Multi-phase converter and associated control circuit and control method for undershoot improvement
AssigneeChengdu Monolithic Power Systems Co., Ltd.
InventorsXiaokang Wu, Lijie Jiang, Suhua Luo
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A multi-phase converter has a plurality of switching circuits coupled in parallel and a control circuit. The control circuit provides a set signal to successively turn ON the switching circuits under power operation based on an output voltage, a reference signal and a nonlinear control signal. When a number of switching circuits under power operation decreases, the nonlinear control signal increases to a preset value from an initial value, and then the nonlinear control signal decreases to the initial value with a preset slew rate.
Claims20
A multi-phase converter, configured to receive an input voltage, and configured to provide an output voltage and a load current to a load, the multi-phase converter comprising:
- a plurality of switching circuits coupled in parallel between the input voltage and the load, wherein a number of the plurality of switching circuits under power operation is determined based on the load current;
- and
- a control circuit, configured to provide a set signal to successively turn ON the specific plurality of switching circuits under power operation based on the output voltage, a reference signal and a nonlinear control signal;
- wherein
- when the number of the plurality of switching circuits under power operation decreases, the nonlinear control signal increases to a preset value from an initial value, and then the nonlinear control signal decreases to the initial value with a preset slew rate.
A control method for a multi-phase converter, wherein the multi-phase converter is configured to receive an input voltage, and configured to provide an output voltage and a load current to a load, and wherein the multi-phase converter comprises a plurality of switching circuits coupled in parallel between the input voltage and the load, the control method comprising:
- determining what specific number of the plurality of switching circuits under power operation based on the load current;
- providing a nonlinear control signal based on the number of the plurality of switching circuits under power operation, the nonlinear control signal having an initial value;
- and
- providing a set signal to successively turn ON the plurality of switching circuits under power operation based on the output voltage, a reference signal and the nonlinear control signal;
- wherein
- when the number of the plurality of switching circuits under power operation decreases, the nonlinear control signal equals a preset value, and then the nonlinear control signal decreases to the initial value with a preset slew rate.
A control circuit for a multi-phase converter, wherein the multi-phase converter is configured to receive an input voltage, and configured to provide an output voltage and a load current to a load, and wherein the multi-phase converter comprises a plurality of switching circuits coupled in parallel between the input voltage and the load, the control circuit comprising:
- a load current comparison unit, configured to receive a current sense signal indicative of the load current, and configured to provide a plurality of current comparison signals to control a number of the plurality of switching circuits under power operation via respectively comparing the current sense signal with a plurality of thresholds;
- a nonlinear control signal generation unit, configured to provide a nonlinear control signal, wherein when the number of the plurality of switching circuits under power operation decreases, the nonlinear control signal increases to a preset value from an initial value, and then the nonlinear control signal decreases to the initial value with a preset slew rate;
- a general comparison unit, configured to receive a feedback signal indicative of the output voltage, the general comparison unit is configured to provide a set signal to successively turn ON the specific plurality of switching circuits under power operation via comparing the feedback signal with a sum of a reference signal and the nonlinear control signal;
- and
- a logic control unit, coupled to the load current comparison unit to receive the plurality of current comparison signals, and coupled to the general comparison unit to receive the set signal, the logic control unit is configured to provide multiple control signals to respectively control the plurality of switching circuits based on the plurality of current comparison signals and the set signal.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.