The present invention relates to an electronic device, a power switching method and a related electronic system, and more particularly, to an electronic device, a power switching method and a related electronic system capable of switching a power source of a universal serial bus connector.
When a conventional universal serial bus (USB) connector implemented on a motherboard of is connected to a power supply device (e.g. a laptop), the power supply device provides a power source for the USB connector. However, when the USB connector of the motherboard of the server is connected to a storage device (e.g. a USB portable hard drive), the motherboard cannot provide power to the USB connector, and is unable to effectively support the USB portable hard drive. That is, the conventional USB connector of the motherboard of the server cannot support different external devices (i.e. power supply devices and storage devices).
Therefore, improvements are necessary to the conventional technique.
In light of this, the present invention provides an electronic device, a power switching method and a related electronic system, which switches a power source of a universal serial bus connector.
An embodiment of the present invention discloses an electronic device for switching a standby power of a motherboard, comprises a universal serial bus (USB) connector, electrically connected to the motherboard, configured to connect an external device; a device detecting module, coupled to the USB connector, configured to determine a power control signal according to a voltage level of the USB connector; and an output switching control module, coupled to the device detecting module and the USB connector, configured to determine whether to cut off the standby power provided by the motherboard to the USB connector or not according to the power control signal.
Another embodiment of the present invention discloses a power switching method, for a motherboard of an electronic device having a universal serial bus (USB) connector, a device detecting module and an output switching control module, wherein the power switching method comprises determining a power control signal according to a voltage level of the USB connector; and determining whether to cut off the standby power provided by the motherboard to the USB connector or not according to the power control signal.
Another embodiment of the present invention discloses an electronic system, comprises a central processing processor (CPU); a platform controller hub (PCH), coupled to the CPU; and a motherboard, coupled to the PCH, configured to provide a standby power; comprises an electronic device, implemented on the motherboard, for switching the standby power of the motherboard, comprising: a universal serial bus (USB) connector, electrically connected to the motherboard, configured to connect an external device; a device detecting module, coupled to the USB connector, configured to determine a power control signal according to a voltage level of the USB connector; and an output switching control module, coupled to the device detecting module and the USB connector, configured to determine whether to cut off the standby power provided by the motherboard to the USB connector or not according to the power control signal.
These and other objectives of the present invention will no doubt become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment that is illustrated in the various figures and drawings.
Please refer to
Please refer to
For example, when the USB connector 102 of the electronic device 10 is not connected to any device or connected to the USB portable hard drive, the motherboard MB pulls one of the voltage level of the configuration pin CC1 or CC2 to zero volt (V), and a default voltage level of a signal CC_pin_OR output by the OR logic gate OG is at a low voltage level (e.g. a binary 0 or a logic false). In this way, the device detecting module 104 may determine the power control signal PCS accordingly to conduct the 5 V standby power P5V_STBY of the motherboard MB to the USB connector 102.
When the USB connector 102 of the electronic device 10 is connected to the laptop, the configuration pin CC1 or CC2 is affected by a busbar voltage VBUS of the laptop, and the voltage level of the configuration pin CC1 or CC2 is slightly increased to 0.4 V to 0.9 V. In this regard, the device detecting module 104 may determine the power control signal PCS accordingly to cut off the 5 V standby power P5V_STBY of the motherboard MB to the USB connector 102. More specifically, when the laptop and the USB connector 102 are connected by a type-A-to-C power cable, the voltage level of the configuration pin CC1 or CC2 is around 0.4 V; when the laptop and the USB connector 102 are connected by a type-C power cable, the voltage level of the configuration pin CC1 or CC2 is around 0.9 V.
Therefore, a threshold of the logic detecting module LDM of the electronic device 10 may be set as 0.2 V. When the voltage level of the configuration pin CC1 or CC2 is higher than the threshold (i.e. 0.2 V), the logic detecting module LDM outputs the power control signal PCS at the low voltage level to the output switching control module 106.
In an embodiment, the device detecting module 104 according to an embodiment of the present invention may be implemented by a microcontroller, e.g. a bridge IC, as shown in
In an embodiment, the output switching control module 106 includes a switch unit SU for conducting or cutting off the 5 V standby power P5V_STBY of the motherboard MB to the USB connector 102 according to the power control signal PCS. In an embodiment, the switch unit SU may include a first switch element SW_1, a second switch element SW_2 and a third switch element SW_3. The first switch element SW_1 is conducted or cut off according to the power control signal PCS of the device detecting module 104. The second switch element SW_2 and the third switch element SW_3 are coupled to the first switch element SW_1, and conduct or cut off the 5 V standby power P5V_STBY of the motherboard MB to the USB connector 102 when the first switch element SW_1 is conducted.
Please refer to
A gate G of the first switch element SW_1 is configured to receive the power control signal PCS from the device detecting module 104, when the power control signal PCS is at the high voltage level (i.e. the USB connector 102 of the electronic device 10 is connected to the USB portable hard drive or the USB connector 102 of the electronic device 10 is not connected to any device), the first switch element SW_1 is conducted, the 5 V standby power P5V_STBY of the motherboard MB flows to a source S of the second switch element SW_2 via a body diode BD of the second switch element SW_2. Meanwhile, since the first switch element SW_1 is conducted, a voltage of a gate G of the second switch element SW_2 and the third switch element SW_3 are 2.5 V, a voltage Vgs of the third switch element SW_3 is -2.5 V and the third switch element SW_3 is conducted, such that the 5 V standby power P5V_STBY of the motherboard MB flows to the USB connector 102.
Please refer to
Therefore, the electronic device 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention switches the power source of the USB connector 102 to prevent from receiving two different power sources simultaneously.
Please refer to
An operation of switching the power source of the motherboard MB of the electronic device 10 may be summarized by a power switching method 70, as shown in
Further details regarding the operation of the power switching method 70 are provided by the embodiments of the electronic device 10, and are not narrated here for brevity.
Notably, the embodiments illustrate a concept of the present invention. Those skilled in the art may make proper modifications to the present invention according to different requirements. For example, the circuits for implementing the device detecting module and the output switching control module, the threshold for determining the voltage level of the configuration pins and the allocation method and number of the switch elements of the switch unit. All these modifications belong to the scope of the present invention.
In summary, the present invention provides an electronic device, a power switching method and a related electronic system, which switches a power source of a universal serial bus (USB) connector to prevent the USB connector from receiving two different power sources at the same time.
Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerous modifications and alterations of the device and method may be made while retaining the teachings of the invention. Accordingly, the above disclosure should be construed as limited only by the metes and bounds of the appended claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
110145830 | Dec 2021 | TW | national |