US 2025/0167683 A1 · COMMUNICATING HEALTH INFORMATION OF A POWER STAGE IN A MULTI-PHASE SWITCHING CONVERTER

Abstract

A multi-phase switching converter includes a power stage and a phase controller. The power stage is designed to record parameters representing internal health information in the form of a set of bits. The phase controller is designed to control the power stage as well as other power stages to cause the power stages to together generate a regulated power supply. The phase controller drives a first signal to a first state and then a second state to cause the power stage to be in an active state and an inactive state respectively. The power stage transmits the set of bits to the phase controller serially on a first path after the first signal is driven to the first state. In an embodiment, the power stage inserts a bit-boundary indicating logic/voltage level between successive pairs of transmitted bits in the set to signal boundaries between the bits.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A multi-phase switching converter comprising:

a power stage to record parameters representing internal health information in the form of a set of bits;
and
a phase controller to control a plurality of power stages including said power stage to cause said plurality of power stages to together generate a regulated power supply,
said phase controller driving a first signal to a first state and then a second state to cause said power stage to be in an active state and an inactive state respectively,
wherein said power stage transmits said set of bits to said phase controller on a first path after said first signal is driven to said first state.

2 more elements

A power stage comprising:

a high-side switch and a low-side switch to respectively drive an inductor in a first interval and a second interval periodically based on a control signal received from a phase controller, wherein a magnitude of inductor-current flowing through said inductor is determined by ON durations of said high-side switch and said low-side switch as set by said control signal, wherein said phase controller controls a plurality of power stages including said power stage to cause said plurality of power stages to together generate a regulated power supply;
and
a fault communication block to record parameters representing internal health information in the form of a set of bits,
wherein said phase controller drives a first signal to a first state and then a second state to cause said power stage to be in an active state and an inactive state respectively,
wherein said fault communication block transmits said set of bits to said phase controller on a first path after said first signal is driven to said first state.

2 more elements

A phase controller coupled to a power stage, said phase controller to control operation of said power stage to cause said power stage to generate a regulated power supply, wherein said power stage is designed to record parameters representing internal health information in the form of a set of bits, said phase controller comprising:

a control unit to drive a first signal to a first state and then a second state to cause said power stage to be in an active state and an inactive state respectively;
and
an input interface to receive said set of bits on a first path when said power stage transmits said set of bits to said phase controller on said first path after said first signal is driven to said first state.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Communicating health information of a power stage in a multi-phase switching converter

Life of this patent

Communicating health information of a power stage in a multi-phase switching converter

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims20