Patent application number | Description | Published |
20080204160 | UNIVERSAL AND FAULT-TOLERANT MULTIPHASE DIGITAL PWM CONTROLLER FOR HIGH-FREQUENCY DC-DC CONVERTERS - A multiphase hybrid digital pulse width modulator can comprise a counter that is selectable between at least two different numbers of states to indicate a first portion of a switching period. Unclocked logic can indicate a second portion of the switching period. The unclocked logic can include a delay line. | 08-28-2008 |
20080204290 | PROGRAMMABLE ANALOG-TO-DIGITAL CONVERTER FOR LOW-POWER DC-DC SMPS - A voltage-to-time based windowed analog-to-digital converter (ADC) can have programmable reference voltage, conversion time, and accuracy of voltage regulation. The ADC can be fully implemented on a small silicon area and is suitable for implementation in various integrated digital controllers for high-frequency low-power switch-mode power supplies (SMPS). The programmable characteristics can be achieved through the utilization of the inherent averaging effect of the delay line or of the other voltage-to-time conversion structures and through the adjustments of delay cells' propagation times or the effective voltage-to-time conversion ratio in alternative structures. | 08-28-2008 |
20080204296 | Wide-input windowed nonlinear analog-to-digital converter for high-frequency digitally controlled SMPS - In embodiments, a new analog-to-digital converter (ADC) architecture can be used with switch-mode power supplies (SMPS) operating at switching frequencies higher than 10 MHz. Analog-to-digital converter embodiments can achieve very low power consumption, fast conversion time, and can be implemented with a simple hardware. Another noteworthy benefit is that certain ADC embodiments feature a non-linear gain characteristic that provides improved load transient response for digital controllers. | 08-28-2008 |
20080224756 | DIGITAL PULSE-WIDTH MODULATOR BASED ON NON-SYMMETRIC SELF-OSCILLATING CIRCUIT - A low-power digital pulse-width modulator (DPWM) architecture for high frequency dc-dc switch-mode power supplies (SMPS) is disclosed that is well-suited for integration in power management systems of small handheld devices. The DPWM can operate in a stand-alone mode, without external clock, and can be implemented on a portion of silicon area needed for other DPWM solutions. In addition it has low power consumption and provides a good linearity of the input-to-output characteristic, also not characteristic for other architectures. | 09-18-2008 |
20080225938 | DIGITAL PULSE FREQUENCY/PULSE AMPLITUDE (DPFM/DPAM) CONTROLLER FOR LOW-POWER SWITCHING-POWER SUPPLIES - A digital controller for dc-dc switching converters can operate under light load conditions. The controller can be suitable for the use in switch-mode power supplies providing regulated output voltage for handheld devices and other low-power electronics. To create long time intervals, compared to the propagation time of digital logic a DPFM/DPAM can use a ring oscillator with two sets of delay cells and two signals racing around the ring. | 09-18-2008 |
20080252280 | CONTINUOUS-TIME DIGITAL CONTROLLER FOR HIGH-FREQUENCY DC-DC CONVERTERS - The present invention is a voltage mode digital controller for low-power high-frequency dc-dc converters that has recovery time approaching physical limitations of a given power stage. It consists of a digital controller with load transient response approaching physical limitations of a given power stage that is suitable for low-power SMPS. In one aspect the invention is a method of utilizing a continuous-time digital signal processor (CT-DSP) for regulation of the operation of switch-mode power supplies. A CT-DSP can be used to instantaneously detect changes of voltage or current during transition periods and immediately perform control action that results in the fastest possible response. The invention may include current program mode controllers for SMPS where the input current is sensed as well as power factor correction rectifiers (PFC), where often input voltage, input current and output voltage are sensed. Upon sensing a deviation in the input voltage the CT-DSP is utilized to apply a switch-mode power operation whereby the controller switches between continuous-time and digital function. | 10-16-2008 |
20080303501 | Digital Controller for Dc-Dc Switching Converters for Operation at Ultra-High Constant Switching Frequencies - A digital controller for low-power DC-DC switch mode power supplies (SMPS) suitable for on-chip implementation and use in portable battery-powered systems is provided. The digital controller allows operation at ultra high constant switching frequencies and can be implemented with a simple low-power digital hardware. The digital controller includes a digital pulse width modulator (DPWM), based on a multibit 2 | 12-11-2008 |
20090267582 | SELF-TUNING DIGITAL CURRENT ESTIMATOR FOR LOW-POWER SWITCHING CONVERTERS - A switched mode power can use a digital controller to control the switching of the at least one switch of the switched mode power supply. The current through the power inductor can be estimated using a self-tuning digital current estimator. | 10-29-2009 |
20100117615 | ESR ZERO ESTIMATION AND AUTO-COMPENSATION IN DIGITALLY CONTROLLED BUCK CONVERTERS - One embodiment of the present invention is a digitally controlled DC-DC converter comprising of a power stage including at least one switch and an output capacitor. A digital controller can control the switching of the at least one switch. The digital controller can include logic to produce an indication related to a zero resulting from the equivalent series resistance (ESR) of the output capacitor and to update the control of the switching of the switch in the power stage based on the estimate. | 05-13-2010 |
20100141230 | SELF-TUNING SENSORLESS DIGITAL CURRENT-MODE CONTROLLER WITH ACCURATE CURRENT SHARING FOR MULTIPHASE DC-DC CONVERTERS - Embodiments of the present invention concern a multiphase switch-mode power supply. The multiple phase switch-mode power supply can have at least one switch and a digital controller to control the switching of the at least one switch. During a calibration period, the digital controller can freeze the current of all of the multiple phases except for a phase being calibrated. This can be done by fixing the current reference of the phases except for the phase being calibrated. | 06-10-2010 |
20100141349 | UNIVERSAL AND FAULT-TOLERANT MULTIPHASE DIGITAL PWM CONTROLLER FOR HIGH-FREQUENCY DC-DC CONVERTERS - A multiphase hybrid digital pulse width modulator can comprise a counter that is selectable between at least two different numbers of states to indicate a first portion of a switching period. Unclocked logic can indicate a second portion of the switching period. The unclocked logic can include a delay line. | 06-10-2010 |
20110204862 | DIGITAL CONTROL METHOD FOR IMPROVING HEAVY-TO-LIGHT (STEP DOWN) LOAD TRANSIENT RESPONSE OF SWITCH MODE POWER SUPPLIES - A method for improving heavy-to-light load transient response in low-power switch-mode power supplies is described. It uses a negative voltage input power rail and a digital controller with an extended duty ratio control value to provide faster discharging current slew rate in the switched mode power supplies (SMPS) inductor. | 08-25-2011 |
20110204988 | GLUE-LOGIC BASED METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR MINIMIZING LOSSES IN OVERSAMPLED DIGITALLY CONTROLLED DC-DC CONVERTERS - A practical method and system for oversampled digitally controlled DC-DC converters is presented. To minimize the switching losses while maintaining all advantages of the oversampling, “glue logic” and application specific oversampling digital pulse-width modulator are introduced. Experimental results demonstrate transient response with 50% smaller deviation than that of conventional controllers, allowing for proportional reduction in the size of the power stage output capacitor. | 08-25-2011 |
20120153907 | Dual-Stage Power Conversion - A circuit converts an input voltage to an output voltage. The circuit includes a first stage voltage converter that receives the input voltage and converts the input voltage. The first stage voltage converter includes a first buck converter having a double rail output: a first rail at a high intermediate voltage and a second rail at a low intermediate voltage. The circuit also includes a second stage voltage converter that receives the output rails and produces the output voltage. | 06-21-2012 |
20120223692 | SENSORLESS SELF-TUNING DIGITAL CURRENT PROGRAMMED MODE (CPM) CONTROLLER WITH MULTIPLE PARAMETER ESTIMATION AND THERMAL STRESS EQUALIZATION - A multiphase controller for a DC-to-DC power supply includes logic to estimate parameters for multiple phases that provide a combined output at a load. The estimated parameters include a current estimate and an effective resistance estimates for each phase so that a power estimate for each phase can be produced. The logic adjusts the operation of the phases using the power estimate for each phase. | 09-06-2012 |
20120249093 | POWER SUPPLY CONTROLLER - Exemplary embodiments are directed to a power controller. A method may include comparing a summation voltage comprising a sum of an amplified error voltage and a reference voltage with an estimated voltage to generate a comparator output signal. The method may also include generating a gate drive signal from the comparator output signal and filtering a signal coupled to a power stage to generate the estimated voltage. | 10-04-2012 |
20130090712 | FUNCTIONAL ELECTRICAL STIMULATION DEVICE AND SYSTEM, AND USE THEREOF - Disclosed herein is a functional electrical stimulation (FES) device and system. In one embodiment, sequential bipolar pulse stimulation may be provided to an area of a living body via one or more electrode leads applied to the area via a FES device comprising a current pulse generating circuit comprising output nodes for operative coupling to the one or more electrode leads, and configured for operative coupling to a voltage supply. The current pulse generating circuit generally comprises positive and negative stimulation paths drawing from the voltage supply to respectively apply positive and negative currents through the area via the one or more electrode leads. In one example, the stimulation paths comprise respective capacitive elements, a capacitance ratio of which dictating, at least in part, an amplitude ratio of the positive and negative currents, wherein periodic alternative activation of the stimulation paths provides the sequential bipolar pulse stimulation. In another example, each path comprises a respective charging element and a respective activation switch, wherein each respective charging element is charged by the voltage supply and discharged upon activation of the respective activation switch to generate positive and negative current pulses respectively, such that a pulse rise time of the positive and negative current pulses is predominantly dictated by a switching speed of each respective switch. Systems and uses for these devices, and FES in general, are also described. | 04-11-2013 |
20130201729 | LOW-VOLUME PROGRAMMABLE-OUTPUT PFC RECTIFIER WITH DYNAMIC EFFICIENCY AND TRANSIENT RESPONSE OPTIMIZATION - The present invention is a system, apparatus and method of a PFC rectifier having a programmable output voltage that does not incur a drastic penalty in the overall size or volume of the device, or a significant degradation in efficiency. The PFC rectifier of the present invention may incorporate a two-stage solution for output voltage regulation. The present invention provides a topology of a small-size/volume PFC rectifier with a variable (i.e. programmable) output voltage and a complementary control method. The two-stage system of the present invention incorporates a smaller and lower cost capacitor than the bulky size and costly energy storage capacitors required in conventional prior art. The present invention also achieves tight output regulation. The two-stage topology of the present invention further achieves on-line efficiency optimization and significantly reduces the volume of the downstream stage over the prior art examples through dynamic adjustment of the downstream stage supply voltage. | 08-08-2013 |
20140203737 | Assisting Converter - What is described is a battery management architecture that eliminates previously described problems of the previous solutions and compensates for the extra cost of a cell-balancing circuit. These advantages are achieved by integrating the voltage step-up and balancing functions as well as charging functions inside a single converter topology. Instead of providing the entire output voltage and power, the converter in this configuration is merely assisting the battery by providing a portion of the power delivered to the load, rather than the entirety of the power delivered to the load. This portion of power is proportional to the difference between the output and the battery pack voltages. | 07-24-2014 |
20150039051 | Functional Electrical Stimulation Device and System, and Use Thereof - A functional electrical stimulation (FES) device and system. In one embodiment, sequential bipolar pulse stimulation may be provided to an area of a living body via one or more electrode leads applied to the area via a FES device comprising a current pulse generating circuit comprising output nodes for operative coupling to the one or more electrode leads, and configured for operative coupling to a voltage supply. The current pulse generating circuit generally comprises positive and negative stimulation paths drawing from the voltage supply to respectively apply positive and negative currents through the area via the one or more electrode leads. In one example, the stimulation paths comprise respective capacitive elements, a capacitance ratio of which dictating, at least in part, an amplitude ratio of the positive and negative currents, wherein periodic alternative activation of the stimulation paths provides the sequential bipolar pulse stimulation. | 02-05-2015 |
20150065831 | Wireless Implantable Data Communication System, Method and Sensing Device - Disclosed herein is a wireless implantable communication system, method and sensing device, wherein an implantable data conversion module is adapted for operative coupling to a distinct or integrated implantable sensing device for the conversion of a characteristic signal for transmission thereof to an external receiver, e.g. by way of an inductive element. Upon positioning an external inductive element in the vicinity of the implanted device, a corresponding signal is induced within the external element allowing for reconstruction of the converted signal, and thereby allowing for recovery of the characteristic signal. Embodiments for the communication of data across a biological barrier, including communications from an external transmitter to an implanted receiver, an implanted transmitter to an external receiver, and an implanted transmitter/receiver pair are also disclosed. | 03-05-2015 |