Direct current voltage conversion circuit having multiple operational configurations

A direct current voltage conversion circuit, comprising:

• an input terminal for receiving a direct current input voltage to be converted;
• an output terminal for delivering an output voltage resulting from the conversion of the input voltage;
• a low-pass filter module with one output connected to the output terminal and one input connected to a first node of the direct current voltage conversion circuit;
• and
• a capacitor module connected between the first node and a second node of the direct current voltage conversion circuit;
• wherein:
• the first node is connected to a first switching module configured to switch between applying and not applying potentials to the first node as a function of phases of operation of the direct current voltage conversion circuit;
• the second node is connected to a second switching module configured to switch between applying and not applying potentials to the second node as a function of phases of operation of the direct current voltage conversion circuit;
• and
• the output voltage varies as a function of a duty cycle between durations of the phases of operation of the direct current voltage conversion circuit and the input voltage;
• and
• the direct current voltage conversion circuit is operative to transition between any of the following operational configurations, each comprising alternating between two or more phases of operation,
• a step-up configuration in which the voltage at the output terminal is equal to or greater than the voltage at the input terminal,
• an inverting step-down configuration in which the voltage at the output terminal is of opposite polarity and equal to or less than the voltage at the input terminal, and
• a step-up/down configuration in which the voltage at the output terminal varies between values greater than and less than the voltage at the input terminal.