Hybrid Power Converter Circuit With Resonant Mode and Pulse Width Modulation Mode

An apparatus comprising:

• a power supply;
• a power converter circuit receiving power from the power supply, the power converter circuit comprising:
• a transformer dividing the power converter circuit into a primary side and a secondary side;
• a switching circuit disposed on the primary side;
• and
• a rectifier circuit disposed on the secondary side and configured to provide the power to a load;
• wherein:
• the switching circuit operates in a resonant mode with zero voltage switching (ZVS) using a fixed duty cycle and a variable switching frequency that varies between a minimum frequency (Fmin) and a maximum frequency (Fmax) based on a power consumption of the load being above a threshold, and
• the switching circuit operates in a forward pulse width modulation (PWM) mode with ZVS using a fixed switching frequency and a duty cycle that varies based on the power consumption of the load being below the threshold.

A method of operating a power converter circuit including switching circuit, transformer, and rectifier circuit configured to provide power to a load, the method comprising:

• determining an amount of power consumption of the load relative to a threshold;
• responsive to determining that the amount of power consumption is above the threshold, operating the switching circuit in a resonant mode with zero voltage switching (ZVS) using a fixed duty cycle and a variable switching frequency that varies between a minimum frequency (Fmin) and a maximum frequency (Fmax) based on the amount of the power consumption of the load;
• and
• responsive to determining that the amount of power consumption is below the threshold, operating the switching circuit in a forward pulse width modulation (PWM) mode with ZVS using a fixed switching frequency and a duty cycle that varies based on the amount of the power consumption of the load.