RECONFIGURABLE COUPLED INDUCTOR

• US 20170154725A1
• Filed: 11/30/2015
• Published: 06/01/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 11/30/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Original Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Inventors: Clavijo, Sergio, Kim, Donghwi, Kim, Tae
• Granted Patent: US 10,910,150 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/26 Power supply means, e.g. regulation thereof for memories G11C
• CPC Class Codes: H01F 2029/143 with control winding for generating magnetic bias
• CPC Class Codes: H01F 27/38 Auxiliary core members; Auxiliary coils or windings
• CPC Class Codes: H01F 27/40 Structural association with built-in electric component, e.g. fuse

Abstract

A reconfigurable coupled inductor is disclosed. In one embodiment, the reconfigurable coupled inductor comprises metal rings and switches coupled to the metal rings to control at least one inductor property (e.g., coupling coefficient) based on a closed (e.g., on) or open state (e.g., off) of each switch.

Claims

1. A reconfigurable coupled inductor comprising a plurality of metal rings and a plurality of switches coupled to the plurality of metal rings to control at least one inductor property based on a closed or open state of each of the plurality of switches.

2. The reconfigurable coupled inductor defined in claim 1 wherein the plurality of metal rings and open or closed state of each of the plurality of switches controls a flux field of the inductor, which controls a coupling property of the inductor.

3. The reconfigurable coupled inductor defined in claim 1 further comprising a core coupled to the plurality of rings and plurality of switches, the core having a core material with first and second windings coupled thereto, the core material including

first and second outer legs around which the first and second windings, respectively, are wound,

at least one inner core portion coupled to the first and second outer legs and having a third leg extending across the core material and located between the first and second outer legs, and

wherein the plurality of switches are coupled to the at least one inner core to control an amount of coupling between the first and second outer legs with first and second windings thereon, respectively.

4. The reconfigurable coupled inductor defined in claim 3 wherein the at least one inner leg is part of an H-shaped inner core portion coupled to the first and second legs.

5. The reconfigurable coupled inductor defined in claim 3 wherein the plurality of switches control a coupling coefficient of the coupling based on switches in the plurality of switches being closed or open.

6. The reconfigurable coupled inductor defined in claim 5 wherein the coupling coefficient is set based on a number of the plurality of switches that are closed or open.

7. The reconfigurable coupled inductor defined in claim 3 wherein the coupling is fully coupled when all switches of the plurality of switches are closed and decoupled when none of the plurality of switches are closed.

8. The reconfigurable coupled inductor defined in claim 3 wherein the coupling is fully coupled when all switches of the plurality of switches are open and decoupled when none of the plurality of switches are open.

9. The reconfigurable coupled inductor defined in claim 1 wherein at least one of the plurality of switches comprise a transistor.

10. The reconfigurable coupled inductor defined in claim 1 wherein at least one of the plurality of switches comprise a MEMS.

11. The reconfigurable coupled inductor defined in claim 1 wherein at least one of the plurality of switches comprise an electric current switch operable to change state between a first resistivity state and a second resistivity state, the second resistivity state being lower than the first resistivity state.

12. The reconfigurable coupled inductor defined in claim 1 wherein the core comprise a plurality of legs that include:

at least two outer legs with windings;

at least one inner leg with a winding thereon;

at least one leg extending across the core material and located between two legs having windings; and

a plurality of switches coupled to the at least one leg to control coupling between the two legs.

13. A power delivery apparatus comprising:

a power generator to generate power;

a plurality of power stages coupled to receive power from the power generator; and

a reconfigurable coupled inductor coupled to at least one power stage of the plurality of power gate stages.

14. The apparatus defined in claim 13 wherein the reconfigurable coupled inductor comprises a plurality of metal rings and a plurality of switches coupled to the plurality of metal rings to control at least one inductor property based on a closed or open state of each of the plurality of switches.

15. The apparatus defined in claim 14 wherein the plurality of metal rings and open or closed state of each of the plurality of switches controls a flux field of the inductor, which controls a coupling property of the inductor.

16. The apparatus defined in claim 14 further comprising a core coupled to the plurality of rings and plurality of switches, the core having a core material with first and second windings coupled thereto, the core material including:

first and second outer legs around which the first and second windings, respectively, are wound;

at least one inner core portion coupled to the first and second outer legs and having a third leg extending across the core material and located between the first and second outer legs; and

wherein the plurality of switches are coupled to the at least one inner core to control an amount of coupling between the first and second outer legs with first and second windings thereon, respectively.

17. The apparatus defined in claim 16 wherein the at least one inner leg is part of an H-shaped inner core portion coupled to the first and second legs.

18. The apparatus defined in claim 16 wherein the plurality of switches set a coupling coefficient of the coupling based on a number of switches in the plurality of switches being closed or open.

19. The apparatus defined in claim 14 wherein the coupling is fully coupled when all switches of the plurality of switches are closed and decoupled when none of the plurality of switches are closed.

20. The apparatus defined in claim 13 wherein the core comprise a plurality of legs that include:

at least two outer legs with windings;

at least one inner leg with a winding thereon;

at least one leg extending across the core material and located between two legs having windings; and

a plurality of switches coupled to the at least one leg to control coupling between the two legs.

21. The apparatus defined in claim 13 wherein further comprising one or more switch controller signals to control the reconfigurable coupled inductor.

22. The apparatus defined in claim 13 wherein the reconfigurable coupled inductor is coupled to a pair of power stages that each provide one phase of power.

23. The apparatus defined in claim 13 wherein the at least one power stage is part of a reconfigurable coupled inductor train coupled to the plurality of power stages.

24. A system comprising:

a processor;

a power delivery apparatus having;

a power generator to generate power,

a plurality of power stages coupled to receive power from the power generator and coupled to the processor, and

a reconfigurable coupled inductor coupled to at least one power stage of the plurality of power stages to provide power from the at least one power stage to the processor.

25. The system defined in claim 24 further comprising a core coupled to the plurality of rings and plurality of switches, the core having a core material with first and second windings coupled thereto, the core material including:

first and second outer legs around which the first and second windings, respectively, are wound,

at least one inner core portion coupled to the first and second outer legs and having a third leg extending across the core material and located between the first and second outer legs,

a plurality of rings coupled to the at least one inner core portion; and

a plurality of switches coupled to the plurality of rings and the at least one inner core to control an amount of coupling between the first and second outer legs with first and second windings thereon, respectively.

26. The system defined in claim 25 wherein the plurality of metal rings and the plurality of switches control a coupling coefficient of the coupling based on switches in the plurality of switches being closed or open.

27. A method comprising:

generating one or more switch control signals to a plurality of switches of a reconfigurable coupled inductor to open or close each of the plurality of switches; and

reconfiguring the coupled inductor based on the one or more switch control signals to modify a coupling coefficient of the coupled inductor.

28. The method defined in claim 27 wherein the plurality of switches set the coupling coefficient based on a number of switches in the plurality of switches being closed or open.

29. The method defined in claim 27 wherein the switches are coupled to metal rings located centrally within the coupled inductor to influence the flux field when one or more of the switches is closed.