Patents by Inventor Nick Sun

Nick Sun 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).

  • Method and circuits for reducing dead time and reverse recovery loss in buck regulators
    Patent number: 6737842
    Abstract: A buck regulator having a voltage sensor for sensing a voltage reversal caused by freewheeling current from an output inductor in the regulator. Upon sensing a reversed voltage, the voltage sensor triggers a gate controller to turn on a switch in the regulator, and thereby terminate a dead time. The voltage sensor and gate controller are high speed circuits, and therefore can reduce the duration of the dead time. Reducing the dead time duration improves efficiency by reducing the duration of body diode conduction. The dead time can be reduced to less than a turn-on time of the body diode, thereby preventing charge buildup in the body diode, and, consequently, preventing reverse recovery loss in the body diode. The present invention improves electrical conversion efficiency, and allows for increased operating frequency in buck regulators.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 11, 2002
    Date of Patent: May 18, 2004
    Assignee: Virginia Tech Intellectual Properties, Inc.
    Inventors: Yuming Bai, Nick Sun, Alex Q. Huang
  • METHOD AND CIRCUITS FOR REDUCING DEAD TIME AND REVERSE RECOVERY LOSS IN BUCK REGULATORS
    Publication number: 20040070377
    Abstract: A buck regulator having a voltage sensor for sensing a voltage reversal caused by freewheeling current from an output inductor in the regulator. Upon sensing a reversed voltage, the voltage sensor triggers a gate controller to turn on a switch in the regulator, and thereby terminate a dead time. The voltage sensor and gate controller are high speed circuits, and therefore can reduce the duration of the dead time. Reducing the dead time duration improves efficiency by reducing the duration of body diode conduction. The dead time can be reduced to less than a turn-on time of the body diode, thereby preventing charge buildup in the body diode, and, consequently, preventing reverse recovery loss in the body diode. The present invention improves electrical conversion efficiency, and allows for increased operating frequency in buck regulators.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 11, 2002
    Publication date: April 15, 2004
    Inventors: Yuming Bai, Nick Sun, Alex Q. Huang