Seat box power management

Abstract

A seat box for connection to an electrical power supply of a vehicle for making power available through power controlled outlets for PEDs. The seat box including ports each configured to connect to an outlet, distribution circuitry for distributing power among the ports from the vehicle for supply to an outlet connected to the port; a processor in communication with each port configured to receive and send data to an outlet connected to the port; and a power load manager executed on the processor. The power load manager receives data from each controlled power outlet connected to one of the ports, indicating power supplied from the outlet and requests for power. The power load manager when receiving a request for power from an outlet for which there is insufficient power available to meet the request, controlling the outlet drawing the most power to reduce power, and supplying at least some power to the controlled power outlet from which the request was received.

1 . A seat box for connection to an electrical power supply of a vehicle for making power available through power controlled outlets for a personal electronic device to connect to a power controlled outlet and receive power, the seat box comprising:
 a plurality of ports in which each port is configured to connect to a power controlled outlet;   distribution circuitry including an input connectable to the vehicle electrical power system, and an output connected to each of the ports for receiving power from the vehicle electrical power system and distributing power among the ports for supply to a controlled power outlet connected to the port;   a processor connected in communication with each port configured to receive and send data to a power controlled outlet connected to the port; and   a power load manager executed on the processor, the power load manager receiving data from each controlled power outlet indicating power supplied from the controlled power outlet and requests for power from each controlled power outlet, the power load manager when receiving a request for power from a controlled power outlet, controlling the power outlet to supply at least a predefined minimum amount of power, and controlling the power outlet to not supply an amount of power beyond a predefined maximum.   
     
     
         2 . The seat box of  claim 1 , further comprising storage media in communication with the power load manager in which the power load manager establishes the predefined minimum amount of power and predefined maximum amount of power based on values in a configuration file on the storage media. 
     
     
         3 . The seat box of  claim 2 , wherein if the power load manager cannot establish a predefined minimum amount of power, the power load manager uses a default value for the minimum amount of power to supply. 
     
     
         4 . The seat box of  claim 2 , where the configuration file further includes an identification of each type of controlled power outlet, and each controlled power outlet communicates its type to the power load manager, and if the identification on the configuration file for a controlled power outlet does not match the identification communicated by that controlled power outlet to the power load manager, the power load manager disables power from the controlled power outlet for which there is not a match. 
     
     
         5 . The seat box of  claim 1 , wherein the vehicle includes an inflight entertainment system in communication with the power load manager, and if the inflight entertainment system communicates a priority request for power for one of the controlled power outlets, the power load manager controls said one of the controlled power outlets to provide a fixed power output for a predefined duration, and decreases the power available for the remaining power controlled outlets. 
     
     
         6 . The seat box of  claim 1 , further comprising a static power outlet connected to the distribution circuitry, wherein the power load manager allocates a fixed amount of power for the static power outlet. 
     
     
         7 . A seat box for connection to an electrical power supply of a vehicle for making power available through power controlled outlets for a personal electronic device to connect to a power controlled outlet and receive power, the seat box comprising:
 a plurality of ports in which each port is configured to connect to a controlled power outlet;   distribution circuitry including an input connectable to the vehicle electrical power system, and an output connected to each of the ports for receiving power from the vehicle electrical power system and distributing power among the ports for supply to a controlled power outlet connected to the port;   a processor connected in communication with each port configured to receive and send data to a power controlled outlet connected to the port; and   a power load manager executed on the processor, the power load manager receiving data from each controlled power outlet indicating power supplied from the controlled power outlet and requests for power from each controlled power outlet; and   storage media in communication with the power load manager in which the power load manager controls distribution of power among the controlled power outlets according to information in a configuration file on the storage media, the distribution being at least one of distributing power to a power controlled outlet first requesting the power with a predefined minimum amount of power supplied in response to another power controlled outlet requesting power later; and redistributing some power from one outlet to another in response to a later request for power.   
     
     
         8 . The seat box of  claim 7 , wherein said distributing power to a power controlled outlet first requesting the power with a predefined minimum amount of power supplied in response to another power controlled outlet requesting power later, includes controlling the controlled power outlet first requesting power, to not supply an amount of power beyond a predefined maximum. 
     
     
         9 . The seat box of  claim 8 , wherein the power load manager establishes the predefined minimum amount of power and the predefined maximum amount of power based on values in the configuration file. 
     
     
         10 . The seat box of  claim 7 , wherein if information from a configuration file is not available, the power load manager supplies a default value minimum amount of power.