Switched capacitor circuit having voltage management and method
First Claim
1. A switched capacitor circuit comprising:
- a first capacitor having first and second terminals;
a plurality of transistor switches connected to the first and second terminals of the first capacitor; and
drive circuitry for controlling a state of the transistor switches, with the drive circuitry alternating between a first phase where the capacitor is connected by the switches in series between an input node and an output node and a second phase where the capacitor is connected in series between one of the input and output nodes and a third node, with a first current path being defined between the capacitor and the input node in the first phase having a resistance selected to be at least twice a resistance of a second current path defined between the capacitor and the output node in the first phase.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A switched capacitor circuit, for use in voltage converters and the like, which includes a switched capacitor array, a plurality of MOS transistor switches and drive circuitry for controlling the state of the switches. The drive circuitry alternates between a first phase where at least one capacitor of the array is connected by the switches between an input node and an output node and a second phase where the capacitor is connected in series between one of the output and input nodes and a third node, such as a circuit common. Boost and buck gain configurations are achieved when connected to the output and input nodes, respectively. A voltage management feature is implemented to control voltages produced in the array so that no PN junction of the transistor switches formed by a body and the drain/source regions disposed in the body becomes forward biased.
-
Citations
77 Claims
-
1. A switched capacitor circuit comprising:
-
a first capacitor having first and second terminals;
a plurality of transistor switches connected to the first and second terminals of the first capacitor; and
drive circuitry for controlling a state of the transistor switches, with the drive circuitry alternating between a first phase where the capacitor is connected by the switches in series between an input node and an output node and a second phase where the capacitor is connected in series between one of the input and output nodes and a third node, with a first current path being defined between the capacitor and the input node in the first phase having a resistance selected to be at least twice a resistance of a second current path defined between the capacitor and the output node in the first phase. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
-
-
34. A switched capacitor circuit comprising:
-
first and second capacitors, each having first and second terminals;
a plurality of transistor switches connected to the first and second terminals of the first and second capacitors; and
drive circuitry for controlling a state of the transistor switches, with the drive circuitry alternating between a first phase where the capacitors are connected by the switches in parallel between an input node and an output node and a second phase where the capacitors are connected in series between one of the input and output nodes and a third node, with first and second current paths being defined between the first and second capacitors, respectively, and the input node in the first phase and third and fourth current paths being defined between the first and second capacitors, respectively, and the output node in the first phase, with the first current path having a resistance selected to be at least twice a resistance of the third current path and the second current path having a resistance selected to be at least twice a resistance of the fourth current path.
-
-
35. A switched capacitor circuit comprising:
-
first and second capacitors, each having first and second terminals;
a plurality of transistor switches connected to the first and second terminals of the first and second capacitors; and
drive circuitry for controlling a state of the transistor switches, with the drive circuitry alternating between a first phase where the capacitors are connected by the switches in parallel between an input node and an output node and a second phase where the capacitors are connected in series between one of the input and output nodes and a third node and wherein the drive circuitry connects the capacitors to the input node and to the output node at different times when going from the second phase to the first phase, with the different time being selected so as to minimize a voltage produced on the switches. - View Dependent Claims (36)
-
-
37. A switched capacitor circuit comprising:
-
a switched capacitor array connected between an input node and an output node and switchable between a relatively low and a relatively high gain configuration;
gain setting circuitry operable to select the gain configuration of the switched capacitor array;
a regulator operable to control the gain setting circuitry by changing the gain configuration in response to a change in load current demand, with the regulator limiting the gain configuration of the array to less than the high gain configuration in the presence of an increase in load current demand under predetermined operating conditions. - View Dependent Claims (38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43)
-
-
44. A switched capacitor circuit comprising:
-
a switched capacitor array connected between an input node and an output node and switchable to relatively low, intermediate and high gain configurations, with the array including a plurality of transistor switches formed in a common integrated circuit;
gain setting circuitry operable to select the gain configuration of the switched capacitor array;
a voltage regulator which controls an output voltage of the switched capacitor circuit; and
voltage management means for maintaining all voltages developed in the array within a voltage range. - View Dependent Claims (45, 46)
-
-
47. A method of controlling operation of a switched capacitor array, with the array including a capacitor having first and second terminals and a plurality of MOS transistor switches connected to the terminals of the capacitor, said method comprising the following:
-
switching the array to a first phase where a voltage across the capacitor is increased;
switching the array from the first phase to a second phase where the voltage across the capacitor is decreased; and
preventing any PN junction of the transistor switches defined by drain/source regions and a body in which the regions are formed from becoming forward biased when the array is in the first phase and in the second phase. - View Dependent Claims (48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56)
-
-
57. A method of controlling a switched capacitor array, with the array including first, second and third capacitors, each having first and second terminals and a plurality of MOS transistor switches connected to the terminals of the capacitors, said method comprising:
-
switching the array to a first phase where the first, second and third capacitors are connected in parallel by the switches between an input node and an output node;
switching the array from the first phase to a second phase where at least one of the first, second and third capacitors is connected in series between one of the input and output nodes and a third node; and
preventing any PN junction of the transistor switches defined by drain/source regions and a body in which the drain/source regions are formed from becoming forward biased when the array is in the first phase and in the second phase. - View Dependent Claims (58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64)
-
-
65. A switched capacitor circuit comprising:
-
a first capacitor having first and second terminals;
a plurality of transistor switches connected to the first and second terminals of the first capacitor; and
drive circuitry for controlling a state of the transistor switches, with the drive circuitry alternating between a first phase where the capacitor is connected by the switches in series between an input node and an output node and a second phase where the capacitor is connected in series between one of the input and output nodes and a third node, with the relative timing of the transistor switch closures for entry into the first phase and relative timing of the transistor switch closures for entry into the second phase being controlled so as to reduce a magnitude of the voltages produced at terminals of the transistor switches. - View Dependent Claims (66, 67, 68, 69)
-
-
70. A switched capacitor circuit comprising:
-
at least one capacitor;
a plurality of transistor switches connected to the at least one capacitor;
a voltage regulator which limits a maximum voltage at an output node; and
drive circuitry for controlling a state of the transistor switches, with the drive circuitry alternating between a first phase where the at least one capacitor is connected by at least first and second ones of the switches in a first configuration, and a second phase where the at least one capacitor is connected in a second configuration, different than the first configuration, and wherein the drive circuitry includes timing control circuitry which causes at least the first switch to start to close after the second switch has completed closing upon entry into the first phase.
-
-
71. A switched capacitor circuit comprising:
-
a first capacitor having first and second terminals;
a plurality of transistor switches connected to the first and second terminals of the first capacitor;
a voltage regulator which limits a maximum voltage at an output node; and
drive circuitry for controlling a state of the transistor switches, with the drive circuitry alternating between a first phase where the capacitor is connected by the switches in series between an input node and the output node, with the first terminal of the capacitor being connected facing the input node and the second terminal of the capacitor being connected facing the output node, and a second phase where the capacitor is connected in series between the output node and a third node, with the first terminal of the capacitor facing the third node and the second terminal of the capacitor facing the output node and wherein the drive circuitry includes timing control circuitry which forces the second terminal to be connected before the first terminal upon entry into the first phase. - View Dependent Claims (72)
-
-
73. A switched capacitor circuit comprising:
-
a first capacitor having first and second terminals;
a plurality of transistor switches connected to the first and second terminals of the first capacitor; and
drive circuitry for controlling a state of the transistor switches, with the drive circuitry switching from a first, to a second, and then to a third phase and then back to the first phase, with the first phase having the first capacitor connected by the switches between an input node and an output node with the first terminal facing the output node, with the second phase having the first capacitor connected between the input node and the output node with the first terminal facing the input node and with the third phase having the first capacitor connected between the input node and a third node with the first terminal facing the input node. - View Dependent Claims (74)
-
-
75. A switched capacitor circuit comprising:
-
a capacitor array having at least one capacitor;
a plurality of transistor switches connected to the at least on capacitor;
drive circuitry for controlling a state of the transistor switches so that the array will switch from a first phase to a second phase, from the second phase to a third phase and from the third phase to the first phase, with the second phase altering a voltage across the capacitor so as to reduce a magnitude of voltages produced on the transistor switches when the array is switched to the third phase. - View Dependent Claims (76, 77)
-
Specification