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US 2018/0026526 A1Published application
Multi-staged buck converter with efficient low power operation
AssigneeDialog Semiconductor (UK) Limited
InventorsErshad Ahmed, Sorin Laurentiu Negru, Chi-Man Ng, Alin Gherghescu
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Abstract
A system and method of increasing the efficiency in multi-stage power converters by providing an open loop charge pump stage which reacts in part based on information from a closed loop multi-phase buck converter stage.
Claims20
A method of operating a two-staged DC/DC power converter comprising:
- dividing an input voltage in a charge pump clocked according to a first frequency for a clock signal to produce a charge pump output voltage;
- while the charge pump is clocked according to the first frequency, operating a multi-phase buck converter using each phase in a plurality of phases to convert the charge pump output voltage into a regulated buck converter output voltage responsive to an output load, each phase including an inductor, a high-side switch, and a low-side switch;
- adjusting the clock signal to cycle at a second frequency lower than the first frequency;
- clocking the charge pump according to the second frequency of the clock signal to divide the input voltage to produce the charge pump output voltage;
- and
- while the charge pump is clocked according to the second frequency, operating the multi-phase buck converter with a reduced set of the phases to convert the charge pump output voltage into the regulated buck converter output voltage, wherein the reduced set of phases is less than the plurality of phases by a phase reduction, and wherein the second frequency is lower than the first frequency by a frequency reduction that is proportional to the phase reduction.
3 more elements
A two-stage DC/DC power converter, comprising:
- a charge pump configured to divide in input voltage into a charge pump output voltage responsive to clock signal;
- a multi-phase buck converter having a plurality of phases, each phase including an inductor, a high-side switch, and a low-side switch;
- and
- a controller configured to command the multi-phase buck converter to use each phase in the plurality of phases to convert the charge pump output voltage into a regulated buck converter output voltage while the charge pump is clocked according to a first frequency, wherein the controller is further configured to command the multi-phase buck converter to use a reduced set of the phases to convert the charge pump output voltage into the regulated buck converter output voltage while the charge pump is clocked according to a second frequency that is lower than the first frequency by a frequency reduction, and wherein the reduced set of phases is less than the plurality of phases by a phase reduction, and wherein the frequency reduction is proportional to the phase reduction.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.