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US 8,076,968 B1Granted
Low-input-voltage charge pump
AssigneeFairchild Semiconductor Corporation
InventorBrian H. Floyd
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
In an embodiment, a charge pump of relatively simple design is provided which can generate sufficient drive voltage for a power switching device from a low-supply-voltage (e.g., 1V). In some embodiments, this charge pump performs better at lower input voltages when there are loading conditions (i.e., when the charge-pump output powers other circuit blocks such as amplifiers and LDO's).
Claims19
A charge pump system comprising:
- an input terminal at which an input voltage is received;
- an output terminal at which at an output voltage is provided;
- N stages connected in cascade between the input terminal and the output terminal,
- wherein each of the N stages comprises:
- a first transistor connected at a node to a second transistor, wherein the first transistor receives a respective first control signal and the second transistor receives a respective second control signal, wherein the respective first and second control signals are operable to turn on and off the first and second transistors;
- a first capacitor coupled at one end to the node between the first and second transistors, the first capacitor coupled at another end to receive one of two non-overlapping phase signals;
- and
- wherein at one value for one of the two non-overlapping phase signals the first capacitor of the stage is charged by a respective stage input voltage, and wherein at another value for one of the two non-overlapping phase signals the first capacitor of the stage is discharged to provide a respective stage output voltage;
- and
- wherein for at least some of the N stages, the first control signal is provided from a subsequent stag;
- and wherein for each of the second through the N-th stages, the second control signal is provided from a prior stage of the charge pump system;
- wherein the charge pump system is capable of generating the output voltage with a greater magnitude than the input voltage even when the supply voltage is below 1V.
9 more elements
A charge pump system comprising:
- an input terminal at which an input voltage is received;
- an output terminal at which at an output voltage is provided;
- first through Nth stages connected in cascade between the input terminal and the output terminal,
- wherein each of the first through Nth stages comprises:
- a first transistor connected at a node to a second transistor, wherein the first transistor receives a respective first control signal and the second transistor receives a respective second control signal, wherein the respective first and second control signals are operable to turn on and off the first and second transistors;
- a first capacitor coupled at one end to the node between the first and second transistors, the first capacitor coupled at another end to receive one of two non-overlapping phase signals;
- and
- wherein at one value for one of the two non-overlapping phase signals the first capacitor of the stage is charged by a respective stage input voltage, and wherein at another value for one of the two non-overlapping phase signals the first capacitor of the stage is discharged to provide a respective stage output voltage;
- and
- wherein for the first through (N−1)th stages, the first control signal is provided from a subsequent stage;
- wherein for the second through Nth stages, the second control signal is provided from a preceding stage;
- wherein the charge pump system is capable of generating the output voltage with a greater magnitude than the input voltage even when the supply voltage is below 1V.
9 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.