Zero-voltage switching hybrid switched-capacitor converter

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10873260-B2
Application number	US-201916273659-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 12, 2019
Priority date	Mar 12, 2018
Publication date	Dec 22, 2020
Grant date	Dec 22, 2020

Abstract

A voltage converter circuit comprises a charge pump circuit, a switching converter circuit, and a control circuit. The charge pump circuit includes multiple switch circuits connected in series. The switching converter circuit includes a first inductor coupled to an output node of the voltage converter circuit, and a second inductor coupled to a series connection of the multiple switch circuits. The control circuit is configured to control activation of the multiple switch circuits to generate a regulated voltage at the output node, and to activate each of the multiple switch circuits when a drain to source voltage of the switch circuit is zero volts.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A voltage converter circuit comprising:
a charge pump circuit including at least four switch circuits connected in series, a flying capacitor coupled to a series connection between a first switch and a second switch of the at least four switch circuits, and a mid-point capacitor coupled directly to circuit ground;
a switching converter circuit including a first inductor coupled to an output node of the voltage converter circuit and coupled to a junction between a third switch circuit and a fourth switch circuit of the at least four switch circuits;
a second inductor including a first terminal coupled to a series connection of the at least four switch circuits, and a second terminal coupled in series to the mid-point capacitor;
a control circuit configured to turn on the third switch circuit after turning off the second and fourth switch circuits and a drain to source voltage of the third switch circuit is zero volts, and turn on the first switch circuit after the third switch circuit is turned on; and
turn on the fourth switch circuit after turning off the first and third switch circuits and a drain to source voltage of the fourth switch circuit is zero volts, and turn on the second switch circuit after the fourth switch circuit is turned on.

2. The voltage converter circuit of claim 1 , wherein the charge pump circuit includes a divide-by-two circuit topology and the second inductor is coupled to the mid-point capacitor of the charge pump circuit.

3. The voltage converter circuit of claim 2 , wherein the second inductor is connected to the mid-point capacitor and a series connection between the second switch circuit and the third switch circuit of the at least four switch circuits connected in series.

4. The voltage converter circuit of claim 1 , wherein the at least four switch circuits include the first switch circuit coupled to an input voltage node and the fourth switch circuit coupled to a circuit ground node, and the second inductor is connected to a series connection between the third switch circuit and the fourth switch circuit of the at least four switch circuits connected in series.

5. The voltage converter circuit of claim 1 ,
wherein the at least four switch circuits include the first switch circuit connected to an input voltage node and the fourth switch circuit connected to a circuit ground node, and
wherein the control circuit is configured to control the at least four switch circuits so that on times of the first and third switch circuits are non-overlapping with on-times of the second and fourth switch circuits.

6. A method of operating a voltage converter circuit, the method comprising:
charging a first inductor of a switching converter circuit of the voltage converter circuit and a second inductor of the voltage converter circuit using energy provided by a charge pump circuit of the voltage converter circuit, the charge pump circuit including at least four switch circuits connected in series, a flying capacitor coupled to a series connection between a first switch and a second switch of the at least four switch circuits, and a mid-point capacitor coupled directly to circuit ground, wherein the first inductor is coupled to a junction between a third switch circuit and a fourth switch circuit of the at least four switch circuits, and wherein the second inductor includes a first terminal coupled to a series connection of the at least four switch circuits, and a second terminal coupled in series to the mid-point capacitor;
activating the at least four switch circuits in a specified sequence to generate a regulated, voltage at an output node of the voltage converter circuit, the specified sequence including turning on the third switch circuit after turning off the second and fourth switch circuits and a drain to source voltage of the third switch circuit is zero volts, and turn on the first switch circuit after the third switch circuit is turned on; and
turning on the fourth switch circuit after turning off the first and third switch circuits and a drain to source voltage of the fourth switch circuit is zero volts, and turn on the second switch circuit after the fourth switch circuit is turned on.

7. The method of claim 6 ,
wherein the at least four switch circuits include the first switch circuit connected to an input voltage node and the fourth switch circuit connected to a circuit ground node, and
wherein activating at least four switch circuits in the specified sequence includes the on-times of the first and third switch circuits non-overlapping the on-times of the second and fourth switch circuits.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein activating at least four switch circuits in a specified sequence includes activating the third switch to reduce the drain to source voltage of the first switch circuit to zero volts before turning on the first switch.

9. The method of claim 7 , wherein activating at least four switch circuits in a specified sequence includes activating the fourth switch circuit after the first switch circuit and third switch circuit are turned off and a drain to source voltage of the fourth switch circuit is zero volts; and activating the second switch circuit after the fourth switch circuit is activated.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein activating the fourth switch circuit after the first and third switch circuits are turned off and a drain to source voltage of the fourth switch circuit is zero volts includes discharging the first inductor after the first and third switch circuits are turned off to reduce the drain to source voltage of the fourth switch circuit to zero volts before the fourth switch is turned on.

11. The method of claim 9 , wherein activating the second switch circuit includes discharging the second inductor after the first and third switch circuits are turned off to reduce the drain to source voltage of the second switch circuit to zero volts before the second switch is turned on.

12. The method of claim 6 , wherein charging the first inductor and the second inductor includes charging the first inductor and the second inductor using a charge pump circuit that reduces an input voltage by a factor of two.

13. A supply circuit comprising:
a charge pump circuit including at least four switch circuits connected in series, a midpoint capacitor coupled directly to circuit ground, and a flying capacitor coupled to a series connection between a first switch circuit and a second switch circuit of the at least four switch circuits;
a step-down switching converter circuit including a first inductor coupled to an output node of the supply circuit and coupled to a junction between a third switch circuit and a fourth switch circuit of the at least four switch circuits;
a second inductor including a first terminal coupled directly in series with the flying capacitor and a second terminal coupled to a second series connection of the at least four switch circuits;
a control circuit configured to turn on the third switch circuit after turning off the second and fourth switch circuits and a drain to source voltage of the third switch circuit is zero volts, and turn on the first switch circuit after the third switch circuit is turned on; and
turn on the fourth switch circuit after turning off the first and third switch circuits and a drain to source voltage of the fourth switch circuit is zero volts, and turn on the second switch circuit after the fourth switch circuit is turned on.

14. The supply circuit of claim 13 , wherein:
the charge pump circuit is a divide-by-two charge pump circuit;
the at least four switch circuits are connected in series between an input voltage

Assignees

• Analog Devices International Unlimited Co

Inventors

• Yan Yingyi
• Gu Yi Ding

Classifications

• 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

• H02M7/4837

  Flying capacitor converters · CPC title

• Y02B70/10

  Technologies improving the efficiency by using switched-mode power supplies [SMPS], i.e. efficient power electronics conversion e.g. power factor correction or reduction of losses in power supplies or efficient standby modes · CPC title

• H02M3/04

  by static converters · CPC title

• H02M3/158 Primary

  including plural semiconductor devices as final control devices for a single load · CPC title