United States Patent [19]
`Castleman
`
`US006054846A
`[11] Patent Number:
`[45] Date of Patent:
`
`6,054,846
`Apr. 25, 2000
`
`[54] UNIVERSAL POWER-SUPPLY CONNECTION Attorney, Agent, or Firm—Ashen & Lippman
`SYSTEM FOR MULTIPLE ELECTRONIC
`DEVICES, AND DEVICES FOR USE
`THEREWITH
`
`[57]
`
`ABSTRACT
`
`[75] Inventor: Neal J. Castleman, Malibu, Calif.
`
`[73] Assignee: Ergo Mechanical Systems,
`Incorporated, Santa Monica, Calif.
`
`[21] Appl. No.: 08/739,460
`[22]
`Filed:
`Oct. 29, 1996
`
`Related US. Application Data
`
`[63]
`
`Continuation-in-part of application No. 08/198,994, Feb. 18,
`1994, Pat. No. 5,570,002.
`
`[51] Int. Cl.7 ...................................................... .. G05F 1/56
`[52] US. Cl. ............................................. .. 323/283; 307/31
`[58] Field of Search ................................... .. 323/234, 283,
`323/285, 322; 307/11, 31, 33
`
`[56]
`
`References Cited
`
`U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
`
`323/300
`2/1989 Frank ................. ..
`4,804,916
`323/207
`2/1995 Farrington et al. ..
`5,391,976
`5,818,673 10/1998 Matsumaru et al. .................... .. 361/63
`
`The system provides electricity to operate any of a multi
`plicity of device and most typically receives power from a
`source and passes power to any of the devices. The system
`also accepts electronic-device identi?cation information for
`any particular one of such devices. The system also has one
`or more programmed digital electronic microprocessors that
`use the identi?cation information to select power
`parameters—for passage of power from the source to the
`powered device. The system activates its own power-passing
`capability to apply power to each device according to the
`power parameters selected by the microprocessor. A cable,
`which for some purposes may regarded as part of the system
`and for some purposes is a separate invention, connects the
`microprocessor and power-passing parts of the system to the
`powered device; the identi?cation information is held either
`in the cable—typically in a ROM, PROM, EPROM or other
`memory chip in one of the end connectors of the cable—or
`in the device to be powered, or in a power adapter which is
`at either end of the cable or within the device to be powered,
`and is read by the system microprocessor before power is
`supplied. In some forms of the invention, a power adapter
`preferably receives a. c. power from the system and derives,
`from the a. c. power, power in a modi?ed form for operation
`of the device.
`
`Primary Examiner—Adolf Deneke Berhane
`
`41 Claims, 7 Drawing Sheets
`
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`Apple 1005 - Page 1
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`Apr. 25,2000
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`Apple 1005 - Page 3
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`Apple 1005 - Page 5
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`U.S. Patent
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`Apr. 25,2000
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`Apple 1005 - Page 6
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`Apple 1005 - Page 7
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`U.S. Patent
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`Apr. 25,2000
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`Sheet 7 0f 7
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`Apple 1005 - Page 8
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`

`
`1
`UNIVERSAL POWER-SUPPLY CONNECTION
`SYSTEM FOR MULTIPLE ELECTRONIC
`DEVICES, AND DEVICES FOR USE
`THEREWITH
`
`RELATED PATENT DOCUMENTS
`
`This is a continuation-in-part of my patent application
`Ser. No. 08/198,994, ?led Feb. 18, 1994, and noW issued on
`Oct. 29, 1996, as US. Pat. No. 5,570,002.
`
`BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
`
`This invention relates generally to supplying electrical is
`power to electronic and other electrical devices; and more
`particularly to systems and apparatus for providing electrical
`poWer to operate any of a multiplicity of such devices.
`Although a general introduction appears beloW, it Will be
`helpful to readers Who are already familiar With my above
`identi?ed patent to knoW at the outset that this present
`document deals not only With the invention as set forth
`and/or claimed in that patent, but also With certain special
`cases of the invention. In these special cases: (1) a poWer
`adapter is used as part of, or instead of, the special poWer
`cable of my earlier invention—and the adapter per se may be
`at either end of the cable; (2) identifying information for an
`electronic device is passed from, or through, a poWer adapter
`to a poWer-supply system, rather than through a cable as
`such; (3) identifying information is held in a memory unit
`Within a poWer adapter, rather than in a cable; and (4) some
`forms of the invention as claimed are, or include, an elec
`tronic device (rather than a cable) that holds a memory unit
`for identifying the device to a poWer-supply system. To an
`extent these several special cases may arise either indepen
`dently or in various combinations.
`In many situations it is desirable to make general provi
`sion for supplying electrical poWer to a device that Will be
`provided later, as for instance by a customer or other user of
`a multiuser facility. By “multiuser facility” I mean to encom
`pass a facility used by just a small number of people at a
`time, or even one person at a time—but in Which the people
`or person using the facility at any time are typically different
`from the people or person using it at other times—and in any
`event the individual device cannot be speci?ed or identi?ed
`in advance.
`Mobile facilities, Which is to say vehicles—such as ships,
`airplanes, trains, buses and automobiles are examples of
`such multiuser facilities. Continuing in the same vein,
`stationary facilities of interest for present purposes include
`transportation terminals such as airport lounges.
`Other pertinent types of multiuser facilities include hotels,
`restaurants, convention and exhibit halls, schools, laborato
`ries and of?ces. Problems related to supply of electrical
`poWer in all such multiuser facilities Will noW be discussed.
`As Will shortly appear, hoWever, it is possible to analyZe
`and generaliZe the problems under discussion. Such gener
`aliZation Will lead to realiZation that related problems, such
`as economic inefficiencies, are present even in single-user
`circumstances.
`In a mobile facility and elseWhere far from the user’s oWn
`home or of?ce it can be particularly important to supply
`electrical poWer exclusively in correct form for the device
`Which Will use that poWer, and furthermore exclusively to
`devices Which are suitable for operation in the particular
`facility. For instance, supplying poWer in an incorrect form
`(for instance incorrect voltage) may damage the device to
`Which the poWer is supplied, and such damage may be
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`especially problematic for a user Who is in transit—When
`repair or replacement may be unfeasible.
`In a mobile facility, supplying poWer in an incorrect form
`may also cause problems more intimately related to the
`poWer-supplying equipment—by damaging that equipment,
`or taking it temporarily out of service. Such equipment may
`be particularly limited in current-carrying capacity or in
`ability to accept loads or signals re?ected from the electrical
`device back into the supply.
`Here too, repair or replacement of a mobile poWer supply
`en route may be unfeasible on account of the limitations
`inherent in travel. Similarly some candidate solutions such
`as fuses and circuit breakers Within vehicles pose their oWn
`inherent undesirable costs and inconveniences.
`Even more importantly, some electrical and particularly
`electronic devices interfere With safe operation of nearby
`equipment such as a vehicle in Which such devices are used.
`A classical and Well-knoWn example of this problem is
`computer-generated interference With air navigation.
`Thus for some situations it may be desirable to entirely
`deny, rather than supply, poWer for particular individual
`devices. To put it another Way, it may be desirable to entirely
`deny poWer for any device that is not approved for use.
`To facilitate generality of expression in this document,
`hoWever, denying poWer Will be encompassed Within the
`concept of selecting poWer parameters for the particular
`combination of electrical device and facility—and then
`applying poWer “according to the poWer parameters”. In
`other Words, for purposes of this document it is to be
`understood that selected parameters in some cases may be
`“no voltage and no current”.
`TWo modern developments make the problems outlined
`above particularly important. First is a proliferation of
`portable electronic devices Which are nominally internal
`battery operated, but Which can operate from external poWer,
`and Whose batteries require replacement or recharging at
`intervals considerably shorter than the uninterrupted dura
`tion of modern travel (as for transcontinental air ?ights)—
`and Whose direct-external-poWer and charger-external
`poWer requirements are extremely variegated.
`Even for short-range travel, use of external poWer When
`available is usually preferable to conserve batteries for
`environments lacking external poWer. Such portable electri
`cal devices range from ordinary audio cassette players and
`handheld electronic games, through portable television sets
`and video cameras, to full-capability personal computers,
`FAX machines and even computer printers.
`Nominal poWer requirements of all these devices are
`extremely diverse as to current drain, voltage, direct vs.
`alternating Waveform, and in the latter case frequency.
`Furthermore Whereas some devices tolerate large departures
`from nominal values, others accommodate only rather tight
`tolerances in poWer characteristics.
`Accompanying a great many of these devices, moreover,
`are rechargers for the internal batteries. In most cases the
`input-poWer speci?cations for the chargers are entirely dif
`ferent from the direct-use external poWer speci?cations.
`A second pertinent modern development is that some
`airplane-manufacturer interest has arisen in providing at
`each passenger seat, or for instance at each business or
`?rst-class passenger seat, an equipment pod that includes
`certain special amenities. Such amenities may for example
`include a separately deployable video monitor, and in par
`ticular a courtesy electrical-connector receptacle for supply
`ing electrical poWer to laptop computers, dictating machines
`and the like.
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`Apple 1005 - Page 9
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`3
`Analogously in vehicles (such as ordinary buses) Where
`navigational interference is not a problem, poWer recep
`tacles for cellular telephones Will be appropriate. More
`generally it may be desirable, in aircraft as Well as other
`facilities, to poWer through such receptacles any of the great
`range of portable electronics mentioned above.
`In order to make use of such a poWer-supply receptacle,
`each electronic device (computer, telephone, tape recorder
`etc.) must have a cable terminated compatibly With the
`receptacle. Such a compatible termination or adaptor is
`readily provided, but—by giving all devices in common an
`equal access to the facility poWer supply—only makes more
`severe the more-fundamental device-compatibility problems
`discussed earlier.
`As Will be understood, provision of such amenities at each
`seat in each aircraft in an entire neW aircraft-model line
`aggravates in a time-immediate Way the problems discussed
`above. This particularly focused need, hoWever, is magni?ed
`by the general desirability of solving these problems for
`other types of vehicles and facilities.
`Once attention is directed to the special problems of
`providing poWer in multiuser facilities, it can be appreciated
`that the broad diversity of electronic-device poWer require
`ments has itself created a very uneconomic variegation in
`commercially available separate poWer-supply modules.
`This diversity of poWer-supply units in turn has been fed by
`various factors, probably including for small-portable
`device manufacturers the desirability of
`(a) supplying a single model for use in various countries
`With divergent house-voltage speci?cations, and
`(b) avoiding submission of their products to the expensive
`and demanding sort of safety tests generally required
`for house-voltage apparatus.
`A large number of different poWer-supply modules on the
`market introduces a signi?cant element of added costs. Such
`costs are embedded throughout manufacturing,
`Warehousing, inventorying, shipping, and related paperWork
`for all the related products.
`Some manufacturers have attempted to reduce the maZe
`of poWer-supply modules Which travelers need, by provid
`ing custom battery-charger/poWer-supply input units that
`operate on any voltage from about 100 through 250 Vac, and
`at 50 or 60 HZ. Some such units may automatically test the
`voltage and frequency available, and modify their oWn
`poWer-input characteristics accordingly.
`Devices Which are so equipped accordingly require only
`a socket adapter When transported abroad, and thus solve a
`major problem of diversity as betWeen countries. As Will be
`understood, hoWever, this type of enhancement does nothing
`to reduce the uneconomic diversity of poWer-supply speci
`?cations or modules Within any country, as betWeen different
`electronic devices.
`In a hitherto unrelated ?eld, it is knoWn to provide and
`employ an integrated-circuit memory unit, such as a ROM,
`RAM, PROM or EPROM chip, for identi?cation purposes.
`Modern semiconductor technology makes possible the pro
`vision of electronic “keys” or identi?cation units that can
`each carry one of an essentially unlimited number of elec
`tronic key codes.
`If desired, each code can be made unique, or substantially
`so. On the other hand, if preferred a large number of chips
`can be made With the same code—for use in distinguishing
`associated people or items from one another by categories.
`For example, the DS 2400, 2401 and 2502 circuit devices
`manufactured by Dallas Semiconductors, Inc., of Dallas,
`Tex., each have a numerical capacity equal to the fourteenth
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`poWer of ten, or one hundred trillion, and can be manufac
`tured in such a Way that no tWo of them hold the same
`number. Thus the numerical range of ROMs and PROMs
`noW on the market exceeds the earth’s population by several
`orders of magnitude.
`The above-mentioned Dallas Semiconductors devices are
`called by the ?rm its “Touch Memory” chips, as the devices
`are able to read or Write With momentary contact. The ?rm
`houses each chip in a stainless steel container Which the ?rm
`calls a “MicroCan”. This coin-shaped container is 16.3 mm
`in diameter and 3.2/5.8 mm in height.
`It is mounted it With one ?at circular face of the can
`secured to the ?at surface of a generally rectangular thin ?at
`ID card or a thin ?at generally oblong-shaped key fob. Auser
`holds and manipulates the card or fob so as to insert the
`“MicroCan” into—for example—a generally forWardly fac
`ing electronic-lock receptacle, through Which data in the
`chip are read into electronic circuitry Within the lock.
`The Dallas chips, housed as just described, are advertised
`for use in identifying a great variety of different things and
`entities such as people, livestock, or Warehoused merchan
`dise; for instance it is noW advertised as useful for identi
`fying different kinds of batteries in an inventory. As men
`tioned earlier, it has not been suggested heretofore that such
`ROM, PROM etc. chips might have any application to
`solving the multiple-poWer-supply problems discussed pre
`viously.
`As can noW be seen, the prior art has failed to provide
`solutions to important problems in the portable-electronics
`?eld.
`
`SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE
`The invention corrects the failings of the prior art. Before
`offering a relatively rigorous discussion of the invention,
`some informal orientation Will be provided here.
`It is to be understood that these ?rst comments are not
`intended as a statement of the invention. They are simply in
`the nature of insights that Will be helpful in recogniZing the
`underlying character of the prior-art problems discussed
`above (such insights are considered to be a part of the
`inventive contribution associated With the invention)—or in
`comprehending the underlying principles upon Which the
`invention is based.
`Through modern electronics it is possible to provide a
`single electronic apparatus capable of supply electrical
`poWer at any of a great number of different poWer speci?
`cations that is to say, voltage, impedance, current range, and
`Waveform. It is also possible to control that apparatus to
`provide poWer selectively at some particular poWer speci
`?cation.
`Furthermore the control can be made automatic—based
`upon information about the device Which is to use the
`supplied poWer. Such information, in general principle, can
`take either of tWo broad forms: (1) a statement of the poWer
`speci?cations and (2) identi?cation of the device to be
`poWered, from Which identi?cation the poWer speci?cations
`can be found by reference to a suitable tabulation linking the
`identi?cation and speci?cations for a great many different
`devices.
`Still further the information about each device can be
`encoded in a memory chip and provided to the poWer-supply
`apparatus Whenever that device respectively is connected to
`receive poWer from the supply apparatus. In other Words
`each device can be caused to have an associated respective
`memory chip Which provides the needed identi?cation.
`The part of such a poWer-supply apparatus that accepts
`and analyZes information from the individual-device
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`6,054,846
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`5
`memory chips, and controls the power supplied to the
`poWered device, can nowadays be made very small and
`inexpensive. Similarly the identifying memory chip associ
`ated With each poWered device can be very small and
`inexpensive.
`The physical arrangements for association of a memory
`chip With each poWered device are subject to considerable
`variation. For neW devices, preferably the chip may be built
`into the device; for already-existing devices the chip may be
`built into a neW poWer cable (preferably into one of the
`connectors at the tWo ends of the cable) for each device.
`As Will be seen, such a cable may be completely passive,
`except of course for the readable information-carrying chip.
`This may be a maximally economical approach, as to the
`cable itself; hoWever, as Will be seen later a poWer cable that
`includes or is associated With a poWer adapter may turn out
`at least in certain environments—to be maximally economi
`cal overall.
`Of course the costs of these elements cannot be Zero, but
`through their use a single poWer supply—What might be
`called a “universal” poWer supply—can be used for virtually
`any portable apparatus, thereby introducing a major
`economy in terms of manufacturing and distribution for
`poWer supplies, as suggested previously. A more important
`economy, hoWever, is that a single poWer-supply apparatus,
`provided in and preferably built into a multiuser facility, can
`be used to supply the portable-electronics needs of essen
`tially any user Who appears in the multiuser facility.
`This latter economy can be enjoyed particularly in mobile
`facilities such as airplanes Where space and Weight alloW
`ances for such functions are stringently limited—and Where
`poWer misapplication can bear severe consequences as
`pointed out in the preceding section of this document. Not
`only can each approved device be supplied With electrical
`poWer according to its oWn proper poWer speci?cations, but
`in addition each device can be screened to determine
`Whether it is in fact an approved device for use in the
`environment of each facility respectively—and, if not, the
`poWer speci?cations for that combination of device and
`facility can be established, as suggested earlier, to be “no
`poWer”.
`It Will be understood that from time to time there may be
`introduced neW portable devices Whose poWer speci?cations
`are not adequately compatible With categories previously
`held in the evaluative circuitry or tabulation that is embed
`ded in the poWer-supply apparatus. Updating of the evalu
`ative tabulation or circuitry may then become necessary or
`desirable, and may be facilitated by making that part of the
`apparatus either (1) a plug-in or otherWise easily replaceable
`module, or (2) reprogrammable, as for example through the
`poWer port.
`If desired such versatility can be limited to only more
`expensive models actually intended for use in multiuser
`facilities. Some multiuser versions of the apparatus, those
`intended for plural and especially multiple concurrent use of
`poWer by plural or multiple devices, may also be made to
`take advantage of economies possibly available through
`sharing of a central or common evaluation/tabulation mod
`ule for the facility; in addition to manufacturing economy it
`Will be understood that economy can be realiZed in the
`updating procedure by replacing or reprogramming only the
`central module.
`The present document focuses in part on poWer adapters,
`rather than completely passive cables as in my above
`mentioned patent and in the foregoing paragraphs, because
`analysis indicates that, in many environments Which are
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`extremely important commercially, a system using adapters
`(most typically carried by the end-user, With the electronic
`device to be poWered) can be far more economical than a
`system Which supplies poWer directly in a form that can be
`used in most portable electronic devices. This is particularly
`true, for instance, in commercial passenger aircraft, Where it
`is very adverse to add Weight and other complications
`required for provision of d. c. poWer.
`To the extent that a system actually calls for Wiring of d.
`c. poWer over any signi?cant distance Within an aircraft, a
`signi?cant adverse factor is the Wiring Weight required to
`avoid undesirable voltage drops and heat dissipation. Fur
`ther such poWer must be supplied in various voltages, for use
`in passengers’ telephones, laptop computers, dictating
`equipment and the like; the requirement of providing voltage
`in so many different forms is thus undertaken by the com
`mon system, even though each single user only uses just one
`voltage at any given time—and even though many voltages
`may be used only very occasionally.
`In short, although it has been stated above that multi
`voltage systems are possible, and in a sense even practical—
`and are Within the scope of certain aspects of my invention
`and corresponding ones of the appended claims—in at least
`certain environments such systems are not economically
`optimum. Systems according to the noW-introduced aspects
`of my invention, to the contrary, are economically optimum
`in such environments; these systems provide poWer to
`operate devices at least one of Which has an associated
`poWer adapter.
`The adapter can receive a standard a. c. voltage from a
`system receptacle and perform the necessary transformation.
`Thus the requirement to provide the particular needed volt
`age can be absorbed by the end user (i.e., the party Which
`Wishes to use some particular obscure voltage requirement),
`and the system need merely check the adapter to determine
`Whether it and its associated electronic device are compat
`ible With the supply system.
`Here “compatible” may only mean, for example, accept
`able in terms of (1) total poWer required and (2) electro
`magnetic emissions. It should be recogniZed that the adapter,
`too, has some Weight; hoWever, the individual carrying a
`portable electronic device ordinarily carries an adapter With
`the device anyWay. Therefore With the poWer-adapter sys
`tems according to my invention there is little or no net added
`Weight.
`NoW With these preliminary observations in mind this
`discussion Will proceed to a perhaps more-formal summary.
`The invention has several independent main aspects or
`facets, independently usable although for optimum enjoy
`ment of their bene?ts they are best practiced together.
`Of these main facets of the invention, the ?rst three Were
`presented in my above-mentioned patent, and are repeated
`beloW.
`In preferred embodiments of a ?rst one of these major
`aspects, the invention is a poWer-supply connection system
`for providing electrical poWer, from a source of electrical
`poWer, to operate any of a multiplicity of electronic devices.
`The system includes some means for receiving electrical
`poWer from such a source; for purposes of generality and
`breadth in expression of the invention these means Will be
`called simply the “poWer-receiving means”.
`In addition the system includes some means for passing
`electrical poWer to any of such electronic devices. Again for
`breadth and generality these Will be called the “poWer
`passing means”.
`The system also includes some means for accepting
`electronic-device identi?cation information from any par
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`ticular one of such electronic devices. These means, Which
`Will herein be designated the “information-accepting
`means”, are associated With the poWer-passing means.
`Further the system includes some means for using the
`identi?cation information to select poWer parameters, for
`passage of poWer from the poWer-receiving means and
`through the poWer-passing means to the particular one
`device. These means include a programmed digital elec
`tronic microprocessor, and Will be called the “programmed
`digital electronic microprocessor means” or more simply
`“microprocessor means”.
`Still further the system includes some means for activat
`ing the poWer-passing means to apply poWer therethrough to
`the particular one device according to the poWer parameters.
`In other Words, these activating means both (1) activate the
`poWer-passing means and (2) apply poWer through the
`poWer-passing means to the particular one device, in accor
`dance With the parameters selected by the microprocessor
`means.
`The foregoing may be a description or de?nition of the
`?rst main facet of the invention in its broadest or most
`general form. Even in this broad form, hoWever, this ?rst
`aspect of the invention can be seen to resolve the problems
`described in the preceding section of this document.
`More speci?cally, this ?rst broad form of the invention
`provides a single, universal poWer supply that can be used
`to supply poWer to virtually any portable electronic device
`of suitable poWer demand, Whether in a multiuser facility or
`in some private conteXt—such as a home or personal car.
`This universal supply thereby introduces important econo
`mies of manufacture, inventory and distribution, together
`With some provision for safety against poWer misapplica
`tion.
`Although this ?rst major aspect of the invention even in
`this broad form thus resolves prior-art problems, neverthe
`less this aspect of the invention is preferably practiced With
`certain additional features or characteristics that enhance
`enjoyment of the advantages of the invention. For eXample,
`preferably the system further includes at least one electrical
`cable, With termination that is standard for connection to any
`of such electronic devices of the multiplicity.
`This at least one cable includes conductors that serve as
`part of the poWer-passing and information-accepting means.
`In this preferred form, the electronic device provides the
`identi?cation information into the information-accepting
`means of the cable.
`In one such preferred arrangement, it is still further
`preferable that the conductors include:
`at least one conductor that serves as part of the poWer
`passing means but not the information-accepting
`means; and
`at least one other conductor that serves as part of the
`information-accepting means but not the poWer
`passing means.
`In an alternative such preferred arrangement, hoWever, it is
`preferable that the conductors serving as part of the
`information-accepting means are the identical conductors
`that serve as part of the poWer-passing means.
`Reverting to the ?rst major aspect of the invention,
`another preferable feature—particularly in a case Where the
`system is for use in conjunction With any of a multiplicity of
`cables that are respectively associated With such electronic
`devices of the multiplicity—is provision of at least one
`electrical connector receptacle, With terminal con?guration
`that is standard for connection to any of such multiplicity of
`cables. In this arrangement the at least one connector recep
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`tacle includes terminals that serve as part of the poWer
`passing and information-accepting means; and the associ
`ated cable and electronic device in conjunction provide the
`identi?cation information into the information-accepting
`means of the connector receptacle.
`Another preferable feature for inclusion in the system is
`a tabulation of identi?cation information With corresponding
`poWer parameters, for each of a multiplicity of electronic
`devices, held in association With the microprocessor means.
`For a class of electronic devices that are not acceptable for
`use With—or Whose identi?cation information is not recog
`niZed by—the system, the tabulation preferably comprises
`corresponding poWer parameters that encompass passing no
`poWer to any device of the class of electronic devices.
`Preferably the poWer-passing and information-accepting
`means are connected by a detachable connector to at least
`one of (1) the microprocessor means and (2) one of such
`electronic devices. For some purposes the system of the ?rst
`main facet of the invention also preferably includes the
`source of electrical poWer.
`It is also preferable, as to the ?rst major aspect of the
`invention, that the poWer-passing and information-accepting
`means include an electrical cable having a termination that
`is standard for connection to any of such electronic devices
`of the multiplicity. It is also preferable that the parameters
`for each of such devices comprise at least one parameter
`selected from the group consisting of supply voltage, supply
`impedance, and supplied current. In regard to a system
`according to the latter preference, it is particularly desirable
`that the parameters for each of such devices include at least
`supply voltage and supplied current.
`It is also preferred that the identi?cation information
`include at least one of the poWer parameters. (In one form
`of this feature, the identi?cation may include a device code
`or device-category code for use in a lookup table that has all
`the poWer parameters, and the at least one poWer parameter
`is used as redundant cross-checking information to validate
`that the information coming from the device-associated
`memory chip is valid. In another form of this feature, the
`identi?cation information simply includes the poWer param
`eters as such, so that no lookup function is needed.)
`In preferred embodiments of a second of its principal
`facets or aspects, the invention is a poWer-supply connection
`sy