Patents by Inventor Wenxun Huang

Wenxun Huang 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).

  • Patent number: 11962245
    Abstract: A voltage regulator circuit included in a computer system may include multiple phase circuits coupled to a regulated power supply line via corresponding one of multiple inductors. The phase circuits may modify a voltage level of the regulated power supply line using respective control signals generated by a digital control circuit that processes multiple data bits. An analog-to-digital converter circuit may compare the voltage level of the regulated power supply node to multiple reference voltage levels and sample the resultant comparisons to generate the multiple data bits.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 13, 2023
    Date of Patent: April 16, 2024
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Sanjay Pant, Fabio Gozzini, Hubert Attah, Jonathan F. Bolus, Wenxun Huang
  • Publication number: 20240077932
    Abstract: The present disclosure describes a system with a power management device, a wakeup circuit, a battery management device, and a connector. During a powered down mode of operation, the battery management device can provide, via the connector, a bias voltage to the wakeup circuit. In response to a wakeup switch being activated, the battery management device can provide a power supply (e.g., from a battery) to the power management device. Benefits of the wakeup circuit include (1) a reduction of battery consumption—and thus improving battery lifetime—when the electronic system is in a powered down mode of operation because the wakeup circuit has lower number of active components compared to other designs and (2) a non-complex wakeup circuit design because one or more existing connector interconnects between the power management device and the battery management device can be re-used during electronic system's powered down mode of operation.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 16, 2023
    Publication date: March 7, 2024
    Applicant: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Talbott M. Houk, Wenxun Huang, Nikola Jovanovic, Floyd L. Dankert, Sanjay Pant, Alessandro Molari, Siarhei Meliukh, Nicola Florio, Ludmil N. Nikolov, Nathan F. Hanagami, Hartmut Sturm, Di Zhao, Chad L. Olson, John J. Sullivan, Seyedeh Maryam Mortazavi Zanjani, Tristan R. Hudson, Jay B. Fletcher, Jonathan A. Dutra
  • Patent number: 11909306
    Abstract: A power converter circuit included in a computer system regulates a power supply voltage used by other circuits in the computer system. During operation, the power converter circuit monitors the load current, and, in response to a transient in the load current, switches regulation modes to adapt to the new load conditions. Upon a detection of the end of the transient in the load current, the power converter returns to its original regulation mode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 13, 2021
    Date of Patent: February 20, 2024
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Yue Wen, Hubert Attah, Wenxun Huang, Hao Zhou
  • Publication number: 20240014739
    Abstract: A power converter with slew rate detection is disclosed. A power converter comprises a plurality of phase circuits coupled to a regulated power supply line via corresponding ones of a plurality of inductors. A first control loop generates, using digital samples and based on comparisons of a reference voltage to a voltage on the regulated power supply line, a first plurality of control signals. A second control loop, using the digital samples, generates a second plurality of control signals based on a rate of change of the voltage of the regulated power supply line. The second control loop causes the first control loop to control the plurality of phase circuits in response to detecting that the rate of change is within a specified range, and causes the second control loop to control the plurality of phase circuits, in response to detecting that the rate of change exceeds the specified range.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 26, 2023
    Publication date: January 11, 2024
    Inventors: Sanjay Pant, Fabio Gozzini, Hubert Attah, Jonathan F. Bolus, Wenxun Huang, Koushik Vaithyanathan, Alberto Puggelli
  • Publication number: 20230188043
    Abstract: A voltage regulator circuit included in a computer system may include multiple phase circuits coupled to a regulated power supply line via corresponding one of multiple inductors. The phase circuits may modify a voltage level of the regulated power supply line using respective control signals generated by a digital control circuit that processes multiple data bits. An analog-to-digital converter circuit may compare the voltage level of the regulated power supply node to multiple reference voltage levels and sample the resultant comparisons to generate the multiple data bits.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 13, 2023
    Publication date: June 15, 2023
    Inventors: Sanjay Pant, Fabio Gozzini, Hubert Attah, Jonathan F. Bolus, Wenxun Huang
  • Patent number: 11581813
    Abstract: A voltage regulator circuit included in a computer system may include multiple phase circuits each coupled to a regulated power supply node via a corresponding inductor. The phase circuits may modify a voltage level of the regulated power supply node using respective control signals generated by a digital control circuit that processes multiple data bits. An analog-to-digital converter circuit may compare the voltage level of the regulated power supply node to multiple reference voltage levels and sample the resultant comparisons to generate the multiple data bits.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 2, 2022
    Date of Patent: February 14, 2023
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Sanjay Pant, Fabio Gozzini, Hubert Attah, Jonathan F. Bolus, Wenxun Huang
  • Publication number: 20220329147
    Abstract: A power converter circuit included in a computer system regulates a power supply voltage used by other circuits in the computer system. During operation, the power converter circuit monitors the load current, and, in response to a transient in the load current, switches regulation modes to adapt to the new load conditions. Upon a detection of the end of the transient in the load current, the power converter returns to its original regulation mode.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 13, 2021
    Publication date: October 13, 2022
    Inventors: Yue Wen, Hubert Attah, Wenxun Huang, Hao Zhou
  • Publication number: 20220255436
    Abstract: A voltage regulator circuit included in a computer system may include multiple phase circuits each coupled to a regulated power supply node via a corresponding inductor. The phase circuits may modify a voltage level of the regulated power supply node using respective control signals generated by a digital control circuit that processes multiple data bits. An analog-to-digital converter circuit may compare the voltage level of the regulated power supply node to multiple reference voltage levels and sample the resultant comparisons to generate the multiple data bits.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 2, 2022
    Publication date: August 11, 2022
    Inventors: Sanjay Pant, Fabio Gozzini, Hubert Attah, Jonathan F. Bolus, Wenxun Huang
  • Patent number: 11323033
    Abstract: A voltage regulator circuit included in a computer system may include multiple phase circuits each coupled to a regulated power supply node via a corresponding inductor. The phase circuits may modify a voltage level of the regulated power supply node using respective control signals generated by a digital control circuit that processes multiple data bits. An analog-to-digital converter circuit may compare the voltage level of the regulated power supply node to multiple reference voltage levels and sample the resultant comparisons to generate the multiple data bits.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 15, 2021
    Date of Patent: May 3, 2022
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Sanjay Pant, Fabio Gozzini, Hubert Attah, Jonathan F. Bolus, Wenxun Huang
  • Publication number: 20210273565
    Abstract: A voltage regulator circuit included in a computer system may include multiple phase circuits each coupled to a regulated power supply node via a corresponding inductor. The phase circuits may modify a voltage level of the regulated power supply node using respective control signals generated by a digital control circuit that processes multiple data bits. An analog-to-digital converter circuit may compare the voltage level of the regulated power supply node to multiple reference voltage levels and sample the resultant comparisons to generate the multiple data bits.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 15, 2021
    Publication date: September 2, 2021
    Inventors: Sanjay Pant, Fabio Gozzini, Hubert Attah, Jonathan F. Bolus, Wenxun Huang
  • Patent number: 10951118
    Abstract: A voltage regulator circuit included in a computer system may include multiple phase circuits each coupled to a regulated power supply node via a corresponding inductor. The phase circuits may modify a voltage level of the regulated power supply node using respective control signals generated by a digital control circuit that processes multiple data bits. An analog-to-digital converter circuit may compare the voltage level of the regulated power supply node to multiple reference voltage levels and sample the resultant comparisons to generate the multiple data bits.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 18, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 16, 2021
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Sanjay Pant, Fabio Gozzini, Hubert Attah, Jonathan F. Bolus, Wenxun Huang
  • Publication number: 20200350822
    Abstract: A voltage regulator circuit included in a computer system may include multiple phase circuits each coupled to a regulated power supply node via a corresponding inductor. The phase circuits may modify a voltage level of the regulated power supply node using respective control signals generated by a digital control circuit that processes multiple data bits. An analog-to-digital converter circuit may compare the voltage level of the regulated power supply node to multiple reference voltage levels and sample the resultant comparisons to generate the multiple data bits.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 18, 2020
    Publication date: November 5, 2020
    Inventors: Sanjay Pant, Fabio Gozzini, Hubert Attah, Jonathan F. Bolus, Wenxun Huang
  • Patent number: 10658931
    Abstract: A voltage regulator circuit included in a computer system may include multiple phase circuits each coupled to a regulated power supply node via a corresponding inductor. The phase circuits may modify a voltage level of the regulated power supply node using respective control signals generated by a digital control circuit that processes multiple data bits. An analog-to-digital converter circuit may compare the voltage level of the regulated power supply node to multiple reference voltage levels and sample the resultant comparisons to generate the multiple data bits.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 17, 2019
    Date of Patent: May 19, 2020
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Sanjay Pant, Fabio Gozzini, Hubert Attah, Jonathan F. Bolus, Wenxun Huang