Granted Patent B2

US 12,341,424 · App. 17/653,286 · Granted Jun 24, 2025

Inventor: David Giuliano (Bedford, NH)

Assignee: pSemi Corporation

H02M3/07H02M1/42H02M3/158H02M1/007H02M1/4291H02M3/077H02M3/1582Y02B70/10

Abstract

Claims (34)

1. An apparatus, comprising:

a rectifier circuit to convert a voltage across input nodes of the rectifier circuit to a first voltage, the rectifier circuit operable in a positive cycle and a negative cycle, the rectifier circuit comprising first switches and second switches, wherein:

in the positive cycle the first switches are to be open and the second switches are to be closed, and

in the negative cycle the second switches are to be open and the first switches are to be closed; and

a switched capacitor circuit coupled to the rectifier circuit, the switched capacitor circuit to convert the first voltage to a second voltage, the switched capacitor circuit comprising:

a plurality of third switches to be coupled to a first set of capacitors; and

a plurality of fourth switches to be coupled to a second set of capacitors.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the voltage across the input nodes of the rectifier circuit is an AC voltage to be received from an external circuit, the first voltage is an average DC voltage provided by the rectifier circuit, and the second voltage is a DC voltage to be regulated.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein:

the plurality of third switches and plurality of fourth switches are controllable by a controller; and

the controller comprises a first control circuit to control the switched capacitor circuit and a second control circuit to control the external circuit, the first control circuit being isolated from the second control circuit.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the first control circuit is to be coupled to the second control circuit optically.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the rectifier circuit comprises a plurality of diodes.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of third and fourth switches and the first and second sets of capacitors form a switched capacitor converter to convert the first voltage to the second voltage by opening and closing the plurality of third and fourth switches in respective states.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the switched capacitor circuit comprises a plurality of switching network stages connected in series to increase a transformation ratio of the switched capacitor circuit.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the transformation ratio is configurable by bypassing one or more of the switching network stages.

9. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the switched capacitor circuit is configured to adjust a transformation ratio of the switched capacitor circuit in accordance with switching pattern set based on a clock signal provided to the switched capacitor circuit.

10. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the switched capacitor circuit is to be coupled to a regulating circuit.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein each of the switched capacitor circuit and the regulating circuit is isolated.

12. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the regulating circuit is a buck converter.

13. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the switched capacitor circuit is to be coupled to the regulating circuit via a power factor correction circuit.

14. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the first controller is to be optically isolated from the second controller.

15. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the second regulating circuit is a buck converter.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the second stage comprises a second switched capacitor circuit coupled in series with a regulating circuit.

17. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the subsequent stage comprises a second switched capacitor circuit coupled in series with a second regulating circuit.

18. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of third switches and plurality of fourth switches are controllable to selectively provide a plurality of conversion ratios between the first voltage and the second voltage.

19. An apparatus comprising:

a first stage comprising a switched capacitor circuit, the first stage to receive a voltage and provide an output voltage, wherein the voltage is received from a previous stage or the output voltage is provided to a subsequent stage,

wherein the output voltage is a DC voltage and the voltage is an AC voltage, the switched capacitor circuit comprising capacitors coupled to respective switches, the switches being opened and closed in respective states to rectify and convert the voltage to the output voltage; and

a first controller to control the first stage, wherein the first controller is to be isolated from a second controller to control the subsequent stage or the previous stage.

20. A method, comprising:

receiving a voltage at a first stage comprising a switched capacitor circuit, the switched capacitor circuit comprising a plurality of first switches to be coupled to a first set of capacitors and a plurality of second switches to be coupled to a second set of capacitors;

controlling with a first controller the plurality of first switches and the plurality of second switches to convert the voltage received at the first stage to an output voltage; and

providing the output voltage to a second stage controllable by a second controller, wherein the first controller is to be isolated from the second controller.

Assignments (3)

Continuity (12)

References Cited (400)