Programmable calibration circuit for power supply current sensing and droop loss compensation

• US 7,027,944 B2
• Filed: 06/29/2004
• Issued: 04/11/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 06/30/2003
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Fereydun Tabaian
• Original Assignee: Nupower Semiconductor, Inc.
• Inventors: Tabaian, Fereydun, Hejazi, Ali, Sadati, Hamed, Ashrafzadeh, Ahmad
• Primary Examiner(s): Tsai, Carol S. W.
• Application Number:
  US10/878,477
• Publication Number:
  US 20050024035A1
• Time in Patent Office: 651 Days
• Field of Search: 702/106, 323/234, 323/282, 323/283, 323/300, 323/314, 327/218
• US Class Current: 702/106
• CPC Class Codes: H02M 1/327 against abnormal temperatures
• CPC Class Codes: H02M 3/1584 with a plurality of power processing stages connected in parallel
• CPC Class Codes: H02P 23/0077 Characterised by the use of a particular software algorithm

Abstract

A circuit for regulating power is disclosed. The present invention provides circuits and methods for current sensing variations, static droop settings, mismatched phase outputs, and temperature variations in a multiphase power regulator. The circuits may include a calibration controller that senses and regulates both a current sensing circuit and the droop in a power regulator over a range of temperatures thus equalizing phase outputs. The present invention includes the schematic organization and implementation of the circuit, the circuit'"'"'s calibration, its use, and implementation. This invention advantageously provides circuits and methods to properly power a processor or IC chip according to the unique power specifications of the processor or chip.

Claims

1. A circuit comprising:

a regulator circuit and a calibration control circuit, wherein said calibration control circuit includes a controller, an interface with nonvolatile memory, droop outputs, sense outputs, load voltage input, and temperature input;

wherein

said nonvolatile memory stores calibration data;

said calibration control circuit interfaces with said regulator circuit via said sense outputs, said droop outputs, and said load voltage input;

said calibration control circuit interfaces with said nonvolatile memory to store calibration data;

said calibration control circuit interfaces with said temperature input to receive temperature data;

said temperature data is used by said calibration control circuit to adjust said sense outputs and said droop outputs; and

said calibration control circuit interfaces with said temperature input and said load voltage input to calibrate said calibration data stored in said nonvolatile memory.

2. The circuit of claim 1 where said regulator circuit is selected from the group consisting of a voltage mode regulator, a current mode regulator, a buck regulator, V-square, and hysteretics.

3. The circuit of claim 1 where said regulator circuit is selected from the group consisting of a single phase regulator, a two phase regulator, multiphase regulator, and an N phase regulator, where N can be any integer from 1 to infinity.

4. The circuit of claim 3 where said controller has at least one sense output for each phase of said multiphase regulator.

5. The circuit of claim 1 where said calibration control circuit adjusts said sense outputs and said droop outputs according to data stored in said nonvolatile memory.

6. The circuit of claim 1 where said nonvolatile memory stores regulator performance parameters.

7. The circuit of claim 1 where said nonvolatile memory stores application specific power curve data.

8. The circuit of claim 1 where said nonvolatile memory is either monolithic or non monolithic.

9. The circuit of claim 1 where said nonvolatile memory stores data for said droop outputs and said sense outputs where said data is based on said load voltage input and said temperature input.

10. The circuit of claim 1 where each said sense output comprises a digital to analog converter with registered input and an amplifier buffer.

11. The circuit of claim 1 where said droop output comprises a digital to analog converter with registered input and an amplifier buffer.

12. The circuit of claim 1 where said calibration control circuit includes a temperature output comprising a digital to analog converter with registered input and an amplifier buffer.

13. The circuit of claim 1 where said load voltage input comprises an analog to digital converter with registered output.

14. The circuit of claim 1 where said temperature input comprises a temperature sensor, an amplifier, and an analog to digital converter with registered output.

15. The circuit of claim 14 where said temperature sensor is selected from the group consisting of a thermister, a thermocouple, and an RTD.

16. The circuit of claim 14 where said temperature sensor is either external or internal to the circuit.

17. The circuit of claim 14 wherein said calibration control circuit includes a temperature output, said amplifier is an adjustable amplifier, and said controller adjusts said adjustable amplifier via said temperature output.

18. The circuit of claim 1 where said calibration control circuit includes an external interface to an external controller.

19. The circuit of claim 18 where said external interface to an external controller allows said external controller to interface with said calibration control circuit, monitor said load voltage input, monitor said temperature input, control sense outputs, droop output, read said nonvolatile memory, and write to nonvolatile memory.

20. The circuit of claim 18 where said external controller is selected from a group consisting of a processor, a computer, and a state machine.

21. The circuit of claim 1 where said regulator circuit calibration data is stored in a lookup table within said nonvolatile memory.

22. The circuit of claim 1 where said controller is selected from the group consisting of a state machine and a processor.

23. The circuit of claim 1 where said calibration control circuit includes an error output.

24. The circuit of claim 23 where said error output comprises a digital to analog converter with registered input and an amplifier buffer.

25. The circuit of claim 24 where said calibration control circuit interfaces with said regulator via said error output.

26. The regulator circuit of claim 1 further comprising:

a multiphase clock register, multiple phases, an adjustable droop amplifier, and an error circuit with an error amplifier, wherein each phase of said regulator include a set register, gate driver, output FETs, a current sense circuit, an adjustable sense amplifier, and a pulse width moderator; and

wherein;

said multiphase clock register has N phases, where N is an integer from 1 to infinity;

said multiple phases are N phases, where N is an integer from 1 to infinity;

a phase of said multiphase clock generator drives the set input of said set register;

said set register drives said gate driver and said output FETs;

said output FETs drive the load of the circuit;

said current sense circuit measures the current of said output FETs and feeds back to said set register via said adjustable sense amplifier and said pulse width modulator;

said adjustable sense amplifier also feeds into said adjustable droop amplifier;

said droop amplifier drives said error circuit; and

said error circuit drives each pulse width modulator on each said phase.

27. The circuit of claim 26 where said regulator includes an interface from said multiphase clock generator to an external controller.

28. The circuit of claim 27 where said external controller is selected from the group consisting of a computer, a state machine, and a processor.

29. The circuit of claim 26 where said regulator includes an interface to said calibration control circuit;

wherein said calibration control circuit interfaces with said multiphase regulator by adjusting said sense amplifiers in each phase via said sense outputs, by adjusting said adjustable droop amplifier via said droop output, and by monitoring load voltage output of said current sense circuit via said load voltage input.

30. The circuit of claim 26 where said current sense circuit is selected from the group consisting of RDSon of a power MOSFETs, DCR of an inductor, sense series resistor, and board traces.

31. The circuit of claim 26 where said adjustable droop amplifier is adjusted to compensate for regulator circuit variations.

32. The circuit of claim 26 where said adjustable sense amplifier is adjusted to compensate for regulator circuit variations.

33. The circuit of claim 26 where said error circuit includes an adjustable amplifier.

34. The circuit of claim 33 where said adjustable error amplifier is adjusted to compensate for regulator circuit variations.

35. The circuit of claim 34 where said calibration control circuit includes an error output that interfaces with said adjustable error amplifier.

36. The circuit of claim 34 where said adjustable error amplifier is adjusted to compensate for error circuit variations.