Power monitor scaling for an information handling system
Power monitor information in an information handling system may be adjusted based on a battery voltage to account for a battery discharge state. The power monitor information may be scaled higher when the battery voltage is low to encourage the system to throttle and decrease power consumption. This adjustment increases the likelihood that the battery remains within safe operating limits.
1. A method, comprising:
receiving an indication of battery charge level of a battery for an information handling system, wherein the step of receiving the indication of battery charge level comprises receiving a battery voltage, and wherein the battery voltage indicates the battery charge level changing over time with a discharge level of the battery;
receiving a system power consumption level value indicative of system power consumption at a first time by the information handling system;
scaling the received system power consumption level value based on the battery charge level in response to the battery charge level being below a threshold, the scaling is performed while the battery is discharging to obtain a scaled system power level value indicative of the system power consumption at the first time; and
controlling system power consumption based, at least in part, on the scaled system power level value prior to the system power consumption exceeding a safe current draw limit of the battery.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of scaling the received system power level value comprises scaling with a difference amplifier by injecting an error signal to the system power level received from a power monitor signal.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein controlling system power consumption based, at least in part, on the scaled system power level value comprises maintaining the battery within a battery maximum continuous discharge specification of the battery.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of scaling comprises scaling the received system power level value only when the information handling system is operating from the battery.
5. An information handling system, comprising:
an integrated circuit configured to perform steps comprising:
receiving an indication of battery charge level of a battery for an information handling system, wherein the step of receiving the indication of battery charge level comprises receiving a battery voltage, and wherein the battery voltage indicates the battery charge level changing over time with a discharge level of the battery;
receiving a system power consumption level value indicative of system power consumption at a first time by the information handling system;
scaling the received system power consumption level value based on the battery charge level in response to the battery charge level being below a threshold, the scaling is performed while the battery is discharging to obtain a scaled system power level value indicative of the system power consumption at the first time; and
controlling system power consumption based, at least in part, on the scaled system power level value prior to the system power consumption exceeding a safe current draw limit of the battery.
6. The information handling system of claim 5 , wherein the step of scaling the received system power level value comprises scaling with a difference amplifier by injecting an error signal to power monitor signal.
7. The information handling system of claim 5 , wherein controlling system power consumption based, at least in part, on the scaled system power level value comprises maintaining the battery within a battery maximum continuous discharge specification.
8. The information handling system of claim 5 , wherein the step of scaling comprises scaling the received system power level value only when the information handling system is operating from the battery.
9. An apparatus, comprising:
a system power monitor coupled to a battery and configured to output a power monitor signal correlated to a system load at a first time on the battery;
an adjustment circuit coupled to the system power monitor and configured to generate an error signal for compensating the power monitor signal, the error signal based on the power monitor signal corresponding to the system load at the first time to obtain a compensated power monitor signal indicative of a system power consumption at the first time, wherein the adjustment circuit comprises:
a difference amplifier coupled to the battery and configured to generate the error signal based, at least in part, on a battery voltage level;
a comparator coupled to the battery and the difference amplifier and configured to activate the difference amplifier when the battery voltage level is below a threshold level; and
an embedded controller coupled to receive the compensated power monitor signal and configured to control the system load based, at least in part, on the compensated power monitor signal prior to the system power consumption exceeding a current draw limit of the battery, wherein the compensated power monitor signal is based on a battery charge level and a system power level value.
10. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the embedded controller is configured to control a power consumption of a central processing unit of an information handling system.
11. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the adjustment circuit is configured to compensate the power monitor signal to maintain a current draw below the current draw limit for the battery.
12. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the apparatus comprises an information handling system, and the system load comprises components of the information handling system.
13. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the embedded controller is further configured to generate an internal error signal for compensating the power monitor signal for a discharge state of the battery and to control a power consumption of a central processing unit of an information handling system.
14. The method of claim 1 , wherein controlling the system power consumption comprises reducing system power consumption when the scaled system power level value is higher than the received system power level value.
15. The information handling system of claim 5 , wherein the integrated circuit is configured to perform steps comprising reducing system power consumption when the scaled system power level value is higher than the received system power level value.