IP Library Granted Patent US 10,727,735
Granted Patent B2
US 10,727,735 · App. 16/051,872 · Granted Jul 28, 2020

Digital control of switched boundary mode interleaved power converter with reduced crossover distortion

Inventors: Santosh Manjunath Bhandarkar (Chandler, AZ); Alex Dumais (Gilbert, AZ)
Assignee: MICROCHIP TECHNOLOGY INCORPORATED
H02M1/4225H02M3/1584H03K17/133H02M2003/1586
View Patent ↗
Loading inventors, assignments & file history…
Monitor This Case
Get email alerts when status or documents change.
Order Certified Copies
Most orders are placed with the USPTO same day — all within 24 business hours.
Order via The Patent Place →
Pre-filled with this patent's details
Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 10,727,735
App. No.
16/051,872
Granted
Jul 28, 2020
Kind
B2
Abstract

A circuit arrangement, signal processor, and method for interleaved switched boundary mode power conversion are disclosed. The circuit arrangement comprises at least an input for receiving an alternating input voltage from a power supply; an output to provide an output voltage to a load; a first interleaved circuit comprising: a first energy storage device; and a first controllable switching device; and one or more secondary interleaved circuits, each comprising: a secondary energy storage device; and a secondary controllable switching device; and a signal processor. The signal processor is connected to the controllable switching devices and comprises at least a first switching cycle controller, configured for cycled zero-current switching operation of the first controllable switching device; and one or more secondary switching cycle controllers, configured for cycled zero-current switching operation of the one or more secondary controllable switching devices The signal processor is configured to disable one or more of the interleaved circuits when the alternating input voltage is lower than a first threshold voltage to reduce the zero-crossing time.

Claims (61)

1. A circuit arrangement for interleaved switched boundary mode power conversion, comprising at least:

an input for receiving an alternating input voltage from a power supply;

an output to provide an output voltage to a load;

a first interleaved circuit comprising:

a first energy storage device; and

a first controllable switching device; and

one or more secondary interleaved circuits, each comprising:

a secondary energy storage device; and

a secondary controllable switching device;

said circuit arrangement further comprising a signal processor, connected to the controllable switching devices; the signal processor comprising at least

a first switching cycle controller, configured for cycled zero-current switching operation of the first controllable switching device; and

one or more secondary switching cycle controllers, configured for cycled zero-current switching operation of the one or more secondary controllable switching devices, wherein

the signal processor is configured to disable one or more of the interleaved circuits when the alternating input voltage is lower than a first threshold voltage to reduce a zero-crossing time, and wherein

the signal processor is further configured to control a gain multiplier for at least one of an on-time period of the controllable switching devices and a switching cycle time, wherein in case one or more of the interleaved circuits are disabled, the gain multiplier is increased.

2. The circuit arrangement of claim 1 , wherein the signal processor is further configured to re-enable one or more of the interleaved circuits when the alternating input voltage is higher than the first threshold voltage.

3. The circuit arrangement of claim 1 , wherein the increase of the gain multiplier depends on the number of disabled interleaved circuits.

4. The circuit arrangement of claim 1 , wherein the increase of the gain multiplier corresponds to the quotient of the total number of interleaved circuits in the circuit arrangement by the number of non-disabled interleaved circuits.

5. The circuit arrangement of claim 1 , wherein the signal processor is further configured to control the gain multiplier so that the open loop system bandwidth is constant.

6. The circuit arrangement of claim 1 , wherein the signal processor is further configured to control, in a given switching cycle, an on-time period of each non-disabled controllable switching device to correspond to each other.

7. The circuit arrangement of claim 1 , wherein the signal processor is further configured to control phases between the on-time periods of the non-disabled switching devices, so that the on-time periods are distributed over the given switching cycle to reduce an overall current ripple at the input.

8. The circuit arrangement of claim 1 , wherein the signal processor is configured to disable an increasing number of the controllable switching devices with a decrease of the alternating input voltage.

9. The circuit arrangement of claim 1 , wherein the signal processor is configured to vary which interleaved circuits are disabled within a half-cycle of the alternating input voltage to equalize stress of the interleaved circuits.

10. The circuit arrangement of claim 1 , wherein the signal processor is configured to vary which interleaved circuits are disabled in two subsequent half-cycles of the alternating input voltage to equalize stress of the interleaved circuits.

11. The circuit arrangement of claim 1 , wherein the signal processor is configured with multiple different threshold voltages, wherein the first threshold voltage is the highest of the threshold voltages and each other threshold voltage of the multiple threshold voltages is half of a another threshold voltage of the multiple threshold voltages; and wherein the signal processor is configured to disable a number of interleaved circuits when the alternating input voltage falls below one of the multiple threshold voltages.

12. The circuit arrangement of claim 11 , wherein the number of threshold voltages depends on the number of interleaved circuits of the circuit arrangement.

13. The circuit arrangement of claim 11 , wherein the number of threshold voltages corresponds to the binary logarithm of the number of interleaved circuits of the circuit arrangement.

14. The circuit arrangement of claim 1 , wherein the number of interleaved circuits of the circuit arrangement is a power of 2.

15. The circuit arrangement of claim 11 , wherein one or more of the threshold voltages are predefined.

16. The circuit arrangement of claim 11 , wherein the number of threshold voltages is dynamically determined, based on a peak level of the input voltage.

17. The circuit arrangement of claim 1 , wherein the signal processor during zero-current switching is configured to control the switching devices at least at one zero-current point of the associated energy storage device.

18. The circuit arrangement of claim 1 , wherein the signal processor is configured to control the switching devices from an off-state to an on-state at the at least one zero-current point.

19. The circuit arrangement of claim 1 , wherein the signal processor is configured to control the on-time periods to correspond to each other in every switching cycle.

20. The circuit arrangement of claim 1 , wherein the signal processor is configured to control the phases between the on-time periods of the first and the one or more secondary switching controllers in every switching cycle.

21. The circuit arrangement of claim 1 , wherein each switching cycle controller is configured for PWM operation of the associated controllable switching device.

22. The circuit arrangement of claim 1 , wherein the signal processor comprises a delay module, configured so that the at least one switching point is delayed for a predetermined delay time.

23. The circuit arrangement of claim 1 , wherein the signal processor further comprises a limiter, configured to provide maximum on-time information to the PWM module.

24. The circuit arrangement of claim 1 , wherein the circuit arrangement is a boost converter.

25. The circuit arrangement of claim 1 , further comprising a rectifier circuit to rectify an AC input voltage.

26. A signal processor for use in a circuit arrangement for interleaved switched boundary mode power conversion with at least a first controllable switching device and one or more secondary controllable switching devices; said signal processor being connectable to the controllable switching devices and being configured for zero-current switching of the switching devices; wherein the signal processor comprises at least:

a first switching cycle controller, configured for cycled zero-current switching operation of the first controllable switching device; and

one or more secondary switching cycle controllers, configured for cycled zero-current switching operation of the one or more secondary controllable switching devices, wherein

the signal processor is configured to disable one or more of the controllable switching devices when an alternating input voltage of the circuit arrangement is lower than a first threshold voltage, and wherein

the signal processor is further configured to control a gain multiplier for at least one of an on-time period and a switching cycle time of at least one of the controllable switching devices, wherein in case one or more of the controllable switching devices are disabled, the gain multiplier is increased.

27. A method of interleaved switched boundary mode power conversion with a circuit comprising an input for receiving an alternating input voltage from a power supply; an output to provide an output voltage to a load; a first controllable switching device; and one or more secondary controllable switching devices; wherein

one or more of the controllable switching devices are disabled when the alternating input voltage is lower than a first predefined voltage, and wherein

a gain multiplier for at least one of an on-time period and a switching cycle time of at least one of the controllable switching devices is controlled, wherein in case one or more of the controllable switching devices are disabled, the gain multiplier is increased.

28. A non-transitory machine-readable medium including contents that are configured to cause a signal processor to conduct the method of claim 27 .

29. A circuit arrangement for interleaved switched boundary mode power conversion, comprising at least:

an input for receiving an alternating input voltage from a power supply;

an output to provide an output voltage to a load;

a first interleaved circuit comprising:

a first energy storage device; and

a first controllable switching device; and

one or more secondary interleaved circuits, each comprising:

a secondary energy storage device; and

a secondary controllable switching device;

said circuit arrangement further comprising a signal processor, connected to the controllable switching devices; the signal processor comprising at least

a first switching cycle controller, configured for cycled zero-current switching operation of the first controllable switching device; and

one or more secondary switching cycle controllers, configured for cycled zero-current switching operation of the one or more secondary controllable switching devices, wherein

the signal processor is configured to disable one or more of the interleaved circuits when the alternating input voltage is lower than a first threshold voltage, and wherein

the signal processor is further configured in case one or more of the interleaved circuits are disabled, to increase at least one of an on-time period and a switching cycle time of one or more of the controllable switching devices of one or more of the interleaved circuits that are not disabled.

Assignments (16)
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Mar 14, 2022
From: WELLS FARGO BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS NOTES COLLATERAL AGENT
To: MICROCHIP TECHNOLOGY INCORPORATED; SILICON STORAGE TECHNOLOGY, INC.; ATMEL CORPORATION; MICROSEMI CORPORATION; MICROSEMI STORAGE SOLUTIONS, INC.
Reel/Frame 060894/0437 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Mar 10, 2022
From: WELLS FARGO BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS NOTES COLLATERAL AGENT
To: MICROCHIP TECHNOLOGY INCORPORATED; SILICON STORAGE TECHNOLOGY, INC.; ATMEL CORPORATION; MICROSEMI CORPORATION; MICROSEMI STORAGE SOLUTIONS, INC.
Reel/Frame 059863/0400 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Mar 9, 2022
From: WELLS FARGO BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS NOTES COLLATERAL AGENT
To: MICROCHIP TECHNOLOGY INCORPORATED; SILICON STORAGE TECHNOLOGY, INC.; ATMEL CORPORATION; MICROSEMI CORPORATION; MICROSEMI STORAGE SOLUTIONS, INC.
Reel/Frame 059358/0335 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Mar 9, 2022
From: WELLS FARGO BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS NOTES COLLATERAL AGENT
To: MICROCHIP TECHNOLOGY INCORPORATED; SILICON STORAGE TECHNOLOGY, INC.; ATMEL CORPORATION; MICROSEMI CORPORATION; MICROSEMI STORAGE SOLUTIONS, INC.
Reel/Frame 059357/0823 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Feb 28, 2022
From: JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT
To: MICROCHIP TECHNOLOGY INCORPORATED; SILICON STORAGE TECHNOLOGY, INC.; ATMEL CORPORATION; MICROSEMI CORPORATION; MICROSEMI STORAGE SOLUTIONS, INC.
Reel/Frame 059264/0384 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Feb 28, 2022
From: JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT
To: MICROCHIP TECHNOLOGY INCORPORATED; SILICON STORAGE TECHNOLOGY, INC.; ATMEL CORPORATION; MICROSEMI CORPORATION; MICROSEMI STORAGE SOLUTIONS, INC.
Reel/Frame 059263/0001 →
GRANT OF SECURITY INTEREST IN PATENT RIGHTS Recorded Nov 19, 2021
From: MICROCHIP TECHNOLOGY INCORPORATED; SILICON STORAGE TECHNOLOGY, INC.; ATMEL CORPORATION; MICROSEMI CORPORATION; MICROSEMI STORAGE SOLUTIONS, INC.
To: JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT
Reel/Frame 058214/0380 →
GRANT OF SECURITY INTEREST IN PATENT RIGHTS Recorded Nov 19, 2021
From: MICROCHIP TECHNOLOGY INCORPORATED; SILICON STORAGE TECHNOLOGY, INC.; ATMEL CORPORATION; MICROSEMI CORPORATION; MICROSEMI STORAGE SOLUTIONS, INC.
To: WELLS FARGO BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS NOTES COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 058214/0625 →
GRANT OF SECURITY INTEREST IN PATENT RIGHTS Recorded Nov 19, 2021
From: MICROCHIP TECHNOLOGY INCORPORATED; SILICON STORAGE TECHNOLOGY, INC.; ATMEL CORPORATION; MICROSEMI CORPORATION; MICROSEMI STORAGE SOLUTIONS, INC.
To: WELLS FARGO BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS NOTES COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 058214/0238 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Jun 4, 2021
From: MICROCHIP TECHNOLOGY INCORPORATED; SILICON STORAGE TECHNOLOGY, INC.; ATMEL CORPORATION; MICROSEMI CORPORATION; MICROSEMI STORAGE SOLUTIONS, INC.
To: WELLS FARGO BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS NOTES COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 057935/0474 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Dec 24, 2020
From: MICROCHIP TECHNOLOGY INCORPORATED; SILICON STORAGE TECHNOLOGY, INC.; ATMEL CORPORATION; MICROSEMI CORPORATION; MICROSEMI STORAGE SOLUTIONS, INC.
To: WELLS FARGO BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 055671/0612 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Jun 5, 2020
From: MICROCHIP TECHNOLOGY INC.; SILICON STORAGE TECHNOLOGY, INC.; ATMEL CORPORATION; MICROSEMI CORPORATION; MICROSEMI STORAGE SOLUTIONS, INC.
To: JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT
Reel/Frame 052856/0909 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Jun 5, 2020
From: MICROCHIP TECHNOLOGY INC.; SILICON STORAGE TECHNOLOGY, INC.; ATMEL CORPORATION; MICROSEMI CORPORATION; MICROSEMI STORAGE SOLUTIONS, INC.
To: WELLS FARGO BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
Reel/Frame 053468/0705 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded May 30, 2020
From: JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A, AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT
To: MICROCHIP TECHNOLOGY INC.; SILICON STORAGE TECHNOLOGY, INC.; ATMEL CORPORATION; MICROSEMI CORPORATION; MICROSEMI STORAGE SOLUTIONS, INC.
Reel/Frame 053466/0011 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Apr 24, 2020
From: MICROCHIP TECHNOLOGY INC.; SILICON STORAGE TECHNOLOGY, INC.; ATMEL CORPORATION; MICROSEMI CORPORATION; MICROSEMI STORAGE SOLUTIONS, INC.
To: JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT
Reel/Frame 053311/0305 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Aug 1, 2018
From: BHANDARKAR, SANTOSH MANJUNATH; DUMAIS, ALEX
To: MICROCHIP TECHNOLOGY INCORPORATED
Reel/Frame 046525/0625 →