Control circuit for active clamp flyback power converter with predicted timing control

1. A control circuit of a flyback power converter, comprising:

a controller configured to form a switching signal to control a low-side transistor coupled to switch a transformer;

the controller configured to form an active-clamp signal to control a high-side drive circuit that is configured to be coupled to drive an active-clamper coupled in parallel with the transformer wherein the active-clamper includes a high-side transistor coupled in series with a capacitor;

wherein the switching signal is generated in accordance with a feedback signal for regulating an output voltage of the flyback power converter and wherein the feedback signal is received by the controller and is representative of the output voltage;

the controller configured to receive a reflected signal from the transformer, the controller configured to form an input-voltage signal from the reflected signal wherein the input-voltage signal is representative of an input voltage, and also form an output-voltage signal from the reflected signal wherein the output-voltage signal is representative of an output voltage; and

the controller configured to generate the active-clamp signal in response to a predicted time of the transformer; the predicted time is determined in accordance with the input-voltage signal, the output-voltage signal and the switching signal including an on time of the switching signal; the controller forms the output-voltage signal from the reflected signal during an off time period of the switching signal, and forms the input-voltage signal from the reflected signal during the on time the switching signal wherein each pulse of the active-clamp signal is generated in between at least two pulses of the switching signal and wherein during operation in a light load condition more pulses of the switching signal are formed than pulses of the active-clamp signal, and the active-clamp signal remains in an OFF status during each pulse of the switching signal.

2. The control circuit as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the predicted time is further determined by a resistance of a resistor, the resistance of the resistor is correlated to a turn-ratio of the transformer.

3. The control circuit as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the pulse width of the active-clamp signal is correlated to a demagnetizing time of the transformer.

4. A control circuit of a flyback power converter, comprising:

a controller configured to form a switching signal to control a low-side transistor coupled to switch a transformer;

the controller configured to form an active-clamp signal to control a high-side drive circuit that is configured to be coupled to drive an active-clamper coupled in parallel with the transformer;

wherein the switching signal is generated in accordance with a feedback signal for regulating an output voltage of the flyback power converter and wherein the feedback signal is received by the controller and is representative of the output voltage;

the controller configured to receive a reflected signal from the transformer, the controller configured to form an input-voltage signal from the reflected signal wherein the input-voltage signal is representative of an input voltage, and also form an output-voltage signal from the reflected signal wherein the output-voltage signal is representative of an output voltage; and

the controller configured to generate the active-clamp signal in response to a predicted time of the transformer; the predicted time is determined in accordance with the input-voltage signal, the output-voltage signal and the switching signal including an on time of the switching signal; the controller forms the output-voltage signal from the reflected signal during an off time period of the switching signal, and forms the input-voltage signal from the reflected signal during the on time the switching signal wherein during operation in a light load condition three or more pulses of the switching signal are formed for one pulse of the active-clamp signal and wherein each pulse of the active-clamp signal is generated in between at least two pulses of the switching signal, and the active-clamp signal remains in an OFF status during each pulse of the switching signal.

5. The control circuit as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to generate the switching signal in response to the predicted time of the transformer.

6. The control circuit as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the predicted time of the transformer is related to a demagnetizing time of the transformer.

7. The control circuit as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the controller includes:

a predict-time signal generation circuit to generate a predict-time signal in response to the reflected signal of the transformer and the switching signal; in which the predict-time signal represents the predicted time of the transformer;

a turn-on circuit configured to generate a turn-on signal in response to the predict-time signal for generating the switching signal; and

an active-clamp signal generation circuit configured to generate the active-clamp signal in response to the predict-time signal.

8. The control circuit as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the switching signal is enabled in response to a clock signal in a CCM operation; the clock signal is generated by an oscillation circuit of the controller.

9. The control circuit as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the active-clamp signal is disabled in response to a pulse signal in a CCM operation; the pulse signal is generated by an oscillation circuit of the controller; the pulse signal is generated before the enable of a clock signal generated by the oscillation circuit.

10. A method for controlling a flyback power converter with an active-clamper coupled in parallel with a transformer, comprising:

configuring a control circuit to generate a switching signal in accordance with a feedback signal for switching a low-side transistor coupled to switch the transformer, regulating an output voltage of the flyback power converter; and

configuring the control circuit to generate receive a reflected signal from the transformer and to form an output-voltage signal and an input-voltage signal from the reflected signal wherein the output-voltage signal is representative of the output voltage and the input-voltage signal is representative of the input voltage;

configuring the control circuit to generate an active-clamp signal to control a high-side transistor of the active-clamper in accordance with an on time of the switching signal, the input-voltage signal, and the output-voltage signal; and

configuring the control circuit to operate in a light load mode and to form more pulses of the switching signal than pulses of the active-clamp signal wherein each pulse of the active-clamp signal is generated in between at least two pulses of the switching signal, and the active-clamp signal remains in an OFF status during said at least two pulses of the switching signal.

11. The method as claimed in claim 10 , including configuring the control circuit to form the active-clamp signal in accordance with a resistance of a resistor wherein the resistance of the resistor is correlated to a turn-ratio of the transformer.

12. The method as claimed in claim 10 , including configuring the control circuit to form the active-clamp signal in accordance with the reflected signal of the transformer.

13. The method as claimed in claim 10 , including configuring the control circuit to operate in a light load mode and to form three or more pulses of the switching signal for one pulse of the active-clamp signal wherein each pulse of the active-clamp signal is generated in between at least two pulses of the switching signal, and the active-clamp signal remains in an OFF status during said at least two pulses of the switching signal.

14. The method as claimed in claim 10 , including configuring the control circuit to enable the switching signal in response to a valley voltage of the reflected signal of the transformer in a heavy load condition wherein the active-clamp signal is disabled in response to a pulse signal in a CCM operation and the active-clamp signal is disabled before the enable of the switching signal.

15. The method of claim 10 further including configuring the control circuit to receive a feedback signal that is representative of the output voltage and to use the feedback signal to form the switching signal.

16. The control circuit of claim 1 wherein the one terminal of the capacitor of the active-clamper is coupled to a terminal of the transformer and a current carrying electrode of the high-side transistor is coupled to another terminal of the transformer.

17. The control circuit of claim 1 wherein the controller is configured to operate in a normal mode wherein there is at least one pulse of the active-clamp signal for each pulse of the switching signal.

18. The control circuit of claim 1 wherein the active-clamp signal controls the high-side transistor.

19. The method of claim 10 further including configuring a capacitor of the active-clamper to have one terminal coupled to a terminal of the transformer, wherein a current carrying electrode of the high-side transistor is coupled to another terminal of the transformer.