Semiconductor device and control method thereof
AssigneeRenesas Electronics Corporation
InventorHideaki Tanaka
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A semiconductor device includes: first and second switching elements connected in series through a switching node; a pulse control unit that pulse-controls switching operations of the first and the second switching elements; an inductor that outputs an output voltage from a second end, a first end of the inductor being coupled to the switching node; a detection unit that detects that an inductor current flowing through the inductor is zero; and a first determination unit that determines that an operation mode of an external circuit to which the output voltage is supplied is a second mode when a period during which the inductor current is zero is longer than a first reference period, a power consumption in the second mode being smaller than that in a first mode.
Claims13
A semiconductor device comprising:
- first and second switching elements connected in series through a switching node;
- a pulse control unit that pulse-controls switching operations of the first and the second switching elements;
- an inductor that outputs an output voltage from a second end, a first end of the inductor being coupled to the switching node;
- a detection unit that detects that an inductor current flowing through the inductor is zero;
- and
- a first determination unit that determines that an operation mode of an external circuit to which the output voltage is supplied is a second mode when a period during which the inductor current is zero is longer than a first reference period, a power consumption in the second mode being smaller than that in a first mode.
A control method of a semiconductor device comprising:
- detecting that an inductor current flowing through an inductor is zero, a first end of the inductor being coupled to a switching node between first and second switching elements connected in series, and an output voltage being output from a second end of the inductor;
- and
- determining that an operation mode of an external circuit to which the output voltage is supplied is a second mode when a period during which the inductor current is zero is longer than a first reference period, a power consumption in the second mode being smaller than that in a first mode.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.