On/off modulation of a switching cell-based power converter
AssigneeFINsix Corporation
InventorsAnthony D. Sagneri, Jae-Won George Hwang, Justin Michael Burkhart, Fred Chen
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Abstract
A method of on/off modulation of a very high frequency switching cell-based power converter includes receiving an input voltage signal to be applied to a plurality of series stacked very high frequency power converter cells for producing an output voltage and/or current, and controlling a portion of the plurality of series stacked high frequency power converter cells through on/off modulation of at least one of the plurality of series stacked high frequency power converter cells to control the output current and/or the output voltage.
Claims23
A method, comprising:
- receiving a power input for a plurality of stacked power converter cells, the plurality of stacked power converter cells producing an output voltage or output current using the power input, the plurality of stacked power converter cells including a capacitor having a terminal connected between a first power input terminal of a first power converter cell of the plurality of stacked power converter cells and a second power input terminal of a second power converter cell of the plurality of stacked power converter cells;
- controlling activation of one or more stacked power converter cells of the plurality of stacked power converter cells based on the power input;
- determining at least one of the output current and the output voltage;
- and
- controlling at least one activated power converter cell of the plurality of stacked power converter cells through on/off modulation of the at least one activated power converter cell to control at least one of the output current and the output voltage.
A power converter, comprising:
- a plurality of stacked power cells configured to receive a power input and to provide an output by processing the power input, the plurality of stacked power cells having a switching frequency;
- a controller configured to control activation of one or more stacked power cells of the plurality of stacked power cells based on the power input, the controller further being configured to control the output using on/off modulation of at least one activated power cell of the plurality of stacked power cells at a frequency lower than the switching frequency of the plurality of stacked power cells;
- and
- a capacitor having a terminal connected between a first power input terminal of a first power cell of the plurality of stacked power cells and a second power input terminal of a second power cell of the plurality of stacked power cells.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.