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US 11,909,306 B2Granted
Transient compensation for power converter circuits
AssigneeApple Inc.
InventorsYue Wen, Hubert Attah, Wenxun Huang, Hao Zhou
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A power converter circuit included in a computer system regulates a power supply voltage used by other circuits in the computer system. During operation, the power converter circuit monitors the load current, and, in response to a transient in the load current, switches regulation modes to adapt to the new load conditions. Upon a detection of the end of the transient in the load current, the power converter returns to its original regulation mode.
Claims20
An apparatus, comprising:
- a voltage regulator circuit configured to generate a particular voltage level on a regulated power supply node using a first regulation mode;
- a detection circuit configured to detect a regulation event using a voltage level of the regulated power supply node;
- and
- a control circuit configured to:
- in response to a detection of the regulation event, change an operating mode of the voltage regulator circuit from the first regulation mode to a second regulation mode;
- and,
- in response to a detection of an end condition for the second regulation mode, change the operating mode from the second regulation mode to the first regulation mode;
- wherein one of the first and second regulation modes includes a valley-current regulation mode, and wherein another one of the first and second regulation modes includes a peak-current regulation mode.
5 more elements
A method, comprising:
- generating, by a voltage regulation circuit using a first regulation mode, a particular voltage level on a regulated power supply node;
- monitoring a voltage level of the regulated power supply node;
- in response to detecting a regulation event, changing an operating mode of the voltage regulation circuit from the first regulation mode to a second regulation mode;
- and
- in response to detecting an end condition for the second regulation mode, changing the operating mode of the voltage regulation circuit from the second regulation mode to the first regulation mode;
- wherein one of the first and second regulation modes includes a valley-current regulation mode, and wherein another one of the first and second regulation modes includes a Peak-current regulation mode.
3 more elements
An apparatus, comprising:
- a load circuit coupled to a regulated power supply node;
- and
- a power converter circuit configured to:
- generate, using a first regulation mode, a particular voltage level on the regulated power supply node;
- monitor a voltage level of the regulated power supply node;
- generate an event signal in response to a detection of a regulation event;
- change, using the event signal, an operating mode from the first regulation mode to a second regulation mode;
- generate a reset signal in response to a detection of an end condition for the second regulation mode;
- and
- change, using the reset signal, the operating mode from the second regulation mode to the first regulation mode;
- wherein one of the first and second regulation modes includes a valley-current regulation mode, and wherein another one of the first and second regulation modes includes a Peak-current regulation mode.
8 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.