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US 10,884,043 B1Granted
Power converter with phase error correction
AssigneeApple Inc.
InventorsMichael Couleur, Andrea Acquas, Nikola Jovanovic
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A power converter circuit included in a computer system may charge and discharge a switch node coupled to a regulated power supply node via an inductor. The power converter circuit may generate a reference clock signal using a system clock signal and a voltage level of the switch node. The reference clock signal may be used to initiate a charge cycle, whose duration may be based on generated ramp signals.
Claims17
An apparatus, comprising:
- a voltage regulator circuit that includes a switch node coupled to a regulated power supply node via an inductor, wherein the voltage regulator circuit is configured to source a charge current to the switch node during a charge cycle;
- and
- a control circuit configured to:
- determine a phase difference between a system clock signal and a voltage level of the switch node;
- generate a reference clock signal using the phase difference;
- generate a plurality of ramp signals using the voltage level of the switch node;
- initiate the charge cycle using the reference clock signal;
- and
- halt the charge cycle using the plurality of ramp signals.
6 more elements
A method, comprising:
- receiving, by a power converter circuit, a system clock signal, wherein the power converter circuit includes a switch node coupled to a regulated power supply node via an inductor, and a control circuit;
- determining, by the control circuit, a phase difference between the system clock signal and a voltage level of the switch node;
- generating a reference clock signal using the phase difference;
- generating, by the control circuit, a plurality of ramp signals using the voltage level of the switch node;
- initiating, by the control circuit, a charge cycle of the switch node using the reference clock signal;
- and
- halting, by the control circuit, the charge cycle using the plurality of ramp signals.
4 more elements
An apparatus, comprising:
- a voltage regulator circuit including a switch node coupled to a regulated power supply node via an inductor, wherein the voltage regulator circuit is configured to source a charge current to the switch node, in response to an activation of a control signal;
- a clock generation circuit configured to:
- determine a phase difference between a system clock signal and a voltage level of the switch node;
- generate a reference clock signal using the phase difference;
- and
- generate a plurality of ramp signals using the voltage level of the switch node;
- and
- a cycle control circuit configured to generate the control signal using the reference clock signal.
5 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.