Charge pump with controlled charge current
AssigneeTexas Instruments Incorporated
InventorHaoran Zhang
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A charge pump circuit is configured for suitably controlling the charging current in the charge pump capacitors. The charge pump circuit comprises an input current controlling circuit comprising a current limiting device for controlling the inrush current, and thus the charging current in the charge pump capacitors. The input current controlling circuit is configured to regulate the average voltage at the output of the current limiting device to correspond to the average voltage at the output of a pass device configured for regulating the output current. Accordingly, the total input current, and thus the charging current in the charge pump capacitors, can be suitably controlled at all times to significantly reduce the impact of any instantaneous charging currents.
Claims25
A charge pump circuit configured for providing a regulated output voltage, said charge pump circuit comprising:
- a supply input terminal for receiving a supply voltage;
- a charge pump control circuit configured for regulation of said output voltage;
- an output load circuit comprising a reservoir capacitor and a load device, said output load circuit configured for maintaining a voltage charge on said load device;
- an output current controlling circuit coupled between said input terminal and said charge pump control circuit at a first node, said output current controlling circuit configured for controlling output current to facilitate regulation of said output voltage, and
- an input current controlling circuit coupled between said input terminal and said charge pump control circuit at a second node, said input current controlling circuit configured for controlling inrush current received from said input terminal by regulating an average voltage at said second node to correspond to an average voltage at said first node.
A charge pump circuit configured for dual phase voltage regulation, said charge pump circuit comprising:
- an input supply voltage terminal;
- a dual phase charge pump control circuit comprising a first charge pump capacitor and a second charge pump capacitor;
- an output load circuit coupled to said charge pump control circuit, said output load circuit comprising a reservoir capacitor and a load device, said reservoir capacitor coupled in parallel to said load device;
- a pass device coupled between said input supply voltage terminal and said charge pump control circuit, said pass device having a control terminal configured for receiving a first control signal for facilitating control of discharging current flowing through said first charge pump capacitor and said second charge pump capacitor;
- and
- an input current control circuit comprising a current limiting device coupled between said input supply voltage terminal and said charge pump control circuit, said input current control circuit configured for controlling charging current flowing through said first charge pump capacitor and said second charge pump capacitor.
A voltage regulator circuit for providing dual phase voltage regulation, said voltage regulator comprising:
- a dual phase charge pump control circuit comprising a first charge pump capacitor and a second charge pump capacitor;
- an output load circuit coupled to said dual phase charge pump control circuit, said output load circuit comprising a reservoir capacitor, a load device and a feedback resistor network, said reservoir capacitor coupled in parallel to said load device;
- a pass device coupled to said dual phase charge pump control circuit, said pass device having a control terminal configured for receiving a first control signal for facilitating control of discharging current flowing through said first charge pump capacitor and said second charge pump capacitor;
- an error amplifier having an output terminal coupled to said control terminal of said pass device, a positive input terminal coupled to said resistor feedback network, and a negative terminal configured to receive a reference voltage signal;
- and
- an input current control circuit coupled between said input supply voltage terminal and said charge pump control circuit and configured for controlling charging current flowing through said first charge pump capacitor and said second charge pump capacitor, said input current control circuit comprising a transconductance device and a current limiting device.
An electronic device comprising a charge pump circuit configured for providing a regulated output voltage, said charge pump circuit comprising:
- a charge pump control circuit configured for regulation of said output voltage;
- an output load circuit comprising a reservoir capacitor and a load device;
- an output current controlling circuit coupled to said charge pump control circuit at a first node, said output current controlling circuit configured for controlling output current to facilitate regulation of said output voltage, and
- an input current controlling circuit coupled between said input terminal and said charge pump control circuit at a second node, said input current controlling circuit configured for controlling inrush current received from said input terminal by regulating an average voltage at said second node to correspond to an average voltage at said first node.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.