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US 11,768,512 B2Granted
Method of smoothing a current consumed by an integrated circuit, and corresponding device
AssigneeSTMicroelectronics (Rousset) SAS
InventorsJimmy Fort, Nicolas Demange
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An embodiment method for smoothing consumed current is based on a current copying suite and on a current source supplying a reference current, the currents being transformed into a reference voltage for the regulation of a voltage regulator such that the consumed current viewed by the power supply only depends on the reference current.
Claims22
A method for smoothing a current consumed by a power supply of an electronic circuit, the electronic circuit including at least one module directly or indirectly powered by the power supply and consuming a module current, comprising:
- generating, within the electronic circuit, for each module, a module auxiliary current equal to a first fraction of the corresponding module current;
- generating by a first stage, powered by the power supply, including at least one current source, a stage current higher than a sum of maximum values of each module auxiliary current;
- generating an intermediate current equal to a difference between the stage current and a secondary current equal to a sum of each module auxiliary current;
- applying the intermediate current to a first impedance circuit, in a first branch of a regulating stage powered by the power supply to produce a reference potential across the first impedance circuit;
- and
- controlling a voltage of a voltage regulator of a second branch of the regulating stage to cause a voltage across a second impedance circuit in the second branch to be equal to the reference potential across the first impedance circuit, wherein a ratio of a resistance of the second impedance circuit to a resistance of the first impedance circuit is equal to the first fraction, and controlling the voltage of the voltage regulator comprises adjusting a second current flowing through the second impedance circuit while a first current flowing through the first impedance circuit remains at the intermediate current.
3 more elements
An electronic device comprising:
- a power supply terminal;
- at least one module connected to the power supply terminal and configured to consume a module current;
- a first current generator connected to the power supply terminal and configured to generate, for each module, a module auxiliary current equal to a first fraction of the corresponding module current;
- a first stage, connected to the power supply terminal, including at least one current source configured to supply a stage current higher than a sum of maximum values of each module auxiliary current;
- a second current generator configured to generate an intermediate current equal to a difference between the stage current and a secondary current equal to a sum of each module auxiliary current;
- a regulating stage connected to the power supply terminal comprising a first branch configured to generate a reference potential across a first impedance circuit from the intermediate current, a second branch comprising a second impedance circuit, a voltage regulator and a comparator configured to control a voltage of the voltage regulator by adjusting a current through the second impedance circuit while a current through the first impedance circuit remains at the intermediate current such that a potential across the second impedance circuit equal to the reference potential, wherein a ratio of a resistance of the second impedance circuit to a resistance of the first impedance circuit is equal to the first fraction;
- and
- a terminal stage connected to the first branch and configured to multiply the intermediate current by a multiplication factor equal to one.
5 more elements
An electronic device comprising:
- a module connected to a power supply terminal and configured to consume a module current;
- a first current mirror coupled to a current output of the module and configured to provide a module auxiliary current equal to a first fraction of the module current;
- an adjustable current source configured to provide a selectable current higher than the module auxiliary current;
- a second current mirror configured to generate an intermediate current by mirroring a difference between the selectable current and the module auxiliary current;
- a first resistor having a first terminal connected to the power supply terminal and a second terminal connected to an output of the second current mirror;
- a second resistor having a first terminal connected to the power supply terminal;
- a transistor having an output node coupled to a second terminal of the second resistor;
- and
- an amplifier having a first input connected to the second terminal of the first resistor, and second input connected to the second terminal of the second resistor, and an output coupled to a control terminal of the transistor, wherein the amplifier is configured to control a current flowing the second resistor while a current flowing through the first resistor remains at the intermediate current, and a ratio of the intermediate current to the current flowing through the second resistor is equal to a ratio of a resistance of the first resistor to a resistance of the second resistor.
6 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.