Adaptive switch driving

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11664716-B2
Application number	US-202117307904-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 4, 2021
Priority date	May 19, 2020
Publication date	May 30, 2023
Grant date	May 30, 2023

Abstract

An apparatus is disclosed for adaptive switch driving. In an example aspect, the apparatus includes a switching circuit configured to selectively be in a first state that provides an input voltage as an output voltage, be in a second state that provides a ground voltage as the output voltage, or be in a third state that causes the output voltage to change from the input voltage to the ground voltage according to a slew rate. The third state enables the switching circuit to transition from the first state to the second state. The switching circuit is also configured to adjust the slew rate of the output voltage for the third state responsive to at least one of the following: a change in a magnitude of a direct-current supply voltage or a change in a magnitude of an input current.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus comprising:
a switching circuit comprising:
an input configured to accept an input voltage and an input current, the input voltage comprising a direct-current supply voltage; and
an output configured to provide an output voltage;

the switching circuit configured to selectively:
be in a first state that provides the input voltage as the output voltage,
be in a second state that provides a ground voltage as the output voltage, and
be in a third state that causes the output voltage to change from the input voltage to the ground voltage according to a slew rate, the third state enabling the switching circuit to transition from the first state to the second state; and

the switching circuit configured to adjust the slew rate of the output voltage for the third state responsive to a change in a magnitude of the input current.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein:
the switching circuit is configured to transition between the first state and the second state according to a transition period;
the slew rate of the output voltage is dependent upon the transition period; and
the switching circuit is configured to adjust the transition period responsive to the change in the magnitude of the input current.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the switching circuit is configured to:
decrease the slew rate responsive to an increase in the magnitude of the input current; and
increase the slew rate responsive to a decrease in the magnitude of the input current.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 , wherein:
the switching circuit comprises a switch coupled between the input and the output; and
the switching circuit is configured to cause a peak of the input voltage at the input to be less than a breakdown voltage of the switch by decreasing the slew rate of the output voltage.

5. The apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the switching circuit is configured to:
operate at a first efficiency responsive to decreasing the slew rate of the output voltage; and
operate at a second efficiency responsive to increasing the slew rate of the output voltage, the second efficiency being greater than the first efficiency.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising:
a switch-mode power supply configured to be coupled between a power source and a load, the switch-mode power supply comprising:
the switching circuit; and
at least one inductor coupled between the output of the switching circuit and the load,

wherein the input of the switching circuit is configured to be coupled to the power source.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein:
the load comprises at least one battery; and
the switch-mode power supply is configured to transfer power from the power source to the at least one battery.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the switching circuit comprises:
a first switch coupled between the input and the output, the first switch configured to selectively:
be in a closed state according to the first state to connect the input to the output; or
be in an open state according to the second state to disconnect the input from the output; and

a second switch coupled between the output and a ground, the second switch configured to selectively:
be in the open state according to the first state to disconnect the ground from the output; or
be in the closed state according to the second state to connect the ground to the output.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the switching circuit comprises:
at least one driver circuit coupled to the first switch and the second switch, the at least one driver circuit configured to:
provide a first driver current to the first switch to enable the first switch to transition from the closed state to the open state; and
provide a second driver current to the second switch to enable the second switch to transition from the open state to the closed state; and

at least one driver controller coupled to the at least one driver circuit, the at least one driver controller configured to:
detect the change in the magnitude of the input current; and
adjust a magnitude of the first driver current and a magnitude of the second driver current based on the detected change to adjust the slew rate of the output voltage.

10. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the switching circuit is configured to adjust the slew rate of the output voltage for the third state responsive to the change in the magnitude of the input current and a change in a magnitude of the direct-current supply voltage.

11. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the switching circuit is further configured to adjust the slew rate of the output voltage for the third state responsive to a power-source-type signal indicating whether the apparatus utilizes power from an external power source or an internal power source.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the switching circuit is configured to:
decrease the slew rate of the output voltage for the third state responsive to the power-source-type signal indicating that the apparatus is utilizing the power from the external power source; or
increase the slew rate of the output voltage for the third state responsive to the power-source-type signal indicating that the apparatus is utilizing the power from the internal power source.

13. An apparatus comprising:
switch-mode means for transferring power between a power source and a load, the switch-mode means comprising:
switching means for selectively operating in:
a closed state to connect the power source to the load and provide an input voltage as an output voltage; and
an open state to disconnect the power source from the load and provide a ground voltage as the output voltage;

driver means for controlling a transition period associated with the switching means transitioning from the closed state to the open state, the output voltage changing from the input voltage to the ground voltage according to a slew rate during the transition period;
monitor means for detecting a change in a magnitude of an input current; and
control means for adjusting the slew rate of the output voltage responsive to the monitor means detecting the change in the magnitude of the input current.

14. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the control means is configured to:
increase the transition period responsive to the monitor means detecting an increase in the magnitude of the input current; and
decrease the transition period responsive to the monitor means detecting a decrease in the magnitude of the input current.

15. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein:
the control means is configured to cause a peak of an input voltage at an input of the switching means to be less than a breakdown voltage of the switching means by increasing the transition period.

16. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the switching means is configured to:
operate at a first efficiency responsive to the control means increasing the transition period; and
operate at a second efficiency responsive to the control means decreasing the transition period, the second efficiency being greater than the first efficiency.

17. A method comprising:
accepting an input voltage and an input current at an input of a switching circuit, the input voltage comprising a direct-current supply voltage;
operating the switching circuit in a first state to provide the input voltage as an output voltage at an output of the switching circuit;
operating the switching circuit in a second state to provide a ground voltage as the output voltage at the output;
operating the switching circuit in a third state to

Assignees

• Qualcomm Inc

Inventors

• Li Kan
• Yu Guolei
• Guan Hua
• Sutton Todd Robert

Classifications

• H02M1/08

  Circuits specially adapted for the generation of control voltages for semiconductor devices incorporated in static 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

• H02M1/0029 Primary

  Circuits or arrangements for limiting the slope of switching signals, e.g. slew rate · CPC title

• H02M3/158

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

• H02M1/385

  with means for correcting output voltage deviations introduced by the dead time · CPC title