Maxim Integrated Products, Inc.
INTELLIGENT CURRENT LIMITER FOR A COMPUTING DEVICE

Abstract:

A mobile computing device includes one or more digital signal processors, each configured to receive a respective digital signal, one or more amplifiers, each configured to receive a respective digital signal, and one or more output generators configured to receive an output of a respective amplifier, and a battery configured to supply power to at least the amplifier(s). The digital signal processors include an intelligent current limiter. The intelligent current limiter is configured to determine a power consumption limit based on a battery voltage of the battery, a battery current limit defined by a battery current budget for operation of at least the amplifiers, and an efficiency of the amplifiers. The intelligent current limiter is configured to determine a predicted power consumption by the amplifiers based on voltages of the digital signals, a gain of each of the respective amplifiers, and an admittance of each of the respective output generators. The intelligent current limiter compares the predicted power consumption with the power consumption limit and adjusts the gain setting(s) of one or more of the digital signal processors based on the comparison prior to supplying the respective digital signals to the amplifiers.