Granted Patent B2

US 12,301,096 · App. 18/439,923 · Granted May 13, 2025

Inventors: Asif Qaiyum (Freising, DE); Ruediger Kuhn (Freising, DE); Martin Schneider (Kraiburg am Inn, DE)

Assignee: TEXAS INSTRUMENTS INCORPORATED

H02M1/14H02M1/0025H02M3/158

Abstract

Claims (60)

1. A system, comprising:

a ripple voltage detector circuit configured to:

determine an output ripple voltage in an output voltage of a direct current-to-direct current (DC-DC) converter;

determine a ripple coefficient based on a difference between the output ripple voltage and a ripple target representing a tolerance amount of ripple in the output voltage;

determine a reference inductor current based on the ripple coefficient; and

control a peak inductor current of the DC-DC converter based on the reference inductor current during a discontinuous conduction mode (DCM).

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein to determine the output ripple voltage, the ripple voltage detector circuit is configured to:

obtain a set of measurements of the output voltage of the DC-DC converter; and

determine the output ripple voltage based on variation of the set of measurements of the output voltage.

3. The system of claim 2 , wherein to determine the output ripple voltage, the ripple voltage detector circuit is configured to:

determine a maximum value and a minimum value based on the variation of the set of measurements; and

determine the output ripple voltage based on a difference between the maximum value and the minimum value.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein to determine the reference inductor current, the ripple voltage detector circuit is configured to:

determine a difference based on the ripple coefficient and a previously determined ripple coefficient; and

determine the reference inductor current based on the difference.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the ripple voltage detector circuit is configured to:

determine a digital value representing the reference inductor current; and

convert the digital value to an analog value.

6. The system of claim 5 , wherein to control the peak inductor current, the ripple voltage detector circuit is configured to:

determine a difference between the analog value and an analog value representing the peak inductor current of the DC-DC converter; and

control switching of the DC-DC converter based on the difference.

7. A system, comprising:

a direct current-to-direct current (DC-DC) converter; and

a ripple voltage detector circuit coupled to the DC-DC converter and configured to:

determine an output ripple voltage in an output voltage of the DC-DC converter;

determine a ripple coefficient based on a difference between the output ripple voltage and a ripple target representing a tolerance amount of ripple in the output voltage;

determine a reference inductor current based on the ripple coefficient; and

control a peak inductor current of the DC-DC converter based on the reference inductor current during a discontinuous conduction mode (DCM).

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein to determine the output ripple voltage, the ripple voltage detector circuit is configured to:

obtain a set of measurements of the output voltage of the DC-DC converter; and

determine the output ripple voltage based on variation of the set of measurements of the output voltage.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein to determine the output ripple voltage, the ripple voltage detector circuit is configured to:

determine a maximum value and a minimum value based on the variation of the set of measurements; and

determine the output ripple voltage based on a difference between the maximum value and the minimum value.

10. The system of claim 7 , wherein to determine the reference inductor current, the ripple voltage detector circuit is configured to:

determine a difference based on the ripple coefficient and a previously determined ripple coefficient; and

determine the reference inductor current based on the difference.

11. The system of claim 7 , wherein the ripple voltage detector circuit is configured to:

determine a digital value representing the reference inductor current; and

convert the digital value to an analog value.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein to control the peak inductor current, the ripple voltage detector circuit is configured to:

determine a difference between the analog value and an analog value representing the peak inductor current of the DC-DC converter; and

control switching of the DC-DC converter based on the difference.

13. A method, comprising:

determining an output ripple voltage in an output voltage of a direct current-to-direct current (DC-DC) converter;

determining a ripple coefficient based on a difference between the output ripple voltage and a ripple target representing a tolerance amount of ripple in the output voltage;

determining a reference inductor current based on the ripple coefficient; and

controlling a peak inductor current of the DC-DC converter based on the reference inductor current during a discontinuous conduction mode (DCM).

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein determining the output ripple voltage comprises:

obtaining a set of measurements of the output voltage of the DC-DC converter; and

determining the output ripple voltage based on variation of the set of measurements of the output voltage.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein determining the output ripple voltage comprises:

determining a maximum value and a minimum value based on the variation of the set of measurements; and

determining the output ripple voltage based on a difference between the maximum value and the minimum value.

16. The method of claim 13 , wherein determining the reference inductor current comprises:

determining a difference based on the ripple coefficient and a previously determined ripple coefficient; and

determining the reference inductor current based on the difference.

17. The method of claim 13 , wherein controlling the peak inductor current comprises:

determining a difference between the reference inductor current and the peak inductor current of the DC-DC converter; and

controlling switching of the DC-DC converter based on the difference.

Continuity (2)

References Cited (11)

Cited By (1)

US 12,683,485