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US 12,401,281 B2Granted
Multiphase DC-DC switching converter circuit, corresponding power management integrated circuit and display device
AssigneeSTMicroelectronics S.r.l.
InventorsStefano Ramorini, Giuseppe Calderoni
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A multiphase DC-DC converter has two converter arrangements, each with a switching stage that has a switching node, an inductor, a converter output node, a high-side switch, and a low-side switch. Current sensing circuits detect the instantaneous current flowing through either the high-side or low-side switches, and signal time-averaging circuits produce time-averaged signals indicating the average current during a switch conduction interval. The time-averaged signals are added up and re-scaled based on the time period of the switching nodes' electrical coupling to the converter output nodes to generate an output signal for the average output current.
Claims24
An electronic device comprising a multiphase DC-DC switching converter circuit, the multiphase DC-DC switching converter circuit including:
- a first DC-DC converter arrangement, including:
- a first switching stage having a first switching node and a first converter output node, the first switching stage including a first high-side switch and a first low-side switch;
- a first current sensing circuit configured to produce a first detection signal indicative of an instantaneous current flowing through one of said first high-side switch and said first low-side switch;
- and
- a first time-averaging circuit configured to receive said first detection signal and produce, as a function thereof, a first time-averaged signal indicative of an average current flowing through said one of said first high-side switch and said first low-side switch during a respective switch conduction interval;
- wherein said first current sensing circuit and said first time-averaging circuit are configured to produce said first time-averaged signal indicative, during said respective switch conduction interval, of the instantaneous current flowing through said one of said first high-side switch and said first low-side switch, and outside of said respective switch conduction interval, of the average current flowing through said one of said first high-side switch and said first low-side switch;
- a second DC-DC converter arrangement, including:
- a second switching stage having a second switching node and a second converter output node, the second switching stage including a second high-side switch and a second low-side switch;
- a second current sensing circuit configured to produce a second detection signal indicative of an instantaneous current flowing through one of said second high-side switch and said second low-side switch;
- and
- a second time-averaging circuit configured to receive said second detection signal and produce, as a function thereof, a second time-averaged signal indicative of an average current flowing through said one of said second high-side switch and said second low-side switch during a respective switch conduction interval;
- wherein said second current sensing circuit and said second time-averaging circuit are configured to produce said second time-averaged signal indicative, during said respective switch conduction interval, of the instantaneous current flowing through said one of said second high-side switch and said second low-side switch, and outside of said respective switch conduction interval, of the average current flowing through said one of said second high-side switch and said second low-side switch;
- and
- signal summation and re-scaling circuitry comprising:
- a current adder circuit configured to produce a voltage signal indicative of a sum of said first and second time-averaged signals;
- and
- a re-scaler circuit configured to re-scale said voltage signal by a factor equal to (Ta+Tb)/(TSWa+TSWb), wherein Ta is a time period during which said first switching node is electrically coupled to said first converter output node, Tb is a time period during which said second switching node is electrically coupled to said second converter output node, TSWa is a switching period of said first DC-DC converter arrangement, and TSWb is a switching period of said second DC-DC converter arrangement to thereby produce an output signal indicative of an average output current of said multiphase DC-DC switching converter circuit.
14 more elements
An electronic device comprising a multiphase DC-DC switching converter circuit, the multiphase DC-DC switching converter circuit including:
- a first DC-DC converter arrangement, including:
- a first switching stage having a first switching node and a first converter output node, the first switching stage including a first high-side switch and a first low-side switch;
- a first current sensing circuit configured to produce a first detection signal indicative of an instantaneous current flowing through one of said first high-side switch and said first low-side switch;
- and
- a first time-averaging circuit configured to receive said first detection signal and produce, as a function thereof, a first time-averaged signal indicative of an average current flowing through said one of said first high-side switch and said first low-side switch during a respective switch conduction interval;
- a second DC-DC converter arrangement, including:
- a second switching stage having a second switching node and a second converter output node, the second switching stage including a second high-side switch and a second low-side switch;
- a second current sensing circuit configured to produce a second detection signal indicative of an instantaneous current flowing through one of said second high-side switch and said second low-side switch;
- and
- a second time-averaging circuit configured to receive said second detection signal and produce, as a function thereof, a second time-averaged signal indicative of an average current flowing through said one of said second high-side switch and said second low-side switch during a respective switch conduction interval;
- and
- signal summation and re-scaling circuitry comprising:
- a voltage adder circuit configured to produce, at a respective output node, a voltage signal indicative of a sum of said first time-averaged signal and said second time-averaged signal;
- a re-scaler circuit configured to re-scale said voltage signal by a factor equal to (Ta+Tb)/(TSWa+TSWb), wherein Ta is a time period during which said first switching node is electrically coupled to said first converter output node, Tb is a time period during which said second switching node is electrically coupled to said second converter output node, TSWa is a switching period of said first DC-DC converter arrangement, and TSWb is a switching period of said second DC-DC converter arrangement to thereby produce an output signal indicative of an average output current of said multiphase DC-DC switching converter circuit.
11 more elements
An electronic device, comprising:
- a multiphase DC-DC switching converter circuit with two converter arrangements, wherein each converter arrangement includes:
- a switching stage with high-side and low-side switches;
- a current sensing circuit for detecting instantaneous current through the high-side switch or the low-side switch;
- and
- a time-averaging circuit for producing averaged signals based on sensed current;
- a current adder configured to sum the averaged signals;
- and
- a re-scaler circuit configured to rescale the sum to thereby produce an output signal representing an average output current of the multiphase DC-DC switching converter circuit.
5 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.