System and method for pre-charging a bootstrap capacitor in a switching regulator with high pre-bias voltage
First Claim
1. An apparatus, comprising:
- a voltage regulator including an high side switching transistor and a low side switching transistor;
a high side driver for controlling operation of the high side switching transistor;
a low side driver for controlling operation of the low side switching transistor;
a bootstrap capacitor for providing an operating voltage to the high side driver, the bootstrap capacitor charged to a predetermined level responsive to a supply voltage prior to application of a PWM control signal to the high side driver and the low side driver; and
wherein the low side driver drives the low side switching transistor according to a process that charges the bootstrap capacitor to the predetermined level prior to application of the PWM control signal to the high side driver and the low side driver, the process maintaining the high side switching transistor in an off state and turning on the low side switching transistor for a first predetermined number of cycles and turning off the low side switching transistor for a second predetermined number of cycles and repeating the process for predetermined number of times during startup of the voltage regulator when a prebias load is applied to the voltage regulator until the bootstrap capacitor is charged to the predetermined level.
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Abstract
An apparatus comprises a voltage regulator including an high side switching transistor and a low side switching transistor. An high side drive controls operation of the high side switching transistor. A low side driver controls operation of the low side switching transistor. A bootstrap capacitor provides an operating voltage to the high side switching driver. The bootstrap capacitor is charged to a predetermined level responsive to a supply voltage. A low side driver drives the low side switching transistor according to a process that charges the bootstrap capacitor to the predetermined level. The process turns on the low side switching transistor for a first predetermined number of cycles and turns off the low side switching transistor for a second predetermined number of cycles. The process is repeated for a predetermined number of times during startup of the voltage regulator when a prebias load is applied to the voltage regulator.
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Citations
15 Claims
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1. An apparatus, comprising:
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a voltage regulator including an high side switching transistor and a low side switching transistor; a high side driver for controlling operation of the high side switching transistor; a low side driver for controlling operation of the low side switching transistor; a bootstrap capacitor for providing an operating voltage to the high side driver, the bootstrap capacitor charged to a predetermined level responsive to a supply voltage prior to application of a PWM control signal to the high side driver and the low side driver; and wherein the low side driver drives the low side switching transistor according to a process that charges the bootstrap capacitor to the predetermined level prior to application of the PWM control signal to the high side driver and the low side driver, the process maintaining the high side switching transistor in an off state and turning on the low side switching transistor for a first predetermined number of cycles and turning off the low side switching transistor for a second predetermined number of cycles and repeating the process for predetermined number of times during startup of the voltage regulator when a prebias load is applied to the voltage regulator until the bootstrap capacitor is charged to the predetermined level. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. An apparatus, comprising:
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a voltage regulator including high side switching circuitry, low side switching circuitry and a bootstrap capacitor for providing an operating voltage to the high side switching circuitry; and wherein the voltage regular includes a startup mode of operation to charge the bootstrap capacitor to a predetermined level by maintaining the high side switching transistor in an off state and turning on the low side switching circuitry for a first predetermined number of cycles and turning off the low side switching circuitry for a second predetermined number of cycles and repeating the process of turning on and off the low side switching circuitry for a predetermined number of times during startup of the voltage regulator when a prebias load is applied to the voltage regulator prior to application of a PWM control signal within the voltage regulator. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10)
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11. A method for charging a bootstrap capacitor in a voltage regulator, comprising the steps of:
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a) initiating a startup process for the voltage regulator when a prebias load is applied to the voltage regulator prior to application of a PWM control signal; b) maintaining a high side switching transistor in an off state during the start up process; c) turning on a low side switching transistor for a first predetermined number of clock cycles during the start up process; d) turning off the low side switching transistor for a second predetermined number of clock cycles during the start up process; e) repeating steps c)-d) for a predetermined number of times to charge the bootstrap capacitor to a predetermined voltage level while maintaining a negative inductor current in a predetermined range; f) applying the PWM control signal to drive the high side transistor and low side transistor after the bootstrap capacitor reaches the predetermined voltage level. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15)
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Specification