Multi-cell voltage regulator and method thereof
AssigneeTexas Instruments Incorporated
InventorRais Miftakhutdinov
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present invention relates to multi-cell regulator systems and methods. Power supply delivery and regulation is provided to electronic devices disposed on a PCB board. A voltage regulator cell system is provided for a respective voltage regulation cell region, such that the supply voltage is regulated over the area of the power plane and the ground plane. The voltage regulator cell systems are provided with feedback loops at corresponding voltage regulation cell regions, which are compared with a reference voltage to adjust for difference errors. Various systems and methodologies are provided to obtain a desired reference voltage. Power supply delivery performance is further improved by accurate current sharing between voltage regulator cell systems.
Claims33
A multi-cell voltage regulator system comprising:
- a printed circuit board having a power plane and a ground plane, the printed circuit board having a plurality of voltage regulation cell areas;
- and
- a plurality of voltage regulator cell systems operative to provide a regulated voltage at a respective voltage regulation cell area, the plurality of voltage regulator cell systems determining a difference error by comparing a feedback signal from a point at the respective voltage regulation cell area to a reference voltage to regulate voltage within the respective voltage regulation cell area by a corresponding voltage regulator cell system.
A printed circuit board having a plurality of electronic devices disposed thereon, the printed circuit board comprising:
- a plurality of voltage regulation cell regions;
- and
- a plurality of voltage regulator cell systems operative to provide a regulated voltage at a respective voltage regulation cell region, the plurality of voltage regulator cell systems having a predetermined fixed output impedance component to facilitate current sharing between the plurality of voltage regulator cell systems.
A method for regulating voltage to a printed circuit board having a plurality of electronic devices disposed thereon, the method comprising:
- determining a plurality of voltage regulation cell areas of a printed circuit board;
- providing a voltage regulator cell system for each of the plurality of voltage regulation cell areas;
- providing a regulated output voltage at a respective voltage regulation cell area by a respective voltage regulator cell system;
- and
- determining a difference error by comparing a feedback signal from a point at the respective voltage regulation cell area to a reference voltage to regulate voltage within the respective voltage regulation cell area by a corresponding voltage regulator cell system.
A system for regulating voltage at a plurality of voltage regulation cell areas, the system comprising:
- a plurality of means for providing a regulated output voltage, one of the plurality of means for providing a regulated output voltage dedicated to each of the voltage regulation cell areas;
- means for determining a difference error of a feedback signal from a point at the respective voltage regulation cell area and a reference voltage for each of the plurality of means for providing a regulated output voltage;
- and
- means for adjusting the respective outputs based on the respective difference error.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.