IP Library › Granted Patent US 12665485
Granted Patent B2
US 12665485 · App. 18/734,057 · Granted Jun 23, 2026

Multi-voltage power management integrated circuit

Inventor: Nadim Khlat (Cugnaux, FR)
Assignee: Qorvo US, Inc.
H02M1/0025
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12665485
App. No.
18/734,057
Granted
Jun 23, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

A multi-voltage power management integrated circuit (PMIC) is disclosed. More specifically, the multi-voltage generation circuit includes multiple voltage modulation circuits each configured to generate and maintain a respective one of multiple modulated voltages based on a battery voltage and a respective one of multiple reference voltages. Contrary to using multiple voltage-current modulation circuits, such as direct-current-direct-current (DC-DC) converters, to generate the multiple reference voltages, the multi-voltage PMIC is configured to share a single voltage-current modulation circuit among the multiple voltage modulation circuits. As such, the multi-voltage PMIC can concurrently support multiple load circuits (e.g., power amplifier circuits) with a significantly reduced footprint.

Claims (68)

1 . A multi-voltage power management integrated circuit (PMIC) comprising:

a plurality of voltage modulation circuits each configured to generate a respective one of a plurality of modulated voltages based on a battery voltage, a respective one of a plurality of reference voltages, and a respective one of a plurality of reference currents; and

a control circuit configured to:

determine a respective one of a plurality of non-overlapping charge intervals in each of a plurality of voltage modulation periods for each of the plurality of voltage modulation circuits;

cause each of the plurality of voltage modulation circuits to receive the respective one of the plurality of reference voltages and the respective one of the plurality of reference currents during the respective one of the plurality of non-overlapping charge intervals; and

prevent each of the plurality of voltage modulation circuits from receiving the respective one of the plurality of reference voltages and the respective one of the plurality of reference currents outside the respective one of the plurality of non-overlapping charge intervals.

2 . The multi-voltage PMIC of claim 1 , wherein the control circuit is further configured to:

determine a respective one of a plurality of non-overlapping hold intervals in each of the plurality of voltage modulation periods for each of the plurality of voltage modulation circuits; and

prevent each of the plurality of voltage modulation circuits from receiving the respective one of the plurality of reference voltages during the respective one of the plurality of non-overlapping hold intervals.

3 . The multi-voltage PMIC of claim 2 , wherein each of the plurality of non-overlapping charge intervals is of an equal length.

4 . The multi-voltage PMIC of claim 2 , wherein each of the plurality of non-overlapping charge intervals is of an unequal length.

5 . The multi-voltage PMIC of claim 1 , further comprising:

a voltage-current modulation circuit configured to generate a reference voltage and a reference current based on the battery voltage; and

a switching circuit coupled between the voltage-current modulation circuit and the plurality of voltage modulation circuits;

wherein the control circuit is further configured to:

control the switching circuit to couple the voltage-current modulation circuit to each of the plurality of voltage modulation circuits during the respective one of the plurality of non-overlapping charge intervals to thereby provide the reference voltage to the respective one of the plurality of voltage modulation circuits as the respective one of the plurality of reference voltages and provide the reference current to the respective one of the plurality of voltage modulation circuits as the respective one of the plurality of reference currents; and

control the switching circuit to decouple the voltage-current modulation circuit from each of the plurality of voltage modulation circuits outside the respective one of the plurality of non-overlapping charge intervals.

6 . The multi-voltage PMIC of claim 5 , wherein:

the switching circuit comprises a plurality of switches each coupled between the voltage-current modulation circuit and a respective one of the plurality of voltage modulation circuits; and

the control circuit is further configured to:

close a respective one of the plurality of switches to thereby couple the voltage-current modulation circuit to the respective one of the plurality of voltage modulation circuits; and

open the respective one of the plurality of switches to thereby decouple the voltage-current modulation circuit from the respective one of the plurality of voltage modulation circuits.

7 . The multi-voltage PMIC of claim 6 , further comprising a switch protection circuit coupled between the voltage-current modulation circuit and each of the plurality of switches, the switch protection circuit is configured to adjust the reference voltage to thereby prevent hot switching when opening and closing any of the plurality of switches.

8 . The multi-voltage PMIC of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of voltage modulation circuits comprises:

a micro capacitor-based buck-boost (μCBB) circuit configured to generate the respective one of the plurality of modulated voltages based on the battery voltage and the respective one of the plurality of reference voltages during the respective one of the plurality of non-overlapping charge intervals;

a voltage regulation circuit configured to regulate the respective one of the plurality of reference voltages during the respective one of the plurality of non-overlapping charge intervals in each of the plurality of voltage modulation periods; and

a holding capacitor configured to maintain the respective one of the plurality of modulated voltages outside the respective one of the plurality of non-overlapping charge intervals in each of the plurality of voltage modulation periods.

9 . The multi-voltage PMIC of claim 8 , wherein the voltage regulation circuit comprises:

a voltage amplifier configured to generate a respective modulated initial voltage in each of the plurality of voltage modulation periods based on a respective one of a plurality of modulated target voltages; and

an offset capacitor coupled between an output of the voltage amplifier and an input of the μCBB circuit and configured to adjust the respective modulated initial voltage to thereby:

regulate the respective one of the plurality of reference voltages during the respective one of the plurality of non-overlapping charge intervals in each of the plurality of voltage modulation periods; and

maintain the respective one of the plurality of modulated voltages outside the respective one of the plurality of non-overlapping charge intervals in each of the plurality of voltage modulation periods.

10 . The multi-voltage PMIC of claim 9 , wherein the voltage amplifier is further configured to generate the respective modulated initial voltage based on a first feedback voltage indicating the respective one of the plurality of modulated voltages generated by the respective one of the plurality of voltage modulation circuits.

11 . The multi-voltage PMIC of claim 10 , wherein the voltage amplifier is further configured to generate the respective modulated initial voltage based on a second feedback voltage indicating the respective one of the plurality of modulated voltages received by a coupled load circuit.

12 . A wireless device comprising a multi-voltage power management integrated circuit (PMIC), the multi-voltage PMIC comprises:

a plurality of voltage modulation circuits each configured to generate a respective one of a plurality of modulated voltages based on a battery voltage, a respective one of a plurality of reference voltages, and a respective one of a plurality of reference currents; and

a control circuit configured to:

determine a respective one of a plurality of non-overlapping charge intervals in each of a plurality of voltage modulation periods for each of the plurality of voltage modulation circuits;

cause each of the plurality of voltage modulation circuits to receive the respective one of the plurality of reference voltages and the respective one of the plurality of reference currents during the respective one of the plurality of non-overlapping charge intervals; and

prevent each of the plurality of voltage modulation circuits from receiving the respective one of the plurality of reference voltages and the respective one of the plurality of reference currents outside the respective one of the plurality of non-overlapping charge intervals.

13 . The wireless device of claim 12 , wherein the multi-voltage PMIC further comprises:

a voltage-current modulation circuit configured to generate a reference voltage and a reference current based on the battery voltage; and

a switching circuit coupled between the voltage-current modulation circuit and the plurality of voltage modulation circuits;

wherein the control circuit is further configured to:

control the switching circuit to couple the voltage-current modulation circuit to each of the plurality of voltage modulation circuits during the respective one of the plurality of non-overlapping charge intervals to thereby provide the reference voltage to the respective one of the plurality of voltage modulation circuits as the respective one of the plurality of reference voltages and provide the reference current to the respective one of the plurality of voltage modulation circuits as the respective one of the plurality of reference currents; and

control the switching circuit to decouple the voltage-current modulation circuit from each of the plurality of voltage modulation circuits outside the respective one of the plurality of non-overlapping charge intervals.

14 . The wireless device of claim 13 , wherein:

the switching circuit comprises a plurality of switches each coupled between the voltage-current modulation circuit and a respective one of the plurality of voltage modulation circuits; and

the control circuit is further configured to:

close a respective one of the plurality of switches to thereby couple the voltage-current modulation circuit to the respective one of the plurality of voltage modulation circuits; and

open the respective one of the plurality of switches to thereby decouple the voltage-current modulation circuit from the respective one of the plurality of voltage modulation circuits.

15 . The wireless device of claim 14 , wherein the multi-voltage PMIC further comprises a switch protection circuit coupled between the voltage-current modulation circuit and each of the plurality of switches, the switch protection circuit is configured to adjust the reference voltage to thereby prevent hot switching when opening and closing any of the plurality of switches.

16 . The wireless device of claim 12 , wherein each of the plurality of voltage modulation circuits comprises:

a micro capacitor-based buck-boost (μCBB) circuit configured to generate the respective one of the plurality of modulated voltages based on the battery voltage and the respective one of the plurality of reference voltages during the respective one of the plurality of non-overlapping charge intervals;

a voltage regulation circuit configured to regulate the respective one of the plurality of reference voltages during the respective one of the plurality of non-overlapping charge intervals in each of the plurality of voltage modulation periods; and

a holding capacitor configured to maintain the respective one of the plurality of modulated voltages outside the respective one of the plurality of non-overlapping charge intervals in each of the plurality of voltage modulation periods.

17 . The wireless device of claim 16 , wherein the voltage regulation circuit comprises:

a voltage amplifier configured to generate a respective modulated initial voltage in each of the plurality of voltage modulation periods based on a respective one of a plurality of modulated target voltages; and

an offset capacitor coupled between an output of the voltage amplifier and an input of the μCBB circuit and configured to adjust the respective modulated initial voltage to thereby:

regulate the respective one of the plurality of reference voltages during the respective one of the plurality of non-overlapping charge intervals in each of the plurality of voltage modulation periods; and

maintain the respective one of the plurality of modulated voltages outside the respective one of the plurality of non-overlapping charge intervals in each of the plurality of voltage modulation periods.

18 . The wireless device of claim 17 , wherein the voltage amplifier is further configured to generate the respective modulated initial voltage based on a first feedback voltage indicating the respective one of the plurality of modulated voltages generated by the respective one of the plurality of voltage modulation circuits.

19 . The wireless device of claim 18 , wherein the voltage amplifier is further configured to generate the respective modulated initial voltage based on a second feedback voltage indicating the respective one of the plurality of modulated voltages received by a coupled load circuit.

20 . A method for concurrently generating a plurality of modulated voltages in a multi-voltage power management integrated circuit (PMIC) comprising:

configuring each of a plurality of voltage modulation circuits to generate a respective one of a plurality of modulated voltages based on a battery voltage, a respective one of a plurality of reference voltages, and a respective one of a plurality of reference currents;

determining a respective one of a plurality of non-overlapping charge intervals in each of a plurality of voltage modulation periods for each of the plurality of voltage modulation circuits;

causing each of the plurality of voltage modulation circuits to receive the respective one of the plurality of reference voltages and the respective one of the plurality of reference currents during the respective one of the plurality of non-overlapping charge intervals; and

preventing each of the plurality of voltage modulation circuits from receiving the respective one of the plurality of reference voltages and the respective one of the plurality of reference currents outside the respective one of the plurality of non-overlapping charge intervals.