Patents by Inventor Dauglas James Wallace MacFarlane

Dauglas James Wallace MacFarlane has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Publication number: 20130314062
    Abstract: Methods and apparatus for control of DC-DC converters, especially in valley current mode. The DC-DC converter is operable so that a low side supply switch may be turned off, before the high side supply switch is turned on. During the period when both switches are off the current loop control remains active and the change in inductor (L) current is emulated. One embodiment uses a current sensor for lossless current sensing and emulates the change in inductor current by holding the value of the output of the current sensor (ISNS) at the time that the low side switch turns off and adding an emulated ramp signal (VISLP) until the inductor current reaches zero. Embodiment employing a pulse-skip mode of operation based on a minimum conduction time are also disclosed. The invention enables a seamless transition from Continuous Conduction Mode the Discontinuous Conduction Mode and Pulse Skipping and provide converters that are efficient at low current loads.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 29, 2013
    Publication date: November 28, 2013
    Applicant: Wolfson Microelectronics plc
    Inventors: Andrew Notman, Mark McCloy-Stevens, Dauglas James Wallace MacFarlane, Holger Haiplik