On/off modulation of a switching cell-based power converter
A method of on/off modulation of a very high frequency switching cell-based power converter includes receiving an input voltage signal to be applied to a plurality of series stacked very high frequency power converter cells for producing an output voltage and/or current, and controlling a portion of the plurality of series stacked high frequency power converter cells through on/off modulation of at least one of the plurality of series stacked high frequency power converter cells to control the output current and/or the output voltage.
1. A method, comprising:
receiving a power input for a plurality of stacked power converter cells, the plurality of stacked power converter cells producing an output voltage or output current using the power input, the plurality of stacked power converter cells including a capacitor having a terminal connected between a first power input terminal of a first power converter cell of the plurality of stacked power converter cells and a second power input terminal of a second power converter cell of the plurality of stacked power converter cells;
controlling activation of one or more stacked power converter cells of the plurality of stacked power converter cells based on the power input;
determining at least one of the output current and the output voltage; and
controlling at least one activated power converter cell of the plurality of stacked power converter cells through on/off modulation of the at least one activated power converter cell to control at least one of the output current and the output voltage.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of stacked power converter cells is separately controlled.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein a subset of the plurality of stacked power converter cells is arranged with parallel outputs.
4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising configuring a parallel output combination of the plurality of stacked power converter cells using an output stage.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the plurality of stacked power converter cells comprises one or more switched capacitors.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the plurality of stacked power converter cells includes at least one switched capacitor and a DC/DC regulating converter.
7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the DC/DC regulating converter is disposed in series with the at least one switched capacitor.
8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising soft switching the at least one activated power converter cell.
9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising operating at least one power cell bypass.
10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising maintaining efficiency of the plurality of stacked power converter cells above a minimum efficiency threshold.
11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the minimum efficiency threshold is at least seventy percent.
12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the minimum efficiency threshold is at least seventy-five percent.
13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the minimum efficiency threshold is at least eighty percent.
14. The method of claim 1 , further comprising performing passive switched capacitor voltage balancing of at least one of the plurality of stacked power converter cells.
15. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least two of the plurality of stacked power converter cells are series stacked.
16. A power converter, comprising:
a plurality of stacked power cells configured to receive a power input and to provide an output by processing the power input, the plurality of stacked power cells having a switching frequency;
a controller configured to control activation of one or more stacked power cells of the plurality of stacked power cells based on the power input, the controller further being configured to control the output using on/off modulation of at least one activated power cell of the plurality of stacked power cells at a frequency lower than the switching frequency of the plurality of stacked power cells; and
a capacitor having a terminal connected between a first power input terminal of a first power cell of the plurality of stacked power cells and a second power input terminal of a second power cell of the plurality of stacked power cells.
17. The power converter of claim 16 , wherein the controller is configured to control a number of the plurality of stacked power cells activated based on the power input.
18. The power converter of claim 16 , wherein the controller is configured to control activation of the one or more stacked power cells based on a voltage of the power input.
19. The power converter of claim 16 , wherein the controller is configured to activate one or more deactivated power cells of the plurality of stacked power cells when the voltage of the power input crosses a threshold.
20. The power converter of claim 16 , wherein the controller is configured to perform activation of a power cell by controlling a switch associated with the power cell.
21. The power converter of claim 16 , wherein the terminal of the capacitor is a first terminal of the capacitor, and wherein the capacitor further comprises a second terminal configured to be connected to ground.
22. The power converter of claim 16 , wherein a current through the capacitor is controlled by controlling at least the first power cell.
23. The power converter of claim 16 , wherein the switching frequency is greater than 1 MHz.