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US 9,866,104 B2Granted
Circuits and methods for operating a switching regulator
AssigneeGazelle Semiconductor, Inc.
InventorsNicolas Stephane Monier, David Christian Gerard Tournatory
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Abstract
The present disclosure includes circuits and methods for controlling the operation of a switching regulator. Closing and opening high side and low side switches may be controlled so that an inductor current may be used to charge and/or discharge an intermediate switching node when both switches are open. In one embodiment, delays between a low-to-high transition and a high-to-low transition of an AC stage may be cycled over multiple periods of a DC stage.
Claims19
A method, comprising:
- turning off a first switch in a first stage of a switching regulator, the switching regulator further comprising a second stage in parallel with the first stage, wherein each of the first and second stages of the switching regulator comprises a buck configuration regulator stage;
- turning on a second switch in the first stage of the switching regulator after the first switch is turned off,
- wherein the second switch is turned on after one of a plurality of controlled time periods, wherein a current in an inductor changes a voltage on a node between a first terminal of the first switch and a first terminal of the second switch, and wherein the controlled time periods are configured according to different output currents so that the voltage on the node between the first switch and the second switch is equal to a voltage on a second terminal of the second switch after each controlled time period when the second switch is turned on.
A switching regulator circuit, comprising:
- a first stage and a second stage in parallel, wherein each of the first and second stages of the switching regulator comprises a buck configuration regulator stage, the first stage comprising:
- a first switch having a first terminal coupled to a first voltage and a second terminal coupled to a switching node;
- a second switch having a first terminal coupled to the switching node and a second terminal coupled to a second voltage;
- an inductor having a first terminal coupled to the switching node and a second terminal coupled to a switching regulator output node;
- and
- drive circuitry to produce a first signal to turn the first switch on and off and to produce a second signal to turn the second switch on and off,
- wherein the second switch is turned on after first switch is turned off, wherein a time period between the first switch turning off and the second switch turning on is one of a plurality of controlled time periods, wherein a current in the inductor changes a voltage on the switching node, and wherein the controlled time periods are configured according to different output currents so that the voltage on the switching node is equal to a voltage on the second terminal of the second switch after the controlled time period when the second switch is turned on.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.