in parallel to a common load and the plurality of different power supplies are coupled to a common output node and one or more adjusted properties cause current inputs to the plurality of different power supplies to be within a tolerance range.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the power supply includes an AC-to-DC converter.

9. The system of claim 1 , wherein an output of the power supply is provided back to the power supply forming a feedback loop adjustable by the one or more properties.

10. The system of claim 1 , wherein one or more adjusted properties include an output current of the power supply.

11. The system of claim 1 , wherein the system is provided in a server rack.

12. The system of claim 1 , wherein attempting to maintain the consistent current input across the plurality of different power supplies includes not attempting to maintain consistent output power across the plurality of different power supplies.

13. A computer program product embodied in a non-transitory computer readable storage medium and comprising computer instructions for:

instructing a voltage detector to detect an input voltage to a power supply of a plurality of different power supplies;

determining one or more properties including a droop coefficient of one or more circuit elements based at least in part on a detected input voltage and a reference droop coefficient corresponding to a reference voltage in an attempt to maintain a consistent current input across the plurality of different power supplies; and

instructing one or more circuit elements to adjust the one or more properties.

Assignments (2)
CHANGE OF NAME Recorded Nov 19, 2021
From: FACEBOOK, INC.
To: META PLATFORMS, INC.
Reel/Frame 058214/0351 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jan 9, 2019
From: XU, MINGCHUN; KAUFFMAN, MICHAEL TIMOTHY
To: FACEBOOK, INC.
Reel/Frame 047946/0202 →
Cited By (1)
US 12,512,672