Patents Examined by Ishrat F Jamali
  • Patent number: 10700610
    Abstract: Communicating information stored at a secondary controller to a primary controller in a secondary-controlled flyback converter is described. In one embodiment, a method includes storing, by a secondary-side controller of a power converter, calibration information associated with a primary-side controller of the power converter. The power converter is a secondary-controlled alternating current to direct current (AC-DC) flyback converter comprising a galvanic isolation barrier. The method further includes sending, by the secondary-side controller, the calibration information to the primary-side controller across the galvanic isolation barrier in response to power-up of the power converter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 27, 2019
    Date of Patent: June 30, 2020
    Assignee: Cypress Semiconductor Corporation
    Inventor: Hariom Rai
  • Patent number: 10673337
    Abstract: A switch-node rising edge detection circuit is provided for a switched-mode DC/DC boost converter. A high-side gate-driver couples a gate of the high-side NMOS power transistor to either a first terminal of a bootstrap capacitor or the switch-node. The detection circuit includes an AND gate that receives an activation signal on a first input and provides a switching signal to the high-side gate-driver. A PMOS transistor is coupled in series with an inverter between the first terminal of the bootstrap capacitor and a second input of the AND gate. The inverter receives supply voltages from the first terminal of the bootstrap capacitor and the switch-node. The gate of the PMOS transistor receives the activation signal. An NMOS transistor is coupled between an output voltage and a node between the PMOS transistor and the inverter. A gate of the NMOS transistor is coupled to the bootstrap capacitor's first terminal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 1, 2019
    Date of Patent: June 2, 2020
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventors: Eduardas Jodka, Julian Becker, Stefan Dietrich
  • Patent number: 10630168
    Abstract: A critical conduction mode (CRM) bridgeless PFC system includes a PFC converter connected to an Alternating Current (AC) source, a zero-current detection (ZCD) circuit for detecting a zero-current state of the PFC converter, a zero-voltage switching (ZVS) detection circuit, and a processor. Voltage divider circuits receive a first voltage and a supply voltage from the PFC converter and the AC source. The ZCD circuit receives divided voltages generated by the voltage divider circuits and generates a ZCD signal. The ZCD signal is used by the ZVS detection circuit to generate a ZVS flag, which is used by the processor to control switching of first through fourth transistors of the PFC converter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 11, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 21, 2020
    Assignee: NXP USA, Inc.
    Inventors: Lingling Wang, Wanfu Ye, Kai-wen Cheng
  • Patent number: 10622889
    Abstract: A voltage converting apparatus includes a plurality of output channels configured to provide a plurality of output voltages, a main energy transfer circuit configured to transfer, through an inductor, energy of an input power supply to a target output channel among the output channels, and an auxiliary energy transfer circuit connected to one of the output channels.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 19, 2017
    Date of Patent: April 14, 2020
    Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Seungchul Jung
  • Patent number: 10574144
    Abstract: According to various embodiments, a DC/DC conversion system is disclosed. The DC/DC conversion system includes a boost converter coupled to a plurality of parallel buck converters. The boost converter and plurality of buck converters each include an inductor, where the inductors are magnetically coupled to each other. The DC/DC conversion system further includes a control system configured to control the boost converter and plurality of buck converters such that combined duty cycles of the plurality of buck converters are about equal to a duty cycle of the boost converter and the duty cycles of the plurality of buck converters are modulated out of phase.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 28, 2018
    Date of Patent: February 25, 2020
    Assignee: GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY
    Inventors: Ramanujam Ramabhadran, Kum-Kang Huh, Mohammed Agamy, Ahmed Elasser
  • Patent number: 10566904
    Abstract: Control circuits and methods to operate a switch of a DC-DC converter, including an output circuit to turn the switch off to control a peak inductor current in a given switching control cycle, and a modulation circuit to implement transition mode (TM) or continuous conduction mode (CCM) operation for a given switching control cycle by causing the output circuit to turn the switch on in response to an earlier one of a first signal, that represents an inductor current of the DC-DC converter, decreasing to a reference voltage that represents a zero crossing of the inductor current for the TM operation or the first signal decreasing to a valley reference signal that represents a non-zero value of the inductor current for the CCM operation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 19, 2018
    Date of Patent: February 18, 2020
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventor: Isaac Cohen
  • Patent number: 10554113
    Abstract: A control system of a low voltage DC-DC converter is provided. The system includes a low voltage DC-DC converter unit that has a power semiconductor element and converts power supplied from a high voltage battery of a vehicle into power of low voltage. A switching frequency change unit changes a switching frequency of the power semiconductor element and a microcomputer generates a final PWM signal based on an input voltage value input from the high voltage battery and an output voltage value of the switching frequency change unit to apply a maximum duty command voltage to a PWM controller. The PWM controller applies PWM voltage to the power semiconductor element to thus operate the power semiconductor element at less than a maximum duty based on the maximum duty command voltage applied from the microcomputer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 8, 2019
    Date of Patent: February 4, 2020
    Assignees: Hyundai Motor Company, Kia Motors Corporation
    Inventors: Jee Heon Kim, Ho Joong Lee, Han Shin Youn, Dong Jun Lee, Hye Seung Kim
  • Patent number: 10554131
    Abstract: A power supply unit includes primary and secondary circuits and a transformer. The primary circuit is connected to an alternating-current power supply and includes a switching device. The transformer includes primary and secondary windings. The primary winding receives an alternating current so that an alternating current is induced in the secondary winding. The received alternating current is generated through switching using the switching device. The secondary circuit rectifies, for output, the alternating current induced in the secondary winding. The primary winding includes first and second windings. When the alternating-current power supply is a power supply of a first voltage, the first winding is connected to the second winding in parallel in the primary winding. When the alternating-current power supply is a power supply of a second voltage higher than the first voltage, the first winding is connected to the second winding in series in the primary winding.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 1, 2017
    Date of Patent: February 4, 2020
    Assignee: FUJI XEROX CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Takayuki Yoshida, Hajime Misumi, Tsutomu Taji, Norio Hasegawa, Hyeonju Kim, Takashi Fujii, Hideyuki Akiba
  • Patent number: 10541613
    Abstract: The power supply apparatus includes an inductor; a switching element connected to another end of the inductor, the switching element configured to drive the inductor by being turned on or turned off in accordance with an input pulse signal; a boost converter circuit connected to both ends of the inductor and including a plurality of rectification units, the boost converter circuit configured to amplify a voltage generated in the inductor, each of the plurality of rectification units including a diode and a capacitor; and a voltage boosting element configured to supply a voltage obtained by boosting an input voltage to the inductor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 10, 2018
    Date of Patent: January 21, 2020
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Jun Hirabayashi
  • Patent number: 10534390
    Abstract: A series regulator includes, for example, first and second operational amplifiers, for driving a first transistor for a heavy load and a second transistor for a light load respectively, and an amplifier control circuit. The amplifier control circuit controls the first and second operational amplifiers such that, in a light load region, a first output current passing through the first transistor has a zero value and a second output current passing through the second transistor covers the entire output current passing through a load, and such that, in a heavy load region, the second output current has a zero value (or a fixed value lower than an amplifier switching threshold value) and the first output current covers the entire output current (or a difference left by subtracting the second output current from the output current).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 29, 2019
    Date of Patent: January 14, 2020
    Assignee: Rohm Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Makoto Yasusaka
  • Patent number: 10534385
    Abstract: Voltage regulators with fast transient response are provided herein. According to one aspect, a voltage regulator for accepting an input voltage (VREF) and producing an output voltage (VouT) includes an operational amplifier having as a first input (VREF) and having as a second input a feedback voltage (VFB); an output amplifier having an input coupled to the output of the operational amplifier and an output that produces VOUT, the output being coupled to a feedback path that produces VFB; a compensation capacitor (Cc) connected between the output of the output amplifier and an input to a buffer amplifier that supplies a voltage to the input of the output amplifier. The buffer amplifier has a transconductance (gmBUF) that is controlled to be proportional to a load current (ILOAD), thereby causing the left hand plane zero of the buffer amplifier to cancel the pole created by the output amplifier.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 19, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 14, 2020
    Assignee: Qorvo US, Inc.
    Inventor: Gaurav Singh
  • Patent number: 10505469
    Abstract: Nonlinear control method for the micro-grid inverter with anti-disturbance. By generating reference currents that satisfy specific active and reactive power command under various working conditions, and introducing a nonlinear control method based on Lyapunov function to control the inverter, fast and accurate tracking of the generated reference signals is realized. The method realizes effective decoupling control of active power and reactive power. The system has high dynamic response and good robustness. Besides, the control structure of the method is simple and easy to implement, and the synchronous control link and the additional voltage and current regulator are omitted. The method realizes fast and accurate power exchange and stable power transmission between the inverter and the grid in the micro-grid under various working conditions, and provides a guarantee for improving the energy management efficiency within the micro-grid.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 11, 2018
    Date of Patent: December 10, 2019
    Assignee: Shanghai Jiao Tong University
    Inventors: Guojie Li, Keyou Wang, Xin Huang, Lin Feng, Bei Han, Xiuchen Jiang
  • Patent number: 10498242
    Abstract: A power stage output node stabilizer may be used to reduce ringing of a power stage output node of a switching DC-DC power converter. The power stage output node stabilizer may be a network of resistors and switches coupling the power stage output node to a higher voltage level and a lower voltage level.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 6, 2019
    Date of Patent: December 3, 2019
    Assignee: Chaoyang Semiconductor Jiangyin Technology Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Bertrand Diotte, Mykhaylo Teplechuk
  • Patent number: 10498223
    Abstract: A power supply circuit includes: an alternating current-to-direct current (AC-to-DC) converter, a transformer, a first current switch, a switch control circuit and a power factor enhancement circuit. The AC-to-DC converter converts an AC power signal into a DC power signal. The transformer includes a primary side and a secondary side, where a first terminal of the primary side is coupled to the AC-to-DC converter, a second terminal of the secondary side is coupled to a ground voltage level, a first terminal of the first current switch is coupled to a second terminal of the primary side, and a second terminal of the first current switch is coupled to the ground voltage level through an impedance component. The power factor enhancement circuit selectively adjusts a zero current detection voltage to make the switch control circuit set the first current switch to be in a conducting state.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 31, 2019
    Date of Patent: December 3, 2019
    Assignee: ACER INCORPORATED
    Inventor: Tzu-Tseng Chan
  • Patent number: 10491120
    Abstract: A system that includes a regulator unit is disclosed. The regulator unit includes first and second phase units whose outputs are coupled to through first and second coupled inductors, respectively, to a power supply node of a circuit block. The first phase unit may be configured to discharge, for a first period of time, the power supply node through the first inductor in response to determining a sense current is greater than a demand current. The operation of the second phase unit may follow that of the first phase unit after a second period of time has elapsed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 5, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 26, 2019
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Sanjay Pant, Fabio Gozzini, Jay B. Fletcher, Shawn Searles
  • Patent number: 10491097
    Abstract: An apparatus is disclosed for improving zero voltage switching (“ZVS”) of a converter circuit such as an active clamp flyback converter. The apparatus includes a first timing circuit acting as the TD(L-H) optimizer, which uses the zero-crossing of the auxiliary winding voltage directly to adaptively vary the dead time. A second timing circuit acting as the TD(H-L) optimizer adaptively varies the dead time with a simple piece-wide linear function as an approximation of the complex optimal equation. A third timing circuit acting as the TDM optimizer contains a charge-pump circuit that adaptively adjusts the ON time of the clamp switch based on the zero-voltage detection of switching node voltage and feed-forwards the input voltage signal to enhance tuning speed so that the correct amount of negative magnetizing current is generated to improve zero voltage switching.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 3, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 26, 2019
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventors: Pei-Hsin Liu, Richard Lee Valley
  • Patent number: 10491100
    Abstract: A combined alternating current (AC) and direct current (DC) power converter is disclosed. In embodiments, the power converter includes an electromagnetic interference (EMI) filter, a bridge rectifier, and a boost converter. The EMI filter is configured to receive an electrical signal from a power source. The bridge rectifier is coupled to the EMI filter and includes at least four diodes arranged in a diode bridge configuration. The boost converter is coupled to the bridge rectifier and includes a switched DC path and a switched AC path. The switched DC path includes a DC transistor and the switched AC path includes an AC transistor. The switched AC path can also include one or more diodes and/or switching elements.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 31, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 26, 2019
    Assignee: Rockwell Collins, Inc.
    Inventors: James B. Mayfield, Daniel J. Kaplan, Jeffrey J. Deloy, Tristan J. Kendall
  • Patent number: 10483032
    Abstract: Unique systems, methods, techniques and apparatuses of a modular power transformer are disclosed. One exemplary embodiment is a matrix power transformer including a plurality of block assemblies each including a plurality of transformer modules, each transformer module including a primary winding coupled to an input and a secondary winding coupled to an output, the inputs of each transformer module in one block assembly being coupled together and the outputs of each transformer block being coupled together. One of the secondary windings includes a plurality of taps structured to be selectively coupled to the output of the associated transformer module assembly or another secondary winding of the associated module assembly.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 24, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 19, 2019
    Assignee: ABB Schweiz AG
    Inventors: Alberto Prieto, Ion C. Radu, Nikolaus Zant, Sandeep Bala, Matthew Lee Henriksen, Parag Upadhyay
  • Patent number: 10468984
    Abstract: An object of this disclosure is to implement a Buck, Boost, or other switching converter, with a circuit to supply a reference voltage and Adaptive Voltage Positioning (AVP), by a servo and programmable load regulation. The reference voltage is modified, achieving a high DC gain, using a servo to remove any DC offset at the output of the switching converter. The correction implemented by the servo is measured, and a programmable fraction of the correction is injected back on either the reference voltage or the output feedback voltage. To accomplish at least one of these objects, a Buck, Boost, or other switching converter is implemented, consisting of an output stage driven by switching logic, with a servo configured between the reference voltage and the control loops of the Buck converter. The AVP function is implemented on either the reference voltage or output feedback voltage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 1, 2016
    Date of Patent: November 5, 2019
    Assignee: Dialog Semiconductor (UK) Limited
    Inventors: Pietro Gallina, Vincenzo Bisogno, Mark Childs
  • Patent number: 10461628
    Abstract: The present disclosure provides a control circuit and a control method, where the control circuit includes: a signal detection unit, a ZCD signal acquisition unit, a signal selection unit, a frequency limiting unit, and a PWM control signal generation unit; where the signal detection unit, the ZCD signal acquisition unit, the signal selection unit, the frequency limiting unit, and the PWM control signal generation unit are connected in cascade. The control circuit and the control method provided in the present disclosure reduce processing delay of a ZCD signal and improve signal processing accuracy of a PFC system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 24, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 29, 2019
    Assignee: DELTA ELECTRONICS, INC.
    Inventors: Hongbao Wang, Yanling Zong, Liangliang Ren, Dezhi Jiao, Jinfa Zhang