Switched-capacitor power converters
AssigneepSemi Corporation
InventorsDavid Giuliano, Gregory Szczeszynski
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An apparatus for providing electric power to a load includes a power converter that accepts electric power in a first form and provides electric power in a second form. The power converter comprises a control system, a first stage, and a second stage in series. The first stage accepts electric power in the first form. The control system controls operation of the first and second stage. The first stage is either a switching network or a regulating network. The second stage is a regulating circuit when the first stage is a switching network, and a switching network otherwise.
Claims22
1-127. (canceled)
An apparatus having an input port and an output port, the apparatus comprising:
- a controller to generate one or more control signals;
- and
- a switching network to include at least a first group of switches and a second group of switches interconnected with a plurality of capacitors to implement one or more switching patterns via one or more switch configurations based, at least in part, on the one or more control signals, the one or more switching patterns to be implemented to transition the switching network between at least two states to facilitate an adiabatic charge transfer within the switching network,
- wherein the apparatus to include a power path to couple the input port and the output port, and
- wherein the switching network to be arranged in an electrical configuration with a regulator network to provide power to series-connected LEDs, the electrical configuration to include a first and a second inductor to be disposed on the power path to cooperate with the switching network so as to draw a relatively constant current from the switching network.
A power converter comprising:
- a set of capacitors to be interconnected via a plurality of switches to form a switched capacitor arrangement coupled to a voltage source, the plurality of switches to transition between a first and a second switch configurations, the first and the second switch configurations to comprise a full operating cycle of the switched capacitor arrangement;
- and
- a regulating network to receive a first voltage from the switched capacitor arrangement and to generate a regulated voltage to power a plurality of series-connected LEDs,
- wherein, during operation of the power converter, the first switch configuration to form a first switched capacitor network and the second switch configuration to form a second switch capacitor network, and
- wherein the switched capacitor arrangement to facilitate a voltage transformation between a first node and a second node of the switched capacitor arrangement.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.