Patent · US Active

Apparatus and method to support USB enumeration of a bus powered handheld device

US7523338B2 · kind B2 · utility

22Cited by
4References
21Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateOct 13, 2005
Grant dateApr 21, 2009
Priority date
Expiry dateApr 19, 2027

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG06F1/266
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

The proposed solution relates to enumeration of a handheld device by a host controller in a laptop, and more particularly to a method and apparatus to support USB enumeration of such a handheld device where greater than 100 mA is required to enumerate the chipset associated with the handheld device. The proposed solution comprises a handheld device with an added USB microcontroller. In operation, the integrated USB microcontroller is only powered up when the USB charging cable is plugged in and the rechargeable battery level is below the threshold required to power up the handheld device with less than 100 mA pre-enumeration USB current. The integrated USB microcontroller performs USB enumeration with the host controller using the pre-enumeration 100 mA current, so that the charging current can be increased to 500 mA post enumeration. Once the rechargeable battery is charged to above the threshold for the handheld device's chipset or when 500 mA current can be drawn from it, the chipset of the handheld device is powered up to take over USB communication from the USB microcontroller.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.