Prediction of load current and control current in a power converter using output voltage thresholds

1. A system for controlling a current in a power converter, comprising:

an outer control loop configured to use an outer set of output voltage thresholds for an output voltage generated by the power converter in order to provide hysteretic control of the current;

an inner control loop configured to use an inner set of output voltage thresholds for the output voltage in order to provide continuous control of the current, the inner control loop further configured to:

measure a time duration required for the output voltage to cross a single pair of two output voltage thresholds of the inner set of output voltage thresholds in order to determine an input-referred estimate of a current load of the power converter; and

set a peak current threshold and a valley current threshold for the current based on the input-referred estimate of the current load.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the inner control loop is further configured to set the peak current threshold and the valley current threshold such that either or both:

an average of the current is above the input-referred estimate of the current load when the output threshold crosses a lower threshold of the two output voltage thresholds of the inner set of output voltage thresholds; and

the average of the current is below the input-referred estimate of the current load when the output threshold crosses a higher threshold of the two output voltage thresholds of the inner set of output voltage thresholds.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the inner control loop is configured to set the peak current threshold and the valley current threshold such that an average of the peak current threshold and the valley current threshold is saturated to a minimum magnitude.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the inner control loop is further configured to determine the input-referred estimate of the current load of the power converter by measuring durations of times required for the output voltage to cross two consecutive pairs of the inner set of output voltage thresholds.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the inner control loop is further configured to:

increment the input-referred estimate of the current load of the power converter when the output voltage crosses a higher of the two threshold voltages; and

decrement the input-referred estimate of the current load of the power converter when the output voltage crosses a lower of the two threshold voltages.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein:

the power converter comprises a multi-phase power converter comprising a plurality of phases;

each phase comprises an individual phase power converter; and

the inner control loop is configured to set a peak current threshold and a valley current threshold for each individual phase power converter based on the input-referred estimate of the current load.

7. The system of claim 6 , wherein the inner control loop is configured to determine a number of individual phase power converters that are enabled based on the input-referred estimate of the current load.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the outer control loop is further configured to set the input-referred estimate of the current load of the power converter to a maximum value if the output voltage is less than a lowest threshold of the outer set of output voltage thresholds.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein:

the power converter comprises a multi-phase power converter comprising a plurality of phases;

each phase comprises an individual phase power converter; and

the inner control loop is configured to set a peak current threshold and a valley current threshold for each individual phase power converter based on the input-referred estimate of the current load.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the inner control loop is configured to determine a number of individual phase power converters that are enabled based on the maximum value.

11. A system comprising:

an inductive power converter configured to receive an input voltage and generate an output voltage; and

a switch controller for controlling switching of the inductive power converter to define a charging state and a transfer state of the inductive power converter, wherein the switch controller comprises a plurality of comparators, each comparator having a respective reference voltage to which the output voltage is compared, and wherein the plurality of comparators is used for controlling the inductive power converter in both of a hysteretic control mode and a continuous control mode.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein:

a subset of less than all of the plurality of the comparators is used to provide hysteretic control of a current associated with the inductive power converter in the hysteretic control mode; and

the plurality of the comparators is used to provide continuous control of the current in the continuous control mode.

13. The system of claim 11 , wherein the switch controller is further configured to determine an input-referred estimate of the current load of the power converter by measuring a duration of time required for the output voltage to cross a single pair of the respective reference voltages.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the switch controller is further configured to set a peak current threshold and a valley current threshold for the current based on the input-referred estimate of the current load.

15. The system of claim 14 , wherein the switch controller is further configured to set the peak current threshold and the valley current threshold such that either or both:

an average of the current is above the input-referred estimate of the current load when the output threshold crosses a lower threshold of the single pair of reference voltages; and

the average of the current is below the input-referred estimate of the current load when the output threshold crosses a higher threshold of the single pair of reference voltages.

16. The system of claim 11 , wherein:

the power converter comprises a multi-phase power converter comprising a plurality of phases;

each phase comprises an individual phase power converter; and

the switch controller is configured to determine a number of individual phase power converters that are enabled based on a maximum value of current per phase.

17. The system of claim 11 , wherein the switch controller is further configured to set current to a maximum value if the output voltage is less than a lowest threshold of the respective reference voltages.

18. A method for controlling a current in a power converter, comprising:

applying an outer control loop configured to use an outer set of output voltage thresholds for an output voltage generated by the power converter in order to provide hysteretic control of the current; and

applying an inner control loop configured to use an inner set of output voltage thresholds for the output voltage in order to provide continuous control of the current, the inner control loop further configured to:

measure a time duration required for the output voltage to cross a single pair of two output voltage thresholds of the inner set of output voltage thresholds in order to determine an input-referred estimate of a current load of the power converter; and

set a peak current threshold and a valley current threshold for the current based on the input-referred estimate of the current load.

19. The method of claim 18 , wherein the inner control loop is further configured to set the peak current threshold and the valley current threshold such that either or both:

an average of the current is above the input-referred estimate of the current load when the output threshold crosses a lower threshold of the two output voltage thresholds of the inner set of output voltage thresholds; and

the average of the current is below the input-referred estimate of the current load when the output threshold crosses a higher threshold of the two output voltage thresholds of the inner set of output voltage thresholds.

20. The method of claim 18 , wherein the inner control loop is configured to set the peak current threshold and the valley current threshold such that an average of the peak current threshold and the valley current threshold is saturated to a minimum magnitude.

21. The method of claim 18 , wherein the inner control loop is further configured to determine the input-referred estimate of the current load of the power converter by measuring durations of times required for the output voltage to cross two consecutive pairs of the inner set of output voltage thresholds.

22. The method of claim 18 , wherein the inner control loop is further configured to:

increment the input-referred estimate of the current load of the power converter when the output voltage crosses a higher of the two threshold voltages; and

decrement the input-referred estimate of the current load of the power converter when the output voltage crosses a lower of the two threshold voltages.

23. The method of claim 18 , wherein:

the power converter comprises a multi-phase power converter comprising a plurality of phases;

each phase comprises an individual phase power converter; and

the inner control loop is configured to set a peak current threshold and a valley current threshold for each individual phase power converter based on the input-referred estimate of the current load.

24. The method of claim 23 , wherein the inner control loop is configured to determine a number of individual phase power converters that are enabled based on the input-referred estimate of the current load.

25. The method of claim 18 , wherein the outer control loop is further configured to set the input-referred estimate of the current load of the power converter to a maximum value if the output voltage is less than a lowest threshold of the outer set of output voltage thresholds.

26. The method of claim 25 , wherein:

the power converter comprises a multi-phase power converter comprising a plurality of phases;

each phase comprises an individual phase power converter; and

the inner control loop is configured to set a peak current threshold and a valley current threshold for each individual phase power converter based on the input-referred estimate of the current load.

27. The method of claim 26 , wherein the inner control loop is configured to determine a number of individual phase power converters that are enabled based on the maximum value.

28. A method comprising:

controlling switching of an inductive power converter to define a charging state and a transfer state of the inductive power converter, wherein the inductive power converter is configured to receive an input voltage and generate an output voltage;

wherein controlling comprises using a plurality of comparators for controlling the inductive power converter in both of a hysteretic control mode and a continuous control mode, each comparator having a respective reference voltage to which the output voltage is compared.

29. The method of claim 28 , further comprising:

using a subset of less than all of the plurality of the comparators to provide hysteretic control of a current associated with the inductive power converter in the hysteretic control mode; and

using the plurality of the comparators to provide continuous control of the current in the continuous control mode.

30. The method of claim 28 , further comprising determining an input-referred estimate of the current load of the inductive power converter by measuring a duration of time required for the output voltage to cross a single pair of the respective reference voltages.

31. The method of claim 30 , further comprising setting a peak current threshold and a valley current threshold for the current based on the input-referred estimate of the current load.

32. The method of claim 31 , further comprising setting the peak current threshold and the valley current threshold such that either or both:

an average of the current is above the input-referred estimate of the current load when the output threshold crosses a lower threshold of the single pair of reference voltages; and

the average of the current is below the input-referred estimate of the current load when the output threshold crosses a higher threshold of the single pair of reference voltages.

33. The method of claim 28 , wherein:

the inductive power converter comprises a multi-phase power converter comprising a plurality of phases;

each phase comprises an individual phase power converter; and

the method further comprises determining a number of individual phase power converters that are enabled based on a maximum value of current per phase.

34. The method of claim 28 , further comprising setting current to a maximum value if the output voltage is less than a lowest threshold of the respective reference voltages.