Variable delay for soft switching in power conversion circuit

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10686362-B2
Application number	US-201916457005-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 28, 2019
Priority date	Oct 4, 2018
Publication date	Jun 16, 2020
Grant date	Jun 16, 2020

Abstract

In some examples, a device comprises a power conversion circuit that includes: an inductor having a first end coupled to an input voltage terminal; a first switch coupled to a second end of the inductor at a first node; a second switch coupled to the second end of the inductor and the first switch at the first node; a third switch coupled to the first switch and to another input voltage terminal at a second node; and a fourth switch coupled to the second switch and to the another input voltage terminal at the second node. The device also comprises a control circuit comprising a variable delay circuit coupled to the first and second switches; and a controller coupled to the variable delay circuit, to an inductor current sensor, and to an input voltage sensor, the inductor current sensor coupled to the inductor and the input voltage sensor coupled to the input voltage terminal and the another input voltage terminal.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A controller circuit comprising:
a current sense input configured to receive a sense current signal representative of an inductor current of a power factor correction (PFC) circuit;
a voltage sense input configured to receive an sense voltage signal representative of an input voltage of the PFC circuit;
a differential circuit coupled to the current sense input, and configured to determine a zero-current condition based on the sense current signal; and
a variable delay circuit coupled to the differential circuit and the voltage sense input, the variable delay circuit configured to generate a synchronous control signal, for inactivating a synchronous switch of the PFC circuit, after the zero-current condition is detected and a variable delay time in response to the sense voltage signal, wherein the variable delay time is proportional to a magnitude of the input voltage of the PFC circuit.

2. The controller circuit of claim 1 , wherein the differential circuit is configured to determine the zero-current condition when the inductor current is approximately zero amps.

3. The controller circuit of claim 1 , wherein the differential circuit is configured to generate an active control signal, for activating an active switch of the PFC circuit, after the synchronous switch is inactivated for a fixed dead-time.

4. The controller circuit of claim 3 , wherein the differential circuit is configured to generate the active control signal for inactivating the active switch upon detecting a peak of the inductor current.

5. The controller circuit of claim 4 , wherein the differential circuit is configured to generate the synchronous control signal for activating the synchronous switch after the active switch is inactivated for the fixed dead-time.

6. The controller circuit of claim 1 , wherein the variable delay circuit includes a voltage-dependent current source having a first input coupled to the voltage sense input, a second input coupled to a ground terminal, and an output configured to deliver the synchronous control signal.

7. The controller circuit of claim 6 , wherein the variable delay circuit includes a transistor having a gate configured to receive a pulse width modulation signal, a first current terminal coupled to a voltage supply terminal, and a second current terminal coupled to the output of the variable delay circuit.

8. The controller circuit of claim 1 , wherein the PFC circuit includes a critical conduction mode totem pole configuration.

9. The controller circuit of claim 8 , wherein the critical conduction mode totem pole configuration includes: a first PFC gallium nitride (GaN) switch, a second PFC GaN switch, a first control switch coupled to the first PFC GaN switch, and a second control switch coupled to the second PFC GaN switch, the first control switch and the second control switch are configured alternately as the active switch and the synchronous switch based on a polarity of the input voltage.

10. A system comprising:
a power factor correction (PFC) circuit having first and second control switches; and
a controller circuit configured to:
receive a sense inductor current of the PFC circuit;
receive a sense input voltage of the PFC circuit;
detect a zero-current condition based on the sense inductor current;
initiate a delay time after the zero-current condition is detected, the delay time varying with the sense input voltage; and
inactive either one of the first or second control switch configured as a synchronous switch.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the delay time is proportional to a magnitude of the sense input voltage.

12. The system of claim 10 , wherein the controller circuit includes a differential circuit configured to detect the zero-current condition when the sense inductor current is approximately zero amps.

13. The system of claim 10 , wherein the controller circuit is configured to activate either one of the first or second control switch that is configured as an active switch, after the synchronous switch is inactivated for a fixed dead-time.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the controller circuit is configured to inactivate the active switch upon detecting a peak of the sense inductor current.

15. The system of claim 14 , wherein the controller circuit is configured to activate the synchronous switch after the active switch is inactivated for the fixed dead-time.

16. The system of claim 10 , wherein the controller circuit includes a voltage-dependent current source having a first input coupled to receive the sense voltage signal, a second input coupled to a ground terminal, and an output configured to deliver a synchronous control signal with the delay time.

17. The system of claim 16 , wherein the controller circuit includes a transistor having a gate configured to receive a pulse width modulation signal, a first current terminal coupled to a voltage supply terminal, and a second current terminal coupled to the output of the voltage-dependent current source.

18. The system of claim 10 , wherein the PFC circuit includes a critical conduction mode totem pole configuration.

19. The system of claim 18 , wherein the critical conduction mode totem pole configuration includes a first PFC gallium nitride (GaN) switch coupled to the first control switch, a second PFC GaN switch coupled to second control switch, the first control switch and the second control switch are configured alternately as the active switch and the synchronous switch based on a polarity of the sense input voltage.

Assignees

• Texas Instruments Inc

Inventors

• Dusmez Serkan

Classifications

• H02M1/4233 Primary

  using a bridge converter comprising active switches · CPC title

• H02M1/083 Primary

  for the ignition at the zero crossing of the voltage or the current · CPC title

• H02M1/0009

  Devices or circuits for detecting current in a converter · CPC title

• H02M1/0058

  by employing soft switching techniques, i.e. commutation of transistors when applied voltage is zero or when current flow is zero (using an auxiliary actively switched resonant commutation circuit connected to an intermediate DC voltage or between two push-pull branches of an inverter bridge H02M7/4811; in resonant inverters H02M7/4815; in inverters operating from a resonant DC source H02M7/4826) · CPC title

• Y02P80/10

  Efficient use of energy, e.g. using compressed air or pressurized fluid as energy carrier · CPC title