TWI856543B - Electronic device and start-up control system - Google Patents

Abstract

An electronic device and a start-up control system are provided, wherein the start-up control system includes: a plurality of electronic devices connected to a common power source. The electronic device includes: a delay unit for providing a random delay period; an energy consumption part for generating a first load during a start-up period and generating a second load during a stable working period, wherein the first load is greater than the second load; and a control unit connected to a power source and the delay unit and coupled to the energy consumption part for enabling the energy consumption part according to the random delay period.

Description

Electronic devices and starter control systems

The present invention relates to an electronic device and a startup control system, and more particularly to a startup control system that controls the startup time of the electronic device in a random manner to avoid simultaneous startup of multiple electronic devices, wherein the startup load of the electronic device is greater than the stable load.

For example, a plurality of display devices (electronic devices) may be displayed in a business place such as a shopping mall, and these display devices need to be activated before the business hours start every day to carry out business activities required for business.

However, due to the large number of electronic devices, businesses usually choose to connect these electronic devices to a control center and start a large number of electronic devices at the same time through the control center. In addition, since electronic devices such as display devices and motor devices will generate a much larger load (i.e., high starting current) at the moment of startup than during stable operation, starting a large number of electronic devices at the same time will cause additional burden on the power supply system, potentially endangering the user's power safety.

In order to avoid power safety issues, the power supply system is forced to increase the backup capacity, which will lead to an increase in design costs. At the same time, the excess backup capacity will also cause unnecessary waste of resources.

In view of this, the present invention provides an electronic device and a startup control system. The startup control system includes a plurality of electronic devices, wherein the electronic device can provide a random delay time segment provided by a delay unit, and when the electronic device is started, the energy consumption part is activated according to the random delay time segment, thereby the startup time of the plurality of electronic devices in the startup control system can be randomly dispersed, avoiding the instantaneous overload problem caused by the simultaneous startup of the plurality of electronic devices.

The electronic device provided by the present invention includes: a delay unit for providing a random delay time segment; an energy consumption unit, which generates a first load in the startup time segment and a second load in the stable working segment, wherein the first load is greater than the second load; and a control unit, which is connected to the power supply and the delay unit and coupled to the energy consumption unit, and is used to activate the energy consumption unit according to the random delay time segment.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the electronic device further comprises: a storage unit connected to the control unit for storing a random number table; wherein the delay unit can provide a random delay time segment according to the random number table.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the electronic device has a device identification code, and the delay unit can provide a random delay time segment according to the random number table and the device identification code.

In one embodiment of the present invention, in the above-mentioned electronic device, the delay unit provides a plurality of random delay time segments, and the distribution of the plurality of random delay time segments is evenly distributed.

In one embodiment of the present invention, in the above-mentioned electronic device, the delay unit provides a plurality of random delay time segments, and the distribution of the plurality of random delay time segments is normally distributed.

In one embodiment of the present invention, in the above-mentioned electronic device, the delay unit further includes: a noise amplification circuit and an analog-to-digital conversion circuit, and is used to provide a random delay time segment according to the power supply noise of the power supply.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the electronic device further comprises: a communication module connected to the control unit for communicating with an external control terminal; wherein the control unit can further control the energy consuming part according to the control instruction of the external control terminal.

The startup control system provided by the present invention includes: a plurality of the above-mentioned electronic devices, and the plurality of the above-mentioned electronic devices are connected to a common power source.

In summary, the startup control system of the present invention includes multiple electronic devices. The startup control system of the present invention can use the random delay time segment provided by the delay unit to randomly delay the energy consuming part, thereby avoiding the overload problem caused by the simultaneous startup of multiple electronic devices, thereby achieving the technical effects of reducing the burden on the power supply system, simplifying the line configuration (for example, the connection with the control loop of the control center can be omitted), and reducing the backup capacity.

In order to make the above and other purposes, features and advantages of the present invention more clearly understood, the following is a detailed description of the embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Please refer to FIG. 1 , which is a block diagram of an electronic device provided by an embodiment of the present invention.

In this embodiment, the electronic device 10 of the present invention can be applied to a startup control system, and the electronic device 10 includes: a storage unit 101, a control unit 102, an energy consumption unit 104, and a communication module 105. The control unit 102 includes a delay unit 103, and the control unit 102 is connected to the storage unit 101, the energy consumption unit 104, the communication module 105, and the power source 20, and the communication module 105 is communicatively connected to the external control terminal 30.

In this embodiment, the electronic device 10 has a device identification code, the delay unit 103 can be used to provide a random delay time segment, the control unit 102 can activate the energy consumption unit 104 according to the random delay time segment, and the storage unit 101 can store data such as a random table, a control program, and a device identification code. For example, when the electronic device 10 is connected to the power source 20 and turned on (that is, the so-called power-on), the control unit 102 can detect the activation of the power source, and the control unit 102 can realize the delay unit 103 in a software manner by running the control program, calculate and simulate the random delay to provide a random delay time segment. The random delay time segment may be any time length selected from 0ms to 100ms, for example, any time length of 21ms, 30ms, 57ms, 100ms, etc. However, it should be noted that, although the embodiments of the present invention are as above, the present invention is not limited to the time lengths cited. Then, the control unit 102 may, according to the random delay time segment provided by the delay unit 103, activate the energy consumption unit 104 after a period of random delay time, and the energy consumption unit 104 will enter the startup time segment and generate a first load (that is, the so-called startup load), and then the energy consumption unit 104 will enter the stable working segment after a period of time (for example, 10ms) and generate a second load. The first load is greater than the second load, that is, the startup load of the electronic device is greater than the load generated during stable operation. Thus, when the startup control system includes multiple electronic devices 10, even if the multiple electronic devices 10 are started at one time, the startup time of the multiple electronic devices 10 can be independently dispersed in a random delay manner through the architecture of the present invention, thereby avoiding the problem of overloading the power supply 20 caused by the simultaneous startup of a large number of electronic devices 10.

In the present invention, the storage unit 101 refers to a device for storing data such as a random number table, a control program, and a device identification code. For example, the storage unit 101 can be a non-volatile memory, a memory card, a register, etc., or other devices with the same function. The types of storage devices listed are only examples, and the present invention is not limited thereto. All storage devices with the same function can be used as the storage unit 101 of the present invention.

In the present invention, the control unit 102 refers to a device that serves as the processing core of the electronic device 10 and can be used to execute and access the control program and data stored in the storage unit 101. For example, the control unit 102 can be a single-chip microcomputer (MCU, MicroController Unit), a central processing unit (CPU, Central Processing Unit), a screen scaling controller (Scaler), etc., or other devices with the same function. The types of devices listed are only examples, and the present invention is not limited thereto.

In the present invention, the energy consumption part 104 refers to an energy consumption component that generates a high startup load at the startup moment as a part of the electronic device 10. For example, the energy consumption part 104 can be a backlight module of a display device, or a motor device, etc. The types of energy consumption structures listed are only examples, and the present invention is not limited thereto. The electronic device 10 may also include a control unit (the control unit 102 is one embodiment). When the electronic device 10 is connected to a power source, the energy-consuming unit 104 may not be enabled but only the control unit may be enabled. The control unit may be connected to the external control terminal 30 through the communication module 105 for communication, for example. The external control terminal 30 may transmit a control instruction to the control unit 102 through the communication module 105, and enable the energy-consuming unit 104 according to the control instruction of the external control terminal 30. That is, the control unit 102 may enable the energy-consuming unit 104 according to the control instruction (that is, start the energy-consuming unit 104 and make the energy-consuming unit 104 enter the startup time section) according to the control instruction only when the control unit 102 receives the control instruction.

In this embodiment, the electronic device 10 of the present invention can provide a random delay time segment according to a random number table through the delay unit 103. Furthermore, when the delay unit 103 is implemented in a software manner, a random number sequence needs to be generated in advance. For example, the control unit 102 may generate one or more random number tables in advance, and use the device identification code and the values in the electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM)/flash memory as the seed code of the random number table in the random number table, and accumulate and store the values after each use for the next random number calculation, that is, the control unit 102 may update the first random number value in the random number table to the second random number value according to the device identification code and the memory data. In one embodiment, the storage unit 101 stores an algorithm, and the control unit 102 may dynamically generate the random number table according to the algorithm.

Next, the distribution of the random delay time segment is explained below. In this embodiment, the delay unit 103 can provide multiple random delay time segments, and these random delay time segments are normally distributed. For example, the delay unit 103 can limit the provided random delay time segment to a distribution interval, for example, the distribution lower limit of the distribution interval can be 0ms, and the distribution upper limit can be 100ms. In this case, the length of the random delay time segment provided by the delay unit 103 will be limited to any time length between 0ms and 100ms. Generally, unprocessed random numerical calculation simulations will present a normal distribution. Even if 68% of the random delay times fall within a standard deviation, they will still be dispersed in multiple delay time intervals within the standard deviation time, reducing the possibility of collision (i.e., providing delay times of similar length). In one embodiment, to avoid collision, the delay unit 103 uses the device identification code and memory data to provide multiple random delay time segments, and these random delay time segments are evenly distributed, further reducing the possibility of collision.

Next, please refer to FIG. 2 , which is a block diagram of an electronic device provided by another embodiment of the present invention.

The present invention provides a variety of implementations. In each embodiment of the present invention, the components/devices with the same symbols represent functions of the components/devices, which may also include the same functions as other embodiments. Therefore, the embodiments of the present invention will not be repeated, and only the differences from other embodiments will be described. The matters mentioned in each embodiment can be rearranged and combined as long as there is no conflict, and can be applied in each embodiment. The present invention is not limited to the listed embodiments.

In this embodiment, the electronic device 10 of the present invention can be applied to a startup control system, and the electronic device 10 includes: a storage unit 101, a control unit 102, a delay unit 103, an energy consumption unit 104, and a communication module 105. Among them, the control unit 102 is connected to the storage unit 101, the delay unit 103, the energy consumption unit 104, the communication module 105, and the power supply 20, and the communication module 105 is communicatively connected to the external control terminal 30.

In this embodiment, the delay unit 103 is implemented in a hardware manner, and includes a noise amplifier circuit and an analog-to-digital conversion circuit, and is used to provide a random delay time segment according to the power noise of the power source 20. In this embodiment, the delay unit 103 can be connected to the power source 20 and use the power noise of the power input terminal to obtain a power noise signal with randomness relative to the DC level, thereby providing a random delay time segment. For example, the power supply 20 can be connected to a capacitor, the noise amplifier circuit is connected to the capacitor and the analog-to-digital conversion circuit, and the capacitor is connected in series to the delay unit 103, wherein the capacitor can filter the DC signal of the power supply 20 and leave the power noise, and then the power noise is amplified by the noise amplifier circuit, and then the random DC level is obtained by the analog-to-digital conversion circuit, and a random delay time segment is provided according to the random DC level.

Next, please refer to FIG. 3 , which is a block diagram of a startup control system 1 provided in an embodiment of the present invention.

In this embodiment, the startup control system 1 includes a plurality of electronic devices 10 , an external control terminal 30 , and a common power source 21 , wherein the plurality of electronic devices 10 are connected to the external control terminal 30 and the common power source 21 .

For example, the external control terminal 30 can be a control center, and the external control terminal 30 can simultaneously send control instructions to each electronic device 10 and enable the energy consumption part in each electronic device 10 in a random delay manner. Under the architecture of the known system, if the control center is to disperse the enabling time (startup time) of the energy consumption part in each electronic device 10, the control circuit of each electronic device 10 must be connected to the control center in advance. In addition, the control center must also pre-allocate the startup sequence/time of each electronic device. Compared to the known system, the startup control system 1 of the present invention eliminates the need for complicated circuit configuration and programming planning. The startup control system 1 does not need to pre-connect the control circuit of each electronic device 10 to the control center (or the control command received by the control unit/control part does not include a time parameter). When the electronic device 10 is started, the electronic device 10 will cause the energy consumption part to be activated according to the random delay time segment provided by the delay unit, thereby achieving the technical effect of reducing circuit configuration.

In summary, the startup control system of the present invention includes multiple electronic devices. The startup control system of the present invention can use the random delay time segment provided by the delay unit to randomly delay the energy consuming parts, thereby avoiding the overload problem caused by the simultaneous startup of multiple electronic devices, thereby achieving the technical effects of reducing the burden on the power supply system, simplifying the line configuration (for example, the connection with the control center can be omitted), and reducing the backup capacity.

Although the present invention has been disclosed as above by way of embodiments, they are not intended to limit the present invention. A person having ordinary knowledge in the technical field to which the present invention belongs may make some changes and modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the present invention shall be subject to the scope defined in the attached patent application.

1: Startup control system 10: Electronic device 101: Storage unit 102: Control unit 103: Delay unit 104: Energy consumption unit 105: Communication module 20: Power supply 21: Common power supply 30: External control terminal

FIG1 is a block diagram of an electronic device provided in one embodiment of the present invention; FIG2 is a block diagram of an electronic device provided in another embodiment of the present invention; and FIG3 is a block diagram of a startup control system provided in one embodiment of the present invention.

10: Electronic devices

101: Storage unit

102: Control unit

103: Delay unit

104: Energy consumption department

105: Communication module

20: Power supply

30: External control terminal

Claims (5)

An electronic device includes: a delay unit for providing a random delay time segment; an energy consumption unit, the energy consumption unit generates a first load in a startup time segment and generates a second load in a stable working segment, wherein the first load is greater than the second load; a control unit connected to a power source and the delay unit, coupled to the energy consumption unit, and used to enable the energy consumption unit according to the random delay time segment; and a storage unit connected to the control unit, and used to store a random number table; The electronic device has a device identification code, and the delay unit provides the random delay time segment according to the device identification code; the delay unit provides the random delay time segment according to the random number table; the delay unit includes: a noise amplification circuit and an analog-to-digital conversion circuit, and is used to provide the random delay time segment according to a power supply noise of the power supply; the control unit provides the random delay time segment according to one of the device identification code, the random number table, and the power supply noise. An electronic device as described in claim 1, wherein the delay unit provides a plurality of random delay time segments, and the random delay time segments are evenly distributed. An electronic device as described in claim 1, wherein the delay unit provides a plurality of random delay time segments, and the random delay time segments are normally distributed. The electronic device as described in claim 1 further includes: a communication module connected to the control unit for communication with an external control terminal; wherein the control unit enables the energy consumption part according to a control instruction of the external control terminal. A startup control system, comprising: a plurality of electronic devices as described in any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the electronic devices are connected to a common power supply.

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