# US 10,320,295 B2 · Asymmetric switching capacitor regulator

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- Number: US 10,320,295 B2
- Document ID: US10320295B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 15/898,499
- Filed: 2018-02-17
- Published: 2018-07-05
- Granted: 2019-06-11
- Earliest claimed: 2015-04-17
- Assignees: Lion Semiconductor Inc.
- Applicants: Lion Semiconductor Inc.
- Inventors: John Crossley; Hanh-Phuc Le; Alberto Alessandro Angelo Puggelli
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10320295B2

## CPC

- H02M 3/158: including plural semiconductor devices as final control devices for a single load
- H02M 1/14: Arrangements for reducing ripples from DC input or output
- H02M 3/07: using capacitors charged and discharged alternately by semiconductor devices with control electrode {, e.g. charge pumps}
- H02M 1/007: {Plural converter units in cascade (push-pull DC/DC converters with pre-regulator H02M3/3374; DC-AC converters following a DC-DC stage including a high frequency transformer H02M7/4807; DC-AC converters following a DC-DC conversion stage generating periodically varying voltages H02M7/4826)}
- H02M 1/4291: {by using a Buck converter to switch the input current}
- H02M 3/072: {adapted to generate an output voltage whose value is lower than the input voltage}
- Y02B 70/10: Technologies improving the efficiency by using switched-mode power supplies [SMPS], i.e. efficient power electronics conversion e.g. power factor correction or reduction of losses in power supplies or efficient standby modes
- H02M: APPARATUS FOR CONVERSION BETWEEN AC AND AC, BETWEEN AC AND DC, OR BETWEEN DC AND DC, AND FOR USE WITH MAINS OR SIMILAR POWER SUPPLY SYSTEMS; CONVERSION OF DC OR AC INPUT POWER INTO SURGE OUTPUT POWER; CONTROL OR REGULATION THEREOF (transformers H01F; dynamo-electric converters H02K47/00; controlling transformers, reactors or choke coils, control or regulation of electric motors, generators or dynamo-electric converters H02P)
- Y02B: CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO BUILDINGS, e.g. HOUSING, HOUSE APPLIANCES OR RELATED END-USER APPLICATIONS

## Abstract

The present disclosure provides an asymmetric switching capacitor regulator that is capable of providing an output voltage, covering a wide voltage range, with a high efficiency. The disclosed switching capacitor regulator is configured to generate a wide range of an output voltage by differentiating a voltage across one or more switching capacitors from a voltage across the rest of the switching capacitors in the switching capacitor regulator.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A voltage regulator, configured to receive an input voltage at an input node and to provide an output voltage at an output node, comprising:
an inductor;
a first capacitor having a first side and a second side and configured to accommodate a first voltage;
a second capacitor having a first side and a second side and configured to accommodate a second voltage;
a switch matrix that is configured to alternate between a first configuration and a second configuration, wherein, in the first configuration, the switch matrix is configured to couple the first side of the first capacitor to the first of side of the second capacitor in a parallel relationship using the inductor so that the output node is connected to the first side of the first capacitor, and wherein, in the second configuration, the switch matrix is configured to connect the first side of the first capacitor to the second side of the second capacitor so that the second capacitor and the first capacitor are in a series relationship between the input node and a ground node; and
a plurality of power switches configured to induce a current through the inductor to provide a voltage differential between the first voltage and the second voltage in the first configuration.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The voltage regulator of claim 1, wherein, in the first configuration, the inductor and the second capacitor are in a series relationship, and the inductor and the second capacitor are collectively in a parallel relationship with the first capacitor between the output node and the ground node.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The voltage regulator of claim 1, wherein the second capacitor is a switching capacitor and the first capacitor is a decoupling capacitor.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The voltage regulator of claim 1, wherein the first capacitor and the second capacitor are switching capacitors that are, in the first configuration, at a same layer of a stack of capacitors coupling the input node and the ground node.