Control loop and efficiency enhancement for DC-DC converters

A device comprising a DC-DC boost converter, wherein the DC-DC boost converter comprises:

• an inductor coupled between an input voltage and an input node;
• a diode coupled between the input node and an output node;
• an output capacitor coupled between the output node and ground such that an output voltage is formed across the output capacitor;
• a switch selectively coupling the input node to ground in response to a drive signal;
• and
• control loop circuitry comprising:
• an error amplifier configured to generate an analog error voltage based upon a comparison of a feedback voltage to a reference voltage, the feedback voltage being indicative of the output voltage;
• a quantizer configured to quantize the analog error voltage to produce a digital error signal;
• and
• a drive voltage generation circuit configured to generate the drive signal as having a duty cycle based upon the digital error signal;
• wherein the DC-DC boost converter is operable in a normal mode in which the drive voltage generation circuit generates the drive signal as periodic with the duty cycle thereof selectively adjusted based upon the digital error signal;
• and
• wherein the DC-DC boost converter is operable in a skip mode in which the drive voltage generation circuit skips generation of selected pulses of the drive signal with the duty cycle thereof being changed based upon the digital error signal only when the digital error signal indicates that the analog error voltage is greater than one half of a full scale voltage of the error amplifier.