Including Filter Sensing Patents (Class 323/286)
  • Patent number: 11799375
    Abstract: A circuit comprises a controller configured to receive an input voltage and control a power converter to provide an output voltage based on the input voltage. The controller is also configured to receive a feedback voltage from a split feedback divider, the feedback voltage based on the output voltage and control the power converter to provide the output voltage based on the input voltage and the feedback voltage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 30, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 24, 2023
    Assignee: TEXAS INSTRUMENTS INCORPORATED
    Inventors: Juergen Neuhaeusler, Tanvee Shailesh Pandya
  • Patent number: 10972000
    Abstract: The invention relates to a supply system for a plurality of loads connected in parallel to a direct current supply bus. The supply system includes a DC supply bus and a plurality of supply lines connected in parallel to the supply bus and supplying the said loads. The supply system includes uncoupling and damping means that is adapted to decrease the unipolar signals travelling within the supply system while the loads are being supplied. The uncoupling and damping means includes at least one inductance arranged in series in at least one of the supply lines. Protective means (are also provided for protection in the event of a fault.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 26, 2016
    Date of Patent: April 6, 2021
    Assignee: GE Energy Power Conversion Technology, Ltd.
    Inventors: Elise Savarit, Piniwan Thiwanka Bandara Wijekoon, Nicolas Lapassat, Jean-Louis Pouliquen, Nicolas Gruau
  • Patent number: 10873215
    Abstract: An apparatus for wireless power transfer is described. In some implementations, the apparatus includes a resonant circuit configured to receive a radio frequency input and generate an in-phase voltage and an out-of-phase voltage. The apparatus further includes a pulse generation circuit configured to at least gate the in-phase voltage to provide a first output voltage, and gate the out-of-phase voltage to provide a second output voltage. The apparatus further includes a pulse width modulation circuit configured to provide, to the pulse generating circuit, information for controlling the pulse width modulation setting. The apparatus further includes a pulse frequency modulation circuit configured to provide, to the pulse generating circuit, information for controlling the pulse frequency modulation setting, the information for controlling the pulse frequency modulation setting determined based on the pulse width modulation setting. Related systems, methods, and articles of manufacture are also described.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 15, 2016
    Date of Patent: December 22, 2020
    Assignee: The Regents of the University of California
    Inventors: Chul Kim, Gert Cauwenberghs, Patrick P. Mercier, Sohmyung Ha, Jiwoong Park, Abraham Akinin
  • Patent number: 10386882
    Abstract: A control circuit for generating a feedforward control signal based on an input voltage includes a divider coupled to the input voltage to generate a divided voltage and a first buffer responsive to the divided voltage to generate a buffered voltage at an output of the first buffer. The control circuit also includes a first capacitor coupled to the first buffer output and configured to generate a feedforward current when there is a variation in the input voltage and a current mirror circuit including a current mirror output node at which a current mirror output voltage indicative of the input voltage variation is generated. A digitizing circuit is responsive to the current mirror output voltage to generate the feedforward control signal. A DC-DC converter and a method for generating a feedforward control signal based on an input voltage are also provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 14, 2017
    Date of Patent: August 20, 2019
    Assignee: Allegro MicroSystems, LLC
    Inventor: Kapil Kesarwani
  • Patent number: 10218274
    Abstract: Embodiments of a circuit and method for generating a ripple voltage for a ripple based constant-on-time DC-DC converter are disclosed. A circuit includes a ripple voltage output, a first charging circuit connected to the ripple voltage output, a second charging circuit connected to the ripple voltage output, a charge control circuit configured to charge the first charging circuit and the second charging circuit out-of-phase from each other in response to an on signal from a ripple based constant-on-time DC-DC converter, where the voltage of the first charging circuit and the voltage of the second charging circuit are provided at the ripple voltage output as the ripple voltage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 22, 2017
    Date of Patent: February 26, 2019
    Assignee: NXP B.V.
    Inventor: Shufan Chan
  • Patent number: 10020746
    Abstract: A DC-DC converter includes a filter circuit, a full-bridge circuit connected to the filter circuit, and a transformer having a primary winding and a secondary winding, the primary winding being connected to the full-bridge circuit. The full-bridge circuit includes first to fourth semiconductor switches. First to fourth overvoltage protection circuits are associated with the first to fourth semiconductor switches, respectively. Each of the overvoltage protection circuits is connected in parallel its associated semiconductor switch.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 16, 2017
    Date of Patent: July 10, 2018
    Assignee: MURATA MANUFACTURING CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Hiroyuki Horii, Koichi Ueki
  • Patent number: 9891648
    Abstract: A control method of a switching converter, wherein the switching converter has a main transistor and is configured to provide an output signal. The control method includes: generating a feedback signal indicative of the output signal of the switching converter; generating a clock signal to determine the switching frequency of the main transistor; generating a control signal to control the main transistor based on the clock signal and the feedback signal; and detecting whether the on-time of the main transistor is smaller than a time threshold based on the control signal. If the on-time of the main transistor is smaller than the time threshold, the frequency of the clock signal will be adjusted to regulate the on-time of the main transistor to be equal to the time threshold.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 17, 2015
    Date of Patent: February 13, 2018
    Assignee: Chengdu Monolithic Power Systems Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Lei Li
  • Patent number: 9838000
    Abstract: Various methods and devices that involve pulsed signals are disclosed. An example minimum pulse-width (MPW) circuit comprises a first and second logic circuit. A first input of the first logic circuit is connected to an input of the MPW circuit. A first input of the second logic circuit is communicatively coupled to an output of the first logic circuit. The MPW circuit also comprises a MPW filter circuit communicatively coupled to an output of the second logic circuit, a one-shot circuit communicatively coupled to an output of the minimum pulse-width filter circuit and located on a first feedback path, and another one-shot circuit communicatively coupled to the output of the minimum pulse-width filter circuit and located on a second feedback path. A second input of the first logic circuit is on the first feedback path. A second input of the second logic circuit is on the second feedback path.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 22, 2016
    Date of Patent: December 5, 2017
    Assignee: Silanna Asia Pte Ltd
    Inventor: Barry S. Arbetter
  • Patent number: 9733282
    Abstract: Apparatuses and methods of current balancing, current sensing and phase balancing, offset cancellation, digital to analog current converter with monotonic output using binary coded input (without binary to thermometer decoder), compensator for a voltage regulator (VR), etc. are provided here. An apparatus is provided which comprises: a plurality of inductors coupled to a capacitor and a load; a plurality of bridges, each of which is coupled to a corresponding inductor from the plurality of inductors; and a plurality of current sensors, each of which is coupled to a bridge to sense current through a transistor of the bridge.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 17, 2014
    Date of Patent: August 15, 2017
    Assignee: Intel Corporation
    Inventors: Gerhard Schrom, J. Keith Hodgson, Alexander Lyakhov, Chiu Keung Tang, Narayanan Raghuraman, Narayanan Natarajan
  • Patent number: 9641081
    Abstract: A boost converter for converting between an input voltage and an output voltage is disclosed. The boost converter includes an inductor connected to the input voltage a switching arrangement for controlling the switching of the inductor current to an output load at the output voltage and a controller for controlling the switching arrangement to provide duty cycle control. The duty cycle control switching takes place when the inductor current reaches a peak current level which varies over time with a peak current level function. The peak current level function includes the combination of a target peak value derived from a target average inductor current and a slope compensation function which periodically varies with a period corresponding to the converter switching period.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 26, 2014
    Date of Patent: May 2, 2017
    Assignee: NXP B.V.
    Inventor: Benno Krabbenborg
  • Patent number: 9496787
    Abstract: The disclosure relates to a method of generating an output voltage from a high input voltage and a command signal, the method comprising: generating an output voltage from a high voltage source; providing an inductor having a first terminal and a second terminal linked to a low voltage source by a capacitor, the second inductor terminal supplying the output voltage to a load; generating command signals as a function of a high voltage supplied by the high voltage source and the output voltage, to reduce a difference between the output voltage and a reference voltage lower than the high voltage; and connecting the first inductor terminal exclusively either to the high input voltage or the low voltage or to the inductor second terminal, as a function of the command signals.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 9, 2015
    Date of Patent: November 15, 2016
    Assignee: Endura Technologies LLC
    Inventors: Hassan Ihs, Taner Dosluoglu
  • Patent number: 9225260
    Abstract: A power supply circuit includes a rectifier, a charging circuit, and a storage capacitor. An AC signal is rectified by the rectifier thereby generating a rectified signal VR between a VR node and a GND node. The capacitor is coupled between an output voltage VO node and the GND node. If VR is greater than a first predetermined voltage VP then the VO node is decoupled from the VR node. If VR is below VP then the charging circuit supplies a substantially constant charging current from the VR node, through the charging circuit, to the VO node, and to the capacitor, provided that VO on the capacitor is below a second predetermined voltage VO(MAX) and provided that VR is adequately high with respect to VO. Due to the charging current, the voltage VO on the storage capacitor is restored to the desired second predetermined voltage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 8, 2012
    Date of Patent: December 29, 2015
    Assignee: IXYS Corporation
    Inventor: Leonid A. Neyman
  • Patent number: 9054587
    Abstract: In a steady state operation mode, a charging circuit of a non-isolated AC-to-DC converter decouples an output voltage VO node from a VR node when the rectifier output signal VR on the VR node is greater than a first predetermined voltage VP and, 2) supplies a charging current from the VR node and onto the VO node when VR is less than VP provided that an output voltage VO on the VO node is less than a second predetermined voltage VO(MAX) and provided that VR is greater than VO. In an initial power up operation mode, the maximum limit value of the charging current is smaller than it is during steady state operation. Due to the reduced charging currents employed during initial power up operation, less noise is injected back to the AC source and EMI filters are not required between the rectifier of the converter and the AC source.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 10, 2014
    Date of Patent: June 9, 2015
    Assignee: IXYS Corporation
    Inventor: Leonid A. Neyman
  • Patent number: 9013164
    Abstract: A constant on-time controller, comprising a ripple generator, a comparing circuit and a logic control circuit, is provided. The ripple generator generates a ripple signal, which is injected into one of a voltage reference signal and a voltage detection signal to form a ripple modulated signal with ripple information. The comparing circuit compares the ripple modulated signal with the other of the voltage reference signal and the voltage detection signal and accordingly generates a comparison result signal. The logic control circuit generates a control signal with a fixed pulse width according to the comparison result signal. The ripple generator has a level modulation circuit for modulating an amplitude of the ripple modulated signal to make the amplitude within an preset range under different applications.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 28, 2014
    Date of Patent: April 21, 2015
    Assignee: Green Solution Technology Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Li-Min Lee, Yuan Cai, Chao Shao, Quan Gan
  • Patent number: 9008597
    Abstract: A direct current (DC)-DC converter that includes a first switching converter and a multi-stage filter is disclosed. The multi-stage filter includes at least a first inductance (L) capacitance (C) filter and a second LC filter coupled in series between the first switching converter and a DC-DC converter output. The first LC filter has a first LC time constant and the second LC filter has a second LC time constant, which is less than the first LC time constant. The first switching converter and the multi-stage filter form a feedback loop, which is used to regulate the first switching power supply output signal based on the setpoint. The first LC filter includes a first capacitive element having a first self-resonant frequency, which is about equal to a first notch frequency of the multi-stage filter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 6, 2013
    Date of Patent: April 14, 2015
    Assignee: RF Micro Devices, Inc.
    Inventors: Chris Levesque, William David Southcombe, David E. Jones, Scott Yoder, Terry J. Stockert
  • Patent number: 8922188
    Abstract: Provided are a low pass filter circuit having a small output voltage shift caused by a substrate leakage current at high temperature, and a voltage regulator using the low pass filter circuit, which has a small output voltage shift at high temperature. In a low pass filter circuit using a PMOS transistor as a resistive element, a back gate terminal of the PMOS transistor is set to have a higher voltage than a source of the PMOS transistor. Further, in a voltage regulator incorporating the low pass filter circuit to an output of a reference voltage circuit, the voltage of the back gate terminal of the PMOS transistor which is higher than that of the source thereof is generated by the reference voltage circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 27, 2013
    Date of Patent: December 30, 2014
    Assignee: Seiko Instruments Inc.
    Inventor: Kaoru Sakaguchi
  • Patent number: 8901904
    Abstract: A device and method of providing any one of a plurality of desired levels of a regulated signal output to a load is described, wherein each desired level is a function of a corresponding reference signal. The device is configured and the method is designed to (1) store each desired level of the regulated signal output on a switchable storage device; and (2) selectively switch the correct storage device to the output when switching from one regulated state to another so as to establish the desired level of regulated signal output.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 24, 2009
    Date of Patent: December 2, 2014
    Assignee: Linear Technology Corporation
    Inventor: Joshua William Caldwell
  • Patent number: 8866451
    Abstract: A power supply apparatus includes a first power factor correction circuit, a second power factor correction circuit and a control circuit that includes a first switching control unit that outputs a first switching signal for controlling a first switching element of the first power factor correction circuit generated in accordance with a detected result by an output voltage of the first power factor correction circuit and a current flowing through the first switching element, and a second switching control unit that outputs a second switching signal for controlling a second switching element of the second power factor correction circuit generated in accordance with a detected result by an output voltage of the second power factor correction circuit and a current flowing through the second switching element.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 21, 2012
    Date of Patent: October 21, 2014
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventor: Takeshi Iwata
  • Publication number: 20140292298
    Abstract: In one embodiment, an integrated circuit comprising a current-sensing circuit having a power transistor and an amplifier. The current-sensing circuit is coupled to (i) sense a current supplied to a load by a voltage source through an inductor and (ii) generate an inductor-current signal based on the sensed current. The current-sensing circuit includes: a power transistor and a sensing transistor, both coupled to receive an input voltage from the voltage source. The error amplifier has first and second input nodes and an output node. The first input node receives (i) a first voltage through the power transistor and (ii) a first current from a first biasing-current source. The second input node receives (i) a second voltage through the sensing transistor and (ii) a second current from a second biasing-current source. The inductor-current signal is generated based on at least one of the first and second voltages, and the output node has a voltage that varies with the inductor-current signal.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 29, 2013
    Publication date: October 2, 2014
    Applicant: LSI CORPORATION
    Inventor: Kishan Pradhan
  • Patent number: 8847567
    Abstract: A DC/DC converter includes an input to which an input current is supplied, an output at which an output current is provided, and a current control circuit coupled to the input and the output includes a unit that provides an instantaneous value signal proportional to the output current of the DC/DC converter with the aid of the input current, an internal input that supplies a reference signal, and a comparison device coupled to the unit that provides the instantaneous value signal and the internal input and comprises an internal output that provides a control signal dependent on a comparison of the instantaneous value signal with the reference signal, wherein the control signal adjusts the output current of the DC/DC converter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 10, 2012
    Date of Patent: September 30, 2014
    Assignee: austriamicrosystems AG
    Inventor: Thomas Jessenig
  • Patent number: 8842455
    Abstract: There is provided an electric-power conversion apparatus including a chopper circuit; a current sense resistor that detects the output current of the chopper circuit; a differential detection circuit that outputs, as a differential detection signal (vo), the electric potential difference across the current sense resistor; and a calculation means that corrects the differential detection signal (vo) from the differential detection circuit by use of a control signal (D1) for the chopper circuit so as to calculate the output current (i0) of the chopper circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 3, 2011
    Date of Patent: September 23, 2014
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
    Inventors: Yoshihiko Kimpara, Takayuki Kifuku, Tetsuya Kojima, Tatsuya Mori
  • Patent number: 8829866
    Abstract: DC to DC converters are described that include two converters interconnected and operated to mitigate at least some of the effects of low duty cycle operation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 14, 2011
    Date of Patent: September 9, 2014
    Assignee: Volterra Semiconductor Corporation
    Inventor: Patrice Lethellier
  • Patent number: 8829865
    Abstract: The disclosure provides a power factor correcting (PFC) circuit, a power supply and a method of manufacturing a power converter. In one embodiment, the PFC circuit has a positive input terminal, an output terminal and a ground terminal and includes: (1) a power factor inductor coupled in series between the positive input terminal and the output terminal, (2) a main switch configured to periodically connect the power factor inductor to the ground terminal and (3) a clamping capacitor coupled to the power factor inductor and configured to provide zero turn-off loss for the main switch.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 5, 2011
    Date of Patent: September 9, 2014
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventor: Moshe Domb
  • Patent number: 8823352
    Abstract: In a current mode controlled switching power supply, current through the inductor is sensed to determine when to turn off or on the switching transistors. The inductor current has a higher frequency AC component and a lower frequency DC component. The AC current feedback path, sensing the ramping ripple current, is separate from the DC current path, sensing the lower frequency average current. Separating the current sensing paths allows the signal to noise ratio of the AC sense signal to be increased and allows the switching noise to be filtered from the DC sense signal. The gain of the DC sense signal is adjusted so that the DC sense signal has the proper proportion to the AC sense signal. The AC sense signal and the DC sense signal are combined by a summing circuit. The composite sense signal is applied to a PWM comparator to control the duty cycle of the switch.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 11, 2011
    Date of Patent: September 2, 2014
    Assignee: Linear Technology Corporation
    Inventor: Jindong Zhang
  • Patent number: 8803500
    Abstract: Disclosed is a switching-mode power supply device which outputs a voltage having a different electrical potential from an input voltage including an inductor, a driving switching element and a control circuit, and the control circuit includes a trigger signal generating circuit which generates and outputs a signal which provides timing to turn the driving switching element on or off, a first timekeeping unit which times a fixed ON period or a fixed OFF period which defines the pulse width of a driving pulse of the driving switching element, a second timekeeping unit which times a minimum OFF period or a minimum ON period of the driving switching element and a sudden load change detection circuit which detects a sudden load change.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 23, 2011
    Date of Patent: August 12, 2014
    Assignee: Mitsumi Electric Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Heisuke Nakashima
  • Patent number: 8760131
    Abstract: A voltage regulator includes a power device formed by an NMOS transistor having a drain terminal coupled to an input voltage, a source terminal providing an output voltage and a gate terminal receiving a gate drive signal; and an integrated AC/DC control loop configured to access the output voltage and to generate the gate drive signal based on a value of the output voltage in relation to a first reference voltage and a second reference voltage. The AC control portion generates a gate drive control signal which is AC coupled to the gate terminal of the power device as an AC component of the gate drive signal. The DC control portion controls a DC voltage level of the gate drive signal. The AC control portion is powered by the input voltage while the DC control portion is powered by a high supply voltage greater than the input voltage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 6, 2012
    Date of Patent: June 24, 2014
    Assignee: Micrel, Inc.
    Inventors: Rudolf Gerardus van Ettinger, Paul Wilson
  • Patent number: 8742745
    Abstract: A DC-DC converter is provided. When a load of the DC-DC converter is too light, the DC-DC converter can raise a frequency of its PWM signal, and reduce a pulse width of the PWM signal, so as to avoid the frequency of the PWM signal falling into a frequency range that can heard by human's ear and maintain high conversion efficiency of the DC-DC converter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 4, 2012
    Date of Patent: June 3, 2014
    Assignee: uPI Semiconductor Corp.
    Inventor: Hua-Chiang Huang
  • Patent number: 8736241
    Abstract: A controller for use with a power converter including a switch configured to conduct to provide a regulated output characteristic at an output of the power converter, and method of operating the same. In one embodiment, the controller includes a linear control circuit, coupled to the output, configured to provide a first control signal for the switch as a function of the output characteristic. The controller also includes a nonlinear control circuit, coupled to the output, configured to provide a second control signal for the switch as a function of the output characteristic. The controller is configured to select one of the first and second control signals for the switch in response to a change in an operating condition of the power converter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 2, 2011
    Date of Patent: May 27, 2014
    Assignee: Enpirion, Inc.
    Inventors: Pedro Alou Cervera, Jose Antonio Cobos Marquez, Ashraf W. Lotfi, Andres Soto del Pecho
  • Publication number: 20140132237
    Abstract: A direct current-to-direct current (‘DC/DC’) converter for delivering a load to an electrical component, the DC/DC converter including: a coupled inductor, wherein the coupled inductor receives a source input voltage level and a outputs an output voltage level; a transient winding; and a variable impedance switch coupled to the transient winding, the variable impedance switch configured to operate by adjusting a delivered resistance level in dependence upon a change in the load to be delivered to the electrical component by the DC/DC converter.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 9, 2012
    Publication date: May 15, 2014
    Applicant: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
    Inventors: JAMAICA L. BARNETTE, BOBBY J. HEMINGWAY
  • Patent number: 8723500
    Abstract: A voltage regulator generates a regulated output voltage responsive to an input voltage and drive control signals. An error amplifier generates an error voltage signal responsive to the regulated output voltage and a reference voltage. A PWM modulator generates a PWM control signal responsive to the error voltage signal, a ramp voltage and an inverse of the reference voltage. Control circuitry within the PWM modulator maintains the error voltage signal applied to the PWM modulator at substantially a same DC voltage level over the reference voltage operating range and maintains the error voltage signal above a minimum value of the ramp voltage. Driver circuitry generates the drive control signals responsive to the PWM control signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 19, 2011
    Date of Patent: May 13, 2014
    Assignee: Intersil Americas Inc.
    Inventors: Michael Jason Houston, Weihong Qiu, Emil Chen
  • Patent number: 8704503
    Abstract: A SEPIC converter with over-voltage protection includes a high-side inductor that connects a node Vw to a node Vx. The node Vx is connected, in turn to ground by a power MOSFET. The node Vx is also connected to a node Vy by a first capacitor. The node Vy is connected to ground by a low-side inductor. A rectifier diode further connects the node Vy and a node Vout and an output capacitor is connected between the node Vout and ground. A PWM control circuit is connected to drive the power MOSFET. An over-voltage protection MOSFET connects an input supply to the PWM control circuit and the node Vw. A comparator monitors the voltage of the input supply. If that voltage exceeds a predetermined value Vref the comparator output causes the over-voltage protection MOSFET to disconnect the node Vw and the PWM control circuit from the input supply.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 7, 2013
    Date of Patent: April 22, 2014
    Assignee: Advanced Analogic Technologies Incorporated
    Inventors: Richard K. Williams, Kevin D'Angelo, Charles Coles
  • Patent number: 8686705
    Abstract: A current mode synchronous rectification direct current (DC)/DC converter according to the present invention includes: a soft start function unit (in FIG. 1, a reference voltage generation unit (104) enabling a reference voltage REF to slowly increase while starting), for inhibiting a target value of an output voltage VO to be lower than that at a normal action while starting; and an output stabilization function unit (in FIG. 1, a frequency variable type oscillator (110A) generating a clock signal CLK and a slope voltage SLOPE through an oscillation frequency corresponding to a reference voltage REF), for performing at least one of waiting for start of a switching action and reduction of a drive frequency while starting.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 22, 2011
    Date of Patent: April 1, 2014
    Assignee: Rohm Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Haruo Yamakoshi, Hirotaka Nakabayashi
  • Patent number: 8674631
    Abstract: A power conversion apparatus includes: a line breaker that is connected in series to a direct-current power supply; a first capacitor that is connected in parallel to the direct-current power supply through the line breaker; a discharge circuit that includes a resistor and a first switching circuit connected in series and is connected in parallel to the first capacitor; a power converter for driving a synchronous machine; a second capacitor that is connected in parallel to a direct-current side of the power converter; a second switching circuit that is connected in series between the first capacitor and the second capacitor; and a control circuit for controlling the discharge circuit. The control circuit controls the discharge circuit on the basis of the voltage of the first capacitor and the voltage of the second capacitor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 13, 2009
    Date of Patent: March 18, 2014
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
    Inventors: Masaki Kono, Keita Hatanaka
  • Patent number: 8665611
    Abstract: In accordance with an embodiment, a switch controller for a switched-mode power supply includes an oscillator, an advance timing generator, and a dead zone generator. The advance timing generator generates an advance timing output pulse having a first pulse width that is asserted when the oscillator reaches a first phase. The dead zone generator produces a dead zone output having a second pulse width when the advance timing output pulse is de-asserted. This dead zone output pulse is coupled to a freeze input of the oscillator that freezes the phase accumulation of the oscillator when asserted. The controller also has a primary switch logic circuit that produces primary switch drive signals having a dead zone coincident with the dead zone output, and a secondary switch logic circuit that generates a secondary switch drive signal that is de-asserted when the advance timing output pulse becomes asserted.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 19, 2011
    Date of Patent: March 4, 2014
    Assignee: Infineon Technologies AG
    Inventor: Xiaowu Gong
  • Patent number: 8659277
    Abstract: A current providing method utilized to a power supplying circuit, which provides an output current to a loading. The current providing method comprising: detecting if a current value of the output current is larger than a threshold current value; computing a number that the current value of the output current is larger than the threshold current value; determining if the number is larger or equal to a predetermined number; and controlling the power supplying circuit to decrease the output current to a predetermined current value if the number is larger or equal to the predetermined number.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 2, 2012
    Date of Patent: February 25, 2014
    Assignee: Realtek Semiconductor Corp.
    Inventor: Shih-Chieh Chen
  • Patent number: 8653801
    Abstract: A boost circuit is used for power factor correction (PFC). In a low power application, transition mode control is utilized. However, switching frequency varies with different input voltages, and over a wide input voltage range, the switching frequency can become too high to be practical. To address this issue, a boost circuit is provided whose effective inductance changes as a function of input voltage. By changing the inductance, control is exercised over switching frequency.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 5, 2013
    Date of Patent: February 18, 2014
    Assignee: STMicroelectronics, Inc.
    Inventors: Jianwen Shao, Thomas L. Hopkins
  • Patent number: 8649194
    Abstract: The present invention provides a circuit of reducing electro-magnetic interference for a power converter. The circuit includes an oscillator, a switching voltage divider, and a sample-and-hold circuit. The oscillator has a terminal for receiving a modulation voltage. The modulation voltage is correlated with an input voltage obtained from an input of the power converter. The switching voltage divider is enabled and disabled by a switch to attenuate the input voltage into a sampled voltage in response to a sampling signal. The sample-and-hold circuit receives the sampled voltage to generate the modulation voltage. A switch of the sample-and-hold circuit controlled by a holding signal conducts the sampled voltage to a capacitor of the sample-and-hold circuit to generate the modulation voltage across the capacitor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 8, 2012
    Date of Patent: February 11, 2014
    Assignee: System General Corporation
    Inventor: Ting-Ta Chiang
  • Patent number: 8629666
    Abstract: A power supply controller produces a compensation value based at least in part on: an estimated or known output capacitance of the power supply, a specified rate of changing a magnitude of the output voltage as specified by the voltage setting information, and/or a load-line resistance of the power supply. The power supply controller utilizes the compensation value to adjust a magnitude of the output voltage during a voltage transition in which the output voltage is changed from an initial output voltage setting to a target output voltage setting at a pre-specified rate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 14, 2011
    Date of Patent: January 14, 2014
    Assignee: International Rectifier Corporation
    Inventors: Robert T. Carroll, Venkat Sreenivas
  • Patent number: 8604768
    Abstract: A pulse regulation loop for a clocked switching power converter where the loop is around a bridge converter. The loop features a comparator, a charge pump and a filter in series, feeding a pulse modulator controlling the clock duty cycle of the bridge. Ripple in the bridge converter output is feed to the comparator which causes the charge pump to inject or remove charge from the filter at the clock rate providing control over the modulator that establishes converter efficiency. The charge pump is of the PLL type, having switches responsive to voltage output from the comparator, evaluating the converter ripple relative to a reference voltage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 9, 2011
    Date of Patent: December 10, 2013
    Assignee: Aivaka, Inc
    Inventor: Ahmad B. Dowlatabadi
  • Patent number: 8598856
    Abstract: According to example configurations herein, while operating a power supply in a discontinuous power supply mode, a controller initiates activation of a first switch of the power supply to increase a magnitude of current flowing through an inductor. The flow of current through the inductor produces an output voltage for powering a load. The controller estimates a time duration in which to activate a second switch of the power supply to reduce the current flowing through the inductor. The controller uses the estimated time duration as a parameter for controlling the second switch in the power supply. For example, upon or after deactivating the first switch, the controller initiates activation of the second switch for the estimated time duration. Deactivation of the second switch based on the estimated time duration reduces or eliminates a need to employ complex circuitry to physically measure a magnitude of current through the inductor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 1, 2010
    Date of Patent: December 3, 2013
    Assignee: International Rectifier Corporation
    Inventors: Robert T. Carroll, Venkat Sreenivas, David Williams
  • Patent number: 8587152
    Abstract: A sequential shunt regulator switch system and method is disclosed. A power switch is controlled to switch a first current from a power source to an electrical bus. Further, a current controllable switch provides a controlled current from the power source to the electrical bus.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 27, 2011
    Date of Patent: November 19, 2013
    Assignee: The Boeing Company
    Inventor: Robert Matthew Martinelli
  • Patent number: 8552893
    Abstract: A control system provides a control signal to a nonlinear plant that generates a response signal responsive to the control signal. The control system includes a detector that detects a predetermined value of a plant quantity, valley switching logic, coupled to the detector, to change a state of a plant switch when the plant quantity is minimized, and a pulse-width modulator, coupled to the valley switching logic, to generate a control signal that controls the plant switch. The valley switching logic includes a nonlinear delta-sigma modulator that compensates for an error in a plant response signal by adjusting the duration of an on-time of a plant switch to cause an average value of the plant response signal to converge toward a target signal value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 4, 2011
    Date of Patent: October 8, 2013
    Assignee: Cirrus Logic, Inc.
    Inventors: Mohit Sood, Michael Allan Kost
  • Patent number: 8541996
    Abstract: A power control device for performing switching control for an output voltage of a power supply device includes a signal generation circuit for comparing a difference between a value of the output voltage and a value of a first reference voltage with a value of a second reference voltage, and for stopping the switching control when a value of the difference is less than or equal to the value of the second reference voltage, and an adjuster circuit for adjusting the second reference voltage based on a ratio between a value of an input voltage and the value of the output voltage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 12, 2010
    Date of Patent: September 24, 2013
    Assignee: Fujitsu Semiconductor Limited
    Inventors: Toshihiko Kasai, Hidenobu Ito
  • Patent number: 8536849
    Abstract: In one embodiment the present invention includes a DC to DC converter device which includes an electronic circuit. The electronic circuit comprises a first comparator, a second comparator, a first switch, a first latch, and a current sensor. The inductor current includes a peak current value and a valley current value. The first comparator detects the peak current value and resets the first latch which opens the first switch. The second comparator detects the valley current value and sets the first latch which closes the first switch. The current sensor is coupled to sense an inductor current flowing through an output load, and is coupled to provide a sense voltage to the first and second comparators. In this manner, the electronic circuit provides DC to DC conversion with current control.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 9, 2010
    Date of Patent: September 17, 2013
    Assignee: Diodes Incorporated
    Inventors: Jin Wang, Vincent L. Fong
  • Patent number: 8525501
    Abstract: A power factor correction device includes a rectifier for converting an AC input voltage into a DC input voltage, an output module for generating and outputting a DC output voltage, an intermediate inductor coupled between the rectifier and the output module, a power switch for controlling an inductor current of the intermediate inductor and generating a source voltage, a reset module for generating a reset instruction according to the DC input voltage, the DC output voltage and the source voltage, an SR flip-flop for outputting a latch result according to a set instruction and the reset instruction, and a set module for generating the set instruction in response to variation of the intermediate inductor or variation of the latch result.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 10, 2011
    Date of Patent: September 3, 2013
    Assignee: NOVATEK Microelectrics Corp.
    Inventors: Chih-Yuan Hsieh, Hsiang-Yi Chiu
  • Patent number: 8525505
    Abstract: A PWM controller and control method for a DC-DC voltage converter filter the high-frequency component of the voltage at the phase node between high-side and low-side elements of the voltage converter to generate a signal synchronous and in phase or out-of-phase with the inductor current of the voltage converter, to achieve a low-ripple output voltage and stable loop control.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 23, 2010
    Date of Patent: September 3, 2013
    Assignee: Richtek Technology Corp.
    Inventors: Ko-Cheng Wang, Kuo-Ping Liu, Chih-Wei Tseng
  • Patent number: 8513933
    Abstract: Methods and apparatus for control of DC-DC converters. The DC-DC converter is operable so that the low side supply switch may be inhibited from turning on in a cycle following the high side supply switch turning off. Turn on of the low side switch is inhibited if the time between turn off of the high side switch and the inductor (L) current reaching zero is less than a predetermined duration. Inhibiting the low side switch from turning on can prevent the inductor current from going negative, which would reduce the efficiency of the converter. When turn on of the low side switch is inhibited the inductor current flows through a parallel path, such as a parasitic body diode associated with the low side switch, which allows current flow in one direction only.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 22, 2010
    Date of Patent: August 20, 2013
    Assignee: Wolfson Microelectronics plc
    Inventors: Andrew Notman, Mark McCloy-Stevens
  • Patent number: 8502509
    Abstract: A power conversion system and power control method for reducing cross regulation effect uses a voltage feedback adjustment circuit to modulate an error signal fed back from an output voltage so as to predict the energy of an output corresponding to its load states. While the energy delivered to an output terminal with its load remaining the same does not change, the energy delivered to an output terminal with its load changing is adjusted accordingly. The power conversion system thus effectively reduces the cross regulation effect and obtains excellent steady system output and transient response.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 7, 2012
    Date of Patent: August 6, 2013
    Assignee: Alpha & Omega Semiconductor, Inc.
    Inventors: Jean-shin Wu, Ke-Horng Chen
  • Patent number: 8493045
    Abstract: A voltage regulator is configurable to operate in a linear regulator mode or a buck regulator mode. To operate in the buck regulator mode, the voltage regulator is coupled to an inductor. To determine whether an inductor is coupled to voltage regulator, and thus whether the voltage regulator can be configured in the buck regulator mode, a detection circuit determines whether a regulator output of the voltage regulator resists a change in current driven to the regulator output.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 22, 2010
    Date of Patent: July 23, 2013
    Assignee: Atmel Corporation
    Inventors: Kai Renton, Frode Milch Pedersen, Jan Rune Herheim
  • Patent number: 8487593
    Abstract: A controller for a switched mode power supply converting an input voltage to a regulated output voltage according to one embodiment includes a control network and a detection network. The control network develops a pulse width control signal for regulating a level of the output voltage. The detection network detects a phase lag of the output voltage and adjusts operation of the control network based on the phase lag. The phase lag may be determined from any parameter incorporating phase shift, such as the output voltage or the compensation voltage. Various alternative schemes are disclosed for adjusting the control loop, including, but not limited to, adding slope compensation, adjusting window resistance or window current, adding adjustment current to adjust ripple voltage, adjusting ripple transconductance, and adjusting ripple capacitance. Digital and analog compensation adjustment schemes are disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 2010
    Date of Patent: July 16, 2013
    Assignee: Intersil Americas Inc.
    Inventors: Steven P. Laur, Rhys S. A. Philbrick