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US 9,318,968 B2Granted
DC-DC converter circuit for high input-to-output voltage conversion
AssigneeUniversity of Toronto Governing Council
InventorPeter Waldemar Lehn
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present invention provides a series of DC-DC converter circuit designs, and DC-DC converters based on such circuit design, that provide high input-to-output voltage conversion. The converters include a resonant tank and a means for interrupting the tank current to produce a near zero-loss “hold” state wherein zero current and/or zero voltage switching is provided, while providing control over the amount of power transfer. A resonant DC-DC converter for high voltage step-up ratio in accordance with the circuit design includes: (a) a low voltage DC-AC converter, (b) a resonant tank, (c) a high voltage AC-DC converter, (d) a (i) common ground on an input and an output without use of a transformer and/or (ii) a single high voltage controllable switch within the resonant tank.
Claims19
A resonant dc-dc converter, comprising:
- (a) a low voltage full-bridge or half-bridge dc-ac converter coupled to an input dc voltage at an input terminal of the dc-dc converter;
- (b) a resonant tank coupled to the dc-ac converter;
- (c) a high voltage ac-dc rectifier coupled to the resonant tank, and having an output terminal of the dc-dc converter;
- and
- (d) a controllable switch within the resonant tank, said controllable switch being controllable to periodically alternate between a first state and a second state and to periodically discontinue tank oscillation in the resonant tank by causing the converter to enter a hold state while the controllable switch is in the first state, and thereby periodically suspending power transfer by the dc-dc converter to control a rate of power transfer from the input terminal to an output terminal;
- wherein the hold state is caused by operating the controllable switch in a non-conducting state.
3 more elements
A resonant dc-dc converter comprising:
- (a) a low voltage dc-ac converter coupled to an input dc voltage;
- (b) a resonant tank coupled to the dc-ac converter at an input terminal of the dc-dc converter;
- (c) a high voltage ac-dc converter coupled to the resonant tank and having an output terminal of the dc-dc converter;
- and (d) a controllable switch within the resonant tank circuit being controllable to periodically alternate between a first state and a second state and to periodically discontinue tank oscillation in the resonant tank by causing the converter to enter a hold state while the controllable switch is in the first state, and thereby periodically suspending power transfer by the dc-dc converter to control a rate of power transfer from the input terminal to the output terminal;
- wherein the resonant dc-dc converter for high voltage step-up ratio is operable to provide one or more of the following:
- (i) a common ground plane for input and output;
- and (ii) a transformer between input and output;
- wherein hold state is caused by operating the controllable switch in a non-conducting state.
5 more elements
A resonant dc-dc converter comprising:
- (a) a low voltage dc-ac converter coupled to an input dc voltage at an input terminal of the dc-dc converter;
- (b) a resonant tank coupled to the dc-ac converter;
- (c) a high voltage ac-dc converter coupled to the resonant tank and having an output terminal of the dc-dc converter;
- (d) a controllable switch within a circuit of the resonant tank being controllable to periodically alternate between a first state and a second state and to periodically discontinue tank oscillation in the resonant tank by causing the converter to enter a hold state while the controllable switch is in the first state, and thereby periodically suspending power transfer by the dc-dc converter to control a rate of power transfer from the input terminal to the output terminal;
- and (e) a common ground plane for an input and output that does not require use of a transformer;
- wherein the hold state is caused by operating the controllable switch in a non-conducting state.
3 more elements
A dc-dc converter with a transformer, wherein the dc-dc converter with the transformer comprises:
- (a) a resonant tank;
- (b) a switch, controllable with a circuit of the dc-dc converter with a transformer to periodically perform high voltage blocking of resonance by maintaining a high voltage across the switch, thereby periodically alternating between a first state and a second state and periodically discontinuing tank oscillation in the resonant tank by causing the dc-dc converter to enter a hold state while the switch is in the first state, to periodically suspend power transfer by the dc-dc converter to control a rate of power transfer from the input dc voltage to an output dc voltage;
- (c) a converter on a low voltage side;
- and (d) an output rectifier on a high voltage side;
- wherein the hold state is caused by operating the switch in a non-conducting state.
2 more elements
A resonant dc-dc converter, comprising:
- (a) a low voltage full-bridge or half-bridge dc-ac converter coupled to an input dc voltage;
- (b) a resonant tank coupled to the dc-ac converter;
- (c) a transformer coupled to the resonant tank;
- (d) an output rectifier coupled to the transformer to provide bi-polar (positive, neutral and negative) dc output;
- and
- (e) a controllable switch within the resonant tank, said controllable switch being controllable to periodically alternate between a first state and a second state and to periodically discontinue tank oscillation in the resonant tank by causing the dc-dc converter to enter a hold state while the controllable switch is in the first state, periodically suspending power transfer by the dc-dc converter to control a rate of power transfer from the input dc voltage to an output dc voltage;
- wherein the hold state is caused by operating the controllable switch in a non-conducting state.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.