Adaptive switch driving

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12249901-B2
Application number	US-202318324694-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 26, 2023
Priority date	May 19, 2020
Publication date	Mar 11, 2025
Grant date	Mar 11, 2025

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;
at least one switch coupled between the input of the switching circuit and an output of the switching circuit, the at least one switch configured to selectively:
be in a closed state to connect the input to the output; or
be in an open state to disconnect the input from the output;

at least one driver circuit coupled to the at least one, the at least one driver circuit configured to provide a driver current to enable the at least one switch to transition from the closed state to the open state; and
at least one driver controller coupled to the at least one driver circuit, the at least one driver controller configured to:
monitor at least one parameter associated with the input voltage;
detect a change in the at least one parameter; and
adjust a magnitude of the driver current provided by the at least one driver circuit based on the detected change in the at least one parameter, wherein:

the at least one parameter is configured to selectively have a first magnitude or a second magnitude that is smaller than the first magnitude;
the at least one driver circuit is configured to selectively:
provide a first driver current as the driver current; or
provide a second driver current as the driver current, the second driver current being smaller than the first driver current;

the at least one driver controller is configured to selectively:
cause the at least one driver circuit to provide the second driver current responsive to the at least one parameter having the first magnitude; or
cause the at least one driver circuit to provide the first driver current responsive to the at least one parameter having the second magnitude;

the input is configured to accept an input current;
the input voltage comprises a direct-current supply voltage; and
the at least one parameter includes the input current and the direct-current supply voltage.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein a transition period of the at least one first switch is dependent upon the magnitude of the first driver current.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a switch-mode power supply, wherein:
the switch-mode power supply comprises the switching circuit;
the at least one parameter comprises a mode signal, the mode signal indicating an operational mode of the switch-mode power supply; and
the at least one driver controller is configured to cause the at least one driver circuit to decrease the driver current responsive to the mode signal changing from indicating a skip mode to indicating a pulse-width modulation mode.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising an internal power source, wherein:
the apparatus is configured to selectively utilize power from an external power source or the internal power source;
the at least one parameter comprises a power-source-type signal, the power-source-type signal indicating whether the apparatus utilizes power from the external power source or the internal power source; and
the at least one driver controller is configured to cause the at least one driver circuit to selectively:
decrease the driver current responsive to the power-source-type signal changing from indicating that the apparatus is utilizing the power from the internal power source to indicating that the apparatus is utilizing the power from the external power source; or
increase the driver current responsive to the power-source-type signal changing from indicating that the apparatus is utilizing the power from the external power source to indicating that the apparatus is utilizing the power from the internal power source.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the driver controller comprises at least one of the following:
a voltage monitor circuit configured to measure the direct-current supply voltage indirectly or directly; or
a current monitor circuit configured to measure the input current indirectly or directly.

6. The apparatus of claim 5 , wherein the voltage monitor circuit comprises at least one of the following:
a direct-current supply voltage sensor; or
a power-source-type indicator.

7. The apparatus of claim 5 , wherein the current monitor circuit comprises at least one of the following:
an input current sensor;
a mode indicator; or
a zero-crossing comparator.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the at least one driver controller is configured to:
detect an increase in a magnitude of the at least one parameter; and
responsive to the detection, cause the at least one driver circuit to decrease the driver current.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the at least one driver controller is configured to decrease the driver current by an amount that enables a peak of the input voltage to be less than a breakdown voltage of the at least one switch.

10. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the at least one driver controller is configured to:
detect a decrease in a magnitude of the at least one parameter; and
responsive to the detection, cause the at least one driver circuit to increase the driver current.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the at least one driver controller is configured to increase an efficiency of the at least one switch by increasing the driver current.

12. An apparatus comprising:
a switching circuit comprising:
an input configured to accept an input voltage;
at least one switch coupled between the input of the switching circuit and an output of the switching circuit, the at least one switch configured to selectively:
be in a closed state to connect the input to the output; or
be in an open state to disconnect the input from the output;

at least one driver circuit coupled to the at least one switch, the at least one driver circuit configured to provide a driver current to enable the at least one switch to transition from the closed state to the open state; and
at least one driver controller coupled to the at least one driver circuit, the at least one driver controller configured to:
monitor at least one parameter associated with the input voltage;
detect a change in the at least one parameter; and
adjust a magnitude of the driver current provided by the at least one driver circuit based on the detected change in the at least one parameter, wherein:

the apparatus comprises a switch-mode power supply that comprises the switching circuit;
the at least one parameter comprises a mode signal, the mode signal indicating an operational mode of the switch-mode power supply; and
the at least one driver controller is configured to cause the at least one driver circuit to decrease the driver current responsive to the mode signal changing from indicating a skip mode to indicating a pulse-width modulation mode.

13. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein a transition period of the at least one switch is dependent upon the magnitude of the driver current.

14. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein:
the at least one parameter is configured to selectively have a first magnitude or a second magnitude that is smaller than the first magnitude;
the at least one driver circuit is configured to selectively:
provide a first driver current as the driver current; or
provide a second driver current as the driver current, the second driver current being smaller than the first driver current; and

the at least one driver controller is configured to selectively:
cause the at least one driver circuit to provide the second driver current responsive to the at least one parameter having the first magnitude; or
cause the at least one driver circuit to pro

Assignees

• Qualcomm Inc

Inventors

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

Classifications

• 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

• 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

• H02M1/0054

  Transistor switching losses (periodically suspending operation of switching converter in low power mode H02M1/0035) · CPC title