Combination continuous and discontinuous control of a power regulator

A power regulator system comprising:

• a switching system comprising at least one switch and an inductor the switching system being configured to provide an output voltage based on a current through the inductor;
• a switch driver configured to provide a switching signal to the switching system to control the at least one switch to provide the current through the at least one inductor;
• and
• a mode controller configured to switch the switch driver between a continuous mode of operation and a discontinuous mode of operation based on the output voltage and based on at least one other predetermined operating condition of each of the continuous mode of operation and the discontinuous mode of operation,
• the switch driver is configured to generate a pulse having a predetermined length of time in response to the discharge of the current through the inductor to control the at least one switch to begin providing the current through the inductor.

A method of generating an output voltage from a power regulator system, the method comprises:

• operating in a continuous mode of operation to control at least one switch over a plurality of cycles to provide a current through an inductor, the output voltage depending on the current through the inductor;
• operating in a discontinuous mode of operation to control the at least one switch to provide the current through the inductor;
• and
• switching between the continuous mode of operation and the discontinuous mode of operation based on at least one predetermined condition associated with a predetermined duration of time in a respective one of the continuous mode of operation and the discontinuous mode of operation,
• wherein operating in the continuous mode of operation further comprises generating a predetermined number of pulses having a predefined duty-cycle to control the at least one switch during the continuous mode of operation, the predetermined number of pulses defining the predetermined duration of time in the continuous mode of operation.

A power regulator system comprising:

• means for generating an output voltage based on a current through an inductor in response to a switching signal;
• means for controlling the switching signal in a continuous mode of operation to maintain the current through the inductor;
• means for controlling the switching signal in a discontinuous mode of operation to discharge the current through the inductor;
• and
• means for switching between the continuous mode of operation and the discontinuous mode of operation based on at least one of a feedback voltage corresponding to the output voltage relative to at least one threshold and at least one predetermined operating condition associated with a predetermined duration of time in each of the respective continuous mode of operation and the discontinuous mode of operation,
• wherein the means for switching comprises means for comparing the feedback voltage with a predetermined high voltage threshold and a predetermined low voltage threshold, the means for switching being configured to switch to the continuous mode of operation in response to the feedback voltage being less than the predetermined low voltage threshold and to switch from the continuous mode of operation to the discontinuous mode of operation in response to the feedback voltage being greater than the predetermined high voltage threshold.