Charge balanced charge pump control
AssigneepSemi Corporation
InventorsAichen Low, Gregory Szczeszynski, David Giuliano
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Abstract
Operating a charge pump in which switches from a first set of switches couple capacitor terminals to permit charge transfer between them and in which switches from a second set of switches couple capacitor terminals of capacitors to either a high-voltage or a low-voltage terminal includes cycling the switches through a sequence of states, each state defining a corresponding configuration of the switches. At least three of the states define different configurations of the switches. During each of the configurations, charge transfer is permitted between a pair of elements, one of which is a first capacitor and another of which is either a second capacitor or the first terminal.
Claims20
A method comprising operating a charge pump in which switches from a first set of switches are configured to couple terminals of capacitors to permit charge transfer between said capacitors and in which switches from a second set of switches are configured to couple terminals of capacitors to a first terminal, wherein said first terminal is selected from the group consisting of a high-voltage terminal and a low-voltage terminal, wherein operating said charge pump comprises cycling said switches through a sequence of states, each state defining a corresponding configuration of said switches, at least three of said states defining different configurations of said switches, wherein, during each of said configurations, charge transfer is permitted between a pair of elements, wherein said pair of elements consists of a first capacitor and an element selected from the group consisting of a second capacitor and said first terminal.
An apparatus comprising a controller and a plurality of switches, wherein said plurality of switches, when connected to a plurality of capacitors, forms a cascade multiplier, wherein said controller is configured to cause said switches to execute a plurality of cycles, each of which comprises at least first, second, and third states that last for corresponding first, second, and third state-duration times, each state being associated with a corresponding first, second, and third configuration of said switches, wherein, at the beginning of a cycle, each of said capacitors stores an initial amount of charge, wherein, at the end of said cycle, each of said capacitors stores a final amount of charge, and wherein said first, second, and third state-duration times are selected such that said initial and final amounts are equal.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.